Raven Report for July 12

Members of the Nevermore Book Club are reading all sorts of books this summer!  First up was Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, a fictionalized account of her grandmother's life.  If you want to understand the dysfunctional family from Walls' best-selling memoir The Glass Castle, by all means read Half Broke Horses.  Both books are unforgettable.

The Mullah's Storm  by Thomas W. Young is a thriller, set in Afghanistan. A plane transporting a radical mullah is forced down in the mountains during a winter storm.  Major Parson and Master Sergeant Gold must try to get their prison to a Special Unit team stationed nearby, but the Taliban are closing in.  Even though this is fiction, the details about the terrain and military operations ring true:  the author served in the Air National Guard in Afghanistan and has written several non-fiction books about the military.  This debut novel is getting rave reviews, including one from our book club reader!

Tom Clancy's Dead or Alive is a return to form for the best-selling author.  Fans will be glad to know that both Jack Ryan and his son, Jack Ryan, Jr. appear in this book, but you don't have to have read previous books to enjoy this one. Jack Jr. and his team are searching for the terrorist mastermind who has carried out successful attacks again the U.S. and its allies.  Clancy's co-author, Grant Blackwood,  has worked with another industry giant, Clive Cussler, and is a navy veteran to boot.  The expertise shows in this fast-paced thriller.

Hope Ladley travels from farm to farm, cooking for the men who come to help with the harvest in Forevermore by Cathy Marie Hake.  When Hope arrives at Jakob Staufer's farm, she finds a family in turmoil over the loss of Jakob's wife and their baby.  Jakob's remaining child, Emmy Lou, is suffering from night terrors after falling down a well and his sister in law is being abused by her husband.  Will Hope's sunny disposition and strong faith be enough to help this family heal?  This sweet and refreshing romance is just the thing for a summer afternoon!

A Red Herring Without Mustard

A Red Herring Without Mustard by C. Alan Bradley (F BRA Main & Avoca)

Reviewed by Jeanne

If you’ve already encountered the precocious Flavia de Luce, eleven year old chemist and sleuth, then it’s quite possible that just knowing there’s a new adventure has sent you to the shelves in search of this book. If you haven’t encountered Flavia before, then you’re in for a treat indeed.

As the book opens, Flavia is attending the village fete and having her fortune told by an old gypsy. When some of the predictions hit very close to home, Flavia panics and bolts the tent. Unfortunately, in so doing she turns over a candle and sets the whole tent aflame. Flavia does the only thing she can do in such a circumstance: she pretends she had nothing to do with the whole incident.

Anyone who had two sisters as positively beastly as Feely and Daffy would be tempted to do the same thing. They would never let Flavia hear the end of it if they have any idea she’s responsible. Besides, they would tell Father who might forbid Flavia from going to her beloved lab and conducting experiments. Better not to risk it.

Still, Flavia does feel rather badly about the whole episode, especially since the poor old gypsy doesn’t seem to have very much in the way of worldly goods. She offers the gypsy a place to park her wagon in near the family home as a way of apology. This good deed doesn’t go unpunished: when Flavia goes to visit her, she finds the old woman has been bludgeoned nearly to death.

Needless to say, Flavia is on the case at once and soon finds herself embroiled in a morass of motives from a stolen baby to copied antiques.

I’ve found all of Flavia’s adventures to be utterly delightful. The writing is sharp and peppered with entertaining references, the characters are enjoyable and the mystery is a true puzzle. Don’t be put off by the idea of a child sleuth: Flavia is an unforgettable heroine. If you like to read in order, I’ll list all the titles below but you don’t need to have read the others to enjoy this one.

1. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
2. The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag
3. A Red Herring Without Mustard

If you’re already a Flavia fan, you’ll enjoy this adventure. The good news is that the fourth Flavia book is scheduled for November 2011. The title is I Am Half Sick of Shadows. At one point, Bradley indicated there would be only five Flavia books. Here’s hoping he’ll reconsider!

Susan's Raven Report, July 5, 2011

Susan attended the post-Independence Day Nevermore Book Club. Here are some of the books discussed:


The Won Cause: Black and White Comradeship in the Grand Army of the Republic by Barbara Gannon

Truly a band of brothers. For every generation, the sacrifices and horrors of war create a special bond between veterans. After the Civil War, the largest Union Veteran’s group was the “Grand Army of the Republic” (GAR). Within that group were African American veterans along with their white counter-parts. This thoroughly researched book looks at the nation’s first interracial organization and the comradely that made it possible.

