tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1195508717957294822024-03-14T04:58:43.377-07:00Passport Booksbecause with a book you can travel anywhere in time and spaceTiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.comBlogger407125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-77083192725728098842021-07-25T20:04:00.005-07:002021-07-25T20:04:58.653-07:00Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson<p> <img alt="Open Water" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600095386l/53414230.jpg" /> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Open Water</i> is a beautiful, soulful, intimate story about two
young, British-Ghanaian people falling slowly in love as they strive to survive
and thrive in a world that is often hostile to people in Black bodies. This
is a book to savor slowly. I absolutely loved this. I borrowed <i>Open Water</i> from
the library but I’m need to but it because I need own my own copy and be able to reread it again and again. In the meantime here are a few of my favorite passages.<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“You came here to speak of shame and its relation to desire.
There should be no shame in open saying<i>, I want this</i>.” There should be
no shame in not knowing what one wants. – page 2</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“You are safe here, you said. You are seen here. You can
live here. We are all hurting, you said. We are all trying to live, to
breather, and find ourselves stopped by that which is out of our control. We
find ourselves unseen. We find ourselves unheard. We find ourselves mislabeled.
We who are loud and angry, we who are bold and brash. We who are Black. We find
ourselves not saying it how it is. We find ourselves scare.” – page. 34</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“You’re looking forward to forgetting, albeit briefly, the
existential dread which plagues you, which tightens your chest, which pains
your left side. You’re looking forward to forgetting that, leaving the house, you
might not return intact.” – page 69</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Let’s home in for a moment, on the boy, who you glimpsed
sitting on the wall, cuffed, surrounded by police officers. With his beautiful
dreaded hair framing his face like open curtains, and how he wanted to be seen
and heard. What led him here? What led him to outlet his anger into another?
That anger which is the result of things unspoken from and now and then, of
unresolved grief, large and small, of others assuming that he, beautiful Black
person in gorgeous Black Body, was born violent and dangerous; this assumption,
impossible to hide, manifesting in every word and glance and action, and every
word and glance and action ingested and internalized, and it’s unfair and
unjust, this sort of death – being asked to live so constrained is a death of
sorts – so you don’t blame him for the anger, buy why did his anger have to
find a home in another who looked just like him?” – page 76</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“…you were scared, that walking home in the night worried
you sometimes, because you didn’t know which fate would meet you, the one who
looked like you or the one who couldn’t see you, or couldn’t see you as you
were meant to be seen, or whether you would arrive home without incident, and
live to fear another day.” – page 76</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“To be you is to apologize and often that apology comes in
the form of suppression and that suppression is indiscriminate. Except here you
must unfold your arms and from your chest say, you are tired…You begin to choke
and gulp for air as tears stream down your cheeks…You must be heard. You think
you are alone in this until you realize, she is with you too….You do not need
to apologize here. When she asks, are you OK, do not fear the truth. Besides,
she knows before you speak. There’s no solace in the shade. Let yourself be
heard and hear her words…There’s no solace in the shade. Let yourself be heard
and hea her words. Have faith.” – page 76</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Faith is turning off the light and trusting the other
person will not murder you in your sleep.” – page 106</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“You want to tell her there are some things you won’t heal
from, and there is no shame in your hurt.” – page 130</p>
Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-86744543701789674422021-04-24T17:39:00.003-07:002021-04-25T15:38:20.759-07:00Dewey's Read-a-Thon<p> It's that time of year again...time for<a href="https://deweysreadathon.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"> Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon</a>. What is it about read-a-thons that draws people in? For me I think it is the dedicated reading of time. I try to read everyday, even if only a page or two. But on read-a-thon days there is a shift in my mind and the whole day, or a least a significant part of it, becomes devoted to this particular activity.<br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><u>Morning:</u><br /></h4><p>I started with a walk while listening to Octavia's Parables, a podcast about Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower (which I read recently) and Parable of the Talents.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdLLRE0TUaDz_TztlIzeaQKT6DKLPwH02w8q3n1vsHvcDpnj7IUWH2nDRAm49e_btgQjHdn8IvhUt_ceYAar2b1rcyhlDr-zG9HD5Ab2VfaP_9zXRMfeFyu5IbhxusoyIBdd9RvOv7Zg/s2048/20210424_114427.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Parableof the Sower" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdLLRE0TUaDz_TztlIzeaQKT6DKLPwH02w8q3n1vsHvcDpnj7IUWH2nDRAm49e_btgQjHdn8IvhUt_ceYAar2b1rcyhlDr-zG9HD5Ab2VfaP_9zXRMfeFyu5IbhxusoyIBdd9RvOv7Zg/w150-h200/20210424_114427.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /> </p><p>Later I switched to Emotional First Aid: Practical Strategies for Treating Failure, Rejection, Guilt, and Other Everyday Psychological Injuries by Guy Winch, Ph.D. and read chapter 2 on loneliness.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><u>Early afternoon:</u></h4><p>Read-a-thons are great for catching up on comics. I read two that have been sitting around in my unread pile for a long while:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong, Vol. 1: In the Bag</li><li>The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong, Vol. 2: Romance and Road Trips</li></ul><p><u><b>Evening:</b></u></p><p>Ended the evening with a steamy romance: Sin & Ink by Naima Simone. Don't you just love this cover!<br /></p><p><img alt="Sin and Ink (Sweetest Taboo, #1)" class="gr-mediaBox__media gr-book__image" data-reactid=".1yl8rukr3zk.0.1.$=1$42374224.0.0" data-tracking-dfp="true" data-tracking-pmet="{"click_type":"book_image"}" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539735746i/42374224._SY180_.jpg" /></p><p><br /></p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-49743900116590200332021-03-17T14:11:00.001-07:002021-03-17T14:11:42.468-07:00That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert<p><img alt="That Kind of Guy (Ravenswood #3)" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557132760l/45482621._SY475_.jpg" width="130" /> Rae is Ravenswood's newest misfit. She's 40, divorced, and has a big scar on her face. Twenty-eight-year-old Zach is Mr. Helpful. He goes out of his way to make others feel comfortable and helps whenever he can, whether the person needs an orgasm or a car to be fixed. Rae and Zach have a flirty friendship. When Rae needs to attend an awards ceremony that her cheating ex-husband will also be attending, naturally Zach offers to be her pretend boyfriend.<br /><br /><i>That Kind of Guy</i> is sweet and sexy romance. The attraction between Rae and Zach is clear from page one. The highlight of Zach's day is when Rae stops by on her dog walks to say hello. The issues separating them are their various insecurities. Rae likes being single and is wary of trusting her heart with anyone again. Zach is tired of being used and of contorting himself to make other other people feel comfortable. It takes time, but not too much, for both to admit they have real feelings for one another. <br /><br />I very much enjoyed this. I don't know why it took so long for me to read this.</p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-91107686042953437552021-03-06T17:41:00.008-08:002021-03-07T11:57:17.773-08:00The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin<p class="MsoNormal"> <img alt="The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585327950l/42074525._SY475_.jpg" title="The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin" width="140" /> It’s difficult to explain the plot of The City We Became. It
starts with a homeless kid. He’s New York, as in the city of New York – and he
needs help. There are five avatars who are supposed to help him, but first they
have to find him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A man arrives in New York City and suddenly collapses. He
doesn’t remember who is or where he’s from, but he knows he is Manhattan. A
woman in Queens watches in horror as a couple neighbor kids are about to be swallowed
by their pool and she realizes she has to help them and stop what’s happening and,
in that moment, she realizes she is Queens. Women in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten
Island have similar experiences. The world suddenly shifts and they realize
that they are the personification of their boroughs of their city.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I loved this. I loved it so much that I’m mad that I have to
wait for the next book in the series. I loved the personification of the boroughs.
