Hello reader…
Happy New Year! Thanks to all who joined us for our first book chat of the new year…and hugs to those who couldn’t make it – you were missed!
Here are the books mentioned during our January gathering…
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
The hour began with a quote that tickled us, “But you want murderous feelings? Hang around librarians,” confides Gamache. “All that silence. Gives them ideas.”
Cultish by Amanda Montell
This is a non-fiction book about the way cults and other groups with cult-like features use language to entice people in and keep them hooked. It talks about groups like Scientology and Heaven’s Gate, as well as things we don’t think of as cults, like multi-level marketing schemes and exercise cults like CrossFit and such. The reader felt it was quite eye-opening!
Arilla Sun Down by Virginia Hamilton
The Feathered Serpent by Scott O’Dell
Angelina by Patricia Lynn Spears
Her Own Way: The Story of Lottie Moon by Helen Albee Monsell
The Hamilton, O’Dell, Spears and Monsell are juvenile fiction that our reader bought at book sales over the years and enjoyed.
Beren and Luthien by J.R.R. Tolkien
Edited by Christopher Tolkien and based on his father’s notes, this is the complete story of a tale mentioned in both The Silmarillion and The Fellowship of the Ring. Our reader found it interesting and felt she learned a great deal about J.R.R.’s realm in literature and life.
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
This is fiction, originally written in Japanese. It’s about a housekeeper who is assigned by her agency to a client that, on record, seems difficult to please. As it turns out. the client is actually a mathematics professor who suffers from short term memory loss – his short term memory only holds 80 minutes worth of memories at a time. He also remembers everything that happened before he got into a car accident in the mid-70s…so he’s still able to research and publish. Despite this and other challenges, he and the housekeeper eventually form a kind of family, bonded by platonic love. A short read – but very sweet!
Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds
One of our readers read this over the holidays. It’s about an ice mining ship that diverts to catch up to a moon of Saturn, Janus, that turns out not to be a moon but an alien artifact that decided to jet on out of the solar system. The mining ship does reach the wayward ‘moon’ but then is forced to land on it and leave the solar system. There is a bit of a schism among the crew…the captain is exiled to a dome they set up away from their makeshift base. This turns into a long storyline…part survival, but also part mystery.
The reader mentioned liking Reynolds because she feels he is better at writing about people compared to number of science fiction authors – meaning they’re well-formed with good backstories and believable responses to events.
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
A young adult trilogy that was so incredible, the recommender might read them again!
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
This was a DNF for the reader – though many in our group enjoyed Towles’ previous novel, A Gentleman in Moscow. Not enough happened in the first 100 pages to keep the reader going and the characters were uninteresting.
No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
The reader received this novel as a gift – it was shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize.
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
This is another novel received as a gift by a different reader….and another reader remembered reading it ages ago and enjoying it.
False Alarm by Bjorn Lomborg
A non-fiction title about climate change. The author – a professor in Copenhagen – purports that we’re doing it all wrong by focusing on limiting fossil fuels. He suggests that we focus on feeding the starving children, curing TB and encouraging trade with all.
Our next gathering will be on Sunday, February 13th at 1pm SLT. All are welcome – bring a friend!
The Reading Room 