Nevermore: Witches Abroad, Agent Josephine, Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois, Family Upstairs

 

Reported by Garry

 

Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett is part of the Discworld series but can be read as a standalone. Our reader absolutely loved this hilarious, irreverent fantasy set in the Discworld universe. Fairy godmother Desiderata has died, leaving her coveted wand to young witch Magrat Garlick but failed to leave adequate instructions on its use.   She did give Magrat strict orders to tell witches Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg that they definitely could not accompany Magrat on her mission to help a young woman NOT marry a prince. This of course ensures that they will insist on accompanying her to “foreign parts” to help. Fortunately, Nanny Ogg speaks foreign.  This utterly delightful journey takes them through any number of fairy tales and pays tribute to the power of story.  Our reader was kept in stitches and highly recommends this book. WJ

 

Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis. Entertainment icon Josephine Baker was much more than just one of the most beautiful women of her time.  She was an incredibly intelligent, driven and cunning Resistance fighter. Baker found fame and acceptance in France, where she became a super-star, until the Nazis seized Paris and banned her from the stage. Overnight she became a Resistance fighter and spy. Drawing on a trove of historical documents and research, Damien Lewis brings to light this lesser-known side of one of the world’s most iconic performers in a book that our reader (who loves WWII books) loved, and highly recommends to anyone who wants to know more about WWII.  ML

 

The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers is a multi-award winning novel that tackles the generational effects of slavery in America. Ailey Pearl Garfield is raised in the North but spends summers in the South in the small Georgia town that her family has inhabited since being transported there as slaves. W.E.B. Du Bois wrote that every African American possesses a “Double Consciousness” which they use to survive a culture biased against them and other people of color. Our reader says that she has never read anything that was so descriptive of the experience of BIPOC before, and states that this towering work of Black feminist historical fiction is definitely worth reading.  MH

 

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell.  Be careful what you wish for – you may just get it and more. Libby Jones is a 25-year-old Brit who does not know who she is. Her birth parents have been a mystery to her since she was found as a baby at the site of a horrendous murder – of which she was the sole survivor. She finds out not only who her parents are, but that she is the heir to a mansion in the heart of one of London’s most desirable neighborhoods, worth millions of pounds. She also finds out that she is not the only one with secrets that have just been revealed. Our reader says that this is a definite page-turner and stayed up WAY too late reading it.

 

Also Mentioned:

 

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

The U.S. and the Holocaust by Ken Burns on PBS

Birds of America: A Novel by Mary McCarthy

Red Shirts by John Scalzi

Ducks Overboard by Markus Motum

Moby Duck:  The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn

The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II by Buzz Bissinger

D (A Tale of Two Worlds) by Michel Faber

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way

Bunnicula (Graphic Novel) by James Howe

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale

Path Lit by Lightning the Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss

Nevermore: Ward, Adichie, Carter, Kelly, Sides, Lewis

Reported by Ambrea

This week, Nevermore kicked off their meeting with Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward.  Jojo is thirteen-years-old and struggling to understand what it means to be a man.  With an incarcerated father, a drug-addicted mother, and an absent grandfather, he’s trying to learn and survive; luckily, he has his mother’s father, Pop, to teach him—and the ghosts from the past to help him learn.  Our reader said Sing, Unburied, Sing was a beautifully written novel.  “It’s a beautiful book about a young boy going through turmoil...it’s a story of survival,” she commented.  She thoroughly enjoyed it and she highly recommended it to her fellow readers.

Next, Nevermore checked out Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which tells the interweaving stories of Ifemelu and Obinze.  Ifemelu and Obinze, a young couple who fall in love military-ruled Nigeria, decide to leave their homeland in search of better lives; however, when Ifemelu reaches America, their plans are derailed and they find themselves separated by a vast ocean.  Our reader originally picked up the book, because it appeared on a list of favorite books from Barack Obama.  Sadly, she found she did not enjoy Americanah as much as the former president.  She thought it could have been a good book, but she found she wasn’t a fan of the main character, Ifemelu.  Although it was a well-written book, she said it wasn’t her cup of tea and she was content with leaving it unfinished.

