The Lion Women of Tehran
Marjan Kamali

I've been listening to The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali on libro.fm and it's one of the best books I've read this year. Two girls are born in Iran in the 1950s: Ellie, from a wealthy family and Homa, from a poor family. The girls meet by chance after Ellie's father dies and Ellie and her mother move to the poor section of Tehran until they get back on their feet. During the time Ellie and her mother live in the poor section, Ellie and Homa form and cement a bond that will last for the rest of their lives. As a girl, Ellie does not suffer from any financial hardship (despite living briefly in the poor section of town), but her home life is dominated by her snooty mother. Homa comes from a warm and loving houseful—two parents and siblings, but finances are difficult. As the girls age, Homa becomes more interested in politics while Ellie is more concerned about fashion and social circles. The girls continue to reconnect throughout the years—they finish high school together, they go to college together, but a terrible incident forces them apart for many years. I can't say too much without spoiling the plot, but this is an expansive, years-long story that includes themes of friendship, family, and politics. If you like audiobooks, this one is well narrated by Mozham Navabi and Nikki Massoud.

Gilded Mountain
Kate Manning

The Beagle Women's August book was Gilded Mountain by Kate Manning which will also be one of the books discussed at our Fall Retreats! In the early 1900s, Sylvie and her family live in a "company town.” in this case, a marble mining company. Sylvie's father, like most men in the community, works for the company. Sylvie worms her way into a paid position at the local newspaper, owned and operated by a feminist until she takes the opportunity to temporarily work in the Padgett family home. The Padgetts own the company. Once there, Sylvie is confronted by ostentatious wealth as well as the sufferings of fellow staff, black and illiterate, who can remember slavery personally. Later in the book, another feminist—one you may know—Mother Jones, comes to town and stirs up things at the mining quarry. It's a great book for discussion and I look forward to more discussions of it!

Somewhere Beyond the Sea
T J Klune

Remember how much you LOVED The House in the Cerulean Sea?!?!!?

Its sequel, Somewhere Beyond the Sea, will be out SEPTEMBER 10TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

For audio book listeners, it’s the same fabulous narrator that read House in the Cerulean Sea!!!!!

Members of our staff love these books and would enjoy talking to you about them!

Brave the Wild River
Melissa Sevigny

Last month, members of the Sister Wolf Book Group had a lively discussion of Brave the Wild River, a non-fiction account of the first two white women to travel down the Colorado River. Dr. Elzada Clover and her graduate student, Lois Jotter, were botanists who mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon in 1938. The trip included danger on the river, sexism both in academia and on the trip, incredibly beautiful scenery, and the collection of many samples. I read more fiction than non-fiction but was caught up in the account of their trip.

The Wren, the Wren
Anne Enright

The Wren, the Wren, a book I reviewed in hardcover, has just been released in paperback. Here’s my reaction to reading it:

I’m fortunate to have strong, positive memories of my dad and my grandfathers. That wasn’t true for Nell McDarag, the main character of The Wren, the Wren. Her grandfather, famed for his love poems, abandoned his two young daughters and their mother when the latter had cancer. Nell didn’t know her father because, as beloved as she was by her mother Carmel, Carmel did not want a man in her life. As she moved from her mother’s home into the wider world in search of her life as an adult, Nell dealt with the generational trauma of abandonment. Enright, a famed Irish author, writes beautifully while challenging the reader to reflect on the ways actions affect one generation after another.

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books: A Novel
Kirsten Miller

We can’t mention Banned Books Week without talking about  Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books: A Novel! If you appreciate satire, are concerned about current social issues and have a sense of humor, this book is for you!

In the midst of her campaign to ban books from the library and schools in her small town, Lula Dean erects a Little Free Library in her front yard and fills it with books she considers wholesome. Unbeknown to Lula Dean, a resident of the town takes the dust jackets from those books and puts them on the very books Lula Dean wants to ban. The results trigger a mayoral race, question the background of the town hero, explore the consequences of a long-ago rape, cause an examination of the town’s racism, and much more. And make sure to read the author’s afterword!

A busy month filled with packed weekends led me to pick up quicker reads. This month I would like to highlight several fantastical graphic novels I have recently enjoyed that are appropriate and enjoyable for kids and adults alike. 

I will read anything this author publishes due to the beauty and vibrancy of the illustrations alone (although the plot and characters are good, too.) Our main character, Ember, is a very small boy who wants more than anything to go to school and meet friends, but his size keeps him overlooked and misunderstood. In a chance encounter, Ember meets a lovable sea turtle who knows about an island where Ember can meet other little critters and learn about the world. Things on the island aren’t always easy–Ember experiences bullying and encounters a strange creature who can’t be neatly defined as friend or foe, but ultimately, he gathers the found family and friends he has always desired. 