Bronca, the Bronx avatar, is a queer Lenape woman who runs an art center. As a
Lenape woman in the oldest of the NYC’s boroughs, she possesses the knowledge
of and history of the city and what’s happening to it. Brooklyn is a rapper
turned politician. She hears the city. Padmini, a Tamil immigrant graduate student,
is the avatar of Queens, the borough of a starting over. Manhattan’s avatar,
Manny, is a racially ambiguous new transplant to New York. He can’t remember
his past and not sure if he wants to. He reflects the borough’s mix of cultures
and edginess. Aislyn is the avatar of Staten Island. She never leaves her borough;
her abusive father having impressed upon on her how the city is not for people
like her. Of all the avatars, Aislyn is the most susceptible to the villain’s machinations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Speaking of the villain, in old westerns the good guy wears
a white hat and the bad guy a black hat. The white = good and black = bad is
a trope that has been repeated ad nauseam. Jemisin flips this around, making
the “woman in white” the villain. When the woman infects someone or something,
white tendrils start growing out of them or it and you know no good will come
of it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book. It did
take a minute to get into it, but once I understood what was happening, I was
all in. I really hope book 2 comes out soon.</p>
Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-79140666320481119782021-02-17T13:28:00.002-08:002021-02-17T13:28:35.779-08:00Educated by Tara Westover<p> <img alt="Educated" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1609778147l/35133922._SY475_.jpg" width="132" /> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In <i>Educated
</i>Tara Westover recounts her isolated childhood in rural Idaho and how she later decided
to leave that life and pursue her education and a mind of her own. It wasn’t
quite what I expected. If you are at all triggered by stories of abuse, brace
yourself before picking this up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Educated </i>is
divided into three parts. The first part of the book focuses on Tara’s childhood.
Tara’s family reminded me a little of the Waltons (in a good way), a show I
started watching during the pandemic when there were few new shows on. The
Westovers weren’t rich but they had enough food to fill their bellies, a roof over
their heads, and family around the table every night and in that way, they were
fine. There was also plenty that wasn’t fine. The kids didn’t go to school and
were working jobs at far too young an age. Tara’s father was convinced the either
the end times were coming soon or that the family would be attacked by the
government, so he made his family prepare. Somewhere in the mountain where Tara
grew up there are stockpiles of food and guns buried in the ground.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One thing that
I kept thinking as I read this book is how lucky the seven Westover children
are to have made it to adulthood alive with all body parts still attached. There
were so many accidents – two very serious car accidents, a motorcycle accident,
and various workplace accidents at Tara father’s junkyard, including a fire and
an explosion. What made it all worse is that Tara’s parents didn’t trust
western medicine. They chose instead to place their faith in God and in Tara’s
mother’s healing herbs and essential oils. Somehow none of them died.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Along with
not trusting doctors and hospitals, the Westovers also didn’t trust the
government or anything remotely associated with the government including public
education. When Tara applied to Brigham Young University (BYU) she told them
she had been homeschooled but that implies there was a systematic method of
teaching in the home and that doesn’t seem to have been the case for Tara and
her younger siblings. (Some of the older kids apparently received some formal
education but not much.) The ACT Tara took as part of her college application was
the first test she ever took. The first time she set foot in a classroom was
when she enrolled at BYU. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It must be
said that there are somethings that don’t quite add up in terms of Tara’s
education journey. The way it reads Tara (and the two brothers that also went
on to earn doctorates) are geniuses that can learn anything in a few months. Despite not having any kind of formal or informal education, Tara somehow taught herself enough math to pass her
college entry exam. She failed an art history exam because it didn’t occur to
her that she was supposed to read the textbook and not just look at the
pictures, but by the end of the semester she had all As and Bs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The second
part of <i>Educated</i> recounts Tara’s college years and it is during this time that Tara
begins to realize the gulf that exists between her family and childhood and the
way other people live. BYU is a Mormon institution so it’s not like Tara was
suddenly thrust into a totally foreign, secular world and yet so much was
foreign to her. She is shocked when her roommate goes grocery shopping on the
sabbath and cannot believe women are walking around campus in skirts that don’t
go down to their ankles. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In part
three <i>Educated</i> turns into a memoir of abuse and survival. This part I
was not prepared for. Throughout <i>Educated</i> Tara’s parents (especially her
father) are shown at times to be neglectful and controlling but the real danger
is Tara’s older brother Shawn. Tara gives multiple examples of Shawn physically
abusing and manipulating her and other women in his life. As much as <i>Educated</i>
is about Tara not attending school for the first 17 years of her life and going on to earn
a doctorate, it is also about her coming to recognize the abuse for what it was
and the wrongness of it. Unfortunately, much of her family doesn’t see it that
way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Educated
</i>was definitely interesting. It took a while for me to get into but once I was
in, I was all in. I even kind of what to read Tara’s doctorate. Fortunately, I
work at an academic institution so finding a copy might be possible.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-16747305073542995252021-01-16T20:43:00.000-08:002021-01-16T20:43:13.801-08:00Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p> <img alt="Lovecraft Country" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426040983l/25109947.jpg" title="Lovecraft Country" width="132" /> </p>This took a toll. That's not to say it wasn't good, it was.
