JUNE 2023

 Hello Book Lovers,

Here are the books we discussed at our last Bookshare gathering.  

Karla Cox

-The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes

A wonderful book! Thank you, Tessa! 

-When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica

Mary Kubica is not predictable. And she doesn’t disappoint. This story was sad, even dismal, yet mixed with warmth and deeply human emotions. To say more would give too much away. 

-Liz Talbot series, Lowcountry… 

I’ve read #2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. I probably would’ve read 7, but I had too many other books checked out at once, and someone was waiting for that one, Lowcountry Bookshop.

I feel a little guilty; there’s no redeeming value in them - just pure entertainment. But I always love a good mystery, and these are also strong in characterization, clothing, houses, food and conversation detail, along with bits of geography and history. I wanted to visit the island called Stella Maris until I realized it’s fictional… A lot of fun. 

And a nice segue into my final book… 

-I’d Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel 

This is a quick read about reading by a reader-turned writer who LOVES to read! She wrote another I enjoyed,  Reading People ! And she has a podcast about - what else - reading and books.  As she said, “Choosing the next book sometimes feels like a complicated dance. With so many books to read, how can I possibly choose? What to read NOW, what to read next… I agree with Duke Ellington: ‘I don’t need time; what I need is a deadline’… Baby, I’d rather be reading.”

She would be great in our book share; and this would be a fun book to read together.

 

Marlene Mattheson

Who Is Pele? by James Buckley, Jr - 1 hour audio - very good

The Confidence Men by Margalit Fox - How 2 POW's engineered the most remarkable escape in history using a Ouija board. Interesting but the details made for difficult reading. 

The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright - my 2nd time was just as enjoyable as the first

The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B. Moore - enjoyed this 2nd reading

The Maid by Nita Prose - a light and fun mystery

Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman - Details about the division of Berlin were very interesting as were the accounts of attempted escapes from East to West. This tunnel was successful in rescuing 29 people. Interviews and details from survivors were great.

The Candy Cane Capers by Josi S. Kilpack - I didn't finish it. 

 

Maryann Stevens 

The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester 3.5 ️ WWII Nazis are on the brink of Paris. Estelle’s mother Jean Bissette hands over her American papers & tells her to get out. Estelle’s long dead supposedly French father is not yet revealed but her birth certificate shows she was born in the US. Estelle dreams of being a designer in NYC works hard while she unravels her own story.

Lauded as similar to Kristin Hannah, Lester doesn’t have the technical writing skills of Hannah. Seems she has many subplots. Still a pretty good read.

Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell. 3.5 ️ Agatha & James finally marry & it doesn’t turn out quite as they’d expected.

Agatha Raisin & the Witch of Wyckhadden by MC Beaton 3.5️

She Persisted: Ella Fitzgerald by Andrea Davis Pickney and Chelsea Clinton 4️ part of a series for elementary school kids. Award- winning singer paves the way for integration in nightclubs 1950-1970s. 

Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd 4️ autobiographical. Kidd goes through a Feminine awakening, seeking for a feminine divine. Respect for the human body, sexuality & woman’s key role in creation. Respect for nature as part of a sacred creation. Feminine divine co-existant with God before the Creation. 

Feminine power is not achieved by holding another down; it is filled with compassion. Being whole in oneself helps us relate to others with a wholeness of heart.

Dolly Parton Storyteller by Dolly 3️ format is like an interview. Although very confident & strong, Dolly gives praise to those she’s worked with. 2/3 of the way through I got tired of her telling about why, where, or when she wrote a song. 

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie 3.5️ A good murder mystery. Always a bit overwhelmed at the end when Poirot energetically rattles off how he solved the crime. 

Beth Hedengren

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. Kelly Barnhill is one of my favorite contemporary Young Adult fantasy authors. The Girl Who Drank the Moon, the 2017 Newbury Winner, is a transcendent story of kindness overcoming evil. I’ve also loved her other books, all of them both creative and what I would call moral: Iron Hearted Violet, The Witch’s boy, and The Ogress and the Orphans. So, I was very excited to read Barnhill’s latest, this book of Dragons. But I couldn’t finish it. Set in an alternate reality of 50's America, the women in the story transform into dragons, eating the men who subjugate them. This could be seen as a tale of women empowerment, but the problem is that ALL men in the book (as far as I read) were evil and abusive. Also, the romance in the story is of the same sex variety. Here’s the blog I wrote after attempting to read it, “Fiery Dragons and Good Men.”

