Nevermore: Something for the Pain, Eli the Good, Heartwood

 Reported by Rita

 

Something for the Pain: Compassion and Burnout in the ER by Paul Austin

An ER doctor's memoir describes the psychological impact of his profession, explaining how his daily exposure to critical illness, injury, and tragedy in the industrial setting of a modern hospital rendered him bitter and estranged from his family.

So real. This book is the best medical book I've ever read. - DC 5 stars

 

Eli the Good by Silas House

In the summer of 1976, ten-year-old Eli Book's excitement over Bicentennial celebrations is tempered by his father's flashbacks to the Vietnam War and other family problems, as well as concern about his tough but troubled best friend, Edie.

Very detailed and beautifully written. It feels very autobiographical. - MD 5 stars

 

Heartwood by Amity Gaige

Heartwood takes you on a journey as a search and rescue team races against time when an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.

It is dramatic and cinematic with a cliffhanger ending. - AH 5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned: 

Hola Papi!: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer

My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende

Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell

Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World by Lynn Downey

Mind Games by Nora Roberts

A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson

Dance of the Four Winds: Secrets of the Inca Medicine Wheel by Alberto Villoldo

Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality by Michael J. Harner

The Indian's Secret World by Robert Hofsinde

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Lies on the Serpent's Tongue by Kate Pearsall

How to Rate a Cat: Rate Any Feline Friend from Their Boopable Nose to Their Sweet Toe Beans by Matthew McGlasson

 

New Books:

Mark Twain by Ron Chernow

Poets Square: a Memoir in Thirty Cats by Courtney Gustafson

Nevermore: Same Sun Here, Ghost Cat, Outside

 

Nevermore 10-15-24 Reported by Rita

Same Sun Here by Silas House

Bonding over commonalities in spite of disparate backgrounds, Meena, an Indian immigrant living in New York City's Chinatown, and River, the son of a Kentucky coal miner, become pen pals and overcome cultural misconceptions while sharing respective hardships.

This book is so good. Very enlightening.   – DC     5 stars

 

The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard

Follows a cat through his nine lives in Edinburgh, moving through the ever-changing city and its inhabitants over centuries.

Not a real literary feat, but fun and cute.    – VC     2 stars

 

Outside by Ragnar Jonasson

Stranded by a snowstorm in the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in an abandoned hunting lodge where they discover they are not alone, and must come to terms with their past to survive to see their future.

Very similar to Agatha Christie. Really good with a surprise ending.     – NH    5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Southernmost: a Novel by Silas  House

 Restless Spirits by Linda Dunning

Spirit Tailings by Ellen Baumler

The Lightness of Water & Other Stories by Rhonda Browning White

A Field Guide to the Apocalypse: a Mostly Serious Guide to Surviving Our Wild Times by Athena Aktipis

Roctogenarians by Mo Rocca

Blue-Eyed Butterfly by Sharon  Suskin

Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford

The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Story Collector by Evie Woods

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Ishida Syou

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams

 

New Books

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam

Guilty Creatures by Mikita Brottman

Nevermore: When Crickets Cry, Southernmost, Boys from Biloxi

 

Reported by Rita

When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin

It begins on the shaded town square in a sleepy Southern town. A spirited seven-year-old has a brisk business at her lemonade stand. But the little girl's pretty yellow dress can't quite hide the ugly scar on her chest. Her latest customer, a bearded stranger, drains his cup and heads to his car, his mind on a boat he's restoring at a nearby lake. The stranger understands more about the scar than he wants to admit. And the beat-up bread truck careening around the corner with its radio blaring is about to change the trajectory of both their lives. Before it's over, they'll both know there are painful reasons why crickets cry . . . and that miracles lurk around unexpected corners.

  Heartwarming and spiritual – couldn’t put it down.   – GP     5 stars

 

Southernmost: a Novel by Silas House

A natural disaster inspires an evangelical preacher to reverse his position about gay rights, a transition that ends his marriage and job, forcing him to take desperate measures to introduce his son to a more accepting world.

