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2022 Fall Flurry of Holidays Challenge -- November Reviews and Discussion
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Mine will likely be a cozy set at Thanksgiving. Last year I created a shelf for Thanksgiving to track them!
Definitely reading Firekeepers Daughter. Anyone is welcome to join me. It can be for November fall flurries, but also for bookclub. If I can fit it in, I am also going for Autumn Throne. That’s the third in the Eleanor of Aquitaine Series.
I just finished a book that would be perfect ... features Veterans (of WW2), active military (Vietnam), Native Americans, deer hunting, and a scene at Thanksgiving. It's a tough read in places and includes alcoholism and child abuse, but the story is ultimately uplifting. 
The Turtle Warrior by Mary Relindes Ellis
Miss Dimple Disappears by Mignon F. Ballard - 3.5 starsThis book takes place in November 1942. A week before Thanksgiving Miss Dimple goes missing. She is a teacher and missed when she doesn't show up for class. A young boy had seen her in the morning but no one believes him as he seems to see spies everywhere. This was a good story set in a time where men are going off to war and families are changing. It switches narrators but that style seems to work. Overall I enjoyed the story.
Season of Death by Christopher Lane4 stars
Set during the fall caribou migration south in Alaska and incorporates a great deal of Inupiat and Ashabacan legend, lore, and traditions into the plot and characters, including the marathon stick dance of the Ashabascans to greet the migration. Thus covers autumn and Native American Heritage Month.
Barrow Police Officer Ray Attla sets off with 2 fellow officers on a three day caribou hunting trip by kayak to the Alaskan North Slope. It only takes less than 20 minutes after being dropped off by sea plane at their point of departure for their expedition when all goes wrong, not least landing a severed head instead of a fish. That's just the beginning of a tale of treachery and murder in the wilds of Alaska that ultimately find Ray being led through the wilderness by a young Athabascan seer.
I love this series not just for the skillful twisty plotting, memorable characters, and spectacular setting, but also for the Lane's rich interweaving of the traditions and lore of the Inupiats, and here also the Athabascans, into the heart and soul of his story. Ray's struggle to believe, not just respect, the traditions of his people while being a thoroughly late 20th Century police officer provides great depth to his character and to the plot.
Though he valued his unique ancestry, Ray believed the Inupiat of the twenty-first century, if they hoped to avoid extinction, would have to embrace and accommodate to white culture or cease to exist.
4 stars
I have been looking forward to reading this one for a long time, and I really liked it. I found it engaging, and I am sometimes a little leery of YA books. I absolutely loved the look into the customs, history, stories, and rituals, and traditions of Native American tribal culture. There was a lot to it. There was coming of age, and the question of individuation from one's past, history, and family, and new developments of self. There was loss, there was also a loss of idealization of loved ones. There was care for community and family. There was new young love. There was friendship. And there was a plot surrounding a young person being thrust into being a confidential informant for the FBI, dealing with all of these incredibly conflicting feelings, not to mention falling in love. There was some hockey, some natural medicine and plant world, some thriller. But for a kitchen sink kind of thing, the author did a great job. Dauny was a very complex fleshed out character, who we got to know more by her questioning and explorations then by a reified system of belief. Dauny is one to root for and to love. I daresay the coming of age of Dauny, was more powerful than the plot itself. I really enjoyed it, and especially at this season of Thanksgiving - to appreciate a Native American peek, as well as themes of gratitude, love, family, and community.
I am guessing that by November 10th, I can't still get the point for a witchy magical situation. I don't really care, I'm posting anyway. It was cute.
This was seriously just a fun audio quickie! Under three hours, a little witchy wedding situation between the maid of honor and the best man, childhood rivals who work together to get a demon out the groom, and fall in love in the process. Its just seriously cute!
- 5s starsNational American Indian Month (hoping North American indigenous counts)
Review: /topic/show/...
