Hello Book Lovers!
We met last Thursday night via Zoom and had an interesting discussion about all of the different books we have been reading since we last met in 2020. Here is the list of the books that were discussed:
GERI CHRISTENSEN
JACKDAWS by Ken Follett
This was a very interesting and exciting fictional account
of real-life happenings during World War II about the French Resistance and
their English counterparts. The main character is a young woman called Flick,
short for Felicita, who leads a band of five other young women into enemy
territory in France at the end of World War II just before the invasion. Their
mission is to dismantle and destroy all of the telephone and communication
lines at the castle of St. Cecile in Reims in France. It is extremely dangerous
because the whole town is occupied by the Gestapo and especially this castle.
It was fun to read how they outmaneuvered and outsmarted their enemies and were
finally able to infiltrate and carry out their mission, but not without a heavy
cost to their group. I would give the book four stars.
MRS. POLIFAX ON THE CHINA STATION by Dorothy Gilman
This is another one of the Mrs. Polifax series with the
delightful Emily Polifax, CIA courier and undercover agent as she is sent to China
in order to help smuggle out a young Chinese man who is being held in a
Communist labor camp. She is assigned to a tourist group and she travels with
them and soon is able to meet up with and become partners with a young man
named Peter who has been assigned to help her carry out her mission. Together
they work as a team, each with their own skills and expertise, as they maneuver
to make it possible to carry out their assignment successfully. As with all of
the Mrs. Polifax books, it is a wonderful travelogue and glimpse into mainland
China with its stark beauty and complex culture.
PRECIOUS AND GRACE by Alexander McCall Smith
I love this series of the Ladies #1 Detective Agency and the
delightful comraderie and conversations between the two women who run this
agency and the others who are involved in their world namely Mr. JLB Matakoni
who is the husband of Precious and Charlie and Fanwell, the two garage
assistants of Mr. Matakoni, although Charlie is now working as a second
assistant in the detective agency. Precious is called on to solve some problems
for people who are not really clients because she isn’t earning any money for
helping them, but she feels a moral obligation to come to their aid. Even
though the problems aren’t earth-shaking, the women are always busy working
behind the scenes and making the most of their skills and talents as they bring
things to a successful conclusion and solve their own personal problems, as
well. I would give the book four and a half stars.
GRAY MOUNTAIN by John Grisham
This book was interesting as it goes in depth regarding the
problem of strip coal mining in the Appalachian mountains where people are very
poor and depend on the coal industry for their livelihoods. A young attorney
from a big law corporation in New York City is laid off or downsized and is
told her only other option is to do volunteer work until the company can hire
her back which is not really a promise. She leaves New York and moves to a
small town in Virginia where she works for a very small, all female law company
who helps people who have been exploited by these big coal companies. The work
is all pro bono (meaning she doesn’t get paid), but it is so satisfying to her
that she eventually decides to stay on rather than return to New York (at least
for now, she says.) I would give the
book 3 stars.
TALKING TO STRANGERS: What We Should Know About People We
Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
One reviewer said this: “Malcolm Gladwell is a gifted writer who engages our minds and emotions
in his works of non-fiction. In "Talking to Strangers,” he tells us true
stories that, at first, seem to be unrelated. A police stop ends in tragedy;
Neville Chamberlain and other political figures famously misconstrued Hitler's
bellicose intentions; experienced judges grant bail to defendants who, they
realize too late, should have remained in jail; the sociopath, Bernie Madoff,
conducted a fraudulent investment scheme for years, deceiving many individuals
who thought that he was a genius at making money; Amanda Knox served prison
time for a murder that she did not commit.”
Mr. Gladwell goes through the book helping us to see that people are not
transparent and they often have motives we can’t see behind the things they do. It is a great read. I would give it 4.5
stars.
I AM HALF SICK OF SHADOWS
by Alan Bradley
This is the fourth book in
the Flavia de Luce series about the adorable and irascible eleven year-old
sleuth, Flavia, who wheels about the countryside on her trusty bicycle she
calls Gladys where she “stirs up stink” and solves mysteries using her uncanny
knowledge of chemistry and her inside gossip of all the residents of her
hometown village of Bishops Lacey. She is an amateur detective who is used to
digging up or discovering bodies and understands first-hand what happens to
bodies when they decompose and leave behind tell-tale signs of their fate.
These books are so delightfully written that it is hard not to smile or even
laugh out loud when reading one of them and this one is no exception. I
encourage anyone who hasn’t yet delved into the De Luce books to give them a
try and see if you are not delighted as I am each time I pick up one to read. I
would give this book 4.5 stars.
A TASTE FOR DEATH by P.D.
James
When the quiet Little
Vestry of St. Matthew's Church becomes the blood-soaked scene of a double
murder, Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh faces an intriguing conundrum:
How did an upper-crust Minister come to lie and commit murder next to a
neighborhood derelict of the lowest order? Challenged with the investigation of
a crime that appears to have endless motives, Dalgliesh explores the sinister
web spun around a half-burnt diary and a violet-eyed widow who is pregnant and
full of malice--all the while hoping to fill the gap of logic that joined these
two disparate men in bright red death.
