preference for memoirs. We remember favorite authors, and even make connections to movies or series that are spin-offs from books. And sometimes we just listen to what our neighbors have been reading.
Not all the “reviews” are positive—sometimes we get tips about books we may not want to read because they are too long, or too depressing, too specialized, or not well written. Unlike book clubs, where (I hear) the conversation may stray off-topic, or maybe not everyone in the club has had time read the prescribed book, our conversations stick close to things we have read. Although at one meeting I got tips on where to buy the best bread! Conversations about Books is not sponsored by the Coffman Library, but in promoting books, we do promote our reading showplace. If you ever want ideas for something to read, whether it can be found in our Library or the public library, or is only obtainable via interlibrary loan, you are sure to pick up a tip at one of our meetings, where enthusiasm about books reigns.
ceremony in the underground chapel of an immense cavern that was sacred to prehistoric peoples. Without giving away the plot, the roots of the crime go back to a famous seventeenth century scandal involving the court of Louis XIV.
Rachel Kushner would appear to be a very different kind of writer: an MFA graduate from Columbia University, all four of her novels have been shortlisted for either the National Book Award or the Booker Prize. With Creation Lake, this author of literary fiction has moved in a new direction, melding a philosophical and psychological novel with a page-turner in the roman noir tradition. Unlike Walker’s good-natured and social Bruno, Kushner’s main character is an inscrutable, manipulative loner. Sadie, as she calls herself, works as a spy/ provocateur for whomever will pay her. Her current assignment brings her to the Guyenne, an area south of Walker’s Dordogne. She is to infiltrate the Moulinards, a commune originating in the 1960s Back to the Land movement. Its members oppose government plans to drain aquifers to make giant irrigation basins for industrial farming. As part of her strategy, Sadie uses a soft approach to pick up Pascal, a young movie producer who patterns his life on an actual filmmaker and Marxist theorist who took part in the 1968 uprising in Paris. Believing their meeting was fated, Pascal allows Sadie to stay in his family’s old house near the Moulinards’ commune, easing her entrance to the group. Sadie proudly presents herself as an amoral nihilist who, for unknown reasons, has developed a hard, cynical shell. As the novel progresses, her own vulnerabilities slowly reveal themselves to the reader. Sadie becomes fixated on a local guru (also named Bruno) who lives alone and writes speculative emails to his Moulinard followers. Sadie monitors Bruno’s exchanges with the commune, hoping to find incriminating sabotage plans. Instead, she discovers that he advocates pre-industrial—even pre-historic —modes of living. Even as she dismisses him as a lunatic, Sadie becomes intrigued by Bruno’s rejection of modern life and his decision to retreat underground and live in a network of caverns beneath his farm. Events come to a climax at a demonstration against the water project. Read the novel to discover its surprise ending; read both novels to discover the possibilities of fiction in the hands of talented writers. While both Walker and Kushner exploit the conventions of the mystery, both dig deeper: Walker into the many-layered history of the Dordogne, Kushner into the ideologies of the twentieth century, as they impact the psyche of her troubled heroine.
Horowitz is an inventive writer who often offers a twist. In the Ryland series, he gives us a book within a book. The "book within" is set in the 1950s and features fictional detective Atticus Pünd; the other book is set present day while Ryland tries to solve a second crime that has lots of parallels to the one Pünd is working on. Though it may seem confusing, it works!
The surprising conceit of the Hawthorne and Horowitz series—balm to me in late 2024—is that Horowitz makes himself a character in the stories. Hawthorne is a disgraced detective who the police only call to consult when the case is very complex. Hawthorne approaches Horowitz to write about his cases, grudgingly allowing him to “ride along” on five murder investigations over five books. Horowitz was merciless in portraying himself—a successful mystery writer—as a wanna-be detective who never figures it out. That combined with glimpses into Horowitz’s “real life” were just delightful, while at the same time the plot flew along with major twists and the author developed the character of Hawthorne (a troubled, strange man with many secrets) and the relationship between the two men. For me, it was spectacular storytelling and just what I needed at the time. The Library's books by Anthony Horowitz can be found in our new online catalog and always accessible from our Library’s Find and Check Out Books page. But briefly, here a list:
You’ll find these books in the Mystery/Spy section on the Library’s second level, except those with asterisks, which are new additions that you’ll find on the Recent and Relevant shelves starting today and for the next few months. Enjoy! |
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