Hi everyone, here are our book club notes for October & November 2022!

Our October Read was: Bewilderment by Richard Powers

Our November Read was: The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson

Looking forward, before we look back – as time flies, our December book club gathering will be held on Friday, December 9, 2022, from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. at the library.

Our December Read is: Oh, William! by Elizabeth Strout (256 pages), the third book in the author’s series of books set  Amgash, Illinois! featuring Lucy Barton, a new York City based writer, who in middle life returns to her hometown of Amgash.

Copies of Oh, William! may be picked up at the Circulation Desk at any time through Tuesday, December 6; after which time we’ll have copies of the January Read available — The Music of Bees: A Novel by Eileen Garvin (336 pages).

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And on a beginning note, I’ve discovered, that writing the more in-depth plot summaries for each months’ book club read simply takes too much time, and I think I’m just a repeating what was discussed at each months’ meeting.

So, I’m going to try, and I say “try” as I’ve never found it easy to write short, concise pieces, to briefly offer a summary of the plot of each monthly read & list the recommended reads shared by book club members in each month’s notes – we will see how I do – I suspect at first my overviews may be too short, but we will see…

So here goes!

Our October Read was Bewilderment by Richard Powers: The book tells the tale of Theo Byrne an astrobiologist  & widower who is raising his nine-year-old son Robin alone. Robin has had behavioral issues since his mother, and Theo’s wife, Ally’s died in a car accident. Theo doesn’t like the medial diagnosis of Robin’s condition, including ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome, and the related pressure he faces from Robin’s doctors and school officials to put Robin on medication in an attempt to alleviate his persistent inappropriate behavior.

While looking for an alternate way of treating Robin, one that does not require medication, Theo takes Robin out of public school and teaches him at home instead. He then connections with his late wife’s associate Martin Currier, who is working on a way to train the brains of people using technology. The process he has developed allows program participants to be trained using someone else’s brain scan; and Martin offers Robin a place in his program; and trains him using his late mother’s brain scan. Robin makes terrific progress under this program and is new boy; one who is exceptionally smart, who behaves normally and has a growing interest in and concern on matters of climate change.

Unfortunately, Martin’s whose project is funded by public funds, has his funding cut and has to close down the program. And Robin, without the benefit of regular training with his mother’s brain scan, regresses.

The story of Theo and Robin, beings and ends with trips to the great Smoky Mountains; where the duo connects with nature and Robin seems to feel better simply be being there.

Spoiler alert, if you haven’t read the book, and wish to be surprised by the ending, stop reading now!

While on their second trip to the Smoky Mountains, more than a year after their first trip ,and after Robin’s treatments with Martin have ended, Theo & Robin notice cairns near the river, located near their campsite. And Theo mentions that the cairns are not good for the environment. That night while sleeping at their campsite, Theo hears Robin moving about but goes back to sleep only to wake up hours later and find Robin is not in the tent.

Theo goes to find Robin, who he discovers has contracted hypothermia by trying to dismantle the cairns, in frigid river water, by himself. Theo manages to haul Robin back to shore and tries to increase his body temperature, but Robin dies.

At the very end of the book, after Robin’s funeral, Martin asks Theo if he wishes to try the same treatment Robin did, but with Robin’s brain scan instead of Robin’s mother’s brain scan; and Theo agrees.

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The majority of the book club members liked this book, which featured a bit of future politics and dystopian elements but was mostly the story of a father and his son.

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November Read: The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson

Good Housekeeping article by the author from 2021 titled:

 When I Was Struggling, Libraries Gave Me a Place to Belong

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/author/230070/Freya-Sampson/

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And here is the overview of the plot:

The Last Chance Library is set in the fictional English village of Chalot.

The main character is June, the shy daughter of a librarian and an aspiring writer, who left college to come home and care for her terminally ill mother, and has worked at the library in the eight years since her mother’s Beverly’s death.

Supporting characters include June’s next door neighbor Linda, a friend of her mother’s, Linda’s grandson Jackson, Stanley Phelps, a senior patron who frequents the library daily, Marjorie Spencer, the Director of the Chalot Public Library; her husband Brian and their daughter Gayle who was a childhood friend of June, Mrs. Bransworth, aka Mrs. B, a library patron and local activist, Chantal a teenager from a low income family and daily library patron; George Chen who runs the local Chinese take-out restaurant, George’s son Alex who returns to town from London to assist his father while he recovers from hip surgery; and June’s house companion, her mother’s grouchy cat, Alan Bennet.

Shortly after the story opens it transpires that the county council, of which Brian Spencer is a member, has voted to close several county libraries include the Chalot Library, because the council doesn’t see the full value of libraries, which to put it briefly, are community connections centers not just book depositories.

