The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden

 Zoey struggles in school but that is only because she spends her time at home looking after three younger siblings.  She lives with her mother, her mother's boyfriend and his father, and three younger siblings in a small mobile home. Her clothes are old and worn out, and it is hard to get to the laundry mat to clean them regularly, so she often smells funky. When her sociology teacher challenges her to join the debate team, she feels like she would never fit in with the "rich kids" on the team. She attends the meetings anyway, and what she learns about "discrediting an opponent" makes her realize that the relationship between her mother and the boyfriend is not a healthy one.  But what can she do about it?

Sometimes if I finish a book and don't have any holds ready to check out, I just hit the "available now" button on Libby. One of the books that always comes up is this one. It did win a lot of awards when it came out, but I guess it is not super popular anymore.  I finally decided to give it a try.  It is well written and authentically conveys the problems that underprivileged kids face. I appreciate that the author showed how the stepfather manipulates and emotionally abuses the mother without actually hitting her. It could be a very valuable book for someone to read who might be, themselves, living in an emotionally abusive situation.  For the more casual reader, it is a little heavy, but I know kids who like the emotionally heavy books. (356, 2018)

The Guardians by John Grisham

 Cullen Post began his career as a public defender, but was disillusioned when he was asked to defend a cold blooded murderer.  He left his job and became a minister whose mission it is to free people who were wrongfully convicted. His current client is a man, Quincy Miller, who was accused of killing his divorce lawyer 17 years earlier.  As Post and his associates start digging into the case, they begin to suspect that Miller was deliberately framed by a powerful organization who doesn't want to truth to come out, even decades later. 

John Grisham has such an interesting writing style.  His main characters methodically go through the process of building a viable case against someone.  There is a little bit of action/adventure, but it mostly occurs off screen. There isn't much effort spent on developing dimensional characters. One plus is that it is pretty clear of any sex and graphic violence. It is all about the legal process and careful methodology.  It is interesting to me that John Grisham is so hugely popular and successful. I am guessing the main demographic of his readers are retired men. I enjoyed the book alright, and the reader of the audiobook was really good, but I liked Just Mercy a nonfiction on the same topic of wrongful conviction better.  (2019, 384 p.)

Who was Milton Hershey by James Buckley Jr.

 Milton Hershey is famous for chocolate, but he started his candy making empire by mass producing caramels.  It wasn't until he visited a world fair, and saw an exhibit featuring European chocolate making machines, that he decided it was time to bring mass produced chocolate to the US.  His pre-wrapped chocolates made him immensely rich, and he used much of his fortune improving the lives of his workers.  

Here is another short "Who Was" biography.  I enjoyed it very much.  I knew that Hershey was a major chocolate maker and that he had a town in Pennsylvania named after him, but I did not know that he was one of the first people to create pre-packaged candy that could be sold somewhere besides a candy store.  I also didn't realize that in a time when many companies kept their workers in shanty towns, Hershey tried to make his factory town the ideal place for people to live.  He built parks, libraries, and other amusements.  He also started and ran a school for orphaned boys.  This is a very positive account of Hershey's life, and I would guess a more in-depth biography would portray a much more complex character.  Still, this is a great introduction for children and curious adults who want a very quick read. (2013, 112 p.)

The Sweet Life by Suzanne Woods Fisher

 Dawn Dixon seems to have it all, a successful career, a loving (if a little bit hippy) mother, and an upcoming wedding with her childhood sweetheart.  Then one day, it all comes crashing down.  Her fiancée calls off the wedding and her mother tells her she has breast cancer.  Dawn and her mother decide to take a vacation in Cape Cod to get some time to deal with all that has been happening.  While they are there, her mother finds a rundown ice cream shop and purchases it on a whim. Dawn, a meticulous accountant, is horrified, but her love for her mother leads her to help try to get the shop up and running.  The slower life style of the cape, the beauty of the beach, and the kindness of two men begin to work their charm, and soon Dawn and her mother are considering things they would never have considered before.

