It's ironic that both The Giver of Stars (#876), Jojo Moyes's latest novel, and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson arrived at the library for me at the same time. I read The Book Woman first, because a number of my friends had recommended it, and if you read my post of 1/27/20, you will see that I do too.
What was a rich evocation of time and place in Book Woman is watered down into pretty pastel white women's romantic woes in The Giver of Stars. I know Jojo Moyes has a legion of fans out there who will undoubtedly think this is the best thing since sliced bread, but to me, there is no comparison. I couldn't even be bothered to waste my time finishing this. If you want something that is closer to what these hill folk of Kentucky experienced during the Great Depression, skip The Giver of Stars and go directly to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. You'll actually learn some interesting facts by reading it, and be moved by its emotional power.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Monday, January 27, 2020
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
What a powerful read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (#875) is! Kim Michele Richardson has highlighted a little-known program about the Packhorse Librarians who operated in the rural areas of Kentucky at the height of the Depression as part of Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration from 1935 to 1943. Most of these women provided reading materials to their patrons isolated in their remote hollers and coves in the Appalachian backwoods. It was grueling, sometimes dangerous, but important work.
Ms. Richardson brings this world to life and places the reader smack in the midst of it. Her heroine, Cussy Mary Carter, is the daughter of a miner. She takes the job as a Pack Horse librarian to earn a little extra income. It's one of the only options available to her as a "Blue". She and her father both suffer from a rare genetic disorder which makes their skin blue. In Troublesome Creek, Negroes are
"Coloreds", but so are the Carters. In many peoples' eyes, they are even more discriminated against because of the blueness. On her library route, "Book Woman's" color doesn't seem to matter so much to her patrons hungry for news and stories about the outside world. We meet them and learn their stories along with Cussy Mary - their joys and all too often, their sorrows.
It's a marvel how Ms. Richardson can pack so much information into this work of historical fiction without making it didactic or dull. It's that rare book that lives up to its cover blurb from Sara Gruen: "An unputdownable work that holds real cultural significance." Amen to that! Highly recommended!
Ms. Richardson brings this world to life and places the reader smack in the midst of it. Her heroine, Cussy Mary Carter, is the daughter of a miner. She takes the job as a Pack Horse librarian to earn a little extra income. It's one of the only options available to her as a "Blue". She and her father both suffer from a rare genetic disorder which makes their skin blue. In Troublesome Creek, Negroes are
"Coloreds", but so are the Carters. In many peoples' eyes, they are even more discriminated against because of the blueness. On her library route, "Book Woman's" color doesn't seem to matter so much to her patrons hungry for news and stories about the outside world. We meet them and learn their stories along with Cussy Mary - their joys and all too often, their sorrows.
It's a marvel how Ms. Richardson can pack so much information into this work of historical fiction without making it didactic or dull. It's that rare book that lives up to its cover blurb from Sara Gruen: "An unputdownable work that holds real cultural significance." Amen to that! Highly recommended!
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
The Women of the Copper Country
I knew that Mary Doria Russell's latest book, The Women of the Copper Country (#874) was historical fiction, but before I picked it up, I really had no idea that Annie Klobuchar Clements was a real person, an early twentieth century labor activist nicknamed "the Joan of Arc of Michigan".
The story of how she wound up leading a 1913 strike against the Calumet & Hecla Copper Mine is quite a read. Annie was over six feet tall and had a commanding presence. She started the Women's Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners in Calumet and encouraged and cajoled workers and their families through the services the Auxiliary provided, and through the daily marches of strikers which she led with an enormous American flag. It took strength and physical courage to stand up against James MacNaughton, the mine's General Manager in this company town.
Did she make things better in the end for the average worker? You be the judge after reading her story. It's an eye-opener.
The story of how she wound up leading a 1913 strike against the Calumet & Hecla Copper Mine is quite a read. Annie was over six feet tall and had a commanding presence. She started the Women's Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners in Calumet and encouraged and cajoled workers and their families through the services the Auxiliary provided, and through the daily marches of strikers which she led with an enormous American flag. It took strength and physical courage to stand up against James MacNaughton, the mine's General Manager in this company town.
Did she make things better in the end for the average worker? You be the judge after reading her story. It's an eye-opener.
Monday, January 20, 2020
Tide and Punishment
Bree Baker's Tide and Punishment - A Seaside Café Mystery (#873) arrived in my stocking this Christmas, and I decided to finish my holiday reading for this season with it. It's set in Charm, North Carolina on the Outer Banks with references to Duck and the wild horses that roam the beaches on the northern part of that island. Since family owns a beach house in the area, how could I resist?
This is the third in the series of mysteries featuring iced tea shop/bakery owner Everly Swan. She's returned from a curdled career at a Kentucky culinary school after having her heart broken by a cowboy. Not to worry. She's met the newly arrived widower sheriff in town, Grady Hays, with his adorable young son. She's gotten better acquainted with him on the two previous murder cases he's had to solve since arriving in Charm. On the night of the holiday Open House Everly is hosting at Sun, Sand and Tea, the widely disliked Mayor of Charm is offed just outside her shop. Even worse, her beloved Aunt Fran (and mayoral candidate) is discovered standing over Mayor Dunfree's body with the murder weapon in hand - a garden gnome painted by Aunt Clara which had stood jauntily on Everly's porch. (Shades of NCIS!)
