Spring 2022
Literatae Nominations
As always,
Kathy reminds us all:
“Don’t cry if we don’t pick your book.”
Fiction
Tonia:
Reader’s Choice - Margaret Atwood
(except for Handmaid’s Tale)
Fiction:
The Edible Woman. 1969
Surfacing. 1973.
Lady Oracle. 1976
Life before Man. 1979
Bodily Harm. 1981
The Handmaid’s Tale. 1985. Literatae read in 1986
Cat’s Eye. 1989. Literatae read in 1992.
The Robber Bride. 1993
Alias Grace. 1996
The Blind Assassin. 2000
Oryx and Crake. 2003. Literatae read in 2013.
The Penelopiad. 2005
The Year of the Flood. 2009.
MaddAddam. 2013.
The Heart Goes Last. 2015
Hag-Seed. 2016
The Testaments. 2019.
Nancy and Pam:
The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher
The remarkable story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian-who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true. In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. Pierpont Morgan to curate a collection for his newly built Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and well-known advocate for equality. The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go-for the protection of her family and her legacy-to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.
Availability:
FPL: 1 print, 1 ebook, 1 audiobook; WCLS: 6 print; Amazon $15+, Kindle $9
Paula:
The Four Winds
by Kristin Hannah
Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance. In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli--like so many of her neighbors--must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.
Availability:
FPL: 5 print, 1 ebook, 1 audiobook; WCLS: 10 print; Amazon $6+.
Kindle $15
Talya:
Miss Benson’s Beetle
by Rachel Joyce
She's going too far to go it alone. It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II, and Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point, abandoning her job and small existence to set out on an expedition to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession: an insect that may or may not exist - the golden beetle of New Caledonia. When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her, the woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. But together these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations and delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.
Availability:
FPL: 1 print, 1 ebook; WCLS: 2 print; Amazon $6.50+,
Kindle $15
Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising novelist with an admired first book. Now, he's teaching in a third-rate MFA program, struggling to maintain what's left of his self-respect; he hasn't written anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn't need Jake's help because the plot of his book is a sure thing, Jake dismisses the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot. Jake returns to his own career, bracing for the supernova publication of Parker's novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that Parker has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that - a story that must told. In a few short years, Parker's predictions have come true, but Jake is the author who is wealthy, famous, praised & read all over the world. At the height of his new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says. As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist & hide the truth, he begins to learn more about his late student, & what he discovers both amazes & terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, & how did he get the idea for his plot? What is the real story behind the plot, & who stole it from whom?
Availability:
FPL: 2 print, 1 ebook, 1 audiobook; WCLS 2 print; Amazon $10+, Kindle $12
Rita:
This Tender Land
by William Kent Krueger
The acclaimed author of Ordinary Grace crafts a powerful novel about an orphan's life-changing adventure traveling down America's great rivers during the Great Depression, seeking both a place to call home and a sense of purpose in a world sinking into despair.
1932, Minnesota. The Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O'Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent's wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own
Rita adds: This was everything that I was hoping Lincoln Highway would be… beautiful language, good story ..part Huck Finn, part Grapes of Wrath
Availability:
FPL: 2 print, 1 ebook, Hoopla audiobook (unlimited copies); WCLS: 3 print, 1 ebook; Amazon $6+, Kindle $13
Rita:
Mercury
by Margot Livesey
Donald believes he knows all there is to know about seeing. An optician in suburban Boston, he rests assured that he and his wife, Viv, who works at the local stables, will live out quiet lives with their two children. Then Mercury - a gorgeous young racehorse - enters their lives, and everything changes.
Viv's friend, Hilary, has inherited Mercury from her brother after his mysterious death - he was riding Mercury late one afternoon, and the horse returned to the stables alone. When Hilary first brings Mercury to board at the stables, everyone there is struck by his beauty and prowess, particularly Viv. As she rides him, Viv dreams of competing with Mercury, rebuilding the ambitions of grandeur that she held for herself before moving to the suburbs. But her daydreams soon morph into consuming desire, and her infatuation with the thoroughbred quickly escalates to obsession. By the time Donald understands the change that has come over Viv, it is too late to stop the impending fate that both their actions have wrought for them and their loved ones. A beautifully crafted, riveting novel about the ways in which relationships can be disrupted and ultimately destroyed by obsession, secrets, and ever-escalating lies.