But as a Black person, it took a toll on me to read this. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Awhile back I was listening to a podcast and one of hosts
said that Toni Morrison's <i>Beloved </i>was her favorite horror story. That horror
part of that statement struck me as odd at first but then the host talked about
the horror of slavery combined with the ghost baby and it all made sense. <i>Lovecraft
Country</i> is horror in the same way <i>Beloved</i> is and more so. There's
the horror in the form of violence and threats of violence against Black bodies
and horror in the form of magical things of unknown origin. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rather than one story as expected, <i>Lovecraft Country</i>
is actually a set of interconnected stories set in the Jim Crow era. The first
story has Atticus Turner, a Korean War vet, driving from the southern half of
the United States to north. He hollers for joy upon crossing the Mason-Dixon
line even though he knows Jim Crow is alive and well in the north too. Atticus
relies on The Safe Negro Travel Guide published by his uncle to make his way
safely home. Of course, he is never truly safe. Upon reaching home he finds out
that his father is missing. Atticus, his Uncle George, and their friend Letitia
set out to find Atticus's father. They eventually find him being held captive
by the Braithwhite family. The Braithwhite family is one of several White
families that hope to harness their supernatural powers and Atticus just
happens to be a useful tool, not a person just a tool, in the pursuit. The
remaining stories all connect back to the Braithwhite’s quest for power.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Throughout the stories Atticus and family friends have to
deal with ordinary racism, which often threatens to get them beaten or killed,
as well as ghosts, malevolent spirits, and other supernatural happenings beyond
their control. Spoiler, the everyday racism is way scarier than anything
supernatural. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There were two short passages that really stuck a chord with
me. The first involved books. Atticus is a reader and he especially loves science
fiction, fantasy, and horror. Atticus remembers how he and his father used to
argue over Atticus’s book selection. The books Atticus tended to pick at best
had no non-white characters, or worse had stereotypical racist characters, or
maybe it was the author who was known to be a bigot. Atticus realizes this but
he likes what he likes and I totally get it. One, it be hard to separate the
artist from the work. (It is always a blow to learn that an author you loved as
a kid, like say Roald Dahl, was massively anti-Semitic.) Two, things are different
now but when I was a kid most of the books that were available to me didn’t have
characters that looked like me. As a kid I realized this but just took it at
face value. As an adult I can look back and think authors and publishers could
have and should have done better, but at the same time I can’t say I dislike
all the books I read as a kid. I still like them, although it is hard to
recommend some of the books I liked as a kid to kids today. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The second passage involved Ruby and her realization the
power she holds as a White woman. Ruby is actually Black but a potion allows
her to turn temporarily into a White woman. One day she is upset and a police
officer asks her what’s wrong. A little ways away there happen to be some Black
teenage boys minding their own business and the police officer asks if the
problem is them. Ruby realizes that all it would take for the police hassle
those boys (or much worse) is her saying they bothered her. In fact, the officer
is ready to go after them before she says anything at all and Ruby has to persuade
him that the boys did nothing to her. It’s scary to know that Ruby was right in
knowing how vulnerable those boys were.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bottom line – good read, but a difficult read.</p>
Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-81055585302396174212020-12-17T22:12:00.001-08:002020-12-18T13:49:17.727-08:00Legendborn by Tracy Deonn<p> <img alt="Legendborn (Legendborn, #1)" height="320" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1598382979l/50892338.jpg" width="210" /> Briana, or Bree for short, is our heroine. Her mother recently passed and Bree
is deeply in grief but trying to put on a brave face and a tough exterior. One
night she sees something she shouldn't, something magical and dangerous near
her school's campus. After another incident Bree begins to wonder if what she
saw is connected to her mother's death. What she finds is more than she, and certainly
I, ever imagined.</p>
<p><i>Legendborn </i>may be my favorite book of 2020. It is definitely
the best young adult fantasy novel I have read in a very long time. It’s Black
girl magic plus the King Arthur legend, with the complex history of the south
and its legacy of slavery woven it. It all works beautifully. I loved this so
much!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">What I loved</span></b></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Author Tracy Deonn has built a world that is complex,
intricate, fun, and interesting. I went down multiple wormholes to learn more
about the things referenced in the story. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It is effortlessly, realistically, and refreshingly
diverse in terms of race, sexual identity, and sexuality. Better yet – it isn’t
a big deal that there are different kinds of people in the story. They just
exist, like they do in the real world, like they have throughout time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2f5597; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #2F5597; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=75000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent1; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">“Growing up Black in the South, it's pretty common to find yourself
in old places that just...weren't made for you. Maybe it's a building, a
historic district, or a street. Some space that was originally built for white
people and white people only, and you just have to hold that knowledge while
going about your business.” (page 75)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">A young Black woman is at the center of the story but
there is no pretense that racism, sexism, or any other kind of -ism doesn’t
exist. When Bree and her best-friend/roommate Alice get called in to a dean’s
office, it doesn’t escape Bree’s attention when the dean calls Alice passive
(Alice is Taiwanese American) and says that Bree has an attitude. Nor does it
escape her (or the reader’s attention) that Bree gets involved with a secret society
where people who look like her aren’t usually part of the membership.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2f5597; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #2F5597; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: lumm=75000; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: accent1; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 191;">“…there is an invisible energy all around us, everywhere in the world,
that only some people know about. Some of those people call it magic, some call
it aether, some call it spirit, and we call it root. There is no single school
of thought about this energy? Is it an element? A natural resource? I think it
is both, but a practitioner in India or Nigeria or Ireland may not agree.”
(page 223)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Different traditions are respected. Rootcraft, (a
fictional magic system modeled after rootwork, a living folk tradition and
spiritual practice developed by enslaved Africans and their descendants under
American chattel slavery, according to the Author’s Note) is on equal footing with
the Arthurian legend.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Bree is a fully realized character. While fighting
demons she also deals with grief and intergenerational trauma. Her parents are loving
