Nevermore: Lighting the Way, Toxic Designs, Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum

 

Nevermore 5-19-26             Reported by Rita

 

 

Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America by Karenna Gore Schiff

Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who was born a slave and fought against lynching; Mother Jones, an Irish immigrant who organized coal miners and campaigned against child labor; Alice Hamilton, who pushed for regulation of industrial toxins; Frances Perkins, who developed key New Deal legislation; Virginia Durr, who fought the poll tax and segregation; Septima Clark, who helped to register black voters; Dolores Huerta, who organized farm workers; Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias, an activist for reproductive rights; and Gretchen Buchenholz, one of the nation’s leading child advocates. Gore Schiff delivers an intimate and accessible account of the nine trail-blazing women who deserve not only to be honored but to have their example serve as beacons.

It was educational yet easy to read. Very well-written.      -KM      4 stars

 

Toxic Designs by Kristi Holl

Nothing hits as close to home as having a loved one get sick, which means double trouble for Kate Stevens when her daughter, Vanessa and her best friend, Vivi Lawrence, both become deathly ill within hours of each other. Vanessa is home for two weeks over summer break, and a shared meal between the three of them seems to be the source of the food poisoning. But why doesn't Kate herself become ill? Is it just luck, or is something more sinister afoot? Kate becomes all the more suspicious when Vivi has several recurrences of illness, and doctors cannot find the cause. Kate is sure that someone is out to harm -- or worse, eliminate -- her friend, but no one will listen to her protestations, not even Vivi.

I thought it was kind of trite - it felt juvenile.      -BH       3 stars

 

The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum by Valerie Wilson Wesley

At the darkly glamorous height of the Roaring 20s, an independent Black intellectual and her bi-racial foster child are immersed in the vibrant world of the Harlem Renaissance – and a shocking murder on Striver’s Row.

It's very well-written. The language is wonderful.    -AH        5 stars

 

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

 

Victor T. Vulture by Roger Jones

Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam

Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

The Amazing Mrs. Polifax by Dorothy Gilman

 

 

New Books

 

Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-than-Human World by Brandon Keim

Rasputin: The Downfall of the Romanovs by Antony Beevor

A Terrible Intimacy by Melvin Patrick Ely

Nevermore: Cleopatra, Girl in Duluth, Best American Science and Nature Writing, Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven

 

Reported by Garry

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff is the biography of one of the most famous women in history. Cunning, ambitious and utterly cutthroat in her pursuit of power (she waged a civil war against one brother, poisoned another and had her sister killed), she was one of the most powerful women in the Middle East, forging ties with the Roman Empire that still echo today. Schiff utilizes classical sources to reconstruct the life (and death at age 40) of this fascinating icon of history.  SH

The Girl in Duluth by Sigrid Brown tells the harrowing story of June Bergeron – an 18 year old whose mother has disappeared. Fearing the worst, June investigates the disappearance and is pulled into the dark, violent underbelly of northern Minnesota, and her own family’s dark secrets. This tight-paced thriller really captivated our reader who stated that the characters are particularly well-written and relatable.  MS

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2021 edited by Ed Young. “Excellent. Absolutely excellent.” was the review by our reader. In this compilation of the best science and nature articles written in the US in 2020, editor Ed Young has curated a collection that spans three broad topics: Contagion, Connection, and Consequences. Our reader has been a fan of this series of compilations for quite some time and states that this collection of articles ranks up there with the best.  CD

The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven are a duology by Barbara Kingsolver that follow the story of Missy, a spirited young lady from poor, rural Kentucky, who decides to get away and change her life. Changing her name to Taylor is the first step. Driving to Tucson, Arizona is the second. Life has other plans for her, though, as within hours of arriving in Tucson, she is handed a 3-year-old Cherokee girl named Turtle. Taylor adopts the young girl and settles in Tucson, setting roots where she did not intend. When a lawyer for the Cherokee nation starts to investigate the (highly unorthodox) adoption of Turtle, Taylor and Turtle’s new life begins to crumble.  MH

Also mentioned:

Just Came for the Donuts – NH    (   :D   )

Valley of the Amazons by Noretta Koertge

Why Nations Fail:  The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty by Darren Acemoglu and James Robinson

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier

Out of Istanbul:  A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road by Bernard Ollivier

Picking Cherries

Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir by Rebecca Caroll

Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

The Regulators by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)

The Sweet Remnants of Summer by Alexander McCall Smith

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan

Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks

Trashlands by Alison Stine

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins

The Codebreaker’s Secret by Sara Ackerman