We had another new member join us this month, Lisa, from Garden City. She moved to the area from the Denver region due to housing costs and is currently volunteering with Respect MO Voters and Smart Elections to keep democracy afloat.
We also saw Shayne again after a few months’ absence. Michael, Jim, Peggy, Beth, Linda and Christina filled out the rest of group, so we had a pretty good crowd this time.
Non-book topics included scouting and traveling. Shayne is a scout parent, so we talked a bit about merit badges and the Secretary of War’s decision to cut ties with Scouting America.
I knew Peggy finally visited her 50th state last year, but Linda shared with us that not only has she visited all 50 states; she has been on all seven continents as well. Now that is getting around!
Various cruise discussions, and how do you decide what to do when you and your travel partner have different interests? Someone, maybe Jim, talked about an idea he had about writing a book on motel showers.
Jim hosted a Mensa event in his region, at the Lyric Theatre, where a program was offered to watch old cartoons. Only one other member showed up, which seems to be par for the course for events in his area. Speaking of old cartoons, what did you grow up watching? For me they were the Road Runner & Wile E Coyote, Underdog, Mighty Mouse, Tom & Jerry, Droopy, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Mr. Peabody, Top Cat, etc. What cartoons did you watch?
The full list of the 34 books reviewed/discussed can be found here:
https://mamensa.org/category/book-lovers-sig-book-talks/
Book Lovers SIG always meets on the second Sunday of each month; in this case March 8. We meet online using Zoom, so it is easy to join in.  Folks generally start checking in around 2 p.m. for a bit of socialization. Book discussions begin around 2:30 p.m., more or less, or when Peggy says, “OK, Let’s talk about books!â€.
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
*****
Jim
Dandelion is Dead — Rosie Storey
There are two sisters, Dandelion and Poppy.  Dandelion dies and leaves everything to Poppy.  Months later, while going through her sister’s stuff, she finds Dandelion’s phone and starts going through it.  She finds a dating app and a guy who messaged her 8 months ago.  Poppy decides to answer as her sister.  She begins dating Jake who thinks she’s Dandelion.  They have aa natural connection.  Lies pile on top of lies.  Jake finds out.  Hijinks ensue. Great ending!
Soviet Space Dreams — Illustrated Visions of Soviet Futurism – Angalixa G (Author)
This is a picture book of the Soviet space race.  No words, just art.  It’s an interesting look back into times past.
The Dispossessed — Ursula K. Le Guin
Another in the Hain cycle.  There are a fertile planet and a desert moon.  The society and economy on the planet are driven by profit.  One hundred, seventy years ago, a group of settlers left the planet and settled on the moon, thus establishing an anarchist society.  There are no laws, no government, no bills, no private property, no privacy, no families, and jobs are optional – it’s kind of like the ideal ‘communist’ society.  The two societies are isolated from each other, except for shared economic benefit: the moon supplies minerals, and the planet supplies food.  The people on the moon think that the planet is their moon, and vice versa.  A loner who is a mathematician solves the paradox of simultaneous time vs. sequential time and wants to reunite the worlds. This is a very interesting thought experiment comparing capitalism to communism and socialism.
Sacred Mirrors — The Visionary Art of Alex Grey — Ken Wilber and Carlo McCormick
Another picture book. Â The authors explain in detail what the artist is trying to convey. Â The artist, Alex Grey, preferred to create while high on drugs. Â The main sequence of paintings explores the levels of human reality beyond the inner physical anatomy to the astral and spiritual bodies.
The Odyssey – Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
This is a fresh translation from the original Greek, omitting errors and biases generated by centuries of ‘bad’ translations.  Before the story starts, the translator gives an in-depth summary of the context at the time.  She also preserves the poetic presentation, instead of making it into prose.  I greatly enjoyed re-reading this classic!
