Library Book Club Reviews

Librarian Andrea Nelson recommends North Woods by Daniel Mason.

           …And now for something completely different.

~Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 1971

It’s difficult to capture the essence of Daniel Mason’s North Woods in a single book review. Never before have I read a book as impossible to pigeonhole as this brilliant, multi centennial saga inspired by the crumbling stone remains of a long-gone New England house.

When North Woods arrived at our library in 2023, the first thing that jumped out at me was its strange cover art. It is hard to look away from the over-saturated drawing of a “catamount” lounging on a hillside. There is a strangely human quality about its face, and the perspective is all wrong. It could be the cover of a children’s book on apex predators. There, half buried in a pile of intriguing new library arrivals, North Woods all but shouted, “Look at me! I am different!”

Invoking “librarian’s privilege,” I snatched it up and began flipping through the pages before it even hit the shelves. What I found was a visual Easter egg hunt. Small, archival treasures peeked out from between the chapters. Faded pencil drawings perch off-center on otherwise blank pages, grainy antique photos of long-gone forest scenes, old-fashioned poems and ballads, odd proverbs, a sheet of music, a page from a Farmer’s Almanac, a hand drawn map, news clippings…

Daniel Mason clearly liberated these little bits of history from dusty Massachusetts archival files while doing his book research. He uses them to signal the passage of time and transition between his storylines. It is refreshing, to say the least– this use of multimedia. It draws the eye to the book like beads woven between the scenes of a pictorial tapestry, adding texture to the book’s astonishing, genre-defying originality.

Without a doubt, North Woods is something completely different.

Pulitzer Price Finalist Daniel Mason is a master of literary voice. Fittingly, the novel begins in elated, almost musical prose, capturing the spirit of two young lovers fleeing their oppressive Puritan colony to brave life together in the wilderness. Their joyful escape takes them deep into the wooded foothills in Western Massachusetts, an area now called the Berkshires. The brave couple could not have imagined that for over four hundred years to follow, the sun-dappled forest clearing they chose for their home would shelter generations of future families, adventurers, villains, artists, sheep, a cougar, and an ever-growing cast of resident ghosts.

As in life, the book begins with beauty and hope, but the decades march on. The house in the North Woods sees residents come and go, nurturing brand-new dreams, facing daunting challenges, and enduring a panoply of tragic losses, bitter feuds, intriguing mysteries, transcendental love and searing heartbreak.

These are the things that define humanity. Perhaps in the North Woods, these things remain after mortality ends, swirling like mist among the stone ruins that dot the New England landscape. As any New Englander can tell you, every mossy, vine-covered, stone relic has a story to tell. 

Whether the protagonist is an elderly British soldier in search of the perfect wild apple tree, or a giddy chestnut blight spore tumbling and dancing on the wind, each chapter of North Woods perfectly reflects the tone of its human or non-human protagonists’ personality. Daniel Mason catapults his readers from a poetic, whimsical story of young love to the violent realism of historical fiction during the bloody French and Indian Wars… and that’s only in the first two chapters. Expect a little whiplash! Some chapters read like psychological thrillers, burning with jealousy, axe murders, passion, deceit, and thwarted love. Others provide comic relief. Some are deliciously spooky, full-on embracing the haunted house sub-genre, while others teach us forestry, entomology, and the pros and cons of importing Spanish sheep. One particularly steamy chapter reads like an excerpt from a romance novel hot enough to make Helen Huang blush—and its two lust-struck protagonists are none other than Scolytid beetles.

Many colorful characters pass through the house in the North Woods over time. An evil southern bounty hunter tracks an escaped slave there, a psychiatrist visits a tragic mother and her schizophrenic son, an escaped convict, a true crime journalist, and an obsessive, disgraced member of the Historical Society of Western Massachusetts all add to its mosaic. Finally, more than four hundred years after the young lovers fled their Puritan colony, a young graduate student travels to the clearing hoping to study spring ephemerals that grow near the now barely visible ruins of the old, forgotten homestead.

I won’t spoil the end for you, but I assure you, you are in for a wild ride.

Find in print, CD, ebook, and eAudiobook in our Collection here.

North Woods is the selection for The Community Library’s Book Club on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. More here.

Information Systems Manager Will Duke recommends Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo.

Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo stands out from typical memoirs by embracing storytelling deeply rooted in Native American culture. Unlike many mainstream memoirs that follow linear structures, Harjo’s memoir embodies the circularity inherent in Native American storytelling traditions.

Harjo’s narrative interweaves memory, myth, and metaphor, guided by what she refers to as “the knowing.”

She creates a tapestry where past, present, and future intersect, blurring the boundaries between reality and myth, inviting readers into a world where the spiritual and the mundane coexist.

