All the Glimmering Stars by Mark Sullivan

 “The medicine man also told me that our spirits come from stars and return to stars when we die. So, when you look up at the stars, Anthony, you may also be seeing the spirits of your ancestors and the souls of your children shining back at you.”

     -George Opoka, to his young son 

 "He bowed his head and wished to God that all the glimmering stars in the sky, the souls of his ancestors and the spirits of the unborn, could come together to show him the right direction to take."

     -Anthony Opoka, remembering his father's words

I've read 2 historical novels by this author and enjoyed them both. In selecting this one, I surely didn't know what I was getting into!

Based on a true story it begins in Uganda in the late 1980's when the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is wreaking havoc in the country under the leadership of maniacal Joseph Kony. 

Two teens are kidnapped from their loving families in two different villages and forced to become soldiers in the LRA. Anthony Opoka is an outstanding student and athlete while Florence Okori, also an excellent student, dreams of becoming a nurse. The situations they are forced to endure among other "child warriors" makes for difficult reading. In the course of 400+ pages, one wonders if they will ever be able to escape but one keeps reading and hoping.

When Anthony and Florence meet and fall in love, there is some joy---briefly, but they remain slaves to Kony, called the Great Teacher, whose cruelty is horrifying. By the time the couple have two sons, they become desperate to get away. Memories of their good upbringing helps them survive. And Anthony's chance meeting with Mr. Mabior, a dying man whose last words to Anthony are very wise and inspiring make a huge difference for him through some terrible times.

The story was compelling but far from enjoyable, so I am rating it a 4. The story of Anthony and Florence Opoka is an amazing one, to be sure, and it is interesting to read Sullivan's notes about how he discovered it. I can only hope it brings attention to the use of children in combat because that horrible practice should be banned across the globe.

Snow Creek by Gregg Olsen

 

"I think of how I'd dreamed of a big case as I waded through the property crimes that marked my routine. I'd wanted more than anything to make something so very wrong, right. And now this. In the mostly undisturbed magnificence of the Pacific Northwest is a spate of murders, dark and ugly as any could imagine."

     -Detective Megan Carpenter, from the novel

I selected this from Amazon First Reads and at first, I liked it. The setting was interesting, a very isolated area of the Northwest with cultlike characters, two of which turn up missing. When the missing woman is found dead, Detective Megan Carpenter at first speculates the husband killed her and took off. She couldn't be more wrong. 

After a while multiple characters come into play, and I found it hard to keep up with who was who. Not only that, it becomes clear that Megan has a mysterious past of her own. 

The novel was well-written and kept my interest for quite a while, but I found the ending very dissatisfying as the author leaves so much unresolved. I surely prefer a murder mystery that stands alone and does not try to impel you to read a sequel. This one only rates a 3. I likely will not read another in this series, but I won't rule out others by the author.

Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde

"The world will still be a place where people do terrible things. But here's the thing about despair. We fall into despair when the terrible gangs up on us and we forget the world can also be wonderful. We just see terrible everywhere we look. So what you do for your friend is you bring up the wonderful, so both are side by side. The world is terrible and wonderful at the same time. One doesn't negate the other, but the wonderful keeps us in the game. It keeps us moving forward. And, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Raymond, but that's as good as the world is going to get."

          -Mrs. G, from the novel

I loved this novel! After a few books with intense themes and disturbing plots, it was breath of fresh air. It rates a 5 from me.

Teenager Raymond Jaffe has two families and doesn't have a sense of belonging to either. When he learns his best friend is moving away, Raymond is devastated. But around this time, he meets Mildred Guterman, a blind 92-year-old neighbor when she asks him the title question, "Have you seen Luis Velez?" He soon learns Luis was a caregiver for Mrs. G and has been missing for several days. Because it's obvious that Mrs. G has been isolated and unable to do necessary errands on her own, Raymond takes it upon himself to replace Luis in helping her to the bank and market and even taking her out to eat. As the two bond, Raymond is compelled to try to locate Luis Velez. It is quite an undertaking since there are several men of that name in the area and not knowing an address, he must contact them one by one.

