Reaching Past the Wire
Deanna Germain

Reaching Past the Wire was selected as a book group pick for our TED book group (TED = Topics Explored & Discussed) after hearing the author give an excellent presentation at Headwaters Center for Lifelong Learning. Deanna German was in her 50s when called up to go to the Middle East. Normally, reservists aren’t called up at that age, but since the author is a nurse (now retired), her age was not a deterrent. Eventually she was sent to, and spent a long time at, Abu Ghraib, the notorious prison. At the time, 2004, word was just getting out about the abuses that had occurred there (in fact, the author learned of this WHILE there). Deanna's work was clear: care for the injured, whether American or not. Her book is filled with the best of humanity. As a bonus for our TED book group meeting, the author met with us which made for a rich discussion.

The Midnight Library
Matt Haig

While I’m a longtime Matt Haig fan, I never got around to reading this book until the TED book group chose it to discuss, and WOW, what a book! Nora Seed is in a bit of rut and feels that life may not be worth hanging around for when she enters the Midnight Library, staffed by Nora’s childhood school librarian. The books in this library contain all the different possible life choices for Nora—she plucks a book from the shelf and is transported into that life. If the life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, there is a way for Nora to return to the library and try again. And again. And again. While being an entertaining read, I also loved the craft of this book—it’s so well executed! And best of all for book group, it gave us a LOT to talk about—I think it generated one of our best-to-date discussions. This would make a great winter read for book groups. Also……if you’re an audiobook listener, this is a great one!

Every Season is Soup Season
Shelly Westerhausen Worcel

I make soup year ‘round, but particularly during cold months, so I’ve been eyeing this book on the store shelves. Apparently my son-in-law, Tom, noticed and gave it to me for Christmas! I read it (and looked at the beautiful pictures) the evening of Christmas Eve, and I’m ready to make soup! Some of the recipes are for familiar soups (Broccoli-Cheddar), some are new to me (Dark Chocolate S’mores), and others have a twist on an old favorite (Butternut Squash & Mushroom Lasagna Soup.)

My habit is to make a pot of soup and reheat it for subsequent meals, so I particularly appreciate the ideas for garnishing and giving it a new look. I also appreciate the “New Twist” sections—ideas for using leftover soup to create an entirely new meal.

All and all, this book was a great gift for me!

Read Ann’s reviews in Youth Yak.

Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others
Amy Thielen

She shoots! She scores! With her third winning book for cooks and people who like to eat now published, author Amy Thielen gets a ‘Hat Trick.” She probably won’t mind that nod to hockey, as her cookbooks are as much about rural northern Minnesota culture as they are about the foods prepared and offered. Far more than a collection of excellent recipes for all occasions, this cookbook, with its Recipes, Menus and Advice, is a delight to read and savor.

I loved the “Holidays” section and after much deliberation between the Spiralized Roast Potatoes and the Fun House Baked Potatoes, settled on the latter. No mistake was made in that choice. The family devoured them, with no mention at all about the absent mashed potatoes.

The spiralized roast potatoes will be featured soon on our table. After reading her introduction to that recipe, with the description of the marathon afternoon of spiralizing apples with the countertop apple corer from the local farm-and- fleet store, how could we not have them next?

If somehow Santa forgot to get this book for you, fear not, there are still some available at Beagle and Wolf Books. I highly recommend you add it to your collection.

I Who Have Never Known Men
Jacqueline Harpman

40 women live in an underground bunker. They are constantly under surveillance by armed guards, and they cannot remember why they are captive, even though most have memories of how they lived above ground. The youngest of the group, still a child at the beginning of the book, begins to question everything about her insular and confusing existence, the only one she has ever known. Her theories stir the other women to try to figure out the justification and purpose for their imprisonment. The group is able to escape, but the surface proves to be just as puzzling as the bunker. Although this book can be bleak, I found the contemplativeness of the main character and stellar prose kept this from becoming a depressing read. This is a speculative fiction novel in the same vein and writing style as Margaret Atwood and it reads like a modern classic.

The Night Parade
Jami Nakamura Lin

Jami Nakamura Lin expertly mixes the traditions of her Japanese/Taiwanese/Okinawan ancestry with her life story to create a genre-defying work. In this speculative memoir, Jami propels her personal experiences with grief after the death of a parent, managing bipolar disorder, and motherhood through the structure of Kishotenketsu—the 4-part Japanese narrative structure. Each chapter within the four sections begins with an illustration and explanation of a creature from Asian myth that correlates to the nexus of the chapter. The author states that instead of focusing on recovery as the end goal like many accounts of grief and mental illness do and which do not resonate with her, she instead chose to concentrate on people's fear of difference and being different. This is one of the most visually stunning books I have ever read in terms of artwork and how the words on the page and paragraphs are structured.

A Dowry of Blood
S.T. Gibson

I read Dracula in college and, while I loved the setting and learning about the original vampire lore, I thought that it dragged on for about 100 pages too long to stay thrilling and horrific like the intended tone. When this novel was marketed to me as Dracula but from his lover's perspective, I was immediately interested and so pleased when this turned out to be an accurate summary. A Dowry of Blood stays true to the writing style and characteristics of its source material while being a much more concise read. We follow Constanta from the moment Dracula finds her injured until the moment she chooses to end his life. The entire novel is written in an open letter format addressed to Dracula and harkens back once again to the letters/journal entries the original characters wrote. Dracula is shown to be both manipulative and seductive, drawing several other lovers into his fold and convincing Constanta that this life of his creation is exactly what she should desire. While this book is not better than its predecessor, it is such an original and faithful addition to the world of Dracula that I tore through in two sittings.