Ice and Stone by Marcia Muller3 stars
Private Investigator Sharon McCone has traveled to the remote reaches of northern California, to Meruk County, an area with a high population of Native Americans. Two indigenous women have been found murdered in a heavily wooded parcel of land but the local authorities have ruled that they were isolated incidents and closed the case. A group named Crimes Against Indigenous Sisters has hired Sharon, an indigenous woman herself, to go undercover and investigate the deaths. Pretending to be a journalist working on a travelogue for a tourist bureau, Sharon questions everyone she can about the women's murders. Unsurprisingly she gets little cooperation from the police department which is headed by a misogynistic, Native American hating, good old boy. The few clues Sharon is able to uncover place her in danger from those who wish the murders to stay unsolved. Before long, she is forced to fight for her own life in a stark, ice-covered landscape.
I should have realized this was part of a series before I started it but I feel McCone's background was filled in enough for me to understand her. I did like her character and would definitely consider starting with book #1.
Whoops, I'd forgotten about Veteran's Day, and this one features a number of vets!
Active Defense by Lynette Eason
4+
Another good thriller in this series by Eason, this one featuring Dr. Heather Fontaine and Travis Walker, who we have seen earlier in this series as supporting/small characters. However, it is possible to read this without reading the earlier ones.
Although it took me a little while to get into this novel (perhaps because I read it on the heels of #2 so was adjusting to different main characters) I liked this novel. I am a bit short on time, so, in a nutshell:
Gritty, good plot twists, no slow or dull moments, enough action to keep you going. Mystery, etc. Real life problems and pasts. Well done.
I plan to read the fourth one in this series.
***I am going to argue that this is the perfect fall flurries book, for any of the three months. It begins in late September, and traces the Jewish holidays throughout October, they consequences of which last through November, and the book culminates on the last night of Chanukah in December, thus encompassing the entire fall season. It is a three month romance deliberately dedicated to the experience of these three months. It qualifies for sure....
Motzah Ball Meltzer has pulled it out yet again. I just laughed the whole way through. It was hilarious, adorable, charming, every adjective you would expect for such a novel. I finished in pretty much a day, maybe two. There was an overnight involved. And in the last ten pages, even if it was hokey, campy, and predictable, I even cried real crocodile tears.
The book was just fun - but lets talk about the elephant in the room; the motzah ball in the soup. Let's talk about intermarriage. Let's face it, it's a tough topic. So let's confront it. We have plenty of friends who intermarried, both our siblings did - both of them twice! That sounds about right, two Jewish families with two kids, one of each intermarries, the other set finds one another. Has three sons. What are the odds that all of our three sons fall in love with a Jewish girl? In this day and age, there wasn't a given that all three of our sons would have been even straight, or born into the bodies that they were meant to be. Right now, each of our kids has a strong Jewish identity and plans to date and marry Jewish, but so did Scott's brother. Life has a way of leading you somewhere unexpected, no matter one's intentions and plans....
So first and foremost, you want your child to find their besheret - the hebrew word for soulmate. the one they were intended for, the other half of that whole. The one that loves them fiercely and for whom they cannot live and breathe without. And when they find that person, that is the right one for them. Would I like/love/wish for that person to be Jewish? Of course. That would be easier. Would I like for that non-Jewish Beshert to fall in love with Judaism? Of course? Would I like the children to be raised Jewish? I can't imagine that wouldn't happen, in pretty much every case I've seen, and my own children would insist. But yes, I would ideally want that. But what do I want the most? I want my daughters in laws to feel chosen, welcomed by us. I want them never to feel "less than". I want them to know that if they have our sons' heart, they have ours. I want good relationships with all of their families. (Machetunim - co-inlaws.) I want to have holdays and birthdays and all the good things in life. I want to talk books, and food, and memories, and make new ones. I want that more than I want a Jewish girl for my beautiful boys. I truly do.
