MARCH 2023

 Hello All,

We met at Maryann Stevens' home last month and enjoyed discussing some wonderful books  Here is the list that has been given to me:

MARLENE MATHESON    

ALEXANDEWR DONIPHAN: COURAGEOUS DEFENDER AND FRIEND OF THE SAINTS by Susan Easton Black

THE RED UMBRELLA by Christine Diaz Gonzales.  Teen girl's experience in the Cuban revolution

THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO by Christy Lefteri (More refugees from Syria)

UNSHATTERED, OVERCOME TRAGEDY AND CHOOSING A BEAUTIFUL LIFE by Stacy L. Nash and Carol L. Dexter (Triple Computer - LDS)

GIFTS FROM THE SEA by Anne Morrow Lindburg

BY HER OWN DESIGN by Piper Huguley 

WOMEN OF THE BLUE AND GRAY by Marianne Monson

LET ME TELL YOU MY STORYT by Their Story is My Story

GERI CHRISTENSEN

AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH by M.C. Beaton

MRS. POLIFAX AND THE WHIRLING DERVISH by Dorothy Gilman

THE JUDGE'S LIST by John GrishamNancy Nay

1. From the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency Genre, #22, The Joy and Light Bus Company (very good!)

 

2. From the Scotland Street Genre, #15, Love in the Time of Bertie (also very good!)

 

3. After Book Club I read Four Winds (about the Dust Bowl) by Kristen Hannah—it’s been making the rounds—Maryann reported on it. Excellent!

 

Karla Cox 

Neither Wolf Nor Dog, The Wolf at Twilight, and The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo; all by Kent Nerburn. They are a documentary trilogy about a Native American Elder and Kent’s experiences with him and other Lakotas. I have lived among Native Americans my whole life until now; yet these were eye opening and life-changing for me. 

I also read (in addition to the many Book Share recommendations):

Rosemary by Kate Clifford Larsen (about Rosemary Kennedy, the “Invisible Kennedy”);

Dangerous by Shannon Hale (a sci-fi most unlike her usual fantasies);

The Vanished Days by Susannah Kearsley (another untypical story by my favorite romantic history novelists)

 

Beth Hedengren

The Maid by Nita Prose

Thanks for the recommendation, JoAnn, and for the birthday book! This book was a delightful mystery. Molly is a maid in a high-end hotel, a young woman who is likely on the autism spectrum. Her Gran helped her interpret the world and taught her sayings to guide her life, which Molly trusts literally and explicitly. But recently, Gran died, and so Molly is on her own. Luckily, she loves cleaning and loves her job. Unluckily she trusts those she shouldn’t and gets caught up, all unknowing, in a shady underworld. When she discovers a dead man in one of the rooms she is cleaning, she gets sucked even further in and eventually is charged with murder. Watching Molly learn who to trust and eventually triumph over the bad guys is a pure delight. 

 

 

A Presumption of Death: A Lord Peter Wimsy and Harriet Vane Mystery by Jill Patton Walsh

Thanks for the birthday book, Geri. You know I love Lord Peter Wimsy! What a delight to discover that a contemporary author has taken the characters and Dorothy Sayers unmistakable voice to create more stories to enjoy. Sayers finished the series shortly after Peter and Harriet married. I’ve always wanted to see what happens in the marriage. Now, thanks to Jill Patton Walsh we can. This book takes place during the blitz of World War II. Peter is off doing hush-hush stuff for the government who knows where, while Harriet has taken the children to the country for safety. Of course, someone is murdered, and Harriet has to solve the crime, with Peter’s help later on. For me, a delight. Now I need to read the other books by Walsh.

 

 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Also recommended by JoAnn, this book, set in the 1950s, was both delightful and disturbing. Delightful was the main character, Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist who never lets anything stop her. Disturbing are the many ways society, and specifically men, try to. Here are some more delightful bits: the relationship between Elizabeth and Calvin, another brilliant chemist; Elizabeth’s time as a cooking show host who teaches chemistry and independence to her viewers; Elizabeth’s brilliant dog, who narrates the story from time to time. Laugh out loud funny. And disturbing. Were men really that evil in the 50s, or is the book overstating it?

 

Maryann Stevens

March 23

The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah 4.5️ From the hopelessness of the Texas dust bowl to indignities of poverty & discrimination suffered in the Central Valley of California; this is the story of resilience, loss & family told through the eyes of a woman. A great read. 

 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie 4.5️ Poirot  comes out of retirement to help solve a murder. Great story.

 

The Maid by Nita Prose 4.5️ contemporary NYC. 25 year old happy, nay, delighted to have a cleaning position at NY’s finest hotel finds herself bamboozled by drug  dealers. Great read. 

 

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare 3.5️ (YA) Young man runs from Galilee village  to the hills to join the zealots. He meets Jesus & after much indecision follows Him. 

 

Agatha Raisin & The Wizard of Evesham 3.5️ by MC Beaton better than the previous book. Male Salon owner finds lonely women with assets, gets them in a compromising situation & then blackmails them. Murder ensues & Agatha with Sir Charles go sleuthing. 

 

The Hollow by Agatha Christie 4️ Murder of a popular London physician at a country estate weekend. The local police cannot identify the killer. Hercule Poirot doggedly keeps at the mystery. Just as the police, I was completely mislead by the family who protected the murderer. 

 

Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare (YA) 3.5️ based on true story. In the prelude to French & Indian war, a family is captured by Indians and sold separately to the French in Montreal. Ransom is finally paid & they are united after the Treaty of 1763.