Haruki Murakami: Manga Stories
Adapted by Jean-Christophe Deveney, illustrated by PMGL, original onomatopoeia by Misato Morita

I picked up this book to give to my nephew, who has decided he doesn’t like books. I was challenged to find one he would respond to and found one that I love as well. The hardback version of Murakami’s 1Q84 is the best published book design I’ve ever seen, and this book of his stories has again stretched my understanding of what a book can be. 

There are four stories, set in Japan. They are weird, thought-provoking tales. The first one is about a giant frog that must save Tokyo from an earthquake. The second is about a mysterious missing person case, the third about a wish granted at a birthday, the fourth about a man who has been haunted by memories of a giant wave. Some of the stories are unresolved, but the final one reverses that.

The illustrations are appropriately strange. And the “onomatopoeia?” Well; zubu zoro pachin pyushu. (Those all appear on one spread.)

Note: There’s a sequel to this book, and the third in the series is coming soon.

The Book of Goose
Yiyun Li

This is the sort of book that makes me feel like I should be eloquent and profound in my review, but it’s so quiet and straight forward in the story it tells that I’m struggling to find words. It’s about Fabienne and Agnès, poor 13-year-old girls in rural France after WWII. Their friendship is all-consuming, pitting them against everyone and everything else. Fabienne is much the stronger personality, the one who sets the games and challenges that fill their days. The book is written from the point of view of Agnès. Fabienne decides to make a game of creating stories and has Agnès transcribe them with her superior penmanship. Agnès is directed to take all of the credit. The stories are remarkable and lead them to expand the goals of the game. 

This is how the plot begins, but it’s not exactly what the novel is about. And here’s where I get lost for words. Is it about reality? Adolescence? Friendship? Inequality? Betrayal? Self-knowledge? Perhaps all of the above, and more. 

The Guest List
Lucy Foley

This is a fun little mystery, reminding me a bit of Agatha Christie because of the number of possible murderers. The book opens during a dark and stormy night on an island where 150 wedding guests are drinking and dancing when the lights flicker out. We get into the heads of the bride, the groom, the best man, the bridesmaid, a “plus one,” and even the wedding planner. They all have secrets, and we don’t know who the victim will be until near the end. Will you guess who “done it”? The clues were all there but putting them all together is like working a jigsaw puzzle. It’s a clever, quick read.

A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas

In this fantasy world, fairies come in many forms, sizes, and degrees of benevolence… or malevolence. Fortunately, immortals must stay north of the wall. But are there exceptions? Feyre kills a giant wolf while hunting to feed her family. But wolves don’t come that large. She takes its pelt, knowing it will bring desperately needed money. Her life will never be the same.

Yes, it sounds a bit like Hunger Games, but it doesn’t have the same serious message, and it isn’t Literature. It’s just fun story telling: a bit of Twilight, a bit of Beauty and the Beast, peppered with sexy romance novel scenes and mysterious plot lines.

This is the first in a series of five novels. There’s even a coloring book!

Crassus: The First Tycoon
Peter Stothard

Yale University Press is publishing a series of biographies called Ancient Lives. Each book is written by a different writer, especially chosen to bring one historical figure to life, with that particular writer's special talent. Peter Stothard (author, journalist, and critic) explores who Marcus Licinius Crassus (115–53 BCE) was. I confess I didn't really know much about him, though it turns out he was one of the most powerful men of his time. Assigned to the Governorship of the Roman Eastern provinces (present day Turkey), he exploited the provinces so ruthlessly that he became possibly the richest man of his time. So rapacious was his greed that his name lives on in our language: crass—lacking sensitivity and refinement. So blinded was he that he launched a campaign of conquest into little known Parthia, present day Iraq and Iran. He didn't bother to acquaint himself with the region's climate or geography, he simply used the same tactics and provisioning standards used in more temperate Gaul, Germania, and Britan. Neither did he do any investigation of the region's politics, leaders, or their tactics in battle. His defeat was spectacularly quick, and near total. "A lesson for the ages." But history, it seems, turns a blind eye to hubris... or at least the gaze of forgetful oblivion. But there is often more to be learned from failures and defeats than from the heady glory of victory. These are the lessons, those of defeat, needing to be learned, and Stothard lays them out beautifully.

Vergil: The Poet's Life
Sarah Ruden

Sarah Ruden's biography of Vergil (70–19 BCE) is another of the Ancient Lives series being published by Yale University Press. Ruden is an award-winning classics scholar, poet, and widely published writer on religion and culture. She has translated Vergil's epic poem, Aeneid, and has written this interesting biography of Vergil's life. What surprised me most are the several observations and arguments she makes for various aspects of Vergil's character/personality and working methods. It shouldn't surprise anyone, that after 2,040 plus years, details of his daily life are sketchy, but she brings together bits and pieces of biographical information mentioning him, from other author's work, as well as brilliant observations/gleanings from his own works, and is able to make brilliantly informed, reasoned arguments and assumptions, about who this man actually was; all the while maintaining an objectivity that seriously endeared her to me. I have NEVER been tempted to write a fan letter to an author, but I tell you truly, I'm really tempted after reading this book.

The Comfort of Crows
Margaret Renkl

The joy I am receiving reading these “meditations” increases every day. I find my heart saying “yes” to each experience and to each morning. Her honesty is profound as she has learned to appreciate the ways that winter nurtures the life below the fallen leaves and dead plants to shelter and feed the birds and other creatures in the bitterness of the season. I also used to struggle with the season but now love it for what it provides and the beauty it reveals.

In one piece she writes about a Cooper’s hawk. A few days after I read that a friend who is a wonderful photographer posted some photos he had taken of a coopers that appeared on his fence recently. We reflected together on the terror and beauty that bird represents.