The address book

 

The address book : what street addresses reveal about identity, race, wealth, and power / Deirdre Mask, 326 pgs

When you see a book like this, you wonder how the author can possibly make something so trite and simple seem important.  Then you start reading and you realize that Deirdre Mask has given a simple title to a book that holds so much fascinating information that you can't really put it down.  After that, you realize that Deirdre Mask is a genius because every word she writes is impactful and you want to chat with her just to see what is on her mind because this book has actually changed the way you think about the world. Simply fantastic!

Bringing back the beaver

 

Bringing back the beaver: the story of one man's quest to rewild Britain's waterways / Derek Gow 197 pgs.

Another 197 pages that tell the tale of how important beavers are to the natural ecology around waterways.  How do you think we can improve on mother nature's solutions to managing floods, droughts and ecosystems?  Turns out the use of natures most impressive engineers saves money, time, and fixes many problems that we made ourselves.  This along with Ben Goldfarb's "Eager : the surprising, secret life of beavers and why they matter" will elevate the beaver in your list of natural miracle workers.  Just let them do their job.

A Red-Rose Chain

 A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire, 367 pages.

Here we have yet another series that I start blogging about well after the 1st book. A Red-Rose Chain is the 9th of the October Daye books, which follow the titular October Daye, changeling detective beholden to the fairy court in San Francisco. This book begins with Toby being asked to play diplomat by the queen in order to stop a war with the kingdom to the north. This is a very funny choice given the everything about her. Now Toby has to fight her "shake the problem until answers fall out" nature to be a successful diplomat in a kingdom who hates changelings if she wants to prevent a war and protect her friends.

This is far from the twistiest of the October Daye books, and ultimately had more to do with the characters than any mystery, which would be more common for the series. Overall I really enjoyed it. It was nice to have a book to really appreciate how far the characters have come in the previous eight, and I look forward to getting back into reading more in the series.

Backstab

 Backstab by Elaine Viets (1997) 309 pages

Francesa Vierling is a columnist for a St. Louis newspaper, The St. Louis City Gazette. Two of her friends, the owner of a popular bar and a rehabber who is gay, have recently died under what she thinks are suspicious circumstances, but her police department contact is doubtful. She delves into solving the murders, plus a third one, while hopping all around the St. Louis area, from South City to Florissant to Soulard. Fast read which catches the flavor of St. Louis well.

Fantasyland

 

Fantasyland : how America went haywire : a 500-year history / Kurt Andersen, read by the author, 475 pgs.

500 years in slightly fewer pages, much of this is a very interesting thread of how attitudes and beliefs have changed in this country.  Some where we picked up the idea that we are all so "individual" that we have the right to believe things...whatever things we want to believe.  Reason went out the window and conspiracy theory's and fantasy took over.  On the one hand, I found this fascinating, on the other hand, it was terrifying.  As a librarian, the idea that facts are optional isn't popular.  Surely we can do better, but will we?

The Borrower

 The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai, 324 pages.

In a fictional version of Hannibal (this one has no river) children's librarian Lucy Hull accidentally kidnaps (or is kidnapped by, depending on your perspective) her favorite patron, ten-year-old Ian Drake. Ian is a voracious reader, but his parents are very controlling about what he is allowed to read, forbidding any book that seems to mature or that might challenge their Christian beliefs (Lucy has helped him sneak books home). One morning Lucy finds I an in the library, running away from home and, she assumes, the anti-gay classes his parents enrolled him in several hours away. She is, only slightly hesitantly, convinced to take Ian on a cross-country road trip in an attempt to save him. 

This book was sort of fun to read, and I really enjoyed Makkai's writing style. It was almost enough to forget that the plot made absolutely no sense. However, by the time I was halfway through the book or so the fact that the plot made absolutely no sense started to become both distracting and frustrating. For example, at know point during the technically-a-kidnapping/helping Ian run away from home debacle does Lucy actually ask Ian why he is running away. She seems to do nothing but make nothing but bad, life-shattering decisions for no apparent reason. As fun as the style is, I find that this failure to ever once make a decision a rational human being would make made it sort of hard to get invested in the story.

