Hi everyone, as attendees know at our March 2023 gathering we discussed the book The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. The novel offered a fictionalized account of the true life story of librarian Belle da Costa Greene. And there is so much to learn and say about the life of de Costa Green that I found it difficult to write an overview of her story, as relayed in the book, and keep it short.

So I have finally edited my notes a bit and typed up a reasonably short overview the book, and will now move on to typing up the notes for the May meeting – which I promise to have out before June 1st!

And speaking of June, just a reminder that our June book club gathering will be on Friday, June 16, 2023 at the library, and we will be discussing Michelle Obama’s new book The Light We Carry. You can pick up a copy of the book at the Circulation Desk at any time.

And without further ado, here is the overview of The Personal Librarian:

The March Southeast Steuben County Library Book Club of Adults was held on Friday, March 10, 2023.

Our March read was: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray

And on a neat reader’s note: the two authors, Benedict & Murray, who worked together for the first time on The Personal Librarian; greatly enjoyed working together and have collaborated on a second book The First Ladies that is coming out on June 27, 2023.

The first paragraph of the publisher’s overview describes the book as: “A novel about the extraordinary partnership between First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune—an unlikely friendship that changed the world, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the Good Morning America Book Club pick The Personal Librarian.” So that too should be a good read!

And back to the March Read: The Personal Librarian.

The Personal Librarian offers a fictionalized account of the life of librarian extraordinaire Belle D. Greene that hits the high notes of the life the real Belle D. Green lived.

Today, we can’t know for certain what was said in conversations had between Belle D. Greene and the legendary financier J. P. Morgan, nor can we know for certain the details of Belle’s relationship with art historian Bernard Berenson. But we can learn the outline of Belle Da Costa Greene’s life by reading the book, The Personal Librarian.  

From the real Belle’s New York Times obituary, dated May 12, 1950, we learn that outline of important dates in her life are also used in the book, and are right on the mark. Belle was a librarian in charge of the Morgan Library, today the Pierpont Morgan Library; the library J. P. Morgan founded to house his collection of rare books and manuscripts, from 1905 – 1924. She was later promoted to Director of the Library and held that position from 1924 – 1948. Her obituary noted that she was “one of the best known librarians in this country. As a young woman, well before the First World War, she was already a somewhat fabulous figure at auction sales and had the power to spend $40,000 or more for one book – and exercised it.”

The fictionalized account of her life uses this framework of dates and dives deeper by offering details about a fact whispered by some during Greene’s lifetime, but a fact that was not public knowledge until decades after her death. Belle da Costa Greene was in fact born Belle Marion Greener the daughter of Richard Theodore Greener, the first African American graduate of Harvard (1870) and Genevieve Ida Fleet. Her father was the first African American professor at the University of South Carolina, and her mother was from a prominent African American family based in Washington D.C.  Bell’s parents had a difficult time living with the racism of the Reconstruction Era; and times became even more difficult when reconstruction was abandoned and the Jim Crow Era began. From the difficulties of these times, Belle’s father Richard and mother Genevieve came to hold opposing beliefs. Richard believed that equality and civil rights could be obtained through activism; and Genevieve came to the conclusion that racism and inequality were unlikely to ever be eliminated from American society. The couple eventually split over these ideological differences; and Genevieve took her children to New York City, cut ties with her mixed race family, changed the family name to Greene, created a false Portuguese genealogy and had the family, sans Richard, pass for white.

As a youth, Belle developed a love of learning and of rare books and manuscripts from her father. And after moving to New York, and beginning her life passing for white, she obtained a library degree and began working in the library field.

Thus the two biggest things in Belle da Costa Green’s life, can been seen a two faces one public, her fierce love of rare books and manuscripts, epitomized by her positon as the librarian in charge of the Morgan library, and one private, the importance of keeping the secret of the family’s passing and related origin at all costs.

Readers of The Personal Library get to hear the thoughts of the fictional Belle and discover, in essence, that thinking about passing and keeping the secret of her African American ancestry was like a blanket she threw over herself whenever leaving her home, a layer that she was always aware of and caution about taking care of.

Despite the challenges of passing, Belle da Costa Greene, became one of the most powerful and influential women of her day. In an era when it was almost unheard of for a woman in any field to hold a position of power, Belle did. J. P. Morgan trusted her as his personal librarian to the max and allowed her to bid on rare books and manuscripts. Belle da Costa Green worked at the Morgan Library Library from 1905 until her retirement in 1948.

And, in a nutshell, the fictionalized life of Belle da Costa Greene, is well told in the book The Personal Librarian and makes the reader wish to know more about the librarian herself.

Readers are advised to check out the biography An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene’s Journey from Prejudice to Privilege by Heidi Ardizzone Ph.D which may be requested from the Alfred Library.

And for a brief overview of Belle’s life check out her obituary, which was published in the New York Times in 1950:

Have a great day,

Linda Reimer, SSCL

SSCL Adult Book Club Meeting Schedule & Reading List: May – December 2023

The SSCL Adult Book Club meets at the library the second Friday of each month at the library.

Reading List:

Friday, May 12, 2023 Fox Creek by William Kent Krueger (388 pages)

Friday, June 16, 2023 The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama (318 pages) (Third Friday of month!)

