The Princess Fugitive by Melanie Cellier

After Ava's plans to marry Prince Maximillian of Arcadia and then take over his country fail, Ava returns home to Rangmeros in disgrace.  Little does she understand how far she has fallen from grace in her family's eyes until she narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.  With the help of a trusted guard she escapes to the woods. After joining a merchant caravan for a while, Ava goes in search of the High King to beg him to help her regain her rightful place. Once she finds him, however, her life changes more than she could have imagined. 

Cellier calls this a "reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood," but the connection to the old fairytale is pretty minimal.  There are references to wolves, woodmen, and grandmothers, but they occur mostly in dreams and metaphores.  With very little tweeking it could easily have been made to be a retelling of Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.  That said, this is a fresh and fairly original kind of Princess story.  At the beginning Ava is a mercinary puppet of her crewl father.  During the course of the story she graduatlly changes to becoming the kind and benevolent ruler her kingdom needs.  I don't know if the author intended, but it also has subtle Christian undertones.  I think I liked it even better than the first in the series and look forward to reading more.  (336 p. 2016)

When Mercy Rains by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Suzanne Zimmerman was pushed out of her mother's home, and their conservative Amish community, when she was found to be pregnant outside wedlock.  She never returned home, but stayed true to her roots by becoming a nurse in Amish mission hospital.  She tried to do her best as a single mother, and her daughter grew up to be a well mannered and spiritual young adult.  19 years after leaving, Suzanne is called back home to take care of her mother who has become a paraplegic. Her daughter, eager to meet the family she has never known, begs to come with her.  Most of Suzanne's family do not know the real reason Suzanne left, and none know the true story that has kept Suzanne separated from her family and community all these years.

So, there is a whole subgenre of literature based on ultra-traditional religious groups like the Amish and Mennenites. We have at least two rather lenghthy series in my little library in the Religious Fiction section, so I thought I would try one out.  It is a sensitive look at a family trying to heal old wounds.  I kept expecting there to be a romance, but there isn't one.  The pacing is a little slow, but I appreciated that the author aknowleged that deep family rifts don't heal over-night.  It was an uplifting read, but not a very gripping or exciting one.  I am not sure if I will read another one soon.  (2014, 334 p)

Who Was: Six Scientists and Inventors (various authors)

 This is a compilation (available on Overdrive) of six of the popular children's Who Was biographies of famous scientists and inventors.  This collection has biographies on Neil Armstrong, Marie Curie, Benjamin Franklin, Galileo, Jane Goodall, and Steve Jobs. Hat's off to the publisher that started this series of Biographies, that are long enough for reports, but written in an engaging enough way so that young readers can actually get through them. Each covers the high points of the subject's careers, but also tries to suggest a little about personality. I must admit I learned some new facts about these amazing people.  For example, I didn't know that Jane Goodall was not trained as a scientist when she started studying the gorillas.  I didn't realize that Steve Jobs was more the idea and marketing man behind Apple, instead of a technical innovator.  After having read several adult books in a row, it was kind of pleasant to read something simple and interesting.  (2016, about 6 hrs listening time total)

Sweet Masterpiece by Connie Shelton

Samantha Sweet is a average looking, 50-something who works for the government, but dreams of owning her own bakery.  One day as she is cleaning out an abandoned home for the USDA she meets a dying woman who gives her a strange, roughly carved box.  When she touches the box it glows slightly, feels warm, and infuses her with energy.  She needs all the energy she can get when later that week she gets mixed up with a mystery surrounding the death, (possible murder) of a famous artist. As she tries to untangle fact from fiction in the case, she finds herself getting tangled up with a handsome police detective. 

This was kind of an odd little mystery.  It is definitely in the "cozy mysteries" genre, complete with detailed descriptions of Samantha's baking exploits, but the supernatural element adds a bit of novelty. The main drawback is that Samantha is not above a night of fairly casual sex, but there is no description of the event, so that, at least is good.  I am still debating whether to read any more in the series. (2010, 244 p)

Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate

 Rill Foss and her four siblings live with loving parents on a houseboat on the Mississippi in the 1930's.  On the night her mother goes into labor with twins, a police officer catches Rill and her sisters and brother and take them to the Tennessee Children's Home Society.  They think they are just staying there until their mom gets back from the hospital, but there is something much more sinister going on. 

Two generations later, Avery Stafford is being groomed to replace her father, whose health is failing, as a state representative. She meets a woman during a nursing home photo op that looks very much like her grandmother, and has a picture of her grandmother as a young woman.  As Avery starts to investigate the uncanny coincidence, she starts to unearth secrets about her family's past that some may wish to keep buried. 

This book was on the top of the e-book charts a few years ago. It is a well written and intriguing historical fiction based on an actual scandal.  Hundreds of children in the 1930's-1950's were stolen from their poor families and groomed and then sold to wealthy families.  Those who were unsalable were often just killed.  Wingate resists the temptation of painting the wealthy families as evil or wicked because they participated in human trafficking.  Often the adoptive families were just as much victims of the Society's deceit as the children were. Nothing is black and white, and it is the complicated nuance that makes the book fascinating and compelling. Part mystery, part tragedy and part romance, there is good reason it was such a hit (2017, 342 p.)

Lifelike by Sheila Nielson

 Although only 16, Wren has already had a rough life.  She had been battling Leukemia, and had gotten to the point that no further treatments would prolong her life, when her family was in a car accident and were all killed.  Now she is living out her last months with an eccentric aunt who has just purchased an old Victorian mansion that has been converted into a doll museum. The museum is a popular tourist attraction, both because of the dolls and because it is rumored to be haunted. As soon as Wren arrives at the museum she learns about a young man, Xavier, who used to live in the house, who has accused of murdering his niece before dying, himself, in a terrible fire. Wren senses the ghosts in the museum, and begins to believe that Xavier's ghost is benevolent. As her connection with Xavier's ghost grows, she goes on a crusade to prove that he was the innocent victim of a different malevolent force.  Unfortunately, that evil force also haunts the museum, and wants to stop Wren from learning its secrets.

This is Ms Nielson's third teen fiction, and, like the others, is great fun to read.  Wren is, despite all her trials, a plucky character who faces ghosts, and her own mortality, with aplomb.  I really like Wren's voice. She sounds like a real teen and you can almost hear her roll her eyes sometimes.  Like any good suspense writer, Nielson intersperses the tense scenes with funny ones so the story doesn't get too intense too soon.  I think teens who liked her earlier books, and also those who like other clean paranormal romances will enjoy this one.  (2020, 338 p.)

The Princess Companion by Melanie Cellier

 Allyssa grew up as a woodcutter's daughter with 4 brothers.  At 17 she decides to leave home and get a job with her aunt who lives in the country's capital and runs a prosperous inn.  On the way, however, she gets lost in a storm and ends up coming across the royal family's winter palace.  At first they think she is a lost princess, and invite her to sleep in a special "princess chamber"  but she soon informs them of her true status. They keep her on as a companion and playmate for the two 11-year-old princesses.  Life with the royal family isn't all fun and games, and there is even danger from those who would like to see their small kingdom gobbled up by a stronger neighbor.  To keep the country safe, prince Maximilian must make a marriage of alliance. Allyssa comes to be torn between her desire to help the royal family she loves, and her urge to flee a growing attraction to the man she knows she can never have. 