The look of the book

The look of the book : jackets, covers & art at the edges of literature / Peter Mendelsund, David J. Alworth, 289 pgs.

An amazing book about book covers, a little history, a little theory, and some predictions about the future.  Plenty of examples and samples in this beautifully done coffee table book.  Recommended for literary nerds and graphic art types. And let's all finally admit that we DO judge a book by its cover, which is why publishers invest BIG BUCKS into designing them.

Red Widow

Red Widow by Alma Katsu, 340 pages

Freshly returned to the U.S., CIA agent Lyndsey Duncan is pulled away from her vacation time for a special mission: two Russian informants have recently disappeared, leading the head of CIA's Russia Division to believe there's a mole in his department, and it's Lyndsey's job to find out who it might be. As she begins her work, Lyndsey soon narrows down her list of suspects, though something just doesn't feel right. As she keeps digging, Lyndsey starts discovering much more than she, or her boss, ever intended.

Spy thrillers aren't really my cup of tea, but this one is a great example of the genre. Which makes sense, as Katsu is a former CIA agent herself. There's a degree of realism in this book that doesn't appear in most spy thrillers, including some loose ends and unknown allegiances. While I appreciated the realism, fans of flashier spy novels might not like that bit as much. A good book though!

Dial “A” for Aunties, by Jesse Q. Sutanto

This is a pretty silly book which will probably be made into a pretty silly movie in the vein of Crazy rich Asians.  But it does provide an interesting look at Indonesian-Chinese culture in America.  Meddelin (Meddy) Chan lives with her mother and near her extended family of aunts – Big Aunt, Second Aunt, and Fourth Aunt (her mother is the third of the sisters).  The husbands and sons are either dead, divorced, or have escaped the centrifugal pull of the family and gone out into the wider world.  But Meddy, when she finishes college, decides to stay in the Los Angeles area and join her family’s new venture, weddings, rather than accompanying Nathan, her boyfriend of three years standing, when he gets a dream job in New York.  It is telling that no one in the family is aware of Nathan’s existence despite their being together most of Meddy's college years.  One aunt will bake elaborate cakes, another will be in charge of makeup and hair, and Fourth Aunt is the wedding singer.  Meddy, a photographer, will capture the wedding day on film and video.  Seven years later, the business (“Don’t leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!) is successful enough that they are hired to do an over-the-top wedding of a billionaire on a private island.  However, the night before it is to take place, Meddy accidently kills her blind date when he attacks her on a deserted highway.  Wah!  What to do? As the aunties would say.  Then, surprise, surprise, Nathan turns up as the owner of the exclusive hotel where the festivities are about to commence.  Much toting about of a cooler full of the cooling blind date.  Diverting but still silly.  309 pp.

Anxious people, by Fredrik Backman

From the author of A man called Ove, a new, quirky book.  Nothing is quite as it seems in this novel.  When a desperate bank robber attempts to stick up a local, cashless, bank, he escapes empty-handed across the street to an apartment building and into an unanticipated and unwanted hostage situation.  The apartment the robber flees into is full of people attending a realtor’s open house there.  Each person, however, has his or her own unusual reasons for being there, on New Year’s Eve day of all the unlikely times to show an apartment, which are gradually revealed.  The local policemen in this small town, are called in to hold the fort while officers more skilled in hostage negotiations travel from Stockholm.  The locals are a father and son, but the relationships between the hostages are also somewhat connected.  And then there’s that bridge…  Although the situations are funny and the dialog snappy, there is a core of sadness at the heart of the story, however, the author manages to give us hope at the end.  341 pp.

The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War, by Catherine Grace Katz

