The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Cussy Mary Carter is a Pack Horse Librarian in the 1930's in Kentucky.  Her father works in the coal mine and would like to see Cussy married, but Cussy doesn't believe it will ever happen.  No one would marry an ugly "Blue" like her.  She has inherited a rare condition that made her skin have blue undertones instead of pink ones. As a "Blue" she was considered a colored person as is under the same restrictions as her African American friends.  The people on her book route, however, are so grateful to be getting books to read that they overlook her unusual color.  As she faithfully and lovingly fulfills her responsibilities, she aches as she sees the poverty and even starvation of her patrons.  Her father also struggles against the terrible working conditions in the mines.  Both wonder if life will ever get better in the beautiful but harsh Kentucky back country.

I picked this book because I had enjoyed The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes and was interested to see a different treatment of the same time period.  I think I like this one better than that.  It was just not quite as intense.  Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of heartrending detail about the mistreatment of minorities, the consequences of poverty, and the greed of the mining companies, but Cussy is in a slightly more stable situation.  Even though she has a brief disastrous marriage, it doesn't last long, and her father, though he had pushed her into the marriage, is kind and supportive when it goes bad.  When things go wrong at home, she has the admiration and kindness of her library patrons.  The weakest part of the book is the ending.  It is a little abrupt and I wanted a little more explanation.  All in all, this is a good choice for those who like historical fiction with sympathetic women characters. (2019, 320 p)

Rising Strong by Brené Brown

 This is a follow-up book to Ms Brown's well known titles, The Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly.  In this one Ms Brown tackles the issue of what to do when you experience a severe setback or loss. She talks about a lot of themes she covered in earlier books, like owning your story, leaning into vulnerability, and letting go of shame.  In this book she applies them to three steps for rising up from disappointment. Reckoning includes acknowleging and becoming curious about the emotions you are feeling.  Rumbling is when you figure out how those feelings relate to the story your tell about yourself, and accessing whether the story you are telling yourself is true. Revolution: Once you find the truth about yourself, you make the changes that truth demands in the way you think about yourself and the world. We rewrite our story to emerge stronger and more openhearted because of our crisis. 

This book had a lot of messages that resonated with me right now.  I was especially impressed with her story of trying to figure out why it was so difficult for her to actually look at homeless people. She discovered that she couldn't see homeless people as people because she was constantly denying that she is someone who could or would ask for help. That is me too.  I love to help others but find it very difficult to ask for help.  As a result, when I help others I am always second guessing whether I am actually helping them or just making them feel bad.  Ms Brown's writing is open and personal.  She practices what she preaches about being honest and vulnerable with others.  I would and do recommend Ms Brown's books  to a lot of people who are looking to improve their view of the world and themselves. (2015, 336 p.)

Who Is Queen Elizabeth II and Who is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

 I ran out of things to read this week, and I was kind of tired of romances and middle grade fiction so I decided to do some simple biographies in the Who Was series.  The first I read was about the current Queen Elizabeth 11.  It was a wierd coincidence that this month is the 60's anniversary of her assention to the throne.  Megan Stine who wrote the biography seemed to struggle to find ways that Queen Elizabeth has impacted the world, other than she has held on to British royal tradition, and had lots of struggles with her children and grandchildren.  I kind of think this is a little ungenerous.  I think she has done much more to be a positive influence in the world, but that the biographer didn't really dig deep enough into history to understand her contribution. (2021 102 p)

The second biography is about a woman who became the youngest woman ever elected to the US house of representatives.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (often called AOC) is a hispanic American who grew up in New York City.  She studied to become a doctor, but changed her major to international relations after serving an internship in Africa and seeing the poverty there.  After graduation she worked on Bernie Sander's and Ted Kennedy's campaigns.  She was approached by a committee trying to get more Latinos into politics and they asked if she would run for congress. The incumbent was a white man who had been in office for many years, but didn't even live in the predominantly hispanic district.  AOC leveraged social media and beat the incumbent in the primary in 2018.  She was reelicted in 2020.  The author, Kristen Anderson, had no trouble finding lots of impressive things to say about AOC.  Both biographies are engaging, child appropriate introductions to two impressive women.  (2021, 56 p)

Weird Kid by Greg Van Eekhout

Fitting into junior high is tough on anyone, but it is especially hard for Jake Wind.  He has the extra challenge that he is an alien from another planet who has recently been having problems controling when he shapeshifts. He is therefore pleasantly surprised when he makes a new friend, Agnes, on the first day of school. One day when they are eating lunch together on the edge of the soccer field, a sinkhole opens up in the ground nearby.  It triggers Jake's shapeshifting urge, and also contains a kind of ooze similar to Jake's natural form.  Jake and Agnes start to investigate the mysterious sinkholes that have been popping up all over town and their investigation leads them to a ominous abandonded mall on the outskirts of town that holds a secret so big it will change their lives forever.