After I finished the lecture series on the K'uran, I was ready for something lighter.  I decided to try this book because Fisher is a Christian author I hadn't tried before.  It turned out to be pretty good.  It was interesting because, although there are romantic interests in the story for both women, it focused more on the mother/daughter relationship and Dawn's gradual return to faith than on the romantic elements.  I don't think anyone even kissed in the whole book.  I also liked that Dawn slowly realizes that it was her focus on career success and her controlling personality that had poisoned her relationship with her fiancée. The Christian elements were a little heavier handed than in some books but I didn't mind it.  I think I will be willing to read something else by Fisher in the future. (320p. 2022)

Great Courses: Introduction to the Qur'an by Martyn Oliver

 This Great Courses lecture series contains 12 half-hour lectures of the Qur'an by Dr. Martyn Oliver.  The first lecture deals with the way Muslim people view the Qur'an.  Subsequent lectures discuss the book's origin, its basic themes, structure, portrayal of Biblical characters, and different schools of interpretation. He ends the course with discussions about difficult doctrines of Jihad and Sharia Law.  Oliver is obviously a fan of the book, and portrays it in a favorable light.  His lectures are interesting and insightful, and he is careful to indicate when he is giving an opinion that is not widely held.  Several times he includes recordings of a woman who recites passages in the original Arabic and in the traditional style.  The original version of this lecture series must contain slides because Oliver makes longer than normal pauses as he moves from one topic to another. It isn't too distracting, though, and overall, it is a very good introduction to a very important piece of literature. (2020, 6 hrs)

Redemption by David Baldacci

 Amos Decker goes back to his home town to visit the grave of his daughter on what would have been her 14th birthday.  A man approaches him in the cemetery, and Decker recognizes him as one of the first people he ever investigated for murder.  The man tells Decker that he was innocent, and challenges Decker to find the real murderer.  The next day Alex and Decker find that the man has been murdered.  Alex is called back to Washington, so Decker teams up with his old partner. As they investigate the old case once again, Decker sees things that he missed as a rooky.  He is driven by guilt to pursue the case further, but as he does, people connected with both the original and more recent murder keep ending up dead.  

This is number five in the Memory Man series.  It was a pleasant change after having read three intermediate or teen books in a row.  I am starting to see a formula in the books.  They all seem to have an explosion scene, Decker gets hit on the head, there is a car crash, an informant ends up in a comma, a shooter is chasing after them in a darkened building.  I guess they are common action sequences for any thriller.  I guess it is just like the tropes in my clean romance books, so why would I get tired of these?  The fact is I do get tired. I like to read one genre for a while and then switch to a different.  Still, I enjoyed this book well enough.  I like the pacing and the fact that the books in this series are pretty clean and have relatively less graphic description of violence.   I am sure I will read more in the series. (432 p. 2019)

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

 Mia Tang's family emigrated from China when Mia was six.  Since then they have struggled to get jobs that paid enough to keep food on the table and a roof over their head.  When an opportunity arises for them to become managers of a motel, they take it because they can live rent free.  They soon discover, however, that the motel owner is not a nice man and takes every opportunity to take money out of the Tang's pay.  Mia's parents are kind and generous and can't help wanting to assist other Chinese immigrants who are struggling by letting them secretly stay at the motel for free.  Mia also helps them out by occasionally forging legal documents they need to escape bad situations.  When the owner discovers their secrets, there is heck to pay, but maybe all the people they have been helping with be able to help them out of a tough situation.

This book got a lot of attention when it was published in 2018.  It won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature and several other awards.  It is based on the author's own experiences as a new immigrant.  I, however, found it very hard to read.  I guess, because of my specific religious upbringing, I kept thinking, "You can't do that. It is totally dishonest and illegal."  Of course, the point of view of the story is that, what others were doing to the immigrants was so much worse than forging documents or lying and stealing, that is was ok to do those things to help them and yourself get out of a bad situation.  Even though I didn't enjoy reading the book, I did spend a lot of time thinking about it afterwards.  It shows an interesting difference between cultures. My culture has a strong belief in a "moral high ground" that comes from the Christian "martyr" tradition that says it is better to be honest and suffer than to lie and cheat to help someone.  I think the Chinese culture, with its strong focus on community, says that it is ok to cheat an oppressive system to help your community members. I guess it is not much different than the people who helped enslaved people escape to the north in the 1800's, or people who helped Jews escape during WWII.  I don't know why this felt different to me, but it did. Reading the book with tweens or young teens could generate some very interesting discussion. (304 p. 2018)