Book Talk – August 11th, 2024

One of the biggest turnouts of the year for our August Book Lovers SIG.  Two new participants joined us, Judith from Boulder and Sheila from Kansas City.  This is a good thing; always nice to have new readers join us.

Regulars Beth, Linda, Peggy, Michael, and Christina were also on Zoom, so we had a LOT of books to talk about.

Nathan apologized for not being able to make the last few meetings.  His schedule just hasn’t lined up, but he did provide a list of some of the books he’s read over the past month or so.  He’s hopeful he can join us for a meeting in the coming months.

Jim was absent, but he did send a link for books on grammar.

Judith had to leave the meeting before she had a chance to present her books.

I spoke to Coleen before the meeting.  She is ever slowly getting better.  From what I remember she has some kind of syndrome that only 300 people in the United States have, so it took the doctors a long time to figure out what was going on.  Nathaniel is still staying with her at home, running errands, getting the groceries and doing the cooking, all while working his engineering job remotely.  AND … Coleen purchased a new car, looking forward to the day when she is once again healthy enough to get out of the house.

She welcomes a call from anyone if you get the chance.  Afternoons are best.  Her mobile phone number is 913.642.2480.

In all, 53 books were read/discussed/reviewed.  The full list can be found here:

https://mamensa.org/category/book-lovers-sig-book-talks/

Book Lovers SIG always meets the second Sunday of each month; in this case September 8.  We meet online using Zoom, so it is easy to join in.

Folks generally start checking in around 2 pm for a bit of socialization.  Book discussions begin around 2:30 pm, more or less, or when Peggy says, “OK, Let’s talk about books!”

To join us on Zoom, simply click on the link shown below:

https://tinyurl.com/BookLoversSIG

You can also open your Zoom app and use these parameters:

Meeting ID: 946 0436 4344
Passcode: 844358

Remember, Book Lovers is yet another way for members who do not live in large metropolitan areas or who can’t make it to local events to get more out of their Mensa membership.   We don’t assign books; we just talk about what we’ve been reading lately.   Even if you haven’t had time to read this month, join us anyway.  Maybe you’ll hear about something that interests you; happens to me all the time! ~ Brad Lucht

*****

Beth

The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Heinrich.  Most of the studies of psychology have been done on Western college students.  This book looks at the results of that bias, and how a different way of looking at societies can be to look at kin based vs. individualistic societies.  The insight is to understand how kin-based cultures will have different values than individualistic cultures.  Yes, the church was very much involved, by changing the rules about whom a good Christian (Roman Catholic) could marry and stay in the Church’s good graces.  This gave more wealth and power to the church and broke the bonds of kinship by forbidding close kin marriages (sometimes out to 6th cousins).  It changed the value system of those cultures and made us what we are today.  Comparing to close kin cultures, it becomes clear that we cannot just impose our value systems (democracy, free markets, rule of law, etc.) on other cultures and expect it to work.  Once you start applying this filter to conflicts big and small, you come away with a different understanding of the underlying fault lines.

Fixing Boeing by James Mitchell.   This is a rant, by someone who has the chops to do it, about Boeing and it’s fall from grace.  It isn’t a business school review of what went wrong, other than the bean counters from McDonnell Douglas taking over and stripping out all the value.  It is really an internal memo to management about how to look at fixing it, and then a plan for fixing it, using Lean.  If you are familiar with Lean, or very familiar with airplane manufacturing, this would be fascinating, but it assumes you know all the issues behind each statement and why it would make a difference.  It was, however, a quick review of Lean. [Ed. note: See also Lean Management for more information and a good explanation of Lean waste reduction methodology and processes.]

The Girl who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill.  A fantasy about someone who is imbued with power by accident, and then has it locked away because it is too much for a toddler.  Meanwhile, the adults are wielding their power with abandon and wreaking havoc and destroying lives to stay in power.  Set with real characters, who wrestle with the cost of doing the right thing and throwing off their blinders and taking back control of their lives.

