Nevermore: Us Against You, She Come By It Natural, Ship Beneath the Ice, Wings of Gold

Reported by Garry

 

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman is the direct sequel to Beartown reviewed last week. This novel follows the story of the town and its attempt to re-build their championship hockey team after the events of the first novel. Backman is a master at building realistic, rounded characters and placing them in situations where they grow, change, and learn. Our reader noted that this book is just as character driven as Beartown,and is looking forward to finishing the trilogy with The Winners.  MP

 

She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh. Dolly Parton is a national icon not only for her music but for her business acumen, philanthropy, acting, and heart. Country music provided the soundtrack to Smarsh’s childhood growing up in rural Kansas, and no artist was more influential and prominent than Dolly Parton. Parton sings songs about growing up poor but proud and resilient, and Smarsh examines the impact that Parton has had (and continues to have) on generations of female artists and on the culture of America overall in this fascinating look at one of the most prolific musical artists of the past 50 years.  AH

 

The Ship Beneath The Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance by Mensun Bound tells the story of his rediscovery of the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated ship that was trapped by and sunk in the ice of the Antarctic in 1914. Shackleton and his men had made the trip from Norway in the 144-foot wooden boat in order to become the first explorers to transit from sea to sea via the South Pole. The unpredictable Weddell Sea ice trapped and crushed the ship, stranding Shackleton and his crew of 27 on the sea ice until they could make their way to Elephant Island where they eventually were rescued. The Endurance itself sunk without a trace into the ice and remained a near-legendary wreck until its rediscovery in 2022, just shy of 10,000 feet below the surface. In a fitting coincidence, the day the wreck was found was also exactly one hundred years from the date of Shackleton’s death. This inspiring modern-day adventure narrative captures the intrepid spirit that joins two mariners across the centuries—Shackleton and Bound—both of whom accomplished great things.  CD

 

Wings of Gold: The Story of the First Women Naval Aviators by Beverly Weintraub. In this incredibly well written biography of the first women allowed to fly for the Navy, the ridiculous limitations on females in the Navy are laid bare. For example, women could be naval flight instructors but were not allowed to land planes on aircraft carriers, yet ironically were still allowed to train the men who could land on the carriers. Weintraub herself is a licensed pilot and uses her insights to aid her writing. Our reader was truly impressed by the tenacity and drive that these patriots showed,and was especially impressed that they foresaw the road that they were paving for those coming after them.  KM

 

Also mentioned:

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indiginous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli

At Home In Mitford by Jan Karon

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

The President and the Freedom Fighter: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Their Battle to Save America's Soul by Brian Kilmeade

Veiled in Smoke by Jocelyn Green

Run, Rose, Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

The Vote by Sybil Downing

 

New Books:

Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People, and Innovations That Feed Us by Smithsonian Institute

The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England by Joanne Paul

The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

Where We Meet the World: The Story of the Senses by Ashley Ward

Nevermore: Bring Me Back, Restless Wave, Salt Lane, Dear Mrs. Bird, Us Against You

 Reported by Jeanne

Bring Me Back, a thriller by B. A. Paris, started off the Nevermore discussion this week. A dozen years have passed since Finn’s girlfriend Layla vanished at a rest stop and he was accused of her murder.  He was cleared and now he’s found happiness from an unlikely source:  Layla’s sister, Ellen. Not long after they become engaged, a mutual friend claims to have seen Layla, alive and well.  Items that had meaning to Layla begin to appear, and Finn has to wonder if Layla is still alive—or is someone playing a dangerous game?  Our reader was not happy with the resolution and wasn’t sure that she liked the characters.  

John McCain’s new book, The Restless Wave, was the next title discussed.  Our reviewer was quite impressed with it, saying that McCain expresses himself very well.  She felt the book and the man were both very inspirational. (Note:  this meeting was held before Senator McCain passed away.)

Salt Lane by William Shaw intrigued one of this week’s Nevermore attendees in part because of the strong setting:  the Kent coastline.  It’s quite a change for DS Alexandra Cupidi, who was transferred from the London Metropolitan police force to the sometimes stark countryside. While her teenage daughter Zoe finds solace in birdwatching, Alex is soon embroiled in a series of mysteries, starting with the discovery of a woman’s body in a drainage ditch.  Our reader enjoyed the book, and recommended it as a good, well-written mystery, with a strong sense of place.  

Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce introduces us to Emmeline Lake, a bright and eager young woman anxious to do her part in the war effort.  In London, 1940, that ends up being a volunteer telephone operator for the Auxiliary Fire Services.  She longs to be a war correspondent and jumps at the opportunity to take a position at a newspaper.  To her great disappointment, she is assigned the task of being a typist for the paper’s advice columnist, the renowned Mrs. Bird.  Mrs. Bird has very strict standards, which includes tossing any letters that contain Unpleasantness—i.e., real problems, such as not wanting to have children evacuated or confessions of infidelity.  Emmy secretly begins to respond to those letters, trying to give advice and comfort. If you’re looking for a light, entertaining book, consider this debut novel.

Finally, a reviewer reported disappointment with Fredrik Backman’s Us Against You. This is the second book set in Beartown, an isolated Swedish village whose pride and joy is its hockey team.   An incident involving one of the junior players leaves the team’s continued existence in doubt, even as the rival team from Hed—made up of former Beartown players—readies for what might be the last game.  Us Against You picks up where the previous book, Beartown, left off, but can be read as a standalone because Backman supplies enough information for new readers. However, our reader said she found it to be repetitious and she wasn’t engaged by the characters.  She also noted she doesn’t particularly like hockey.