Despite warnings from the sexy Sheriff Hays to stay away from the investigation, Everly is determined to prove that Aunt Fran is not the murderer. Aunt Clara's army of painted gnomes are being used in increasingly more threatening and dangerous ways to intimidate Everly, but a Swan never gives up!
One big mystery for me was Everly's hangup with cowboys. After having her heart trashed by a cowboy, she falls for Grady Hays hook, line and Stetson. The Outer Banks isn't exactly the Wild West despite the wild horses...
It's a cute beach read, or since this is a Christmas-themed novel with an unusual snowstorm on the Outer Banks, it might be more appropriate to read it by a blazing fire. You'll probably figure out who the real murderer is before the end, but that's okay. It won't tax your deductive powers. The only real disappointment in this book was the recipes included. After the mouth-watering descriptions of the beverages and magical baked goods in this book, I thought the recipes should have been better. These weren't even worth a second look.
This is the third in the series of mysteries featuring iced tea shop/bakery owner Everly Swan. She's returned from a curdled career at a Kentucky culinary school after having her heart broken by a cowboy. Not to worry. She's met the newly arrived widower sheriff in town, Grady Hays, with his adorable young son. She's gotten better acquainted with him on the two previous murder cases he's had to solve since arriving in Charm. On the night of the holiday Open House Everly is hosting at Sun, Sand and Tea, the widely disliked Mayor of Charm is offed just outside her shop. Even worse, her beloved Aunt Fran (and mayoral candidate) is discovered standing over Mayor Dunfree's body with the murder weapon in hand - a garden gnome painted by Aunt Clara which had stood jauntily on Everly's porch. (Shades of NCIS!)
Despite warnings from the sexy Sheriff Hays to stay away from the investigation, Everly is determined to prove that Aunt Fran is not the murderer. Aunt Clara's army of painted gnomes are being used in increasingly more threatening and dangerous ways to intimidate Everly, but a Swan never gives up!
One big mystery for me was Everly's hangup with cowboys. After having her heart trashed by a cowboy, she falls for Grady Hays hook, line and Stetson. The Outer Banks isn't exactly the Wild West despite the wild horses...
It's a cute beach read, or since this is a Christmas-themed novel with an unusual snowstorm on the Outer Banks, it might be more appropriate to read it by a blazing fire. You'll probably figure out who the real murderer is before the end, but that's okay. It won't tax your deductive powers. The only real disappointment in this book was the recipes included. After the mouth-watering descriptions of the beverages and magical baked goods in this book, I thought the recipes should have been better. These weren't even worth a second look.
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
The Darwin Affair
The Darwin Affair (#872) is the first adult novel by accomplished playwright Tim Mason. After reading and thoroughly enjoying this twisty Victorian era crime story, I hope it isn't his last!
A cavalcade of characters from a London police inspector to the Queen herself inhabit the pages here; some real, some imagined, but all important to the conspiracy-laden plot. It all arises from a simple question. Why didn't one of the foremost thinkers of the nineteenth century ever receive recognition from the British Crown, especially since Prince Albert was a proponent of the natural sciences and Charles Darwin's theories? And therein lies the tale...
If you enjoy murder mysteries, police procedurals, hanging out with the high and mighty as well as London's most desperate characters, The Darwin Affair has them all. Highly recommended!
A cavalcade of characters from a London police inspector to the Queen herself inhabit the pages here; some real, some imagined, but all important to the conspiracy-laden plot. It all arises from a simple question. Why didn't one of the foremost thinkers of the nineteenth century ever receive recognition from the British Crown, especially since Prince Albert was a proponent of the natural sciences and Charles Darwin's theories? And therein lies the tale...
If you enjoy murder mysteries, police procedurals, hanging out with the high and mighty as well as London's most desperate characters, The Darwin Affair has them all. Highly recommended!
Monday, January 6, 2020
The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini
I probably would not have picked up The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini (#871) by Joe Posnanski if I hadn't known Mr. Posnanski would be appearing at our upcoming BookMania! event in March. It proved to be an absolutely riveting read.
Like almost everyone else in America, I, of course, know Houdini's name, but I really didn't know that much else about him. What Mr. Posnanski includes in his search for the reality behind the dazzle of Houdini's showmanship is endlessly fascinating. Trying to separate the myth from the mundane facts is not an easy task, just as Houdini intended. What does survive is a kind of immortality and an army of magicians who have come after who either try to imitate him or debunk his reputation as a great magician. The stories are amazing.
Even if you don't think you're interested in magic or Houdini, you'll find yourself glued to this book, and that's a pretty nifty trick all by itself!
Like almost everyone else in America, I, of course, know Houdini's name, but I really didn't know that much else about him. What Mr. Posnanski includes in his search for the reality behind the dazzle of Houdini's showmanship is endlessly fascinating. Trying to separate the myth from the mundane facts is not an easy task, just as Houdini intended. What does survive is a kind of immortality and an army of magicians who have come after who either try to imitate him or debunk his reputation as a great magician. The stories are amazing.
Even if you don't think you're interested in magic or Houdini, you'll find yourself glued to this book, and that's a pretty nifty trick all by itself!
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