MAY 2020

Hello Book Lovers,

Last Thursday night we met  in Beth Hedengren's beautiful back yard and enjoyed catching up on neighborhood news and sharing the latest books we have been reading while sitting 6' apart. Here is the list of books that were reviewed:

LANI PACKARD:

"ONCE ON A TIME" by AA Milne 4 stars

JANE OF LANTERN HILL by LM Montgomery 4 stars

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS by James Fenimore Cooper 4 stars

CLOSE YOUR EYES, GET FREE  by Grace Smith 4 stars

MARLENE MATHESON:

I'VE BEEN THINKING by Maria Shriver, 4 stars - Maria describes specific things she has learned from unexpected twists and turns in her life, as well as from her strong upbringing. She has learned to adjust and change in order to feel good about her life.

BECOMING DR SEUSS by Brian Jay Jones, 5 stars - Tells the life story of Theodor Seuss Geisel, and the experiences that made him into Dr. Seuss. Each of the steps along the way to reach success was difficult. Nothing he created was done easily, but was accomplished with great labor, persistence, and determination.ed Geisel's original purpose (a goal which continued to influence everything he did) was to write books for beginning readers. He felt that the "Dick and Jane" books insulted the intelligence of children.

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES by Arthur C Brooks, 4 1/2 stars - I read this because of the good review that Beth gave last month. He spoke at BYU. He talks about ways to get along with people even though you might disagree.

FAITH REWARDED by Thomas S. Monson, 5 stars - Excerpts from President Monson's diaries, over the period of 15-20 years, describing his assignment to work with members of the Church, and government officials in East Germany. He dedicated the land for the coming of the Gospel and promised the people that every blessing available to Church members would come to them, which was fulfilled. It was inspiring to read about the whole process, step by step. On our mission we were grateful to be able to visit the places he talks about as well as become acquainted with members there, so this book resonated strongly with me.

THE FEVER OF 1721 by Stephen Coss. 3 12 stars - How the Boston smallpox epidemic of 1721, influenced politics and changed medicine for the better, including the beginning of vaccinations.

MARYANN STEVENS:

SMALL THINGS GREAT by Jodi Picoult 4.5 stars. the author tells the story with three voices: Ruth, An African-American Harlem born girl who escapes the projects through education. Kennedy, a well-born female, public defender who claims to be color blind & Turk a young man filled with hate & fear who is a violent white supremacist. Ruth who has been working in labor & delivery for 20 years, receives an assignment to provide newborn & post-partum care for first time parents, Turk & Brittany. After bathing, weighing & measuring the newborn, Turk confronts Ruth with, “Don’t ever touch my wife or baby again. I’ll be talking to your supervisor. “ subsequently a hot pink sticky note is placed in the file: no African-American staff will touch this baby or mother and Ruth, the only African- American staff member in the hospital is reassigned to another baby. Trouble starts when Ruth is left alone in the Nursery & the baby goes into respiratory failure & despite the attempts of 6 or more other staff members, the baby dies. Only Ruth is charged with first degree murder & negligent homicide. A remarkable story of race vs white privilege is told through flashbacks of the lives of these three characters. Surprise ending. Made me evaluate my biases. Superb writing.

INTERVIEW WITH JODI PICOULT It’s easy for us to look at the skinhead & recognize a racist, but what about people like me? Author spent 100 hrs of interviews with black women. Then with former skinheads who Nowadays are dressed like everyone else work online pass out flyers to scare people. 

OUR FATHER,  Reflections on theLord’s Prayer. An Interview with Pope Francis. 5 stars. The Pope takes each phrase of the Lords Prayer and a weaves a beautiful sermonette calling upon Christ’s parables to create more meaning. Beautifully thought provoking.

TO HEAVEN AND BACK by Mary C. Neal, MD. 3.5 stars

Near death experience of brings Mary Neal, a spinal Orthopedic surgeon, closer to a Christ-centered life, impacts the way she practices medicine & helps her through a family tragedy. Pretty standard for genre. Has a very calm tone.

GO SET A WATCHMAN  by Harper Lee. 4 stars. Discovered & Published in 2015. Written before & some claim as the first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird but is set in 1950s probably after 1954 Brown vs Topeka Board set in motion the white suprematist backlash in the South. Scout, or Jean Louise as she is now known, has been living in NYC for 5 years but comes home every summer. This summer she witnesses the racial tension played out in the Maycomb Citizens Committee meeting & can’t believe the father she adores is a part of it. Flashbacks paint a picture of this small Alabama town and reveal a tight knit Finch family. Over a period of just a few days, Jean Louise comes to realize she has a mind & ethics separate from that of her beloved father.

Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

3.5 stars. Hilarious. A bit Risqué & sometimes potty mouthed but I especially loved her putting down all kinds of body image/shaming.

