Another Turn of the Page: Why I Love to Read

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen.
The man who never reads lives only one.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

If you wish to believe that quote, and I do, my Mother lived at least a thousand lives or more before she died on April 5th. She was 98. I never remember her without a book. She loved to read at the table while eating. This was taboo when she was growing up and she told me she was reprimanded many times for bringing a book with her to the dinner table. Probably why she did it as an adult. Back then it was Louisa Mae Alcott and Daphne Du Maurier, Phyliss Whitney and Victoria Holt. Mysteries were her first love so I am guessing Agatha Christie was on her list. She liked the detective and spy thrillers too: Mickey Spillane, Ian Fleming, Ruth Rendell, John D. MacDonald, Robert B. Parker. I don’t remember her ever reading to me as a little kid, but I guess her example was enough. I do know she urged me to read, Liittle Women, and at the time i though it too big. Or maybe it was just being stubborn because, “your Mom told you it was good’. When I finally did get around to reading it, I loved it. I know Mom also took us to our local branch library and we never were restricted on how many books we could check out.

While going through Mom’s notebooks and papers the other day I found a binder with a typed alphabetical list of books she had read. It was labeled as List #1 and there were 345 titles. There was a rating system too, the more stars, the better the book. Lee Child, Charles Todd and Sue Grafton’s books had a lot of stars. I hope I eventually find List #2 or even #3 because the latest read date on list #1 was 2008.

And so, I am a reader. I became a librarian and ended up recommending books to people, like my Mom did with me. And I didn’t have to worry about recommending “big books” because kids were devouring Harry Potter, some of which exceeded 800 pages. Remember, Little Women, it was 388 pages. What was I scared of?

So, thanks Mom. I have two books going at once right now and I belong to three book groups. It is a great vice to have. And now more books:

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022) 560p. Demon Copperhead is the protagonist of this book which is patterned after David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Kingsolver moves the story from London to Appalachia where she addresses the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, opiate addiction and poverty much like Dickens’ attack on the societal problems of his time.

2. Death in the Dark Woods (Monster Mystery #2) by Annelise Ryan (2023) 336p.In this second installment of Annelise Ryan’s Monster Hunter series, Morgan Carter and her dog Newt are on the hunt for Bigfoot in the forests of northern Wisconsin. But is the elusive cryptid really to blame for the recent murders in the area? In the first of the series, she was looking for a monster in Lake Michigan.

3. The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota (2015) 468p. The plot follows several Indian men who all move illegally to London in order to earn enough money for their poor families back home. The author takes us into their lives and what their immigrant situations are really like. Only hoping to provide for their families these people live day to day in a constant state of fear.

4. Inmate 1577 (Karen Vail #4) by Alan Jacobson (2011) 453p. When an elderly woman is found raped and brutally murdered in San Francisco, Vail heads west to team up with SFPD Inspector Lance Burden and her former task force colleague, Detective Roxxann Dixon.
As Vail, Burden, and Dixon follow the killer’s trail in and around San Francisco, the offender continues his rampage, leaving behind clues that ultimately lead them to the most unlikely of places: Alcatraz.

5. Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel (2020) 388p. This story features Eva Traube, a twenty three year old Jewish woman, living in France during WWII. In 1942, Eva and her parents are on a list to be rounded up. Eva’s father is taken but she and her mother are able to escape Paris due to Eva’s artistic talent at falsifying paperwork that will allow them to escape to Switzerland. Before reaching the border the women settle in a small town in the Free Zone. It is here that members of the resistance recruit Eva to use her new found forging talents to save thousands of children and adults who would otherwise have been killed by Hitler’s regime.

6. Shattered (Michael Bennett #14) by James Patterson (2022) 384p. When FBI Agent Emily Parker, a good friend of Detective Michael Bennett of the NYPD, went missing, Michael had just returned from his honeymoon. Remaining on leave, he immediately goes to Washington DC where she was based. Not authorized by the NYPD, but with an FBI contact, Bobby Patel, feeding him information, Michael is determined to find Emily, confident she is still alive.

7. The Wager: Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann (2023) 354p.This historical non-fiction book is an amazing account of the British naval ship HMS Wager. In 1741, as part of Commodore George Anson’s squadron, they set out to intercept Spanish galleons carrying treasure from South America. With treacherous tides and storms through the passage between Cape Horn and Antarctica, the Wager runs aground on a desolated island. With little resources, the crew faces starvation and freezing temperatures along with mutiny and betrayal.

8.The Kommandant’s Girl (Kommandant’s Girl #1) by Pam Jenoff (2007) 395p. The story revolves around nineteen-year-old Emma in war-torn Poland, whose husband flees underground to help the resistance fighters. She takes on a new identity as Anna, and hides her Jewish heritage. Wanting to do whatever it takes to help her husbands’ cause, she takes a job as the Kommandant’s personal assistant where she has access to secret information that will help the resistance.

9. On Animals by Susan Orlean (2021) 256p. In this collection of stories, largely pulled from articles she has written for The New Yorker, Orlean examines animal/human relationships. They range from the household pets we dote on, the animals we raise to end up as meat on our plates, the creatures who could eat us for dinner, to the various tamed and untamed animals we share our planet with, all who are central to human life.

10. Fool’s Crow by James Welch (1986) 391p. In the Two Medicine territory of Montana, the Pikuni Indians are forced to choose between fighting a futile war or accepting a humiliating surrender as the encroaching numbers of whites threaten their primitive existence.

11. The Hunter (Cal Hooper #2) by Tana French (2024) 480p. Two years have passed since retired Police Detective Cal Hooper moved from Chicago to the small village in West Ireland, where he has taken a local teenager, Trey Reddy, under his wing. But when Trey’s absentee father returns home with a cunning scheme, the peaceful life that Cal and Trey have built comes crashing down. Read The Searcher before The Hunter to better understand Cal and Trey’s backgrounds.

12. The Seven Husband’s of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017) 389p. Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, magazine reporter Monique Grant, listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn tells a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. And a surprising connection to Monique.

Thanks Mom!

