Another Turn of the Page: Making Time

jlheuer

Jun 13

"Too many books. Too few centuries."
― Jay Kristoff, Nevernight

June has been unusual for me. I want to read away the hours but either I just find myself too tired or my eyes just won't cooperate because of dryness. So it is taking me forever to finish a book. Then there is the weather. June is when we in Wisconsin finally can get our flowers and veggies in the ground and not have to worry about frost damage. But it has been so wet that when there is finally a good day the ground is pretty squishy. Instead I planted flowers and herbs in a lot of pots. However the grass keeps growing and many of our side gardens have gone wild. So when I want to sit and read the yard calls out and says, "Use your last bit of energy on me!" This weekend my husband finally got a small plot tilled and put in his few tomato and pepper plants. I weeded and spread some mulch. Right now both of us are looking for our comfy chair, our iced tea and a good book. Really, life is too short to spend it on yard work. I think the plan is to mow down the weeds and grass and just read whenever we can.

Many in our group this month were either traveling or mowing or gardening or had various other obligations. However even the absent ones had read a book this month and sent it along so we have thirteen titles for you to peruse. Enough rambling, here they are.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017) 389p. Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But why does she specifically seek out young freelance writer Monique to write her memoir? (Linda)
The Alice Behind Wonderland by Simon Winchester (2011) 110p. This slim book details Charles Dodgson's (Lewis Carroll) fascination with the then, very new art/science of photography, and his subsequent relationship with Alice Liddell, who is the inspiration for the central character in Alice in Wonderland. The author lets you make your own judgement on just why Dodgson's subject-of-choice was of very young girls, often in strangely provocative poses. (Paul)
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (2020) 308p. An unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction. (Cathy)
What It's Like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing-What Birds are Doing and Why by David Allen Sibley (2020) 240p. The title tells it all. This special, large-format volume is geared as much to nonbirders as it is to the out-and-out obsessed, covering more than two hundred species. (Rikki)
The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly, Renee Ballard series #4, Harry Bosch Series #23 (2021) 391p. Has a killer lain dormant for years only to strike again on New Year's Eve? LAPD Detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch team up to find justice for an innocent victim in this latest thriller by Michael Connelly. (Pete)
A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness by S. Nassir Ghaemi (2011) 340p. The author, who runs the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts University Medical Center, draws from the careers and personal plights of such notable leaders as Lincoln, Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK, and others to build an argument that the very qualities that mark those with mood disorders- realism, empathy, resilience, and creativity-also make for the best leaders in times of crisis. (Ellie)
The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain (2022) 352p. The author takes us back in time to 1965, a turbulent period of American history, to the dangerous and courageous fight for civil rights and efforts to increase voter registration within black communities in the hostile and racist American South. (Jeanne)
The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas (2021) 224p.The story takes place in the Salpetriere asylum in 1885 Paris. The patients are all women, all ages, all levels of society. Most of the women have been deemed inconvenient or problematic by their husbands or fathers and placed here. "The Salpetriere is a dumping ground for women who have disturbed the peace. An asylum for those whose sensitivities do not tally with what is expected of them. A prison for women guilty of possessing an opinion." Eugenie is one such woman who has been put here by her father. The title refers to an actual ball held every year when the women were dressed up and members of high society would attend to view the "mad" women. (me, the other Jeanne)
Don't Cry for Me by Daniel Black (2022) 304p. A dying father (African-American) reflects on his troubled relationship with his gay son and attempts to make amends. This book is written as a journal or a series of letters. (Barb)
The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff (2019) 377p. A World War II thriller based on the missions of the real-life women of the Special Operations Executive. The setting is France and is inspired by true events. This book was also reviewed last month.( Anita)
Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict (2018) 283p. In this historical fiction, Clara Kelley is not who her employer thinks she is. She's not the experienced Irish maid who was hired to work in the grand household of Andrew Carnegie in Pittsburgh. She's an Irish immigrant, the daughter of a poor farmer, with nowhere to go. The real Clara Kelley has vanished, and pretending to be her just might get the imposter Clara some money to send back home. ( Nancy)
Deadly Cross by James Patterson, Alex Cross #28 (2020) 416p. Alex is called in when the Vice President's ex-wife, Kay Willingham and the principal of a private school, Randall Christopher are both found shot dead in a Bentley in the early hours of the morning. If that isn't enough there is also a crazy in the city abducting, raping and murdering teenage girls. Alex and FBI Special Agent Ned Mahoney have their hands full. (Dan)
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (2011) 314p. A historical novel about Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, much of it during their time in Paris when Hemingway was struggling to find the voice which would catapult him to literary success. (Sue)