Even though this book was rather gory and sometimes difficult to read,
it was a good read and fun to follow the clues as Detective Dalgliesh finally
solves the mystery and brings it all to a final and satisfying conclusion.
A PALM FOR MRS. POLIFAX by
Dorothy Gilman
This is another in the
Mrs. Polifax series, the story of an elderly grandmother who has become bored
with her life even though she has her garden club and volunteers at the local
hospital and takes karate lessons at the local YMCA. She has always wanted to
become a spy so she goes to the CIA headquarters and, due to a case of mistaken
identity, is given an assignment as a courier. She does so well that she is
called back again and again to track down criminals, traitors and thoroughly
bad guys and somehow, against all odds, she always succeeds beyond anyone’s
expectations. In this book Mrs. Polifax is sent to a health clinic in
Switzerland where she is told to ferret out someone who is trying to smuggle
plutonium out of the country. She confronts death, misadventure and all kinds
of strange escapades and scrapes, but somehow, due to her intrepid and indomitable
spirit and knack for dealing death blows to sinister characters, she manages to
discover who is who and puts them all out of business. Thoroughly enjoyable and
entertaining. I LOVE Mrs. Polifax and never tire of reading about her
adventures. 4 stars.
JANE EYRE by Charlotte
Brontee
Although it is a classic
and written in another era, this book remains one of my all-time favorites.
This is probably my fourth reading of Jane Eyre and it is still just as fresh,
believable and captivating as it was the very first time I read it in Junior
High school. Jane is an orphan who is sent to live with her very despicable
aunt who, along with her spoiled and cruel children, treat Jane abominably. She
rebels and is sent to a school for girls far enough away that they hope never
to see her again. In this school she has her trials, but she manages to rise
above them and eventually becomes a teacher. She decides to spread her wings
and applies for a position as governess at a stately mansion working for the
dashing and mysterious Mr. Rochester. There she speaks her mind and rises above
the limitations placed on her gender only to have her hopes and dreams dashed, causing
her to escape and start a new life in a distant town. All is not lost, though,
and she is finally able to live the life she has always dreamed of. This book
is one of the great love stories of all time and is never dull or boring. I
give this book 5 stars without reservation.
MARYANN STEVENS
The House of Unexpected Sisters. By Alexander McCall Smith. 4⭐️ The usual morality tale. I really do like Precious. Grace really got on my nerves this time she was so haughty & know it all.
Before& After by Judy Christie & Lisa Wingate 5 ⭐️interviews with survivors of the horrors perpetrated by Georgia Tann & the Tennessee Children’s Society. Adoptees & their children gather in Memphis for a unique reunion.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate & Judy Christie 4.5 ⭐️fiction based on the true account of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society a nefarious adoption agency based in Memphis, Tennessee from 1924 to 1950. Georgia Tann kidnaps poor children & places them up for adoption for big bucks. This fictional story of 5 River kids who are snatched is both heart-breaking & heart -warming as it recounts the love of siblings. Riell, the oldest, tries to keep track of her 4 younger siblings as she sees them starved, abused, & disappear from the Home. Miraculously reconnected decades later, the remaining sisters secretly meet until one granddaughter discovers their secret world.
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis 4.5⭐️delightful YA or Juvenile level depression-era story of a young boy orphaned at age 6. After living in a orphanage & being assigned to several temporary & unsatisfactory foster situations, at age ten he decides he’s man enough to head out in his own. The treasures His mother left him, some jazz band flyers, & a half-dozen smooth rocks incised with letters & numbers, are the only clues he has to his unnamed father. The author bases two of the characters on his two grandfathers. Though he describes the woes of depression, including racism, overall the happy conclusions Left me with a warm feeling.
The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala Harris 4.5⭐️ AG San Francisco, Alameda Co, State of CA, US Senator. Back on Track program $5000 per participant. Plead guilty. Community service, GED, job, paid child support, parenting classes. If then record expunged. 18 graduates 1st group. 1st Senate bill was to change bail system which punished the poor. People stay in jail until trial- months, even years. IF innocent until guilty non-violent,low risk people should not have to pay. Instituted implicit bias training. Book narrates her life & philosophy. This woman believes in humanity.
Know My Name by Chanel Miller. 3.5 ⭐️( 15 hr audiobook went on a bit too long for higher rating ) January 2015 Young woman (known only as Emily Doe) past out drunk at a frat party on Stanford’s campus. Sexually assaulted in her unconscious state. Two passing men accosted rapist & held for police. Judge sentenced rapist to 6 months in jail- the absolute minimum, he served only 3 months. Volunteers gathered signatures & the judge was recalled by 62%. Defendant appealed but conviction was upheld- 3 years & 8 mos after the assault. Years lost in Pain & self-loathing. Finally vindicated- wrote book & shed anonymity in 2019.