and intelligent, but not perfect. Bree is smart, but certainly not perfect.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I couldn't put this book down. It was fun and deeply emotional. Every time I picked up the book I got lost in the story. This book kept me up late reading, and got me up early to read more. There will sure be a sequel and I want it now! <br /></span></p><br /><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--></p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-20983362681833192792020-11-28T21:03:00.006-08:002020-11-30T13:07:53.527-08:00Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith<p> <img alt="Hearts Unbroken" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522343961l/38564416._SY475_.jpg" width="132" /> This was a cute, quick, okay-written read. Lou, a Native American teenager, breaks up with her White boyfriend when he makes one too many insulting comments about Native American people. Luckily this wasn't drawn out. The boyfriend pops up now and again but for the most part, his story ends pretty quickly. The main conflict in the story arises when the high school drama teacher decides to hold "color blind" auditions, but the broader conflict is being brown in a society that is often hostile to brown people. Not surprisingly, some of the people in Lou's Kansas hometown aren't too happy when the auditions result in a Black Dorothy, a Native American tin man, and a Mexican American lion. <br /><br />I can't say that I loved this book. The writing style didn't work for me. I can't pinpoint exactly what the problem was other than to say it didn't flow well. Also, there are several interesting ideas and story lines that start off well and then sort of peter out. For instance, Lou joins the high school newspaper. Inspired by a friend who is constantly working to help her dad and save money for college, Lou decides to do a series of interviews with students who work. It's a great idea but I'm not sure what the point is. We never learn how it all turned out. Nevertheless, I'm glad I read this. I am interested in the experiences of other people of color and this book did a good job pointing out some of the subtle and not so subtle crap Lou has do deal with as a Native American.<br /></p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-33432522838323686902020-10-28T18:09:00.000-07:002020-10-28T18:09:49.539-07:00Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas<p> <img alt="Catherine House" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573869942l/51934838.jpg" width="134" /> Huh? That was my reaction upon turning the last page of <i>Catherine House</i>. That and, "What was this even about?" I love a good what-really-happens-behind-closed-doors mystery thriller set at a boarding school or college but this wasn't that. There is a college and strange things happen at the college but no one, including the main character, appears to be that interested in finding out what happens behind closed doors.<br /><br />Inez is a girl with a troubled past who gets accepted at a prestigious school that counts many rich and powerful among it alumni. The deal is that students agree to spend 3 years (classes are year round) immersed at Catherine House and cut off from the rest of the world. No phone calls, no internet, no TV. No contact with family or friends. The school provides for all their essential needs - food, toiletries, clothes, and lots of wine.<br /><br />So the school is special but why I don't know. The curriculum sounds like BS. No one is pre-med or trying to write the next great novel. There is a major called new materials which is the main thing the school cares about. Mostly the school sounded like a weird pseudo-science religious cult. It is clear students are being experimented on but it is all very low key. None of the students seem to mind or care that much, except for perhaps the new materials majors.<br /><br />Inez, the main character, spends much of her time drinking and sleeping with other students but none of it seems to matter to her. Everything about Inez felt shallow. She is completely uninterested in questioning anything around her and her lack of interest made it difficult for me to be interested. </p><p>This story felt incomplete. If I could edit this book I would condense the 300+ pages here to half the size and then add a second part where either Inez digs deep into the mystery of Catherine House or figures out her life and makes a radical change that leads to her becoming more invested in her own life and the world around her.</p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-76918021931427002662020-10-24T19:03:00.002-07:002020-10-24T19:16:10.271-07:00Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink<p><img alt="Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1380120962l/17704902.jpg" width="132" /> I have wanted to read this story for a long time, even more so after visiting New Orleans for the first time earlier this year. It is the story of what happened at Memorial Hospital during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans and the levees broke, and the resulting aftermath. Long story short, after Katrina hit medical personnel (mostly doctors & nurses), 100+ patients, as well as family members and pets of personnel and patients found themselves stranded at the hospital. They made it through the hurricane but then as everyone knows, the levees broke. The floodwaters rose, power in the building failed, the heat rose, and running water became a thing of the past. Help was slow in coming and was sporadic. Medical personnel made a decision about who should be evacuated first - the healthiest. As the days passed, another decision was made to administer what turned out to be lethal doses of medications to some of the patients. Later, after the waters receded and the city began to grapple with what happened criminal charges were brought against one doctor and two nurses for the second-degree murders of several patients. </p><p>For prosecutors the question in the case was did Dr. Anna Maria Pou and nurses Lori Budo and Cheri Landry administer morphine and other medications with the intent to hasten the death of certain patients or was their intent simply to ease patients pain? According to a grand jury, the answer was no. I would break this down into two questions: One, did they inject patients with drugs to hasten their death? Two, was that the right thing to do, or if not excatly right, at least justifiable and understandable given the circumstances? After reading Sheri Fink's account of what happened, my answer to the first question is an unequivocal yes. I don't at all believe Pou, Budo, and Landry were simply easing pain. In one case, a patient was given something like nine times the amount of morphine in a single doze that he normally received and he hadn't been complaining of pain. As to the second question, I don't know.</p><p>When something like this happens the people involved are either portrayed as heroes and villains, but in reality people are often a little both or maybe neither. One of the problems with portraying a story in black and white is that it leaves little room for nuance or for talking about what could be done better. Dr. Pou, Budo, and Landry are not villains as I see it, but nor are they unsullied heroes either. Perhaps better choices could have been
made, but they did the best they could under the
circumstances. That being said, it is bothersome that in the end there seemed to be
no accountability for what happened. Dr. Pou and nurses Budo and Landry
were not entirely forthcoming about what they did after the fact. (And, there was a fourth doctor that was never charged even though he also
administered the lethal doses.) For legal reasons I get why those
involved would be wary of telling the full truth of what happened.
Still, I wish there could be a truth and reconciliation
commission to discuss what they did, why they did it, and why the other doctors and nurses didn't intervene or speak up if they thought what was happening was wrong (or help if they thought it was right). Further, I wish the company
that owned the hospital, especially the executives in charge, as well as
state and local officials were held accountable for what they did and
didn't do. One of the things that struck me in this story was how the
possibility that New Orleans might be flooded was not a surprise to anyone. For
decades that had been concern but few precautionary measures were ever taken.</p><p><span style="color: #800180;"><i>"Forensic Expert Cyril Wecht did not care if Pou was punished. What he cared about was the truth and what could be learned from it. For heaven's sake, he thought, Memorial wasn't on a goddamn battlefield with enemy shells coming in. This was New Orleans, and there were helicopters and boats. And really, were they saying they couldn't get patients off the seventh floor? Given a choice, would someone rather die a painless death or live after being lowered, however uncomfortably, from a window? A great disservice was being done to the field of medicine, because the events were covered up and medical leaders reacted emotionally, without knowledge about what had happened. For now the lessons seemed to be that in a disaster if you're a doctor, you're in charge. If you feel giving large doses of morphine and Versed are appropriate, go ahead. It's your call. 'Is this what we want young doctors to learn?' he asked. It's a goddamn precedent, a very dangerous, bad precedent." [page 454] </i></span><br /></p><p>Although I don't want to condemn the doctors and nurses involved in what happened in Katrina, I have to admit this book undermined my faith and trust in the American medical system just a little bit. So many decisions were made without talking to patients or their families even when it was possible. There didn't even seem to be consensus or a discussion among all the medical personnel present at the hospital. Rather a few people made a decision that effected many. But of course when there was a threat of criminal prosecution then all the doctors and nurses rallied together, leaving little room for a real discussion of how to make life and death decisions during a disaster. My biggest takeaway from <i>Five Days at Memorial</i>, and I mean this is all seriousness, is that if there is a major disaster, do not go to the hospital. The doctors and nurses might help you. They might not. Or they might take active measures to hasten the process of helping you "let go" (a euphemism used often in the book) because they have decided that your quality of life is poor enough to justify ending it, all without consulting you or your family. And the doctors and nurses will never have to justify their decisions, because unless one can prove they acted with actual malice it seems to be considered "unfair" to question the decisions of a doctor or nurse during a disaster.<br /></p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-31359572828436858152020-10-19T11:50:00.000-07:002020-10-19T11:50:01.047-07:00Network Effect by Martha Wells<p> <img alt="Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568667704l/52381770._SX318_SY475_.jpg" width="131" /> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">I’m so glad Liberty Hardy talk about the Murderbot Diaries
