Nevermore: Bone from a Dry Sea, Crown and Sceptre, Cockroaches, Hum If You Don't Know the Words

 Reported by Garry

A Bone from A Dry Sea by Peter Dickinson is a Young Adult fiction book that tells the story of two young women, separated in time by nearly 2 million years. The first girl we meet is the nameless young member of a possible progenitor species of humans who lives on the cliffs and shorelines of ancient South Africa. Vinny is the modern-day daughter of an archaeologist who is excavating a fossil site and discovers the remains of the cliff-dwelling society. Vinny becomes involved in the dig and forms a bond with the young girl from so many eons ago. Our reader loved the storyline in this book and the theories of a possible different evolutionary track for humans. She also noted that, even though the story jumps back and forth in time, it is clear when each section of the novel takes place.  AH

 

Crown and Sceptre:  A New History of the British Monarchy, from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II by Tracy Borman is a sweeping, impeccably researched narrative of the history of British monarchy over nearly 1000 years. It covers the reigns of over 42 kings and queens, starting with William the Conqueror in 1066, drawing a direct line to the current sovereign Queen Elizabeth II (who, at age 95, is currently the world’s longest-reigning monarch). Our reader loved this book, saying that it was both entertaining and full of knowledge and information that she did not previously know.  ML

 

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo (Book 2 of 12). When the Norwegian ambassador to Thailand is found dead in a Bangkok brothel, veteran Swedish inspector Harry Hole is dispatched from Oslo to help hush up the case. Harry is a middle-aged, beleaguered investigator whose private life is nearly as messy as the crime scenes he investigates. This hard-edged thriller captured the imagination of our reader and she highly recommends it, along with the rest of the series.  NH

 

Hum If You Don’t Know The Words by Bianca Marais. Apartheid worked well for some South Africans – as long as you were white, wealthy, and a land-owner.  Such is the case for Robin Conrad, a nine-year-old white girl living with her wealthy parents in 1970s Johannesburg. When tragedy strikes and her parents are killed, Robin is sent to live with her aunt. Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman whose own daughter is missing, is hired to take care of Robin. Two worlds collide with heart-rending consequences in this debut novel that presents a beautiful, well-written story without being fluff. AC

 

Also mentioned:

 

Beloved by Toni Morrison

53-Word Short Stories from Press 53

The Lightness of Water and Other Stories by Rhonda Browning White

Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Beyond the Pale by Elana Dykewomon

Daughter of Ireland by Juliene Osborne-McKnight

Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Between Certain Death and A Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing up with the AIDS Crisis edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

The First Kennedys: The Humble Roots of an American Dynasty by Neal Thompson

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

The Great Mrs. Elias by Barbara Chase-Riboud

Shadows of Pecan Hollow by Caroline Frost

Boop and Eve’s Road Trip by Mary Helen Sheriff

Nevermore: Shipping, Lighthouses, Light, and Macbeth

 Reported by Jeanne

Nevermore opened with a rave review of a book which has been making the rounds:  90% of Everything:  Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate by Rose George.  While the title sounds dry, the book is anything but.  George sailed with a variety of people on all sorts of different vessels, looking at consumerism (all that junk we just don’t need, as our reviewer put it), modern day piracy, and shipping policies.  This is a book everyone should read before taking a cruise, our reader said, and will give you a new appreciation of the complexities of international commerce.

Another nonfiction book also had a bit of a nautical theme:  Out of Harm’s Way:  Moving America’s Lighthouse by Mike Booher and Lin Ezell. This is the amazing story of how the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was moved a half mile inland, an incredible feat of engineering.  Many felt the historic lighthouse—the county’s tallest—would never be moved successfully.  In fact, the movers were awarded the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award in 1999.  The authors present a history of the lighthouse as well as details about the move, which was accomplished by the International Chimney Corporation.  Our reviewer was entranced by the book, which also featured wonderful photos.

Beautiful Diana Cooke, born into fading Virginia gentry at the beginning of the 20^th century, is well loved by her parents who want what is best for her—but also expect her to marry someone wealthy enough to keep up Saratoga, the family mansion.  That someone turns out to be Captain Copperton, a vulgar and sometimes brutal man whose ample finances seem to be his only virtue but who does give Diana her adored son, Ashton. Dying of the Light, the new generational saga by Robert Goolrick, is an absorbing foray into a world of glamorous people and family secrets, and our reader recommended it for fans of historical fiction set among the upper classes.