I just stumbled across this one when I was trying to find a new book  to read in a hurry.  It turned out to be pretty good.  I have read a lot of fairytale-retellings, but very few about the story of the Princess and the Pea (this is not a spoiler, it tells you as much in the preface).  Cellier does a great job with it, focusing on the court intrigue and character development, with only a small hint of any magic element. I loved the fact that in the end it is Allyssa's intelligence and willingness to do the hard research that saves the day. Plus, the romantic relationship develops over a matter of months, not in one day or a week. Cellier has written a bunch of other fairytale-retellings.  I definitely plan to read more. (333p. 2016)

What Once Was Lost by Kim Vogle Sawyer

Christina Willems has taken over running the poor farm in late 1800's Kansas.  When the farmhouse catches fire, no one is hurt, but Christina scrambles to find homes for herself and the residents until the house can be rebuilt.  The last child to find a home is the blind boy, Tommy.  The only one who will take him in is the handsome but reclusive mill owner, Levi.  As Christina's problems multiply she is surpized to find that Levi steps in to help out.  She wonders what has made him a loner, and marvels at how Tommy blooms with a positive male rolemodel. As one challenge follows another, Christina wonders if the poor farm will ever be rebuilt, and her life return to normal.  She also begins to wonder if she wants it to.

Ok, here is another historical Christian romance.  I would say it was above average.  Yes, it is sappy and meladramatic, but the writing is pretty good otherwise and the characters are likeable and believable. No world class bronco riders or crazy rich English dukes here.  I think I need to put Ms Sawyer on my prefered historical romance writers list. (359 p. 2013)

Merry Christmas, Alex Cross by James Patterson

 Alex Cross is a detective with the Washington DC Police Department.  Just a he is about to join his family for a traditional reading of the Christmas Story in the book of St Luke, he gets called into work to handle a hostage crisis.  A man who used to be a high-powered lawyer has come back to the home of his ex-wife and is threatening her, her new husband, and his kids.  Alex hates missing Christmas with his family, but knows he has the skills to try to talk the guy down.  Then later Christmas night, there is a terroist attack on a train station.  Alex has to make some tough choices to save Washington DC from an unspeakable crime.

After reading Ali Cross, and seeing how Alex Cross is portrayed as a decent and even religious man, I thought that I might read an Alex Cross book and see if it is cleaner than the other adult Patterson books I have tried to read before.  So... it was a little better than some other Patterson books, but it is no "cosy mystery" by any measurement. It still has depictions of aberrant sex, child abuse, both physical and psychological, and a pretty high body count.  The way it differs from other Patterson books I have attempted to read is in the degree of detail.  It mentions these things, but there are no lengthy descriptions of either ludeness or wading through oceans of blood.  Also, Cross is portrayed as a decent, religious, family man who struggles with the wickedness he sees in the world.  Still, I probably won't be revisiting the series. (2016, 320 p)

Leadership 101 by John Maxwell

John Maxwell has written numerous books on leadership and management.  This one is a short summary of his basic leadership principles.  I liked the fact that he presents his ideas without gimic; no catchy acronyms or catch phrases. He just lays down common sence ideas like the importance of selfdiscipline, and earning people's trust by having integrity.  He also emphasies that developing leadership is on ongoing effort that can take years.  He illustrates principles with short anecdotes from history or from his own life.

So, I had a tough week at work politically, and felt like I needed a leadership peptalk.   I just randomly chose this title and it wasn't a bad choice.  For one thing, it is short.  The recorded book is only two hours long so I was able to listen to the whole thing in one day of doing chores around the house.  Also, I realized that I actually do much of what he is speaking about, which built my comfidence a bit. It also gave me some ideas about how to go forward with some of my problems at work.  So, if you just need a two-hour book to groud yourself and reset as a leader, I recommend this one.  I may read more by Maxwell in the future.(110 p. 2002)

The Selection by Kiera Cass

America Singer is a 5, a social class that are mostly artists and performers.  As 5's her family generally has enough to eat and a place to live, but there are times when they must choose between eating and having their home heated. America has a secret relationship with a boy who is a 6. Marriage outside your caste is frowned upon, and America's mom would be devistated to know she was dating someone of a lower caste. One avenue to attain a higher status is to participate in "The Selection," a process by which the crown prince chooses a bride from amoung his countrywomen.  When America is invited to participate in the "Selection," she, at first, refuses. But when even her boyfriend urges her to go, she takes the plung, but only because she knows how much her being a participant will help her family. What she doesn't know is how much she is going to end up really liking the prince.

This is the first book in one of the most popular YA series in our library.  All the time I have teens or their parents looking for "books like The Selection."  I finally decided I better read it, and can see why it is so popular.  It is a distopian Cinderella story, pretty similar in plot to both Cinder by Marrisa Meyer, and Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.  In all three, a girl doesn't understand how stunningly beautiful she is, and is surprised to find she has caught the attention of someone way above her station.  In all three books the Prince/Magical Being is just as attracted to her for her strong morals, as her good looks.  Cass's world building is interesting and her characterizations are good.  I enjoyed the book but am still deciding if I want to committ to read the whole series.  I must admit, YA fiction isn't really my favorite genre (with some exceptions) and I only read the first books in both the Cinder and Twilight series and then got tired of the raging hormones. (2012, 327 p)

Ali Cross by James Patterson

Ali Cross is the 13 year old son of the famous Washington DC, detective Alex Cross. Ali adores his dad, and wants to be just like him.  Unfortunately, his dad is on administrative leave because he is going on trial in a police brutality case.  Ali is also worried about a friend of his, Abraham, who has gone missing. Then on Christmas Eve, the Cross family's home is robbed, and all their Christmas gifts are stollen.  It is a tough time for Ali and his family, but Ali is determined to work to make things right.  He uses the skill and determination he has learned from his Dad to try to solve his first big case by finding his friend.

James Patterson has written so many books, and this one is an offshoot from his successful Alex Cross series for adults.  I have read a bunch of his kid's books, but when I tried to read one of his adult action/adventure crime books, it was way too dark and gritty for me. When I saw this book on the shelf, I decided to give it a try, and it turned out to be a decent kid mystery.  I am glad to know about it, because it is hard to find good kid mysteries with a male protagonist.  (It turns out most kid sleuths are girls.)  After reading this, I am interested to read a Alex Cross book. In this book Alex Cross is very moral, and even religious.  Maybe the Alex Cross mysteries are not as dark as other Paterson adult books I have tried. (2019, 320 p.)

La Casa en Magno Street by Sandra Cisneros

 Esperanza lives in a small house in the poor side of town.  This book contains short vinettes from her life as a Latina in a big American city.  

I wanted to read this book for several reasons.  I had, of course, heard of it and knew it was a multicultural classic, but had never read it.  It was also on a list of books on a grant I was considering applying for.  The other books on the list seemed super heavy, but this one seemed a little lighter.  The thing is, when I went to check it out on Overdrive, they didn't have an audio version in English, only in Spanish.  I have studied a little Spanish, and sometimes listen to Spanish blogs, so I thought I would try listening to it in Spanish.  As it turned out, I only caught about 1/3 of the words.  Some of the stories about words I know I understood pretty well. Other stories were about some word I didn't know, and I got very little of what was happening. I will have to go back some day and read it in English if I really want to find out what happened.  That said, trying to understand a book in Spanish, about a Spanish speaker who had to learn English was somehow a meaningful experience and I don't regret the time I spent doing it. (1994, 112 p)

My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade

Kate Donovan has always wanted to fall in love, get married, and raise a family, but her 30th birthday has come and gone and that hasn't happened for her. She decides to take a break from her career as a social worker to help her grandmother restore their family home.  There she meets the handsome handiman, Matt Jarreau.  He is reserved and seems to live under the cloud of grief.  Kate takes it upon herself to bring some sunshine back into his life, and ends up getting closer to Matt than she ever dreamed. Has God answered her prayer for a real love at last, or is her relationship with Matt only a temporary part of the Lord's plan?