What Unites Us: Reflectionson Patriotism By Dan Rather 5⭐️ A collection of essays on a wide variety of topics: character, courage, audacity, responsibility, service, art, science, etc & how each is related to patriotism. Rather is very thoughtful, very insightful.
If we lose a sense of humility we risk losing everything.
Foundations of our democracy is our Constitution & moral decency.
Don’t ever question another’s patriotism; it doesn’t necessarily look like yours.
Nationalism is not necessarily patriotism.
The role of dissent is to question our dogmas & and biases; it is to stretch the spectrum of discourse, & in that way strengthen our morality.
Our nation is stronger as a mosaic than a melting pot.
Anxious People, Backman
The author that wrote A Man Called Ove. A bank robber botches the heist and ends up holding hostage a group of people looking to buy an apartment. The timeline jumps between the investigation of the crime and the actual circumstances of it. Along the way we learn the backstories of all these strangers, all anxious, all human, all loveable.
The Answer Is . . .: Reflections on My Life, by Alex Trebek
Charming memoir by the beloved host of Jeopardy who just died. Mark bought me the book on the day of Trebek’s death. What a delight to read of this truly classy and kind man!
December 2020
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Very long—took weeks to finish. But very good. Didn’t have much time over the holidays to read, so that is why it took so long. The characters are so good—and learn to become better. I love the way they grow.
Christmas Carol
Of course! Every year.
Some say it is a book about celebrating Christmas, not about Christ. But, just think. Who sent those Ghosts? And what is the ultimate purpose of the action? The saving on a soul, Scrooge’s soul. And that is what Christmas is all about—the Savior coming to earth to redeem each individual soul. To be redeemed, Scrooge is led to see his own life as from the outside, to see the loneliness of the child he was, to see the generosity of those who helped him—his little sister and his employer Fezziwig--, to see the mistakes he made and where those mistakes led him. Then he is led to see the joy that comes from helping others in the present as he follows the Spirit of Christmas who shakes out of his horn happiness and contentment, he sees the faith of the impoverished and the lonely, he sees the joys of family life and friends, he sees those he thinks he knows well, like his clerk and his nephew, and realizes there is much more to them than he thought. Then Scrooge is led to see where his current life would lead him, a sad and lonely end. Added to the mortal results are the immortal consequences Marley’s Ghost demonstrates. Scrooge is convinced to change little by little—first fear of immortal damnation, then sympathy for his past self and gratitude for past kindnesses, then compassion for those around him and a true desire to help. Finally the knowledge of where his current life will end. But then, the joyous realization that he can change his path, that he can truly be new born. As we all can be, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
January 2021
The Body in the Library, Agatha Christie
The Moving Finger, Agatha Christie
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
A hard book to read. Making a case for systemic racism in the United States, Wilkerson compares the treatment of Blacks in the United States with the Caste system in India as well as the German genocide during the Holocaust. Filled with horrifying and often gruesome accounts of the many abuses of Black people throughout the history, the book demonstrates that the American “Caste” system was as bad as or perhaps worse than either the Indian or German ones. A lot of food for thought here. To keep us from thinking “those days are past,” Wilkerson shares experiences of contemporary Blacks (including herself) who are accused of crimes unfairly, distrusted, and mistreated. Even affluent Blacks suffer, with a much higher rate of hypertension and diabetes than whites or lower class Blacks, because of the constant stress of having to perform at exceptional levels to succeed in a White world.
The Mystery of Charles Dickens by A. N. Wilson (2020)
Fascinating analysis of Dickens life and works, focusing on the unknowns and speculating on the truth. The book follows a thematic format, starting with the mystery of his death, then going through the mysteries of “the cruel marriage,” his charity, his public readings, his last, unfinished novel. In the end, we see that Dickens is a complex figure, deeply influenced by his traumatic childhood, desirous of being good, yet often not coming even close to succeeding.
Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
JO ANN ABEGGLEN
1. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. Fun book to read. Story told by the brother and sister over 50 years. Pieces of their life story filled in randomly. 3.5
2. The Other Martyr by Susan Easton Black. Story of Hyrum Smith’s life. I like her books, she finds different details about church history. 4.0
3. The Water is Wide and Nearer to Thee by Marianne Monson. This is 2 Vol work about the life of Jemima Hough and her travels with her mother in the 1840s to SLC.
It is well written and enjoyable reading. 3.5
4. Killing Crazy Horse by Bill O’Relley and Martin Dugard. It is the tale of the Indian Wars from 1800 through 1905. Well written, pretty graphic as to how soldiers and Indians are killed. Honest portrayal of how the Native people were moved off their lands and on to reservations. 3.5
5. The Washington Hypothesis by Timothy Ballard. This book explores evidence that the founding Fathers knew the Lord had a greater purpose for America. The Lord helped in such interesting ways to wear down the British. 4.0
MARLENE MATHESON
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