The Phantom Tollbooth — Norton Juster
A boy is dissatisfied with school and life.  Nothing interests him.  He comes home one day and finds a toll booth kit in his bedroom.  He assembles it, and drives through the toy toll booth, only to find himself in another world.  The author loves puns and wordplay!  He goes to the Doldrums where thinking is against the law.  He escapes with a dog named Tock, who has a giant wind-up watch on his side.  They go to the city of Dictionopolis, where everybody buys and sells words. He asks the king for a “light dinner†and plates of shining light beams are served.  This is not very filling, so he asks for a “square mealâ€, and platters of squares are served.  Everything is literal.  He embarks on freeing the princesses Rhyme and Reason from their jail.  But first he has to go to the city of Digitopolis, where numbers are mined from the ground and diamonds, rubies, etc. are thrown out because they are worthless.  If you like wordplay and puns, you will love this book!
I found out about it because there was a geocache called The Phantom Tollbooth in Broomfield, Colorado, that I went and found.
Linda
Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells 4*
#2 of the Murderbot Diaries
Continuing the story of murderbot, the robot with a personality. He teams up with a partner who is the mind of a ship to discover the truth about a terrible event in his past.
La Belle Sauvage, by Philip Pullman 5*
First book of his second trilogy, The Book of Dust.
The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust #2), by Philip Pullman 4*
It started a little slow but I got into it. La Belle Sauvage was a prequel to the first Dust trilogy; this is a sequel. Lyra is all grown up and having troubles with her daemon. This carries her on into a long journey and many dangers, all leading in search of a mysterious substance (of course).
Buckeye, by Patrick Ryan — DNF
People in small-town Ohio at the end of WWII. Soap-ish and predictable. I got about halfway through and realized I didn’t care about any of the characters. I can’t understand the 4+ ratings on Goodreads.
The Mind Electric, by Pria Anand 3*
By a neurologist, this is a lot like Oliver Sacks’s books but maybe not quite as well-written. About various common and uncommon afflictions of the brain. Plus, a lot about her medical education and reflections on humanity.
The Woman in Suite 11, by Ruth Ware 3*
A sequel to The Woman in Cabin 10, but not as good. This time the characters are in swanky hotels in Switzerland and England. More revelations about things that happened in the first book.
We are All Guilty Here, by Karin Slaughter 5*
A tour-de-force crime novel by the author of the Will Trent series and others. This concerns one child’s disappearance, and years later, another. A well-loved small-town sheriff works the case with his deputy, who is his daughter.  And a person from their past resurfaces. A real page-turner.
Six Years, by Harlan Coben 5*
This is classic Coben, involving a person once thought lost and then maybe who isn’t. If you like Coben, you won’t need any more details to want to read it.
Shayne
Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Virginia Roberts Guiffre was a survivor of sexual abuse, and this includes famously being one of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell.
This has been a weird read both because of author’s suicide just before release and also the public release of the Epstein files as I was reading the book. This isn’t just a story of her abuse at the hands of very powerful people (Epstein, Maxwell, Prince Andrew) but also the times she had reached out to law enforcement, journalists, and Florida politicians and being shut down in her attempts to get justice until finally getting some allies who were dedicated to getting stories out and getting justice to victims. She blends in her later life story to contrast the powerlessness of her youth with her current state of being at peace as a parent in New Zealand.
Beth
Reamde, Neal Stephenson. This started out as a very interesting story about gaming that leads to viral ransom attacks and the monetization of gaming. Then someone gets in trouble with the Russian mob by doing some hacking and selling the results. An innocent(?) thumb drive sends everything sideways. It is still interesting until the story lands in China and an unrelated player gets caught up in the action. Really good story up to this point. Then it turns into a running gun battle that spills over everywhere. It then trails off, with a high body count and nothing being resolved. Could have been better.
Turn of Fate, Anne Bishop. This is a story on the lines of The Others series, but in a different world with new characters. There is a community on the banks of a river in the eastern US that has “normal” communities along the river, but there is an island between the riverbank towns that is different. Normally people can visit when the ferry runs, March to November, daytime only. You do not want to be on the island at night. The name of the island is Wyrd, and it is. As the story goes on, we learn more about the island, and the few cops that handle crimes and incidents that involve the island. There are strict rules about the island, and all sorts of people who push the boundaries of those rules. This was a delicious read, as people go back and forth and find their own way to deal with this danger and its lure.