Another Turn of the Page: Every Month has Ides

“Beware the ides of March.”
Soothsayer to Caesar in Act I, Scene II, Julius Caesar -William Shakespeare

Today is the Ides of March. I briefly mentioned that to the teller when I was doing some banking today and he looked at me with one of those “huh?” looks. I didn’t bother to elaborate but it struck me that this phrase is not as common as I thought. The phrase the “ides of March” was coined by Shakespeare when he had a soothsayer or a prophet say this line to Julius Caesar in the play Julius Caesar. This was written way after Caesar’s time but it referred to his assassination on March 15, 44 B.C. So, ever since it has been associated with gloom and doom. But did you know that every month has an Ides? According to the Roman Calendar the Ides is the middle of the month and for March it always falls on the 15th. It is not a strict division since it is based on the ancient calendar and the occurrence of the full moon but for the months of March, May, July and October it is the 15th, every other month it is the 13th. And you don’t really have to beware anything on these dates but if you look back in history you can always find something, good or bad. For instance on the Ides of January in 1939, bushfires in Australia burned 7700 sq. miles of land and killed 71 people. But in 1888 the National Geographic Society was formed. On the Ides of July the Holocaust began in 1941 but in 1799 the Rosetta Stone was discovered in Egypt. So what does all this mean? Not much really. Yesterday was PI(E) Day. It was March 14th 3.14 is Pi, the universal number, so let’s celebrate and eat pie. Coming up is March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day, so let’s eat corned beef and cabbage and raise a glass of green beer to fun or unusual observances that get us through the end of Winter and on to Spring.

Hey, the group also read a bunch of books, here they are:

1. Tara Road by Maeve Binchy (1999) 512p. A tale of two women, one from Ireland, one from America, who exchange houses for a summer, and in doing so learn much about each other, as well as much about themselves.
   
2. Banyan Moon by Thao Thai (2023) 336p. A multigenerational family saga told through the voices of Ann, her mother and grandmother. The time period begins in 1960s Vietnam, when the grandmother escapes just before the fall of Saigon and continues to modern day Florida.
   
3. Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (1891) 360p.Our classic this month is the story of Tess Durbeyfield trying to live her life in 19th century England; eldest daughter to educated rural working class parents with their sights on their wealthier ‘family’ the D’Urberville’s. This book is chock full of family tragedies, deaths, sexual harassment and assault, gender inequality, and more.
   
4. The Cloisters by Katy Hays (2022) 312p. Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, hoping to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she is assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its collection of medieval and Renaissance art. She is assigned to do research for an upcoming exhibit on ancient prophecy including a lost deck of Tarot. Lots of twists and turns make this an interesting mystery.
   
5. Blow Back by James Patterson (2022) 504p. US president Keegan Barrett swept into office on his success as director of the CIA. Six months into his first term, he devises a clandestine power grab with a deadly motive: Revenge. Our reviewer said, except for the CIA background of the main character, this book sounded very familiar to reality.
   
6. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins (2020) 459p. Forced to flee from Acapulco after the massacre of their entire family, Lydia and her eight year old son Luca become migrants and begin their journey on foot to the United States. This novel sparked a lot of controversy when it was first released because it was written by a white woman about the migrant experience.
   
7. Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum #30) by Janet Evanovich (2023) 336p. This latest book in the series finds Stephanie working with an additional sidekick, Bob, Morelli’s dog, who she is dog-minding, while she hunts down two crooks who, in separate and accompanying incidents, have stolen jewelry from Plover’s jewelry store. Yes, Lula and Ranger and Grandma Mazur are here too. A light fun read.
   
8. Without a Trace by Danielle Steel (2023) 288p. A fast-moving romantic suspense novel set in France, about a man who decides to change his life after a near-fatal accident. This is the author’s 143rd fiction book. A prolific author who is right up there with James Patterson.
   
9. The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty and War by John ‘Chick’ Donohue (2017) 272p. An entertaining, feel-good, hard to believe it is true, memoir of an Irish-American New Yorker and former U.S. marine who embarked on a courageous, hare-brained scheme to deliver beer to his pals serving in Vietnam in the late 1960s. The movie of the same name is also recommended.
   
10. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (2003) 292p. Fascinating, funny, gruesome. For two thousand years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings, from body snatching, and crash test dummies, to cosmetic surgery practice and crime investigation. Organ donation is not the only thing a cadaver is used for. Well-researched, the author’s light touch takes the edge off of what could be a taboo subject.
    
11. This is Happiness by Niall Williams (2019) 400p. An uplifting ode to Ireland, its landscape, and to family and community roots, in this gentle coming of age novel set in the rural village of Faha in County Clare. It speaks of a not so long ago past where life was simpler and a place ran on its own sense of time.

Another Turn of the Page: February Contradictions

“Though, February is short, it is filled with lots of love and sweet surprises”
― Charmaine J Forde

My custard filled Paczki and a cup of Apricot tea

Before I give you our books I wanted to address the odd conflicts this week. Fat Tuesday was this week. If you are a Christian you know that Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. On Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday, you are supposed to prepare yourself for the 40 days of fasting before Easter. People would go to church to confess their sins and clean their soul. In other words, they would be ‘shriven. Fat Tuesday also goes by the name Mardi Gras, which is a day of party and excess and dancing and eating. So before you give up things like chocolate or alcohol or whatever is a sacrifice for you, you party hardy. I live in Northeast Wisconsin where there are a lot of Belgian, German and Polish traditions. We don’t have a lavish parade, instead the bakeries around here produce a delicious Polish pastry known as Paczki. These fried and filled pastries, pronounced “puhnch-kee,” date back to the 1700s, when people would traditionally use up “luxurious” foods like lard and sugar to ensure they wouldn’t be wasted during Lent. To me they are similar to a Bismark but when I researched this I discovered that that though they sort of look the same the dough is different. Ours had a custard filling but there are prune and raspberry fillings as well.

Ok, that was Tuesday. The next day was Ash Wednesday and by coincidence it was also Valentine’s Day. The beginning of Lent, fasting, repentance, contemplation vs love, roses, candy, dinner out where one will be indulging in those “luxurious” foods. I am sure there are some who were having a hard time deciding what to do and which way to go. For me it was easy. We flipped a coin but there were hearts on both sides. Curt made a tenderloin steak, a huge salad with roasted caulifower tossed in and for dessert, Tiramasu. So, whatever your tradition, be kind, be good and find yourself a good book to read for the rest of the month.

1. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (1993) 343p. This book continues the story of Taylor and her adopted daughter, Turtle. The Cherokee Nation learns of this not-so-legal adoption and requests she be returned to the tribe. Bean Trees is the prequel.
   
2. Hello, Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (2023) 400p. This novel is an emotional, heart wrenching family drama. It centers around the Padavano family of four sisters and the broken young man who marries into the family. Hello Beautiful!, is the greeting Charlie Padavano gives each of his daughters. With a nod to Louisa Mae Alcott’s Little Women, the author has given the four girls the characteristics of Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth.
   
3. Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray (2011) 334p. A memoir of a young woman, born to drug-addicted parents, who, at fifteen goes from living on the streets, to eventually graduating from Harvard.
   
4. Into the Storm: Two Ships, a Deadly Hurricane and an Epic Battle for Survival by Tristram Korten (2018) 288p. The true story of two doomed ships and a daring search-and-rescue operation that shines a light on the elite Coast Guard swimmers trained for the most dangerous ocean missions.
   
5. North Woods by Daniel Mason (2023) 372p. The author chronicles life on a single plot of land in northern Massachusetts over the course of American history. We meet the inhabitants of this land, both human and non-human, both living and dead. It is told in twelve interlinked stories corresponding with the seasons and months of the year.
   
6. Dream Town (Archer series #3) by David Baldacci (2022) 432p. It is 1953 and Aloysius Archer is in Los Angeles to visit friend and actress Liberty Callahan. Through her he meets script writer, Eleanor Lamb, who hires him to investigate who is threatening her life. But before he gets started, Eleanor disappears.
   
7. Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese-American Spy Hunter and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Mark Harmon, Leon Carroll (2023) 272p. From extensive research into almost forgotten historical documents, NCIS star Mark Harmon and co-author Leon Carroll, a former NCIS Special Agent, have collaborated on the true story of what happened before, during and after Pearl Harbor.
   
8. The Edge (6:20 Man #2) by David Baldacci (2023) 416p. Travis Devine is back, dropped by his handlers into a small coastal town in Maine to solve the murder of a CIA agent whose missing laptop and phone were full of state secrets that, in the wrong hands, will endanger the lives of countless operatives.
   
9. Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow (2023) 416p. In light of election-denialism and the rise of fascist tendencies in the US today, Maddow takes a look at how history repeats itself in the pro-fascist, pro-Hitler, anti-semitic movements in the US that were widespread in the forties, in part fueled by Germany’s media-bombing of the US with millions of leaflets and letters. Conspiracy theories about the Jews, intermarriage, blood-spoiling white purity, all in the guise of America First and nationalism and populism. Sound familiar?
   
10. Slow Horses (Slough House #1) by Mick Herron (2010) 320p. Slough House is where the MI5 spies, who have messed up or disgraced themselves in some way, are sent to while away what’s left of their failed careers. Jackson Lamb is the head of this band of misfits, nicknamed the Slow Horses. But Jackson has been around the spy game a long time and knows where “the bodies are buried” and is privy to a lot of MI5 secrets. So when a suspicious kidnapping of a Pakistani man is reported with no demands for a ransom forthcoming, Lamb suspects shadiness at MI5.

Another Turn of the Page: Buried in Snow

“The weather is nature’s disruptor of human plans and busybodies. Of all the things on earth, nature’s disruption is what we know we can depend on,
as it is essentially uncontrolled by men.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

Last year at this time I was writing about a January thaw. We had a ton of snow earlier in the winter, drifts, wind, ice, the whole nine yards. As of that writing, January 15, 2023, we were experiencing 30s and 40s. In contrast, this morning we woke up to -8 degrees. It has gotten to 3 and the wind is giving us a wind chill of only -10, for now. We have a foot of snow on the ground, courtesy of a blizzard that arrived last Friday and didn’t leave till late Saturday. Most of Sunday was spent digging, shoveling, plowing and pushing snow back out of the way of our porches, walks, and roads. I have a mountain in my back yard that is 8′ high and 12′ across. So it was fun looking back a year.

Because of this lovely weather we cancelled our meeting. Our table at the coffee shop was still reserved but we formally weren’t meeting. I was surprised to hear later that one member of our group actually braved the weather and went out, hoping someone else might do the same. Alas, she had to enjoy her coffee alone.

On the bright side, we here in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Home of the Packers, were treated to an upset win over the Cowpokes of Dallas on Sunday in a playoff game. You don’t have to be a fan of football to appreciate the look on the face of Jerry Jones, the Dallas owner, as the young’uns (we are the youngest team in the NFL) from the frozen tundra stunned the Big Boys from Texas by scoring a total of 48 points. We had 27 points before they even got on the board. Nobody else picked us to win either. Frankly, we didn’t think we were going to win. Just wanted a respectable showing. But It certainly has helped everyone’s spirits during this cold snap.

Because of the low book group turn out not many books were reported. Here’s what came in.

1. The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls (2013) 267p. It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When police start investigating the girls situation they decide to take a bus to Virginia to find their widowed Uncle Tinsley.
   
2. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (2021) 624p. World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.
   
3. Holly by Stephen King (2023) 449p. Holly, a shy introvert, is a character King first introduced us to in Mr. Mercedes. She again appears in Finders,Keepers as a partner to Bill Hodges, an ex-cop and PI. In The Outsider, she has become a private investigator and now in Holly, she has a case of her own trying to find missing persons who have been kidnapped by a murderous couple.
   
4. A Siege of Bitterns by Steve Burrows, Birder Murder Mystery #1 (2014) 352p. DCI Domenic Jejeune is a Canadian police detective who would rather spend his days birdwatching. Soon after his arrival in Norfolk, Jejeune is assigned to solve the murder of a prominent ecological activist. If you love mysteries and birdwatching, this series is for you.
   
5. French Braid by Anne Tyler (2022) 244p. Set in Baltimore, in 1959, the Garretts, an ordinary American family consisting of father Robin, mother Mercy and their three children, the sensible and responsible Alice, the more flighty and rebellious Lily, and the sensitive 7 year old David, take their one and only family holiday at Deep Creek Lake. The author then takes us through the lives of these people in the next couple of decades.
   
6. Nemesis by Philip Roth (2010) 280p. It is the summer of 1944, WWII is still raging in Europe and the Pacific but at home in Newark, New York something else is raging, a polio epidemic, the strongest in eleven years. The story follows a young man who is not fighting in the war due to his poor eyesight and has instead become a school playground director, trying to nurture kids through the turmoil surrounding them.
   
7. The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood (2004) 288p. The story of a young man who narrowly survives a terrible car wreck that kills his little brother. Years later, the brothers’ bond remains so strong that it transcends the normal boundaries separating life and death. Charlie can still see, talk, and even play catch with Sam’s spirit. But townsfolk whisper that Charlie has never recovered from his loss.

