Nevermore: Show Girl, Tales of the South Pacific, Library of Legends, Lost Words

 Reported by Garry

The books brought to Nevermore this week ran the gamut from historical fiction to farce and romance to murder mystery. We always have a great selection of books to discuss!

 

 

The Show Girl by Nicola Harrison is a historical romance novel that follows the story of Olive McCormack, a young woman from the Midwest who moves to New York. She finds work with the world famous Ziegfeld Follies, a series of lavish reviews that were a mix of Broadway show and variety show. Headstrong and independent, Olive is set on becoming a star in the glamorous world of the Follies and throws herself into the grueling work of entertainment. Then she meets Archie Carmichael, a wealthy and handsome man who tolerates her worldly ways - until she accepts his marriage proposal and a devastating secret from her past comes to light. Our reader enjoyed this love story and recommends it for some light escapist reading.

 

Following up on last week’s Caravans, one of our readers took on Tales of the South Pacific by James A Michener. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel was Michener’s first published book and became the basis for the Broadway musical, South Pacific. Based on his observations of his co-workers and locals during his time on the island of Espiritu Santo (now known as Vanuatu), Michener’s book takes place during World War II and examines the cultural differences between the US Military, French colonial expats and the native population. Our reader says that this book is a very interesting look at the day-to-day life of overseas military personnel at the time, but that the book does not have the details that became Michener’s trademark.

 

The Library of Legends by Janie Chang is a beguiling historical fantasy novel loosely based on true events. In 1937, the Japanese army begins bombing mainland China in preparation for an invasion. Nineteen year old Hu Lian and her university classmates are ordered to evacuate from Nanking. They are also tasked with carrying with them the Library of Legends, a centuries old collection of folklore and myths central to Chinese society. Murder and magic haunt the convoy, and Lian’s own family history comes back to haunt her during the 1000 mile trek to the country’s interior. Our reader quite enjoyed this book with its deep appreciation of Chinese myth and history, and its well written, compelling characters.

 

One of the most beautiful and unusual books brought to the group is The Lost Words:  A Spell Book by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris. The 2007 edition of The Oxford Junior Dictionary deleted a number of words from its pages in order to make room for words young people use more commonly now, such as ‘blog’ and ‘chatroom.’  Among the words dropped were many from the natural world, like ‘bluebell’, ‘dandelion’, ‘acorn’, etc., that were considered “no longer applicable” to modern day children.This caused an outcry and resulted in the creation of this gorgeously illustrated “spell book” which the authors wanted to conjure these words back into the lives of children. Our reader loved this book and its beautiful, evocative illustrations, and was aghast at the thought that the natural-world related words had been removed from the dictionary. She feels that having the “lost words” highlighted in such a beautiful book goes a long way to helping re-wild the lives and imaginations of children who may never otherwise encounter a bluebell.

 

Also mentioned:

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

Second Glance by Jodi Picoult

Travels with George:  In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick

A Study in Crimson:  Sherlock Holmes 1942 by Robert Harris

The Cat Saw Murder: A Rachel Murdock Mystery by Dolores Hitchens

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Nevermore: Veronika, Plover, Dalai Lama's Cat, Once a Wolf, The Old Ways, The Nickel Boys

Reported by Kristin

Twenty-four year old Veronika looks like a successful young woman with much to live for, except that she feels differently, as the title tells us in Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coehlo. Our Nevermore reader explained that Veronika had been living a very shallow life, and after a suicide attempt she is put into an asylum where she discovers much about herself and others. Our reader noted that there is sometimes a very fine line between insane and “normal.” The novel was inspired by events in Coehlo’s own life.

The Plover, a novel by Brian Doyle, captured our next reader’s attention. Declan O’Donnell is on a journey to find a calm and quiet place away from other people. He sails into the ocean, but soon is forced back into human interaction. Our reader was charmed by the long, rambling descriptions of birds, fish, and the ocean in general.

David Michie has written a novel that certainly sounds like it could be non-fiction, The Dalai Lama’s Cat. With a bird’s eye view of the wide variety of characters who come to visit the Dalai Lama, the cat has wry observations on the nature of humanity flavored with Buddhist wisdom and compassion. Our reader said that the novel was an enjoyable journey about how we as humans live our lives and how we grow.

From cats to wilder animals, another book club member was immersed in Once a Wolf: The Science Behind Our Dogs’ Astonishing Genetic Evolution by Bryan Sykes. Amazingly, most dogs have a very narrow gene pool which still allowed the wide variety of breeds that exist today to develop. The evolutionary biology process is explained clearly by Sykes who is able to make advanced genetics understandable to most anyone.

Another reader took a metaphorical walk through The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane. From Liverpool to Palestine to Tibet, Macfarlane waxes poetical about old paths traveled by many other feet for thousands of years. Not just about the landscape, the author writes of his interactions with people along the way. Our reader said that sometimes the author could get a little dry, but she liked it anyway.

Lastly, we returned to fiction with the Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. In the early 1960s, young Elwood Curtis is hoping to attend the local black college in Florida, but is diverted instead through a series of circumstances to the reformatory The Nickel Academy. Meant to change the students from juvenile delinquents to upstanding young men, the staff viciously abuses the students. Based on a true story of a Florida reform school, this novel brings to light the horrendous treatment of young black men in the Jim Crow South. Our reader found the writing very good and highly recommends it.