It seems like I just made my fall TBR list, and here we are, mid-October with the year fading fast. I began October thinking “maybe I’ll just read whatever I want for the rest of the year.” Which is a nice idea, only I’ve requested too many ARCs and I’ve fallen behind on reviews. When … Continue reading
I loved this thoughtful book about immigration and U.S. citizenship. It was the perfect complement to the other books I’ve read on this subject, like Lisa Ko’s The Leavers and Diane Guerrero’s In the Country I Love. This is the story of Jende Jonga and his wife Neni. The Jongas are from Cameroon, having emigrated … Continue reading
This is Hannah Kent’s second book, after her superb Burial Rites, which was about an 1829 true crime in Iceland. Like Burial Rites, this one is based on a true story occurring in Ireland in the late 1800s. And in the broader sense, it’s very much about the culture and folklore of rural Ireland at … Continue reading
Dr. Seuss has always been a hero of mine. I’ve been a huge Seuss fan since the day I could read, and probably earlier. I have a portrait of the man, several biographies, and a lithograph of the Lorax graces my walls. When I was in the hospital at fourteen my family brought me a … Continue reading
I can’t complain about September; we had a great time traveling around Spain and visiting our friends in London. I learned a ton about Spanish history and current political events, and I’ve been fascinated by the push for independence in Catalonia and the horrible way the country handled yesterday’s referendum. It was a difficult month … Continue reading
This was a powerful book about the impacts of slavery, and for me it was another book of summer that completely lived up to the hype. Gyasi writes of two sisters, living in two different African villages. One marries a white slaver and remains in what is today Ghana, and the other is captured at … Continue reading
When I went on vacation I didn’t get to review some great reads, so I’m working on catching up. This one was my favorite. Alderman’s novel won the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2017, but I was a little afraid it wouldn’t live up to the hype. This book was amazing. It took a … Continue reading
On our trip to London and Spain we saw a lot of cool things, especially in the areas of art, architecture, history, and wine. But here’s the bookish side of our travels: Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, is clearly Spain’s favorite literary son; I lost count of the times I saw a sculpture … Continue reading
Hello readers! I just got back from Spain a few days ago, and I can’t wait to tell you more about our trip. But as always when I travel, I’m full of ideas and no energy/time to actually write about them. So it’s a good thing it’s Tuesday! Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic, hosted by … Continue reading
I love this series, which is about a real-life woman in the 1910’s who was one of the first female deputy sheriffs. Amy Stewart builds the novels in this series around actual people and events and she ends each one with a description of her research. If you haven’t read the series, but like historical … Continue reading
August was a busy month, mostly spent planning for our trip to Spain. We are super-excited to finally be off on our adventure to London, Barcelona, Granada, Seville, and Madrid. But August was also a really upsetting month, due to the horrible deaths in Charlottesville and Barcelona and finishing up with the flooding in Texas. … Continue reading
Sadly, my favorite season is coming to a close, and with it, the 20 Books of Summer Challenge hosted by 746 Books. I started off strong, fell off the list in July, and here’s how I ended up. Total books read this summer: 22 Books read from 20 Books of Summer Challenge List: 15 Books … Continue reading