Just after the news breaks that library is to be closed, two things happen in quick succession; some local residents including Stanley, Mrs. B. and Chantel form an activist group whose goal is to save the library; and Marjorie calls June into her office and forbids her to join the activist group or to tell them the truth about why she can’t join them.

The activist group schedules a mild protest at the library, and June, who is clandestinely assisting the group by sending them inside information through a pseudonymous Twitter account under the name Matilda, arraigns for the stripper who was supposed to attend the female bachelor party of Marjorie’s daughter Gayle, to the library to strip instead – which lands the group’s protest in the news much more so than the mild activist event the group was planning.

Subsequently, while in a restaurant June see’s Brian with staff from the Cuppa a coffee chain and realizes, from what she overhears him say, that he is looking to profit from the sale of the library building, once the library is closed, to the chain.

Subsequently, the activist plan a sit-in, in the library itself, and at that time June comes clean and lets Stanley, Mrs. B. and the other activists know that she is Matilda. The group then goes forward with the sit in, with local residents backing them up and filling out the numbers. And then the police, lead by Marjorie’s husband Brian, appear and demand that they vacate the premises but can’t force the group to leave . Brian and the police get a court order, ordering the activist to leave the building and present it to the activist. The activists then start to vacate the building, with Stanley, slowly walking at the back of the crowd. Once everyone but Stanley is outside the library; he closes the door and refuses to leave.

In the aftermath, Brian tells June she is fired and Stanley is arrested. June’s then hurriedly calls her friend Alex, who is lawyer in London when not helping out at his father’s restaurant, and asks him to come to the police station and get Stanley released, which he does.

The crux of the conflict is reached when June then attends Marjorie’s daughter’s wedding, with a previously issued invitation; and calls Brian out his unethical plan to profit from selling the library building to the Cuppa company. Marjorie, who as is turns out didn’t have a clue what her husband was up to, blows a fuse as she loves the library and has put thirty years of her life into working there.

After the wedding reception, it is found that Stanley, who had grown close to June by simply being in the library every day and connecting with her, had died. Stanley left June the property his trailer was housed on; and that property turned out to be worth more than anyone thought due to an apartment building being built adjacent to it. So, June, buys the library building, the library becomes a community library, not one funded by the government; June accepts a job at a larger library nearby, and, at the end of the novel is planning to go back to college, pursue a writing career and just maybe hook up with her friend Alex Chen.

The book is light reader’s read, featuring many references to popular books and characters that appear in popular books and the book club members concurred it was a light, fun, library-based read.

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Recommended Reads & Views (by Book Club Members!)

Finlay Donovan Series; book one is:

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: Finlay Donovan is killing it . . . except, she’s really not. She’s a stressed-out single-mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: the new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors.

When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer, and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet . . . Soon, Finlay discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation.

Fast-paced, deliciously witty, and wholeheartedly authentic in depicting the frustrations and triumphs of motherhood in all its messiness, hilarity, and heartfelt moment, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is the first in a brilliant new series from YA Edgar Award nominee Elle Cosimano.

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How To Cook A Wolf (1942) by M.F.K. Fisher: Written to inspire courage in those daunted by wartimes shortages, How to Cook a Wolf continues to rally cooks during times of plenty, reminding them that providing sustenance requires more than putting food on the table.

M. F. K. Fisher knew that the last thing hungry people needed were hints on cutting back and making do. Instead, she gives her readers license to dream, to experiment, to construct adventurous and delicious meals as a bulwark against a dreary, meager present. Her fine prose provides reason in itself to draw our chairs close to the hearth; we can still enjoy her company and her exhortations to celebrate life by eating well.

The official M. F. K. Fisher website can be found here:

https://mfkfisher.com/

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The Library by Bella Osborne

Two lonely bookworms. An unexpected friendship. A library that needs their help ‘A touching story of a friendship between a troubled teenager, a yoga-practising farming woman in her seventies and a local library. A delight!’ – Sunday Times bestselling author Katie FfordeTeenager Tom has always blended into the background of life. After a row with his dad and facing an unhappy future at the dog food factory, he escapes to the library. Pensioner Maggie has been happily alone with her beloved novels for ten years – at least, that’s what she tells herself. When they meet, they recognize something in each other that will change both their lives for ever.Then the library comes under threat of closure, and they must join forces to prove that it’s not just about books – it’s the heart of their community. They are determined to save it – because some things are worth fighting for.

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Magpie Murders (PBS Mystery): Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan star in the TV adaptation of Anthony Horowitz’s bestselling novel about a dead mystery author, an incomplete manuscript and suspects galore. Based upon the book the book club previous read – Magpie Murders.