But it's fair to say that even though one is swept up in the story, there is a way in which we "get" the conflict on a deep gutteral level. How can we not notice it would be easy or fitting somehow, if the main character ended up with the Mr. Perfect Jewish husband option? But that's not the point. The point is, she was slowly falling in love with Mr. Wrong. And love is never perfect. But its aim is pure and true. Who wouldn't root for these two who so clearly were destined for one another? And at the same time, as Jews, maybe even Jewish mothers, we feel it somehow. Yes, love is more important. Yes, its also imperfectly perfect. And yet somewhere deep inside it means something to us nonetheless.
We are in a strange new world now, where we have to blend traditions with a new way of living, thinking, and dreaming. Nowadays the options go way past religion and race, to gender and gender conception, and a whole lot more. I think ultimately we have to just kind of let go and trust. Trust in soulmates, that they will come for our kids in the bodies, genders, and gender conceptions, and races, and cultures, and experiences that they do. I think we also trust that Judaism survives. Because it's beautiful, and people who get to experience it, want to embrace it, even if conversion is never on the table. That people see that living torah values is a beautiful joyful life, and one they wish to enjoy and perpetuate. That Judaism survives, because Love survives. Because God created these matches, each and every one of them. So isn't it just beautiful when two souls find one another, no matter how? Its never strange and its never wrong. It simply is.
The book was just charming. Its super fun to have strong Jewish characters. And an adorable 11 year old. And.... Bubbe Miriam? Well naturally, she just steals the show.
Amy wrote: "***I am going to argue that this is the perfect fall flurries book, for any of the three months. It begins in late September, and traces the Jewish holida..."
Wow--all of the fall Jewish holidays! What a great find!
November read for American Indian Heritage Month:The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - 4* - My Review
Junior, a young Native American, has had a rough time in life from the time he was born. While living on the rez, a teacher approaches him with the idea that he would benefit from going to the high school in town. The new school is predominantly white, and Junior does not initially fit in. His friends at his former school feel he has betrayed them. Junior finds himself caught between the two camps. Luckily, Junior is intelligent, determined, and has a great sense of humor. Junior relates his coming-of-age story in a way that comes across as fresh and authentic. There is a lot to discuss, and it would make a great book club selection.
It is tagged Book Club by 756 people.
Content warnings: (view spoiler)
Note: There is nothing an adult could not handle - I put these up because this could be considered Young Adult, so I guess it depends on the maturity of the young reader.
I n honor of Veterans day I am adding this one to the Fall Flurries:Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II
My review is here: /book/show/5...
Marie Curie and Her Daughters: The Private Lives of Science's First Family by Shelley Emling4 stars
Read by my book group in honor of Marie Curie's birthday, November 7, 1867.
Marie Curie and Her Daughters: The Private Lives of Science's First Family is a very well written biography about a truly amazing family. Marie and her daughters Irene and Eve are incredible women. Their life stories are impressive. We are all aware of Marie's two Nobel Prizes, but I found her other accomplishments just as impressive. What she contributed to the world continues to this day. Irene's scientific research also lives on today. Eve didn't become a scientist, but her contributions to world peace through UNICEF are just as impressive.
In this book, I learned details of their lives. The struggles Marie faced as a scientist and a mother. Her live and the scandal of her love affair following her husband's death. Her friendship with her adult daughters, and her health issues. I was fascinated throughout.
I learned about Irene and Eve, both incredible women in their own right. I was not aware of the accomplishments of either of them. Their upbringing wasn't conventional, they spent much of their childhoods separated from their parents, but they became very confident and accomplished women.
The Curie legacy lives on today. My favorite quote from the book comes in the last chapter: What motivated Marie was the sheer pleasure of the beauty of science and the enormous satisfaction derived from making the previously unknowable known.
Remembrance Day readOmaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944 / Joseph Balkoski
3.75 stars
This is a detailed account, much of it using primary sources, of the invasion of Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. It was primarily American soldiers who landed here; Canadian and British soldiers landed on other beaches that day.
I actually liked the author’s narration a bit better than the many primary source quotes he used to illustrate (and expand on) the things he was talking about. Partly, that may have been the smaller font of the quotes vs my (getting older) eyes! I tended to sometimes skim over some of those quotes. But the amount of detail and research that went into this is amazing. Very much like Cornelius Ryan’s account of D-Day as a whole (published in 1959, and used in Balkoski’s research, as well).
