Nevermore: Ireland, Olive, Bush, This Is Where It Ends, Beloved Poison

Reported by Ambrea

This week, Nevermore kicked things off with a book by Frank Delaney titled, simply, Ireland.  On the eve of Halloween, Ronan O’Mara and his family spend three glorious evenings enthralled by the old Storyteller’s fables, falling in love with fascinating tales of foolish kings and magical folk and fabled saints.  Although the Storyteller eventually leaves them, Ronan never forgets the beautiful stories he was told as a child—and, once grown, sets off on a years-long pursuit of the Storyteller who so enchanted him with the stories and history of Ireland.  Our reader greatly enjoyed reading Delaney’s novel.  While she’d read it on another occasion, she said she was glad to return.  She loved the writing and she really, really enjoyed the Storyteller’s tales, saying his stories made Ireland an incredibly lovely book to read.

Next, Nevemore took a peak at Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.  Olive, a retired schoolteacher in Crosby, Maine, is at once intrigued and frustrated by the changes in her tiny town—perceptive of the needs of others, but ignorant to the desires of those closest to her.  A complex saga that spans the breadth of human experience, Olive Kitteridge is novel that not only tells the story of its main heroine, it tells the story of a town and its people who are day-to-day faced with the tragedies and triumphs of life.  Our reader was tickled with Strout’s novel, saying she absolutely loved it.  “I really identified with [Olive] in a lot of ways,” she told her fellow readers.  “She has this way of [enchanting you].”  Overall, she really enjoyed Olive Kitteridge and she highly recommended it to the rest of Nevermore.

As part of the Big Read event on the Tennessee READS website, one of our Nevemore readers decided to look at This is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp.  During a routine welcome speech by the principal of Opportunity High School, someone begins shooting—and, suddenly, things spiral out of control.  Told from the perspectives of 4 students caught in the midst of unspeakable violence, This is Where It Ends is a harrowing account of terror and survival.  Our reader said she didn’t really care for Nijkamp’s novel, because it’s very much geared toward younger readers, geared to appeal to readers who enjoy an adrenaline-packed storyline with very unlikely heroes.  “If you’re fourteen years old, yeah, definitely download it,” she offered.  “[But] it’s not really for older readers.”

Switching gears, Nevermore decided to take a long hard look at a former president with Bush by Jean Edward Smith.  In what the cover calls a “critical yet fair biography,” Bush recounts the presidency of George W. Bush and his efforts to shape foreign policy—and many of the consequences that came with it.  Highly detailed and thoroughly researched, Smith’s biography of the former president covers everything from Guantanamo, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, a number of financial crises, as well as political and economic decisions that reverberate in the government to this day.  Although our reader was fascinated by Bush, she said she was infuriated by it too and, eventually, had to return it without finishing.  It was, as she said, “too awful and frustrating” to read about the mistakes of the past.

Beloved Poison, a brand new novel E.S. Thomson, appeared at Nevemore and quickly garnered some rave reviews.  Jem Flockhhart works at her father’s apothecary, an observer of the day-to-day events at the crumbling, ramshackle St. Saviour’s Infirmary, but rarely a participant in the complicated social web of doctors, nurses, patients, and cooks.  However, when Jem stumbles across six tiny coffins—each filled with dried flowers and a bundle of moldering, bloody rags—she finds herself pitted against the secrets of St. Saviour’s, caught up in a mystery that spans her lifetime and opens old wounds with deadly consequences.  Grim, haunting, tragic, Beloved Poison is a dark tale that twines through the murky depths of London and dives deep into the dark heart of the medical profession.  Our reader was immediately enthusiastic about Beloved Poison, saying it was a fascinating book that piqued her interest from the first page and enchanted her with each subsequent chapter.  She highly recommended it to her fellow readers, noting that, while it’s sometimes difficult to stomach, it’s a complex and richly detailed historical novel that’s well worth reading.

