MARCH 2020 BOOKS - Rock Spring UCC

MARCH 2020 BOOKS

American Dirt by Jeanne Cummins. A Mexican book seller and her
son flee their middle-class home after her husband a
newspaperman is killed by a ruthless drug cartel. She and her
child are in danger and their only recourse is migration across our
border. Polly Rosenwaike wrote in the Washington Post: “American
Dirt” offers both a vital chronicle of contemporary Latin American
migrant experience and a profoundly moving reading experience.”
This work has been a source of controversy because the author is
not of Latin American descent.

The Matriarch by Susan Page. A biography of Barbara Bush, the
second first lady to have been married to a President and the
mother of another. Andrew Ferguson wrote in the Wall Street
Journal: “Readers of “The Matriarch” will find a person worth
knowing in her own right, a shrewd witness to grand events who
was full of incongruities: generous and fiercely protective, sharp-
tongued and kindly, capable of great warmth and utterly lacking in
sentimentality. She took what she was given and made the most of
it, leading, by her own testimony, to a “fabulously exciting,
interesting, involved life.”

Secret Guests by Benjamin Black. In order to save them from
bombardments, George VI secretly sends his daughters, Elizabeth
and Margaret, to live with relatives in neutral Ireland. The
princesses are accompanied by a young MI5 agent, Celia Nash, who
is happy to get something other than the desk assignment.
Comparing this novel to those of Graham Greene, Daisy Goodwin
wrote in The New York Times: “Although the tone is light, the
novel is a mordant observation of the palimpsest of arrogance and
resentment that is the legacy of Britain’s dealing with its neighbor,
one that’s still being played out today as Brexit threatens to
destabilize both Ireland’s economy and the island’s fragile Peace.”

Tightrope by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Nicholas
Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn explore the lives of those who
have fallen from the working class into poverty. Rosa Brooks
wrote in the Washington Post: “The personal stories in “Tightrope”
are, variously, wrenching and inspiring :From Yamhill (Kristof’s
home town) to Baltimore, New York, Texas and Boston, Kristof and
WuDunn offer narratives of those who have triumphed against the
odds…as well as the painful stories of those who have been slowly
ground down”. The book also includes an appendix titled “Ten
Steps You Can Take in the Next Ten Minutes to Make a Difference”.

House on Fire by Joseph Finder. Former Special Forces soldier,
Nick Keller, while attending a funeral for his comrade Sean felled
by drugs, hires on to help a guilt- ridden daughter of a pharma
tycoon who wants to end her father’s addictive manufacturing
business. Nick’s former intelligence colleague and girlfriend
Maggie is also undercover working a different agenda against the
manufacturer. Tom Nolan wrote in the Wall Street Journal that
Nick: “…vows, in this canny thriller, to take the manufacturer down
by whatever means possible.”

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackeasy.
This illustrated book of wisdom is a best seller in Britain and the
U.S. Through his characters, Mackeasy asks such questions as:
“what do we do when our hearts hurt?”; “home isn’t always a place,
is it?”; “what do you think success is?”. Nora Krug wrote in The
Washington Post: “Childlike in its simplicity, it’s messages are
universal: it’s a book, that, as one commentator put it, “pairs well
with Kleenex and a pad of paper.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. Emira, a recent college graduate at
loose ends, takes a part-time babysitting gig working for Alix a
pampered blogger, speaker and soon to be author. While at a
department store, a security guard accuses Emira of kidnapping
Alix’ daughter. The videotaped encounter blows up changing their
lives forever. Bethanne Park wrote in The Washington Post: “With
this entertaining novel, Reid subverts our notions of what it means
to write about race and class in America, not to mention what it
means to write about love. In short, it’s a great way to kick off
2020.”

The Truants by Kate Weinberg. Jess Walker, a college student in
East Anglia, is enthralled by star professor Dr. Lorna Clay who is
exploring the work of Agatha Christie. Tom Dolan wrote in the
Wall Street Journal that Clay asks her class: “Who should we call
the criminal? The person who commits the crime, or the one who
tricks another into doing so? Is it ever valid to take justice into
one’s own hands?” Jess gets to reflect on these questions when
one friend dies in murky circumstances and another nearly dies
from an overdose. Is a fellow student exploring Dr. Clay’s ethical
theories in earnest?

Edison by Edmund Morris. Morris, recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and
National Book Award, is a masterful biographer. “His ability to set
a scene, the words aligned in sweet rhythmic cadence, is damn
near intoxicating “ writes David Oshinsky in the New York Times.
He describes Edison’s genius, his inventions, his business and
his personal life in detail. The catch? Morris tells Edison’s story
in reverse chronological order. It still can be rewarding but
many have read the book backwards.

The Girl who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth
Weil. Six-year-old Clemantine and her older sister Claire became
refugees when they fled to avoid being killed during the genocide
in Rwanda. They spent more than six years and traveled through
seven countries before they found a program that allowed them to
come to the United States. Their stories. Clementine’s story and
her understanding of its meaning are riveting.

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. This classic “closed room”
mystery has two mysteries, who did it and who was done in. A
group of college friends come for a New Year’s reunion in the
Scottish highlands. Isolated by a huge blizzard, the group loses
one member quickly. The Guardian’s Alison Flood writes, “Foley
excels at the small details that make up a person. . . . [and] builds the
tension cleverly and creepily, underlining the point that old friends
aren’t always the best..”

Before and After Loss by Lisa M. Shulman. “In this poetic,
insightful, and heartbreaking memoir, neurologist Lisa M. Shulman
chronicles the diagnosis and eventual succumbing to cancer of her
late husband, . . .. while quotes from philosophers, poets, and
psychotherapists offer wisdom on death and grieving. Shulman has
created a unique book that touches on all aspects of grieving—the
psychological, physiological, and those places where neurology and
psychiatry overlap.” (Ron Cassie and Lauren LaRocca, Baltimore
Magazine.)