Magpie Murder can be found on your local PBS station, or streamed through the WSKG website to a smart TV, computer or mobile device:

To view through a web browser click the following link and the episode of your choice:

https://www.pbs.org/show/magpie-murders/

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The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Character growth and development is a strength of this World War II-set novel, although the middle plods during some sections. Sisters Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac are driven apart by unhealed childhood wounds and clashing personalities. When Isabelle is kicked out of boarding school for the umpteenth time for “rebellious” behavior, her embittered veteran father, in the midst of drowning his own battle scars in bourbon, sends the adolescent to her elder sister’s house. Meanwhile, Vianne attempts to find salvation from her past by marrying her teenage sweetheart and relocating to the French countryside where she delights in her garden and her school-age daughter. As Hitler’s forces invade, both sisters face challenging choices that will show where their loyalties lie.

VERDICT Hannah (Summer Island; Firefly Lane) has long been a staple of women’s fiction. Readers who enjoy stories with ethical dilemmas and character-driven narratives will enjoy this novel full of emotion and heart. -Library Journal Review

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The Palace Papers by Tina Brown

“Never again” became Queen Elizabeth II’s mantra shortly after Princess Diana’s tragic death. More specif­ically, there could never be “another Diana”—a mem­ber of the family whose global popularity upstaged, outshone, and posed an existential threat to the Brit­ish monarchy.

Picking up where Tina Brown’s masterful The Diana Chronicles left off, The Palace Papers reveals how the royal family reinvented itself after the trau­matic years when Diana’s blazing celebrity ripped through the House of Windsor like a comet.

Brown takes readers on a tour de force journey through the scandals, love affairs, power plays, and betrayals that have buffeted the monarchy over the last twenty-five years. We see the Queen’s stoic re­solve after the passing of Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother, and Prince Philip, her partner for seven decades, and how she triumphs in her Jubilee years even as family troubles rage around her. Brown explores Prince Charles’s determination to make Camilla Parker Bowles his wife, the tension between William and Harry on “different paths,” the ascend­ance of Kate Middleton, the downfall of Prince An­drew, and Harry and Meghan’s stunning decision to step back as senior royals. Despite the fragile monar­chy’s best efforts, “never again” seems fast approaching.

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The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

It is a perfect August morning, and Elle, a fifty-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at “The Paper Palace”—the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: last night Elle and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, all while their spouses chatted away inside. Now, over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn’t forever changed the course of their lives. As Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity. Tender yet devastating, The Paper Palace considers the tensions between desire and dignity, the legacies of abuse, and the crimes and misdemeanors of families.

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Sacred Bridge by Anne Hillerman

Sacred Bridge is the seventh book in Anne Hillerman’s Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito series, which itself is a continuation of her father, Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee series which features 18 titles starting with The Blessing Way.

Also of note, the books are the basis for the critically acclaimed TV series Dark Winds staring Zach McClarnon.

Here’s the plot overview for Sacred Bridge:

Sergeant Jim Chee’s vacation to beautiful Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell has a deeper purpose. He’s on a quest to unravel a sacred mystery his mentor, the Legendary Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, stumbled across decades earlier.

Chee’s journey takes a deadly turn when, after a prayerful visit to the sacred Rainbow Bridge, he spots a body floating in the lake. The dead man, a Navajo with a passion for the canyon’s ancient rock art, lived a life filled with many secrets. Discovering why he died and who was responsible involves Chee in an investigation that puts his own life at risk.

Back in Shiprock, Officer Bernadette Manuelito is driving home when she witnesses an expensive sedan purposely kill a hitchhiker. The search to find the killer leads her to uncover a dangerous chain of interconnected revelations involving a Navajo Nation cannabis enterprise.

But the evil that is unleashed jeopardizes her mother and sister Darleen, and puts Bernie in the deadliest situation of her law enforcement career.

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Sag Harbor: A Novel by Colson Whitehead

From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys: a hilarious and supremely original novel set in the Hamptons in the 1980s, “a tenderhearted coming-of-age story fused with a sharp look at the intersections of race and class” (The New York Times).

Benji Cooper is one of the few Black students at an elite prep school in Manhattan. But every summer, Benji escapes to the Hamptons, to Sag Harbor, where a small community of Black professionals have built a world of their own.

The summer of ’85 won’t be without its usual trials and tribulations, of course. There will be complicated new handshakes to fumble through and state-of-the-art profanity to master. Benji will be tested by contests big and small, by his misshapen haircut (which seems to have a will of its own), by the New Coke Tragedy, and by his secret Lite FM addiction. But maybe, just maybe, this summer might be one for the ages.