The Mapmaker’s War, Ronlyn Domino. These are three novels that explore cooperation and listening and valuing all life and its opposite: competition. There is magic involved, along with love and forgiveness.  It went on far too long and I’m still deciding what I got out of it.
Michael
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
A scientist is marooned in space while trying to save the Earth from an infestation of     Astrophage and meets an alien whose planet has already fallen victim to them. Complications ensue.  Film with Ryan Gosling comes out in March.
Memory Wall: Stories by Anthony Doerr
- Memory Wall (young man looking for a Gorgonops Longifons fossil)
- Procreate, Generate (a couple tries to get pregnant)
- The Demilitarized Zone (letters home from DMZ)
- Village 113 (official trying to get his mom to leave a to-be-flooded village)
- The River Nemunas (boy and grandpa sturgeon fishing)
- Afterworld (smuggling a talented girl out of Polish village, plus ghosts)
The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching by Thich Nath Hanh
One more summary/review of the Buddha’s teachings, told in an easy-to-understand style.
On my to-read list:
- The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (Folger Virtual Book Club)
- Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (Folger Virtual Book Club)
- Four Seasons in Rome (memoir) by Anthony Doerr
- The Shell Collector (stories) by Anthony Doerr
- About Grace (novel) by Anthony Doerr
Peggy
All That We See or Seem, by Ken Lou.  The translator of the Three-Body Problem has a second career as a writer of techno and steampunk fiction. This one starts as a missing person’s case and ends up feeling like a Neal Stephenson novel, with lots of AI woven in.
Mockingbird Summer, by Lynda Rutledge. In 1964, in a small Texas town, the Baptist minister finds a black 16-year-old runner to join his perennially losing girls softball team. The narrator, a slightly younger white girl, is reading To Kill a Mockingbird and the events in that book intermingle with the story. Too YA for my tastes.
The Land of Sweet Forever, by Harper Lee. A collection of early short stories and later non-fiction, mostly set in the South. It includes the story of two friends who subsidized her for a year so she could write.
First Do No Harm, by S.J. Rozan.  Someone dies in a hospital.  No surprise, except that it’s a nurse who died of an overdose.  Private investigators Lydia Chin and Bill Smith are hired to clear the suspect — a diener, or morgue attendant — who found her body in the basement.  Lots of other crimes are uncovered before the murderer is found.  It is overly complicated, but I like the relationship between Lydia and her family.
A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18, by Joseph Loconte. Â The title pretty much covers the contents, and it reminded me of my longstanding plan to read at least one of Lewis’s books. Maybe this year.
Lisa
The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Book one of the Kingkiller Chronicle. Â Involves a scholar sitting down with a legend and hearing his story. Â From family, to starving on the streets, to pulling himself up to study at the University, Kvothe survives through his incredible wit and theatrical skills. Â Very well-written. Would recommend it to folks who enjoy fantasy, wonderful storytelling, and a compelling plot.
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Book two of the Kingkiller Chronicle. Â Kvothe takes a break from school to see more of the world, and what an exciting world it is! Â Mystery, misfortune, and cleverness save the day as the mysteries thicken. Â Also, very well-written with only one narrative inconsistency. Â Quite enjoyable.
Book three of this trilogy still hasn’t been released.
The proposed Missouri Constitutional Amendment as put forth by Respect MO Voters <respectmovoters.org>:
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:
- Expand the initiative and referendum petition process by making it a fundamental right;
allow courts to revise ballot summaries through lawsuits; - Prohibit the legislature from weakening initiative or referendum powers;
- Prohibit the legislature from changing or repealing laws enacted through the initiative process, or passing laws similar to those rejected by referendum, without approval from at least 80% of both chambers; and,
- Preserve existing majority vote and signature requirements for initiative and referendum petitions?
State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings.
The World According to Mister Rogers {Important things to remember} by Fred Rogers
A delightful little book full of little quotes, saying, and excerpts from his songs to help everyone remember something positive. Â Wonderful pick-me-up for anyone who needs a literature-hug.
Brad (13/3830)
Standing by the Wall: The Collected Slough House Novellas (Slough House #8.5) by Mick Herron. ***** 269 p.
