Hello Book Lovers,
We met last Thursday evening on Beth Hedengren's lovely patio. It was wonderful to be together and hear about all the great books we have been reading. That, along with Beth's delicious cherry cobbler dessert, made it a delightful evening. Here are the books that have been read during the past month:
JO ANN ABEGGLEN
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (author of Remains of the Day, Nobel prize in literature 2017)
Wonderful book. Future times. Told from the point of view of an AI robot—developed to be an Artificial Friend (AF) to an adolescent child. The robot, Klara, is kind and compassionate and childlike, as she learns about the world she is in. The child she is bought for is ill, a reaction to being genetically modified (“lifted”) to be smarter. Klara cares for her well, and makes sacrifices for her welfare. All kinds of ethical quandaries here. Where do you draw the line on genetic modifications? What does it mean to be “alive”? What does it mean to be human? Is there a higher power who can perform miracles? (And what is the function of faith?)
Anything You Can Imagine: Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle Earth by Ian Nathan
This is very long (40 hours!) but interesting to hear the back story on the making of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lots of great stories: the difficulties of getting funding (they started with Miramax, but when that studio pulled funding and asked them to cut back to one film for the whole story, they were able to find another studio); writing the screen play to fit a film while staying true to the spirit and details of the classic books; casting just the right actors (the actor playing Aragorn was fired two weeks into filming—luckily Vigo Mortensen took over the role!); creating the right settings—both actual places in New Zealand and building sets and models; and the remarkable special effects, especially the creation of digital Gollum in tandem with the inspired acting of Andy Serkus. Very fun for a fan.
The Whistler by John Grisham 4⭐️ Florida mafia buys a judge. An Indian casino. Rampant coastal development. Paybacks all along the way.
Witness to a Trial By John Grisham 4 ⭐️ short story prequel to The Whistler. A double murder. A First time judge trying to prove she supports law & order. A crooked prosecutor. A public defender in over his head.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett 3 stars. An engaging story about multiple complex characters. The storytelling is good but the ending was abrupt & unfulfilling. Mallard is a Louisiana town full of unusually fair African-Americans. Stella, a twin, crosses to white society , abandoning & hiding from her natural family who desperately try to locate her for decades. A transman & a ‘straight’ woman fall in love.
One Fatal Flaw by Anne Perry 4 ⭐️ courtroom drama. We’ll written. Good story.
Franklin & Eleanor by Hazel Rowley 4.5 ⭐️ non-Fiction. A well researched inquiry into their unconventional, but nonetheless loving & supportive marriage. Eleanor was a remarkable woman.
Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett 4⭐️ 37 hrs 3rd of trilogy which covered 1900-2012). This one covered Cold War through election of Obama as seen through the eyes of 4 multi-generational families: British, US, German & Russian. Political power, greed, hate. Familial love, births, deaths, trials, & reunification. Story is true to historical facts & figures with the details filled in by the fictional families.
GERI CHRISTENSEN
The Grave's A Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley
This is the 6th in the Flavia De Luce series and, although it was a fairly good story, it seemed to lack some of the clever writing and clear-cut storyline that the earlier books had. In this book Flavia's father, Colonel De Luce, has died and Flavia has inherited Buckshaw, the decaying family mansion. Fortunately, the beloved servant Dogger has decided to stay on and he and Flavia are now working together as a team to solve a mystery. She uses her prodigious knowledge of chemistry and the ending is interesting, but I liked the other books much better. 2.5 stars.
The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. This is one of my favorite stories by this author and I never tire of re-reading (or re-listening to it, as I did this time.) The story is about a group of crack German paratroopers who are dropped into the northeast coast of England when it is learned that Churchill will be visiting an old friend. They plan to either kidnap or kill him as the war is winding down and the Germans need something stupendous to end it all with. The characters and the setting as well as the story are all wonderful and I loved getting lost in the telling of it. 4.5 stars.
Agatha Raisin and the Case of the Curious Curate by M.C. Beaton
This was actually a fun read and I enjoyed following along with Agatha as she unravels a mystery in the village of Carsley in the Cottswolds. She manages to get herself in plenty of tight spots and gets warned multiple times to stay out of police business but, as usual, she figures it out and catches the killer in the end. 3 stars.
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
This was a wonderful book based on actual facts that happened during World War Ii. Eva is a young Polish Jew living with her parents in Paris. When her father is arrested by the Paris Gendarmes, she is warned to flee before she and her mother are also taken. She flees to a small French village close to the Swiss border where her skills as a forger are put to use by a Catholic priest and others who work together to help young Jewish children escape to Switzerland and safety. But Eva worries that when these children are given a new identity, their real names will be lost so she figures out a code to put their names in a very old book she finds. The story is well-written and exciting. 4.5 stars.
LANI PACKARD
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger—and a possible murderer—to inherit his vast fortune, one thing's for sure: Sam Westing may be dead…but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!
MARLENE MATHESON
The Power of Lift by Melinda Gates - She tells a little about her personal life, including her beginnings at Microsoft and marrying Bill, but the focus is on the philanthropic work they've done. Her focus has been: in empowering women and improving their situations, the whole world is better. She's seen many extreme situations of poverty and learned that the best way to help is ask the people themselves what they need.
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