NEXT YEAR IN HAVANA  by Chanel Cleeton 4.5 stars. I’ve never read a book about modern day Cuba, it was fascinating. In the post-Obama era relaxing of travel restrictions, Miami-born Marisol, the granddaughter of Cuban exiles, takes a trip to Cuba to return her grandmother ‘s ashes. The book Flashbacks between Marisol & her great-grandparents who were wealthy sugar plantation owners. Marisol’s grandmother falls in love with a revolutionary, a Castro supporter. The story reveals the family anguish caused by political divergence: Baptiste vs Castro & other revolutionaries as well as how love can heal and hurt.

CODE NAME LISE: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis. 4 stars. Got rather pedantic at end but until then a good read. Adventure. Espionage. Member of SOE- Special Operations Executive. Biography of Odette Sansom French-born British spy courier. First woman to receive St George Cross for Valor.

JO ANN ABEGGLEN:

AND IF i PERISH by Evelyn Monaghan and Rosemary Greenlee. A great book if you like World War II and nursing history.

EVE AND ADAM by Melinda Brown, an informative, thinking book.

GERI CHRISTENSEN

NEED TO KNOW by Karen Cleveland. The last thing that CIA analyst Vivian Miller expects to see when she finally accesses the files of a suspected Russian sleeper cell is the face of someone close to her. Someone she thought she could trust with her four children. Someone whose exposure as a Russian spy will destroy her hard-fought career. Miller panics and deletes the file. She knows she's only delayed the inevitable exposure…unless she can use her skills to extract herself and her family. Debut author Karen Cleveland capitalizes on her own experiences as a CIA analyst, shedding light on the gritty and unromantic day-to-day realities of intelligence work even as she tightens the screws on Miller. Russian threats, a CIA internal investigation sniffing closer, and the constant fear that those whom she trusts are not worthy of her faith hamstring Miller's ability to get loose of the situation, while her family is put squarely in the crosshairs. Cleveland brings an invigorating, authoritative twist to the usual CIA thriller, putting you on edge while you flip pages like crazy to find out what happens next.i LOVED this book and could not put it down., I give it 4.5 stars.

HELL IS ALWAYS TODAY by Jack Higgins.  Typical Jack Higgins fast-paced, page turner.  While a killer stalks the streets of London, Detective Sergeant Nick Miller is more concerned with a light-heavyweight boxer-turned-expert-cat-burglar who has busted out of prison. High above the streets, cop and convict will face down their most daunting challenges the only way they know how.3 stars.  

AND FOUR TO GO by Rex Stout  a Nero Wolfe mystery.  Embark on a year of murder and mystery. It begins at Christmas with a party and a poisoning, then blossoms into spring with sudden death at the Easter Parade. With a killer in the crowd, the Fourth of July is no picnic, and the calendar is overbooked with corpses when death is in season. Here are four cunning cases that leave everyone guessing. When it comes to sleuthing out a clever solution, only Nero Wolfe has a clue.3.5 stars.

TESSA RUSSELL

FLU: he Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It. 

Feeling tired, achy, and congested? You'll hope not after reading science writer Gina Kolata's engrossing Flu, a fascinating look at the 1918 epidemic that wiped out around 40 million people in less than a year and afflicted more than one of every four Americans. This tragedy, just on the heels of World War I and far more deadly, so traumatized the survivors that few would talk about it afterward. Kolata reports on the scientific investigation of this bizarre outbreak, in particular the attempts to sequence the virus' DNA from tissue samples of victims. She also looks at the social and personal effects of the disease, from improved public health awareness to the loss of productivity. (The disease affected 20- to 40-year-olds disproportionately.)

How could this disease, now almost trivial to healthy young people, have become so virulent? The answer is complex, invoking epidemiology, immunology, and even psychology, but Kolata cuts a swath through medical papers and statistical reports to tell a story of an out-of-control virus exploiting an exhausted world on the brink of transition into modern society. Through letters, interviews, and news reports, she pieces together a cautionary tale that captures the horror of a devastating illness. Research marches onward, but we're still at the mercy of something as simple as the flu.

BETWEEN THE LINES by Jodi Picoult and Samanta Van Neer (daughter) rating 3

In this delightful companion novel to Off the Page, #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and her daughter and cowriter, Samantha van Leer, present the YA novel that started it all! Filled with romance, adventure, and humor, the magic jumps off the page (literally) in a story you’ll never forget.

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

A romantic and charming story, this companion novel to Off the Page will make every reader believe in the fantastical power of fairy tales.

BETH HEDENGREN

Malcolm Gladwell, Talking to Strangers (4 out 5 stars)

Another fascinating non-fiction read by the author of Outliers and the Tipping Point, this one about how difficult it is to know another person. Great stories.

 

Dorothy Gilman, Mrs. Pollifax on Safari 

I always enjoy reading about this intrepid middle-aged CIA spy. 

 

Dorothy Sayers

            Clouds of Witness

            Have His Carcase

Also re-reads. I love Sayers’ elegant mysteries set in the 30s, featuring the urbane and clever sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. Bonus: there’s a love story for Peter in Have His Carcase!

 

Shannon Hale

            Palace of Stone

            The Forgotten Sisters

Continuing my Covid-19 love for fun reading, I went back to Shannon Hale’s YA fantasies. These are sequels to The Princess Academy that I haven’t read before.