An engaging look at the World War II conference at Yalta during the waning days of the war, from the viewpoints of three women, daughters of Roosevelt, Churchill and Averill Harriman.  FDR was a very sick man who would die only a couple of months later of congestive heart failure.  He thought he could work his special charm on Stalin, not knowing the full perfidy of the man.  Churchill, very realistic about Stalin, represented the waning power and influence of England, and was also not all that well (the famous quote attributed to him, “Most of the world’s work is done by people who don’t feel very well,” is probably apocryphal but seems apt here).  Averell Harriman, scion of one of the wealthiest American families, athlete, businessman, and dedicated public servant, was serving in Moscow as ambassador.  Anna Roosevelt, 38, married with three children, was thrilled to have time with her father who more frequently included his sons in his work.  She loved him deeply and saw her duty at Yalta to keep him rested and well-fed.  Sarah Churchill, an actress and RAF officer, also loved her father deeply and had a close bond with him, was often passed over in favor of his sons.  Kathleen Harriman, the youngest and only unmarried of the three, was a war correspondent and had spent the past 18 months in Moscow, already being a help to her father there – she even learned Russian.  And, yes, there were entangling romances.  Stalin, however, called the shots, insisting that the other dignitaries make the arduous wartime journey to remote Crimea in the middle of winter rather than meet at any more convenient locale.  There the three delegations were housed in three separate mansions/castles, most of which had been largely destroyed in the conflict and had been hastily renovated.  There were about three bathrooms per 100 guests – buckets were used which generals lined up for.  There were bedbugs.  It was, of course, cold.  And Stalin had taken the opportunity during the renovations to bug his guests’ quarters. Banquets featured tons of caviar and smoked meats, and vodka by the truckload, but little healthy food.  In the end, much of what the Americans and British had hoped to accomplish there, and briefly thought they might have done, was set aside by the march of the Russians and the coming onset of the post-war Cold War.  An interesting slice of history, well written. 352 pp.

Good Seeds

 Good Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir by Thomas Pecore Weso, 124 pages.

Thomas Pecore Weso is a Native anthropologist and artist, and this memoir centers on his childhood with his grandparents and extended family on the Menominee reservation in the 60s, all through the lens of what they ate. This was, through his lens, a period of transformation on the reservation, as modernization changed many traditional ways of life even as other aspects were still practiced by tribal elders.

I was very interested in this book, and especially with what Weso's training as an anthropologist would bring to it. Unfortunately, this wasn't an element the memoir seemed to be very interested in dealing with. It was, also unfortunately, not very well written. The whole thing is pretty disjointed and lacks any real cohesiveness. The end result being that despite being only slightly over 100 pages the book dragged. It also didn't help that most of the recipes at the end of every chapter weren't very interesting. They were mostly for very basic versions of very basic dishes, such as pan-fried fish, oatmeal, and baked beans. Overall, I'm sadly disappointed in this memoir.

The Bride Will Keep Her Name

 The Bride Will Keep Her Name by Jan Goldstein (2009) 259 pages

Madison is within a week of her marriage to Colin Darcy, an investigative reporter for NBC, when she starts receiving communications from an unknown person, indicating that her fiancé isn't who she thinks he is. She enlists her two best friends, Abby and Kat, to help her find out if Colin really might really be implicated in the murder of a call-girl/artist in the past year. Kat's job as an assistant DA in New York is helpful. As the days–and wedding-related events–click by, they uncover evidence that doesn't look good. Madison struggles to decide what to believe, whether to trust her head or her heart. Fast read.

36 Arguments for the Existence of God

 36 Arguments for the Existence of God by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (2010) 402 pages

In this work of fiction, Cass Seltzer, a professor at Frankfurter University in Boston has written a book titled "The Varieties of Religious Illusion," and has surprisingly (to him) garnered acclaim, with his book translated into 20+ languages. He's been interviewed numerous times and dubbed "The Atheist With a Soul" by Time magazine. He has been offered a position at Harvard after teaching several years at Frankfurter, where he obtained his doctorate.

The plot weaves back and forth in time, showing his life growing up with a mother who had fled her Hasidic roots, getting his premed undergrad degree from Columbia University, and his life's course abruptly changing when he follows Professor Jonas Elijah Klapper to Frankfurter University to study in the Department of Faith, Literature and Values. He has finally gotten over his divorce and is currently in a relationship with Lucinda, a hyper-competitive expert in Game Theory who is known for "fanging" lecturers.

The characters teem with quirkiness, especially Professor Klapper, a pompous teacher who disdains the sciences; Roz, an old girlfriend who spent years studying a tribe in the Amazon; and also Azarya, a Hasid child who figured out for himself–by age 6–prime numbers. I needed to keep a dictionary handy for this novel, even on my third trip into this academic world, but it was so worth it.