A collection of short stories that have been written in between various books in the Slow Horses series. If you enjoy the series, this is good addition, as it fills in a lot of the backstory how the Slow Horses actually became Slow Horses.
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese. ***** 240 p.
Kind of a parallel book to the Cork O’Conner series (written by William Kent Krueger), this is a story about the life of a young Ojibwe called Indian Horse. Has family has taken to the backwoods to avoid the efforts of whites who are kidnapping Indian children, taking them away from their families and placing them in schools, often run by the Catholic Church, in an effort to civilize them. It turns out his escape from the system comes through hockey (which is reminiscent to the Beartown series, by Fredrik Backman). There has a bit of a Rocky feel to the story and young Indian Horse gets better and stronger, but in the end, he cannot overcome the white prejudice and descends into a life of alcohol abuse. Only by entering rehab and finding his roots in the old ways does he redeem his life.
Really well written.
The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People by John Kelly. ***** 416 p.
Extraordinary story of how the Great Irish potato famine came about. Turns out it wasn’t just Ireland, and this took place over several years. It was the policies of the British government at the time that really exacerbated the issue, as they felt the Irish needed to be taught a lesson on how to not become dependent upon the government. A complicated story, and a tragic one.
Deeply researched, and well worth reading.
Black May: The Epic Story of the Allies’ Defeat of the German U-Boats in May 1943 by Michael Gannon. *** 702 p.
This is an account of the battle against German U-boats in the Atlantic. At the start of the war the Germans pretty much had their way with the Allies shipping fleet. Fifty to sixty boats were being sunk per month. But a combination of tactics and technology (mainly from the British) turned the tide. May of ’43 turned out to be a pivotal period, when the Allies began sinking more U-boats than were being produced.
This was a dry read, mainly a recitation of reports filed by both the Germans and Americans. Every time a boat was mentioned, the latitude and the longitude of the boat was given. This got pretty old after a while. Almost more of a technical report than a true narrative. Not recommended.
The Shattering Peace (Old Man’s War #7) by John Scalzi. ***** 278 p.
10 years in the making, this is seventh book in the Old Man’s War series.
Fragile peace exists between the Colonial Union, the Earth, and the alien Conclave. Part of the agreement has focused on the fact that there will be no more colonization. But a secret project has taken place to test their unity, a combined colonization of the three factions on an asteroid called Unity. There’s only one problem: Unity has disappeared.
The story is told through the eyes of Gretchen Trjillo, Head of Analysis for the Colonial Union State Department for the Obin, along with her Obin assistant/sidekick/protector Ran, who reminds me a little bit of Bender, from Futurama, who adds a nice comedic tough.
Good story telling, and a very satisfying ending.
Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Science Fiction (2025)
Operation Underworld: How the Mafia and U.S. Government Teamed Up to Win World War II by Matthew Black. ****+1/2* 394 p.
This is the fascinating story how a rogue officer in the ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) came about recruiting organized crime members to help protect the East Coast at the start of WWII.
German U-boats were operating with impunity off the east coast, sinking 50-60 ships pe month, ships loaded with needed food and supplies for Great Britain. Black captures the hysteria of the moment when people were convinced that fifth elements were assisting the U-boats, providing them with fuel and sliced bread (I kid you not). That means ONI had to work the docks, which was dominated by Italian immigrants, to figure out if there was any truth to these rumors. But this was a closed-mouth group; the only way to get them to talk (cooperate) was to have the local crime lords persuade them.
Based on this success of recruiting Italian eyes and ears, the program was expanded to the Irish mob as well, and eventually all the five local crime families, headed up by Charles “Lucky†Luciano, who ran the whole organization from prison.
As the war advanced, the Allies made plans to invade Europe, starting with Sicily, which was Luciano’s birthplace. The navy had NO information on Italy, the towns, the coastline, the beaches, nothing. With Luciano’s assistance, the ONI interviewed 100s of Italians to help put together a detailed map of the landing zones, including the number of Italian and German soldiers. Then as the landing took place Italian members of the ONI contacted local mafia in the region to help them identify where the German minefields were located.
All of this intelligence saved hundreds if not thousands of American lives. A truly remarkable story.