Another Turn of the Page: Happy Holiday Reading

“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Personally I love getting books and I love getting socks. And this year I am giving socks and books but not to the same person. This month in the book group I thought it might be fun to do a book exchange ( maybe we can do a sock exchange next month). I asked the members to bring books along that they wouldn’t mind giving away. We all have books we have read or were planning to read that are just sitting so wouldn’t it be nice to let someone else enjoy them. There were no guarantees the books would get taken so we planned on giving the orphans to the library for their book sale or take them to a Little Free Library. Well it was a grand success, the table was filled with books. I think everyone took one or two, we had a nice bag to donate and I put 6 into a LFL on my way home.

We also did our round table of what we were all reading but since it was December, two of our members brought more than one to talk about. Between them they brought nine Christmas books. Both admitted they adore the small books written specifically for the holidays, very much like Hallmark movies. Oh, and both of them love the Christmas movies too. These two are not related by blood or marriage but share a love for this genre. I won’t be annotating each one but there will be a list at the end of the regular books in case you too, love Christmas books.

1. Raft of Stars by Andrew J. Graff (2021) 304p. Two ten year old boys, Bread and Fish, think they have committed a terrible crime so they grab what they can and flee into the Northwoods of Wisconsin. When Bread’s Grandad sees the note they leave explaining their predicament, he and the sheriff strike out after them.
   
2. The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro (2013) 456p. Newlywed Grace Monroe is a successful 1950s London socialite. When she receives an unexpected inheritance from a complete stranger, Madame Eva d’Orsey, Grace is drawn to uncover the identity of her mysterious benefactor.
   
3. Dream Town ( Archer Series #3) by David Baldacci (2022) 432p. War vet turned PI, Aloysius Archer solves crime in 1953 Los Angeles with the help of his associates, ex-FBI Willie Dash and aspiring actress, Liberty Callahan.
   
4. Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe by Keith O’Brien (2022) 455p. The story of an unlikely band of mothers in the 1970s who discovered Hooker Chemical’s deadly secret of Love Canal–exposing one of America’s most devastating toxic waste disasters.
   
5. Sand Castle Bay ( Ocean Breeze series #1) by Sherryl Woods (2013) 495p. Emily and Boone were childhood sweethearts that wanted different things in life and eventually went their separate ways. After a hurricane damages Emily’s grandmother’s restaurant, she and her two sisters come home to help. What Emily didn’t expect was for her feelings for Boone to resurface.
   
6. Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins (2021) 480p. Lauren is a thriving professional and newlywed in her late 20s when she is diagnosed with a terminal illness. She and her husband Josh are forced to face a future much different than the life they envisioned together.
   
7. Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure and Human Origins by Lee Berger (2023) 240p. Homo naledi, the subject of this book, were a small brained proto human that lived approximately 335 000 – 236 000 years ago. The book centers on the remains that have been found in the Rising Star cave in South Africa, a notoriously difficult site to reach.
   
8. The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis (2023) 399p. A delightful novel about alien invasions, conspiracies, and the incredibly silly things people are willing to believe—some of which may actually be true.
   
9. The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance by Dan Egan (2023) 228p. Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of phosphorus one of the most lethal substances on earth but also a key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer.
   
10. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack by Rebecca Skloot (2010) 370p. This is the true story of Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were taken during her cancer treatment, without her knowledge. These cells later came to be known as HeLa cells, and are considered one of the most important landmarks in Cancer research. Simply put, this African-American woman from poverty was exploited for science.
    
11. The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman (2020) 390p. Pia is a German immigrant living with her family in Philadelphia. in 1918. Her father joins the army in hopes of proving his loyalty to his new adopted country. The Spanish flu is rapidly spreading through the city and Pia and her siblings are starving. When she returns home from a search for food, her siblings are gone, taken by someone who wants to make them into “true Americans.”
    
12. Honor by Thrity Umrigar (2022) 326p. Indian American journalist, Smita has returned to India, believing she has been called there to take care of her friend and fellow journalist, Shannon. But after visiting her friend in the hospital, she learns she has been called there to cover the case of Meena – a Hindu woman who has been ostracized and later attacked by both members of her village and her own brothers for marrying a Muslim man. A moving story of two courageous women.

And for your holiday pleasure here are the Christmas books.

1. The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber (2022) 340p.
2. Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman (2017) 65p.
3. The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan (2018) 407p.
4. Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan (2012) 351p.
5. The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans (1996) 128p.
6. Death and Papa Noel by Ian Moore (2012) 351p.
7. The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallett (2023) 208p.
8. Starry Night by Debbie Macomber (2013) 256p
9. Christmas at the Shelter Inn by RaeAnne Thayne (2023) 304p.

Another Turn of the Page: Time to Read Again

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge
from almost all the miseries of life.” ― W. Somerset Maugham, Books and You

The last six weeks have been pretty crazy. I have a mother who is 97 years old, soon to be 98. After two hospital stays I had to move her to a location that could give her more care. Finding a suitable place and then packing and hiring movers and getting all of this set up before actually moving her directly from the hospital was a hectic 5 days. Once that was done just getting her to accept the new apartment was a painful experience. It doesn’t help that she has dementia encroaching on her thinking and perception. But lately, she has had more better days than bad ones. I feel that I can actually breathe and trust the people that I have put in charge of her. That I finally don’t have to put all her needs on my shoulders. She isn’t entirely happy and her severe arthritis pain is a constant in her life but I am thankful that there are more calm moments lately than sad ones. I know I have written about this topic before but it has consumed my life lately.*

So I have been finally able to sit down and escape into a book. The first two I read were non-fiction, which I don’t do too often. The first was The Devil’s Element by Dan Egan. All about how phosphorous, the predominant mineral used in fertilizer, helps farmers produce bumper crops to feed the world but at the cost of blue/green algae, caused by field runoff of the phosphorous. Blue/green algae is toxic, to touch or breathe, and when it decays it sucks all the oxygen out of the water and kills are the fish and organisms in the water. Then I read, No Ordinary Assignment by Jane Ferguson. She is an amazing war correspondent who goes to some of the most violent places on earth to get the “story”. Both books were well written and interesting but certainly not calming. Yesterday I started Conversations with Birds by Priyanka Kumar. I think I have found the perfect read. This is a collection of essays of the author’s observations and connections with birds. After I am done with this one, I think some escapism fiction is in order. Stephen King comes to mind. Our group this month put forth some other good candidates. Here’s the list.

1. The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen and Legends in the Season that Defined the American West by Chris Wimmer (2023) 230p. A brief overview of one of the most historic summers in the US. The diverse subject matter in this book includes Custer, the James-Younger Gang, Wild Bill Hickok, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Jesse James. Also occurring was the inaugural baseball season of the National League; the final year of President Ulysses S. Grant’s administration and the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell.
   