Still Life by Louise Penny
3 stars
It is Thanksgiving and there has been a murder in a small town where crime almost never happens. Jane Neal is an artist and was just about to display her work in a competition, but was found dead right before the show was to take place. Her death is suspicious and the investigators believe the killer's motive is somehow related to victim's art.
This is a cute story where most of the characters are likable. There is a range of suspects and the reader learns the backstories of the people involved. The relationships between them is interesting and we see people are more complex than they originally appear. The lead inspector has the respect of his team and is trying to do the right thing throughout the story. There are a few twists as suspects are investigated and more information is found. Still Live is a fast read and a fun mystery.
Turkey Trot Murder by Leslie Meier
2 stars
Thanksgiving is coming and Lucy Stone is getting ready for Tinker's Cove's annual Turkey Trot race. While running by the recently frozen lake in the park she come across a body of a young woman that has fallen through the thin ice of the lake. This is upsetting to the town, but then soon after the father of the dead woman is also found shot. Lucy just happens to be a reporter for the small towns newspaper and begins investigating the deaths.
Lucy sees that the town is facing other issues as well. Several are related to a new restaurant opening by a famous chef and also the affects of drug addiction. All this is taking a toll on Tinker's Cove. Lucy is often in the right place at the right time to view events and help.
The book is predictable, but a quick read. It spends a lot of time on social issues, but also tries to balance this with lighter Thanksgiving festivities. It is a cute holiday book.
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
I read this for Native American Heritage Month. I highly recommend it. 5 stars.
Every Louise Erdrich book I read seems better than the last, which won’t show in my ratings because they were all 5 stars. I think there is a cumulative effect. Everything I learn in one book adds to a rich background that will help me to enjoy the next one. Her characters are well developed and complex. Her stories deal with both big issues, and the small details of life that reveal the nuances of the characters and the cultures in which they live. Her writing is tender, intelligent and insightful.
The story involves an Ojibwa family, and how they are all affected when the mother is attacked. She cannot say exactly where she was attacked (creating jurisdictional confusion), so both local and tribal investigators work the case, along with her husband (a judge) - and her 13 year old son Joe. As you might expect from a teenager, his investigation doesn’t always help. The story is told from Joe’s POV. We learn a lot about Joes life, interests and friends, and it’s hard not to love him, no matter what. The book shows a fascinating and realistic view of how a woman might retreat from life following a rape, and the ways that a family might react. I had a lot of respect for Joe’s father and mother and for the ways that they protected others. There were several other memorable characters in this book as well. I was a bit mad at myself for waiting so long to read this book, but I think I appreciated things now that I might not have noticed if I read it when it first came out.
/topic/show/...
Shutter by Ramona Everson, 3.5 stars
I read this book for Native American Heritage Month. The main character grows up on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico with her Grandmother before becoming a police photographer. I enjoyed learning about Navajo beliefs which are quite different from Anishinabe/Ojibwe beliefs, particularly where ghosts are concerned. This book is part coming of age story, and part supernatural crime thriller. I don't read many thrillers these days, so that part of the book was an entertaining change of pace.
"Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. Rita sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook. When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim—who insists she was murdered—latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque’s most dangerous cartels."
Unlike fantasy tv shows with psychic detectives, Rita's police force does not tolerate any discussion of evidence gathering techniques that won't stand up in court. The subject was equally taboo on the Navajo Reservation. Ghosts got Rita in trouble in school, and some called her a witch. Her grandmother and the medicine man continued to take an active role in protecting her harm from the ghosts. I enjoyed every time they reappeared in the story.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich, 4.5-5 stars.