on one of the Book Riot’s podcasts or else I might have missed this series that
has become one of my very favorite things to read. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My favorite rogue SecUnit is back, the sentient AI with
organic parts and its dry, sardonic humor. Murderbot is living and working with
his chosen human family when another ship attacks and kidnaps him and Amena, one
of the humans he is protecting. Once aboard Murderbot realizes he knows the
ship. It’s ART’s ship and ART need’s Murderbot’s help.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The plot is great but what I love about this series are the
characters. For a non-human, Murderbot has a lot of human feelings, mostly annoyance
and anger with humans and their stupid decisions and messy feelings. Despite its
best efforts Murderbot seems to be forming <s>relationships</s> attachments
with humans and other AI. (Murderbot would of course have a sarcastic thought at the idea that it was in a relationship.) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I love this series so much an when I truly love something it
is that much harder to explain why. So instead, here are some of favorite
passages from Network Effect.</p>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #660000;">Quotes</span><br /></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal">Humans have a bad tendency to use weapons unnecessarily and
indiscriminately. Of the many times I had been shot, a depressingly large percentage
of hits had come from clients who were trying to “help” me. [page 20-21]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since the festival had started, I had been taking note of a potential
hostile that Amena had been associating with. Evidence was mounting up and my
threat assessment was nearing critical like. Things like: (1) he had informed
her that his age was comparable to hers, which was just below the local standard
for legal adult, but my physical scan and public record search indicated that
he was approximately twelve Preservation standard client years older, (2) he
never approached her when any family members or verified friends were with her,
(3) he stared at her secondary sexual characteristics when her attention was
elsewhere, (4) he encouraged her to take intoxicants that he wasn’t ingesting
himself, (5) her parental and other related humans all assumed she was with her
friends when she was seeing him and her friends all assumed she was with family
and she hadn’t told either group about him, (6) I just had a bad feeling about
the little shit. [page 29]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If a bunch of desperate colonists came up in the drop box, the
ship could just do a quick detach from the dock’s airlock and it would be
unreachable. It wasn’t a foolproof method but it was 90 percent effective. (Foolproof
is another weird word. Shouldn’t it be smartproof? It’s not like you’re going
to breach and seize control of a ship attached to a space dock by tripping or forgetting
to bring your weapon or something.) [page 228]</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Overse added, “Just remember you’re not alone here. I never
know what to say to that. I am actually alone in my head, and that’s where 90
plus percent of my problems are. [page 242]</p>
Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-70327752014893159392020-10-15T11:47:00.000-07:002020-10-15T11:47:19.422-07:00Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs<p> <img alt="Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson, #10)" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1468500884l/30687916.jpg" width="133" /> <i>Silence Fallen </i>is the tenth novel in the Mercy Thompson series and might be my favorite. It opens with the werewolf pack family enjoying a game night. Needing eggs to bake her delectable cookies, Mercy heads to the store. It's a perfect evening until a semi-truck slams into Mercy's car. Next thing she knows Mercy is waking up in a foreign country as a prisoner of a very powerful vampire. It seems someone told him that Mercy was the most dangerous and the most powerful person in the Tri-Cities and he wants to know why.</p><p><i>Silence Fallen</i> presents and interesting discussion about power. Mercy isn't the strongest being in the Tri-Cities area - werewolves and vampires have her easily beat there. She's fast, but not necessarily the fastest. Aside from being able to turn into a coyote and talk to ghosts, she doesn't have much in the way of magical powers. Instead of physical strength and magic, Mercy's power comes from her relationships. The world of Mercy Thompson is populated by a variety of types of beings - humans, werewolves, vampires, witches, fae, goblins, and a bunch of other things I'm not sure how to classify. Most of the non-humans interact with other supernatural beings as little as possible. Circumstances may sometimes compel them to work together, but they aren't really friends. Yet Mercy has somehow forged friendships or at least earned the respect of members of all the different communities. That's what makes her so powerful, and to some, so dangerous. </p><p>One of the best parts of this series is the relationship between Mercy and Adam. Sadly, they are separated for 95% of the story. Even worse, Mercy's kidnapping temporarily severs the mate bond connection between
Mercy and Adam and that loss is deeply felt by both of them. She's trying to survive in surroundings that are foreign to her. He is desperately trying to find her without losing control and letting his wolf go on a rampage. Even apart their relationship is strong.</p><p>I loved this book! It was action packed and emotional. Plus Mercy, and by extension I as a reader, got to explore new territory as Mercy made her way from Milan to Prague. I can't imagine how Briggs is going to top this one, but I am eager to find out.<br /></p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-19077296927150401542020-09-28T12:18:00.001-07:002020-09-28T12:18:27.027-07:00The Lady's Guide to Petticoates and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee<p> <img alt="The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings, #2)" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522625323l/37880094.jpg" width="132" /> Felicity Montague wants to be a doctor more than anything in the world. Medicine is her one true love. Alas, Felicity is a woman in 1700s (I'm not completely sure of the time period) England and Scotland. It is a time when many men don't think medicine, outside of herbal practices and midwifery, is a suitable job for a woman. Felicity tries to plead her case to numerous doctors and hospitals. She's read all the medical texts could get her hands on. She has reattached a man's finger and mended broken men in the field of battle. Despite her passion and obvious intellect, none of the doctors or hospitals will take her on as a student.</p><p>Felicity hopes that she has finally found a way in. Johanna, a childhood friend is engaged to marry Dr. Platt, Felicity's idol. Felicity decides to crash the wedding and plead her case to Platt. Unfortunately, Platt is a let down. Not just because he, like so many of the other men in the story, can't conceive of a woman being a doctor, but because he has nefarious motives of his own in marrying Johanna. Felicity pushes forward and finds her tribe of sorts in the form of two other smart, ambitious women, Johanna and Sim. Together the three of them go on a wild adventure that takes them to Germany and the Barbary Coast.</p><p><i>The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy </i>is the second in the Montague Siblings series. I enjoyed the first book, <i>The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue</i> but this one was even better. It was full of adventure, sometimes involving petticoats and dragons! It was messy and gross they way I imagine life actually was during this time period. (The streets are literally filed with mud and decomposing animal parts. Very few baths seem to have been taken during this time period.) There is never an easy path for Felicity, at least not any that she wants, and I appreciated that because that's real. No man comes and saves her and says, yes, I'll let you be a doctor. There's also a bit of interesting comments about race. At one point Felicity finds herself in the minority - she's the only one (or very few) white woman in a group of Africans and she feels very alone. Felicity realizes how Sim (who hails from the Barbary Coast) must feel most of the time. Another time Felicity catches herself when they meet another African woman and Felicity assumes that the woman and Sim must be related simply because they are both African.<br /></p><p>I enjoyed the reading the author's notes almost as much as I enjoyed the story itself. Mackenzi Lee's story isn't just wishful thinking. Turns out there were women who pioneered in medicine, naturalism, and piracy. Some of these women were inspirations for the characters in the story. I'm excited for the next book in the series, though I can't imagine it will match up to this one.<br /></p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-32531249225384914472020-09-22T21:42:00.006-07:002020-09-25T11:47:06.990-07:00The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img alt="The Water Dancer" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549993860l/43982054.jpg" width="132" /> This was a long and arduous read. It’s not that I didn’t