After reading La Casa en Mango Street, my brain and soul needed a break.  Becky Wade's books are so silly because of the over-the-top male protagonists she creates.  In this one Matt is a Stanley Cup winning hockey player, and heartborken widower (his departed wife was a former Miss America).  Still, it is a fun read and just the mental break I needed.  It is a little nice to have characters who seek to be lead by the Spirit to do God's will, even when (or maybe especially when) that "will" concerns someone whose muscles ripple under his tight hocky t-shirt. (2012, 346 p)

The Christmas Heirloom by multiple authors

This is a collection of four Christmas romance novellas by four different authors*. The first is set in the 1700's in England and is about Sarah Gooding who is the hired companion to an older aristocratic woman.  Sarah finds herself falling in love with the woman's grandson, but knows the match is impossible because she, as a hired girl, is below his station as a gentleman.  The old woman, who herself married for love, gives Sarah a brooch that gives her the courage to follow her heart.

In the second, Sarah's granddaughter, Ruth, has inherited the brooch but has to use it for collateral when her husband dies and she doesn't have the money to secure housing for her and her daughter in the frontiers of Texas. As Sarah works to earn enough money to get the broach back, her landlord begins to see what a remarkable woman she is.

The third and fourth novellas also follow the romance of the granddaughter of the previous story's heroine.  The third woman is a sharp shooter in West Virginia, in the 1950's and the fourth is a woman in modern times. Each finds the man of her dreams at Christmas time with the help of the brooch. 

Ok, I read this back in March during all the COVID-19 crisis.  I was super stressed at work and needed total cotton candy escapism to get my mind off of my work troubles for just a few minutes each day.  This set did the trick.  Each of the stories features a Christian heroine, who prays for help and guidance as she makes difficult choices.  It is all super sappy, but was just the right thing for me right then in my life.  This a a great choice for those ladies out there who watch the Hallmark Christmas Specials all during December.  (Has a man ever read this book?  I doubt it.) (2018, 386 p)


*the authors in order
Kristi Anne Hunter
Karen Witemeyer
Sarah Loudin Thomas
Becky Wade

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

A family of fox kits sneaks out to hear stories that are supposed to be so scary they will "put the white in their tales."  Six young foxes sit together as the stories begin, but as the heroes of the stories face sickness, familial betrayal, a giant water lizard, and a crazed taxidermist, one fox after another sneaks away to the safety of their own den.  As the storyteller warned at the beginning of her tale, only those who are brave enough to last until the end will find the stories contain, not only terror, but also love.

This book won a Newbery honor medal last year.  It is a unusual book.  You wouldn't think that stories about anthropomorphized foxes could be very intense, but they are.  Heck, I almost sneaked away like the little foxes did after the first couple of stories.  The writing is lovely, and, like I said, very intense.  I am not quite sure what, if anything, the book was meant to accomplish, except maybe to reassure the reader, that, no matter how bad things get, there can still be better times ahead.  That said, I would not give this to any child unless they specifically asked for a scary story.  It could make a sensitive child have bad dreams for weeks, especially if they didn't finish the book.  Especially disturbing is the story about the an knife wielding Beatrix Potter. She puts even Dolores Umbridge to shame. (2019, 314 p)

Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

Kamet is a slave, but a very powerful slave and a very valuable one as well.  As the chief slave of a Mede prince he directs all his other slaves and takes care of all his accounts and correspondence.  He has access to a good education, a good library, and even makes a little money of his own on the side.  Despite occasional abuse from his master, he is satisfied with his life, and scoffs when an Attolian visitor offers him freedom if he will come with him to Attolia. That all changes when Kamet hears that his master has been killed.  He knows that he will be blamed for the murder so he reluctantly escapes the city with the Attolian.  He doesn't really believe the Attolian, who claims to be a friend of the Attolian King, will really grant him his freedom, but traveling with the huge warrior is safer than traveling alone.  He plans to escape from him at his first chance.  He does not expect that his traveling companion, so different from himself, may slowly become a friend.

 

I don't know if my faithful blog readers know the history of this series.  Ms Turner wrote the first book in 1996.  This is the fifth in the series, and the sixth just barely came out.  So she has basically written the series at the rate of about one book every 4-5 years.  The fact that she has devoted fans who have been patiently following the series for a quarter century attests to how good they are.  I love Turner's books.  They are so clever and subtle in plot and rich in characterization.  Each one deals with relationships of unexpected love and respect. I love that in this one, Costis and Kamet develop a deep bro-love that is not sexual or twisted in any way.  They just become really good and trusted friends because of what they go through together.  I also really like the setting for this series.  It is an alternate BC Southern Europe/Southwest Asia.  Having been a classics major in college I eat it up.  So yay!  Now I have finished this one, I can read the last one in the series that just came out.  I even plan to actually read it ...in print!  Enough said. (336 p. 2017)

The Downstairs Girl by Stacy Lee

 Jo Kuan works as first a shop girl and later a lady's maid during the day, but at night she anonymously writes an advice column for a struggling newspaper.  Little do the owners of the newspaper know that Jo and her "uncle" Old Jen live in an old abolitionist hiding place under the newspaper office. Jo and her guardian are Chinese, but Jo was born in Georgia, and raised by Old Jen, who came to America as a young man to work on the railroad.  Since no one know where they live, they have to keep a low profile or risk losing the only home Jo can remember.  That becomes harder when Jo's advice column becomes popular and controversial.  When she is caught in the act of delivering one of her "anonymous" articles, she has to decide what she is willing to risk to keep having a way to let her real voice be heard.

I checked out this book because it is was on Overdrive's "Always Available" list.  When I started listening it, I almost returned it at once because I didn't like the voice actor. I stuck with it and ended up enjoying it pretty much.  Jo is an interesting protagonist.  She is a Chinese American living in the deep south and most people treat her like a colored person, but some do not.  I guess I always thought of the Chinese who ended up in California after the trans-continental railroad was finished, but it makes sense that not all the Chinese immigrants stayed in California.  Lee's writing style is a bit flowery for me.  She uses a lot of short simile's and metaphors to describe stuff.  They are not cliche; in fact, they were quite original, but I did get a little tired of them by the end.  Still, I enjoyed the book and it opened to me a new awareness of the plight of Chinese Americans in the Reconstruction era South.  (376, 2019)

A Lady in Disguise by Sandra Byrd

Miss Gillian Young's mother was an heiress, but became an outcast from society when she decided to become an actress. She married a middle class police detective and they lived very happily until the mother's death.  When her father subsequently dies in a freak accident Gillian is suspicious, and her worry only grows when evidence turns up that her dad was a crooked cop.  As she looks into the allegations she is both pleased and confused by the attentions of two men.  Lord Thomas Lockwood, a man of wealth and title, could have any debutante, so why was he concerning himself in her troubles?  Constable Francis is probably more of her own social class, and the son of her late father's partner, but she doesn't feel any real attraction to him.  As evidence mounts of her father's alleged indiscretions, it is hard for Miss Young to know whom to trust, and where to turn.