Lowcountry Boil by Susan M. Boyer. Such a fun cozy mystery series, set on an island off the coast of South Carolina. The sleuth is a girly southern girl, who often sweet-talks her way to the truth. She is assisted in her work by the ghost of her high school best friend. Funny and charming. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Thanks for sharing this, Karla!

The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh (based on Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries). I’ve loved the Lord Peter Wimsey series for decades. Now it is fun to see Lord Peter and his mystery writing wife Harriet solving mysteries together in their older years. This time they follow the trail of a valuable jewel which leaves a trail of murders behind. 

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg. The author, Nina Totenberg, was a well-known journalist at NPR. Ruth was the legendary Supreme Court Justice. These two high-powered women became the best of friends, supporting each other through tragedies and triumphs over a decades-long relationship. Though Nina could have gotten many a scoop from her friend, she always chose friendship over her profession. Ruth stalwartly guides Nina through the loss of her first husband. Nina is there for Ruth when her beloved Marty dies and invites Ruth to dinner every Saturday from then on. But this is more than a story of Nina and Ruth; it is a paeon to friendship in general including chapters on Nina’s dear colleagues at NPR, good male friends who influenced Nina, and Ruth’s friends on the Supreme Court. There is even a chapter about Nina’s father’s “friend”—a Stradivarius violin which was stolen and then, decades later, found. Very enjoyable to read. It made me think about how I can be a better friend. (If you listen to the book, Nina herself narrates it, which is fun to hear.)

The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens by Richard Haas. The ten obligations discussed in the book are the following: Be Informed, Get Involved, Stay Open to Compromise, Remain Civil, Reject Violence, Value Norms, Promote the Common Good, Respect Government Service, Support the Teaching of Civics, Put Country First. This is a clear-headed plea for a return to what once were common values. Well-researched and well-written. I wrote a blog post inspired by this book; you can find it here. 

In Pieces by Sally Field.  It was fun to read the story of one of my favorite actress—who didn’t love Gidget and the Flying Nun? But her life was much sadder than the characters she played. Whenever I read a celebrity biography, I am very glad not to be famous.

Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard by Joan E. Strassmann. My daughter Emily gave me this book and it is very good. Instead of being a guidebook to all the birds in the world—this book focuses on very common birds you are sure to see everyday, such as the blue jay, the robin, the flicker, sparrow, and starling. I loved the chapter on robins. Did you know robins capture worms to feed their babies, but otherwise they prefer fruit? 

 Jo Ann Abegglen

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See. 4.7 Stars.

The Second Ending by Michelle Hoffman.  If you liked Where'd Bernadette Go? or Lessons in Chemistry, you will like this book.

When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubika. This is a strange story that has you guessing about the main character until the last page.

Geri Christensen

Lessons in Chemistry by  Bonnie Garmus  

This is a fun and funny book that is also sad and frustrating as it talks about the difficult time women have had in the workplace, especially in the 50's and 60's when this book takes place. It is a story of survival and triumph against very challenging odds that will keep you enthralled to the very last page.  I give this book 4.5 stars.

The Grave is a Find and Private Place by Alan Bradley.  This is another great Flavia de Luce mystery in which she teams up with her father's manservant and together they combine their very considerable talents to outsmart the local constabulary in solving a tangled and convoluted mystery.  If you are a fan of Flavia, then you will enjoy this book.  It is a little different because it doesn't take place at the family homestead, Buckshaw, but is situated in a small country town instead but it doesn't lack for the usual charm that the other De Luce books all have.

The Elusive Mrs. Polifax by Dorothy Gilman.  This series is a favorite of mine and I often go back and re-read my favorites and this is definitely one of those.  In this adventure, Emily Polifax, courier for the CIA, is sent to Bulgaria with a hat full of passports to help some of the undercover agents escape from the Communist suppression.  She finds herself enmeshed in far more than just delivering passports when a young American boy is kidnapped and imprisoned and the ever-inventive Mrs. Polifax figures out how to get him out of prison and back to freedom.  It is a fun book to read just for pure escape.