Last night at the lobster

 

Last night at the lobster / Stewart O'Nan, read by Jonathan Davis, 146 pgs.

Even though business hasn't been bad, the Red Lobster is closing.  It is a snowy few days before Christmas but the last day for the restaurant.  Six of the employees will be transferring to the nearby Olive Garden but the rest are being laid off.  Manager Manny hopes to have enough people show up to be able to serve the lunch crowd.  Although many are late, he has enough on the crew to pull it off.  Somehow this sounds like a totally silly book but instead it is a thing of beauty.  I hung on ever word and can't believe how O'Nan makes the mundane memorable.

Cobble Hill

 

Cobble Hill by Cecily Von Ziegesar, read by Pete Simonelli , 307 pgs.  

It has been a long time since I started an audio book and did not ever want to stop it.  Of course I did have to stop it but I kept going back as soon as possible.  I found this to be absolutely hilarious and perfectly narrated.  A group of neighbors who are all goofy in one way or another eventually get to know each other.  I laughed often at their inner thoughts and feelings and just wanted to keep following this silly story. Kudos to Simonelli who did a great job bringing this crazy crew to life.

Crooked Kingdom

 Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, 561 pages.

Crooked Kingdom picks up right where Six of Crows leaves off, with the crows dealing with the consequences of succeeding in their heist. Unfortunately, it is hard to say much more about the plot of this book without giving away the plot of the first one. This book is somewhat exceptional among sequels in that it feels like a direct continuation of the first book while also being a complete and satisfying story all on it's own. 

Crooked Kingdom had all of the same heist elements that I appreciated from the first book, while also finding interesting new ways to challenge the characters despite their exceptional abilities, while at no point making them less exceptional. 

There are a few things that I didn't love quite as much about this book. It was occasionally easy to get confused about what was happening in the past and what was happening in the future, some elements felt a little rushed, and there are a few plot points near the end I don't really understand. However, I would still consider this an exceptional book, and a very worthy successor to Six of Crows. 

Six of Crows

 Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, 465 pages.

After watching Shadow and Bone on Netflix (it's excellent, I highly recommend it), I decided it was finally time to get to the heist book (featuring many of the same characters) that had been on my tbr list for so long.I love a good heist book, so I was pretty excited.

Six of Crows takes place mostly in Ketterdam, a fantasy city inspired by historical Amsterdam. Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a life-changingly huge job by one of the rich merchants who run the city. The only downside being that it is also impossible. A foreign scientist has developed a drug that magnifies the magical powers of grisha, allowing them to do impossible things. It is also highly addictive and completely lethal. The scientist was promised asylum in Ketterdam, but is snatched by another nation before he can get there. Now the merchant council is launching a mission to the frozen court in Fjerda, largely regarded to be impenetrable, to get him back before he is executed, and it falls to Kaz to pull together a team who can pull it off. 

This book has absolutely everything I love about heist media, and every element was exceptional. It had a twisty plot with lots of setbacks, people who are absurdly talented in a variety of fields, and bad and/or criminal people slowly coming to care about each other deeply. I also always have a lot of fun with stories where it only becomes apparent as things go along how much was part of the master plan the whole time, and the shifting perspectives in this book really heightened that effect. The shifting perspectives also made it hard to put this book down between chapters, so I definitely ended up staying up too late to read. This is exactly my type of book, and I enjoyed it so much that I immediately picked up the second one. 

Written in the Stars

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur, 370 pages

Astrologer Elle loves her life, despite her family's disapproval of her unconventional occupation. She does, however, really want to find her soul mate. Enter Darcy, a prim and proper, very serious actuary, whose brother Brendon sets her up on a blind date with Elle. Despite their palpable physical attraction to one another, the date is a DISASTER, which is why Elle is shocked when Brendon tells her how great Darcy thought it went. As it happens, Darcy was simply trying to keep Brendon from setting her up again, and begs Elle to play along, creating a fake relationship to fool both Brendon and Elle's judgmental family. But as they say, opposites attract, and both women find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other.