Friday, July 14, 2023 Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (390 pages)

Friday, August 11, 2023 Killers Of A Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (353 pages)

Friday, September 8, 2023 Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (369 pages)

Friday, October 13, 2023 The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (376 pages)

Friday, November 10, 2023 Mamme by Jessica George (312 pages)

Friday, December 8, 2023 Recitatif: A Story (39 pages) by Toni Morrison

Adult Reading Club Contact:  Linda Reimer | Tel: 607-936-3713 x 212 | Email: reimerl@stls.org

Revised 5 1 23 LR

Our April read was The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams. The book is set in Wembley, U.K. and framed by reading lists created by a lady named Naina in 2017. Naina, loves reading, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and wishes to leave behind reading lists for some of people she encounters in her daily life, including family, friends and people she has encountered at the local library.

Naina is a book lover who knows that reading a good book can enrich a person’s life by taking that person out of his/her daily life and dropping that person into the lives of the characters found within books. Reading can be comforting, enlightening, offer the feeling of a gothic setting as in Manderley Hall in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, a joyful family as in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women or even chronicle the lives of characters from other parts of the world and different classes in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner which relays the experiences of young Afghan boys Amir and Hassan. Novels can also take one to other worlds, or times a situation encountered by Henry in The Time Traveler’s Wife by Niffenegger.

And so Naina, who is unnamed when introduced at the very beginning of The Reading List, places several of her reading lists where her intended readers find them; thus recruiting new readers and encouraging a few discouraged persons to find connections to other people, and other books, by reading the books on her lists. The readers are introduced both in an overview story that follows Naina’s husband/widower Mukesh and Aleisha a library clerk working at the local Harrow Road Library; and in six stories-with-the-story that give that spotlight people that have been inspired to read by encountering a copy of her reading list, or in the case of library patron Chris, were left a book to read that she believed would help him through a difficult time in his life.

The final Reading List section, and the last section of the book, reveals who the writer of the reading list was – the lade Naina, wife of newly inspired reader Mukesh. And Mukesh discovers via note she left that she was the writer of this list and hoped he’s be inspired to read and form a deeper connection with their bibliophile granddaughter Priya.

The Books on Naina’s Reading List:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Little Women by Louise May Alcott

Beloved by Toni Morrison

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

And a bonus recommendation, the book her daughter’s found under their parent’s bed and which Mukesh read before he read the books on her list: Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

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The author, Sara Nisha Adams also included a list of her favorite reading titles, and they are:

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

Strange Weather in Toyko by Hiromi Kawakami

The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Sunlight on a Broken Column by Attia Hosain

There But For The by Ali Smith

We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian

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The May 2023 Book Club for Adults will be meeting on Friday, May 12, 2023 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m., in the Conference Room at the library.

Our May Read is Fox Creek: A Novel by William Kent Krueger. Copies of the book will be available to pick up at the library by the end of next week – if you’re dropping by to pick up a copy before then – call the library first to make sure we have a copy for you – tel. 607-936-3713.

If you can’t find a copy of the book, let me know and I’ll make sure you get one!

And on a related note, William Kent Krueger recently gave a (LSC) author talk & discussed his latest novel – Fox Creek. The recording of the talk is accessible via the following link:

https://libraryc.org/ssclibrary/archive

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Other Great Books Recommend by Book Club Members This Past Month:

A Man Called Ove: A Novel by Fredrik Backman

Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Faith Still Moves Mountains: Miraculous Stories of the Healing Power of Prayer by Harris Faulkner

Recitatif: A Story by Toni Morrison and Zadie Smith

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Switchboard Soldiers: A Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini

We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian

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If you’d like to request print copies of books, using your library card and PIN, just click on the following link to StarCat (the print book catalog for all Southern Tier Library System member libraries)

https://starcat.stls.org

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And if you’d like to search for digital content check out:

The Digital Catalog (for eBooks & Downloadable Audiobooks) (Companion app: Libby)

https://stls.overdrive.com/

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And Hoopla (for on-demand eBooks, audios, TV shows, movies & comic books) (Companion app: Hoopla)

https://www.hoopladigital.com/

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Have a great day,

Linda Reimer, SSCL

Email Address: reimerl@stls.org

Hi everyone, the March SSCL Book Club for Adults gathering is today at 3:00 p.m.

You can attend in person at the library, and due to the weather I have also created a Zoom meeting – so feel free to stay at home, where it is warm and cozy, and Zoom.

If you need the Zoom link, just send me an email:

REIMERL@STLS.ORG

I hope to see everyone who is available today at 3:00 p.m., virtually or in person.

I thought the book, The Personal Librarian by Benedict & Murray was a great read and look forward to discussing it!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

Hi everyone, just kicking things off with a reminder, our March book club gathering will be on Friday, March 10, 2023 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

And our March Read is:

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray

(Copies of the March Read are available at the Circulation Desk)

And here is the plot: A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

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SSCL Book Club for Adults: February 2023

First Off: Great Reads Recommended by Members:

Barker and Llewelyn Mystery Series by Will Thomas (Books in series, to-date, 13 with a 14^th title, Heart of the Nile coming out in April 2023)

Book One:

Some Danger Involved: An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar in London’s Jewish ghetto.

When the eccentric and enigmatic Cyrus Barker takes on the recent murder case of a young scholar in London’s Jewish ghetto, he realizes that he must hire an assistant, and out of all who answer an ad for a position with “some danger involved,” he chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man with a murky past.

