In the course of a year, we see dozens of books by Southern Arizona authors, and the literary output of our fellow desert dwellers never fails to surprise and delight us.
It’s a pleasure to be able to tell you about those books every month. To that end, we’re revisiting some of the noteworthy titles that made a lasting impression on us for a list of our favorite reads of 2024.
“The Army You Have: Operation Iraqi Freedom—A Military Intelligence Soldier’s Perspective” by Sara Fleming. Wheatmark. 310 pages. $15.95 paperback. $9.99 digital.
Anyone questioning women’s physical, intellectual or versatility fitness for combat duty — or who defend the United States mindlessly stumbling into war — should read this memoir by Tucsonan Sara Fleming.
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In 1999, to satisfy undergrad loans and save for graduate school, Fleming joined the Army Reserve as a military intelligence officer. In her first deployment to Kosovo, she proved an adept and respected noncommissioned officer analyzing human intelligence.
When George W. Bush declared war on Iraq, however, she and her unit were shoved into the maelstrom of military unpreparedness, mind-numbing regulation, callous disregard for locals, life-threatening assignments without equipment and officers willing to sacrifice their units to gain career promotion, but they shoved back with initiative and resolve. It’s a timely tale.
— Christine Wald-Hopkins
“The Beasts” by Meg Files. Finishing Line Press. 27 pages. $15.99.
Local poet and creative writing guru Meg Files channels images from the deep pandemic — animals roaming deserted streets and loved ones perishing alone in quarantine — in this weirdly wondrous and wryly wonderful allegory on humans’ failed stewardship of Earth’s living creatures.
In 25 related prose poems, Files chronicles the collapse of human dominion through a woman keeping a vigil over her beloved husband dying in isolation. Giving points of view to several characters — including beasts! — Files shatters the divisions between human and other animals and the living and dead. The woman’s dead father and friend, and even comatose husband, weigh in on the world as human life disintegrates and the woman finds solace in animal shapes.
— Christine Wald-Hopkins
“Growing Up Roosevelt: A Granddaughter’s Memoir of Eleanor Roosevelt” by Nina Roosevelt Gibson. Excelsior Editions. 190 pages. $26.49. $25.17 Kindle.
It’s not uncommon to have loving memories of a special grandmother. But in this case, the grandmother is Eleanor Roosevelt and the memories are enthralling as Nina Roosevelt Gibson recalls her childhood and adolescence spent with one of America’s most remarkable women, known to her simply as Grandmère.
With vivid storytelling, rich in personal and historical details, Gibson recounts lively times at Eleanor’s haven, Val-Kill, and a memorable trip abroad with her during which Gibson accidentally acquired a camel and enjoyed an intimate tea with the Queen of England.
Filled with family photos, Gibson’s evocative book is simultaneously a charming coming-of-age story and a moving tribute to the grandmother whose example continues to guide her.
— Helene Woodhams
“Honey: A Novel” by Victor Lodato. Harper; 400 pages. $25.60. $14.99 Kindle.
PEN USA Award-winning author Victor Lodato introduces an irresistible heroine, luminous, defiant and unforgettable in her complexity.
Raised in a New Jersey organized crime family, young Honey Fasinga fled her toxic, mob-boss upbringing for a life of beauty and art. But now retired from a successful career in high-end auction houses, 82-year-old Honey has returned home, haunted by the knowledge that she has unfinished business and decades-old demons to put to rest.
Lodato’s keen eye for detail complements an exuberant narrative that moves with energy, creating the portrait of a woman who rejects victimhood. This propulsively readable novel demonstrates how old age, despite its indignities, presents an opportunity to wield power if Honey will take it.
— Helene Woodhams
“Hopscotch to Infinity: Short Plays for Kids to Read and Perform” by Alejandro Canelos. Illustrations by Rachel Ivanyi. Neotenic Press. 277 pages. $17.95.
Who owns the playground? Why do we have to sit at a kids’ table? What if I don’t want to have a fight? So what if she feels left out of the group? These questions are fodder for 25 terrific child/parent/grandparent/teacher-pleasing dramas for grade-school kids to read aloud or perform.
Grade-level targeted — second to fifth grades — with simple stage directions and minimal prop requirements, the plays are short enough to hold kids’ interest and contemporary enough to be relevant. Plus, they have just enough detail to warrant a giggle or two. Whoopee cushion, anyone?