The "fake relationship" trope in romance novels isn't one of my favorites, but Bellefleur sells it with the familial pressures and obvious attraction between Elle and Darcy. I love the way that Bellefleur winks at Jane Austen (Elle is one of four siblings who have a very controlling mother), as well as the respect that Darcy has for Elle's astrology passion, despite not believing in it herself. And the side characters! Oh, they're fantastic and I would totally want Elle's best friend Margot on my side in battle. This was a great romance, with great chemistry, a great mix of conflict and attraction, and the perfect ending. Loved it, and I can't wait for Bellefleur's next book.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers, 325 pages

Gora is a planet with absolutely nothing going for it — no native life, no atmosphere, nothing — except for its location at the conjunction of five wormholes, making it the perfect place for habitat domes to set up shop as the truck stop of the galaxy. When Gora's satellite shuttles are destroyed during a routine maintenance job, five people of four different species (none human) are stuck together in the Five-Hop One-Stop's dome, biding their time until the skies are clear enough for them to continue their travels. Over the space of a few days, they learn that despite their differences, they have much more in common than they ever expected.

After reading this, I have several emotions swirling around my brain. First, contentment at having read a stellar book full of kindness and consideration and just a bit of action. Second, sadness that this is the final book in Chambers' phenomenal Wayfarers series. Third, joy that I can reread those books whenever I want (and you can bet I will). Fourth, amazement at Chambers' ability to tackle so many heady topics with such care and control without making this seem like a sermon. And finally, anticipation at what she'll do next. Bring it on!

Twice Shy

Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle, 308 pages

Maybell has been a housekeeper at a cheesy hotel in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, for 12 years when she finally gets the news that gets her out — her great aunt has died and left her a huge house and hundreds of acres of land in the middle of nowhere. Maybell fondly remembers her aunt and the house as the one bright spot in an otherwise rough childhood, so she's thrilled to be able to call it home. Two problems though: First, in the 20 years since she saw her, Maybell's aunt turned into a hoarder, filling the lovely house with all manner of junk and letting it fall into disrepair. Second, it turns out Maybell isn't the only inheritor — she has to share with gruff groundskeeper Wesley, who despite being drop-dead gorgeous is about as talkative as a tree. But as they start clearing out the house, the barriers start to fall and the pair finds themselves building a relationship.

OK, so this is basically like reading a Hallmark movie, down to the highly unrealistic construction timeline. That said, it's a great fluffy read for when you NEED something like the book version of a Hallmark movie, and it doesn't try to be anything else. Read it when you need it. :)

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo, 125 pages

Anthropologist/archivist Chih is traveling through the countryside when they happen upon a trio of tigers at the way station where they had hoped to stay the night. In a desperate attempt at survival, Chih offers up the human version of a traditional story concerning the marriage of a young scholar and a vicious tiger. As Chih tells the story, the tigers continually interrupt, correcting them with the "true" version of the tale. Chih can only hope that their story will last long enough for help to arrive... or that the tigers find them intriguing enough to not make a meal of them.

The second book in Vo's Singing Hills cycle (though it certainly stands alone), this again finds Chih learning about their cultural history in a deceptively simple story. There's a lot to think about with this short book, including how stories, and the lessons to be learned from them, change depending on who's doing the telling. An excellent quick read.

The Kitchen Front

The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan, 406 pages

In the midst of World War II, while the men are off fighting, the women of England are making do the best they could on rationed food, clothing, and other necessities. To keep up morale and suggest some tasty ways to use those rationed foods, the BBC creates a cooking contest pitting four local women — an exhausted widow, an uppity lady from a manor house, the uppity lady's kitchen maid, and a displaced Cordon Bleu-trained chef — against one another, making appetizers, entrees, and desserts over the course of three months. As the competition continues, the women get to know one another and realize that while they're all suffering in some way, none of them are alone in their struggle.

This was a charming WWII story that doesn't have any of the blood and guts and violence that so often occurs (no Blitz! no bombs!). It's also a wonderful reading suggestion for fans of the Great British Baking Show. The characters aren't all necessarily likeable, but they are relatable, and I ended up caring so much about all of them. A lovely story.

