Books @ Noon April 2021 picks | JCLS

1) The silence of the girls: a novel

Author

Notes

Kristin shared that she had recently read this gritty take on the Iliad. Another story with more violence against women than anyone could be comfortable with (see also, When the Apricots Bloom, above). The fact that it was a look at ancient history from female point of view got the group to talking about Madeline Miller's books. Specifically: Song of Achilles takes a different look at the Achilles/Patroclus relationship (they are romantic partners in the Miller book, only close friends in the Barker one). Circe is The Odyssey set on Circe's island, from her point of view. Both of these books are linked next.

Formats:

Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Hardback

Description

"From the Booker Prize-winning author of the Regeneration trilogy comes a monumental new masterpiece, set in the midst of literature's most famous war. Pat Barker turns her attention to the timeless legend of The Iliad, as experienced by the captured women living in the Greek camp in the final weeks of the Trojan War. The ancient city of Troy has withstood a decade under siege of the powerful Greek army, who continue to wage bloody war over a stolen...

2) Reconstruction: America after the Civil War

Description

Henry Louis Gates Jr. presents an examination of one of the most consequential and least understood chapters in U.S. history when, after the Civil War, the nation struggled to reunite North and South while living up to the promise of citizenship for millions of freed African Americans.

3) The song of Achilles

Author

Miller, Madeline

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, Book - Paperback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

"At once a scholar's homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist....A book I could not put down."
—Ann Patchett

"Mary Renault lives again!" declares Emma Donoghue, author of Room, referring to The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller's thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War.

A

...

Author

Miller, Madeline

Series

Thorndike Press large print historical fiction

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, Book - Paperback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Hardback, Large Print - Paperback

Description

"In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft. When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her...

Author

O'Farrell, Maggie

Series

Libros del Asteroide volume 250

Notes

Claudia said she didn't like Hamnet as much as other folks she'd talked to had...and mentioned that she'd preferred a recent video of his life starring Kenneth Branagh. It turns out, we have that DVD in the collection and it is linked next!

Description

The year is 1613, and Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer of the age. But disaster strikes when his renowned Globe Theatre burns to the ground. Devastated, Shakespeare returns to Stratford, where he must face a troubled past and a neglected family.

7) Faces of America: with Henry Louis Gates, Jr

Description

Faces of America introduces a wide range of cultural figures--representing a vast range of cultural and ethnic roots--to their ancestors and their stories, from the old country through the journey to America. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. traces the family trees of authors, actors, musicians, athletes, educators, intellectuals and discovers stories and figures that had been forgotten or lost through the generations. Through original documents and photos,...

8) A swim in a pond in the rain: in which four Russians give a master class on writing, reading, and life

Author

Saunders, George

Notes

We started with a discussion about long hold lists. Particularly at issue were this title and the next one on the list. But Kathy had a copy of another book Claudia had been waiting for and now they are meeting IRL to exchange!

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

"In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders guides the reader through seven classic Russian short stories he's been teaching for twenty years as a professor in the prestigious Syracuse University graduate MFA creative writing program. Paired with stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, these essays are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it's more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. Saunders approaches...

9) The committed

Author

Nguyen, Viet Thanh

Series

The Sympathizer

Formats:

Book - Hardback, eBook, Kindle

Description

"The astonishing sequel to The Sympathizer, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, The Committed follows the "man of two minds" as he comes to Paris as a refugee. There he and his blood brother Bon try to escape their pasts and prepare for their futures by turning their hands to capitalism in one of its purest forms: drug dealing. No longer in physical danger, but still inwardly tortured by his reeducation at the hands of his former best friend,...

10) News of the world: a novel

Author

Jiles, Paulette

Notes

Mary read this book and wasn't ready for the book to be over, so she picked up another book by the same author...

Formats:

Audiobook CD, Book - Paperback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

Soon to be a Major Motion Picture

National Book Award Finalist—Fiction

In the aftermath of the Civil War, an aging itinerant news reader agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people in this exquisitely rendered, morally complex, multilayered novel of historical fiction from the author of Enemy Women that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust.

In

...

11) The color of lightning: a novel

Author

Jiles, Paulette

Notes

...this title has a tiny scene that overlaps with News of the World. Mary loved the poetic descriptions of the landscape of Texas and the characters.

