Nevermore: Life in Death, Caravans, Rin Tin Tin

 Reported by Garry

Nevermore was a bit quieter than usual this week, but we still had some fascinating books brought to the table for discussion.

 

A Life in Death:  The True Story of a Career in Disaster Victim Identification is the memoir of Detective Inspector Richard Venables, a member of the UK Police’s Major Disaster Advisory Team. Starting in the UK in the 1980s, Venables utilized both his inherent interest in forensics and his luck (?) of being in the right place at the right time, and became a world-leader in the identification of disaster victims. Venable was on duty in 1989 at a UK soccer game when a human crush led to the deaths of 97 people and became known as the Hillsborough Disaster. Our reader noted how Venables taught the forensic skills that he had picked up to anyone that he was working with, which in turn increased their skills as police investigators. Our reader was fascinated with this book, and even knowing that forensics might not be everyone’s cup of tea, highly recommends it.

 

Caravans by James A. Michener was reviewed by two of our readers this week. Set just after World War II, this heavily researched novel provides an excellent background to the political situation in current day Afghanistan. Mark Miller is a young employee at the American embassy who has been tasked with locating a young American woman, Ellen Jasper. Miller tracks down Ellen’s husband, an Afghani engineer working on the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Helmand River, and finds that Ellen has run away from her marriage to join the nomadic tribes. Michener travelled to Afghanistan multiple times for research, and both of our readers pointed out that his descriptions increased their understanding of the events and locations in today’s news. Both readers very highly recommend this novel about a pivotal Middle Eastern country.

 

 

Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean is the history of one of the leading box office stars of the 20^th century. American soldier Lee Duncan discovered a newborn puppy in a bombed out kennel in France and smuggled “Rinty” back to the United States. Duncan trained Rin Tin Tin and with the help of a friend got film of the German Shepherd doing tricks. Duncan went door to door to the studios, trying to convince people that the dog could be a star, and with Warner Brothers he struck gold. Appearing in 23 movies, Rin Tin Tin became one of the biggest stars in the world and saved the Warner Brothers Studio from bankruptcy. According to our reader, this was the most fascinating book that she had ever read, and every paragraph in this book contained new information to her, making it an excellent read.

 

Also mentioned:

 

Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter

The Perfect Daughter by D. J. Palmer

Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano

Granta 155:  Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists 2 edited by Valerie Miles

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight

How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking Dog by Christina Hunger

A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones

America’s Painted Ladies by Elizabeth Pomada

Sisters on the Fly: Caravans, Campfires, and Tales from the Road by Irene Rawlings

Reviewed by Kristin

BPL Bingo makes strange bedfellows, or at least pushes some of us to read outside of our usual genres.  Try as I might, I couldn’t avoid a Bingo card with “Read a Book about Sports,” so I found a little book from the 796 section—Sisters on the Fly: Caravans, Campfires, and Tales from the Road by Irene Rawlings.

The Sisters are a nationwide group of women who like to travel, often in restored vintage trailers.  Some of the Sisters are into fly fishing, although some much prefer their fish breaded and fried, not slippery and wet.  Strictly speaking, the book includes much more about the socialization the women share, as well as the pride they take in restoring and decorating their trailers.

Sisters mentioned in the book are numbered, as the original group became Sister #1, Sister #2, Sister #3, and so forth, now numbering in the thousands with almost 5000 currently active members.  A variety of gatherings happen in all parts of the United States as the women enjoy camping, cooking, decorating, antiquing, and most of all—laughing—together.

The book even includes a chapter full of recipes, fishy and otherwise, enjoyed by the Sisters while on the road.  Cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens are heartily recommended, and some Sisters note that using cast iron serves a double purpose as a good arm workout.  

Presentation is important to many Sisters as well; beautiful table décor abounds as the women come together for meals.

“Cowgirl crafts” caught my eye with everything from simple applique dishtowels to loving quilts made for a Sister enduring a serious illness.  Scrapbooking keeps the memories alive as stories and songs are shared around campfires.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the creativity and caring shown within the pages of this book.  It’s much more than a fish story—for a great flavor of sisterhood, check out Sisters on the Fly.