Nevermore: William Trevor, Bram Stoker, Alexandra David-Neel

 

Nevermore 10-15-24 Reported by Rita

Selected Stories by William Trevor

Collects forty-eight short stories by the author that span more than half a century, illuminating the human condition.

 I couldn’t put it down. Absolutely beautiful.   – MD      5 stars

 

Dracula by Bram Stoker

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of terrifying discoveries about his client.

I was surprised by the writing style. I found it very prudish and not extremely scary, but I loved it and highly recommend it.    – VC       5 stars

 

My Journey to  Lhasa by Alexandra David-Neel

First published in 1927, a memoir by the first Western woman to reach the Tibetan city of Lhasa describes her journey to the remote and forbidden region, her travels throughout the continent of Asia, her meeting with the Dalai Lama, and her remarkable encounters with and understanding of Asian culture.

A beautiful exhibition of strength and resilience.    – CD      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

Suffrage Song: the Haunted History of Gender, Race and Voting Rights in the United States of America by Caitlin Cass

Excuse Me While I Disappear by Laurie Notaro

Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke

Cave of Bones by Anne Hillerman

Holy City by Henry Wise

Dumpty by John Lithgow

Let's Read Our Feet by Jane Sheehan

Serena : a novel by Ron Rash

Telltale Hearts: A Public Health Doctor, His Patients, and the Power of Story by Dean-david Schillinger

Long Haul by Figliuzzi,  Frank

Olive Kitteridge by Strout, Elizabeth

New Books

On Freedom by Timothy Snyder

Keeping the Faith by Brenda Wineapple

Death at the Sanatorium by Ragnar Jonasson

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

 

           

Reviewed by Christy

Lula Dean is out to cleanse her small Georgia town of “filth” and protect young, impressionable minds while doing so. She has ignited a campaign against questionable material in the school and public libraries, and if she gets a little much deserved attention while doing so - well, what’s wrong with that? Lula sets up her own little free library in her front yard, filled only with wholesome, Lula-approved books. But a prankster has switched out the book jackets. Instead of the Nancy Drew series or The Art of Crochet, readers are really getting Gender Queer or Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. Chaos ensues.

            I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book before that was simultaneously fun and enraging. There are some seriously heavy topics discussed in this book as well as general small-town wackiness. Kirsten Miller balances them well. It’s also a book with an “ensemble cast”, so to speak. You get to know a little bit about all the townspeople, and I love books like that. A woman finds out her husband is cheating so she leaves him and becomes a witch? Love it. Discovering Lula’s desperate need for attention and acclaim ramped up after she failed to make the high school cheerleading team? Love it. The local florist blackmailing the bank manager into giving her a loan simply by sending his mistress a bouquet of flowers? Love it. Ok, I’m realizing maybe I just love small-town gossip. But it’s so fun!

While I really enjoyed this book, it does have an After School Special quality to it. The Good Guys have long, righteous rants that are scathing but still eloquent. The Bad Guys get their comeuppance (or even more surprising - see the error of their ways). It’s all tied up very neatly with a bow at the end. And you know what? I love that, too. I get the sense that Miller was not trying to write a totally realistic depiction of these matters. Instead, she was more interested in the idealistic version – a version of life where (most) people react with love and understanding instead of hatred and fear. Sometimes that's just the kind of story you want to read.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

With the release of the new movie, I decided it was time to re-read this children’s classic tale of “the worst kids in the world”—aka the Herdmans. 

Although it’s only 80 pages, Robinson packs a lot into those pages.  Told from the wide-eyed perspective of schoolgirl Beth, we are introduced to the six Herdman children who Beth says are the worst kids in the world.  She then proceeds to list some of things the Herdmans do:  they cuss teachers, steal other kids’ lunches, set fires, and smoke cigars, even the girls.

Yep, those Herdmans are a handful. The one place they haven’t been trouble is in Sunday School, but that’s just because they don’t attend.  In fact, Beth’s brother Charlie lists “No Herdmans” as his favorite thing about Sunday School, which was not really the answer the teacher was looking for, even though it is true.

That’s about to change, and ironically it’s Charlie who causes it by bragging that he doesn’t need his dessert because he gets all the dessert he wants at church: pie, cake, cookies….

The Herdmans are intrigued.  So much so that they turn up for Sunday School just as Beth’s mother is trying to put together the annual Christmas pageant—and the Herdmans take all the roles, even though they have never heard the story of the Nativity.

Will the Wise Men and Joseph get in a fight? Will Mary hit someone with Baby Jesus?  Will the Angel of the Lord whack the Shepherds with her halo?  It seems as if everyone in town can hardly wait to find out.

I had fond memories of this book and I’m happy to say that I found this book just as charming the second time around.  Even better, I discovered there are two sequels:  The Best Halloween Ever (only the Herdmans could get Halloween cancelled) and The Best School Year Ever.