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg
A fun whimsical story set in Alabama by the indefatigable Fannie Flagg. Maggie Fortenberry, an aging former Miss Alabama keeps getting interrupted while planning her suicide. She has sixteen “perfectly good reasons to jump in the river” and only two reasons not to. Of course, hope is found – professionally and personally along with the excitement of solving a mystery.

The Beatles: the Biography by Bob Spitz
One moment in time, the music for a generation was defined by a band from England. Their story, from humble beginnings to the band’s final days is presented in this well researched biography. It humanizes the band and is written with a flair that lets the facts and characters speak for themselves. Their music created a new era in rock that sparked a cultural revolution.

Books in Brief: Bone Idle

Reviewed by Jeanne

In A Load of Old Bones by Suzette Hill we were introduced to the Rev. Francis Oughterard, a somewhat nervous vicar who wants nothing more than to live a peaceful life punctuated with good brandy, chocolates and a piano on which to bang out some tunes. This idyllic state of affairs is interrupted when Francis somewhat accidentally murders a particularly annoying parishioner and must try to conceal his involvement.  He's aided, unbeknownst to him, by the two pets he more or less inherited:  Bouncer the ever eager mutt who, as his name suggests, bounds about life with enthusiasm; and Maurice, the cat who fancies himself a sophisticate. Both see that they have a vested interest in keeping the vicar out of jail, else their food supply might be cut off or at least made less agreeable.

The series continued with Bones in the Belfry, in which Francis had to hide a bunch of stolen paintings or else his alibi might evaporate-- or at least be sent to prison.

I've just finished Bone Idle,  in which Francis is once again under suspicion, asked to commit a burglary, and is a party to fraud-- in other words, things are as usual in Molehill.  If you like madcap, silly humor and are willing to suspend disbelief, this might be a good choice.  I enjoyed it, though I think this one was a bit too over the top even for me in places.  My favorite remains Bones in the Belfry, but I'll be looking forward to the next in the series. There are at least two, Bones in High Places and the newly published Bedlam of Bones which some reviewers have described as the last of the series. 

Famous (and not so famous) Last Words

Famous last words, fond farewells, deathbed diatribes, and exclamations upon expiration compiled by Ray Robinson (082 FAM  Main)

Reviewed by Nancy

Well, this is just so interesting. This is what I say to myself so often when I find myself reading odd books. I must admit, I just love odd books. There was the book about being in jail, the book about sociopaths, the book about how people behave in crises, the books about UFOs, the book about... well, never mind. Anyway, this is a fun little book, and, yes, it's rather peculiar. Compiled by Ray Robinson, Famous Last Words gives us just that: deathbed utterances of some famous and some not so famous people.

In the introduction Mr. Robinson explains how it was that he came to be a collector of deathbed pronouncements, and how this preoccupation eventually resulted in the publication of his book.

Famous Last Words is quite readable, and chock full of interesting tidbits. For example, Mata Hari, the Dutch woman convicted of spying for Germany before the First World War, refused a blindfold and blew the firing squad a kiss just before she was executed. What she said before she died did not impress me much, but I think that kiss blowing is really something. If I were facing a firing squad would I be cheeky enough to blow anybody a kiss? I am happy to say we might never find out. If you ever hear that I am to be executed for something, please stop by for the execution. I will try to think of something entertaining to say or do.

Sometimes instead of being immersed in sorrow over the fact that whoever it was died, I find myself laughing myself off my chair. General John Sedgwick was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness during the Civil War. His last words were, "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist-."

It seems this tome might provide a rare opportunity for research if one considers the possibility that people who are "at death's door" might get a glimpse of what lies beyond death's door as they are about to pass through that door. Here's my imagined scenario.

Someone is on his/her death bed, not quite out of this world, not quite into the next. As this person is about to die, but not quite dead, the door to the afterlife slowly begins to crack open, so in that last second when they are still in this world, but about to enter the next they can see into that next world about which we are all so curious, and possibly report back to someone who is still struggling on this earthly plane WHAT IT IS THAT THEY SEE? WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE AFTERLIFE?

I thought I was really onto something in this vein when I turned to page three and read the quote of Thomas Edison's last words which were, "It's very beautiful over there." I must say I was a little let down when I read the text that accompanies the quote and discovered that he was looking out the window when he said it. So, did Mr. Edison mean it was very beautiful out in the yard, or did he mean it was very beautiful over there in Heaven, or Purgatory, or Nothingness, or Mezzanine, or Wherever?