I began with a quote from Mrs. Guterman, but it was hard to choose just one. A Jewish immigrant who barely escaped the Nazis, she shared much wisdom with Raymond who, in turn, encourages her.

This novel is an endearing story of a surprising friendship. I will find another novel by this author. I look forward to hearing reactions of the other Page Turners. More after the meeting....

----------

When Page Turners met, 14 gathered plus one participating by phone. The book was well-liked earning an average of 4.5. This is the highest rated of the year by our group. I think everyone loved how Mrs. G and Raymond helped each other and how many other characters in the story were so kind and helpful to them. Although a couple of participants found some of the story unbelievable it was still very heartwarming. Some felt the novel could be very beneficial for young adult readers.

Toward the end of the story, there is a jury trial where racism raises its ugly head. This brought forth some good discussion of privilege, seeming to segue into our next book selection: The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy by Robert P. Jones.

I believe most of our group would recommend the novel. 

A Monk Swimming by Malachy McCourt

 

"Now I’m resolved to try it, I’ll live on a moderate diet,

 I’ll not drink and will deny it, And shun each alehouse door, 

For that’s the place they tell us, We meet with all jovial good fellows, 

But I swear by the poker and bellows, I’ll never get drunk anymore. 

A man that’s fond of boozing, His cash goes daily oozing,

His character he’s losing, And its loss he will deplore.

His wife is unprotected, His business is neglected, 

Himself is disrespected, So I’ll not get drunk anymore."

     -OLD TEMPERANCE SONG, quoted in the memoir

This was a free eBook which I selected because I am such a fan of Frank McCourt, Malachy's brother. I must admit it produced some laughs, but I didn't appreciate it as much as Frank's memoirs. Of course, since they grew up together, their background is the same---growing up Catholic and poor in Limerick, Ireland with a drunken, no-good father and making their way to America as young men. 

It seems to me, Malachy squandered much of his early adult years with drunken philandering and gallivanting the globe smuggling gold. His vocabulary was rather amazing---I learned some new words, but the editing of the book was poor. It was sometimes hard to determine if something strange was his Irish lingo or an error in the publication. His story is irreverent, even sacrilegious at times. The quote above came late in the book, if only Malachy had followed that advice much sooner! According to the Author's Note, he turned his life around in later years.

I am left wondering: what does the title mean? There is no monk and no swimming!  I mentioned earlier, the memoir was quite humorous, and the style was unique, but I wouldn't look for another by this author. My rating is 3.

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann 4

 Posted originally on 2/3/24

"Travel in any direction that you will from Pawhuska and you will notice at night Osage Indian homes outlined with electric lights, which a stranger in the country might conclude to be an ostentatious display of oil wealth. But the lights are burned, as every Osage knows, as protection against the stealthy approach of a grim specter---an unseen hand---that has laid a blight upon the Osage land and converted the broad acres, which other Indian tribes enviously regard as a demi-paradise, into a Golgotha and field of dead men's skulls....The perennial question in the Osage land is, ' who will be next?'"    

           -reporter from Daily Oklahoman, 1929

After viewing the film "Killers of the Flower Moon" I was told I should read the book which I had not heard of before. Supposedly it held much more background information and I found that to be true. The book was thoroughly researched with about 40 pages of notes, references and bibliographies. Our Page Turners had read The Lost City of Z by this author in 2015. I gave it a 3 and the group's rating was 2.9 with most agreeing it was well-researched but not exactly a page-turner. I will rate this one a 4; it was a bit more of a page-turner. I can't say I enjoyed it since it made me sad and angry, but I do think good literature makes you feel something. The topic of abuse of our indigenous people is one I am familiar with but the treatment of the Osage in this story was especially heinous.