As they inch ever closer to the shocking truth behind the murder, Llewelyn is drawn deeper and deeper into Barker’s peculiar world of vigilante detective work, as well as the heart of London’s teeming underworld. Brimming with wit and unforgettable characters and steeped in authentic period detail, Some Danger Involved is a captivating page-turner that introduces an equally captivating duo.

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Bryant & May Mystery Series by Christopher Fowler (Books in series, to-date, 18.5; most recent full book in series London Bridge is Falling Down (2021).

Book One: Full Dark House: Edgy, suspenseful, and darkly comic, here is the first novel in a riveting mystery series starring two cranky but brilliant old detectives whose lifelong friendship was forged solving crimes for the London Police Department’s Peculiar Crimes Unit. In Full Dark House, Christopher Fowler tells the story of both their first and last case—and how along the way the unlikely pair of crime fighters changed the face of detection.

A present-day bombing rips through London and claims the life of eighty-year-old detective Arthur Bryant. For his partner John May, it means the end of a partnership that lasted over half-a-century and an eerie echo back to the Blitz of World War II when they first met. Desperately searching for clues to the killer’s identity, May finds his old friend’s notes of their very first case and becomes convinced that the past has returned . . . with a killing vengeance.

It begins when a dancer in a risque new production of Orpheus in Hell is found without her feet. Suddenly, the young detectives are plunged in a bizarre gothic mystery that will push them to their limits—and beyond. For in a city shaken by war, a faceless killer is stalking London’s theaters, creating his own kind of sinister drama. And it will take Arthur Bryant’s unorthodox techniques and John May’s dogged police work to catch a criminal whose ability to escape detection seems almost supernatural—a murderer who even decades later seems to have claimed the life of one of them . . . and is ready to claim the other.

Filled with startling twists, unforgettable characters, and a mystery that will keep you guessing, Full Dark House is a witty, heartbreaking, and all-too-human thriller about the hunt for an inhuman killer.

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Duncan Kincaid & Gemma James Mystery Series by Deborah Crombie (18 books, with a 19^th scheduled for publication in 2023; the most recent book in the series is A Bitter Feast (2019).

Book One: A Share in Death: In this “thoroughly entertaining mystery with a cleverly conceived and well-executed plot” (Booklist), Edgar Award-nominated author Deborah Crombie introduces us to Duncan Kincaid of Scotland Yard and his partner, Gemma James.

A week’s holiday in a luxurious Yorkshire time-share is just what Scotland Yard’s Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But the discovery of a body floating in the whirlpool bath ends Kincaid’s vacation before it’s begun. One of his new acquaintances at Followdale House is dead; another is a killer. Despite a distinct lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid’s keen sense of duty won’t allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised dramatically when a second murder occurs, and Kincaid and James find themselves in a determined hunt for a fiendish felon who enjoys homicide a bit too much.  

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The Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack. 
 
New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.
 
Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.
 
Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.

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Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America by Dahlia Lithwick:

When it comes to legal challenges to human rights in general and women’s rights in particular, it is sobering to note that threats against them are coming from inside the house. From the lowest rung of the judicial ladder to the Supreme Court, legal decisions that protect fundamental freedoms are under assault in existential ways. Since the mid–twentieth-century, more and more women have been attracted to law as a career, and a stellar cadre of social-justice-focused lawyers has recognized the courts as the linchpin in protecting fragile rights. The battles have been arduous, the defeats aggravating, and the victories often disconcertingly ephemeral. Lawyer and legal journalist Lithwick, a self-described “professional court-watcher,” profiles the best-of-the-best women lawyers whose dedication, drive, and determination have led to monumental changes. Some are household names, such as Sally Yates, Stacey Abrams, and Anita Hill. Others are less well-known, although their advocacy is equally pioneering, including Latinx vote strategist Nina Perales and ACLU reproductive rights attorney Brigitte Amiri. Whip-smart and wickedly acerbic, Lithwick shines a reassuring light on the essential interconnectivity between women and the law and champions the vital role women lawyers must continue to play if American democracy is to persevere. – Booklist Review  

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The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

From the author of the sensational bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes a spellbinding tale about two daring women who hunt for truth and justice in the perilous art of conjuring the dead.

1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to ascertain the identities of the people who killed them, she is highly sought after by widows and investigators alike.

Lenna Wickes has come to Paris to find answers about her sister’s death, but to do so, she must embrace the unknown and overcome her own logic-driven bias against the occult. When Vaudeline is beckoned to England to solve a high-profile murder, Lenna accompanies her as an understudy. But as the women team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve the mystery, they begin to suspect that they are not merely out to solve a crime, but perhaps entangled in one themselves…

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Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (and the corresponding move was good too: A Man Called Otto starring Tom Hanks)

Here is an overview of the plot: Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

Fredrik Backman’s beloved first novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” (Booklist, starred review).

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The Winners by Fredrik Backman

Billed as the conclusion of the Beartown series, the new novel by the award-winning Swedish author Backman (A Man Called Ove, 2014) is set two-and-a-half years after the town of Bjornstad was torn apart by the rape of a teenage girl by a junior hockey player. Readers unfamiliar with Beartown (2016) and its sequel Us against You (2017) need to know one thing: Bjornstad and the nearby Hed are, above all, hockey towns. After the tragic events recounted in the first book, Bjornstad’s hockey team faltered, allowing Hed’s to rise to prominence. Now, as the town still struggles to put itself back together, things happen that will force each resident to confront his or her darkest thoughts. This is a dramatic and highly satisfying novel, building on themes introduced in the first two books and brilliantly drawing the reader deeply into the story. The translation by Neil Smith (who has also translated novels by Lars Kepler and Liza Marklund) is nimble and idiomatic, perfectly conveying Backman’s love of language and his wonderful sense of humor. If this really is the last Beartown novel, it’s a hell of a conclusion to an outstanding series. – Booklist Review

The Winners is third book in the Beartown trilogy, preceded by Beartown (2017) & Us Against You (2018)

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Secondly, here is the February Read Overview:

The SSCL Book Club for Adults met on Friday, February 10 and discussed our February Read:

The Matrix by Lauren Groff.

