Nevermore: Same Sun Here, Ghost Cat, Outside

 

Nevermore 10-15-24 Reported by Rita

Same Sun Here by Silas House

Bonding over commonalities in spite of disparate backgrounds, Meena, an Indian immigrant living in New York City's Chinatown, and River, the son of a Kentucky coal miner, become pen pals and overcome cultural misconceptions while sharing respective hardships.

This book is so good. Very enlightening.   – DC     5 stars

 

The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard

Follows a cat through his nine lives in Edinburgh, moving through the ever-changing city and its inhabitants over centuries.

Not a real literary feat, but fun and cute.    – VC     2 stars

 

Outside by Ragnar Jonasson

Stranded by a snowstorm in the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in an abandoned hunting lodge where they discover they are not alone, and must come to terms with their past to survive to see their future.

Very similar to Agatha Christie. Really good with a surprise ending.     – NH    5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Southernmost: a Novel by Silas  House

 Restless Spirits by Linda Dunning

Spirit Tailings by Ellen Baumler

The Lightness of Water & Other Stories by Rhonda Browning White

A Field Guide to the Apocalypse: a Mostly Serious Guide to Surviving Our Wild Times by Athena Aktipis

Roctogenarians by Mo Rocca

Blue-Eyed Butterfly by Sharon  Suskin

Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford

The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Story Collector by Evie Woods

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Ishida Syou

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams

 

New Books

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam

Guilty Creatures by Mikita Brottman

More Found Reviews

When library staff prepares to re-shelve books, we always flip through them to look for forgotten items, damage, etc. so that the next person won’t have a surprise. Sometimes we find comments.  Here are some of the ones we’ve enjoyed:

An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor apparently pleased a couple of readers, since one wrote “Good” and in a different handwriting, “Couldn’t put it down.”

 

I have to say I love dueling reviews.  Plaster Sinners by Colin Watson was deemed “Very very dull” by one reader, perhaps evoking this response:  “This is a work of deductive genius.  Very enjoyable & well done.”

Bluebird Winter by Linda Howard drew two “Good” notations, a “Good (heart),” a “Very good,” and “Every woman’s dream!  Just plain wonderful book!”

James Patterson’s sophomore title Season of the Machete earned a one word review:  “Lousy.”

Still Glides the Stream by D.E. Stevenson came out in 1957, but this tale of a Scotsman who sets out to find the truth about a friend’s death drew a lot of comments on the review page.

“A delightful romantic story.”

“A sweet, simple, nostalgic story.”

“Very good—I really enjoyed it.”

“Great—I hated to see it end!”

“A little ‘tame,’ but I agree with the above.”

“Very good—I really enjoyed it for the second time around twenty years later.”

“D.E. Stevenson is my all-time favorite author, bar none.  I have read all her books many times & enjoy them every time.  I just found one from 1923, Peter West, which was overly descriptive, probably her first, but she certainly learned the right amount of adjectives as she aged.  I think she wrote the best family values—ever!”

 

Sherryl Wood’s Sweet Tea at Sunrise in large print had a couple of “Good” and “Very good” reviews, followed by, “Can’t believe it took 469 pages for two people to get into bed together!”

Christmas in My Heart: A Second Treasury edited by Joe Wheeler had “Very good book 2015” written in it.  Just beneath it, in the same handwriting was “Very good book 2016.” It’s very good to know that the reviewer’s opinion hadn’t changed in a year!

 

Jill Marie Landis’ Magnolia Creek won rave reviews from three readers.  The story is set during the American Civil War and chronicles the story of Sara Collier who marries her sweetheart Dru just before he rides off to fight.  Our readers judged it as “Great,” “SUPER GOOD,” and “A wonderful heartwarming book!  Among the best I have read!” 

Murder for Treasure by David Williams earned two reviews.  One was the pithy “Boring!” while the second was a bit more descriptive:   “Not top grade English but readable if you’re hard up for a weekend read.”