like it. It is quite good. The writing is beautifully, truly beautiful. There’s
an honesty about the brutality of slavery and all those involved (included abolitionists)
that I haven’t seen in many books on the subject. Still, it is about slavery
and right now I could do with fewer reminders of Black people being terrorized
and murdered.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A few passages that I liked:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Bored whites were barbarian whites. While they played at
aristocrats, we were their well-appointed and stoic attendants. But when they
tired of dignity, the bottom fell out. New games were anointed and we were but
pieces on the board. It was terrifying. </i>(page 27)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>The Underground would give me no chance to reconsider, for
though we all dreamed of going north, all sorts of fears might overrun a man
when the dream descended into the real. There is always a part of us that does
not want to win, wants to stay down in the low and familiar. </i>(page 185)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Corrine Quinn was among the most fanatical agents I ever
encountered on the Underground. All of these fanatics were white. They took
slavery as a personal insult or affront, a stain upon their name. They had seen
women carried off to fancy, or watched as a father was stripped and beaten in
front of his child, or seen whole families pinned like hogs into rail-cars,
steam-boats, and jails. Slavery humiliated them, because it offended a basic
sense of goodness that they believed themselves to possess. And when their
cousins perpetrated the base practice, it served to remind them how easily they
might to de the same. They scorned their barbaric brethren, but they were brethren
all the same. So their opposition was a kind of vanity, a hatred of slavery
that far outranked any love of the slave.</i> (pages 370-371)</p>
<p> </p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-58821411711413809102020-08-22T21:56:00.003-07:002020-08-22T21:56:38.582-07:00When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey<p><img alt="When We Were Magic" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581258043l/45701797.jpg" title="When We Were Magic" width="132" /> In the acknowledgments the author wrote that this book was about the friends and family that hold us together, uncertainty, learning to accept love and support and how scary and hard a skill that can be to learn (I like the notion of learning to accept love and support as a skill), and about doing hard things un-alone. I suppose that is as good as explanation as any.</p><p>The story begins with a dead boy and his exploded penis. Alexis was trying to lose her virginity with Josh Harper when she inadvertently caused his penis to explode with her magic. Yes, magic. Alexis and her five best friends can all do magic. Each has a particular gift. Alexis can communicate with animals. She doesn't talk to them in words exactly, but understands them and they understand her. One of the other girls can do something similar with plant life, especially trees. Another can heal. They don't know where their magic came from or why they can do it. They just can. They're still experimenting and learning what they can do. They don't know the extent of their powers. Josh's spontaneous explosion is as much as a surprise to Alexis as it no doubt was to Josh. She had no idea she could do something like that.<br /></p><p>Alexis calls her friends for help. Together the six of them try to figure out how to fix, or failing that, how to deal with the situation. Being seniors in high school, Josh is only one of many things they have to deal with. There is college to think about, family members to contend with, and unarticulated feelings to express. </p><p>I enjoyed reading about the deep friendship among the six girls but there was a slight disconnect. The death of a person is a big deal and yet Josh doesn't matter much even though the actions of the girls revolve around concealing his death. His death was merely a way into the story. Little is revealed about Josh or the way the magic in this story works and why these six random girls can do magic. I want to think the magic was a metaphor for the power girls and women have but don't always realize they have. Alas, that is just a guess.<br /></p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-24202375473640638142020-07-30T23:00:00.001-07:002020-08-23T23:35:09.918-07:00The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon<img alt="The Boyfriend Project (The Boyfriend Project, #1)" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1570712674l/52211784.jpg" width="132" /> I like the set up of this book. Samiah Brooks is an intelligent and accomplished African-American woman who works in the tech industry at a company called Trendsetters. The story begins with Samiah finding out that the guy she's been seeing is a liar who's been dating her and multiple other women. She confronts him at a restaurant. The upside of this dating disater is that Samiah gets two new friends out of it - Taylor and London - two other women who had been duped by the same guy. I wouldn't be surprised if there were future books focusing on these two women.<br /><br /><div>Samiah's work life is going better than her romantic life. She's a star at work and better yet, a hot new guy named Daniel Collins just joined the team. They flirt for awhile before there's a kiss. Then he abruptly pulls back before diving back in. Slowly Samiah and Daniel find themselves in the beginning throes of a relationship. There is just one problem - Daniel isn't exactly who he claims to be.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Be forewarned, there are spoilers going forward...</i><br /></div><br />Turns out Daniel is an undercover federal agent sent to find out who at Trendsetters has been laundering dirty money that could be used to fund terrorist activities. On the whole Daniel is very good at his job. Unfortunately for him Trendsetters is even at better at securing sensitive information. Much of what Trendsetters does is solve computer related problems for other companies and that necessitates keeping private information private. So private that Daniel can't infiltrate the company's security protocols.<br /><br />Eventually an opportunity presents itself. Remember how Samiah is a star at work. Being star also means having a better security clearance. One night after sleeping with her, Daniel steals Samiah's access card and makes a copy of it. This is where I fell off the Daniel train and had trouble getting back on. Once he had access to the necessary areas of Trendsetters, Daniel is able to find the evidence he needs and bad people are arrested. Sure Daniel had to lie and steal from Samiah, but it was for the greater good, right?<br /><br />Here's my problem. By stealing Samiah's access card, Daniel not only puts Samiah's job, but her entire career at risk. Several times in the book Samiah talks about the obstacles she faces in her career as a Black women in an industry where there are relatively few women, few people of color, and even fewer women of color. Samiah knows people don't expect her to be smart. They don't assume she knows programming. Colleagues steal her ideas but she can't make a fuss because then she would be the Angry Black Woman who isn't a team player. She has gotten to used to people being slightly disappointed and shocked when they learn that the "S" in sbrooks@trendsetters.com stands for Samiah and not Sarah or something else more White sounding. She has to work twice as hard as anyone else to be taken seriously. She does it because she loves what she does and because she wants to pave the women for other women and people of color in the tech industry.<br /><i><br /></i><div><i>Daniel knows all of this and steals her access card anyway.</i> Sure at the end of the day some bad guys get caught doing bad things, but the fact that it was Samiah's access card that got stolen will haunt her and her career. And in fact, she is punished for it at work. For reasons, the punishment works in her favor but still it is a punishment. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Because this is a romance, there must be a happily-ever-after, which is to say, everything works out in the end between Samiah and Daniel. But it felt disingenuous. Yes Daniel apologizes, but it was a quick "Sorry I lied. I had no choice, and hey, I really do like you." It wasn't enough of an apology and not enough time had passed between the betrayal and the happily-ever-after moment. In the end, the fact that a Black woman has to get thrown under the proverbial bus for the so-called greater good just didn't sit well with me. For that reason, I cannot entirely recommend this book.