After reading the book below (Fighting Words), I felt like I needed something light to read for a little while.  I decided to try a new author of my favorite escapist genre, Christian romance.  I must say I was a little underwhelmed by this one.  It was fine.  The mystery is decent and the romance is OK.  What it lacked was sparkle.  I would liked to have had witty repartee and funny interludes to break up the suspense of the mystery elements.  They just weren't there.  I also think that the portrayal of the relationships and interactions were not very authentic to the time period.  I think I would have liked it better on another week, but this week it just didn't do it for me. (plus, I didn't really like the reader, she read way too slowly, and I thought her accents a little forced) (2017. 376 p)

(I need to make a list of Christian Romance authors and if I liked them or not, so I can find new books in a hurry when I need.  If I do, I will add a link or and entry on this blog.)

Fighting Words by Kimblerly Brubaker Bradley

 When Della and Suki's mom goes to prison for running a meth lab, and the girls , ages 5 and 8, just keep living with their mother's boyfriend, even though he is no blood relation.  When he tries to sexually molest Della, and Suki gets a picture of the act, he gets arrested and Della and Suki are moved to foster care.  Their new foster mother is not particularly affectionate, but she is conscienous and takes care of them.  Della soon starts to settle into their new, life, but Suki is unexplainably angry and volitive. Della can't quite understand why her sister is struggling.  After all, it happened to Della, not Suki... or did it?

Wow, this was a tough one to read.  Brubaker-Bradley doesn't pull any punches as she describes what the girls go through dealing with their pasts of neglect and abuse.  The book is written from the point of view of the 10-year-old, Della.  She is hurt, and damaged, and acts up at at school, but she is also nieve, and ignorant of what her sister went through for years. The voice of Della is pitch purfect.  It feels exactly how a 10-year-old would experience the situation.  The reader is cheering both her and her sister on as they face things no child should have to face.  

As I read the book as a librarian I kept asking myself if the book crossed the line of what I could include in a children's section. The author describes both the "boyfriend's" attempt at raping Della, to the point he pulled down her panties and fondled her genitals, and (spoiler alert) Suki's attempt as suicide by slitting her wrist.  All of the times Suki was raped are only refered to in general terms, like "he hurt her."  In the end I decided to leave it in the "intermediate" section, for grades 4-8.  Is it possible some child will pick it up and be really upset by the content?  Yes.  Is it possible that some adult will be irate because their child was upset?  Yes.  Is is possible it might get into the hands of a child who really needs to know that he/she is not the only one this happened to, and that there is a why out?  Yes!  I am willing to risk the first two senarios, to facilitate the third. (259 p. 2020)

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Ove is a man of few words, and strong opinions.  He was never good at academics, but is a natural at working with his hands and figuring out how physical objects, like motors, and building projects, work.  When the light of his life, his wife, dies, he just keeps going to work, but when he was given early retirement, he figures his life was pretty much over. All that there is left to do is plan his own death with the littlest possible bother to anyone else.  Unfortunely, in Ove's mind, the new neighbors keep interfering.  As he puts off his own moribund plans to help them back up their car or fix a radiator, his old heart gradually finds something in this world to hold on to. 

I had seen this book before, but the title kind of put me off. I knew it had been hugely popular when it came out in 2014, and that they even made a movie of it.  When I mentioned I hadn't read it to my co-workers there was a chorus of people saying, "Oh, you have to read it.  It will make you laugh and cry."  They were absolutely right.  I think it is my new favorite book I have read this year.  I think everyone knows an Ove type person, crusty on the outside, and true blue on the inside.  The writer is brilliant in his characterizations of not only Ove but all the different people in the book.  The book was orginally written in Swedish, but the translater did a brilliant job.  The same author just came out with a new book.  We will see if it lives up to the first. (337 p. 2014)

P.S.  If you are bothered by swearing, you may want to give this one a by.

Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee

 

Sora's family had originally welcomed the Communists who liberated their country of North Korea from Japan.  They soon discovered they had traded one task master for another, just a cruel.  As people in their village who sympathize with South Korea and the Americans start to be seized, and some say, killed, Sora's father decides they need to flee to the south.  Sora is big sister to two younger brothers, and when she and her nine-year-old brother are separated from their parents, Sora understands that it is her job to get her brother safely to her uncle's house in South Korea.  As she toils on her quest to find the rest of her family, Sora begins to understand that the Communists are not the only ones standing in the way of a bright future for her. 

This was published in July and instantly garnered many starred reviews. Like When Stars are Scattered, this is a heart wrenching refugee narrative.  Though not based on a single historical figure, this story is roughly based on Lee's grandmother's experience.  I wasn't aware of the masses of refugees that felt North Korea to the South during the Korean war. I am glad I read it because it gave me new knowledge of history, but I found this story harder to read than When Stars are Scattered.  It had more violent content, and a less happy ending.  It is emotionally very heavy and I wouldn't recommend it to a child unless I knew that they were interested in this kind of book and could handle it.  (320 p. 2020)

We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly

 
Twins Fitch and Bird and their brother, Cash, live in a home where their parents constantly fight.  Their disfunctional marriage affects the children in different ways.  Cash is dyslexic and, without parental support, is at risk of failing 7th grade.  Fitch stuggles with anger issues and Bird, although very bright, struggles with self esteme.  An enthusiastic teacher at their school proclaims January 1986 as space month, and the students have projects leading up the the launch of the space shuttle challenger.  As the launch draws near, the stress of their home environment and challenges in their lives at school threaten to drag all three children into their own kind of black hole.  

This book was beautifully written, and an utter downer. The stupid parents were totally ruining their kid's lives, and the whole time the reader is sinking into dread, knowing how the Challenger flight ended.  I am trying to decide who would like this book.  Maybe if there was a kid in a really dysfunctional home, it might give them hope, that, although their parents were jerks, they might bond with their siblings to get through.  Or maybe, there might be someone who read it and said to themselves, "at least my parents are not that bad."  I was totally not in the mood for this, even though it was really well written.  It is on a lot of Newbery lists this year, but I hope it doesn't win.  We don't really need more depressing Newberys. (391, 2020)

Atomic Habits by James Clear

 

Atomic habits are the small things we do every day that determine our lifestyle.  They are "atomic" because they are small, and seemingly insignificant on their own, but have a big impact on our future success or failure.  Clear goes through specific steps how to create positive habits and eliminate negative ones, and argues persuasively that cultivating the right habits is the only way to achieve life goals. 

This is the top "self-help" book on our library's Overdrive account right now.  The author is a professional blogger and motivational speaker who first learned about habits when he overcame a serious injury to become a pro-baseball player, and then a successful writer.  I didn't find the ideas or information in the book particularly original, but the book is well written and reminding me of things I already believed in a motivational way.  I am glad books like this exist and are popular.  If someone didn't already understand the importance of personal discipline this kind of book could be life changing.  (2018, 306 p.)

