Moke Hill READS Book Club

Jan 22, 2020 by contributor

 

 

February 4, 2020.  The Murmur of Bees, by Sofia Segovia.  They found the abandoned baby, Simonopio, disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees.  For some he is a child kissed by the devil, but landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales adopt him and care for him as their own. As he grows up, the magically gifted child can see what no one else can – visions of what is to come, both beautiful and dangerous. Followed by his protective swarm of bees, Simonopio’s purpose will, in time, be divined. Set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the devastating influenza of 1918, Segovia captures both the fate of a country in flux and the destiny of one family.

 

March 3, 2020.  Improvement, by Joan Silber.  This series of interlinked stories  both allows characters to fully inhabit their own narratives and gives space to the lives that intersect or run parallel to them. Just as you think you’ve understood single-mother Reyna’s life, Part II commences, shifting to third-person stories that seem to spool farther and farther away from her.  When we return to Reyna’s world, we read her and her world differently, having passed through all these other stories that intersect hers. This is a novel of richness and wisdom and huge pleasure.

April 7, 2020.  Gallows View, by Peter Robinson.  One of the best mystery series in print, this is the first of the Inspector Banks novels.  Former London policemen, Chief Inspector Banks has relocated to the Yorkshire village of Eastvale where he finds evil and violence are not unique to large cities.  While the activities of a Peeping Tom and the murder of an elderly women do not appear to be linked, investigations delve into possible connections.  Lively and lucid, Robinson’s tales will draw you in to this award-wining series with more than a dozen entries.

Moke Hill Reads Book Club:  First Tuesday of every month. No commitment, No attendance taken, No restrictions, No membership, No dues. For everyone interested in good books and discussions about them. Sponsored by the Mokelumne Hill Friends of the Library. Send your email address or watch for announcements on mokehill.org and other news sources. Contact Janet Dock:  janetdock@me.com.