My Mother Was Nuts

Penny Marshall, actress and director, pours everything you want to know into her celebrity autobiography. Her mother was a dance instructor who made Penny take lessons for years Penny’s two siblings were her sister Ronny and her brother Garry, who became a producer. She frankly talks about her first marriage and her daughter, and her second marriage to actor and director Rob Reiner. Her role as LaVerne DiFazio on “LaVerne and Shirley” made her a household name, but although she mentions disagreements with co-star Cindy Williams, there was little else said about the program or the other actors on the show. She became interested in directing, and went on to direct “Big” and “A League of Their Own.” Her long term relationship with Art Garfunkel  and her friendship with Carrie Fisher were also included. The book struck a balance between celebrity name dropping (and there were a lot of names) and insider gossip. Marshall doesn’t shy away from unpleasant life circumstances, and gives a seemingly honest story of her life.

April's Books

Rose Wilder Lane was the only child of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her husband Almanzo. Wilder, of course, is the hugely successful author of the “Little House” books, which spawned a long running television series.  Born in DeSmet, South Dakota, Rose grew up in Missouri and had a successful career as a writer. Although Rose had a rocky relationship with her mother, she wanted to write a book based on her mother’s stories—“Pioneer Girl”—but never published it, although she used bits and pieces in other stories and books.

Rose never talked about her role in rewriting and editing the manuscript that would become the “Little House” series..Was Rose resentful of her mother’s success? Rose was divorced and  had no heirs, although she supported several boys and paid for their schooling, and referred to them as her “adopted” sons. She befriended young Roger Lea MacBride, who became the  1976 Libertarian Party presidential candidate. Rose w as a  supporter Libertarian ideas, such as no taxes and eliminating social welfare programs.

Laura had left the royalties to Rose for her lifetime, and then  royalties were to go to a small Missouri library. The library had to sue MacBride for a share of the estate.

The book used much primary source material from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. A fascinating look into the story of how the “Little House” books came to be.

 

Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lake and the making of the Little House books by Christine Woodside
Give the Devil His Due by Steve Hockensmith with Lisa Falco
Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty
The Gone Dead Train by Lisa Turner
Seized by Elizabeth Heiter
Pioneer Girl: the annotated autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Pamela Smith Hill (editor)
The Makerspace Librarian's Handbook by Ellyssa Kroski (editor)

Return of the Raven Mocker

The Return of the Raven Mocker: an Alafair Tucker mystery by Donis Casey

Set in rural Oklahoma in the 1910s, this series centers around Alafair Tucker, her husband Shaw, and their ten children. The older children are married with their own families, the boys are in the army fighting the war, and their youngest daughter is starting school.

The Spanish flu has invaded the area and people are dying at an alarming rate. When a local man’s wife and stepson are found dead, it’s first assumed that they succumbed to the flu. But the woman hadn’t been ill, and Alafair is far too familiar with the signs of the disease—she suspects poisoning. She is afraid that her testimony might have caused an innocent man to go to jail. This book is eighth in the series. The author captures with wonderful authenticity life for a large rural family, and Alafair is a practical, resourceful and tenacious detective.

March's Books

In Pushing Up Daisies, Lord Bellington, a wealthy land developer, wants to turn the local community garden into a housing estate. Agatha Raisin, a retired successful businesswoman turned private detective, confronts him, but he bellows at her, “Do you think I give a damn about what a lot of pesky villagers want?”

When he dies two weeks later, possibly by poison in his crème de menthe, the list of suspects is sizable. It includes his son, Damian, who has no intention carrying through his father’s plans; his daughter, who wants to fund an animal sanctuary; the ex-wife, and most of the village.

A long-running, humorous series, which hasn’t lost any of its charm. Agatha is the village busybody you love to hate.

 
 
Flashfire by Richard Stark
Compromised by James R. Scarantino
Pushing Up Daisies by M.C. Beaton
The Penultimate Chance Saloon by Simon Brett
Best. State. Ever. A Florida man defends his homeland by Dave Barry
Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: four women undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott
Good Vibrations: my life as a Beach Boy by Mike Love

Grandma Gatewood

Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: the inspiring story of the woman who save the Appalachian Trail by Ben Montogmery

Emma Gatewood, mother of eleven and grandmother of many more, left her family one day and set out to walk the 2168 mile length of the Appalachian Trail. She had divorced her abusive husband, who had almost beat her to death on several occasions, and her children were all now adults. She told them she was going for a walk in the woods, and when they next heard from her she had walked 800 miles of the trail.

She had read about the trail in an issue of National Geographic and thought it sounded like a pleasant walk. The impression she received from the article is that it was easy hiking and there were clean cabins at the end of each day’s journey. It wasn’t and there weren’t. She wore inexpensive Keds tennis shoes, and carried a homemade denim bag with a blanket, a plastic shower curtain, a change of clothes, and less than $200.

It’s an amazing story. Emma Gatewood hiked the trail three times in her life, the last time in stages. She also hiked 2000 miles of the Oregon Trail, from Missouri to Oregon, averaging 22 miles a day. She was widely interviewed by local and national newspapers, and because of the attention she brought to the Trail, improvements and better signage came to be. A book that will inspire you to go take a hike!