  One of the most beautiful books I’ve read.    - MD       5 stars

 

The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham

For most of the last hundred years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts, and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor, and drugs to contract killings. The vice was controlled by small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumored to be members of the Dixie Mafia. Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the sixties and were childhood friends and Little League all-stars. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith's father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to "clean up the Coast." Hugh's father became the "Boss" of Biloxi's criminal underground. Keith went to law school and followed in his father's footsteps. Hugh preferred the nightlife and worked in his father's clubs. The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom. Life itself hangs in the balance in The Boys from Biloxi, a sweeping saga rich with history and with a large cast of unforgettable characters.

Typical Grisham – enjoyable and easy to read.     – NH     4 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

Amazing Men: Courage, Insight, Endurance by Joyce Tenneson

Death on the River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Amazon Adventure by Samantha Seiple

The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoèe Schlanger

The Books of Jacob: Across Seven Borders, Five Languages, and Three Major Religions, Not Counting the Minor Sects  by Olga Tokarczuk

 

New Books

 

Container & Small-Space Gardening for the South: How to Grow Flowers & Food No Matter Where You Live by Barbara W. Ellis

Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall

Let us Descend: a Novel by Jesmyn Ward

Our Favorite Books Read in 2023: Rita and Tonia

 

Rita

 

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz - This is a book that I have read multiple times. I find the insights to be enlightening, and I manage to take away something new with each read. 

 

Baggage by Alan Cumming - This is a very intimate look into the life of the Hollywood actor. He shares the tragedies and adversities he has overcome as well as many joyous moments. It is a very personal look at how life events shape the person one becomes.

 

Dolly Parton, Songteller by Dolly Parton  - I highly recommend listening to the audiobook and hearing the stories from Dolly herself.  It reads like the ultimate liner note with all of the stories behind the songs and the inspirations and influences. I believe this book is not just for fans of Dolly Parton, but for fans of music in general.

 

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boyle - I was, at first, drawn in by the abundance of amazing facts about bees. There is a wealth of knowledge about honeybees and beekeeping throughout the novel, but it also a story of love and acceptance woven into a murder mystery. With good character development and surprising twists, this book really held my attention.

 

Where the Deer and Antelope Play by Nick Offerman - There is a lot to enjoy in this book, from historical facts about the creation of the National Parks to humorous and often irreverent observations about the human spirit. Nick Offerman tells of three different trips taken across the country. One of those trips included Jeff Tweedy from the band Wilco and American writer George Saunders. I cannot read a Nick Offerman book without laughing out loud, and this was no exception.

 

Tonia

1.       Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

2.       The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson

3.       Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

4.       The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

5.       Messy Roots by Laura Gao

6.       The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

7.       At The Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft

8.       The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

9.       The Devil Wears Scrubs by Freida McFadden

10.   We Used to Live Here by Daniel Hurst

11.   The Coal Tattoo by Silas House

12.   The Crossroads at Midnight by Abby Howard

13.   Ikigai by Hector Garcia Puigcerver

14.   Eerie Tales from the School of Screams by Graham Annable

15.   Pattern Behavior:  The Seamy Side of Fashion by Natalie Kossar

Nevermore: Read My Pins, Clay's Quilt, Once There Were Wolves, Beartown

 

Reported by Garry

 

Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box by Madeleine Albright. Part illustrated memoir, part social history, Read My Pins provides an intimate look at Albright's world-spanning bureaucratic life through the brooches she wore. Her collection is both international and democratic—dime-store pins share pride of place with designer creations and family heirlooms. Included are the antique eagle purchased to celebrate Albright's appointment as secretary of state, the zebra pin she wore when meeting Nelson Mandela, and the Valentine's Day heart forged by Albright's five-year-old daughter. Read My Pins features more than 200 photographs, along with compelling and often humorous stories about jewelry, global politics, and the life of one of America's most accomplished and fascinating diplomats. Our reader said that this book is “really beautiful” and full of stories that go along with the reasoning of why Albright wore what pins she did and at what times.  KM