Penric and the Bandit by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Penric is off to find treasure:  ancient writings.  Treasure to him, but not to the bandit who stalks him, although the bandit thinks he’s got a good target.  Much Penric mayhem ensues, and treasure is redefined.  There is redemption, but you’ve got to earn it.  Novella, eBook & audio only.

Camino Ghosts by John Grisham.  We’re back on Camino Island, some years later, with a new legal mystery.  The island next door looks uninhabited and cursed.  The last resident now lives on Camino Island, but thanks to Hurricane Leo (2022), it just might be possible to develop it now.  This pits the developers against black history.  It is not his best story, although it certainly has the plot potential.  Interesting story, I wish he had fleshed out some of the plot lines more.

Linda

Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar.  True crime.  Ish.  ***

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear.  A female detective in 1920’s London solves some murders and a disappearance.  ***

Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida by Mikita Brottman.  True crime with a very long solve time.  ****

The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves.  The first of the Vera Stanhope series.  I like the TV show better.  ***

The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman.  #3 of the Thursday Murder Club series.  This series is due to be made into a movie or TV series with a bunch of A-list British actors.  Can’t wait!  ****

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly.  #1 of Harry Bosch series.  Also, The Last Coyote, #4 of same series.  ****

The Housemaid by Freid McFadden.  Young woman takes a job as a maid and nanny for a very strange couple.  Plot twists and character changes abound.  Apparently, a series, but don’t think I’ll follow it.  ***

Unsolved by Heather Critchlow.  A true crime podcaster investigates a disappearance.  Can’t remember the details but I guess I liked it.  ****

Nathan

The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook.  Wasn’t sure about this one at first but ended up loving it.  The story of a girl’s quest to avenge her mother’s death, as told by her brother.

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis.  Read for the sixth time, this time aloud to one of my children.  I like this one more each time I read it.

Magyk by Angie Sage.  The first book of the Septimus Heap series.  Second read, this time aloud to one of my children.  For what it’s worth, I tried moving on to the second book in the series and gave up after 9 chapters due to what I perceived as a pretty steep drop in writing quality.

Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg.  So-so.  Nothing really new or noteworthy.

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky.  Read on the recommendation of a friend, definitely worth the read.  Among selfish and unhappy people, Prince Myshkin’s guileless integrity makes people consider him to be an oddball, an idiot.  Sad book, but glad I read it.

Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton.  Re-reading for a book club.  I love Chesterton’s writing, and I don’t know of anyone else who thinks like him.  He has a real knack for taking a position he disagrees with and allowing it to destroy itself.  And he’s often very funny.  Also read some of his Father Brown mysteries to one of my kids, and they were great.

Peggy

Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie.  Short stories, some in Radch universe.  I liked one story, based on the Mayan ball-court games, but was otherwise disappointed.

The Summer before the War by Helen Simonson.  I reported on her post-WWI novel a few months ago.  This, while not a prequel, has similar characters.  A young woman who has just lost her father gets a job as a Latin teacher at the local school.  The rush to sign-up quickly for military glory and the plight of Belgian refugees cover the first half of the book.  The second half is in the trenches and military hospitals.  My favorite character is the upper-class woman who manages everything in town behind the scenes and has secrets of her own.

The Conditions of Unconditional Love, an Isabel Dalhouse novel, by Alexander McCall Smith.  Isabel is a philosopher, a journal editor, a wife and mother.  Each book in the series (15 so far) brings her problems to solve to which she can never say no.  A dysfunctional book club, a small vice and virtues conference with a suspiciously large staff budget, a temporarily homeless woman who ends up in the spare room, and, as always, her niece Cat and Cat’s employee Eddie, require Isabel’s gentle assistance.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller.  A small Southern town’s chief busybody has been leading a campaign to ban books from the local library.  Instead, she sets up a Little Library of “appropriate material”.  Mayhem ensues when someone inserts banned books (Anne Frank, Beloved, Maus, Handmaid’s Tale) into the book jackets.  Lives are transformed in unforeseen ways.