The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

 

In this sequel to The One and Only Ivan, we get to follow the adventures of the lovable mutt, Bob, as he enjoys his new life as a pet.  Although Bob has gotten used to three square meals a day, and scratches behind the ears by his young mistress, he hasn't forgotten his puppy days on the streets, and his friends, Ivan and Ruby.  He visits Ivan and Ruby at the zoo whenever he can, but is haunted by the memory of his sister, separated from him the day his original owners left his whole litter by the side of a highway and drove off.  One day, as he is visiting the zoo, a hurricane hits, and the animals and zoo keepers are thrown into chaos.  Will Bob ever find his friends, and his last remaining family member, again?

Once again, Katherine Applegate is the master of voice.  In Ivan, we got to hear the voice of the methodical and serene Ivan, and in this book we live in the head of the feisty Bob. Bob is at once brave and afraid he is not brave, kind and afraid he is not kind.  He is a truly wonderful character that children will love. The audio version is read by Danny DiVito and he gets it exactly right.  This is a sequel worthy of the original.  (240 p. 2020)

Palm for Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

 

I consumed another Mrs. Pollifax treat last week.  In this one, Mrs. Pollifax is sent on her first mission where she is more than a courier.  She is supposed to go to a posh health spa in Switzerland and try to find some stolen plutonium.  At the spa she is interested in a young Arab boy who is staying with his grandmother.  She can tell he is anxious about something, though he appears to just be playful.  Her Interpol co-agent thinks she is just being grandmotherly, but Mrs Pollifax wonders if this boy might just be the key to everything. 

 So...this book really shows its age though how it deals with plutonium.  At the beginning of the mission Bishop gives Mrs Pollifax a Geiger counter and plastic gloves and urges her not to touch the plutonium with her bare hands.  Then both she and the bad guys end up carrying the plutonium around in a suit case for days on end.  Yep.  They didn't really understand radioactivity back in the 1960s.  Besides that, it was as fun as the other Mrs. Pollifax books.  There were all the stock characters and Mrs. Pollifax's signature charm and whit.  I usually listen to Mrs Pollifax on RB Digital, which is being taken over by Overdrive this week.  I hope they will still be available. (1967, 191 p)

What's His Face by Gordon Korman

Cooper Vega is an army brat that changes schools like others change Facebook profile pictures.  In each new school he is pretty content to be a nobody, a "What's his face".  This school turns out to be different for two reasons:  One is a Shakespeare obsessed, adrenaline junky girl named Jolie and the other is the ghost of a Elizabethan printer's apprentice named Roddy who lives in Cooper's phone.  What is a guy to do but try out for the school's play of Romeo and Juliet so he can figure out how to help Roddy fulfill his destiny and "cross over"?  

This is a another of Korman's stand-alone school stories.  It is light hearted but neither as deep as Restart or as funny as Ungifted.  Still, there is an element of mystery, a little romance, and sprinkling of Shakespeare trivia.  I think Korman fans won't be disappointed. (2018, 231 p)

Beneath a Prairie Moon by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Abigail was raised to be part of high society, but lost her social status when her father was convicted of embezzlement. Her fiancée broke off their engagement, and soon after her mother died.  Having lost the support of her previous friends, she decides to sign up with a match-making service and become a mail order bride.  The problem is, her matches keep sending her back because she is so fastidious about high born manners.  In one last ditch effort, the owner of the service assigns Abigail to go to a remote Kansas town and give etiquette lessons to 16 cow pokes who have ordered brides.  At first all she can see are their rude manners and hunger for companionship, but dire circumstances show her that under all that dust and bad grammar beat hearts of gold.

Ok, I started the week feeling emotionally fragile, and needed some literary candy to raise my psychological blood sugar levels.  This pretty much fit the bill.  It is a Christian historical romance and is sappy and sweet and silly.  It certainly has a "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" kind of vibe. Though Abigail doesn't start out with Milly's sass and grit, she finds it by the end.  Of course, as always, I listened to it as an audiobook, and the reader does a really good job with all the different voices.  (2018, 342 p.)

When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

Omar's village in Somalia was attacked when Omar was a small child.  He and his autistic brother, Hassan, were separated from their mother (their father was killed in the attack).  The boys are taken to the Dadaab refugee camp where they are assigned to a foster mother.  At first Omar doesn't attend the camp school because he feels obligated to stay home with his brother.  All he wants is to return to Somalia and find his mother.  As time goes on, his dreams change.  He embraces school and dreams of resettlement in America, Canada, or Sweden.

This is a true story of one boy's life growing up in a massive refugee camp in Kenya.  It is sobering to hear of the living conditions and lack of adequate food.  The story is written honestly, without shrinking from the hardships, or leaving out the positive experiences.  I listened to the book on Overdrive, but the print version is a graphic novel.  The producers of the recording (which is full cast) did a good job filling in the missing visuals with sound affects and other aural clues.  This book is one I would love to have every kid in my predominantly white upper middle class community to read, so they can understand how much other people don't have and how much they do.  I am sure this is on a bunch of award lists for this year.  I wouldn't be surprised if it won a Newbery, Caldecott or both.  (2020, 256 p.)

Audacity Jones Steals the Show by Kirby Larsen

In this second adventure of our plucky young orphan, Audacity and her best friend, Bimmy, have been invited to help their friend Cypher, lately hired by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, on an important assignment in New York City.  Harry Houdini is preparing to do his most impressive disappearing act to date, to disappear a whole elephant in a Vaudeville show in the Hippodrome.  He is working with a scientist to make the illusion, and Cypher has been assigned to protect the scientist.  To accomplish his mission he is going undercover as a juggler, and Audacity and Bimmy are to be part of the juggling act.  As they arrive in New York and poke around the Hippodrome, Audacity finds someone else who needs to be protected, a baby elephant called "Baby."

After I finished my last book, I wanted to read something quickly as I waited for a different book I had on hold.  I decided to read a children's book, just to stay balanced.  When I saw this one I vaguely remember reading the first in the series years ago.  I remembered that is was a cute book so I decided to give this one a try.  It is pretty much like the first one.  It is cute, even cutsy, and I think there are a lot of 3rd grade girls out there that would really enjoy it.  Kirby gives the girls a kind of formal, old fashion way of speaking that is a little bit charming and the story has plenty of action and hijinks to keep a young reader turning pages.  I guess I am getting used to reading the adult books, and I don't enjoy children's books as much as I used to.  I am so glad I have my current job, and have been able to expand my reading to include a wider range of books.  Still, I am glad I read this one so I will be reminded of another book I can recommend to young readers. (2017, 192 p.)

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal

Jane and her sister, Melody, are in many ways opposites.  While Jane is plain but accomplished, Melody is beautiful but only has a rudimentary skill with the womanly arts of playing the piano-forte, watercolor painting, and the creation of glamour.  The creation of glamour is especially prized by Mr. Dunkirk, the local eligible bachelor, and Melody is at first jealous of his regard for Jane's talent.  In walks eligible bachelor, number two, and then number three.  With no lack of suitors, who will end up with whom?