I picked this book on the fly when I had to find something new to listen to in a hurry.  It is a cute, if a little bit odd, middlegrade science fiction.  The characters, even the peripheral ones,  are each a bit quirky but charming.  My favorite side character was the hippy uncle, though the proctologist dad was pretty good, too. There is plenty action and 6th-grade-boy humor to keep reluctant readers engaged. This one was probably not on anyone's Newbery list last year, but I can think of lots of kids that would like it. (2021, 208 p)

Worth the Risk by Heather Moore

 Alicia has moved back home to help her mom who became a compulsive hoarder after her divorce from Alicia's father.  Alicia is under-employed as a hostess at a local up-scale restaurant where she runs into her high school crush, Jeff Finch.  Although it has been 10 years since Jeff broke her heart her senior year, seeing him brings up an avalanche of feelings and memories. Jeff is astounded to see Alicia again, and, although he has a model-pretty girlfriend, he immediately dumps her and starts trying to apologize to Alicia and re-establish his relationship with the only girl he ever really cared about. Alicia is wary of his advances, but finds in him someone with whom she can share her struggles with her mom. Will their renewed friendship lead to love?

I checked out this book because we have the opportunity to have Heather Moore come and do an author signing at our library.  It is decently written, though the make-out scenes were a little spicier than I prefer.  They were somewhere between a PG and a PG-13 level.  I was a little surprised by that since the author also writes LDS novels.  Her new novel that she is going to talk about at the event is a historical fiction, The Slow March of Light, and we can't keep it on our shelf in the Library, so I hope we have a good turnout for the event. (202 p. 2018)

Willowkeep by Julie Daines

Charlotte Darby struggles to take care of a special-needs little sister in the bad part of 1910's London until a solicitor shows up on her doorstep.  In an instant she is the heiress of Willowkeep, a large estate previously owned by an uncle she has never met.  As she travels to her new home, she is unsure how she, who was raised on the docks as a merchant's daughter, will fit into her new life as an aristocrat.  She quickly finds herself depending on the young and handsome Willowkeep steward.  To her he is a perfect gentleman outside her reach, and to him she is one of the weathiest women in the county, beyond his social circle. As affection grows on both sides, so do doubts and troubles as another family member plots to take the inheritance away from Charlotte. 

I know the summary above makes this sound like a super cliche regency romance, but it actually was better than I expected. The writing is delightful with equal measures of humor and drama. Charlotte is a very charming character who never gets spoiled by her sudden good fortune.  I liked her unfailing kindess and patience with her difficult new relatives. In our library collection this is included in the Religious Fiction section, but the religious elements are more subtle than other RelFic I have read. I will have add Julie Daines to my list of good clean romance authors. (2016, 280 p)

The Doctors Blackwell by Janice Nimura

Elizabeth Blackwell and her sister Emily came from a large, middle class, immagrant family in the early 1800's.  Elizabeth was driven to prove that some women were just as intelligent and capable as men and decided to acomplish that task by earning a MD.  After several failed attempts she was admitted, almost as a joke, into small medical college where she graduated with distinction.  She then did an internship in Europe before returning to the US to establish a hospital for "indigent" women.  Her younger sister, Emily, who also had a thirst for knowlege and a drive to succeed, also became a doctor and ultimately was more successful as a practitioner than her sister. The two women were shining examples for the women's suffrigists, with whom they didn't always agree, and paved the way for women to ultimately be accepted into the best medical colleges in America and Europe.

This is an interesting, warts-and-all type biography of impressive, but certainly not flawless women.  Nimura did such a good job showing the two women's faults, I found by the end that I didn't like either one.  Throughout I kept thinking that they were probably both what would currently be termed "on the spectrum" witch endeared me to them a little. I am glad I read the biography because I feel like I better understand both the state of medicine and the common conceptions about the roles of women during the time period, but I found reading it a bit of a slog and was glad when I had finished. (336, 2021) 

Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche

 Enola is still living in London, having established herself as a capable detective and having re-established relations with her famous brother, Sherlock.  When Dr Watson appeals to her to help her brother out of a particularly serious bout of melancholia, Enola knows that only a good case with help him rally.  Luckily such a case drops into their laps as a woman asks the Holmes' to investigate the alleged death of her twin sister. Both Sherlock and Enola undertake their own course of investigation, but ultimately they must work together to survive evil forces and solve the case.  

I was delighted to see Nancy Springer resume her Enola Holmes series after a 10 year hiatus. I was not disappointed.  Although the mystery was pretty straight forward--no surprise ending here-- still, the personalities and the interaction between Enola and Sherlock are fun to read.  I think this is an excellent series for junior and even senior high school age girls who are reluctant readers.  The books are short, fast paced and feature a strong female character. They are also an interesting glimpse into life in turn of the 20th century England. (2021, 261 p)

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club is back in action when Elizabeth's ex-husband shows up asking Elizabeth to help him hide out from a money launderer who believes that he has stolen two millions pounds worth of diamonds.  Meanwhile, Donna and Chris, the Club's favorite police officers, are trying to take down a new mob boss, Connie Johnson, with very little luck.  The the four intelligent and enthusiastic senior citizens put their heads together to solve both problems, but the body count continues to rise. Will Elizabeth's experience, Joyce's social skills, Ron's machismo and Ibrahim's cleverness be enough, once again, to save the day?

This book came along just in time.  I was having kind of a tough week and work, and this delightful read kept me going.  Osman is a master of both plot and character.  I love his witty dialog and fresh take on the inner life of senior citizens.  I am happy to see that the first book is scheduled to become a movie directed by Spielberg. I guess I am not the only one who likes this series. (2021, 369 p)