If you would welcome an atmospheric but meaningful escape from the stresses of an indoor winter, see what readers are saying in our book club discussion of The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson, a leisurely tale of new connections and possibilities.
Our Editor's Choice review this week focuses on Daniel Loedel's debut novel Hades, Argentina, a surreal ghost story that follows a translator who relives his experiences during Argentina's Dirty War. The related "beyond the book" article looks at the military campaign in South America known as Operation Condor.
Also, check out a new article exploring the book club experience during the pandemic (from our Book Clubs in Lockdown research report).
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The Narrowboat Summer
by Anne Youngson
From the Jacket
From the author of Meet Me at the Museum, a charming novel of second chances, about three women, one dog, and the narrowboat that brings them together.
From the Discussion
"The storyline is not suspenseful, yet there is suspense, neither is it a love story, but there is love, caring, affection and more ... It is what a good book should be. People with nothing in common coming together accidentally in a new life situation, reaching out to one another and accepting the proffered help and love. I loved it."
- sherryk
"I liked that both the male and female characters were well rounded out and written as to be believable. I even felt the pace of the novel reflected the traveling itself. I looked forward to when I could return to reading when I inevitably had to take breaks. Although it was a great escape book, it was also thought-provoking."
- Tonijb
"Pure, lovely escapism. Just what I needed after a stressful year. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey." - suzi
"What a treat! The three unlikely women create a bond which appealed to me. The characters the women meet along the way are charming and interesting. I knew nothing about narrowboats and did some research on them. On the whole, I'm recommending the story to everyone!" - djcminor
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Flatiron Books. Novel. 336 pages. Published Jan 26, 2021 |
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Hades, Argentina
by Daniel Loedel
Daniel Loedel's debut novel, Hades, Argentina, opens in 1986 when we meet Tomás Orillo, a young textbook translator living in New York. Now known as Thomas Shore after escaping Argentina a decade earlier under a forged passport, his marriage is failing largely due to his inability to address his actions — and inaction — during Argentina's Dirty War, a period from 1976 to 1983 when the country's military dictatorship engaged in acts of state terrorism against suspected socialists. Tomás learns an elderly mother figure from his childhood is on her deathbed in Buenos Aires. He arrives too late — the woman has slipped into a permanent coma — but her family says she left him a message: In order to be granted a "do-over," Tomás must find someone called "the Colonel." Tomás finds the Colonel's ghost in a cemetery, waiting to take him on a journey into the past to revisit the choices he made.
Hades, Argentina isn't a fast read, but that's partly because Loedel's prose is often so achingly beautiful that one must pause to simply appreciate his gorgeous writing. It's one of those rare books that gets under your skin and haunts you for a long time after you turn the last page ... continued
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Beyond the Book:
Operation Condor
The action in Daniel Loedel's debut novel, Hades, Argentina, is propelled by a clandestine South American military campaign known as Operation Condor.
Operation Condor's roots can be traced back to the mid-1960s, when Che Guevara left Cuba to spread socialist doctrine throughout South America, advocating the violent overthrow of the continent's corrupt, U.S.-backed anti-communist dictatorships. Although Guevara was killed in Bolivia in 1967, his ideas had gained a foothold, resulting in a period of unrest. Across the continent, dictators were replaced by socialist-leaning leaders, some via coup, some through democratic election. The U.S. government wished to prevent the spread of communism (and was not scrupulous about differentiating between communism and socialism — both were considered threats to the American way of life), and responded by funneling money, weapons and other support to anti-communist forces within the South American countries ... continued
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Riverhead Books. Novel. 304 pages. Published Jan 12, 2021 |
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More Recent "People, Eras & Events" Articles
The above "beyond the book" article for Daniel Loedel's Hades, Argentina is one of many in our People, Eras & Events category available for
your enjoyment on the BookBrowse website.
Here are a few other recent articles.
- Ghost Girls (Radium Girls)
- The Truth Behind Helen of Troy
- Rick Ankiel
- Black Women in the Suffrage Movement
- Agatha Christie's First Marriage
- Women of the Wild West
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Book Clubs in Lockdown: Fostering Connections |
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How is your book club doing these days? If you're like most of the respondents to our October 2020 survey, your group has gone through some changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether you're meeting on Zoom or gathering in person with social distancing and masking protocols, your book club meetings probably don't look quite like they used to. But not all change is bad! As we discovered in our research, satisfaction among book club participants is still high, despite the curveballs this pandemic has thrown us.
To get the bad news out of the way first: while most book clubbers described themselves as happy in their group, the percentage saying they were "very happy" was lower than in our 2019 survey: 61% versus 73%. It's unsurprising that overall happiness is diminished to some extent. With the great majority of book groups either meeting virtually or in person with safety precautions, many feel that they are missing out on the relaxed conviviality that they used to experience ... continued
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Solve our Wordplay puzzle to reveal a well-known expression, and be entered to win the book of your choice or a 6-month membership to BookBrowse!
"P G Before A F"
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The answer to the last Wordplay: A Man's G T D W A M G T D
"A man's got to do what a man's got to do"
Meaning: One must do what is necessary to achieve your aims, whatever the consequences.
According to America's Popular Proverbs and Sayings edited by Gregory Titelman (1996), this not particularly profound expression is attributed to a line spoken by John Wayne in the 1939 western Stagecoach. However, in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (1939) Jim Casey expresses a very similar thought ... continued
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Webinars for Public Librarians |
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Building Community Through Book Clubs: We'll explore actionable insights for librarians from our two recent research reports: The Inner Lives of Book Clubs (2019) and Book Clubs in Lockdown (Nov 2020).
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A 30 minute Guided Tour of BookBrowse for Libraries, an award-winning, curated readers' advisory tool for librarians and patrons.
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At BookBrowse, we believe that the very best books don't just entertain and engage, they also enlighten, wrapping us in their world, giving us a window into the lives of others or a mirror to reflect on ourselves. These are the books we seek out and feature on BookBrowse, both fiction and nonfiction. |
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Published every Thursday, BookBrowse Highlights is one of BookBrowse's four free newsletters. We also offer Publishing This Week every Sunday, and Book Club News and Librarian News monthly.
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1-408-867-6500
Toll Free: 1-800-745-5306 (US & Canada)
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