Hench

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots, 403 pages

This is my second time reading this AWESOME book, and I'll defer to my original post for my overall thoughts. Why did I read this again in such quick succession? It was our Orcs & Aliens discussion title this month, and it warmed my heart that my lovely Orcs & Aliens loved this as much as I did. Discussing it with them only increased my opinion of this book. READ IT!

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles, 286 pages

Robin Loxleigh and his sister Marianne are new to the London marriage market, and they're on the hunt for some wealthy spouses. While they're perfectly lovely to everyone, nobody knows that they're poor grifters aiming at wealthy, and gullible marks. But when Robin sets his sights on John "Hart" Hartlebury's naive niece, her uncle's protective nature takes over and Hart begins investigating. What Hart doesn't count on, however, is for Robin to back down right away...or to become his lover.

Romances set in the London season are always fun, what with all of the polite society politics and scandals, and this is no exception. Adding to the intrigue is the potential ruin both Robin and Hart face if their affair is discovered. I had a few misgivings with how their affair began, but I think their chemistry and the stories of those surrounding them are strong and compelling.

Good Company

 

Good Company / Cynthisa D'Aprix Sweeney, 310 pgs.

Flora has the world by the tail, happily married, good friends, a lovely daughter...but then she makes a discovery.  The wedding ring that her husband claimed to have lost while swimming in a pond is actually in an envelope in their file cabinet.  This can't be good, can it?  He made a big deal of losing it in the pond and people spent time looking for it.  Of course, it isn't good news.  But in addition to shining a light on his duplicity, Flora discovers that her best friend Margot also knew about this.  Now Flora is on verge of losing them both - or choosing to ditch them both.  This book highlights the issues that arise even with something that occurred in the distant past. I like the way the author reveals enough of each character that we really understand where they come from.  The supporting crew here, Ruby, the daughter and a former therapist are fantastic even though they are briefly included.  

A People's Future of the United States

 A People's Future of the United States edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams, 432 pages.

This anthology, inspired by Howard Zinn's similarly titled A People's History of the United States, brings together a very diverse group of authors to write speculative fiction about different ways that America could be. Some of these futures are bright, many of them are not. 

Like most anthologies, I found the quality of the stories within wildly variant. Many of the stories almost feel flat to the point of caricature, and several others are just incomprehensible. However, there are also a number of truly fantastic short stories that were so good they prompted me to put novels by the authors on my to-read list immediately. "Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death" by N.K. Jemisin, "The Synapse Will Free Us from Ourselves" by Violet Allen, and "Good News Bad News" by Charles Yu were personal favorites of mine.

White Sand Vol. 2

 White Sand Vol. 2 by Brandon Sanderson, 160 pages.

In this volume Kenton is working to save the Sand Master's diem, in a legal sense, and himself, in a physical sense. Most of the volume is diplomacy and assassination attempts, with an amount of other plot throughout.

After finishing volume two of three I am still not overly impressed with this series, which is surprising of any work from one of my favorite authors. The plot feels a little slow and the magic system is less elaborate than what I've come to expect from Sanderson. More generally, the whole work is less elaborate than I've come to expect, and I am overall finding the series somewhat underwhelming.  

Early Morning Riser

 Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny (2021) 317 pages

Jane moved to Boyne City, Michigan to teach second grade. She falls in love, meets people, deals with her mother's visits, and more. Jane meets Duncan soon after she moves in, and despite the fact that he has slept with almost every other woman in Boyne City and says he's not the marrying type (at least not anymore, since his marriage to Aggie ended), she sets her sights on him. Also prominent in the story is Jimmy, a sweet, but somewhat mentally deficient man whom Duncan employs in his woodshop.

The story follows Jane for 17 years; it's comforting to watch someone go through real life, appreciating the cute things that her second graders say and do, going through emotional ups and downs without being a drama queen, and coming into her own. Numerous "slice of life" bits in the story make it so endearing.

Persepolis

 Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, 153 pages.

This graphic memoir recounts the childhood and early teen years of Marjane Satrapi, who grew up in Tehran in the upheaval of the 1980's. She was the daughter of politically active parents, and witnessed firsthand much of the social and political upheaval that happened in Iran during these years.

