Nevermore: Serena, Ministry of Time, Tell Me Everything

 

Nevermore 9-24-24

Reported by Rita

Serena: a Novel by Ron Rash

Traveling to the mountains of 1929 North Carolina to forge a timber business with her new husband, Serena Pemberton champions her mastery of harsh natural and working conditions but turns murderous when she learns she cannot bear children.

Beautifully articulated, thought-provoking, and powerful. I loved it.  – KN  5 stars

 

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

To establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also the fabric of space-time, a “bridge” who lives with, assists, and monitors the expat known as“1847” or Commander Graham Gore falls fervently in love with consequences she never could've imagined—ones that could change the future.

Funny at times, this was good escapism.    – MH     4 stars

 

Tell Me Everything: a Novel by Elizabeth Strout

While defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother, town lawyer Bob Burgess falls into a deep and abiding friendship with acclaimed writer Lucy Barton. Together, they meet the iconic Olive Kitteridge and spend afternoons in Olive's apartment, telling each other stories, which imbue their lives with meaning.

Many characters from other books make appearances. LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT!  Two thumbs up!  - CD    5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

By Any Other Name  by Jodi Picoult

 The Moonflowers by Abigail Rose-marie

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

The Maid : a Novel by Nita Prose

Lovely in Her Bones by Sharyn McCrumb

Staggerford by Jon Hassler

A Green Journey by Jon Hassler

Dear James by Jon Hassler

Holy City : a Novel by Henry Wise

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto

New Books

A Pair of Wings by Carole Hopson

Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova

Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood

Suffrage Song : the Haunted History of Gender, Race and Voting Rights in the United States of America by Caitlin Cass

Nevermore: Olive Again, Constitution, Symptoms of Being Human, This Is How It Always Is, Historian, Less

Reported by Jeanne

Nevermore opened with praises being sung for Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout.  The first book, Olive Kitteridge, was greatly enjoyed by the group (indeed, someone was currently reading it) and this second one is deemed a most worthy sequel. As with the first book, there are a series of connecting stories about the lives of ordinary people in the small town of Crosby, Maine.  Olive Kitteridge, a retired school teacher, is the link between them.  Olive is a wonderful creation. Blunt, stubborn, curmudgeonly, Olive is still very relatable.  Strout has a gift for creating characters who feel real and for infusing her stories with a deep humanity.  One reader commented that she found it amazing that Ms. Strout, who appears so young could write so movingly and realistically about old age.

How to Read the Constitution and Why by Kim Wehle is a very thorough examination of the U.S. Constitution.  Very. Thorough.  Word by word thorough. And not just the current meaning of some of the words but the historic meanings as well.  Our reader said it was good but slow reading.  She had heard the author speak and found her to be lively and interesting, but that didn’t really show up in the book.  It’s an important book on an important subject, but it was not engaging.

The next reviewer has been reading about the changing concepts of gender and sexuality.  In The Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin, Riley is a fourteen year old who is gender fluid.  Some days Riley feels more masculine, sometimes more feminine.  Riley dresses in a neutral style, but that doesn’t stop bullying by classmates.  To complicate matters further, Riley’s father is a congressman who is running for re-election in a very conservative district, so Riley’s questions of identity must be kept secret. This is a YA novel, so there is a good bit of teen angst but our reader still found it entertaining and informative.

Her second book was Laurie Frankel’s This Is How It Always Is which centers around a family with a child with similar issues, but at a younger age. Rosie and Adam have four sons—or so it seemed, but their youngest child, precocious Claude insists that he wants to be a girl when he grows up and wants to wear feminine clothing.The family accepts this, but problems arise as Poppy becomes old enough to attend school. (Kristin reviewed this book back in 2017.)

A new Nevermore attendee was enthusiastic about The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.  As the story opens, a young woman finds a dragon-emblazoned book which contains a collection of letters that seem to indicate the legendary Dracula is very real.  This launches a search across countries, with flashbacks to earlier time periods.  The reader said that the book bogged down somewhat in the middle, being packed with well-researched historical information.  There are some genuinely chilling scenes as well--another Nevermore member said she had put it down at times because it was so frightening.

Another character who sets out on an international adventure isn’t so much searching for something as avoiding a situation.  Andrew Less is a middle aged man whose younger lover has decided to marry someone else.  In a desperate attempt to avoid the ceremony, Andrew accepts every professional invitation he can and sets out on what will become an international journey and a voyage of self-discovery.  Our reader called Andrew Sean Greer’s novel Less funny and satiric, but also a poignant book about love.