The book, despite the modern science fiction connotations of the title, is set in the 12 Century, the protagonist a fictionalized version of a real historical person, the poetry writing nun Marie de France.

The protagonist Marie was born in France, the illegitimate daughter of a French noblewoman and a member of the French Royal Family. She spent her early years surrounded by her widowed maternal grandmother, mother and aunts who lived together on the family estate. In that era, women were usually treated as property so the freedom Marie and her female relatives enjoyed in those years was not typical.

After Marie’s mother died, she spent several years managing the family estate before it was discovered a young woman was managing the estate, which wasn’t allowed; and then the French, and future English Queen, Eleanor called her to court and told her she was too awkward, tall and uncouth to be an acceptable bride and instead, she was being sent to an English convent.

Marie, who as the novel opens was not especially religious, was intelligent, hardworking and industrious. When she arrived at the convent she found a small number of nuns at the abbey; and those nuns were starving for a lack of gathering resources.

Over time Marie worked her way up in the ranks at the abbey, implementing more efficient ways of doing things and the abbey prospered. Marie also had religious visions that she used to get her own way when implementing changes and improvements at the abbey. And she created a female-centric place at the abbey where women were able to prosper. Marie was eventually promoted to the top position at the abbey, becoming the abbess, a position she held until her death.

The Matrix was a detailed historical fiction novel but without any mysteries or major league surprises in the plot. The novel was liked by some members of the book club, while others thought it was too detailed and contained too many descriptions that needed to be looked up to comfortably carry on reading the in-depth historical plot.

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Have a great day!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

Hi everyone, I don’t know how time flies as a fast as it does – but it certainly does!

January has flown, February has arrived and our next book club gathering is in just over a week, on Friday, February 10, 2023.

We’ll be meeting in the Conference Room at the library from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. and copies of the February Read: Matrix by Lauren Groff, may be picked up at the Circulation Desk at any time.

And as the word “Matrix” sounds like science fiction – I’ll just note briefly, that the novel is historical fiction with a large dose of female empowerment. Set during the twelve century the novel relays the story of Marie de France; a young noble woman who was deemed by Queen Eleanor to be unsuitable for married or court life, and was thus sent away to an abbey, where she rose through the ranks and thrived.  

I hope to see everyone next Friday!

Linda

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Pasted below are the notes from our December 2022 and January 2023 gatherings where we read and discussed, respectively, Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout and The Secret Life of Bees by Eileen Garvin.

The book club attendees liked our December Read Oh William!

And the response to our January Read: The Secret Life of Bees was mixed. Some readers liked the lighter, feel good, intelligent-but-with-a-Hallmark-vibe to it novel and others felt it was more of a cozy read, with less in-depth character development than they desired.

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Our December 2023 Book Club for Adults Read was held on December 9, 2022

And our December Read was: Oh, William! By Elizabeth Strout

Oh, William! Is the third book in Strout’s Amgash series and relays the story of two main characters: the protagonist of the series: 64-year-old Lucy Barton and her philandering, semi-retired scientist ex-husband William. The novel features scenes both in the present and the past; basically, relaying basic information on the couple, including what their childhoods were like, how they met, married and divorce and are still connected in the present even though they both remarried after their divorce.

It transpires that Lucy had a very difficult, poverty-stricken childhood. Her parents were dysfunctional. Her father had PTSD and her mother was abusive. Lucy grew up with a limited view of the world and found that simply trying to get through each day in the emotional minefield that was her home was a difficult, cringe worthy challenge.

As a youth, Lucy was a good student and worked hard at her studies. She was awarded a scholarship at “that college right outside of Chicago.” Lucy was petrified of going to college because she couldn’t imagine a world other than the small one, she grew up in. She was greatly assisted in getting ready for college by her school counselor Mrs. Nash, who took her shopping for clothes and luggage to replace the few threadbare changes of clothes she took with her from home and carried in a paper bag. Mrs. Nash also drove her to college where Lucy did well as a student. And in her sophomore year she met a fellow student named William Gerhardt.

Turning to William, he too had a difficult childhood. His mother was a bit distant, and his father was a World War II era German soldier who was captured by the allies and wound up a prisoner of war working in the U.S. during the war.

After college, Lucy went on to become a writer and William a scientist in the field of parasitology. They married and had two daughters Becca and Chrissy. And when their daughters were in college, Lucy discovered William was having an affair with a family friend, and she first left him and then divorced him, though they remained in touch.

After her divorce from William, Lucy remarried a much different man a kind, faithful cellist named David. When the book opens readers discover David has died and Lucy is still grieving for him two years after his death.

Early in the book readers discover that William has married twice since his divorce from Lucy. First, he married Lucy’s former friend, Joanne, the woman he had an affair with which caused the breakup of his marriage to Lucy. And then he married a younger woman, Estelle, and had a daughter with her named Sophia. One night he came home from work and discovered Estelle had moved out, taking their daughter and much of their home furnishings with her and leaving him a note announcing the breakup of their marriage.