Louise Erdrich is becoming one of my favorite authors. I have a great deal of respect for this book, particularly for the historical elements that it brought to light. This book won the Pulitzer Prize and I think it was deserved. There are two main stories and many characters. While it was sometimes too much, I liked how some of the themes intertwined. One key plot is about the Indian Termination bill that was to be voted on by the government. The phrasing of the bill was very misleading and the consequences could be dire. It's a reminder that every bill that goes to congress can be spun in different ways, so it's smart to hear both sides, and try to see through the euphemisms. I never knew about this bill before, and I figured it out as the main character did. I respected the approach that he took in analyzing and fighting this bill. Without thoughtful persistent leaders like him, life could have been even worse for Native Americans.
I also appreciated the story about the rural and tribal people invited to live in the Twin Cities, and the dangers there for young women. I was a little put off by the odd resolution of the missing woman plot line. I gave it 5 stars, but it's probably closer to 4.5 stars. I read The Round House soon after, and I felt more emotionally connected to the characters in that book than I did to this one.
Remembrance DayRegeneration by Pat Barker � 3 Stars
This is the first in a trilogy of book which focuses on the treatment of soldiers during WW1 who are struggling with the psychological effects. There are some quite shocking descriptions of how some of the patients were treated, including electric shock treatments. This book is based on some real doctors and soldiers, including the celebrated war poet Siegfried Sassoon. It was interesting to see how what we would now recognise as PTSD was treated in those years, and it explored some themes that people find difficult to talk about even now. Whilst Barker made some interesting observations, I found the writing dry and quite stilted at times.
WW II and Civil War including soldiers as main characters
A Hundred Crickets Singing by Cathy Gohlke
3+ stars. (note that this was shelved to at least 2 book clubs even if it wasn't exact so I think this fits here.)
This book ended up closer to 3.5 stars but not enough for me to round it up. I realize that many readers loved this book, but of course we're not all going to love the same novels.
This is my first time reading anything by Cathy Gohlke, wife of musican Danny Gohlke. Her writing is fairly solid and has some good things about it so I plan to read more by her.
While I am tired of the now overused dual timeline novels, Gohlke did a good job with these and they did work together well. However, despite the grit, etc, added, this book still felt like it ran too close to the surface. I'd have loved to see more depth of character, nuances and more that two POVs to make this a strong enough book for me to give it 4 or 5 stars. I loved the fact that she didn't gloss over serious problems the way some Christian novels do--this book is part of a growing trend that was long overdue.
Things that would have made this novel much stronger:
1. Showed us more POVS, for eg the POV of Minnie's father - would have LOVED to see the conflicts Minnie's father was going through in his mind. This would have helped give much more authenticity to this novel. At the very least had some well done conversations between Minnie and her father. What we were told was very superficial.
2. Not had so many anachronistic terms and ideas. Sure, we don't want to read novels written now just like they would have been written then--but some thoughts and ideas were so strongly late 20th/early 21st century it was jarring. Yes, of course there were abolitionists who believed in the equality of blacks, I would have LOVED to see the conflicts Minnie's father was going through in his mind.
3. Grayson was an important character, but very two dimensional.
4. Etc.
Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic - 4* - My ReviewTrue story of the worst sea disaster in US Naval history. It starts with a high-level overview of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, tracing its involvement in various events over its lifetime. It sets the context for how it was involved in the Pacific theatre. It is known for delivering the atomic bomb that was subsequently dropped on Hiroshima. It was torpedoed by the Japanese in the Philippine Sea, resulting in the deaths of 879 sailors. The secondary narrative involves Captain Charles McVay III, who was subsequently court-martialed for not seeing to the safety of the ship by zig zagging, a technique later discredited.
The authors have obviously done their homework. This book is extremely detailed and thorough. They do a top-rate job in covering the sailors (whom they interviewed) � where they were on the ship and their individual experiences in the water. The court martial and subsequent attempt to exonerate the captain become rather tedious. It may depend on which book you read first, but I enjoyed In Harm’s Way by Doug Stanton more than this one, although they are both worth reading. I read this in honor of Veteran’s Day (and for Fall Flurries).