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Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich

The new book in the series, #29 is Going Rogue (2022)

Here’s the plot: Stephanie Plum breaks the rules, flirts with disaster, and shows who’s boss in this “fast and fun” (Publishers Weekly) thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich.

Monday mornings aren’t supposed to be fun, but they should be predictable. However, on this particular Monday, Stephanie Plum knows that something is amiss when she turns up for work at Vinnie’s Bail Bonds to find that longtime office manager Connie Rosolli, who is as reliable as the tides in Atlantic City, hasn’t shown up.

Stephanie’s worst fears are confirmed when she gets a call from Connie’s abductor. He says he will only release her in exchange for a mysterious coin that a recently murdered man left as collateral for his bail. Unfortunately, this coin, which should be in the office—just like Connie—is nowhere to be found.

The quest to discover the coin, learn its value, and save Connie will require the help of Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur, her best pal Lula, her boyfriend Morelli, and hunky security expert Ranger. As they get closer to unraveling the reasons behind Connie’s kidnapping, Connie’s captor grows more threatening and soon Stephanie has no choice but to throw caution to the wind, follow her instincts, and go rogue.

Reader’s Note: If you like to start reading the Stephanie Plum series from the beginning check out One For The Money.

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Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

Thirteen-year-old Ava Bigtree has lived her entire life at Swamplandia!, her family’s island home and gator-wrestling theme park in the Florida Everglades. But when illness fells Ava’s mother, the park’s indomitable headliner, the family is plunged into chaos; her father withdraws, her sister falls in love with a spooky character known as the Dredgeman, and her brilliant big brother, Kiwi, defects to a rival park called The World of Darkness.

As Ava sets out on a mission through the magical swamps to save them all, we are drawn into a lush and bravely imagined debut that takes us to the shimmering edge of reality.

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Wastelands: The True Story of Farm Country on Trial by Corban Addison

The once idyllic coastal plain of North Carolina is home to a close-knit, rural community that for more than a generation has battled the polluting practices of large-scale farming taking place in its own backyard. After years of frustration and futility, an impassioned cadre of local residents, led by a team of intrepid and dedicated lawyers, filed a lawsuit against one of the world’s most powerful companies—and, miraculously, they won.

As vivid and fast-paced as a thriller, Wastelands takes us into the heart of a legal battle over the future of America’s farmland and into the lives of the people who found the courage to fight.

There is Elsie Herring, the most outspoken of the neighbors, who has endured racial slurs and the threat of a restraining order to tell the story of the waste raining down on her rooftop from the hog operation next door. There is Don Webb, a larger-than-life hog farmer turned grassroots crusader, and Rick Dove, a riverkeeper and erstwhile military judge who has pioneered the use of aerial photography to document the scale of the pollution. There is Woodell McGowan, a quiet man whose quest to redeem his family’s ancestral land encourages him to become a better neighbor, and Dr. Steve Wing, a groundbreaking epidemiologist whose work on the health effects of hog waste exposure translates the neighbors’ stories into the argot of science. And there is Tom Butler, an environmental savant and hog industry insider whose whistleblowing testimony electrifies the jury.

Fighting alongside them in the courtroom is Mona Lisa Wallace, who broke the gender barrier in her small southern town and built a storied legal career out of vanquishing corporate giants, and Mike Kaeske, whose trial skills are second to none.

With journalistic rigor and a novelist’s instinct for story, Corban Addison’s Wastelands captures the inspiring struggle to bring a modern-day monopoly to its knees, to force a once-invincible corporation to change, and to preserve the rights—and restore the heritage—of a long-suffering community.

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Windsor Knot Series by SJ Bennett: Queen Elizabeth II solves crimes!

   1. The Windsor Knot (2020)

   2. A Three Dog Problem (2021)

   3. Murder Most Royal (2022)

   4. A Death in Diamonds (2024)

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The Author’s Reading Lists:

Richard Powers Reading List:

Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance (1985)

Prisoner’s Dilemma (1988)

The Gold Bug Variations (1991)

Operation Wandering Soul (1993)

Galatea 2.2 (1995)

Gain (1998)

Plowing the Dark (2000)

The Time of Our Singing (2002)

The Echo Maker (2006)

Generosity (2009)

Orfeo (2014)

The Overstory (2018)

Bewilderment (2021)

For plot details, click the following link to Powers’s Fantastic Fiction page (and then just click on the title of the book you want to know more about, to find out more!) :

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/p/richard-powers/

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Freya Sampson Reading List:

The Last Chance Library (2021) aka The Last Library

The Girl on the 88 Bus (2022)

The Lost Ticket (2022)

To find out more about the plot of each Freya Sampson book, just click on this link to her page on the Fantastic Fiction website: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/s/freya-sampson/

Have a great day,

Linda Reimer, SSCL