2. Under Fire by W.E.B. Griffin, The Corps #9 (2002) 723p. After the epic struggle of World War II, the Marine Corps enters a new stage of modern warfare—with new weapons, new strategies, and a new breed of warrior—on the battlefields of Korea. This author writes fiction featuring all branches of the military.
   
3. Blood of the Seven Suns: A Medieval Novel based on Real People & Events by H.G. Watts (2019) 352p. Jacoba di Normanni — who came to be known as Jacoba of the Seven Suns — was a wealthy, beautiful Italian aristocrat living in the Middle Ages. When her husband dies prematurely, she takes charge of his palaces and knights as well as raises their children. She also maintains a lifelong relationship with Francesco Bernardone — the reformed playboy who we know as St. Francis, who shunned women. Why then was Jacoba the only woman he called to his deathbed? And why do her remains share his crypt in Assisi?
   
4. Nightwork by Nora Roberts (2022) 437p. Harry Booth started stealing at nine to keep a roof over his ailing mother’s head, slipping into luxurious, empty homes at night to find items he could trade for precious cash. When his mother finally dies of cancer, he leaves Chicago—but keeps up his ‘nightwork’, never harming anyone or destroying property until he gets recruited by a man who threatens all that Harry loves.
   
5. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See (2023) 368p. A historical novel about Yunxian Tan, one of China’s first female physicians who lived during the Ming dynasty. The journal she kept detailing her cases remains in existence today.
   
6. The Measure by Nikki Erlick (2022) 353p. One day, a little wooden box arrives for each person on the planet, no matter where they are. Inside is their name and a piece of string. It soon becomes clear that the length of the string stands for the length of their life. Who opens the box to see how long their string is? How does society cope? Would you look at your string?
   
7. Where Monsters Hide: Sex, Murder and Madness in the Midwest by M. William Phelps (2019) 384p. This true crime book is an informative and detailed account of the exhaustive investigative police work in search of what happened to Chris Regan, last seen on his way to a new job in Asheville, N.C. Where is his body…and who are Kelly and Jason Cochran who reel in their victims with sex and then kill.
   
8. Lion & Lamb by James Patterson & Duane Swierczynski (2023) 363p. A famous sports star is found murdered in Philly. While the police are rushing around for answers, two private detectives, Veena Lion and Cooper Lamb, have been hired by opposite sides in the case to get to the bottom of the killing. The two have a history together but agree to share some of the intel to catch the killer.
   
9. Nemesis by Philip Roth (2010) 280p. Philip Roth’s novel is about a wartime polio epidemic in the summer of 1944 and the effect it has on a closely knit, family-oriented Newark community and its children.
   
10. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel (2023) 240p. Carrying out more than two hundred heists between 1995 and 2001–in museums and cathedrals all over Europe– Stephane Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects (which he never sold but kept in their attic apartment for his own pleasure), until he finally makes a makes a grand mistake. An amazing true story.
    
11. Tough Trip Through Paradise, 1878-1879 by Andrew Garcia (1967) 446p. Garcia was a Mexican American who headed into the Mussell shell area of Montana after serving in the US Army to become one of the last mountain men. He traded with the Indians, married a Nez Perce woman, fought with a grizzly bear, and ultimately ended up a rancher. This memoir was written using a trunk full of notes he wrote about his life and left for his family.
    
12. Girl Forgotten by Karin Slaughter (2022) 400p. Emily Vaughn was murdered in Longbill Beach in 1982. 40 years later her murderer still remains free, the murder unsolved. However, in the present day, Andrea Oliver, now a US Marshal and on her first case, is determined to discover the truth about who killed Emily and she has a very personal reason for doing so. A satisfying thriller.

*Just a note. I have managed to get my mother a new primary physician who has prescribed oxycodone for her arthritis. Yes, it is a strong opioid and one that has been abused. But he thinks at 98, Mom isn’t going to become addicted and start dealing drugs on the street. So far, it has given her some very welcome relief.

Another Turn of the Page: You Never Know

“Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.”
― Allen Saunders

It has been quite a month. I am sorry to miss the September listing of the books we read but a family emergency put my life on hold. Briefly, after back to back hospital stays, I had a narrow window to move my dear mother from her assisted living apartment to a place that could give her more care for her physical and mental needs. A narrow window because instead of going back to her apartment she had to stay in the hospital till I completed the move. She has been in her new place for about ten days and I finally have a chance to breathe and think that all will be well. Time will tell.

This week the book group met again and it was such a pleasure to put all those concerns I have been dealing with aside for an hour and just enjoy listening to my fellow readers as they talked about the books they read. Everyone in the group has their own style and each presentation is as entertaining as the book. I am the moderator of this group and I have to keep things moving so we don’t spend much more than our allotted hour but it gets harder and harder. In the early days people were hesitant and we didn’t know each other as well as we do now so some people were brief or maybe not used to speaking to a group. But now after many years together we are very comfortable together and could probably spend all morning talking about our books. Order food, more coffee and just settle in. It is a wonderful group of people who love books and love to read. So here is our October list. Since I missed September I will just do a simple list of those books without annotations at the end.

1. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (1891) 518p. “When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her ‘cousin’ Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.” -Goodreads
   
2. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (2023) 309p. Set in Spring 2020 amid the COVID-19 lockdown, the story revolves around former actress Lara Kenison who lives and works with her husband in their family cherry orchard in Michigan. The pandemic has brought her whole family together as they shelter in place and help in the day-to-day operations of the orchard.
   
3. The Ride of her Life: The True Story of a Woman, her Horse and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts (2021) 336p. The incredible true story of Annie Wilkins, a 63 year old woman from Maine who rides her horse across America in the 1950s, fulfilling her dying wish to see the Pacific Ocean.
   
4. Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America’s Wild Frontier by Stephen E. Ambrose (1996) 592p. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a pioneering voyage across the Great Plains and into the Rockies. It was completely uncharted territory; a wild, vast land ruled by the Indians. Along with William Clark, a frontiersman; Sacagawea, the Indian girl who accompanied the expedition and Drouillard, a French-Indian hunter – this is one of the great adventure stories of all time.
   
5. See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt (2017) 328p. A historical fiction account of the Lizzie Borden axe murders.
   
6. The Door to Door Bookstore by Carsten Kenn (2020) 320p. Translated from the German, this is the story of Carl Kollhoff, a seventy-something man who delivers books for City Gate Bookshop. He has a regular route of people who, for one reason or another, don’t leave their homes to purchase the books. When nine-year old Schascha befriends him and begins to accompany him on his route, Carl’s world becomes even brighter.
   