Throughout her memoir, Harjo demonstrates a stoic acceptance of injustice and disaster, drawing strength from her cultural heritage. Instead of succumbing to bitterness or despair, she finds resilience in the teachings of her ancestors and the enduring power of storytelling. Harjo’s ability to confront adversity with grace and wisdom adds depth to her narrative, offering readers a profound insight into the resilience of Indigenous communities.

Crazy Brave not only shares Joy Harjo’s personal journey but also honors the storytelling traditions passed down through generations of Native American peoples. It invites readers to listen not only to her words but also to the echoes of the past, the whispers of ancestors, and the songs of the land. Harjo’s memoir serves as a potent reminder of the transformative power of storytelling to transcend cultural boundaries, challenge dominant narratives, and reclaim lost voices.

Find Crazy Brave in the Library’s Collection here.

Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, is the 2024 Hemingway Distinguished Lecturer. The lecture will take place from 7:00-8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31. Registration is required and opens May 6. More here.

by James McBride, reviewed by Director of Library Operations Pamela Parker

Another blockbuster success from author James McBride, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (2023) combines his passion for American musical traditions with his fascination with the hard times in our nation’s history. He tackles both race and creed in this work of historical fiction—the result is being touted as our next “Great American Novel.” 

Written in a style reminiscent of Deacon King Kong (2020) and The Good Lord Bird (2013), the reader of his other works feels on familiar ground. As in those novels, McBride relies on unique – if not unusual – characters, from a variety of backgrounds and differing abilities. In fact, McBride credits his time working at a summer camp for differently abled children for inspiring this work. 

He begins the novel as a construction crew uncovers a body holding a necklace in hand.

The story quickly flashes back to mid-1930s Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where we presumably will learn how this came to be. We meet Mosha, a recent immigrant to the United States who hopes to promote dance hall events to make a living. He marries Chona, the American-born daughter of an immigrant couple who own The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store in the rough-shod Chicken Hill neighborhood.  

The family becomes part of the patch-worked community made up Romanians, Lithuanians and other Jewish immigrants who have fled the pogroms. Chicken Hill is a gathering place for many migrant communities. Italians who compete for the club business. Black families like Nate and Addie who’ve come in search of better circumstances but become low-paid wage earners. Yet through community, they can make ends meet and even enjoy the music, faith and gossip that thrives there. McBride seems to argue that the opportunity for self-determination is what sets this America apart from the lives they’ve left behind.  

McBride crafts a story — with many twists and turns – that builds upon his theme that human connections is our saving grace. 

The Great American Dance Hall and Theatre becomes hugely successful after adding popular Black performers who bring capacity crowds. While McBride finds humor in his gritty characters, he also exposes the corruption and hypocrisy upon which the civic decisions are being made. When our protagonist, Chona, becomes ill, her failing health is something of a mystery. Yet she refuses to see Doc Roberts, who she knows to be a racist, nor to move ‘Downtown’ despite Mosha’s urgings that Jews are leaving Chicken Hill. To her, happiness is running the store and remaining connected with the people she considers their community.  

When Dodo, a 12-year-old Black boy who is deaf but able bodied, is orphaned, Chona and Mosha take him into their home above the Heaven & Earth grocery store. This saves him from a fate at Pennhurst, a state school and hospital with a horrible reputation. Not surprisingly, Doc Roberts conspires with authorities to move the boy to the institution, and the situation for Dodo looks grim. He lays for months suffering alongside another institutionalized boy, ‘Monkey Pants.’ The two form a powerful friendship by communicating with hand-gestures, and this memorable bond underscores the novel’s message of enduring hope through human connection. 

Can we work together, sharing our unique abilities, to overcome life’s hardships? McBride seems to be saying, ‘Yes, we can.” 

As with most of his work, McBride ends the story with a sense of justice done – and, ultimately, an optimism about America. He seems to be confirming a belief that good deeds do make a difference even if we do not know where or for whom they will manifest. This perfectly minted novel thus echos the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, who once said, “The arc of moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Even our antagonist, Doc Roberts, seems to have some hidden insight into why Chicken Hill is now well, and his fate is connected to a fix. 

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store won me over in the end with the tender characterizations and imperative to embrace inclusivity as the best way forward. I recommended it as a salve for tough times and to readers who appreciate the quirky characters with big hearts—and fatal flaws. We will meet to discuss the novel at the Library on Wednesday, February 7 at 5:30 p.m. Sign up to join us here: The Community Library Book Club. 

Find The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store in print, large print, ebook, eaudiobook, and on CD here.

Molly! Goodyear recommends The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab.