<br /></div>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-27490814012671211882020-07-25T21:34:00.003-07:002020-07-26T18:27:34.494-07:00My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell<div><img alt="My Dark Vanessa" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583447793l/44890081._SY475_.jpg" width="131" /> <i>My Dark Vanessa </i>is a modern day Lolita with less bloodshed but equal, or perhaps more, devastation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Vanessa is 15 when she walks into the the classroom of 42-year-old Jacob Strane. He seduces her fairly quickly and continues to haunt her life for the next 17 years. There are times when it's happening that Vanessa feels victimized and hurt but Jacob always manages to twist the narrative in his favor. He tells Vanessa that she's in control, that she holds all the power because she could easily destroy him by revealing their physical relationship. When that's not enough he adds threats, not threats of harm from him, but threats of how her life would be forever destroyed and altered if she were to come forward. He tells her social services would take her away from her parents, that she would be forever reduced to being the girl who slept with her teacher. With equal parts affection and manipulation Jacob controls Vanessa's life well into her adulthood. Of course, he doesn't see it that way. In his mind, Jacob is a good guy guilty only of falling in love with her.</div><div><br /></div><div>Vanessa needs to believe he's a good guy too because if he isn't what does that make her? A victim? Vanessa can't see herself as a victim because there were times when she said yes to Jacob, and times when she didn't scream no. Jacob once tells Vanessa that society wants women to see themselves as victims because it's a way of controlling them. Vanessa wants to believe that she is in control, that she was always in control. But there are cracks. As Vanessa gets older Jacob becomes less interested, casting the love story he sold to her in doubt. Other women come forward with stories of how Jacob touched them when they were his students. Vanessa doesn't want to believe them and even when she can no longer deny the truths the women tell, she tells herself that she was different, that what she and Jacob had was love not abuse. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The subject matter makes it hard to say that I liked this book but I am glad I read it. It is a difficult read in the sense that it is hard to sit through any passage involving the repulsive Jacob but it was well worth the read. It reminded of two other books with the same basic plot: <i>Taming the Beast</i> by Emily Maguire and <a href="http://passportbooks.blogspot.com/2014/12/excavation-memoir-by-wendy-c-ortiz.html"><i>Excavation</i></a> by Wendy Ortiz. If you're looking for something super dark and violent, read <i>Taming the Beast</i>. For something less violent but equally captivating and more well rounded, check out Ortiz's memoir <i>Excavation</i>. <br /></div>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-66855383332511801292020-07-20T13:10:00.000-07:002020-07-20T13:10:52.742-07:00Loveboat, Taipei by Abigain Hing Wen<img alt="Loveboat, Taipei (Loveboat, Taipei, #1)" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1589494372l/23559994._SY475_.jpg" width="131" /> Ever Wong is a first generation Chinese American young woman finishing up her senior year of high school. Her passions are dance and choreography but here parents' dream is for Ever to be the doctor her father was in China but wasn't able to be in America. Ever's parents send her to a summer program in Taipei that students have nicknamed the Love Boat (after the late 70s/80s show) because of all the hooking up that happens throughout the summer.<br /><br />Loveboat, Taipei is basically a coming of age story. Ever must figure out what she wants and how to articulate that to her parents in a respectful way. One thing I appreciated is that Ever eventually comes to appreciate her parents' position. She still gets angry at them for controlling her life but realizes they aren't bad parents for pushing her into a medical career. They sacrificed a lot when they left China. Her father went from being a doctor in China to a hospital orderly in the U.S. They believe a career as a doctor will her secure her future. In Taipei Ever gains an appreciation for her parents and her and their culture, while also realizes that she has to figure out a way to talk to her parents.<br /><br />There are lot of shenanigans and soap opera tropes in this story and how much a person like it will in part depend on how much one is willing to tolerate those shenanigans. To name a few, there's a fake relationship, two love triangles (both of which involve Ever), a misunderstood artist bad boy, and plenty of bad teenage decisions. There is perhaps a bit too much going on but it isn't bad for a debut novel.<br />Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-63169056080369581942020-07-05T00:43:00.000-07:002020-07-05T00:43:05.788-07:00Heidi by Johanna Spyri<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqhnQBZW68JOUAjZA63FOwmyKkyb6NRK4ophc36chYEJxekxVGz7D4TG-1-37BBRZszSY7e36_xybP0sCTZWF7zs0lQDDTG1L2clg1C57wfBaQ4tqsBxE4-6GCpSG99GYk-GRtlJKgYI/s3024/20200704_235503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2589" data-original-width="3024" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqhnQBZW68JOUAjZA63FOwmyKkyb6NRK4ophc36chYEJxekxVGz7D4TG-1-37BBRZszSY7e36_xybP0sCTZWF7zs0lQDDTG1L2clg1C57wfBaQ4tqsBxE4-6GCpSG99GYk-GRtlJKgYI/w200-h171/20200704_235503.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div>Remember the Scholastic book sales in grade school? My memories of those book sales are bittersweet. I loved looking at the catalogs but I rarely could afford to buy anything from them. I always felt left out watching other kids receive their book orders. The fact that I loved reading made not being able to buy books from the Scholastic catalog hurt that much more. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>There were two times when I was able to buy a book from the Scholastic and one of the two books I bought was <i>Heidi</i>. (The other was <i>Little Women</i>.) I still own the copy I bought in the third grade. Recently I purchased a set of Puffin editions of four classic children's books, one of which was the much loved classic, <i>Heidi</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Heidi is the story of a little girl who brings joy to everyone she meets. It's a moral tale much like <i>A Little Princess</i>, another Puffin classic I recently read. At age 5 she is sent to live with her grandfather who is known as Uncle Alp by everyone in town. Years earlier Uncle Alp retreated to the mountain after losing his only child. Years living on the mountain top away from other people have led townspeople to view of him as a bogeyman of sorts. Tongues start wagging when Heidi's aunt drops off the orphaned Heidi at her grandfather's house. Everyone is worried about what will become of the poor child though none of them bother to check on her.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It turns out all the worry was for nothing. Contrary to what the townspeople think, Uncle Alp isn't all that bad. Even though it's been years he hasn't forgotten how to raise a child and immediately adjusts to being Heidi's caregiver. Aside from not attending school, Heidi thrives under her grandfather's care and the mountain air. Poor Heidi's life is turned upside down when her aunt arrives to take Heidi to Frankfurt to be a companion to another little girl. Heidi brightens up the lives of those in her new Frankfurt home, but her own light dims as she suffers from homesickness. For Heidi the best place on earth is on the mountain with her grandfather, the goats, and the many people that have become like family to her. Eventually she returns to her beloved mountain. Heidi's Frankfurt friends later discover for themselves just how wonderful the mountain is.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I loved this book as a child, as evident by the fact that I still own the copy I got in third grade. Reading this again decades later I'm happy to say it still stands up. It is perhaps heavy handed in moralizing department but it manages to make living on a cold mountain, drinking unpasteurized goat milk, and sleeping on hay sound heavenly. I bet there were a lot of little girls who, like me, dreamed of living on a mountain with their grandfather.<br /></div>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-12305572608431754962020-06-21T11:47:00.001-07:002020-06-21T11:47:50.809-07:00The Rook by Daniel O'Malley<div><img alt="The Rook (The Checquy Files, #1)" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1561584006l/10836728.jpg" width="129" /> Myfanwy (rhymes with Tiffani) wakes up in a park bruised and battered, surrounded by dead bodies, and no memory of who she is or how she got there. Fortunately there is a letter in her pocket to help her figure out who she is. The new MyFanwy will have to figure out the rest.</div><div><br /></div><div>Myfanwy is an agent for her majesty's secret, secret service, the Checquy, whose job is to protect the UK from supernatural threats. Myfanwy has a supernatural power but her greatest power is administration and organization. She learns that she rose through the ranks of the Checquy based on her ability to efficiently run a large organization (which truly is a talent not possessed by many). If this all sounds crazy, well it does to Myfanwy too. She goes along with it because what else can she do? Someone tried to kill her and she doesn't know who or why or if they'll try again. She must figure out what happened to her without letting anyone know that she has her memory. After all, she was/is a high ranking member of a secret government organization and if her colleagues knew she had amnesia they might deem her a liability.</div><div><br /></div><div>Half the story is told in letters written by the old Myfanwy to the new Myfanwy. As I read I couldn't help but think about the role memory plays in our lives. Who are we if we can't remember who we used to be? Can one truly become a new person?</div><div><br /></div><div><div>This was not at all what I expected. I was expecting a more