Nevermore: Democracy, James Baldwin, Owen Meany, Elizabeth Strout, Patricia Harmon, Anthony Doerr

Reported by Ambrea

This week, Nevermore started out their conversation with a work of nonfiction titled How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.  Both Professors of Government at Harvard University, Levitsky and Ziblatt have long studied democracy and government in Latin America and Europe, respectively.  In their latest book, they take a long hard look at the breakdown of democracies across the world and give examples of how these governments have slowly slipped into authoritarianism—and how America can avoid the same fate.  Our reader shared How Democracies Die, saying it was an “interesting, insightful book.”  She noted it’s a bit on the short side, but it’s very easy to read and very enjoyable.  She recommended it highly to her fellow readers who enjoy a little side of politics with their history and government studies.

Next, Nevermore checked out Go Tell It on the Mountain, a compelling and emotionally charged novel by James Baldwin.  Semi-autobiographical, Go Tell It on the Mountain is a story featuring the life of John Grimes:  a young black man living in Harlem during the 1930s, who is merely trying to survive within the shadow of his violent, religiously fanatical stepfather.  Our reader stated Baldwin’s novel was “absolutely fantastic.”  After reading several of Baldwin’s other works, she picked up Go Tell It on the Mountain and she was thrilled by it.  “[It was] very good, very interesting,” she told her fellow Nevermore members.  “It is truly worth reading.”

Nevermore also checked out a couple of books from the library’s other book clubs:  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.  In All the Light We Cannot See, which was read by the BPL Book Club, Marie-Laure is a blind girl who lives in the seaside city of Saint-Malo and Werner Pfennig is a German soldier, a radio operator for the occupying Nazi force.  After an attack on the city, their paths cross in unexpected ways as they struggle to survive the carnage of World War II.  Our reader said she thought it was a good book, “but I didn’t like the way it was put together.”  She was enchanted by the story and she thought the characters were very well developed, but she wasn’t a fan of how time seemed to jump back and forth throughout the book.

In A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Wheelright becomes friends with a boy named Owen Meany.  Small, highly intelligent and possessing a “wrecked voice,” as the narrator states, Owen has an unusual story that John Wheelright feels compelled to recount—from the day Owen strikes a foul ball and kills John’s mother to the day he becomes “God’s instrument” in the most unexpected way.  Our reader has read John Irving’s novels in the past and she found A Prayer for Owen Meany to be an interesting addition to her list.  “It’s very moving,” she said, “but sort of tragic.”  She liked it overall, but she did admit to having some reservations.  She recommended it as a good novel, just perhaps not the best that Irvin has written.

Next, Nevermore stepped back into World War II with Once a Midwife by Patricia Harman.  In this novel, readers return to Hope River (a series by the same name) with Patience Hester, a trusted midwife who has helped her small town throughout the Great Depression.  But, with the United States poised on the precipice of joining a new war, Patience must find a way to support her family and fight for her husband who refused to return to war.  Our reader said she was quite pleased with Harman’s novel.  “It’s quite an evocative book,” she told Nevermore.  Moreover, it was interesting because it offered insight into the experience of rural, Appalachian towns and African Americans during World War II.  She continued, saying, “It’s a very neat little book.”  She highly recommended it to readers looking for something light and sweet to enjoy.

Last, Nevermore shared Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, which features a series of interconnected stories and returns with one of her most beloved heroines, Lucy Barton from My Name is Lucy Barton.  Our reader, who enjoyed Olive Kitteridge, picked up Strout’s latest book and quickly fell in love with it.  She has been switching between reading the book and listening to the audiobook, which she said has enriched her experience.  Overall, she has found the book to be a wonderful recreation of the human experience and she highly recommended it to all of her fellow readers, especially those who have already enjoyed Strout’s previous works.

Nevermore: Did You Just Eat That?, How Democracies Die, When the Lights Go Out, Daughters of the Lake, Alchemist's Daughter, Amy & Isabelle

Reported by Kristin

Nevermore is made up of a diverse crowd, some loving science, some digging into archeology, some solving mysteries along with books’ protagonists.  Sometimes someone will come in with a really fun book like Did You Just Eat That?: Two Scientists Explore Double-Dipping, the Five-Second Rule, and Other Food Myths in the Lab by Paul Dawson and Brian Sheldon.  Tackling those really tough questions brought up since the advent of microbiology, the authors examine just what kind of bacteria are out there and how they are spread.  Our reader said it was very fun, although now she shudders at the thoughts of how many germs are on restaurant menus.  Another reader said that at her age, if it hasn’t killed her yet….

A couple of different readers were trying to get through How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.  While touted as a comprehensive, enlightening and timely book (by the New York Times Book Review) our readers thought that the authors included perhaps too much information about the current political situation and left out some history about how the United States has previously helped to overthrow democracies in developing countries due to our own national interests.  While there is a lot of important information included, the consensus was that the authors did not do a good job of drawing it all together.