Switching gears to nonfiction, Nevermore also took a look at Invisible:  The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America’s Most Powerful Mobster by Stephen L. Carter.  In this book, Carter explores the extraordinary life of his grandmother and America’s first black female prosecutors, Eunice Hunton Carter.  Eunice became involved in the arrest and prosecution of Lucky Luciano, one of the most powerful mob bosses in history, and was integral to devising strategies and piecing together information that would see the mobster behind bars.  Our reader said she was a little ambivalent about the style and writing of the book; however, she noted the story was great and she loved the concept.  Although she wasn’t a fan of some of the speculation the author makes, she found it to be an interesting book and recommended it to her fellow history buffs.

Next, Nevermore shared Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly, author of The Lilac Girls.  In Lost Roses, readers meet Eliza Ferriday and Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanovs.  Together, the duo explore Russia on the trip of a lifetime—until Austria declares war on Serbia and Russia’s imperial dynasty begins to crumble.  Our reader, who previously enjoyed The Lilac Girls, found Lost Roses to be a bit of a disappointment.  She said the characters were not likable people.  “It was way into the back [of the book] before you even like them,” she told her fellow readers.  Despite being closely based on history, the story felt terribly contrived and uninteresting.  She did not recommend it.

Returning to nonfiction, Nevermore explored Hellhound on His Trail:  The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History by Hampton Sides.  On April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorrain Motel—and promptly fled to Canada and then England.  His actions spurred one of the largest manhunts in the history of North America and a media frenzy.  Our reader said Sides book was incredibly well researched and absolutely fascinating.  “It gives you context [for the time period],” she told her fellow readers.  It was also a fascinating account of James Earl Ray that offered glimpses into his history, as well insight into the Civil Rights movement.

Nevermore rounded out their meeting with another nonfiction book, The Improbable Wendell Willkie:  The Businessman Who Saved the Republican Party and His Country, and Conceived a New World Order by David Levering Lewis.  Wendell Willkie was an American businessman, who rose to prominence as the Republican candidate for president in 1940.  Although he would ultimately lose to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Willkie would gain a foothold in and help revitalize the Republican party with new ideas, including civil rights reform, internationalism, and more.  Our read found Lewis’s book to be very interesting.  She noted it had lots of footnotes—much more than she expected, she admitted—and it would sometimes grow a little wordy and dry; however, she enjoyed it overall and she recommended it to readers with an interest in World War II politics.

Nevermore: Homes, A Goddess, Lady First, Biden, Mama's Last Hug

Reported by Christy

First up, we had Homes: A Refugee Story by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah with Winnie Yeung.  Homes tells the story of the al Rabeeah family and their journey to Syria from Iraq for a safer life – just before the Syrian civil war broke out. Though our reader thought it was a little biased in favor of Sunnis, she also found it intriguing and the descriptions of hearing a war advancing “block by block” memorable.

Our next reader picked up Norman Lewis’ A Goddess in the Stones: Travels in India. Lewis traveled to India and hoped to record as much as he could about the tribal colonies there. Our reader admired the beauty of the writing and Lewis’ sympathy for the native people.

Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk by Amy S. Greenberg is a biography of the wife of President James K. Polk. Sarah Polk, unlike other women of her time, was raised to discuss politics and business. She was also a trusted confidant and advisor to her husband during his presidency. Polk lived for many years after her husband died, and devoted her life as a widow to being a hostess. However, our reader wasn’t entirely sure her story was worth a biography.

Joe Biden’s Promise Me, Dad is a memoir of the months leading up to and following the death of his son Beau from brain cancer. Though our reader had not finished it yet, she admired the family values espoused in the book and called it a “must read."

In Mama’s Last Hug by Frans de Waal, de Waal explores the rich emotional complexity of animals by discussing facial expressions and animal sentience among other topics. Our reader found it moving and “really interesting.”