Note:  This is actually the second time this book has been filmed.  It was also done as a TV movie with Loretta Swit and the library does own a DVD of that version.  Both films are very good, but there's nothing like a book.  

Nevermore: Golden Age Whodunits, Changeling, River Cross My Heart

 Nevermore 10-8-24        Reported by Rita

 

Golden Age Whodunits by Otto Penzler

Fifteen puzzling mysteries from the masters of the form.

This book may be good for mystery fans, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.   –WJ     2 stars

 

Changing by Liv Ullmann

Impressions gathered from the experience of living and working with Bergman are predominant in Liv Ullmann's candid discussion of her life as actor and woman.

A beautiful and intense book written from the heart.   –PP      4 stars

 

River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke

Following her younger sister's drowning, Johnnie Mae struggles with guilt over her death and coping with family expectations and the recent move to Georgetown.

The ending is stunning. Definitely worth reading.   –CW      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

Serena: a Novel by Ron Rash

James: a Novel by Percival Everett

 Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong

Mountain Sisters by Helen Matthews Lewis 

The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick

December New Books

 

Adler-Olsen, Jussi  Locked In (Department Q)

Andrews & Wilson  Tom Clancy Defense Protocol

Armstrong, Jess The Secret of the Three Fates

Battles, Brett Stuart Woods’ Golden Hour  (Teddy Fay)

Brannigan, Ellie  Death at an Irish Wedding

Cook, Robin  Bellevue

Ferguson, Lana  Under Loch and Key

Hendrix, Grady  Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

Hurston, Zora Neale  The Life of Herod the Great

Kane, Darby  What the Wife Knew

Klassen, Julie  The Seaside Homecoming

Miller, Linda Lael  Where the Creek Bends

Sanderson, Brandon  Wind and Truth (Stormlight Archive)

Shelton, Paige Perfect Storm

Non-fiction

Banta, Connie This Book is Free and Yours to Keep:  Notes from the Appalachia Prison Book Project

Clark, Marcia  Trial by Ambush:  Murder, Injustice and the Truth about the Case of Barbara Graham

Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi  The Last Tsar:  The Abdication of Nicholas II and the Fall of the Romanovs

Baking Spirits Bright by Sarah Fox

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Moving back home to Larch Haven, Vermont has turned out to be good for actress turned chocolatier Rebecca Ransom.  Sure, California had its charms, but so does Larch Haven: the small village has canals running through it, which are quite the tourist attraction.  In summer, there are boat rides in gondolas; in winter, the canals freeze so solid that Becca can skate to work at her family’s sweet shop, True Confections. You might even say that life is sweet for Becca.

The only thing giving her some pause is being entered in the annual Baking Spirits Bright contest: it’s set up like many of the popular baking shows, where a group of bakers have to create confections in a group setting with a time limit. Contestants are eliminated until one is selected as the grand prize winner.  While the prize isn’t life changing, the competition is fierce. But when a contestant ends up dead, the question is, was it worth killing for?

This is the second in the series, but you don’t need to have read the first in order to enjoy this one.  Becca is a likeable character, and is firmly in the inquisitive amateur sleuth category, despite warnings from her police officer friend about the dangers of asking the wrong person the wrong question.  The plot is handled well, with plenty of suspects and motives, as well as a few red herrings.  There’s a bit of romance in the offing as well. In addition, Becca has two cats, which is always a selling point for me! I especially liked the setting in this one. While Larch Haven is fiction, it’s so lovingly described that it feels real.  It’s a place I would love to visit—minus the murders, of course!

Nevermore: The Women; The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse; Ethan Frome

 

Reported by Rita

The Women by Kristin Hannah

In 1965, nursing student Frankie McGrath, after hearing the words “Women can be heroes, too,” impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows her brother to Vietnam where she is overwhelmed by the destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

I thought it was too formulaic and not realistic. I didn’t enjoy it.  – CD     3 stars

 

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

A  modern, illustrated fable for readers of all ages that explores life's universal lessons from British illustrator Charlie Mackesy.

The most beautiful book I’ve ever read. The art is fantastic. It’s full of hope, love, and promise. Uplifting.  – NH    5 stars

 

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

A New England farmer must choose between his duty to care for his invalid wife and his love for her cousin.

It’s a very sad story, but worth reading. It was a quick, easy read. I loved it.  – DC      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

Suffrage Song: the Haunted History of Gender, Race and Voting Rights in the United States of America by Caitlin Cass

Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

The Paris Secret by Karen Swan

Selected Stories by William Trevor

Unbelievable Crimes Volume One: Macabre Yet Unknown True Crime Stories by Daniela Airlie

Unbelievable Crimes Volume Two: Macabre Yet Unknown True Crime Stories by Daniela Airlie

These Tangled Threads by Sarah Loudin Thomas

The Art of the English Murder by Lucy Worsley

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

 

New Books

At War With Ourselves by H. R. McMaster

That Librarian by Amanda Jones

The Art of Gothic Living by Paul Gambino