A Refiner’s FIre by Donna Leon.  The central mystery of the book takes place twenty years ago in Iraq; Brunetti and Griffoni have to backtrack to it to determine why Griffoni is being threatened today.  Teenage thugs are a recurring theme.

Michael

Two Old Women by Velma Wallis.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.
James by Percival Everett.
The Big Book of Science Fiction, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer.

Sheila

Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley, who is one of the most vivid and interesting writers I’ve come across.  I recommend the entire Easy Rawlins series, which spans decades.  It describes the experiences of a black detective in Los Angeles, starting in 1948.  This story introduces Easy Rawlins, an out of work, black veteran who is short on cash.  To pay his bills he takes on the job of looking for a missing white woman.

Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid.  This is Penny’s first book, which she wrote on a dare to write a smart romance book for smart women.  It’s a contemporary romantic comedy novel and the first in her Knitting in the City series.  It’s about Janie, who loses her boyfriend, apartment, and job on the same day.  She gets escorted from her job by gorgeous security man Quinn Sullivan.  You can probably guess the ending, but the process is a delight.

Beard Science by Penny Reid.  This is the 3rd book in her Winston Brothers series, which has been picked up to become a TV series.  It’s about Jennifer Sylvester, a very hard working, socially awkward young woman who wants a family but doesn’t have time to look for a husband.  She blackmails Cletus Winston, the smartest, sneakiest man she knows, to help her.  Penny’s characters are very well developed and likeable.  She writes intelligent, interesting stories.

The Dreadful Duke by Grace Burrowes, who is one of my favorite Regency romance writers.  Fortunately, she is very prolific.  This is the 1st book of her Bad Heir Day Tales series.  Finn Carthcart is a successful sculptor happily living on the continent, when he learns he is a Duke and must return to England.  He’s not happy about it.

Brad

A Bridge Too Far: The Classic History of the Greatest Battle of World War II by Cornelius Ryan, author of World War II classics such as The Longest Day, The Last Battle, and A Bridge Too Far.  Ryan completed this book as he was dying from cancer; it is considered his finest.

This is a deep, research history of Operation Market Garden, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery’s plan to end the war in Europe in 1944 by dropping the combined airborne forces of American and British armies behind German lines to capture the crucial bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem.

Montgomery harangued Eisenhower to halt advances across a broad front toward Germany, specifically those by General George Patton, and instead commit all resources on a focused salient through the Netherlands, which would thus allow an attack on the critical industries of the Ruhr.

Montgomery’s ambitious plan involved the seizure of five key bridges in the Netherlands over the branches of the Lower Rhine River by airborne divisions, allowing the British Second Army’s armored infantry of the XXX Corps to attack the major industrial area of the Ruhr valley, advance deep into northern Germany and shorten the war.

Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne operation in history, called for over 40,000 airborne troops delivered by parachute and glider.  It proved to be one of the biggest disasters of the war.  Allied troops suffered more than 15,000 casualties, nearly twice as many casualties as incurred on D-Day.

Montgomery, in his hubris, ignored intelligence provided by the underground that an SS Panzer division had relocated to the exact area where the paratroopers were to land.  Radios didn’t work, hampering communications between the landing zones.  Radios which were to be used to coordinate air support were set to the wrong frequency.

The British 1st Airborne Division alone was decimated at Arnhem, losing nearly three quarters of its strength and did not see combat again.  Nevertheless, Montgomery claimed that the campaign was “90 per-cent successful.”  In response, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, retorted: “My country can never again afford the luxury of another Montgomery success.”

Such a sad tale, but an important piece of military history.  *****

Alliance Space by C.J. Cherryh.  A combination of two novels, Merchanter’s Luck and Forty Thousand in Gehenna, in theory the sequels to Downbelow Station.  They both take place in Cherryh’s Union/Alliance universe, but don’t have much in common beyond that.  Except they are both very well written.  Of the two, Forty Thousand in Gehenna stands out.

