The Press asks: What are you currently reading?
By Caroline Rosacker
Each January The Guttenberg Press reaches out to area book lovers inquiring: What are you currently reading? Book reviews are listed in the order in which they were received.
Stephanie Radabaugh
Murder in Wisconsin: The Clara Olson Case by Larry Scheckel. This non-fiction book takes place in Southeastern Wisconsin near the Gays Mills/Mount Sterling areas in the 1920's. The shocking unsolved tale describes a young courtship between Clara Olson (22) and Erdman Olson (18). The couple was an unlikely pair, as Clara was from a poor Norwegian family and Erdman was from a more wealthy prominent family. The relationship was kept quiet with few people even knowing they dated, one being Clara's sister.
The romance abruptly stops after 18 months when Clara's family reports her missing. After an extensive search, Clara's body is found in a gravesite near the property of Erdman's parent's home. Her body was holding a secret in death that no one knew about when she was alive. Suspicion soon turns to Erdman, but Erdman disappears and is never found.
The book carries you through the courtship, the search, the burial, and the trial which was held in Prairie du Chien, Wis.
I found myself captured by Clara's innocence and short-lived life. This past fall, during our annual Gays Mills trip to get apples, my mother, daughter and myself visited the modest grave of Clara Dorthea Olson outside of Gays Mills, Wis. It is known that many visit Clara's gravesite each year to leave flowers or trinkets to recognize the life that was cut short too soon.
Norma Theise
The Wedding People by Alison Espach. I found it to be a relaxing, light read that made me smile as I read about the interactions in the week leading up to the family wedding.
A recently divorced young woman decides to splurge on herself one last time before ending her life in the grand Cornwall Inn, Newport, Rhode Island. She packs no bag, puts on a fancy green dress, wears gold heels, and strolls into the inn. She is mistaken by everyone in the lobby as part of the wedding party. She becomes a confidante of the bride and experiences chance encounters that reroute her plans.
I enjoyed this book in that it confronts grief, female friendship, romance and weddings while being comical. It’s a "Read With Jenna" title.
This book is available in hard copy, audiobook, and ebook from the Guttenberg and Garnavillo Public Libraries.
The Women by Kristen Hannah. In this piece of historical fiction, twenty-year-old nursing student Frances impulsively decides to follow her brother to the Vietnam war by joining the Army Nurse Corps. She grew up in an idyllic life of southern California and conservative parents. Her parents do not approve of her decision. Each day in Vietnam, she experiences the horror of war, its chaos, and destruction. Frances develops new, deep friendships as they fight to keep the guys alive. But war is only the beginning. Once she gets home she experiences a divided America and angry protesters. This is a story of deep friendships, patriotism, and a realization that women can be heroes.
This book was hard to put down. It opened my eyes to the conditions of war and the work that the medical world does at war.
It is available in hard copy from the Guttenberg and Garnavillo Public libraries.
Tate Armstrong
I am currently reading the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. This series is a fairy-tale sci-fi dystopian mash-up involving cyborg princesses, half-wolf soldiers, spaceship battles, and ruthless, power-hungry queens. It is a fun, thrilling read with many plot twists. I saw the first book of this series in one of those little library boxes and have been hooked ever since. The series is four books long and each book is based on a fairy tale, but in a different way. For example, in the first book, Cinder, the main character is based on Cinderella. Well, except for the fact that she is a cyborg, is supposed to be dead, and is the true heir to the Lunar crown. No spoilers, though! If you want to find out more, you will have to read the books!
Dean Schultz
The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime by Adrian Raine leaves one looking at human behavior, especially extreme or even antisocial behavior from a different perspective. For example, one study example was perfectly normal – whatever that really means – until one day at work when a heavy steel bar fell upon the front part of his skull where the prefrontal cortex is found. It changed him into a person who easily lost control in a violent fashion. The prefrontal cortex is referred to as part of the brain's control mechanism.