I think that the most exceptional thing about this book is how effective it is at never letting you forget that the horrific things being described are happening to a child. Her favorite uncle is executed, friends of her parents describe how they were tortured as political prisoners, and a neighbor is killed in a bombing. But these are all interspersed with almost equal weight with childhood hijinks like skipping school and trying to get posters in Iran after the Islamic Revolution. This memoir does a really fantastic job capturing what it is to live through a historic moment. A lot of the events are unbelievable tragedy, but they are also, to her, just life. This is a very moving memoir and a quick read, I would definitely recommend it.

Outlawed

Outlawed by Anna North, 261 pages

Ada's life in a small western town looks good in 1894: she's married to a young man, and her future is bright. But after a year without becoming pregnant, the superstitious residents of her hometown are ready to blame her barrenness on witchcraft. Facing possible hanging, Ada flees, first to a convent, and then to the Hole in the Wall Gang, a storied and ruthless group of outlaws led by the notorious Kid. Imagine her surprise when she discovers that the group is made up of other barren women and finds a home with them.

This is a short historical fiction novel, but one that is fully realized and three-dimensional. Ada's skills and concerns are relatable, and North sinks us into a world where women's issues are heightened and highlighted. It's an excellent book, well worth reading.

Turtles All the Way Down

 Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, 286 pages.

This book centers on Aza Holmes, a teenager struggling with OCD and anxiety. Aza's life gets more exciting when local Indianapolis billionaire Russel Pickett disappears in an attempt to evade arrest and a huge reward is offered for information that would lead to his arrest. So Aza and best-friend Daisy Ramirez go seeking the reward, which leads them to Davis, the missing billionaire's son and Aza's old friend from "sad camp" a summer camp for kid's with dead parents. Despite that plot, this book is really less a mystery and more an exploration of Aza's relationships with her friends and herself.  

I find it a little hard to rate this book. I thought it was good and interesting, but I had a hard time finishing it. We spend a whole lot of time in Aza's head, and it is not a very comfortable place to be. That being said, I found this book extremely honest and it is very obvious that Green is writing about problems that he personally deals with. All-in-all I would call this a worthwhile read, but be prepared for something heavy.

The best we could do

 

The best we could do / Thi Bui, 329 pgs.

This illustrated memoir is a moving story of a family who fled Vietnam to avoid war and to find a better life.  The author was a child and her mother was pregnant during their travel so five left Vietnam and six came to the United States.  The book talks about more family history and the struggle the author had with her parents.  As a child, not understanding the forces at work. As an adult, with more understanding but also some of the damage that came with parts of their dysfunction.  An amazing tale with elegant illustrations that do a wonderful job of conveying the mood of the story. Five stars!

The infographic guide to personal finance

 

The infographic guide to personal finance  / Michele Cagan and Elisabeth Lariviere, 128 pgs.

Hate thinking about your money? This handy infographic book makes it easy to understand basics like budgeting, debt and credit, investing and more. The graphics don't dumb this down, they enhance it and make it easy to comprehend like dry, boring words do not. This is a nice starting point for people who are ready to focus on their money matters.

April totals!

Christa 5/1567

Jan 4/1140

Kara 15/5103

Linda 5/1262

Regan 5/2096

TOTAL: 34/11,168

Near the Bone

Near the Bone by Christina Henry, 320 pages

For as long as she can remember, Mattie has lived with her much-older husband William in a two-room cabin on the mountain. She doesn't like how he hits her when he's angry, nor how he limits her access to anything other than the cabin itself, but she doesn't know anything else. Sure, she has occasional daydreams about songs and other people, but William assures her those are just dreams. Resigned to the tough life, Mattie's world changes when a violent and unseen creature begins killing — but not eating — animals in the forest. William is convinced that he has to hunt it down, but Mattie's pretty sure that's a recipe for disaster. Not that William will listen to her...

This is a TERRIFYING book. I enjoy horror novels, but I cannot remember the last time I got fully sucked in and read one in a single day. But that's what I did with Near the Bone. The mix of human and non-human monsters is perfectly done, as is Mattie's growth throughout the story. It's chilling, and absolutely non-stop. So good.