Gehenna is the story of a group of settlers, along with 40,000 lab-born drones, sent to establish a colony, with relieve ships to follow in three years’ time; the relief never comes.  This is the story of what happens to that colony as hundreds of years pass and how the colony devolves over time.  Very original story.  *****

I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny by Bob Newhart.  Bob Newhart died recently, and an obituary in the Washington Post mentioned this book.  I immediately checked it out before the wait list began accumulating, so for once was first in line for something.

I enjoyed this book so much.  Many bits I was unfamiliar with had me laughing out loud as I read.  I appreciate Newhart’s sense of humor, as well as his decency.  A quick read, well worth your time.  Definitely recommend.  *****

Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger.   The core of the story is that the wife of a wealthy lumber baron and his son have been kidnapped, but it turns out Cork O’Conner’s wife and son were taken as well, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.   There is a terrific twist at the end that you won’t be able to predict.  I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, but unfortunately there is an 11-week wait list, as seems to be the case for nearly all of the books in this series.  *****

Jack Carter’s Law by Ted Lewis.   This is the prequel to Lewis’s Jack’s Return Home, released in the states as Get Carter.  In a survey of British film critics in Total Film magazine, the movie based on Get Carter was chosen as the greatest British film of all time.  It can currently be watched for free on Kanopy.

But I digress…

Carter is one hard case.  Lots of drinking (how does the guy even stand up?).  Lots of smoking (how does he even breathe?).  Kills without compunction.  You’d definitely want him as a friend, especially when things get tough.

In this book Carter is on the search for a grass, someone that is being held by the coppers and is willing to turn state’s evidence.  The grass needs to be mowed, and Carter is determined to get the job done.  LOTS of violence, but very well written.  ****

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott (translated by Anna Post Uiterweer and Renée Zwijsen).  Prescott’s first novel is a story based in the post-war years, when the cold war was turning hot.  Alternating between East (Soviet Union) and West (United States), this is the alternating story of the author of Dr. Zhigavo and the efforts of the CIA to smuggle the book, unpublished in the U.S.S.R., back into Russia in an attempt to use literature to capture the hearts and minds of average Soviet citizens.  The story is so far-fetched, I just shook my head.  Until I read the epilogue, which explained that this is entirely based on real events.  Literally unbelievable.  ****

Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Debut Novel (2019)

Jim

Jim ran across a list of books for grammar nerds (like me) in a newsfeed he receives.  You might find these interesting, too.

https://www.wordgenius.com/5-books-to-read-if-you-love-grammar/Xr0yWBPAJQAG8w-i?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2241812709

Christina

Romance:

Teardrops and Flip Flops by Lark Griffing.  I read this for the Roll Your Next Read prompt “flip-flop.”  This is the first in a series about a young widow whose homebody late husband left her a top-of-the-line teardrop trailer as his parting gift when he learned he would die soon of a heart condition.  For the most part I enjoyed the light writing style and gentle flirtations as Ruby explored the country and her own heart.   But the sex scene was a jarring change of tone, and the rescue dog plot bothered me.

Mystery:

Outback by Patricia Wolf.  A young German couple in Australia decide to extend their visas by working on a ranch in the middle of nowhere.  A combination of poor planning and awful luck places them in great danger.  When the ranch reports that they never arrived, DS Lucas Walker joins the search, as he is visiting his dying grandmother in the tiny town where the couple was last seen.  The missing woman’s sister, a detective in Berlin, is sent by her family to help.  What should be a straightforward search and rescue turns into a deadly and far-reaching investigation. I thought this was well done and had a great sense of place.  Read for the Australian Readathon. Roll Your Next Read prompt “summer.”