Hmmmm.

Reading the rest of the book seemed to offer me no other insights regarding the afterlife, but the quotes are fun and the book is entertaining.

I would like to close by offering you one of the more interesting quotes. Actually, I'll offer two.

Carl Panzram was a convicted murderer. Just before he was executed he said, "I wish the whole human race had one neck and I had my hands around it."

Lady Astor, the first female member of the British House of Commons, died at the age of eighty-five. Shortly before dying she woke from sleep to find her entire family gathered around her bed. Her comment? "Am I dying or is this my birthday?"

Raven Report: June 28

 

Variety was the theme for the June 28 meeting of the Nevermore Book Club!  Recommended titles included:

Rumor of War by Philip Caputo is a memoir, not a history of the Viet Nam War.  As he says, it is “simply a story about war, about the things men do in war and the things war does to them.”   It was 1965, still early days of America’s involvement when a young and idealistic Caputo volunteered for the Marine Corps straight out of college. Nothing had prepared him for what was to come.  Rumor of War is considered one of the modern classics in war literature.  Caputo went on to become an award winning journalist and novelist.

Appalachian Spring by Marcia Bonta is a finely written, carefully observed natural history of the spring months in Pennsylvania.  She manages to convey not only information but a sense of wonder and even awe.  The writing is beautiful and evocative.  This is one of a set of four books, each set in a different season in the Appalachians.  Bonta is a well-known naturalist with many books and articles to her credit.

Bloody Kin by Margaret Maron is a mystery set in North Carolina.  Maron calls it the first “Colleton County” book because it’s set in the same county as her Judge Deborah Knott series but the Knott family doesn’t appear in this one.  (Dwight does, however.) Until this point,  Maron had set her mysteries in New York City with Sigrid Harald as the main character.  After her husband Jake dies in a hunting accident, new widow Kate Honeycutt moves to North Carolina to live on his family farm.  Jake’s family isn’t exactly welcoming to the Yankee outsider and soon Kate begins to wonder if Jake’s death was really an accident—or murder. .  Well developed characters, a good sense of place and a clever mystery are hallmarks of Maron’s work and this book is no exception.  Note:  Maron has said that Sigrid will make a guest appearance in a future Deborah Knott novel.

Also recommended was a DVD, “Get Low.”  Loosely based on a true story, the movie stars Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray.  Duvall plays Felix, a Tennessee hermit who decides to have his funeral before his death so he can enjoy it.  He also has a secret he wants to get off his chest. The cast was excellent and the movie very enjoyable, though our reviewer wanted to be sure folks knew it was not a comedy per se.  The real Felix died in 1943, five years after his “funeral.” The Nevermore Book Club meets each Tuesday at 11 am, with coffee and doughnuts from Blackbird Bakery.  Join us and let us know what you're reading!

Raven Report: History Rules!

The June 21 Nevermore Book Club had a distinctly historical flavor! The recent discussion of the new biography of Andrew Johnson had apparently inspired some members to read some fictional treatments about the Civil War:

Widow of the South by Robert Hicks is a novel based on a true event.  At the Battle of Franklin, 1864, over 9000, both Union and Confederate, lay dead.  Rather than have bodies plowed under, Carrie McGavock had nearly 1500 Confederate dead buried on her farm.  Told from several different points of view, including a Confederate sergeant and a Union lieutenant, this well reviewed first novel tells one of the many fascinating human stories of the war.

Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilters series has won her a legion of fans among both quilters and the sewing- challenged.  Several of her novels have had Civil War themes as does her newest, The Union Quilters.   Set in Pennsylvania, it follows the stories of a group of women whose men have gone South to fight, leaving their women to support each other during times of loneliness and hardship.

Bernard Cornwell is well known for his historical novels, including the Sharpe series which was set during the Napoleonic Wars and was turned into a television series.  He's also done novels set in other times and locations, including The Warlord Chronicles which is set in  Britain in King Arthur's time, The Grail Quest set in 14th century England and France, The Saxon Chronicles of King Alfred's day,   and  The Starbuck Chronicles, which is a Northern who goes to Virginia to fight for the South during the Civil War.

Last but certainly not least was Anna Porter's nonfiction work,  Kasztner's train: the true story of an unknown hero of the Holocaust.  Based on interviews with survivors as well as previously unpublished documents, Porter tells the story of a Hungarian Jew who managed to save thousands, yet was later accused of being a Nazi collaborator because of his dealings with some high level Nazis.