Never Victorious, Never Defeated by Taylor Caldwell

This was a difficult book to read. I read an Ann Rand book in high school. This reminded me so much of that book. I felt despair because it encapsulated so much of what I fear. Corporate greed controlling our government, no longer a Democracy. Was it ever? The Robber Barons robbed our country of its Democracy. This book was published in 1954 and provides a story of the Gilded Age. And yet, as I watched a PBS documentary about the Gilded Age, I realized not much had changed. Still the 1%, the lobbyists, government for the wealthy, the working poor, an unfortunate majority supporting the rich in 2019.

Nectar In A Sieve by Kamala Markandaya

I visited India when I was eleven years old in 1962, and admired its beauty, but was totally emotionally destroyed by the poverty viewed everywhere. I just could not handle it. This book really conveys the horrendous situation many people in India face, incessant poverty and hardship. A young girl is married to a farmer who farms, the land he does not own. She struggles daily with her husband to feed their children and provide them a better future. I imagine the situation has only gotten worse with the huge increase in population and diminishing resources. This story was so poignant but it was also very illustrative of the fate many around the world face in 2019, and I think it is a valuable piece of literature for readers to absorb. 

Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

A heartbreaking story about a young Canadian Indian, Saul Indian Horse who is "kidnapped" from his birthplace and his family and placed in a boarding school run by mostly cruel nuns and priests. One priest is kind and introduces hockey with the older boys at the school. Saul tends the ice because he is too young to be on the team so he teaches himself to play the game. He loves the game and plays with skill and great joy. Soon enough, he becomes a team member later moving on to a higher level traveling team. However, when he is recruited for a white team, he is continually exposed to the cruelty of the White World that taunts him and cheers the opposition players who attack him regularly on the ice. Tragically, with time, his joy in the game disappears. This particular story reveals in poignant detail, the horrific racism that Indians have endured from the European conquerors that populated Canada, but it is a tragedy that has occurred repeatedly all over the Americas and despite some talented authors describing the horrific treatment has largely been ignored. Young people could really benefit from reading this story, perhaps it would elicit some empathy. Powerful!

Bluethroat Morning by Jacqui Lofthouse

 This dark but fascinating story follows the main character as he six years after his famous wife committed suicide, makes a trip to the town where she died. Living alone in a cottage, she was investigating and writing a book about the life and eventual suicide of another woman whose photo she found in her husband's collection of family photos. Unfortunately, the unfinished manuscript was found burnt after her death, and Harry, her husband is held responsible both for that and even the presumed despair which led to his wife's suicide. Harry interviews an elderly man who proves instrumental in revealing much of the mystery behind the two suicides, especially when he returns to Harry his wife's journal which illuminated her thoughts during the last days of her life. This somber narrative is full of reflection as Harry ponders how "familial relationships" and "broken connections, even generations apart" are fraught with difficulty and despair. One quibble: A few swear words used.

The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg

A very poignant narrative about three siblings who finally discuss the trauma the youngest claims she endured growing up with a mother who mistreated her. The two older children initially dismiss their younger sister's memories, after all, they were present and did not notice any abuse. Yet, it is this very conundrum of how children can have such different experiences growing up even though they are raised by the same parents and together in one home that expands this story into one of nuance and emotional resonance.

The Tenant by Katrine Engberg

 An excellent police detective mystery that takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The murder victim is a young woman. The lead detective, Jeppe Korner, and his team embark on an intense effort to find out who murdered her and mutilated her face. An interview with Esther de Laurentis, the victim's landlady and a budding author, reveals to the police that the murder is eerily like that portrayed in her only partially completed manuscript. Admittedly, Esther freely incorporated the story of her psychologically scared tenant who became pregnant some years ago at age 15 into her novel, but it was her imagination she claims that then made her tenant into a fictional murder victim. Who then carried out the details of an unpublished fictional murder for real? Recommended!

Amity and Prosperity by Eliza Griswold

A very detailed narrative about one family's horrific exposure to fracking toxins, and their subsequent legal battle against the businesses that brought fracking into their community. Imagine being in a situation where the home you live and the water supply you depend on now sickens your children, yourself and your animals but you also can't sell it and leave. A single parent, you work three jobs to survive but you also have to spend a huge amount of time going to doctor appointments because of family illnesses due to fracking toxins. This is a very hard book to read because of the unfolding tragedy for this family and others yet it provides an informative microcosm of the impact fracking is having on communities around our country and the world.

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

Reading this informative, scientifically detailed book was arduous because I found it so sad and dispiriting but essential reading. So much loss of biodiversity of plants and animals to absorb and ponder. The majority of scientists believe and have collected evidence to prove that modern human behavior and actions and out of control population growth and spread have led to our current sixth extinction crisis. Five years on from the release of this book, daily news from a myriad of sources makes it clear that our species continues to largely ignore the blatant need to reverse the accelerating extinction rate on our planet. Earth will survive the sixth extinction as it did the first five although most current living creatures may go extinct. Then as evidenced historically by Earth's billions of years of geologic development and the slow development over many more millions of years of plants and animals, it is also likely that eventually, new species will repopulate a recovered planet. Perhaps there will be a new top primate with a true intelligence that recognizes a need to live within a balance of Nature.

The Confession Club by Elizabeth Berg

After two previous wonderful books about this town and an evolving group of characters, ( The Story of Arthur Truluv and The Night of Miracles), I am glad to go back and visit again. The daily ordinariness of human lives shines through, and yet also strikes a poignant note that resonates.  This narrative is about a group of women who share some of their dark secrets with one another, and in so doing, as they reveal vulnerable details of their lives also illuminate the many difficulties, fears and concerns that so many ordinary lives hide behind a thin veneer of well being and sangfroid. To enjoy the full flavor of this book, read the first two in order. The town and community are important as are the previous characters that while physically gone nevertheless still exert a relevant context for the continuing story of life in Mason, Missouri. Recommended.

Saving Jemima by Julie Zickefoose

It was a delight reading this book, of course, I too love wild birds. The author has spent decades providing sanctuary for wild birds and taking care of rescued birds until they can be released safely back to the wild. Her love and dedication for birds shine through this narrative which focuses on her raising a rescued baby Blue Jay, nursing it through several serious health events, and then after releasing it back to the wild, nurturing it through to a full return to its wild heritage. She extolls the intelligence of this member of the corvid family, citing details, and describing her observations with enthusiasm and ends her story with essential information about how to care for these beautiful creatures. This was a pre-publication e-book so there were no photos, although she describes taking thousands as she developed her ability to identify individual birds. After finishing this book, I now look with even more enjoyment and amazement at the Stellar's Jays and Scrub Jays, Western relatives of Blue Jays, that visit my bird feeder daily. Recommended. Also, visit the author's blog at https://juliezickefoose.blogspot.com/

The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

Delightful and poignant. A cat describes his life with the Japanese man who rescued him from the streets.