Election Day: Wes Moore was just elected governor of Maryland. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates - Wes Moore
4 stars
In this book, Wes Moore examines his life growing up in rough neighborhoods of Baltimore and New York and how he was able to escape the fate of other inner city boys who get involved in gangs and crime. His story is followed alongside of the story of another young man named Wes Moore, that grew up in the same Baltimore neighborhoods as him but whose life took a very different path. I found this a very interesting look at how extreme poverty can destroy lives and how escaping that life, while possible, is not easy. While Moore tells the reader the other Wes Moore's story, he does not excuse his actions - just explains how a young man can get caught up in short term thinking that leads to bad and criminal choices. I feel like it gave me some insight to the person that will be leading our state for at least the next four years. I look forward to seeing how some of the insights he learned from his life and writing this book will guide his policy choices.
Cora wrote: "Election Day: Wes Moore was just elected governor of Maryland. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates - Wes Moore
4 stars
In this book, Wes Moore examines his ..."
How interesting and timely!
Election DayThis book starts with and is entirely affected by Election Day in England.
The Queen and I by Sue Townsend
3 stars
This is a zany novel that is very much British humour--it also helps to remember that it's set in 1992, so if you are younger be sure to refresh yourself a bit.
This novel was rather bizarre for me, so unlike the most popular review in the list the ending made it better for me.
This novel starts on April 9, 1992 which is Election Day that year (and the book was first published in 1992) with the election. Voila, the anti-monarchist Republican party wins and the royal family is given a very short time to relocate to two bedroom semis (aka semi-detached, aka duplex, welfare housing, and to live on a pension along with paupers and it's illegal to call them by royal titles or treat them any differently than anyone else (view spoiler) where we see who rises up to the occasion, who doesn't and how various people react. I disagree that the late Queen would have laughed at this (so it claims on the book).
I did laugh a couple of times, but for the most part the humour wasn't my cup of tea.
Cora wrote: "Election Day: Wes Moore was just elected governor of Maryland. ..."Wow, really!? I read this a few years ago! (I also gave it 4 stars.)
Featuring Indigenous peoples ...
The Porcupine Year � Louise Erdrich � 4****
Book three in the Birchbark House series sees Omakayas growing into young womanhood. Her leadership qualities are blossoming and becoming evident to the members of her tribe.
The entire tribe is affected by the encroachment of white settlers who force them from their ancestral lands and send them in search of a new home. They endure a very harsh season, nearly starving, and losing a couple of valued members of the group. But always, Omakayas and her people rely on their traditions, beliefs and cooperation to survive and prosper.
LINK to my full review
Finished reading November 30, but late to post
Hostile Intent by Lynette EasonVeteran's Day
(the couple are vets, one a very recently discharged vet.)
5 stars
This is the best of this series and I've opted to round it up.
Ava Jackson, who requested an early discharge from the Navy to be with her mother who is dying of Alzheimer's, is nearly kidnapped. She is one of the would-be victims of a revenge serial killing--we see the killer's main agenda--but not why--very early on, so this is not a spoiler. Caden lets Ava know this, but it takes the two of them plus help from others in order to unravel this.
This book has all the necessary elements to a good suspense/thriller without being graphic and there are some unexpected twists. This is the best Christian thriller I have read, and I seldom give books 5 stars in any genre, especially when they are also shelved romance.
This book kept me up past my bedtime two nights in a row
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
Hostile Intent (other topics)The Porcupine Year (other topics)
The Queen and I (other topics)
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates (other topics)
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Lynette Eason (other topics)Sue Townsend (other topics)
Wes Moore (other topics)
Wes Moore (other topics)
Lynn Vincent (other topics)
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On November 1st, you may post reviews for any Elections/ Veterans Day /Thanksgiving/ National American Indian Heritage Month /fall/etc. themed books that go along with the month of November here. If it is not obvious as to why you selected your specific book for November, please include a sentence or two about the connection.
Each review you post will earn you a participation point that can be used in future voting for the monthly tags.
Don't forget to also cross-post your review to the appropriate thread for books that fit or do not fit the monthly tag to rack up even more participation points.
Still struggling with deciding what to read? Check out our discussion thread:
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