Readers additionally discover that Lucy has a nervous disposition. In fact, her counselor describes Lucy’s anxieties as being a part of post-traumatic stress disorder she obtained while growing up in a very dysfunctional household. Lucy’s PTSD may be one of the reasons why she stays connected to William as his presence offers her a feeling of safety since she knows what expect from him, most of the time, due to their many years of marriage.

Despite Lucy’s nervousness, it is William who is going through a mid-life crisis in the book. While Lucy is dealing with the death of her second husband David, William winds up dealing both with the breakup of his third marriage to Estelle and the discovery, ironically via a search inspired by the results of a DNA Ancestry kit Estelle gave him for Christmas and that he ignored for months, that his mother, Catherine, left her first husband, Clyde Trask, a Maine potato farmer and their toddler Lois to marry William’s father. William’s father, Wilhelm as a German World War II era POW was sent to Maine, to work on the same potato farm owned by Catherine’s first husband Clyde Trask.

Thus Lucy and William are dealing with the after effects of how they were raised. Lucy with an abusive mother and a father with PTSD; and William with a mother who kept her previous family a secret, and a father who had a haunted past due to things that happened during his service in the German Army. William’s father even admitted to him that the German Army did terrible, unconscionable things during the war and those things haunted him ever afterwards, and he inevitably, inadvertently passed that history and some of those haunted feelings on to William.

And it should also be noted that despite having been divorced for many years that Lucy and William are still connected to each other and still factor into each other’s lives; this is true to such a degree that when William wants to take a trip to Maine to track down his newly discovered half-sister Lois, he takes Lucy with him.

Perhaps needless to say, Oh William! Offers a character study of the two main characters – Lucy and William.

Oh William! Ends with Lucy preparing to take a vacation to the Cayman Islands with William.

Oh William! Is the third book in Elizabeth Strout’s Lucy Baron series; and the story of Lucy and William continues in the fourth book of the series, 2022’s Lucy By The Sea which follows Lucy and William as they take refuge from the COVID-19 pandemic in a secluded house by the sea.

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Books Recommended by Book Club Members: December 2022:

Brighter By The Day: Waking Up To New Hopes and Dreams by Robin Roberts

From the beloved host of Good Morning America and New York Times bestselling author Robin Roberts, a guide to instilling hope and optimism into readers’ lives, infusing their days with positivity and encouragement.

Over the last 16 years as the esteemed anchor of Good Morning America, Robin Roberts has helped millions of people across the country greet each new morning, gracing our screens with heart and humility. She has sought to bring a bit of positivity into each day, even in the most trying of times. Now, she shares with readers the guidance she’s received, her own hard-won wisdom, and eye-opening experiences that have helped her find the good in the world and usher in light—even on the darkest days.

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The Burgess Boys by Lucy Barton

Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister, Susan—the Burgess sibling who stayed behind—urgently calls them home. Her lonely teenage son, Zach, has gotten himself into a world of trouble, and Susan desperately needs their help. And so the Burgess brothers return to the landscape of their childhood, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped and shadowed their relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever.

With a rare combination of brilliant storytelling, exquisite prose, and remarkable insight into character, Elizabeth Strout has brought to life two deeply human protagonists whose struggles and triumphs will resonate with readers long after they turn the final page. Tender, tough-minded, loving, and deeply illuminating about the ties that bind us to family and home, The Burgess Boys is perhaps Elizabeth Strout’s most astonishing work of literary art.

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Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

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Jane Austen’s Genius Guide to Life by Haley Stewart

Stewart draws fascinating connections between Austen’s novels and real life and introduces Austen as a capable life coach by how she guides her readers to understand virtue and vice through friendship, love, community, and God’s grace. Austen’s characters reveal how virtuous habits transform us and help us become who we were meant to be.

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Light To The Hills by Bonnie Blaylock: A richly rewarding novel about family bonds, the power of words, and the resilience of mothers and daughters in 1930s Appalachia.

The folks in the Kentucky Appalachians are scraping by. Coal mining and hardscrabble know-how are a way of life for these isolated people. But when Amanda Rye, a young widowed mother and traveling packhorse librarian, comes through a mountain community hit hard by the nation’s economic collapse, she brings with her hope, courage, and apple pie. Along the way, Amanda takes a shine to the MacInteer family, especially to the gentle Rai; her quick-study daughter, Sass; and Finn, the eldest son who’s easy to warm to. They remind Amanda of her childhood and her parents with whom she longs to be reconciled.

Her connection with the MacInteers deepens, and Amanda shares with them a dangerous secret from her past. When that secret catches up with Amanda in the present, she, Rai, Sass, and Finn find their lives intersecting—and threatened—in the most unexpected ways. Now they must come together as the truth lights a path toward survival, mountain justice, forgiveness, and hope.

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Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It by Richard Reeves: A positive vision for masculinity in a more equal world. Boys and men are struggling. Profound economic and social changes of recent decades have many losing ground in the classroom, the workplace, and in the family. While the lives of women have changed, the lives of many men have remained the same or even worsened.

Our attitudes, our institutions, and our laws have failed to keep up. Conservative and progressive politicians, mired in their own ideological warfare, fail to provide thoughtful solutions.

The father of three sons, a journalist, and a Brookings Institution scholar, Richard V. Reeves has spent twenty-five years worrying about boys both at home and work. His new book, Of Boys and Men, tackles the complex and urgent crisis of boyhood and manhood.