Another book club member read fiction this week, enjoying Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb.  Kate Granger is trying to regroup after her divorce, staying at a family home on Lake Superior.  When she discovers a woman’s body, she is shocked at the familiar face, known only to Kate herself.  The story moves forward and back in time, uncovering a tragic mystery from a hundred years ago.  Our reader was immersed in the ghostly sense of mystery and betrayal.

Fiction reading continued with Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout.  In this debut novel, a mother’s love and angst are on full display as her sixteen year old daughter Amy comes into her own sexuality.  Isabelle has secrets of her own that she would like to keep quiet in their small New England town.  Our reader claimed that this was well-written and she would recommend it to others.

Continuing the theme of daughters, this time a father-daughter relationship is explored with The Alchemist’s Daughter by Katharine McMahon.  In 1725, young woman Emilie Selden has followed in her father’s footsteps as a philosopher and alchemist.  But passion intervenes when Emilie falls in love with someone who may be the wrong man for her.  In London, Emilie’s life changes dramatically, and she learns more about the world than she ever knew in the English countryside with her father.

Finally (and still continuing the familial relationship plotlines,) another reader enjoyed When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica.  Twenty year old Jessie Sloane is devastated when her mother succumbs to cancer.  As she tries to find her way in a world without her mother, she finds that not all is as it seems, and she begins to question who she really is.  The story weaves back and forth from Jessie in her grief and sleeplessness to her mother Eden when she was a newlywed.  Our reader hinted at big plot twists and a shocking conclusion, but definitely recommended the book to her fellow readers.

Nevermore: Whipping Boy, Olive Kitteridge, Don't You Cry, and More!

Reported by Jeanne

Nevermore opened with Whipping Boy:  The Forty Year Search for My Twelve-Year-Old Bully by Allen Kurzweil which was described as “truth being stranger than fiction.”  At the age of ten, novelist Kurzweil  was sent away to a Swiss boarding school where he was terrorized by an older boy, leaving him with a life-long fixation about his tormentor.  As an adult, Kurzweil becomes determined to find the bully and to discover what became of him. As it turns out, the youthful tendencies did forecast adult behavior, as he finally encounters his bete noire who is, as it turns out, incarcerated. Our reader said it was about a sociopath who never took responsibility for anything.  It was a long book, but she persevered and finished it. 

The next two books were both by Dr. William Wright, about his experiences as a doctor for those incarcerated.  The first title was Maximum Insecurity:  A Doctor in the Supermax, in which the good doctor is burned out at his current job and accepts one at a prison instead.  By the second book, he has moved to what he thought might be a lower-key position as Jailhouse Doc: A Doctor in the County Jail. Our reader described both books as “eye-opening” and both funny and frightening. Prison culture is definitely different, an almost surreal environment.  Both books were recommended.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout was described as a fascinating collection of stories with common characters in each.  Olive, the central character, is teacher in the small town of Crosby, Maine, and while she could be described as “difficult,” she is also made human by the author’s insightful writing.  Our reader enjoyed the book greatly, and found herself surprised by the ending.

The next selection was a mystery thriller by Mary Kubica, a young author who burst onto the scene with the best-selling book The Good Girl. Her new title is Don’t You Cry, a riveting psychological thriller in which a young woman named Quinn discovers her roommate has gone missing, but has left behind a troubling letter and many unanswered questions.  Meanwhile, eighteen year old coffee shop employee Alex finds himself intrigued by mysterious new girl in town.  The story is told alternately from the points of view of both Alex and Quinn.  Our reader enjoyed the book as she had the two previous books by this author.  All are standalone novels.

Huck Scarry’s Aboard a Steam Locomotive:  A Sketchbook entranced another Nevermore member.  Scarry is actually Richard Scarry, Jr., son of the well-known children’s book author, and has continued some of his father’s work as well as branching out into his own interests.  This book contained beautifully detailed drawings of steam trains with information on the inner workings of such locomotives.  Our reader recommended it highly.

As We Are Now by May Sarton is the story of Caroline Spencer, an elderly woman who has been sent to a nursing home by her relatives.  There she is subjected to ill-treatment, humiliation, and cruelties to the point where she is nearly broken.  Our reader felt it was a very powerful book about an important topic.  She found herself extremely moved.

Mountains of the Heart by Scott Weidensaul is celebrating its 20^th anniversary with a new edition.  It is considered a classic work about the natural history of the Appalachian Mountain range from Alabama to Newfoundland.  Weidensaul discusses the flora, fauna, and geology in a style both entertaining and informative.  Our reviewer pointed out that very little of the book is given to discussion of the peoples of Appalachia, other than to explain human related changes to the environment.  Another reader pointed out favorite sections, such as the discussion of the near demise of the American chestnut tree.