Newman's Own Selections of His Sermons, Edited by Vincent Ferrer Blehl, presenting the religious perspectives of John Henry Newman
Newman's Sermons book was interesting because the writing was very challenging. One also had to pay close attention because every sentence seemed to be packed with information that required one to focus with intensity. In addition, Newman seemed to at times lapse into sort of a stream of consciousness style reminiscent to one of the characters in Harper Lee's classic novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. This caused the reader to have to sort of adjust the way one processed the information presented by the author. And finally, Newman seemed to stress that Christianity is sort of a non-negotiable proposition, implying that when Christ said "... drink of my cup." he meant exactly that. There seemed to be no "wiggle room" according to Newman.
Juanita Loven
I find many of my books by watching C-Span2 podcasts where authors of new books are interviewed. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt is an urgent and provocative read on why so many kids are not okay – and how to course correct. He makes a powerful case that the shift from play-based to phone-based childhoods are wreaking havoc on mental health and social development (preparation for the world). Haidt offers practical counsel for parents, schools, communities, churches and government about how things could be different. Children born after 2010 are the most vulnerable.
Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese is a 2023 novel telling a story of a family living in India spanning three generations, from 1900-1977. The book centers on Big Ammache, a child bride turned family matriarch, as they grapple with a heredity condition causing many of their members to drown, referred to as “the condition,” including good story telling with emphasis on resilience and cultural heritage.
Becky Hefel
Becky Hefel also read The Women by Kristin Hannah. Here is her account: This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It completely surprised and educated me to a world I had never thought of - the role of women in the Vietnam War. As one of the many who had a loved one in Vietnam - I was glued to nightly news hoping to hear an end was in sight. I do not remember one news report about the valiant women who were serving behind the scenes there.
This was an eye opening story about a young woman, Frankie, a nursing student from a privileged background who decides to follow her brother’s path to Vietnam and joins the Army Nurses Corps. She is sent immediately to Vietnam where she is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war and then at the end of her deployment the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed United States.
Hannah managed to take a well-trodden topic and tell a completely original story that is heart-breaking and eye opening. Her ability to educate us on the role of the doctors and nurses who play a huge role in any war, as well as the camaraderie that develops to help them handle the constant trauma kept me focused and completely immersed in the story.
She is one of my favorite authors whose stories don’t disappoint. It made me question what other stories are waiting to be told.
Tracy Elsinger
I am currently listening to A Breath of Snow and Ashes, by Diana Gabaldon. In 2024 I listened to a total of 56 audiobooks. I generally prefer fiction, but did listen to several exceptionally good non-fiction books last year. Most noteworthy were American Prometheus, a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Killers of the Flower Moon, about the Osage Indian murders in the 1920. I would also recommend The Man Who Quit Money, by Mark Sundeen. It provided a thought-provoking look at an alternative lifestyle which, while definitely extreme, also has some aspects we would all do well to emulate.
A couple of my favorite fiction books of 2024 were All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, and The Terror, by Dan Simmons.
Kyle Sperfslage
One of the most enjoyable books that I have read over the last year is Cornfields to Gold Medals by Pete Van Mullem about the coaching career of Don Showalter. Coach Showalter coached at Central Elkader from 1976-84 with great success, and continued to coach high school basketball for a total of 42 years at Mid-Prairie and also Iowa City, City High. Coach Showalter traveled the country, and eventually the world, working camps and clinics. Throughout all of this he became close with John Wooden and other legendary coaches, and eventually worked his way up to the U17 coach for USA basketball, accumulating a 62-0 record as the USA coach.
The book goes through Coach’s childhood which began on a small farm outside of Kalona, Iowa. Throughout growing up he became involved in athletics, while also continuing his work on the family farm and small town values. As Coach grew older he knew coaching and teaching is what he wanted to do with his career. Throughout his coaching stops he developed 10 lessons on leadership that are explained in the book. The book also gives examples and tips on how to carry out the different lessons on leadership. Coach does a great job of explaining that his lessons are not the best or only lessons out there on leadership, but just simply sharing his experiences.
Others may be familiar with Coach Showalter and the Snow Valley Basketball Camps that are held each year at Wartburg. Showalter is the owner of these camps, and there have been many girls and boys from Clayton Ridge attend these camps over the years. If you are looking for a basketball camp to push you out of your comfort zone, and work with an amazing group of coaches from all over the world, Snow Valley is the camp to attend.