State of Terror --by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

Fiction / Political Thriller

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08VJL9Z5X

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 198217367X

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1982173678

Simon & Schuster / St. Martin’s Press

October 12, 2021

512 pages

5 Stars

 

If you’re a fan of Louise Penny’s books, be sure to read this one. This is one of the best collaborations I’ve ever read. They hit the decks running and don’t stop till it’s over, and even then, you just know there is going to be a sequel—just not soon enough!

 

Political Thriller’s aren’t my usual read, and though I’d planned on reading this one eventually, once the price came down to something reasonable, it was the first book chosen by my book club for January discussion. Which meant I had to read it in December. The book is fiction. Remember that, but you just know a lot of it is based in actuality. Maybe not the scene, but how things are handled.

 

Ellen Adams is the Secretary of State, she ran for office against the man who won, and though they are political opponents he picked her. Think Clinton/Obama at your risk. They are brand new in their respective offices, after the past President, Eric Dunn lost an election. Mr. Dunn was sure he’d been elected King and could not, cannot believe he was not re-elected.

 

Bashir Shaw is the Terrorists Terrorist and an old nemesis of Secretary Adams. He is safely under house arrest in Pakistan. Isn’t he? There are more turns and twist than in a Bimini Twist Knot. I strongly recommend you commence reading this book in the morning when you have nothing more pressing to do than drink that pot of coffee you just made. It is not an easy book to put down. 

 

Betsy Jameson is the best friend of the protagonist and has a vocabulary to put Marines to shame. She looks like Mrs. Cleaver, of Leave it to Beaver fame, and was often thought of by that name. “…Mrs. Cleaver…combined and conjugated words that should never, really, have conjugal relations. The ensuing progeny was both grotesque and hilarious, as she turned nouns into verbs, and verbs into something else entirely…” Betsey Jameson supplies comic relief throughout the book, especially with her vocabulary which is only described, not used. But, oh, the descriptions!

 

And, joy of joys, Ruth Zardo gets a mention, and her slim book of poetry called I’m F.I.N.E., not to mention a few other inhabitants of the village of Three Pines. This book is a bit faster paced and grittier than Ms. Penny’s regular books. It is well crafted (you expected otherwise?), and a hard to put down read. Even once I found the mistrake, I still loved the book. And, no, I am not telling you where the mistrake is, or what it is, but I did check it out with subject matter experts.

  

Humans of Climate Change: A Cultural Journey to Explore Climate-Change Impacts, Solutions, and Hope —by Kaden Hogan

 Nonfiction / Environmental Policy / Environmental Science / Climatology 

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09BB8DLWP

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 173990804X

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1739908041

Independently published

July 24, 2021

183 Pages

5 Stars

 

I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book, so went into the book with an open mind. The research Kaden Hogan did is amazing, and using personal stories instead of numbers and stats, etc., made the book extremely readable. Climate change will affect different peoples and cultures in different ways. In rigid patriarchal cultures, it will affect women and children the hardest. “Empowering the powerless or neglected—Indigenous peoples, women, youth, small nations, poor farmers, and slum-dwellers—leads to imaginative and effective solutions.” (Emphasis the reviewers.)

 

Hogan takes the reader on a world tour from the Arctic to the Mekong Delta, to India and Kenya, and all places in between. Some of the most interesting interviews/essays were on California: Fire as Friend, Fire as Foe and Kenya: the Old and the New. 

 

The book is written in three parts of four chapters each, followed by Thinking Points for each part. I found the Thinking Points thoughtful, important, and something we can all participate in. Some have been around for quite a while, but seeing them in new words makes them seem, once again, important. 

 

If you are a human and live on Planet Earth, I strongly urge you to buy a copy of this book. It is so easy to think to yourself there is nothing you, as an individual can really do, beyond take your own reusable bags to the grocery store, but I assure you, after reading this book, you will rethink that mindset. If we are going to save our planet and the humans on it, there are things all of us can do. It only takes 100 pennies to make a dollar. Or 10 dimes. Become a penny, become a dime. 

 

Buy this book and read it. Buy copies of this book and give to friends and family. As Hogan says in his conclusion, “…climate change is not about saving Earth. // Earth will carry on—with or without human beings.” It is about saving humans and their cultures.

Out of Violence into Poetry --by Margaret Randall

Nonfiction: Poetry 

ISBN: 978-1-60940-619-6

Wings Press 

September 1, 2021

132 pages

5 Stars

 

This book was my introduction to Randall’s poetry, it will not be my last of her books I will read. These poems were written from 2018 and 2021. She writes about anything—from Today Was a Good Day, “I woke up this morning / and was able to get out of bed…” to her times in Latin America, including Cuba, to the current Covid pandemic. In Pristine in Exotic Memory she takes us from nuclear bomb tests on atolls in the South Pacific to “..Trayvon, Watchful Bear, Maria,…”

 

She is a fearless poet, not hesitant to write about any subject that affects her, that is painful, that is joyful. She writes about her recurring nightmares, and I’m grateful they are hers, not mine.

 

Because Randall does not fear death, she has not been afraid to live. This is a woman I would love to meet, to sit down and share an afternoon coffee with both her and her wife, to one day call them Friends. 

The Light on Fisnos --by Barbara Quick

Nonfiction: Poetry Chapbook

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1421836971

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1421836973

Blue Light Press

April 14, 2021

34 pages

5 Stars

 

I have just returned from a trip to Greece! A marvelous escape from the cold of another Covid Winter. Thanks to the marvelous poetry of Ms. Quick, I have exchanged greetings with the natives, swum in the cerulean seas, indulged in the foods of the island. In short, I had a very sensual mini vacation through these well-crafted poems.  

Sin is Due to Open in a Room Above Kitty’s —Poetry by Morag Anderson

 Nonfiction: Poetry Chapbook

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1913211592

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1913211592

Fly on the Wall Poetry

August 20, 2021

38 pages

4 Stars

 

I saw Ms. Anderson read a week or so ago (via Zoom) and was enthralled with her poetry. She writes about life, and does not sugar-coat it. These poems are honest, confessional, and it is very difficult to read just one.

 

From Paterfamilias  “may your daughters labour with language, / give birth to books that punctuate / the end of your line.” As for The Last Supper with Sarah, all I can say is, Sarah should count her blessings she’s still alive and walking. 

 

I truly wish the book was longer. I will go back to this book time and time again.