straightforward international spy story (and yes I realize a
straightforward spy story is something of an oxymoron but maybe you know
what I mean). It is rare to be truly surprised by a story and for that
alone I recommend this book. <br /></div></div>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-16395164980407976582020-06-05T21:46:00.003-07:002020-06-21T10:53:09.750-07:00A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole<div> <img alt="A Duke by Default (Reluctant Royals, #2)" height="200" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516640638l/35564582.jpg" width="126" /> This is the second novel in Alyssa Cole's Reluctant Royals series. In this one Portia, a flighty fun loving woman, goes to Scotland to do an internship with a swordmaker named Tavish. Tavish is immediately struck so hard by Portia's beauty that he can't think straight or act right. Instead he is rude and dismissive. Eventually he sees how smart and talented Portia is. Portia for her part is also attracted to Tavish but she never lets that get in the way of her job. Speaking of which, while doing research Portia discovers that Tavish is the son and heir of the former duke. So then Tavish has to learn how to be a duke and the two of them have to figure out their relationship.</div><div><br /></div><div>This was cute. The ending was a little rushed. There is a story line involving Portia's relationship with her family that I wanted to explore more, but aside from that minor quibble this was an enjoyable read.<br /></div>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-36046929503074273852020-05-24T17:15:00.001-07:002020-05-24T17:15:08.667-07:00Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay<img alt="Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1448064366l/26074156.jpg" width="133" /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> At times this was a difficult book
to read and it is even more difficult to write about.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At age 12 Roxane Gay was raped by a
group of boys, one of whom she had thought was her friend. For years she told
no one. Instead Roxane turned to food. She began putting on weight to shield
herself against the world, thinking that making herself less attractive would protect
herself from dangerous men. Per the subtitle, <i>Hunger </i>is a memoir of
Roxane Gay’s body, but really it is a memoir of her trauma. The trauma of her
rape. The trauma of being overweight in a world that does not wish to try to accommodate
overweight people.</span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have mixed feeling about this
book. I appreciate the raw honesty of the writing. She has been hurt and
continues to hurt. But the story gets repetitive fairly quickly. Bad things and
bad people happen to Roxane and she feels terrible. Good things happen to her
and she feels like she doesn’t deserve it and self-sabotages. Good people happen
to her and she pushes them away. Sometimes you can recognize a problem exists
and even recognize that you're not handling it well but can't quite get
yourself to act differently or to really address the problem. <i>Hunger</i> is
all about that. </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is not a story of overcoming or
of a triumph. It is not a hopeful story. I applaud Gay’s courage in telling
this story but at the same time hope and wish that one day she can tell a happier
story about herself. By happier I don’t mean a story where she loses a bunch of
weight, but one in which she actually deals with her trauma and builds a life
and a body that she can be content with. This book I think, and hope, is a step
in that direction. </span>
</p>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-54317037792052570312020-05-14T23:30:00.000-07:002020-05-14T23:30:42.833-07:00The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee<div><img alt="The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Montague Siblings, #1)" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492601464l/29283884._SY475_.jpg" width="132" /> Henry "Monty" Montague has been bred to be gentleman but would rather spend his time gambling, drinking, and shall we say hooking up with women and men. His father gives him one last chance. Monty is sent on a grand tour (think of it as a gap year for the 18th century set) of continental Europe. In addition to a chaperone, Monty is accompanied by his best friend and romantic crush Percy and his sister Felicity. The plan is that after a year touring around the continent Percy will be dropped off at a school in Holland (or so Monty is told) and Felicity will be left at a finishing school. </div><div><br /></div><div>Monty is a rich, white, spoiled boy who just wants to have fun and has no interest in becoming the next earl and running his father's estate. One of the things I loved about this is that Monty is called out for his privilege but not in a mean way. Percy is Black. Okay, technically he's biracial man born and raised in England but almost everyone assumes he's from Africa or that he is Monty's property. When Monty chastises Percy for not standing up himself when yet another
person comments on his Blackness, Percy points out that he cannot afford
to get away with the antics Monty regularly engages in. Likewise, when Monty complains about his planned future Felicity reminds him that at least he has choices while she has few. She would love to attend the school her brother got kicked out of, but because she is a woman finishing school is the only education Felicity's father will allow. At the same time Percy and Felicity don't dismiss Monty's complaints. They point out Monty's privileged life and status while still respecting and supporting his desire to live a different life than the one set out by his father. I love that.<br /></div><br /><div>Did I mention that the grand tour turns into a great adventure! Monty being Monty causes a bit of trouble at a party. Nudity and hijinks are involved. The bit of trouble leads to big trouble and even bigger adventures. The traveling companions have to hold their own against highwayman and robbers while also dealing with matters of the heart. Their adventures lead them to Barcelona, Venice, and the high seas. If you like a bit of adventure this is well worth the read.<br /></div>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-15544307908709483852020-05-09T15:17:00.000-07:002020-05-09T15:17:31.784-07:00Daphne and Velma: The Vanishing Girl by Josephine Ruby<div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="The Vanishing Girl (Daphne and Velma, #1)" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572096642l/44575092.jpg" width="133" /> I love Scooby Doo! I still watch the cartoons today when I get a chance, even the movies. They were so just so much fun. Now thanks to Josephine Ruby (or whatever his/her/their real name is since Josephine Ruby is apparently a pen name) I get to enjoy new Scooby Doo adventures with an interesting take. Josephine and Ruby reimagines the cartoon and makes Daphne and Velma a mystery solving duo. As a kids they were best friends. As teenagers they hate each other, but when Daphne's new best friend goes missing and people start seeing ghosts, Daphne and Velma find themselves working together once again. Shaggy and Scooby are there too, stepping in to help when called upon. Fred makes an appearance as well, although he's plays such a minor role in the story that I would not have remembered his character's name if not for the fact of the cartoon. The mystery is perfect with ghost sightings and mysterious disappearances - classic Scooby Doo stuff. It's serious and silly all at the same time. I hope there are lots more books in this series to come.</div>Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119550871795729482.post-7954063012946072562020-05-02T21:25:00.000-07:002020-05-02T21:25:21.630-07:00Wolf's Curse by Kelley Armstrong<img alt="Wolf's Curse" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581823673l/51312700._SY475_.jpg" width="131" /> <i>Wolf's Curse</i> is the conclusion to the story that began in <i>Wolf's Bane</i>. Kate and Logan go to supernatural summer camp. Instead of learning leadership skills they meet a bunch of supernaturals who want to do them harm. They quickly have to figure out which campers are friends, which are foes, and while people are trying to kill them. In the midst of dealing with dark magic, witches, hell hounds, demons, and assassins, the characters deal with issues of sexuality and identity. It's a lot but it mostly works.<br />
<br />
Like the other books in the series there is a bit of romance, lots of action, and multiple mysteries to be solved, all set in a world where werewolves, vampires, witches, demons, necromancers, and other supernaturals live along side humans. This was a welcome return to the Otherworld series, although one big difference between this duology and the original Otherworld series is that this is very much a young adult book. That may be a turn off for some, but I enjoyed this a great deal. <br />
<br />
I so hope Armstrong writes more book in the series. This felt like a little like she was laying the ground work for further books. I hope I'm right because I would so love to read about more about the new characters Elijah,
Holly, Allan, and Mason, along with Kate and Logan of course. Tiffanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17306220942679165842noreply@blogger.com0