This is an interesting book.  It reads like a Jane Austen fan fiction.  It was as if Kowal thought, "What would Sense and Sensibility be like if you added a magic element.  There were so many scenes stolen right out of Jane Austen.  At one point Melody falls and twists an ankle, just like Marianne Dashwood, and rival suitors bring her flowers just like in Sense and Sensibility.  Miss Dunkirk's past is much like Georgiana Darcy's.  There are two many similarities to count.  The adding of the magic element was kind of cute.  It at least accounted for young ladies always fainting like they do in the Regency books.  All in all I enjoyed the book, though I thought the ending a little contrived.  Still, I  may read another in the series some time, just for fun. (304 p. 2010)

A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell

 Virginia Hall was born to a semi-aristocratic family in Baltimore in 1906.  Virginia's mother would love to have Virginia learn to embroider, hold garden parties, and marry an eligible man of her own or higher social status.  Virginia has other plans.  She convinces a doting father to let her go to college in Europe, where she studies international relations and learns several European Languages. She eventually gets a desk job with the US State Department, but when WWII breaks out in Europe, and the Germans invade France, she desperately wants to take a more active role in fighting Hitler. Her chance comes to join a new covert organization in the British Government, SOE, and the rest, as they say, is history. She becomes one of their most effective secret agents and plays an essential role in France's final victory.

This is an amazing account of a relatively unknown super-woman of history.  Purnell tells the story with lively and vivid prose that shows a wealth of research and an ear for language.  She is unflinching in her accounts of the atrocities committeed by the Nazi's during the war, but balances the stories out with accounts of human compassion and breathtaking heroism.  I also appreciated the fact that she didn't end the story with the end of the war.  She goes on to tell how Virginia continued to fight for world freedom until the end of her life.  This is a great choice for lovers of meaty historical nonfiction and true "stong girl" stories. (352 p. 2019)

The Lost Heiress by Roseanna White

Brook Eden always believed that she was the illigitimate daughter of the prince of Monaco and a opera star. She is beloved by her granpere, the king of Monaco, but when her "mere" is about to die, she tells Brook that she wasn't really her mother. She gives Brook some letters from her birth mother to her birth father, some of which contain a British coat of arms. Brook's best friend, Justin, (himself heir to an English dukedom) takes the coat of arms to England and discovers Brook's real identity.  As Brook travels to a new land to find her real family and to discover what really happened to her mother, she also must confront her changing feelings about Justin, and his changing feelings toward her.

I read Ms White's book, An Hour Unspent, and enjoyed it, so I decided to try something else from her.  This is the first in a set of British Christian Historical novels.  This one was a bit more heavy handed with the religious refrences than the first one I read, and the pacing was maybe a bit slow, but I still enjoyed it.  I listened to it in recording and the reader does a great job switching between Brook's French and everyone else's English accents.  Brook is an endearingly spunky woman and her relationship with Justin is realistically complex.  The mystery of how Brook's mother was killed is pretty well crafted but felt a little "tacked on" to the real story, which is about Brook accepting her new life and family, while dealing with her maturing feelings for her childhood friend.  The author could have left it out completely, and still had a good book.  Still, White is firmly on my list of authors I will probably read more of in the future. (2015, 439 p.)

Who is Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Patricia Brennan Demuth

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the second woman to become a Supreme Court Justice.  Daughter of immigrants, her mother, who never had a chance for advanced education herself, inspired her to do her best in school and prepare for college.  Bader Ginsburg was only one of a handful of women who studied law at Harvard in the 50's and then became an active women's rights and civil rights lawyer in the 60's and 70's.  In the 80's she was appointed to the supreme court and has served more than 25 years.

I am a little embarrassed to admit this may be the first book in the "Who Was" series that I have read.  I enjoyed it very much.  It was short and just hit on the highlights of Ms. Bader Ginsburg's life, but I finished it feeling inspired.  Ms. Bader Ginsburg is a pretty awesome person who was able to be a career woman while still raising two children and staying married to one man.  Actually, the story made me respect her husband as much as her because of all the support he gave her over the years.  The writing is accessible, but not condescending. Demuth includes interesting side bars about relevant topics in history like the women's rights movements and the history of women in the Supreme Court.  I can see why this series is popular with kids. (2019, 112 p.)

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gillman

This is the second in the series about Mrs. Pollifax.  It has been about a year since Mrs. Pollifax entered the world of US intelligence.  She has settled back into a routine of volunteering at the hospital and pouring tea at the women's auxiliary. Then she gets a call from Mr. Carstairs. He wonders if she can leave in a half an hour to do a courier job in the middle east.  Mrs. Pollifax drops everything and packs her bag.  This time she needs to rendezvous with a defecting Russian spy and get her out of Turkey.  The trouble is, that there are lots of different agencies from around the world looking for this ex-spy and the last agent the CIA sent ended up dead.  Can Mrs. Pollifax's super "sweet old lady" power save  her again?

After reading a couple of kid's books, I felt I needed a treat.  This one was very much like the other two Mrs. Pollifax books I read, and I enjoyed it just as much.  I am starting to see some patterns.  There seems to always be a charming young man who comes to respect and care about her, a dashing older man who jumps in to save the day, and a foreigner who turns out to be a secret ally.  Even though they are formulaic, Gillman's characterization are so delightful that I will probably keep reading them as treat books for a while. (309 p. 1970)

Efren Divided by Ernesto Cisneros

Efren lives with his mom, dad, and little twin sister and brother in a small studio apartment. Sometimes he feels embarrassed that his family has so little while others have so much more.  Then one day his mother doesn't come home from work.  Her factory was raided by ICE and she was deported. Suddenly Efren realizes, all too painfully, how much he had and how much he has lost.  Now he and his father must push themselves to the limit to take care of Efren's little siblings and try to find a way to get enough money to hire a coyote to get Efren's mother back home.

This is a book that is receiving a lot of starred reviews this year.  It is well written and Cisneros doesn't pull any punches.  The book is obviously motivated by current political issues, and it is not unbiased. There is no discussion about the fact that Efren's parents have, in fact, been breaking the law for 11 years by working and living in the United States without permission. But it is honest in portraying how a 11 year old boy would feel about a beloved parent being treated like a criminal and the troubles it would cause a family to have one of the parents deported.  I think it is a good choice to help kids feel empathetic with the whole question of immigration, but I think a wise parent/teacher, would add a little balance by discussing why a Government might put immigration laws into affect. (2020, 263 p.)

A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer

  

Adam Deveril is called back to England from the war against Napoleon when his father dies, and he inherits both his title, Viscount Lynton, and his father's enormous debts.  Although the new Lord Lynton had planned to marry the vivacious Julia Oversley, he feels he cannot now drag her into a relationship haunted by the real possibility of total financial ruin. Instead Lord Lynton agrees to make a marriage of convenience to the daughter of a very wealthy merchant, Jenny Crawleigh, who is decidedly plain and reserved. Adam knows the union is not ideal, and is never likely to be blessed with any degree of romance, but decides to try to make the best of it by being as kind to his new wife and not let her see how he pines for the lost Julia. Jenny, on her part, is committed to make her husband "comfortable" in any way she can.

I haven't read a Georgette Heyer in a while, but I was going on vacation and decided to treat myself.  This one is not my favorite of Heyer's books, but it was a very pleasant read.  It is a little refreshing to read a historical romance that is not based on physical attraction. Though not as funny as some of her other books, there are some decidedly funny scenes, mostly involving Jenny's very gauche father.  The overall tone is just sweet, as the two main characters learn to love, respect, and value each other. (1961, 410 p.)