7. Holding by Graham Norton (2016) 320p. The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama. But when human remains are discovered on an old farm, the village’s dark past begins to unravel.
   
8. A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett (1993) 533p. In 1866, at the exclusive Windfield School in England, a young student drowns in a mysterious accident involving a small circle of boys. The drowning and its aftermath initiates a cycle of treachery that will span three decades and affect many lives.
   
9. The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill by Brad Metzler and Josh Mensch (2023) 400p. In 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt had a critical a face-to-face sit-down with his allies Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill in Tehran, Iran, to decide some of the most crucial strategic details of the war. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own secret plan took shape―an assassination plot that would’ve changed history.
   
10. Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian (2012) 299p. A fictional account of a horrific event in history, the Armenian genocide that was organized by Turkey in 1915-1917. The author is of Armenian ancestry.
    
11. Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian (2021) 406p. Set in Boston in 1662, this novel is about a young Puritan woman, Mary Deerfield, who finds herself in an abusive marriage with Thomas Deerfield, an older, well-respected man in the community. When the divorce she requests is denied, (women who stirred the pot back then were either considered misguided, disobedient or possessed), Mary makes other plans to escape her cruel husband.

September’s Books:

1. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
2. A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
3. Mary and Mr. Eliot: A Sort -of Love Story by Mary Trevelyan and Erica Wagner
4. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
5. Don’t Turn your Back in the Barn by David Perrin
6. The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
7. The Vivaldi Cipher by Gary McAvoy
8. River of Fallen Angels by Laura Joh Rowland
9. Love Stories by Trent Dalton

Another Turn of the Page: Censorship

“Imagine the people who believe such things and who are not ashamed to ignore, totally, all the patient findings of thinking minds through all the centuries since the Bible was written. And it is these ignorant people, the most uneducated, the most unimaginative, the most unthinking among us, who would make themselves the guides and leaders of us all; who would force their feeble and childish beliefs on us; who would invade our schools and libraries and homes.
I personally resent it bitterly.”
― Isaac Asimov, The Roving Mind

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”

[Special Message to the Congress on the Internal Security of the United States, August 8, 1950]”― Harry S. Truman

“Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book…”
― Dwight D. Eisenhower

This month one of our members reported on the book, River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer. It is a powerful story of the strength and perseverance of a mother’s search for her five children, all of whom had been taken from her during her time as a slave on a sugar cane plantation in Barbados. It is about the cruelty of slavery, and how slave owners took advantage of slaves even after they were given their freedom. Our reviewer liked the book but it struck her when she was finished, that this book most likely would be banned in Florida. Certainly, it would be seen as “inappropriate” rather than historical. Florida lawmakers currently want to stop educators from teaching or even expressing viewpoints on race, racism, or gender. This book would fall under that law. They want to allow parents to determine what books can be in libraries and block some history classes. And Florida isn’t alone. Wherever public funds are involved, be it libraries, art exhibits or theater productions, the “moral guardians” want books and art removed and words changed in a play so as not to offend. However, my public money funds these institutions as well, so what of my right to see an artwork that speaks to the issues of birth control or abortion? What if I want to check out Maus by Art Spiegelman, a book about the holocaust? As a former teacher and librarian I find this trend very scary. I saw the place in Berlin where they burned 1000s of books in 1933. It was a sign of things to come in Germany. I do not understand this mindset among politicians today and that is why I included quotes from two former presidents, Eisenhower, a Republican and Truman, a Democrat, who both saw danger in censorship. But Asimov’s quote was the one that resonated with me the most. Reread it and then look it who is denying climate, telling us history doesn’t matter or science is wrong. I will step off of my soapbox now and get you started on the other books our band of readers brought to the table.

1. River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer (2023) 304p. Following the Emancipation Act of 1834, a slave owner in Barbados announces to his slaves that they are “free” but are now his indentured “apprentices”. With a desire to know what has become of her surviving children, Rachel goes on the run to try to find them.
   
2. The Kennedy Heirs: John, Caroline and the New Generation-A Legacy of Tragedy and Triumph by J. Randy Taraborrelli (2019) 606p. Raised in a world of enormous privilege against the backdrop of American history, the lives of the children of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his celebrated siblings, Senators Robert and Ted Kennedy, often veer between great accomplishment and devastating defeat.
   
3. Triple Cross by James Patterson (2022) 416p. A methodical killer is targeting multigenerational families in and around Washington, DC—striking under cover of darkness, triggering no alarms, leaving no physical evidence of any kind.  
   
4. Run Away by Harlan Coben (2019) 371p. This novel starts out with the main plot of Simon searching for his missing daughter Paige who has become a severe drug addict and is living with her supplier. From this basic story the author takes you places you would never dream of with murders, cults, hit men, and numerous plot twists you won’t see coming.
   
5. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Clare Jimenez (2023) 240p. This poignant little book is about how a Puerto Rican family is affected when their thirteen-year-old sister/daughter Ruthy disappears one day after school. Twelve years later, Ruthy’s sisters see a woman on a reality TV show that looks exactly like their sister. They set out to find her.
   
6. The Guardian by Joshua Hood (2023) 287p. Travis Lane is a former Air Force special operator and para-rescue jumper who, desperate for cash, is recruited into a private security company that specializes in extracting people from dangerous environments, in this case the Congo. This first book in a likely series, is an entertaining, fast-paced action thriller.
   
7. Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War by Jeff Sharlet (2023) 352p. Written as a travelogue through Trump country, this book is an attempt to try to understand the mentality of certain groups of people: Trump supporters, pedophiles, televangelists who preach hate in the name of Jesus, racists, violent pro-lifers, and gun-loving militia members ready to wage war against the evil “liberal elites.” Our reviewer wishes it was fiction rather than a scary view into the MAGA world we now live in.
   
8. The Match (Wilde Series #2) by Harlan Coben (2022) 352p. After living in the woods on his own until he was about 6 years old, Wilde is grown-up now and curious about his background and the circumstances that led to him being abandoned. He uses one of those online DNA genealogy databases and soon gets a hit, starting the search for his past. The author recaps the previous book so this can be read as a standalone.
   