Reeves looks at the structural challenges that face boys and men and offers fresh and innovative solutions that turn the page on the corrosive narrative that plagues this issue. Of Boys and Men argues that helping the other half of society does not mean giving up on the ideal of gender equality.

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January 2023 Book Club for Adults:

The January Book Club for Adults gathering took place on Friday, January 8, 2023.

Our January Read was: The Secret Life of Bees by Eileen Garvin

There are four main characters in this intelligent general fiction cozy:  Alice Holtzman a middle aged widow and part-time beekeeper, Jake a paraplegic teenager and recent high school graduate, twenty five year old Harry Stokes who has a criminal record for going along with “friends” as a driver while they attempted and failed to steal electronics; and, of course, the bees.

Each chapter of the book begins with a short quote about the life of bees from written works by a man considered the father of modern bee keeping L. L. Langstroth.

And the bees are a counterpoint to the three human characters, who despite the differences in their ages and background are all trying to find themselves; in large part by trial and error while simultaneously trying to manage their emotional responses to difficulties they have experienced in their lives, and initially, by trying to remain unconnected to other people.  The bees, on the other hand, each have very specific roles and they all work together for the sustainability and health of their hive.

The trio of main characters Alice, Jake and Harry do eventually find themselves and wind up with their feet solidly on new and better paths in their lives. The trio learns something that the bees know instinctively, that if humans connect with others and help each other, as needed, then their lives are richer and run more smoothly than if they try and live their lives all by themselves.

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Books Recommended by Book Club Members (and the Eileen Garvin) : January 2023:

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamont

An unforgettable novel about a young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century, told “with humor and optimism…through the eyes of an irresistible heroine” (People)—from the acclaimed author of The Red Tent.

Anita Diamant’s “vivid, affectionate portrait of American womanhood” (Los Angeles Times), follows the life of one woman, Addie Baum, through a period of dramatic change. Addie is The Boston Girl, the spirited daughter of an immigrant Jewish family, born in 1900 to parents who were unprepared for America and its effect on their three daughters. Growing up in the North End of Boston, then a teeming multicultural neighborhood, Addie’s intelligence and curiosity take her to a world her parents can’t imagine—a world of short skirts, movies, celebrity culture, and new opportunities for women. Addie wants to finish high school and dreams of going to college. She wants a career and to find true love. From the one-room tenement apartment she shared with her parents and two sisters, to the library group for girls she joins at a neighborhood settlement house, to her first, disastrous love affair, to finding the love of her life, eighty-five-year-old Addie recounts her adventures with humor and compassion for the naïve girl she once was.

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Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee, A Bee Keeper’s Manual by L. L. Langstroth

(This is the book that author Eileen Garvin quotes from at the beginning of each chapter of The Music of Bees)

This influential guide by the Reverend L. L. Langstroth, “the father of modern beekeeping,” revolutionized the practice of beekeeping. Originally published in 1853, his work constitutes the first descriptive treatise of modern bee management — its innovations allowed people to engage in actual beekeeping, rather than simply handling bee domiciles and extracting the honey. This book explains and illustrates techniques still employed 150 years later — including the author’s patented invention, a movable frame hive that quickly spread into common use around the world.

In his reader-friendly, nontechnical style, Langstroth addresses every aspect of beekeeping: bee physiology; diseases and enemies of bees; the life-cycles of the queen, drone, and worker; bee-hives; and the handling of bees. An infectious sense of wonder and enthusiasm suffuses Langstroth’s accounts of natural and artificial swarming, the production of honey and wax, and the best methods of feeding bees and maintaining an apiary. The manual abounds in practical and intriguing insights attained through the years of observation and experience, including “the kindness of bees to one another,” “their infatuation for liquid sweets,” and “the warning given by bees before stinging.”

This version of Langstroth’s ever-popular manual is the fourth and final edition; it incorporates the author’s own revisions and remains an unsurpassed resource for beekeepers.

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The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard

At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet’s body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man’s heart.

Augustus Landor—who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective—is called in to discreetly investigate. It’s a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally—a moody, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling.

The strange and haunted Southern poet, for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe.

The basis of the new Netflix series of the same name.

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Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule

Ty Seidule grew up revering Robert E. Lee. From his southern childhood to his service in the U.S. Army, every part of his life reinforced the Lost Cause myth: that Lee was the greatest man who ever lived, and that the Confederates were underdogs who lost the Civil War with honor. Now, as a retired brigadier general and Professor Emeritus of History at West Point, his view has radically changed. From a soldier, a scholar, and a southerner, Ty Seidule believes that American history demands a reckoning.

In a unique blend of history and reflection, Seidule deconstructs the truth about the Confederacy?that its undisputed primary goal was the subjugation and enslavement of Black Americans?and directly challenges the idea of honoring those who labored to preserve that system and committed treason in their failed attempt to achieve it. Through the arc of Seidule’s own life, as well as the culture that formed him, he seeks a path to understanding why the facts of the Civil War have remained buried beneath layers of myth and even outright lies, and how they embody a cultural gulf that separates millions of Americans to this day.

Part history lecture, part meditation on the Civil War and its fallout, and part memoir, Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the deeply-held legends and myths of the Confederacy, and provides a surprising interpretation of essential truths that our country still has a difficult time articulating and accepting.