The House on the Water by Margot Hunt.  Six people rent a beach house for a vacation fraught with animosity and distrust.  During the first night, one person dies.  I felt this novella was very predictable, but your mileage may vary.  Read for the Roll Your Next Read prompt “beach”.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.  I guess this is technically a mystery, as it is about a human skeleton discovered during excavation for a new development in a mixed Jewish and Black neighborhood in Pennsylvania.  That’s easy to forget, though, with McBride’s meandering storytelling style featuring complex, secret-filled relationships.  I came to enjoy this style reading Deacon King Kong a few years ago, but the execution here is not nearly as compelling.  RYNR prompt “two”.

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita.  Local teenagers discover some body parts near their resort town, where the residents all live in the same building, far from the rest of civilization.  Detective Cara Kennedy is not satisfied with the initial investigation’s conclusion that they washed up after somebody on a cruise ship committed suicide.  She drives from Anchorage to investigate and in short order is stranded by a storm closing the only road/tunnel out of town.  She continues her investigation and discovers that everybody there has a secret to keep from her.

The Secret, Book, and Scone Society by Ellery Adams.  A bookstore owner in a North Carolina spa town forms a friendship with some other women with dark secrets and they work together to expose a deadly conspiracy.  Read for a local mystery book club.  RYNR prompt “six”.

Anxious in Nevada by Diana Xarissa.  First in a series about a woman kicking off her midlife crisis by visiting all 50 states, starting with Nevada.  She meets an unusual couple on the flight to Las Vegas, and the groom-to-be turns up dead the very next morning.  His body was discovered as she was walking by on her way to breakfast, and soon she is pulled into the investigation by the wacky almost-widow.  This is very much a screwball comedy with over-the-top characters, and the writing isn’t the most polished, but it was fun enough that I’ll probably read the next one eventually.  Read for the Alphabet Soup mini-challenge to read a book with a US state in the title.

Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews.  This was a foodie mystery that was way more about opening a bakery than solving a crime, and I’m not mad about that.  I listened to it on audiobook, so I am going to have to hunt down a print copy for the recipes.  Read for the Alphabet Soup mini-challenge to read a book with an item that will fit in your pocket in the title.

The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz.  It took me almost a year to get through this pandemic lockdown thriller.  The protagonist, staying with a high-school friend and her husband, is painfully stupid, and I felt pretty stupid reading this just because I wanted to see if I was right about the protagonist’s husband.  I WAS right, and I guess I’m glad I finished it because the woman and another character actually do experience some character growth, which saved it from a 1-star rating from me.  Read for an online thriller/horror book club. (It was so long ago that I forgot which one.)

Short Story:

Cut and Thirst by Margaret Atwood.  A group of women, all retired from academia, hatch a plot to avenge one of their number who suffered grave insults from their male counterparts many years ago.  Much wackiness ensues.  I didn’t much care for it when I read it, but as I reflect on it, I’m liking it better.  RYNR prompt “drink”.

Fantasy:

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend.  Middle-grade magic school adventure in the same vein as Harry Potter.  But so, so much better than Harry Potter.  Read for the Australian Readathon.

Jane Austen July:

The Watsons by Jane Austen.  This is a very brief fragment that Austen wrote and never followed up on.  Other authors have had a go at completing it, so I expect I will try one or two of those to see how that went.

Pride, Prejudice and Poison by Elizabeth Blake.  This Austen-inspired mystery is, I would estimate, 62% Jane Austen quotes.  Just so you’re aware.  There is much discord in a North Yorkshire Jane Austen Society, and pretty soon the president of the club is murdered.  Much wackiness ensues.  RYNR prompt “favorite”.  (The genre, not the book.  The book was just okay.)

Essay Collection:

Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes: Essays by Phoebe Robinson.  I went in cold, knowing nothing about Robinson except that she’s a comedian, so I was vaguely expecting a book of humor.  The book does contain a lot of humor, but many of the topics are quite serious and unexpectedly timely, and I learned a lot about Black culture.  (I’m listening to Shrill at the moment, and these two books make for a nice pairing.)  Read for the LHR Society.