The Moth Keeper
Kay O’Neill

Anya is the newest Moth Keeper–an essential job in her community that preserves the environment necessary for their nocturnal way of life. She signed up for this task and wants to do this service for her village, but spending every night tending to moths is lonely and the darkness is vast. Anya yearns to spend time warmed by the sun, surrounded by other people. When she finally ventures out into the daylight, Anya sets into motion a chain of events that will impact her and her community in ways she never could have anticipated. What I was most impressed with was the illustrator's expert ability to portray the beauty of the darkness in the desert and the nuance of facial expressions so that many things were said but never spoken aloud between characters. 

Hilda: The Wilderness Stories
Luke Pearson

Precocious Hilda and her fox, Twig, explore the hills and valleys of Trolberg. Hilda encounters all kinds of folktale-esque creatures and finds herself swept up in many unique situations, but her smart and considerate nature helps her to make things right in the end. This is a rare book where I found the animated series adaptation on Netflix to be just as sweet and well-crafted as the source material. 

Spirit Crossing
William Kent Krueger

I’ve said before that reading Cork O’Connor books is like going to an O’Connor family reunion. This time the whole family is back, including daughter Anne who has been in Guatemala fighting for social causes and comes home with a partner and a secret.

In Spirit Crossing, WKK digs deep into current issues impacting Minnesota and the upper Midwest, especially Native Americans. The book starts with the discovery of a young woman’s body by Cork’s grandson, Waaboo. Gifted with the vision that his Uncle Stephen and tribal healer Henry Meloux possess, young Waaboo becomes a target. The question is, of whom?

This gripping novel pulls together three disparate story lines, woven effortlessly into an enjoyable, enthralling read. I never tire of Cork or his family!

Fatherland
Robert Harris

Suspenseful. Wrenching. Near the end I was torn between needing to know what will happen next and being afraid to turn the page.

It starts like a routine detective mystery. The inspector is called to the site where a corpse has been found, almost naked at the shore of a river. The cops securing the scene point out the young student who was out for a run in the woods when he spotted by body. However, this is Berlin in 1964, and the Germans won the war. Churchill is in exile in America, and most of Europe is either annexed into Germany or subjugated to it.

The protagonist, inspector March, is wearing an SS uniform. President Kennedy is coming for Hitler’s 75th birthday celebration, so the city is overflowing and has heightened security. March’s attempts to retain his humanity while surviving in a totalitarian state are fraught. 

This book is frightening now as authoritarian governments are rising up around the world and our democracy feels threatened. It’s a highly readable exploration of timely issues.

The Rocky Road to Romance
Janet Evanovich

If you are in the mood for a truly silly read, this is just the ticket. Evanovich identifies this as one of a few romance novels she wrote before Stephanie Plum. Well, I don’t see any difference in genre between this book and the Plum mysteries… the erotic scenes still stop short of consummation and Daisy Adams is constantly causing mayhem, or escaping mayhem caused by criminals. The most fun part of this is seeing the way Evanovich is trying things out, like a play opening out of town to work out the script before hitting New York. There’s a proto-Grandma Mazur character with a gun in her purse, for example. The male lead wouldn’t work for a series, he’s too perfect. You can see how Ranger and Morelli solve that identifiable obstacle. I wish she’d kept Kevin, the 14-year-old brother. Bob the dog had to be tamed down.

Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
Nancy Milford

What does poetry mean to you? Yes, you who is just this moment reading this. I often find poetry daunting, especially what is considered 'modern' poetry. One of the best (easiest?) ways to appreciate poetry is to hear it. Could this be because of our early encounter with precognizant rhythm as we listened to our mother's heartbeat, while floating in the womb? Another aid to understanding is to hear about the surrounding circumstances of a poem's birth. It's the difference between meeting someone (in this case a poem) once casually and knowing them for decades. It just adds depth and understanding. An insightful biography of a poet, with poems introduced within the context of that poet's life, may be the next best thing to decades of actually knowing the poet. Nancy Milford, has done an astonishing job of collecting materials (scads of letters, many of which are themselves art) and anecdotes (from Millay's friends and sister), and assembling it all into one of best biographies I've read. Masterfully done, unsettling at times, but always insightful. Even if some of it is unrhymed. ;)

Playground
Richard Powers

I grew up in California, and there are two things I miss: the ruggedness of the mountains, and the ocean. Richard Powers. in his new book Playground, manages to satisfy the itch of the mystery and allure of the sea, for those of us who feel that visceral attachment. Remember, over 70% of the planet is covered with water, and contains the vast majority of life. So, one might quite reasonably ask, why isn't the planet called "Ocean? Little explored, and even less understood; yet much abused, Powers has the ability to share with his readers the overlooked yet symbiotic relationship we have with our oceans. His book is not simply another environmental manifesto, it's an exploration of our subjective, pre-conscious, biological.... yes, maybe even mystical attachment to our oceans. The womb of life. Hyperbole? Not really!

Note: this book will be released September 24