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Podcasts: For The Ages, a variety of popular historians and historical figures are interviewed, published by the New York Historical Society; accessible online: https://www.nyhistory.org/for-the-ages-podcast

Hi everyone, the January 2023 book club gathering for adults is this Friday, January 13, 2023.

We’ll be meeting from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the Conference Room and discussing the book The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin.

Looking ahead, our February gathering will be on Friday, February 10, 2023, when we will again be meeting in the Conference Room from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Our February read, copies of which will be available at the Circulation Desk on Friday, is:

Matrix by Lauren Groff (272 pages): A National Book Award nominated title which tells the fictional tale of a real-life character – a 12th Century Abbess named Marie de France.

Hope to see everyone on Friday!

Have a great day,

Linda

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

Hi everyone, just a reminder that our September Book Club meeting will be a week later than usual this month; the third Friday of September, instead of the second.

Our meeting date is next Friday, September 16, and we will be meeting in the Conference Room as usual from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Our September read is The National Book Award winning title Hell of a Book: A Novel by Jason Mott.

And the change in date is due to a staff training day being held on our usual meeting time, the second Friday of the month.

Hope to see everyone next Friday, September 16,

Linda

August 2022 Book Club Notes

Hi everyone, first off our September reminder!

 Our September gathering will be the third Friday in September, instead of the second, due to a library staff training day occurring on the second Friday.

So to reiterate, we’ll be meeting on Friday, September 16 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the Conference Room.

Our September Read is: Hell of a Book: A Novel by Jason Mott, print copies can be picked up at the Circulation Desk at any time.

Now, on to the August Read overview and club members reading recommendations!

August Read: A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

A Slow Fire Burning is a thriller featuring a cast of characters that all live in the same area of London, near the Themes River. The novel has several subplots.

The characters can be split into five groups:

1. Daniel Sutherland, a man in his mid-twenties the son of a single mother, Angela Sutherland, who died several weeks before the story opens. Daniel is a poor graphic artist, who lives on a rundown riverboat next to a middle aged “Mrs. Kravitz” type figure, a woman names Miriam Lewis.

2. Carla & Theo Myerson, Carla is the sister of Daniel’s mother Angela making Carla and Theo Daniel’s aunt and uncle. During the novel readers learn that Theo is a published author who has received several threatening messages regarding his breakthrough novel, which was based in part on Miriam Lewis’s memoir; that Carla and Theo had a son named Benjamin, who died when he was a toddler, fifteen years before; and that Benjamin died falling from a second floor doorway was staying with his Aunt Angela and Cousin Daniel.

3. Miriam Lewis, a middle-age woman, who can be socially awkward, was abducted as a youth back in the 1980s, which is the focus of one of the novels’ subplots, and who lives on a riverboat moored next to Daniel’s riverboat.

4. Laura Kilbridge, a socially awkward young woman who has a history of socially unacceptable behavior, who works at a local laundromat, had a brief relationship with Daniel, suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child and has two unsupportive parents. Laura has been assisting Irene Barnes, an eighty-year-old widow and book lover, who has recently had some mobility issues, in getting her groceries. And Irene, in turn, has offers some small support to Laura who has had insufficient support from her family in her challenged life.

5. Irene Barnes, a lonely widow and a big reader, a friend of Daniel’s late mother Angela, a friend of Laura and the one who figures out who really murdered Daniel and why; and who also tapes the killer’s confession.  

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The book paints an accessible portrait of its colorful cast characters, and their backstories, however, for the sake of brevity, I’m just going to hit the high points.

As the book opens, it is early morning on the Thames, and Miriam has noticed that the door to Daniel’s riverboat is still ajar, as it was the previous evening and goes to investigate. She finds that Daniel has been murdered and calls the police.

The police investigate Daniel’s murder interviewing Miriam, Laura, Carla and Theo. They arrest Laura, the most obvious suspect, release her, and later in the novel after interrogating her again, they arrest her when they discover she wasn’t completely truthful during her initial interview.

The author goes on to relay the story of Laura and Carla in more depth. Readers learn that Laura was hit by a car when she was a child; that the man driving the car was having an affair with her mother and that her mother choose to take care of the needs of herself and her lover, before her child. Laura’s parents divorced after her accident. Her mother married her lover and her father remarried to a woman who already had children and favored her children over Laura. Laura’s parents were not supportive, to say the least. And Laura has struggled to keep a job and simply get through her life, day by day.

Readers further learn that sisters Carla and Angel were close when they were much younger and that both sisters had children. Angela had Daniel and Carla and Theo had a son named Ben. There was an age difference between the boys, and when Daniel was in his early teens and Ben was toddler Carla and Theo left Ben with Angela and Daniel and went on a trip. Much later in the book readers discover, through the description of Daniel’s drawings, that while the couple was gone Daniel discovered his mother in bed with her lover and became very angry; he turned his anger on his toddler cousin Benjamin and purposely opened the door on the second floor luring his cousin out of it with a toy; the toddler fell to his death.

Readers additionally learn Miriam Lewis backstory; how she and her friend were abducted as a teenagers, in the 1980s. She was able to escape but her friend died and the man who abducted the girls, Jeremy O’Brien was never found, although the police did find a part a foot that they believed belong to him.

