Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

 

Title:  Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

Author:  Patrick Radden Keefe
Genre: Nonfiction

Summary:  The Sackler name adorns the walls of many storied institutions: Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, known for their lavish donations to the arts and sciences. The source of the family fortune was vague, however, until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing OxyContin, a blockbuster painkiller that was a catalyst for the opioid crisis.

Empire of Pain is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling.

Rating: Very good.
Why I Like It:  Very well written and I learned a lot about the subject.
Other:  listened to it on audio
Reviewer: Nancy

Unearthing the Secret Garden

 Title:  Unearthing the Secret Garden

Author:  Marta McDowell

Genre: Nonfiction

Summary:  In Unearthing The Secret Garden, best-selling author Marta McDowell delves into the professional and gardening life of Frances Hodgson Burnett. Complementing her fascinating account with charming period photographs and illustrations, McDowell paints an unforgettable portrait of a great artist and reminds us why The Secret Garden continues to touch readers after more than a century. This deeply moving and gift-worthy book is a must-read for fans of The Secret Garden and anyone who loves the story behind the story.

Rating: Good
Why I Like It:  Frances Hodgson Burnett had an interesting life and I am familiar with the horticulture catalogs and references she used.

Reviewer: Nancy Bucher

The Kitchen Front

Title:  The Kitchen Front
Author:  Jennifer Ryan*Genre:  historical fiction

Summary:   Four women compete for a spot hosting a wartime cookery program called The Kitchen Front - based on the actual BBC program of the same name - as well as a chance to better their lives.

Two years into WW2, Britain is feeling her losses; the Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is putting on a cooking contest--and the grand prize is a job as the program's first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the contest presents a crucial chance to change their lives.

For a young widow, it's a chance to pay off her husband's debts and keep a roof over her children's heads. For a kitchen maid, it's a chance to leave servitude and find freedom. For the lady of the manor, it's a chance to escape her wealthy husband's increasingly hostile behavior. And for a trained chef, it's a chance to challenge the men at the top of her profession.

These four women are giving the competition their all--even if that sometimes means bending the rules. But with so much at stake, will the contest that aims to bring the community together serve only to break it apart? 

Rating:  Very good.

Why I Like It:  Takes a little time to get into the story, but then it was hard to stop.  Very interesting.

Reviewer: Nancy

An American Tragedy

 Title:  Fire in Paradise:  An American Tragedy

Author:  Alastair Gee, Dani Anguiano

Genre: Nonfiction

Summary: The harrowing story of the most destructive American wildfire in a century.
There is no precedent in postwar American history for the destruction of the town of Paradise, California. On November 8, 2018, the community of 27,000 people was swallowed by the ferocious Camp Fire, which razed virtually every home and killed at least 85 people. The catastrophe seared the American imagination, taking the front page of every major national newspaper and top billing on the news networks. It displaced tens of thousands of people, yielding a refugee crisis that continues to unfold.

This is the story of a town at the forefront of a devastating global shift—of a remarkable landscape sucked ever drier of moisture and becoming inhospitable even to trees, now dying in their tens of millions and turning to kindling. It is also the story of a lost community, one that epitomized a provincial, affordable kind of Californian existence that is increasingly unattainable. It is, finally, a story of a new kind of fire behavior that firefighters have never witnessed before and barely know how to handle. What happened in Paradise was unprecedented in America. Yet according to climate scientists and fire experts, it will surely happen again.

Rating: Very good.
Why I Like It:  I did not know anything about the wildfires in the west and I learned a lot about how they happen.  But, it is a sad story about destruction and death caused by this fire.

Other: I listened to it on audio.

 
Reviewer: Nancy Bucher

The Boys A Memoir of Hollywood and Family

 Title:  The Boys A Memoir of Hollywood and Family

Author:  Ron Howard and Clint Howard

Genre: Nonfiction

Summary: “What was it like to grow up on TV?” Ron Howard has been asked this question throughout his adult life. In The Boys, he and his younger brother, Clint, examine their childhoods in detail for the first time. For Ron, playing Opie on The Andy Griffith Show and Richie Cunningham on Happy Days offered fame, joy, and opportunity—but also invited stress and bullying. For Clint, a fast start on such programs as Gentle Ben and Star Trek petered out in adolescence, with some tough consequences and lessons.

With the perspective of time and success—Ron as a filmmaker, producer, and Hollywood A-lister, Clint as a busy character actor—the Howard brothers delve deep into an upbringing that seemed normal to them yet was anything but. Their Midwestern parents, Rance and Jean, moved to California to pursue their own showbiz dreams. But it was their young sons who found steady employment as actors. Rance put aside his ego and ambition to become Ron and Clint’s teacher, sage, and moral compass. Jean became their loving protector—sometimes over-protector—from the snares and traps of Hollywood.

By turns confessional, nostalgic, heartwarming, and harrowing, The Boys is a dual narrative that lifts the lid on the Howard brothers’ closely held lives. It’s the journey of a tight four-person family unit that held fast in an unforgiving business and of two brothers who survived “child-actor syndrome” to become fulfilled adults.

Rating: Very good.

Why I Like It:  It was very easy and interesting to listen to.  Especially since I grew up with their tv shows and movies.

Other: Kathy read the book and recommended to me and I listened to the audio version.

Reviewer: Nancy