Accidentally Engaged

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron, 357 pages

Reena Manji is sick and tired of her parents attempting to control every aspect of her life, particularly her love life. So when her hot new neighbor turns out to be the next man they're trying to get her to marry, Reena fights the natural attraction that she feels for him. But, darn it, he turns out to be a perfect guy for her, especially when he agrees to be her pretend fiance for a reality TV cooking contest. Will she be able to let go of her hangups with her family in order to let this new romance happen?

Reena is a relatable, flawed character, perfect for leading this story. And Nadim, her "fiance," seems like a total dreamboat. But it feels like a lot of their relationship is based on either miscommunication or their outright decision not to discuss the past (cuz that's ALWAYS a recipe for success, right?), and I find that a particularly annoying romance trope. The food, however, is totally droolworthy, and I LOVE that Heron includes a couple recipes at the back. Mmm...

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, 478 pages

When Ryland Grace wakes up from a coma, he has no idea who or where he is, much less why he's there. Slowly, however, things start to come back to him, and he soon discovers that he's the lone survivor on a "Hail Mary" mission to save Earth from a rapidly dimming sun. Oh, and that he's 12 lightyears from home, on his way to visit the star that may have some answers. But when he arrives, he finds out he's not quite as alone as he thought, as an alien ship has also come, possibly for the same reasons that he has. Soon, what started as an apocalyptic survival story becomes a first contact story...but without forgetting that first part.

After a second novel that only diehard heist fans would like (me. this is me), Weir has returned to form with Project Hail Mary. It's full of the hard science and humor that made The Martian such a success, this time tinged with compassion and creativity that we hadn't seen before. I absolutely loved this book, and it's well worth the hold list.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

 The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, 399 pages.

I'm very late to the party here, but I finally read The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which the Orcs and Aliens book club read a couple of months ago (see Kara's review here). 

January Scaller has led a sheltered life with her caretaker, Mr. Locke, while her father travels the world searching for rare artifacts to house in Locke's mansion, and January herself is the rarest artifact of all. But stories begin with change, and when change comes to her life January has to challenge her role as a "good girl" and draw on the strength that has been locked away so long to do things she wouldn't have believed possible. 

I really, really liked this book. It's simultaneously a classic portal fantasy and a new twist on the genre. It's also a little meta, which I don't mind at all. Thematically it reminds me a lot of The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, which are both favorites of mine. It's the sort of beautiful, sweeping book that makes my heart ache for impossible things, as well as a wonderful look at love in its many forms.

Binging with Babish

 Binging with Babish by Andrew Rea, 336 pages.

This cookbook is written by the same man who produces the recipes on YouTube that I trust the most (a video series of the same name), and I picked up this book mostly to see if it had any new, secret recipes. It did have a few, but what actually made me read this cookbook cover-to-cover were all of the little stories and fun facts that were scattered throughout, especially at the beginning of every recipe or series of recipes. 

It is clear that this book is mostly targeted for fans of the show. A lot of it feels like a behind-the-scenes tour, almost like a commentary track for my favorite cooking series. The whole thing is so full of personality, and it was a pleasure to read. I also really appreciate the "verdict" section of each recipe, which is both playful and helpful, and will tell you if the recipe is not worth the effort (such as in the case of McDonald's style chicken nuggets and szechuan sauce). I would definitely recommend this cookbook, and have a number of recipes bookmarked to try. 

Naked Sleeper

 Naked Sleeper by Sigrid Nunez (1996) 235 pages

Nona is forty, married to Roy, and trying to write a book about her father, a painter who never gained repute and who died in his 40s. It's clear that Nona--an only child--is haunted by him and didn't understand why her mother uprooted her, moving across the country when her mother learned her father was gay.

Nona takes the opportunity to work on the book at a friend's estate at a house party over the course of one month. She works hard at first, but then allows herself to get distracted by other people at the estate, especially a man named Lyle.

Like real life, her own life gets messy when she impulsively goes to visit Lyle for a weekend. She makes a number of decisions, taking the reader to unexpected places, and through the remainder of the novel, Nona tries to find her path forward.

I'd previously read two recent works of Nunez, The Friend and What Are You Going Through. I found those novels excellent and wanted to see one of her earlier works. This novel is not as tight, but okay.