In the end,  it is revealed that Daniel was murdered by his Aunt Carla, who looked at his private drawings, which showed a angry teenage Daniel luring his toddler cousin out the second-floor door with a toy; and watching as he fell to his death. The story, as shown by the drawings, makes it appear Daniel murdered Benjamin. The other big reveal is that Jeremy O’Brien, the man who abducted Miriam Lewis when she was a teenager, not only survived his frantic dash away from the area and the police in the aftermath of the abduction, but he also read Theo’s novel, plagiarized from Miriam’s unpublished memoir and that he was the one sending the threatening messages to Theo. And at the end of the book a newspaper article indicates that Mr. O’Brien’s body was found submerged on a riverboat on the Thames which implies that Miriam, perhaps with the help of Theo, murdered Jeremy.

So that in a nutshell is an overview of A Slow Fire Burning; which was liked by book club members as a light summer thriller, featuring multiple points of view.

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What Book Club Members Are Reading (and recommending!)

The Finlay Donovan Series by Elle Cosimano (So far there are two books in the series)

1. Is Killing It (2021): 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.

2. Knocks ‘Em Dead (2022): Finlay Donovan is—once again—struggling to finish her next novel and keep her head above water as a single mother of two. On the bright side, she has her live-in nanny and confidant Vero to rely on, and the only dead body she’s dealt with lately is that of her daughter’s pet goldfish.

On the not-so-bright side, someone out there wants her ex-husband, Steven, out of the picture. Permanently. Whatever else Steven may be, he’s a good father, but saving him will send her down a rabbit hole of hit-women disguised as soccer moms, and a little bit more involvement with the Russian mob than she’d like.

Meanwhile, Vero’s keeping secrets, and Detective Nick Anthony seems determined to get back into her life. He may be a hot cop, but Finlay’s first priority is preventing her family from sleeping with the fishes… and if that means bending a few laws then so be it.

With her next book’s deadline looming and an ex-husband to keep alive, Finlay is quickly coming to the end of her rope. She can only hope there isn’t a noose at the end of it…

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How To Cook A Wolf 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.

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Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum Mystery Series;

Book one is: One For The Money: Meet Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie’s opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey.

She’s a product of the “burg,” a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.

Out of work and out of money, Stephanie blackmails her bail-bondsman cousin Vinnie into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, el-primo bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli’s the inamorato who charmed Stephanie out of her virginity at age sixteen. There’s still powerful chemistry between them, so the chase should be interesting…and could also be extremely dangerous.

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The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarden

Winner of the Julia Child Book Award

A James Beard Book Award Finalist

When Jeffrey Steingarten was appointed food critic for Vogue, he systematically set out to overcome his distaste for such things as kimchi, lard, Greek cuisine, and blue food. He succeeded at all but the last: Steingarten is “fairly sure that God meant the color blue mainly for food that has gone bad.” In this impassioned, mouth-watering, and outrageously funny book, Steingarten devotes the same Zen-like discipline and gluttonous curiosity to practically everything that anyone anywhere has ever called “dinner.”

Follow Steingarten as he jets off to sample choucroute in Alsace, hand-massaged beef in Japan, and the mother of all ice creams in Sicily. Sweat with him as he tries to re-create the perfect sourdough, bottle his own mineral water, and drop excess poundage at a luxury spa. Join him as he mounts a heroic–and hilarious–defense of salt, sugar, and fat (though he has some nice things to say about Olestra). Stuffed with offbeat erudition and recipes so good they ought to be illegal, The Man Who Ate Everything is a gift for anyone who loves food.

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Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

A #1 New York Times bestseller, Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year, and soon to be a major motion picture, this unforgettable novel of love and strength in the face of war has enthralled a generation.

With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

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The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor–the Truth and the Turmoil 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.

Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevoca­bly change how the world perceives and under­stands the royal family.

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Sacred Bridge by Anne Hillerman:

The seventh book in the Leephorn, Chee & Manuelito series.

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.

Readers’ Note: Anne is the daughter of Tony Hillerman, who wrote eighteen novel featuring Leephorn and Chee. Anne added a new character, Bernadette Manuelito and is continuing the series.

Also of note, for TV fans, AMC+ has debut a critically acclaimed TV series, Dark Winds (2022-) based on the books, starring  Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn, Kiowa Gordon as Jim Chee and Jessica Matten as Bernadette Manuletio.

The first book in the original, Tony Hillerman series, is The Blessing Way (1971).

And first book in Anne’s continuation series is The Spider Woman’s Daughter (2008).

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Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

The beloved memoir of self-discovery set against the spectacular Tuscan countryside that inspired the major motion picture starring Diane Lane—now in a twentieth-anniversary edition featuring a new afterword

“This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house and, always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect gift for a loved one. But it’s so delicious, read it first yourself.”—USA Today

For more Frances Mayes, including a tour of her now iconic Cortona home, Bramasole, watch PBS’s Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special!

More than twenty years ago, Frances Mayes—widely published poet, gourmet cook, and travel writer—introduced readers to a wondrous new world when she bought and restored an abandoned Tuscan villa called Bramasole. Under the Tuscan Sun inspired generations to embark on their own journeys—whether that be flying to a foreign country in search of themselves, savoring one of the book’s dozens of delicious seasonal recipes, or simply being transported by Mayes’s signature evocative, sensory language. Now with a new afterword from Frances Mayes, the twentieth-anniversary edition of Under the Tuscan Sun revisits the book’s most popular characters.

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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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Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle: It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

“Wild nights are my glory,” the unearthly stranger told them. “I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I’ll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract.”

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn’t know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L’Engle’s unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O’Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg’s father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

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Have a great day everyone,

Linda