Last Night, A Superhero Saved My Life

Reviewed by Ambrea

Last Night, A Superhero Saved My Life is a book about a cultural obsession, specifically a collective adoration of superheroes and all manner of caped crusaders.  Liesa Mignongna, the editorial director at Simon Pulse, collected essays from some of the most prolific names in the writing community—including Neil Gaiman, Leigh Bardugo, Brad Meltzer, Jodi Picoult, and Joe R. Lansdale—and compiled them in a simultaneously heart-breaking and hilarious book about superheroes and why they matter.

I absolutely loved this book.  A collection of essays by today’s most popular novelists, journalists, and writers, Last Night, A Superhero Saved My Life is a wonderful study on superheroes and the lasting impact they’ve had on readers and culture.  I know that makes it sound a bit dull, especially given the colorful and sometimes flamboyant nature of superheroes, but it’s not.  It’s heart-wrenching and humorous and introspective and bursting with bright neon spandex colors.

It’s a great book that’s not beholden to any one style or story.  Last Night, A Superhero Saved My Life compiles the work from the best of today’s creative minds, drawing together exceptional stories, experiences, and illustrations to create a work equally poignant and funny.  It provokes an honest discussion about superheroes and their impact on gender, love, equality, relationships, and more.

Honestly, I loved these stories.  They were deeply personal and incredibly moving, beautiful for their candid commentary on the human experience—and how comic book superheroes helped to get them through the tough times, how comics helped to shape their lives.  There were a handful of essays that I absolutely adored:

·         “On the Hulk:  You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry” by Delilah S. Dawson

·         “Dented Hearts:  A Story of Iron Man” by Anthon Breznican

·         “Everything I Know About Love, I Learned from Gambit and Rogue” by Karina Cooper

·         “We Are Not Amazons” by Leigh Bardugo

·         “Superman:  One Rad Dude” by Jim Di Bartolo

·         “Swashbuckle My Heart:  An Ode to Nightcrawler” by Jenn Reese

But, if I had to pick just one, it would probably be “Dented Hearts” by Anthony Breznican.  It’s a tough choice, especially since I loved Leigh Bardugo’s essay for her frank discussion of the female body image and cultural expectations, and Jim Di Bartolo’s illustrated discourse on the importance and impact of Superman; however, I was entirely smitten with Breznican’s essay.

“Dented Hearts” was like a kick in the chest.  It took me by surprise, it broke my heart, and yet it’s probably one of the most memorable essays—if not the most memorable essay—I read.  It’s an honest depiction of grief and turmoil, love and happiness and sibling relationships; it’s a candid account of loss tinted with memory, affection, and a mutual love of superheroes.  I enjoyed his beautiful writing, his obvious affection for his wife, and his candid retelling of grief that pulled at my heart.

I loved it.  Tears and all.

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

Reviewed by Ambrea

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is an extraordinary Viking hero known throughout the world as the “Dragon Whisperer,” but he wasn’t always the formidable Viking warrior he is today; in fact, he was quite small for his age and terribly quiet compared to his loud, boisterous father who was Chief of the Hairy Hooligans.  One day, Hiccup captures a dragon to train and discovers that life is much different when you have a dragon at your heel.

How to Train Your Dragon is an excellent little book.  It’s fun and original and, for a kid of a certain age, it’s an awesome story.  It’s geared for a younger audience, which is obvious in the writing, but it’s still appealing, even for adults, for its silly sense of humor and its originality—and how it managed to capture real life dilemmas, like forming friendship and dealing with bullies and living up to the expectations of parents.

I really liked the diversity of dragons involved in Cressida Cowell’s novel.  Like the movie of the same title, How to Train Your Dragon has a fantastic variety of dragons with unique skills and traits that make them a bit tricky to handle.  You have dragons that fly, dragons that swim or stomp around; you have dragons the size of small citrus fruits, and dragons the size of mountains; you have dragons that breathe fire, dragons that spit poison, and dragons that chew with their sizable teeth.  Truthfully, I found it fun and exciting to see what new dragons the book would introduce next.