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

 

Kendra and Seth don't know their paternal grandparents very well, so they are not that thrilled to learn that they will be staying with them for two weeks while their parents go on a cruise.  Their grandparents live on a small farm on the edge of a large forest.  Soon after they arrive, Kendra and Seth feel that some things are not right.  Their grandmother isn't even there, and their grandfather makes lame excuses for her absence.  He also has strict rules about where they can go and what they can do.  Seth just happens to be the kind of kid that thinks rules don't apply to him, and before he knows it he had gotten himself, and ultimately everyone on the farm in big trouble with the mystical creatures that live in the nearby wood.  

I am only a little embarrassed to say that this is my first time reading Fablehaven.  I know it is hugely popular with kids, but I haven't been thrilled with anything else Brandon Mull has written and I didn't really hope this would be any better.  Still, when it came time to pick books for the parent/child book club in September I wanted one a lot of kids would be familiar with and like in hopes of generating a good attendance. As I looked through the list of possibilities I decided this was my best choice.  Of course, that meant I would have to actually read it.  

I will admit, I like it better than either the Candy Shop War or The Beyonders. I wasn't even able to finish either of those.  I did finish this one, and I can see why kids like it.  There is an element of wish fulfillment and some exciting actions scenes. My main issue with Brandon Mull is that the kids in his books are too dumb.  They do really stupid things for no good reason.  This book had that same problem.  Seth is just so stupid.  His grandfather says his life is in danger if he looks out the window.  There is ample proof that this is true, but he looks out the window anyway!  How dumb can you get?  I think the charm for children is that the dumb kid makes all these mistakes, and in the end it turns out okay anyway.  I think it gives dumb kids hope that they may actually survive to adulthood.  (259 p. 2006)

The Other Side of the Coin by Angela Kelly

 

Angela Kelly is the official Senior Dress of Queen Elizabeth II, a post she has held for more than 20 years.  Ms Kelly started out as a lady's maid to the queen, but over time, has come to be a fashion consultant and designer.  Probably more than anyone else, Ms Kelly has made the queen the fashion icon that she is.  This short memoir tells briefly how Ms Kelly rose to the position and then gives more than a dozen behind-the-scene anecdotes about the queen and her wardrobe.  I had no idea, before reading this book, how much it took to keep the queen looking her best.  She can sometimes have five dress changes a day as she moves from one event to another.  Ms Kelly also cares for many of the historic ceremonial garments the queen is expected to wear to state occasions each year.  The book is the second Ms Kelly has written, and both portray the queen is very positive light.  I have a personal interest in clothing and fashion history, and I found this book delightful and fascinating.  (2019, 302 p)

The Darwin Affair by Tim Mason

 

When Charles Darwin finally publishes On the Origin of Species, it has an extremely polarizing affect on the people of Britain.  The Prince Regent, Albert, is impressed with it and wants to give Darwin a knighthood.  Other members of the British elite are willing to go to great lengths to make sure that doesn't happen.  When inspector Charles Fields starts to investigate an assassination attempt on the Royal Couple, he gets sucked into a dangerous web of power, influence, dark forces and madness that threatens, not only Charles Darwin and Prince Albert, but Field's own life and reputation.

This is the current "Big Read" book of the Utah Beehive Consortium.  It is a decent historical mystery, but maybe a little too dark for me.  The body count was pretty high, and there is a lot of depiction of cruel psychological abuse of some children.  The plot is intricate and interesting, and  the depiction of the time period and historical characters is carefully researched.  I think there are a lot of readers who like mystery and intrigue authors like Michael Crighton and James Patterson, who will really enjoy this book.  (2019, 373 p.)

Promised by Leah Garriot

 

Margaret Brinton had her heart broken once before and is determined that it not happen again.  She knows she must marry, but decided to marry someone she has no chance of falling in love with.  She sets her cap at a notorious libertine, Mr. Northam, but her plans are thwarted when Mr. Norton's cousin, Sir Williams,  steps in and asks for her hand instead.  Margaret finds Sir Williams condescending and high handed, but gradually lets him into her heart.

I found this title on the Proper Romance series website.  I am always on the lookout for truly clean historical romance, and this one fit the bill.  Although the plot is super predictable, the characters were well drawn, and it was not overly heavy handed with Christian platitudes.  I imagine I will be reading more by Leah Garriot in the future. (365 p. 2020)

The Year of Less by Cait Flanders

Cait Flanders is a successful blogger who writes about her journey to overcome binge drinking, crushing consumer dept and finally compulsive shopping. This book focuses on the year that Ms Flanders decided to do a shopping "ban" during which she only allowed herself to buy certain things, including groceries, toiletries (only when she ran out) and necessities, when they broke and needed to be replaced.   As part of the ban she went through her belongings and got rid of many things she never used, totaling more than 60% of all her stuff.  She found that she hadn't realized how much she used shopping to handle her emotions and as a social event.   Her ban taught her to value what she did use, and to recognize the emotional burden of owning lots of things she didn't.

It is easy to compare this book to The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up.  I would say that Flanders is more relatable than Kondo--she doesn't seem so fanatical.  That said, I didn't come away from this book with as much motivation to change my life as I did after reading Kondo's book, but that might just be because I read this book second.  Flanders includes more about her life and her relationships with others, and how crisis in her life both threatened and strengthened her resolve to shop less.  At the end, however, I had to wonder if her shopping "ban" was just another manifestation of her extreme, all-or-nothing, approach to life that lead to her drinking and spending problems (through a more healthy manifestation).  I also ended the book feeling like, although an improvement, the commitment to spend less wouldn't ultimately make her as happy as she thought it would.  Soon she would need some other "extreme" scheme to validate herself. Still, this is a good choice if you are looking for motivation to simplify your consumerism. (191 p, 2019)

The Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer

Myles and Beckett have been raised on stories of fairy folk and the LepRecon forces that live underground.  As much as they loved their brother's stories, they always thought they were just that-- stories.  Then one day a tiny troll shows up on the island where the Fowl twins now live, and their lives change forever.  Myles (the brainy one) and Beckett (the action one) find themselves joining forces with beings they always thought were fairy tales and running from not one, but two evil masterminds. 

I am a big fan of the Artemis Fowl series and was excited that Colfer would revisit the series with this new generation.  I enjoyed the book.  It was fast paced, clever and funny.  I thought the target age group was a little younger than the original series. It had all the fun and excitement of the original series, but lacked some of the deeper moral questions that made the original Artemis Fowl books special. I also wasn't 100% pleased with the reader.  I think he made Beckett sound too lacking in intelligence, when I don't think that was Colfer's intent.  Beckett isn't dumb, he just has a very different set of intelligences than his brother, and that is why they are such a good team.  Still, it was a delightful read and I will probably read more in the series. (368 p. 2019)

Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone

Molly is an 8th grader who is a "late bloomer"  but some of her friends have a more mature body type.  Molly gets angry when one of her friends, Olivia, is disciplined for breaking the dress code, and the 8th grade camp-out is canceled as a result.  Molly begins to notice that it is the more shapely girls who are always called to the office for dress code violation, while she can wear the same outfit and never be approached.  She starts a campaign to have the unfair dress code abolished, and in the process works through other issues both at home and at school.

