Book Talk - December 19

SVLB Book Talk
December 19, 2019

Lucinda                        My Sister the Serial Killer
                                    Oyinkan Braithwaite

                                    Quichotte
                                    Salman Rushdie

Penny                          The Alice Network
                                    Kate Quinn

Stacy                            The Guardians
                                    John Grisham

Jan                               The Parade
                                    Dave Eggers

Tracey                         Tahoe Deathfall
                                    Todd Borg

Debi                             News of the World
                                    Paulette Jiles

Anne                            The Merci Train?
                                    Jan ???

Jim                               Sapiens
                                    Yuval Noah Harari

Deb                              To Say Nothing of the Dog
                                    Connie Willis

                                    Three Men in a Boat
                                    Jerome K. Jerome

Meredith                     Flavia Series
                                    Alan Bradley

Kenn                            Story of the Road
                                    Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Kay T                           The Overstory
                                    Richard Powers

Sharon                         A Spark of Light
                                    Jodi Picoult

Brenda                        Once Upon a River
                                    Diane Setterfield

Pam                             The Library Book
                                    Susan Orlean

Laurie                          The Day the World Came to Town
                                    Jim Defede

Bari                             Dissolving Illusions
                                    Suzanne Humphries and Roman Bystrianyk

                                    End of Alzheimers
                                    Dale E. Bredesen

October 17: Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen

Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen

The tensions in a tight-knit neighborhood—and a seemingly happy marriage—are exposed by an unexpected act of violence in this provocative new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Miller’s Valley and Still Life with Bread Crumbs.

Some days Nora Nolan thinks that she and her husband, Charlie, lead a charmed life—except when there’s a crisis at work, a leak in the roof at home, or a problem with their twins at college. And why not? New York City was once Nora’s dream destination, and her clannish dead-end block has become a safe harbor, a tranquil village amid the urban craziness. Then one morning she returns from her run to discover that a terrible incident has shaken the neighborhood, and the fault lines begin to open: on the block, at her job, especially in her marriage. With humor, understanding, an acute eye, and a warm heart, Anna Quindlen explores what it means to be a mother, a wife, and a woman at a moment of reckoning.

September 19 - The Invention of Nature

The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was the most famous scientist of his age, a visionary German naturalist and polymath whose discoveries forever changed the way we understand the natural world. Among his most revolutionary ideas was a radical conception of nature as a complex and interconnected global force that does not exist for the use of humankind alone. In North America, Humboldt’s name still graces towns, counties, parks, bays, lakes, mountains, and a river. And yet the man has been all but forgotten.  

In this illuminating biography, Andrea Wulf brings Humboldt’s extraordinary life back into focus: his prediction of human-induced climate change; his daring expeditions to the highest peaks of South America and to the anthrax-infected steppes of Siberia; his relationships with iconic figures, including Simón Bolívar and Thomas Jefferson; and the lasting influence of his writings on Darwin, Wordsworth, Goethe, Muir, Thoreau, and many others. Brilliantly researched and stunningly written, The Invention of Nature reveals the myriad ways in which Humboldt’s ideas form the foundation of modern environmentalism—and reminds us why they are as prescient and vital as ever.
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A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, Nature, Jezebel, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, New Scientist, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard, The Spectator