Hello All,
We met last Thursday night over Zoom. We do miss getting together in homes, but hopesfully not much longer until we can do that again. Here are the books that were discussed:
MARLENE MATHESON
The Meaning of Michelle compiled by Veronica Chambers. 3.5⭐️written in 2016 as the Obama Administration drew to a close, 16 authors, largely black women, analyze the style and impact of Michelle Obama in her unique role as the first black FLOTUS. if you’re not already a fan of Michelle, as I am, this will not convince you nor is it the book for you. This is unabashedly Michelle-worship by some very articulate educators, authors, an actor, & even a chef who guest-cooked in the White House.
The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate. 4.5⭐️ in 1877 the Southwestern Christian Advocate began to print ads which were read in Churches
across the south in an effort to assist former enslaved persons to connect with family members. The ads usually began with some expression of gratitude for the newspapers willingness to assist in their search. “I wish to inquire of my people,” followed by a recitation of former owners, when & to whom a person was sold. Discovery of this record sparked the author to tell Hannie’s story of her 1880ish search through Louisiana & Texas to find her kin. The narrative switches between Hannie & Benny, a white, new English teacher from the North who comes to a poor school in Louisiana. In trying to spark a desire to read & write, Benny enlists the help of an older black woman with with a head full of old stories about the town & which are the basis of the racial & economic divide that still troubles this town more than a century after Hannie composes her Book of Lost Friends.
Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God an English Voice by David Teems 5⭐️ Tyndale urged the reader to find themselves in the scriptural injunctions (Nephi-apply all). Whether reading his translation of scripture or his own work, the sound is familiar. With anyone else this would amount to imitation or affectation but not with Tyndale. Its not as though Tyndale is trying to sound like scripture. Scripture at least English scripture, or the music it makes, sounds like Tyndale.
Good works naturally flow from faith, righteousness & the love of God. Blessings of righteousness follow immediately faith & the works of righteousness. One of the chief disputes was which should’ve given priority: scripture or Church ( pope/hierarchy). Tyndale asked for scriptural basis for indulgences, purgatory, the multitude of sacraments the priests charged money for. He emphasized the love God has fir mankind & urged us to show our love of God by our love of our fellows.
Camino Winds by John Grisham 4.5 ⭐️ Bruce Cable owner of Bay Books hosts a dinner party for a visiting author. Next day a devastating hurricane strikes the island & one of Bruce’s author friends is apparently murdered during the height of the storm. Overtaxed & disinterested, & somewhat folksy emergency staff, lead Bruce & a couple author friends to invest the Murder themselves. But watch out Bruce. You may have become a target.
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith 4⭐️relaxing, light, clean Precious, Grace, Mr JLB, the tiny white van, & a Charlie escapade.
The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia 3.7 ⭐️ two sisters raised in a small Kansas town by a single mom running the family’s fried chicken restaurant. Older sis moves onto NYC, younger Sis marries local into the family of the town’s rival fried chicken restaurant. TV reality cooking competition comes to town to determine the best fried chicken, NYC Sis returns to help mom win. Old sibling rivalry heats things up & one wonders if the sisters will ever be civil to each other again.
JO ANN ABEGGLEN
DEATH IN FOCUS by Anne Perryy. About adventures of Elena Standish in 1934. Well written and action until the last page.
A QUESTION OF BETRAYAL ( Vol. 2) Also by Anne Perry6. Elena is sent to Italy to bring bck a double agent who only she can recognize.. I would give both 4.8 stars.
SUE DE MARTINI
ANXIOUS PEOPLE BY Erik Backman. A delightful tale of a bank robber6y gone awry including quirky hostages, father and son detectives and a rabbit. 4 stars.
DEAR EDWARD by Ann Napolitano. The story of a 12 year-old boy whose world is turned u8pside down by a horrible event and how he recovers. 4 stars. Young Adult Fiction.
GERI CHRISTENSEN
THE HOUSE WITHOUT A KEY by Earl Kerr Diggers. This is the first original Charlie Chan mystery of a series of six books that were written about this famous detective. I enjoyed it so much, especially the depiction of Hawaii in the1920's before the influx of tourists, surfers and beach bums. Charlie Chan in the book was charming and very believable, unlike the way he was portrayed in the movies. 3.5 stars.
AN UNNATURAL DEATH by Dorothy Sayers If you can get past the rather prissy and snobbish rhetoric of Lord Peter Whimsey, the high-class bachelor who solves the mystery, it was a very good story. Fast-paced and interesting characters, but dated. 3 stars.
DEATH OF A CELEBRITY by M. C. Beaton. This is a typical Hamish McBeth mystery set in the idyllic town of Lochdubh located in the Scottish Highlands. Hamish is happy as the chief constable in this little village of quirky people and doesn't want to be transferred to Inverness, so he keeps a low profile but can't help making all the other police look bad who are sent in to investigate 2 strange deaths. He is simply smarter and better at catching murderers than anyone else around. 4 stars.
HER ROYAL SPYNESS BY Rhys Bowen. This is a sprightly and satisfying book that is surprisingly well written considering the content and characters. Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie (Georgie) Rannoch is a twenty-something minor royal who is tired of living in a freezing cold Scottish castle and escapes to London to start an independent life of her own in the family's manor house. A dead body turns up in the bathtub and she, of course, is the main suspect. It was delightful to follow Georgie through all of her escapades and adventures until she finally turns up the real murderer. 3.8 stars.
THE CAT WHO TURNED ON AND OFF by Lillian Jackson Braun. James Qwilleran, the handsome and débonnaire bachelor who works for the Daily Fluxion has been given the assignment to write a series of newspaper articles on Junk Town, a street full of antique shops in the town where he lives. He rents a room above one of the shops and is immediately embroiled in a murder mystery that he relentlessly solves with the help of his psychic Siamese cat, Koko. This is one of the earlier "Cat Who" books before Qwilleran inherits a fortune and moves to Moose County, "100 miles north of everywhere". It is a fun read and keeps you guessing right up to the end. 4 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please share any comments you might have that the group would enjoy reading.