All the Little Lights by Jamie McGuire features two teenage outcasts:  Elliott Youngblood because he is Native American and Catherine Calhoun because her family is held responsible for a local disaster.  Both are artistic and intelligent as well as socially inept. But the course of love never runs smooth, and the two are driven apart at a crucial moment.  The reviewer said she found some of the characters were sort of strange and that there was a twist ending.  It wasn’t her favorite, but it was interesting.

Finally, Jo Nesbo, usually a favorite, had a rare miss with Macbeth, according to our next Nevermore member.  The book is a part of a series in which well-known authors reimagine Shakespeare’s works.  This version is indeed set in Scotland, where Duncan is chief of police, trying to combat drug lords. Our reader said it was slow going with small print and just didn’t have the appeal of some of Nesbo’s other works, such as The Snowman.

Nevermore: Midnight Sun, Behind Closed Doors, The Smear, Mortuary Technician, Brothers of the Sea, Eaters of the Dead

Reported by Jeanne 

Nevermore started the week with a review of Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo, an award-winning Norwegian author best known for his Harry Hole mystery series.  This standalone novel features Jon, a hitman who is fleeing a vindictive employer known as the Fisherman. He finds a sanctuary of sorts in a small village where he also finds himself becoming emotionally attached to a widow and her son.  But Jon—known to the villagers as Ulf—knows that it’s just a matter of time before someone will come looking for him. Our reviewer enjoyed it, and gave it four out of five stars.  He especially praised Nesbo for his ability to create complex characters.

Behind Closed Doors, a debut novel by B.A. Paris, also won praise from its reader.  Grace and Jack appear to the be the perfect couple, but appearances are deceiving in this domestic thriller.  Our reader said it featured a psychopath with amazing nasal abilities—this person could smell fear—and that it’s a good page-turner.

The Smear by Sharyl Attkisson takes a behind the scenes look at how political campaigns, spin doctors, and special interest groups all try to shape the news to influence the public, especially voters.  Our reviewer said that while it was not fast reading, it was interesting.

More engaging was the next nonfiction selection, Down Among the Dead Men:  A Year in the Life of a Mortuary Technician by Michelle Williams. While the book could be a bit graphic at times, it’s a fascinating look at what goes on behind the scenes at a hospital mortuary.  Learning the causes of death, dealing with funeral homes, and some of the more unusual –um—clients make for engrossing reading.  Our reviewer did say that since the author was English a number of British expressions appear in the book but that didn’t detract from her enjoyment.

The 1966 novel Brothers of the Sea by D.R. Sherman is set in Seychelles when a boy and his father struggle to survive. Fifteen year old Paul is saved by a dolphin and the two form a deep friendship. The reader said this was a great book, and it was one of the saddest stories he’d ever read.

Finally, Michael Crichton’s early novel The Eaters of the Dead made quite an impression on one member.  Based on the writings of an Arab traveler around 921 A.D. and drawing from Beowulf, the story revolves around a band of Vikings who have to fight a mysterious monster. Our reader was most taken with the descriptions of Viking life and found the book to be “fascinating.”

Nevermore: Midnight Sun, Small Great Things, How Will I Know You, and One Foot in Eden

 Reported by Kristin

Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo was then praised as one of the author’s best books.  Ulf is hiding from a most dangerous drug lord called the Fisherman.  In the frozen far north, Ulf is taken in by a family deep in the woods.  The family allows him to stay in their cabin, gives him food, and even a weapon so that he may go out to hunt.  Our reader particularly liked the book because the story was communicated without showing a lot of graphic violence.

Nevermore continued with another novel:  Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult.  As usual, Picoult tackles difficult social issues in this gripping story of a labor and delivery nurse who saves a baby’s life when the child goes into cardiac arrest.  Most parents would be eternally grateful, but these parents are white supremacists who are not willing to have Ruth, the African American nurse, touch their baby.  The parents press charges, leading to a breathtaking trial.  Our reader said of Picoult, “She always has a zinger at the end.”

How Will I Know You? by Jessica Treadway takes place in a small town in New York where a high school senior is found dead.  What first appears to be a case of accidental drowning turns into a murder investigation when it’s discovered that she was strangled.  The local police chief suspects an African American graduate student who was having an affair with the girl’s mother.     The story is told from several different perspectives.  Our reader thought it was an okay book.

Last was One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash.  An Appalachian tale of crimes of passion set against a beautiful landscape, this Southern gothic murder mystery tells of love gone wrong.  Opening in the 1950’s but carried through to the 1973 dam construction and the subsequent flooding of the town, the story is told by various narrators.  Rash’s lyrical words created a strong story that our reader enjoyed very much.