We make decisions every day that determine the course of our lives. Some are well thought-out, others are made on the spur of the moment, only a few are made out of desperation. For Addie LaRue, the unanticipated consequences of one desperate decision were devastating, enlightening and revelatory.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab is a compelling and beautifully crafted novel that intricately explores themes of memory, identity, and the impact of human connections. The story centers on Addie LaRue, a young woman in 18th century France who, when forced into an arranged marriage, prays to the darkness asking, “to live freely and to have more time.” Her curse is to live forever and to be forgotten by everyone she meets, rendering her effectively invisible to the world.

The novel is a blend of historical fiction, fantasy, and a poignant examination of what it means to live a life worth remembering.

Schwab’s writing is lyrical and evocative, creating a vivid tapestry of Addie’s centuries-long journey across time and continents. Her encounters with historical events and figures are seamlessly woven into the narrative, adding depth and a sense of authenticity to Addie’s story.

This story is so compelling because it isn’t a simple story of good versus evil, wrong versus right, desire versus romantic love. It’s an intricately woven story of all of these themes and more. Pervasive to the narrative is Addie’s feeling of loneliness so deep that she’ll grasp the worst type of connection in order to feel like she’s seen and means something.

Schwab has crafted a timeless narrative that speaks to the heart and soul, making it a memorable and profound read that you’re likely to want to read again and again.

Please join me on August 7, 2024 for the Library’s Book Club where we will take a deep dive into the themes and meaning of this masterful work.

Find it in print, on CD, and in eaudiobook here.

Circulation Manager Pamela Parker recommends Demon Copperhead: A Tale Retold by Barbara Kingsolver 

Best known for the parallels to Charles Dicken’s 1850 semi-autobiographic novel, David Copperfield (1850), Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Demon Copperhead (2022), recounts a boy’s coming-of-age in Appalachia during the height of the opioid epidemic, which ran at its worst from 2007-2016. 

Kingsolver’s work takes us to Lee County, Virginia, where Demon “got himself born” on the bathroom floor of a backwoods trailer. His mother is an opiate addict who soon overdoses, leaving Demon stranded between a dumb, abusive stepfather and a highly dysfunctional foster-care system. Demon’s first-person narrative follows his life experiences during a time when his rural community faces the brutal fallout of widespread drug use as he’s approaching adulthood. 

He’s first placed with the McCombs family who run a foster home where boys are put to work to bring in extra cash. From trash sorting to tobacco picking, Demon describes in vivid detail the realities of his childhood labor. He eventually finds his way into the sprawling Winfield family, who like the Peggotty family in Dicken’s life, become a much-needed refuge. He starts attending school regularly, and Coach Winfield introduces him to football. The strong, red-headed Demon becomes a star running back for his high school. But soon enough his strength is tested beyond the physical. He meets Dori, whose bedridden father gets easy access to prescription opioids, and this leads them toward the inevitable. 

I read this 2023 Pulitzer Prize winning novel in one stretch and found it totally engaging. Demon’s humor and point-blank storytelling are hard to put down.

I got to wondering what it is about someone else’s misery that can captivate a reader. The short answer is Demon himself—his indomitable spirit and keen storytelling carry us through a vivid landscape of life in a hard-knocks corner of rural America.  

His brutal honesty as he ‘tells all’ about the goings on makes one grateful for being from elsewhere but also able to connect with the challenges they face. I also began to care about this place I’ve never been, and the unique individuals that make up his world. His creative use of nicknames, like Stoner for his hapless stepfather, Fast Forward, his unscrupulous dealer friend, and Creaky, the old man who runs a farm where foster boys pick tobacco is priceless. 

A thin line between those that aim to help and those that serve their own interests emerges. 

As we cringe for him and this band of misfits and has-beens, we really want to know if the human spirit can endure such hard odds – and the answer is apparently ‘yes’ if we are to believe Kingsolver. I do suggest that you buckle up for a fast ride through some dangerous curves of Virginia’s poorest rural counties. It’s an exceptional work of contemporary fiction by one of the nation’s most gifted writers but the grittiest aspects of the story aren’t always easy going. 

Barbara Kingsolver grew up in Kentucky and now makes her home in Appalachia. Known for themes of environmentalism and social justice, she has found a second wind with Demon Copperhead (2022). Her other works include The Bean Trees (1988), Poisonwood Bible (1998) and a nonfiction account of her family’s effort to return to locally sourced eating, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2007). She has been awarded the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for this most recent novel among other accolades.  

On Wednesday, October 4, at 5:30 pm, The Community Library Book Club will host a discussion of Demon Copperhead, and all are invited to join in. Sign up here!