 

Clay’s Quilt is the debut novel of now-bestselling author Silas House. Set in the rural hollers of Free Creek, Kentucky, this novel features Clay Sizemore who is a motherless young man in his mid-twenties who falls in love with Alma, a vibrant young woman on the run from an abusive husband. Our reader pointed out that even though Clay is the nominal main character, this novel particularly focusses on the women in his life and their effects on him as well as their struggles. House’s prose is very realistic in its descriptions of the small Eastern Kentucky towns that he set this book along with its two companion books The Coal Tattoo and Parchment of Leaves. House grew up in Eastern Kentucky, and our reader noted how very well developed and believable the characters are in this book.  AH

 

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy is a modern-day murder mystery set in the wilds of the Scotland highlands. Inti Flynn is a biologist who is in charge of reintroducing grey wolves to the Highlands – a task met with skepticism and fear by the local farmers. Inti’s belief that “her” wolves would never hurt a human are put to the test when a local farmer ends up dead in what looks suspiciously like a wolf attack. As Inti joins the investigation, it quickly becomes clear that the man she is falling in love with may also be a prime suspect in the slaying.  BM

 

Beartown by Frederik Backman. Loyalty to friends, duty, and the burden of truth collide in this character study of the people of a slowly dying Nordic town. The Beartown high school hockey team is poised to go to the World Championships when one of the star players rapes a young woman. The ramifications ripple through the town, leaving confusion, distrust, and anger in their wake. Backman, whose book A Man Called Ove is considered a modern classic, brings his trademark wit, insight, and pathos into the mindset of the characters that populate his hockey obsessed small, northern town.  MP

 

Also mentioned:

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama

Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father by Sally Cabot Gunning

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

The Ugly Little Boy by Isaac Azimov and Robert Silverberg

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson

The Gulag Archipelago Volume 1: An Experiment in Literary Investigation by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The Lightness of Water and Other Stories by Rhonda Browning White

Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings by Kenneth R. Ginsburg

2018 World Almanac edited by Sarah Janssen

The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart

The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C.J. Archer

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls edited by Jessica Spotswood

In The Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians by Jake Page

Manufacturing Consent: The political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

 

New Books:

Our Best Intentions by Vibhuti Jain

Two Wars and a Wedding by Lauren Willig

Lone Women by Victor Lavalle

Tremors in the Blood:  Murder, Obsession, and the Birth of the Lie Detector by Amit Katwala

The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet's Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence by David Waldstreicher

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Reviewed by Christy

            Miranda Silver has pica, an eating disorder where the victim feels compelled to eat nonedible items – such as chalk or plastic bits from a spatula, both favorites of Miranda’s. After her mother dies when she is only sixteen, Miranda’s condition worsens and neither her father nor her twin brother can help her. So she is sent away to get better. When she returns (not fully recovered), her family welcomes her home as does the house itself. The house is conscious and favors the women of the Silver family, although it does not take kindly to any strangers within its walls . . . and it has ways of making its displeasure known.

            This book has been on my to-read list for a few years, and after finally tackling it, I have to say I’m a little disappointed. The prose itself is lovely, and I can see why people enjoy Oyeyemi’s work. It has a very dreamy, fairy tale-like feel. But I think the style is just a little too abstract for me. The story meanders along without much happening, and it became a struggle to read at times. Points of view switch frequently but there is never any indication of whom is speaking so the reader must rely on context clues. Which for me meant going back and reading the passage from the beginning once I knew who was narrating. It was tedious. I never really became invested in the characters, and I felt as if I was being kept at a distance the whole time.

There are bright spots, however. The horror elements and anytime the narrative switches to the point of view of the house are especially well done. I think the unusual prose really lends itself to those moments and shines. Overall, it may just come down to personal taste but I like my stories just a little more straight forward. There is no denying, however, that Oyeyemi writes beautiful prose.