Nevermore: Sociopaths, Rabid, Automobiles, Dogs, and More!

 Reported by Meygan

Nevermore opened with the discussion of Awkward Family Photos by Mike Bender. The book entails exactly what the title states—Bender takes random awkward family photos and compiles them into a book. The reader said the photos made her laugh out loud and that the book was a quick read. You can see more awkward family photos at www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com.

The Sociopath Next Door by Dr. Martha Stout was mentioned next. This book provides readers the overview of what a sociopath is and how sociopaths came to be. The Nevermore reader said the book is very informative and made her feel normal. She did say that a former president is mentioned as being a sociopath, which piqued the interest of several people in our Nevermore group. She also learned that 1 in 25 people are sociopaths, so the next time you are at a party make sure to examine the room. If you can’t find the sociopath, then it may be you.  Of course, I’m just kidding.

The same Nevermore member also read Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik. Author and journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy examine the deadly virus rabies. The reader reviewed the book last week and stated that she didn’t particularly care for Rabid. However, after she skipped a couple of chapters, she liked the book after all! She stated that there were several Amazon reviewers who wrote that they were totally bored by the book at first but after they skipped a few chapters just as she did, they found the book to be interesting.

Next was Helen MacDonald’s H is for Hawks, which is a true story. Helen is an experienced falconer, but it isn’t until her father’s death that she finds herself training a hawk. This book focuses on the ups and downs on MacDonald’s life, all while providing details about hawks. 

The Life of the Automobile: The Complete History of the Car by Steven Parissien was enjoyed by two of our Nevermore readers. One Nevermore member said the book was good but is chalked full of information and history about individuals in the car industry and who did what. He said he is reading is slowly in order to remember everything. He did say that he will make a timeline to help him remember all of the details. The other Nevermore member said it is a delight to read.

Car Wars: Fifty Years of Greed, Treachery, and Skullduggery in the Global Marketplace by Jonathan Mantle was also discussed by the same Nevermore member. He said that the title is true and that there are people in the car world who do not get along with one another. He found the book interesting and liked the history that the author provided along with the insight of everyone’s personalities. A piece of information that was especially interesting is that GM created better aircrafts for the Germans and not for the Americans during WWII. Of course, there were reparations for that after the war. This book is a great match for those who are interested in learning about the history of major car companies and the animosity among them. 

Moving the group from the discussion of vehicles to animals, a Nevermore member stated that she had finished Gregory Berns’ How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain. Berns researches to find out just how dogs do love human beings. In order to conduct that research, Berns had the dogs placed into MRI machines in order to have their brain scanned. Like military dogs are trained, these dogs were trained to remain calm while in the machine, even if the environment wasn’t that comfortable. The Nevermore member stated what makes this book so nice is that the writer is a sensitive person and that the pictures in it are beautiful. She also said that it is a story that left her feeling very happy!

Doll-Baby by Laura Lane McNeal was discussed this week as well as last week. The reviewer stated that it was a feel good story and that she liked it. She also likes that it tells about what living in the 1960’s was like. Another reader stated that the book is comparable to The Help by Kathryn Stockett. 

Last but not least, Michael Fullilove’s Rendezvous With Destiny: How Franklin D. Roosevelt and Five Extraordinary Men Took American Into the War and Into the World was discussed. The reader enjoyed this book, even though the title is not exactly the slant of the book. This focuses on the five men that Roosevelt sent on a dangerous mission to Europe in order to place them in the middle of WWII . The Nevermore member said it was beautifully written.

Nonfiction from Nevermore!

The readers of Nevermore Book Club have some non-fiction books to recommend:

Autopsy of War:  A Personal Memoir by John A. Parrish portrays the trauma of war and its lasting effects.  Parrish was a navy physician during the Vietnam War. He returned to the U.S. and appeared to be quite successful, but his emotional life was crumbling.  He was unable to bond with his family due to PTSD, and he began a downward spiral that nearly destroyed him. Parrish is brutally honest about the war as well as his own failures and successes. 

Rabid:  A Cultural History of the World’s Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy not only explores the history of this most feared disease, it examines the hold it has on human imagination.  The stories of werewolves may have had their origin in the history of rabies, a disease that can turn even a mild mannered creature into the stuff of nightmares. Even today rabies remains a dreaded and deadly disease.  Our reviewer said this book was like The Hot Zone by Richard Preston:  interesting, entertaining, and terrifying, all at once.

Cracking the Egyptian Code by Andrew Robinson is the fascinating story of how one man finally discovered the key to reading Egyptian hieroglyphics.  People had puzzled over the strange symbols for years but no one was able to figure out how to read them.  The 1799 discovery of the Rosetta Stone a stele  with the same inscription in Greek,  Egyptian demotic, and Egyptian hieroglyphs, seemed to promise a way to reading the ancient writing but it still took over 20 years before a young Frenchman named Jean-Francois Champollion, an extremely gifted linguist, was able to provide a translation.  It sounds simple enough, but the true story is strewn with political upheavals within France and international rivalries with other scholars.

Snow- Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835 by Jefferson Morley brings to life a little-known incident of racial tensions in the nation’s capitol.  As free blacks entered Washington, D.C. and abolitionist literature was being distributed, fears of a black uprising began to fester among part of the population.  The city’s District Attorney, Francis Scott Key—yes, the author of the Star Spangled Banner—decided to vigorously prosecute not the rioters, but two people he blamed for inciting the riots:  a young slave who threatened his owner with an ax and an abolitionist handing out antislavery material.  Besides Key, the cast of characters includes President Andrew Jackson, threatened owner Anna Thornton, free black restaurateur Beverly Snow, and Sam Houston.  The result is a riveting tale which vividly illuminates the era just before the Civil War.