9. A Wing and A Prayer: The Race to Save our Vanishing Birds by Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal (2023) 320p. In a desperate race against time, scientists, conservationists, birders, wildlife officers, and philanthropists are scrambling to halt the collapse of various species. For the past year, the authors, veteran journalists, traveled 25,000 miles across America, documenting the amazing measures being taken to save these birds from the brink of extinction. I enjoyed this book because it offered some hope that all is not lost.
   
10. The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer (2023) 304p. Jack Masterson, a recluse author, has released a new book in his Clock Island series and will hold a contest on his private island where four hand-picked readers will compete to win the only copy, the manuscript. Lucy, a young teacher who used to read this series, is just about to give up hope to adopt a young boy, when she receives a blue envelope with news she’ll be traveling to Clock Island as one of the four readers chosen to compete in the competition.
    
11. An Irish Country Doctor (Irish Country #1) by Patrick Taylor (2004) 352p. Barry Laverty has just completed his medical studies at Queens University in Belfast. He has been hired to work as an assistant to Doctor Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly. O’Reilly is going to show Laverty the ropes, what you really need to know to be a good local doctor in a small village. Think James Herriot but for humans instead of animals.
    
12. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (2022) 400p. Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. A few years later she is the star of a cooking show where she tries to shake up the status quo.
    
13. An Evil Heart (Kate Burkholder #15) by Linda Castillo (2023) 320p. Chief of Police, Kate Burkholder, responds to the scene where an Amish man has been murdered. Who would want to kill twenty-year-old Aden Karn who came from a good home, people in the community always said nice things to say about him and he was respected and liked by those in his life. Yet, someone wanted him dead!

Another Turn of the Page: A Hot, Dry July

“God, it was hot! Forget about frying an egg on the sidewalk;
this kind of heat would fry an egg inside the chicken.”
― Rachel Caine

It has been an exceptionally hot summer. The whole country has suffered especially in the south and the southwest. Phoenix, Arizona is in the midst of a three week streak of temperatures of 110 or more. I’m in the upper Midwest and even though we have not hit 100, it has been hotter than we are used to having. Last July we had 7 days in the 90’s and many in the upper 80’s. This year we have had a few more 90’s, some in May, but a new wrinkle was added to the heat and humidity, smoke from Canadian wildfires. When the prevailing winds are just right we get the smoke in our air. Some days the sun is a dull glow in a gray sky. Rain has also been in short supply. The good thing is we have hardly had to mow the lawn. This year instead of planting a big garden down at the end of our property we just did a container garden with two tomato plants, a green pepper, some cukes and herbs. I have to water those pots every single day or the plants immediately wilt. I wasn’t planning on that but at least I’m not dragging a hose 100′ down to the big garden with corn, potatoes, onions, squash, tomatoes, green peppers, eggplant and green beans, like we used to do. But I’m just reporting, not complaining. I have air conditioning, I leave in a pretty green state where there is lots of water and we have great libraries and bookstores. So if it is too hot to go out, I pick up a book and an iced tea. What are you reading and what’s your drink of choice on a hot day?

1. Jump into the Sky by Shelley Pearsall (2012) 352p. Thirteen-year old Levi, has been living with his aunt in Chicago while his father serves in a secret Army mission (the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion). It’s May, 1945, and the war is drawing to close. Levi’s aunt decides to send him off by train to stay with his father at his dad’s last known address in North Carolina. Not only does his father not know he’s coming, Levi arrives in the Jim Crow South without a clue as to the behavior expected of a “colored boy” and almost gets himself killed for trying to buy a Coke at the wrong store. And to make things more difficult, his father’s unit has been sent all the way to Oregon.
   
2. Song of Joy (Under Northern Skies #4) by Lauraine Snelling (2019) 329p. This is the 4th novel in Lauraine Snelling’s series of Norwegian pioneer life in America, specifically in Minnesota. This book continues the story of Nilda Carlson, who is living in Black Duck with her sponsor, Mrs. Schoenleber. Nilda continues to learn new skills and meet new people, and at Mrs. Schoenleber’s urging, finding new ways to use her sponsor’s wealth to benefit other immigrants.
   
3. The Maid and the Socialite: The Brave Women Behind Green Bay’s Scandalous Minihan Trials by Lynda Drews (2023) 298p. The title refers to Mary, an illiterate maid, and Mollie, Minihan a college-educated socialite, who both fell victim to the physical violence and mental abuse of celebrated surgeon Dr. John R. Minahan, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Both were accused by the doctor, of having syphilis, a shameful disease. Because there were no tests at the time, Minihan did not have to prove his claims and this could literally ruin the women’s lives. But this is the story of how those two women took on the Dr and the male establishment of the time. Note: The Minahan family dominated Green Bay’s professional, business, and political arenas from 1892 to 1954, built a college stadium, science hall, and six-story office building—all named after him. Those names have been removed.
   
4. The Good Guy by Dean Koontz (2007) 386p.Tim Carrier accidentally intercepts a payment to a contract killer and finds himself embroiled in a chase across the country, as the real killer seeks to complete his contract. As time goes by, Tim begins to realize that the intention of killing the woman, Linda, whom he is protecting, is just a small part of a serious serial killing conspiracy.
   
5. Desert Star (Harry Bosch #24, Renee Ballard #5) by Michael Connelly (2022) 391p. In this latest novel, Bosch is again partnered with Renée Ballard who drafts him into her newly reconstituted Open-Unsolved Unit as a volunteer investigator. This gives Bosch the opportunity to dig out an old case he investigated but didn’t close.
   
6. Cross Down (Alex Cross #31) by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois (2023) 464p. Alex Cross is gravely injured. For the first time, John Sampson is on his own. As a shadow force advances on the nation’s capital, Sampson alone must protect the Cross family, and every American, including the president.
   
7. To Marry an English Lord or, How Anglomania Really Got Started by Gail McColl & Carol McD. Wallace (1989) 403p. This history of the glut of rich young American women invading Britain during the last decade of the 19th century in search of a titled husband is humorous, informative and gossipy. These brides had the money and but no standing in British society….the groom had social position but no money. Sounds like the perfect scenario but the societal “rules” bordered on the ludicrous and the author provides a glimpse into what was expected or demanded from those who married into the aristocracy.
   
8. Travels with Charlie: In Search of America by John Steinbeck (1961) 246p. In 1960, with Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers. We liked the fact that he particularly liked Wisconsin.
   
9. The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty (2006) 388p. When her ex-boyfriend’s aunt passes away, Sophie inherits her house on Scribbly Gum Island, Australia, the site of a mystery. She moves there and is soon swept along in the drama of everyone who lives on the island, and everyone has something to hide.
   
