Book Notes
All Book Notes articles are collected here.
Book Notes | ‘Where Rivers Part’
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UMRA’s Book Club members learned a great deal about Hmong traditions, traumas, and relationships from acclaimed St. Paul author Kao Kalia Yang’s 'Where Rivers Part.' A tribute to her mother, this lyrical and complex book won the 2025 Minnesota Book Award in the memoir category.
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Book Notes | ‘52 Loaves’
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In William Alexander’s humorous memoir, readers are taken on a wild ride as he searches for the recipe and technique to replicate—from scratch—the “perfect bread.” He tries his hand at growing, harvesting, and threshing the wheat, attends a kneading conference in Maine, and even enrolls in a week-long bourlangerie class at the École Ritz Escoffier in Paris.
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Book Notes | ‘An Unfinished Love Story’
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Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin turns personal in this illuminating memoir of the unparalleled 1960s and the life she shared with her husband of 42 years, Richard “Dick” Goodwin, speech writer and confidant of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Robert F. Kennedy.
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Book Notes | ‘The Cello Still Sings’
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Author Janet Horvath was the associate principal cello of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1980 until 2012. The thrust of this story is about the her journey to uncover her father’s depravations during World War II, when he was forcibly relocated to a labor camp along with thousands of other Hungarian Jews.
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Book Notes | ‘West with the Night’
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Figurative language, including personifications of animals and inanimate objects, give "West with the Night," a memoir by Beryl Markham, a poetic quality. As Ernest Hemingway said, “…She can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers—it really is a bloody wonderful book.”
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UMRA Breakfast group creates a book list
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When the UMRA breakfast group met in September, we had a full house of book lovers, and a lively discussion about books we are currently reading, and favorite reads. The genres ranged from non-fiction history to mystery and fantasy. The group created a list (attached) of these books, with the author and genre. For more information about the book list or the UMRA breakfasts, please contact Lynn Slifer ([email protected]) or Bill Donohue ([email protected]).
More...Book Notes | ‘Blue Ribbon’
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Do you love the Minnesota State Fair and want to know more about its history? Then 'Blue Ribbon' by Karal Ann Marling, U of M professor emerita of American art and culture, is your chance.
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Book Notes | ‘Daisy Jones & the Six’
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Written by New York Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid, "Daisy Jones & the Six" is about the rise of a fictional rock and roll band in the 1970s. It is also now a limited series available on Amazon Prime.
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Book Notes | ‘The Great River’
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A storehouse of information, author John Boyce Upholt’s 2024 book is an ambitious take on the geological, hydrological, ecological, sociological, political, and historical story of the “mighty Mississippi.”
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Book Notes | ‘The Frozen River’
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Author Ariel Lawhon's book of historical fiction is based on the real life of Martha Ballard, a midwife and healer in 1789 colonial Maine. Members of the UMRA Book Club liked the first-person narrative with Martha telling the story. Also, the descriptions of the woods and landscape, the Ballard mill, and the Kennebec River. It is a good read.
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Book Notes | ‘Random Family’
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Author Adrian Nicole LeBlanc spent 10 years hanging out in the Bronx with one loosely defined family, while she tracked its fate. Most UMRA Book Club members thought LeBlanc’s “unflinching documentary” provided more questions than answers.
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Book Notes | ‘Good Night, Irene’
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Luis Alberto Urrea’s historical novel about the Red Cross Clubmobile women who served in Europe during World War II is based on the experiences of his mother, who joined the service in 1943.
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Book Notes | ‘A Walk in the Woods’
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Author Bill Bryson describes his experience hiking the Appalachian Trail with Stephen Katz, a childhood friend from Iowa. The Appalachian Trail is 2,100 miles long and traverses 14 states, from Georgia to Maine. Bryson's commentary is done with accuracy, environmental consciousness, and hilarious wit and humor.
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Book Notes | ‘Tom Lake’
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'Tom Lake' by Ann Patchett is set in the early summer of 2020 at a cherry orchard on the shores of Lake Michigan, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the three daughters of the main character have returned home to help with the harvest.
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Book Notes | ‘A Fever in the Heartland’
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This riveting story of the Ku Klux Klan’s reemergence in the 1920s, particularly in the Midwest, has many parallels with today. Members of UMRA’s Book Club were surprised to learn of the Klan’s phenomenal rise and control over the North in the ’20s. They agreed that there are differences today but that there is still much to be done.
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