Availability:
FPL: Hoopla ebook (unlimited copied); WCLS: 1 print; Amazon $5.30+, Kindle $11.50
Paula:
White River Red
by Becky Marietta
Inspired by a true story, White River Red portrays the tumults and triumphs of a rough, generous soul who touched countless lives with her kindness and courage. In 1906, 15-year-old Forrestina runs away to join the circus. After leaving the circus, she embarks on a life of nomadic adventure, running a carnival rat-game and becoming involved in an illegal dance hall and moonshine business near the banks of the White River in Arkansas during Prohibition. Along the way, she loves three men, who each break her heart in vastly different ways. In 1972, Betty, a young reporter desperate to break into the boys' club of journalism, interviews the now-elderly Forrestina. What she discovers in her story is a lesson of strength, resilience, friendship, and faith. She learns that though defying normal is often painful, for some brave souls it's the only way to truly live.
Paula adds: Ollli book cub read this. The author came & I can get her to come depending upon her schedule. The author grew up hearing stories about Red from her grandparents. Ann Henry & Marilyn Heifner remember Red, so some of you that grew up in NWA might know about her & have stories to tell.
Availability:
FPL: 1 print, Hoopla ebook (unlimited copies); WCLS: 5 print; Amazon $17, Kindle $6
Ann:
The Maid
by Nita Prose
Molly Dunn is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and interprets people literally. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by. Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has had to navigate life's complexities all by herself. No matter--she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. But Molly's orderly life is turned on its head the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find him dead in his bed. Molly's odd demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect and she finds herself in a web of subtext and nuance she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, a medley of friends refuses to let her be charged with murder--but will they be able to discover the real killer before it's too late? A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different--and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.
Ann adds: A bit of brain candy, but I reclined on the couch one rainy day and read it straight through.
Availability:
FPL: 5 print; WCLS: 3 print, audiobook; Amazon $15, Kindle $12
Leigh:
West with Giraffes
by Lynda Rutledge
‘Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes ... ' Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It's 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California's first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world's first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes. Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it's too late
Leigh adds: The prose is beautifully written -- you have to love a book that starts with this sentence -- "In my life, I have had a few very good friends, and two of them were giraffes."
Availability:
FPL: 1 print; WCLS: 1 print; Amazon $11, Kindle $2.50
This novel is exclusively available as a Kindle ebook from Am
De Ann:
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production of "King Lear." Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur's chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them. Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten's arm is a line from Star Trek: "Because survival is insufficient." But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave.
Availability:
FPL: 3 print; WCLS: 4 print; Amazon $9; Kindle $12
De Ann:
French Braid
by Anne Tyler
The Garretts take their first and last family vacation in the summer of 1959. They hardly ever venture beyond Baltimore, but in some ways they have never been farther apart. Mercy has trouble resisting the siren call of her aspirations to be a painter, which means less time keeping house for her husband, Robin. Their teenage daughters, steady Alice and boy-crazy Lily, could not have less in common. Their youngest, David, is already intent on escaping his family's orbit, for reasons none of them understands. Yet, as these lives advance across decades, the Garretts' influences on one another ripple ineffably but unmistakably through each generation. Full of heartbreak and hilarity, French Braid is classic Anne Tyler: a stirring, uncannily insightful novel of tremendous warmth and humour that illuminates the kindnesses and cruelties of our daily lives, the impossibility of breaking free from those who love us, and how close--yet how unknowable--every family is to itself,
Availability:
FPL 2 print; WCLS 7 print; Amazon $18, Kindle $14
Paula:
Our Woman in Moscow
by Beatriz Williams
In Autumn, 1948: Iris Digby, her American diplomat husband Sasha, and their two children vanish from London. Were they eliminated by the Soviet intelligence service? Or have the Digbys defected to Moscow with a trove of the West's most vital secrets? Four years later Ruth Macallister receives a postcard from Iris, the twin sister she hasn't seen since their catastrophic parting in Rome in the summer of 1940. Now Ruth is on her way to Moscow, posing as the wife of counterintelligence agent Sumner Fox in a precarious plot to extract the Digbys from behind the Iron Curtain
Availability:
FPL: 1 print; WCLS: 3 print; Amazon $13; Kindle $15
Biography, Memoir, & Nonfiction
Paula:
The Warmth of Other Suns:
The Epic Story of Americ’s Great Migration
by Isabel Wilkerson
With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who in 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi for Chicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in old age, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senate seat; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, where he endangered his job fighting for civil rights, saw his family fall, and finally found peace in God; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career, the personal physician to Ray Charles as part of a glitteringly successful medical career, which allowed him to purchase a grand home where he often threw exuberant parties.
Historical study of the Great Migration. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Widely acclaimed by critics.
Availability:
FPL: 5 print, 1 ebook; WCLS: 2 print, 1 ebook; Amazon $9+, Kindle $15