10. Cabin Fever: The Harrowing Journey of a Cruise Ship at the Dawn of a Pandemic by Michael Smith & Jonathan Franklin (2022) 272p. The true story of the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, which set sail 19 days before the world shut down in March 2020 because of the COVID 19 pandemic. Little did they know that the virus was already on board.
    
11. The Cloisters by Katy Hays (2022) 312p. Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, hoping to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she is assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its collection of medieval and Renaissance art. She is assigned to do research for an upcoming exhibit on ancient prophecy including a lost deck of Tarot. Lots of twists and turns make this an interesting mystery.

Another Turn of the Page: Big Books

“A big book is like a serious relationship; it requires a commitment.“
-Mick Foley

Most of the books I, and the members of my book group, read, range from 200 – 400 pages. But every once in awhile someone comes in with a real tome. This month we had three books that I would consider big (601 pages), really big (880 pages) and extremely big (992 pages). I have read my share of big books but with house, family, appointments, gardens, and a million other things that invade my day, it takes me a lot longer to get through a big book in a month.

I think my first “big” book was “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott (528 pages). I must have been in 8th or 9th grade and blasted through it. I especially loved Jo, the independent ‘little woman’. My mother suggested reading “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell (1037 pages). She loved it and even read it twice. I remember her telling me the first time she read it, as a young woman, it was all about the romance. When she read it later in life, it was all about the historical story of the war. Interesting how our life experience affects our reading. I eventually succumbed to her suggestion and read it and really liked it.

I was working at the library when “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling came out. It was a mere 332 pages and I read it to my son, a chapter a night before bedtime. He loved it and after that read all of the books himself, even though they got bigger and bigger (It was too slow waiting for me). From book 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the books topped 600 pages ( book 5 was 766 pages). Critics poo-pooed the length of these ‘children’s books’, saying kids would never get through them, what was Rowling thinking? Well, the kids, even 3rd and 4th graders were plowing through these books in a couple of days, staying up all night with a flashlight under the covers. I think from that time on, children’s authors realized it didn’t matter how long the book was, if it was a good story, the kids would read it. And that is the key. Sure we all had textbooks that were big and boring. We were forced to read them, even though we probably never ever finished one. But give me “The Stand” by Stephen King (823 pages) and I’ll read till dawn, wanting to find out what happens after a pandemic of apocalyptic proportions kills nearly the entire world population within a month. (Where have I heard that premise?) Now if they only wrote textbooks that exciting. Anyway, check out our list from this month, all the readers of the big books enthusiastically recommended them.

1. Hang the Moon by Jeanette Walls (2023) 368p. A generational family drama set in rural Prohibition-era Virginia. A little bit of everything, death, accidents, bootlegging, philandering, and renegade style justice.
   
2. New York by Edward Rutherford (2009) 880p. This book begins in the 17th century with a tiny Indian fishing village on the forested island of Manna hata, with the Dutch family of Van Dyck and continues through the next generations. The story touches upon the history of the American Revolution, the Civil War, Draft Riots, as well as the American West, Wall Street corruption and ends at 9/11.
   
3. The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer (2022) 448p. “Operation Paperclip” was a secret United States intelligent program in which more than 1,600 Nazi German scientists, engineers, and technicians, between 1945 and 1959, were taken from former Nazi Germany to the United States for government employment after the end of World War Two. This novel follows the lives of two women, one married to a German rocket scientist the other married to an American rocket scientist.
   
4. Camino Island by John Grisham (2017) 290p. Priceless manuscripts by F. Scott Fitzgerald are stolen from a Princeton library, and the hunt is on to catch the thieves and save the papers. Mercer Mann, an aspiring novelist is tasked with infiltrating the social world of Bruce Cable, a bookseller in Camino Island, Florida, who is suspected of purchasing the stolen manuscripts. This book is followed by “Camino Winds”, which is a new adventure on the island..
   
5. Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict (2018) 283p. In this historical fiction, Clara Kelley is not who her employer thinks she is. She’s not the experienced Irish maid who was hired to work in the grand household of Andrew Carnegie in Pittsburgh. She’s an Irish immigrant, the daughter of a poor farmer, with nowhere to go. The real Clara Kelley has vanished, and pretending to be her just might get the imposter Clara some money to send back home.
   
6. 76 Hours: A Novel of Tawara by Larry Alexander (2023) 324p. During WWII the island of Tarawa, a tiny spit of sand out in the middle of the Pacific, teemed with five hundred pillboxes filled with artillery pieces and highly motivated Japanese soldiers. Taking it was a nightmare. The Marines who landed did so under intense firing, and continuous bombardments and attacks by Japanese soldiers. This novel is about the bravery and fortitude of the soldiers who took the island in an astonishing 76 hours.
   
7. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952) 601p. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. This work is regarded by many to be Steinbeck’s most ambitious novel and by Steinbeck himself to be his masterpiece.
   
8. Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge series #1) by Ken Follett (1989) 992p. This historical novel is about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. It is set in the middle of the 12th century, primarily during the Anarchy, between the time of the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of Thomas Becket. The book traces the development of Gothic architecture out of the preceding Romanesque architecture, and the fortunes of the Kingsbridge priory and village against the backdrop of historical events of the time. May sound dry but it is a fascinating novel with a huge cast of characters. Followed by two other tomes, ‘World Without End’ (1237 pages) and ‘Column of Fire’ (1024 pages).
   
9. Fear No Evil (Alex Cross #29) by James Patterson (2021) 400p. Alex Cross, and Dr. John Sampson are about to set off for a vacation to remote Montana when a case interrupts their trip. There has been a murder in DC and the victim is CIA and she has been left with a confession.
   
10. The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend by Glenn Frankel (2013) 416p.Frankel begins his tale with the true story of Cynthia Ann Parker, the little girl who was kidnapped by Comanche raiders after she watched them butcher most of her family. He ends it with an engrossing account of the making of one of Hollywood’s best-known movies, The Searchers, the John Wayne/John Ford collaboration that is loosely based upon Cynthia Ann’s ordeal.
    
11. The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd (2022) 392p. Seven years ago, cartographer Nell Young lost everything—her career, her reputation, her fiancé, and her family—because of an argument over a cheap gas station map. After her esteemed cartographer father, who she has been estranged from for 8 years, unexpectedly dies, Nell learns he’d been working on some sort of secret project connected to the map, which isn’t junk at all but an incredibly rare and hotly sought-after artifact. Her knowledge of its existence may put her very life in danger. An enjoyable mystery that must be read with a suspension of disbelief.