— Christine Wald-Hopkins
“Lost Birds” by Anne Hillerman. Harper. 285 pages. $30 hardcover. $26 paperback.
Former Navajo Police Lieutenant, now private investigator, Joe Leaphorn takes the title role in Anne Hillerman’s ninth Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito mystery.
The term “lost birds” refers to Native children adopted out of their culture. When Leaphorn accepts the case of an adoptee who believes she might be Navajo, he ventures into a thicket of family secrets. His investigation is complicated by an explosion-ending phone call and Officer Bernadette Manuelito’s discovery of a woman’s body.
All of Hillerman’s beloved characters get some play and suspense in this novel — Joe, Bernie, Jim Chee, even Louisa, Leaphorn’s housemate.
— Christine Wald-Hopkins
“Oro Valley: The First Fifty Years” by James A. Williams. 246 pages. Independently published. $19.99.
Between 1950 and 1960, the city of Tucson expanded from 9½ miles to 70.9 miles by annexing unincorporated areas of Pima County. But when the city eyed the sparsely-settled area to the north, residents there pushed back and the Town of Oro Valley was incorporated on April 15, 1974.
To mark the 50th anniversary of this audacious decision, local historian James A. Williams offers an intensively-researched volume of the town’s past, from incorporation to the present day, outlining the civic milestones, contentious politics and notable personalities that have shaped the town in the last half-century.
This is a stellar example of even-handed reporting and clear-eyed analysis, and an important addition to collections of Southern Arizona history.
— Helene Woodhams
“The Other Side/El Otro Lado” written and illustrated by Rebecca Wilder. Independently published. 38 pages. $29.99. Available at Antigone Books and Petroglyphs.
Tucson writer, artist and restaurateur Rebecca Wilder presents an aesthetically appealing, affecting and culturally sensitive tale set in the Sonoran Desert borderlands.
In two voices — a man’s in Spanish and a woman’s in English (with very few words, by the way) — Wilder’s story relates a dilemma that plays out on an isolated, cold, winter desert highway.
Wilder’s 15 accompanying illustrations are stunning — vibrant landscapes, night skies and cosmos — and they enrich and intensify as the action unfolds. The volume is touchingly dedicated to her father, “who lived gracefully in both worlds.”
— Christine Wald-Hopkins
“Sonoran Desert Plant ID For Everyone: A Nontechnical Field Guide” by Jim Koweek. Photographs by Dale Armstrong. Rafter Lazy K Publishing. 314 pages. $28. $9.99 Kindle.
Researchers believe the Sonoran Desert has the greatest diversity of flora and fauna of all the North American deserts, and “learning about them should be fun,” says author Jim Koweek. He clearly had fun writing about them.
After three years of desert trekking and 200,000 photos, Koweek and photographer Dale Armstrong narrowed their list to 300 plants for which they provide descriptions, interesting factoids and suggestions for landscaping.
There’s plenty of good information in this lavishly-illustrated, user-friendly volume, but its real joy is in its humorous, folksy presentation — it’s like having a lively and knowledgeable companion along on your desert stroll.
— Helene Woodhams
“Until Italy: A Traveler’s Memoir” by Debra VanDeventer. Independently Published. 220 pages. $11.99. $3.99 Kindle.
You could do worse than get lost in Venice without your cell phone — in fact, you might just find yourself.
Having hit a landmark birthday and impatient with the protective bubble of complacency with which she’d surrounded herself, author Debra VanDeventer decided a trip to Italy would shake things up.
The way she popped her suffocating bubble — “I don’t want to be myself” — and immersed herself in her surroundings, even when it scared her, is the joyous message of this charming travel memoir. She dared to wear dresses, learned to travel light and laughed so hard it nearly knocked her off her feet. “Italy is speaking to me,” VanDeventer observes. “I’m learning its language.”
— Helene Woodhams
Christine Wald-Hopkins, a former high school and college English teacher and occasional essayist, has long been a book critic for national, regional and local newspapers.
Helene Woodhams is retired from Pima County Public Library, where she was the literary arts librarian.
If you are a Southern Arizona author and would like your book to be considered for this column, send a copy to: Elaine Encinas, P.O. Box 26887, Tucson, AZ, 85726-6887. Give the price and contact name. Books must have been published within a year. Authors may submit no more than one book per calendar year.