The story is set in Gray Horse, Oklahoma, an Osage settlement, in the 1920s where oil had been discovered years before making most of the Osage very wealthy, and sadly, many whites very covetous of their land and oil rights. By 1923, 24 tribe members had died mysteriously or violently. This included many of Mollie Burkhart's family---mother, 3 sisters and brother-in-law. Most law enforcement and others in authority were in the pocket of William K. Hale, known as "King of the Osage Hills," and did nothing toward solving what many had determined were murders. When the newly formed FBI became involved, Agent Tom White and his team eventually had some success. He is seen as a hero by the Osage.

Having seen the movie before reading, the characters seemed more vivid and the story more personal. Some like Mollie were easy to feel sympathy and sadness for and others were easy to hate. No spoiler here! I really liked that numerous photographs were included, not always the case with nonfiction. 

Grann is the author of the current bestseller The Wager, which is on my TBR list. 

----------------

Posted on 8/23/24

A smaller group of Page Turners gathered to discuss the book on our regular day. Several members who could not attend sent their ratings. The average was 3.9 with no one really disliking it but some being confused by the time changes and many characters to remember. Most of us felt it was very important for this story to be told and that the author was meticulous in his research. Perhaps we just couldn't enjoy it that much for the same reasons I mentioned above and in my first post.

Only 3 participants had seen the movie, so we spent only a bit of time comparing it to the book. We had a list of 17 questions and hardly addressed them because there were things we could relate to, for example some had lived near Native American people, even in Oklahoma, and many of us had witnessed ugly prejudice toward minorities. All were struck by the quote, "It is a question in my mind whether this jury is considering a murder case or not. The question for them to decide is whether a white man killing an Osage is murder---or merely cruelty to animals." How horrendous!

One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker

 

"I stooped and let four peas fall from my finger into the soil, reciting the rhyme as I did it: One for the blackbird, one for the crow, one for the cutworm, and one to grow."

           -Beulah, from the novel

This novel was a free First Reads selection from Amazon. It was probably the only historical fiction choice in that month and, of course, it's a favorite genre of mine.

The setting is Wyoming, 1876. The Bemis and Webber families farm adjacent pieces of land, but no other neighbors are nearby. Right away the conflict is revealed: Ernest Bemis catches his wife, Cora, with Substance Webber and in his fury murders his neighbor. Of course, Ernest goes to jail, leaving his wife and 4 children to try to survive. Fortunately, the eldest child, Beulah, age 13, is intelligent and capable.

Surprisingly, 16-year-old Clyde, the only son of Substance Webber, after burying his father, offers his help to the Bemis family. Clyde's mother, the widow Nettie Mae, not surprisingly hates Cora for her part in the death of her husband so she is chagrined that Clyde is helping with the Bemis's farm.

A brutal winter forces the two families to live together in order to survive. These are uncomfortable months with Nettie Mae's rage and Cora's remorse darkening the mood. However, they manage to save each other's family members from drowning, a serious illness, a fall and other problems. Fortunately, Clyde and Beulah work well together and, in a sense, are the saviors of their families. 

The Author's Note is very interesting, telling of the personal basis of the story. Some characters originated in the story of the author's great-grandparents. (I can't say which characters without a spoiler.)

Hawker's descriptions are detailed and lyrical but at times, tedious. That and the long chapters kept the novel from being a page-turner until the last 50 pages or so when I didn't want to put it down. I am rating One for the Blackbird... a 4. I may read another by this author.

Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett

 

After reading 7 chapters of this novel, I am so confused. I am giving up on it which I very rarely do. I have read 2 others by this author that I enjoyed very much but this one leaves me cold. I won't even spend the time looking for a memorable quote in those first chapters. Apparently, this is one of Follett's first novels and he definitely improved to be able to write Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I won't rate this; it wouldn't be fair. Unless you love spy novels, don't choose this one.