And speaking of the movie, I should mention I absolutely loved watching How to Train Your Dragon.  I loved the diversity of dragons, the oddball heroes, the funny and endearing characters, the wild misadventures to be had by Hiccup and friends.   Honestly, I was a little spoiled by the movies—and so, I was a tad disappointed by the book.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great book.  I loved Hiccup, who is shy and thoughtful and nervous, and I couldn’t help but enjoy the Hairy Scary Librarian.  (He only received a mention, but I was tickled by the idea of a Viking librarian.)  Overall, it’s a good, wholesome book full of fun:  Hiccup landing into trouble as he tries to train his dragon, Hiccup and Toothless struggling to get along, Hiccup coming up with ingenious ways to fight and train dragons.  It’s a great children’s book.  But I would warn those who loved the movies shouldn’t go into this book with the same expectations or story in mind.  Don’t judge a book by its movie, as the saying goes.

Read Harder Challenge: Florence Foster Jenkins, Rook, and God in Pink

Reported by Ambrea

I finished some new books for my Read Harder Challenge, and I've completed more reading tasks:

1. Read a biography (not memoir or autobiography)
2. Read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel
3. Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction)

First up, I finished Florence Foster Jenkins by Nicholas Martin and Jasper Rees, which inspired the recently released movie of the same name.  Florence Foster Jenkins was not a traditional singer.  At a young age, she was well known for her skill with a piano and her love--and, more importantly, support--of music; however, it wasn't until she was 76 years old that she undertook to become a concert singer.  She's best remembered for her concert at Carnegie Hall and her vinyl recordings, which introduced the world to her rather...unique voice.

I enjoyed reading Florence Foster Jenkins.  Drawing from multiple resources, including Florence and her common law husband, St. Clair Bayfield, Martin and Rees' book does an incredible job of shedding light on Florence, her work, and her time.  It's intriguing without becoming dull, amusing without ridiculing its rather unorthodox subject, and chock full of interesting historical facts about Florence and the New York artistic scene of the early 20th century.  Overall, I enjoyed it and I highly recommend for any readers to take a moment to listen to Madame Jenkins on YouTube to get a better idea of how her singing voice sounded.  You (probably) won't regret it.

Next, I completed Rook by Sharon Cameron.  The Sunken City--formerly Paris, the City of Lights--is a place of danger, desperation, and despotism.  Ruled by the corrupt Premier Allemande and the bloodthirsty LeBlanc, the Sunken City is brimming with discontent and revolution--and, at the heart of it all, is the mysterious Red Rook who spirits people from their cells and wreaks havoc against the Premier's puppet government.

A story packed with action and adventure, political intrigue and danger, Rook has quickly become one of my guilty pleasures.  I know it falls under the rather broad category of dystopian young adult fantasy (think Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, Life as We Knew It or even The Giver), but I really enjoyed Sharon Cameron's novel.  I enjoyed the characters, the unexpected twists and turns, the ambiguous references to the past, the complicated political climate.  I wasn't a fan of the love triangle and, yes, I will admit that the story seemed to drag in a few places; however, altogether, I really liked it and I think it settles in nicely next to Cinder.

Last, I rounded out my reading with God in Pink by Hasan Namir.  Ramy is a young Muslim man living in Iraq in 2003, right in the midst of a war and a cultural revolution--and he also happens to be gay.  Struggling with what he knows his brother would term a "sexual deviancy," Ramy tries to balance his feelings with his obligations to his family and his faith.

Truthfully, I struggled with this novel, because I was not comfortable with all the depictions of heinous violence and wanton savagery.  I understand that mindless cruelty, thoughtless barbarity is simply a fact; that it's not something you can ignore if you live on the planet Earth.  I know it exists, but it's still hard to read about terrible things happening to other people.

I didn't hate this novel; rather, the opposite.  I thought God in Pink was a magnificent book depicting life in war-torn Iraq for a gay Muslim man.  It's poignant and it's guaranteed to make an impact, but, at the same time, it will tear out your heart.  I recommend reading it with great caution, like I would for Native Son by Richard White, Beloved by Toni Morrison, or The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.  Read it, but expect deep emotional turmoil.

Note:  We'll have a Nevermore report next week.  In the meantime, here's a photo of Malala, darling kitty of a Nevermore member.  Malala likes to go outside with her owner in her very own stroller! She especially likes to watch the ducks.