Nevermore: Sinclair Lewis, Trinity, Fatal, Lafayette, Lessons for Living, and The Brain

Reported by Ambrea

Nevermore started our meeting off with a review of It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis.  Written during the Great Depression, It Can’t Happen Here is a political satire about, as the cover states, “a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press.”  Shocking and unexpectedly timely, It Can’t Happen Here proved to be a hit for Nevermore.  Our reader enjoyed Lewis’ novel immensely.  She noted it was incredibly well written with such an amazing story, but she said she also found it surprisingly predictive.  Despite its age, she thought It Can Never Happen Here could happen at any place at any time.

Next, Nevermore took a look at Trinity:  A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm.  An interesting and gripping debut, Trinity recounts the history of the atomic bomb from its inception in a laboratory to its eventual detonation at Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.  Our reader said he found Trinity incredibly interesting.  “You get the whole process [of the construction of the bomb],” he told his fellow members.  Most notably, Fetter-Vorm’s debut documents both the history and the science of the atomic bomb.  It doesn’t just focus on its implications in WWII; rather, it looks at the wider reaching effects on the rest of the world and delves in deep to the tiniest details, like how silver from Fort Knox was used to help build the original bomb and how scientists eventually picked Los Alamos for their original experiment.

Nevermore also shared Fatal by John Lescroart, a thrilling and terrifying story of an innocent crush turning into a dangerous obsession.  Kate and her husband, Ron, have a perfect life:  a wonderful marriage, lovely children, and a beautiful home in San Francisco.  But when Kate meets Peter, her perfect world starts to fray at the edges—and one mistake has graver consequences than she ever anticipated.  Our reader said Fatal was a dark, ambiguous story that he couldn’t put down.  He described the story as a bit like “chasing rainbows,” in that it always left him guessing and striving to catch the thread of the narrative.  “And the ending is quite surprising,” he said.

Switching gears back to nonfiction, Nevermore explored The Brain That Changes Itself:  Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge.  Not so very long ago, The Brain’s Way of Healing:  Remarkable Discoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity made the rounds at Nevermore; this month, Doidge made a triumphant return with his first book.  In The Brain That Changes Itself, Doidge discusses the ability of the brain to change as the title suggests.  Each chapter is dedicated to a specific scientist or researcher in neuroscience, offering interesting insight into neuroplasticity and human nature.  Our reader said she was fascinated by Doidge’s book.  She noted it was not an easy read, admitting it’s “rather dense,” but she said it was a fascinating look at science and human kind’s ability to recover, adapt, and change.

Next, Nevermore dived into history with a look at Sarah Vowell’s Lafayette in the Somewhat United States.  Vowell’s book chronicles the career of General Lafayette as he spent years helping Washington build up, supply, and protect his Revolutionary army, as well as offers an amusing glimpse into the relationships and experiences of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Lord Cornwallis, and Benjamin Franklin.  Incredibly funny, irreverent, and witty, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States was an immediate hit.  As a fan of Vowell’s other work—Assassination Vacation and The Partly Cloudy Patriot—our reader had high praise for her latest book.  She highly recommended Lafayette in the Somewhat United States; in fact, our reader said, “I recommend [Vowell] any time, [because she’s] always historical and hysterical.”

Last, but certainly not least, Nevermore checked out 30 Lessons for Living:  Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans by Karl Pillemer.  After meeting an extraordinary ninety-year-old woman, Pillemer began a quest to uncover what it is that older people know about life that, well, most of us don’t.  Pillemer interviewed more than a thousand Americans over sixty-five, collecting some of the most interesting, funniest, and poignant quotes about life and love and age.  Our reader really enjoyed 30 Lessons for Living, saying it was such an uplifting book.  It contained a multitude of wise quotes, offering an overwhelmingly optimistic look at life.  She highly recommended it, noting she wished she’d had such advice 20 years ago.