Formats:

Book - Hardback, eBook, Kindle

Description

"Meticulously researched and beautifully crafted.... This is glorious work." — Washington Post

"A gripping, deeply relevant book." — New York Times Book Review

From Paulette Jiles, author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Enemy Women and Stormy Weather, comes a stirring work of fiction set on the untamed Texas frontier in the aftermath of the Civil War. One of only twelve books longlisted for the 2009

...

12) When the apricots bloom

Author

Wilkinson, Gina

Notes

Kathy enjoyed this novel, set in Iraq in 2002. At its heart, it's about friendships and protecting family. CW: There are some difficult scenes of violence against women.

Formats:

Book - Paperback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

"Breathtaking...Riveting and profound! I adored this book!" —Ellen Marie Wiseman, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan Collector

"A deeply involving and important novel by a master storyteller." —Susan Wiggs, # 1 New York Times bestselling author
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
In this moving, suspenseful debut novel, three courageous women confront...

13) Master and commander

Author

O'Brian, Patrick

Series

Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin novels volume 1

Notes

Claudia shares that she is enjoying reading these tales of early 19th century sea-faring, especially the language. The title here is the first in the Aubrey/Maturin series.

Formats:

Book - Hardback, Book - Paperback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

The classic first novel of the epic Aubrey/Maturin series, widely considered "the best historical novels ever written" (Richard Snow, New York Times).

Ardent, gregarious British naval officer Jack Aubrey is elated to be given his first appointment as commander: the fourteen-gun ship HMS Sophie. Meanwhile—after a heated first encounter that nearly comes to a duel—Aubrey and a brilliant but down-on-his-luck physician,

...

Author

Notes

While this book has been shared at prior meetings, this wasn't quite Wendy's cup of tea. She has found other things to read this month and is really enjoys the social aspect of our meetings whether she reads a book she loves or not!

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

An extraordinary debut novel, Freshwater explores the surreal experience of having a fractured self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born "with one foot on the other side." Unsettling, heart wrenching, dark, and powerful, Freshwater is a sharp evocation of a rare way of experiencing the world, one that illuminates how we all construct our identities. Ada begins her life in...

15) The book woman of Troublesome Creek: a novel

Author

Richardson, Kim Michele

Series

Book woman of Trouble Creek volume 1

Notes

Mike enjoyed learning about the Blue People of Kentucky and the WPA Packhorse Librarian program. We ended up having a lively discussion about both topics! And also discussed the other Packhorse Librarian book (linked next) that came out the same year, which created a bit of controversy.

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, Book - Hardback, Book - Paperback, eBook, Large Print - Hardback

Description

"The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrape for everything except books--thanks to Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, and traveling librarian Cussy Mary Carter. Last of her kind, Cussy's skin is a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on her family or the library project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. To bring the joy of books to hill folks, Cussy must confront prejudices...

16) The giver of stars

Author

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Hardback

Description

"Set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond, from the author of Me Before You and The Peacock Emporium Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call...

17) To be taught, if fortunate

Author

Chambers, Becky

Notes

Kristin said she really enjoyed the unique approach to life sciences on unexplored worlds and the way the author thought about how evolution might have worked on different planets, all against the backdrop of a group of explorers getting more and more distant from the Earth.

Formats:

Book, Book - Paperback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

"At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known as somaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments off Earth using synthetic biological supplementations. They can produce antifreeze in subzero temperatures, absorb radiation and convert it for food, and conveniently adjust to the pull of different gravitational forces. With the fragility of the body no...

18) Treasure Island

Author

Stevenson, Robert Louis

Series

The Classic Literature Collection

Notes

Claudia revisited Treasure Island after having seen a a filmed stage production of the show at the National Theater. She found it very rewarding to it again with an adult perspective. A link to the stage production we discussed is linked next!

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, eAudiobook, eBook, eComic, Kindle

Description

Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "buccaneers and buried gold". First published as a book on 23 May 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881 and 1882 under the title Treasure Island or, the mutiny of the Hispaniola with Stevenson adopting the pseudonym Captain George North. Traditionally considered a coming-of-age story, Treasure Island...

19) The girl with the louding voice: a novel

Author

Notes

Kathy enjoyed this story of a young Nigerian's girl's ability to rise above a very rough start in life affirming. Kristin seconded this sentiment!

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

"A powerful, emotional debut novel told in the unforgettable voice of a young Nigerian woman who is trapped in a life of servitude but determined to get an education so that she can escape and choose her own future. Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education. This, her mother has told her, is the only way to get a "louding voice"--the ability to speak for herself and decide her own future. But instead, Adunni's...