I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it. It was a pretty typical "girl finding courage to use her voice" book, and it was realistic and sympathetic enough.  There were really two issues in the book, the dress code issue and a situation where Molly's older brother was vaping and selling pods to younger kids, and causing major friction at home.  I thought the part about the vaping brother was engaging and timely, but the thing about the dress code seemed a bit whiny to me.  Yes, the administration was enforcing the dress code unfairly by focusing on shapely girls, while ignoring boys and more juvenile looking girls , but the existence of a dress code is not, in my mind, necessarily a bad thing.  The author focused on body shaming, but ignored the fact that eventually kids need to learn to dress appropriately.  You can't go through life in shorts and tank tops. I have had job applicants show up in ripped jeans or sweat pants and it is a deal breaker with me as an employer.  So when do you start teaching kids to wear appropriate clothes?  I don't think Jr. High is too early. Just because I disagree with the author doesn't mean it is a bad book, and I will probably recommend it to kids who like the social crusading kinds of stories. (2020, 320 p.)

 

Camino Winds by John Grisham

Bruce Cable owns a popular book store on an island off the coast of Florida. It is a gathering place for a diverse collection of authors and Cable does what he can to support and promote their books.  One day, out of the blue, a hurricane hits the island. In the middle of the hurricane, one of the authors is murdered.  The police are so overwhelmed with the aftermath of the storm, that Cable and his friends realize that the crime will never be properly investigated unless they get involved. 

I haven't read much of John Grisham.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was cleaner and less gory than other "Men's" style action adventures.  I read one of Grisham's books written for children and found it a bit slow. I found this a bit slow as well, but I enjoyed it.  The description of the hurricane brought back memories of the two hurricanes I experienced when I lived in Florida.  I also liked the look into the life of a book seller who knows how to attract and engage top authors.  I wish I was better at that.  The plot and characters where interesting enough.  I liked seeing how Grisham depicted the different law enforcement agencies and how they approached the murder.  Overall, I can see why a lot of people read Grisham.  If his other books are like this one, they are a written to appeal to a pretty wide range of readers.  I guess this is actually the second in a series, but I was able to follow it alright having not read the first one.  Over all, not a bad choice for a rather tame action/mystery. (2020, 304 p)

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

Mrs. Emily Pollifax has been a widow for a number of years.  She late husband was a lawyer and left her with plenty of money to live on so she fills her time with charity work and gardening. She seems fine on the outside, but inside there is a deep loneliness and boredom. When suicidal thoughts start to enter her mind she visits a doctor who recommends that she do something that she always wanted to do.  As she analyzes her feelings she realizes she always wanted to be a spy for the CIA.  She therefore goes to Washington DC and visits the offices of the CIA to volunteer to be a spy.  By accident she gets assigned to go on a secret mission as a courier.  They fly her to Mexico City and she is supposed to act like a tourist until it is time to pick up "the package".  It is a simple assignment, low risk, until everything goes wrong.  Before she knows what has happened Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in the hands of dangerous men in a faraway land.  

After reading The Illness Lesson, I felt like I needed to brush my teeth and rinse with Listerine.  I immediately returned to Mrs. Pollifax and decided to read the first in the series.  This one was even better than the one I read before, full of humor and charm, with a more carefully charted plot.  I think I am hooked.  I imagine there are a lot more Mrs. Pollifax novels in my future, (that is if they don't go away when Overdrive takes over RBDigital in a couple of months.) (1966, 208 p)

The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams

Caroline has received an unusually sophisticated education for an 18th century female, because of her idealistic father.  What she has not received is any training on how to function in society as a woman because her mother died when she was young.  Caroline's father had once tried to start an intellectual commune, which failed, but now he is eager to use the property for the commune to start a school for girls to give them the same kind of education Caroline has received.  The school starts off with eight young teenage girls, and seems to be going well, but then one girl, the "queen bee", starts having strange fits and spells.  Soon the other girls also start to have strange symptoms.  In an attempt to save the school, Caroline's father brings in a well known doctor who says he understands the problem completely and knows the correct treatment.  The men who run the school trust the doctor, but Caroline questions whether the cure is much worse than the ailment.

I read this book because one of our faithful patrons at the library read it and was appalled by it. It is a new book and got lots of attention and good reviews.  I found the book disturbing and heavy handed. There is a lot of imagery around the color red, referring clearly to female physiology and cycles, and Beams always portrays it was menacing and evil.  Caroline sees herself as defective because she has never been able to marry. (spoiler) The "cure" the men impose on the girls in the end involves stimulating them to orgasm, to "release their built up tensions."  The scenes where they are applying this treatment are terrible to read, and left me feeling violated myself.  I am sure that was what the author was going for.  She was clearly wanting the highest impact to get across her message.  It felt emotionally manipulative.

That said, I actually can see why it got some good reviews.  It is artistically written and very thought provoking.  It seemed that the author was trying to say something about how modern society has forced women to abandon traditional rolls, and as a result women have gone a little crazy.  What a novel and bold view to take.  Philosophical feminist types could go back and forth about this book for hours, debating what it means.  

The patron that complained about the book has not yet filed a formal complaint.   I have decided to keep the book in my library, but  I did give the patron the concession of taking it off the "New Books" display so now nobody is likely to find it unless they are looking for it. (2020, 288 p)

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Robert Langdon is invited, last minute, to give a lecture at our nation's capital.  When he arrives, instead of finding a waiting audience, he finds the severed hand of one of his dearest friends.  The whole thing is tied up with Masonry, and the CIA wants Langdon to interpret some curious symbols found in relation to the case.  Langdon worries that the CIA agent assigned to the investigation is somehow hiding ulterior motives.  He decides to follow the symbolic clues without the interference of the CIA, but with the help of some powerful Masons, and his friend's sister, a famous Noetic Scientist.

This is now the 4th Robert Langdon book I have read and it is very much like the others.  All the action,  takes place in one 48 hour period. There is an attractive woman who is along for the ride, the reader doesn't know quite who are the good guys and who are the bad.  One fun thing about this book is that I visited several of the places he describes during my two trips to Washington DC last year.  Another interesting element was that the "big scandalous truth" that is revealed through the course of the adventure, is something my religion believes as part of their core doctrine. I think it was supposed to be shocking to readers, but, to me, not so much.  I read this aloud with my husband and he seemed to enjoy it too, though it took a couple of months for us to get through it since we were only reading a chapter or two each evening. (2009, 509 p)

Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station by Dorothy Gilman

Mrs. Pollifax is a charming older woman who happens to be a CIA agent.  There are many books highlighting her adventures, but in this one she is sent to China. Her mission is to help another agent who is trying to free a man from a work camp who has information crucial to American interests in the area.  Mrs. Pollifax's job is to obtain information about the whereabouts of the work camp from a former inmate.  Of course, nothing goes quite as planned and Mrs. Pollifax is called upon to use her best secret weapon, her innocent and trustworthy appearance, to get the job done. 

This is another older mystery series.  The first in the series (which I haven't read, but should) was published in 1966.  This one came two decades later, and the last in the series was published in 2000.  It is kind of like what would happen if Miss Marple was a spy instead of an amateur detective. Mrs. Pollifax is super nice, but a shrew judge of character.  She has internal struggles to find her courage, and justify certain actions, but manages to get results.  She is thoroughly endearing, and Gilman surrounds her with other interesting personalities as well.  I will probably go back and read more of this series next time I need an emotional break.  

I read this one and the Rabbi Small one as fillers as I was waiting for something else that was on hold.  I think if I were not a library director with the need to keep up on the latest things, I would read more of this older, quaint, clean, literature. (1983, 184 p)