5/10/2023 0 Comments A prodigal summerAnd finally there is the Coyote, in whose skin we walk in the closing episode of the book.Īs with all books by Kingsolver I have read so far, the individual characters, besides being layered, humane, passionate and frail, also represent a theme, ideal or normative value. Not that the novel lacks pretence or engagement with some of the big Questions befuddling humankind: there is ecology, biological versus industrial farming, the future of family farming and the role of the next generation in that, Hunters and the Hunted (Predators and cannon fodder) and the fate befalling each, there is even a bit of climate change. The valley, its farmer folk, its forest and all the animals in it, become a place to wallow in, away from the madding crowd. It feels like a bubble, disconnected from the wider world. It is quite an idyllic rural setting, despite all the misery and misfortune befalling its characters. So why not 5 stars – Errr… What it lacks is greed, violence, race, extremists, hunger. This desire is left unfulfilled in the end, leaving space for a part 2 (dunno whether Kingsolver actually wrote a sequel). Somehow Kingsolver creates suspense, with the reader pining for her carefully developed and layered characters to meet each other and become friends, tap each other’s founts of knowledge and capabilities, and storm off into the future. Reads like a master class in writing about ordinary, yet passionate folks in such a loveable, engaging, and realistic way that it is hard not be drawn in and identify with the struggles, passions, tears and fate of every character.
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5/10/2023 0 Comments Chris batyIt was a year long celebration, with the biggest events taking place on July 4th. In 1976, The United States celebrated the Bicentennial of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Although it was discovered that the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County Sheriff's Office and the Philadelphia, Mississippi Police Department were involved, only 7 men were convicted and served less than six years. Their bodies were found two months later. Working with "Freedom Summer", they were registering African-Americans to vote in the Southern states. In 1964, in June, three young civil rights workers - Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner from New York City, and James Chaney from Meridian, Mississippi - were kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi. The US flag was changed to show 50 stars. Baty was born, on August 8th, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States. Add Chris' birthday or the date he died to see a list of historic events Growing up steeped in bloodshed, he fears losing control and killing senselessly, like his father.Called back to England, Commodore Blake, his wife Dolphin, and orphan Hopper search Dolphin�s father�s mansion, looking for some clue to unravel the mystery of her past. He fears that he is just like his father, the infamous Thorne. He struggles with his memory loss, snippets of his old life taunting him at every turn. He strikes a bargain with Thorne, giving him information and requiring his son, Cat, in return.Cat is a teenager with amnesia and terrible mental and physical scars. The Merchant is as evil as they come: cunning, deceitful, and ruthless. With new-found allies, he is planning a devilish attack on England, bent on slaking his revenge-thirst with the destruction of his enemies.A new enemy has arisen and joined forces with Thorne, and it will take all the combined strength of Declan Ross, The Brethren, and the British Navy to defeat the two. Picking up where it�s prequel, Isle of Swords, left off, Isle of Fire plunges right into the action.After the terrible flood in New Providence, pirate Bartholomew Thorne escaped prison and is now on the loose. When she is not working on books or websites, Gwendolyn has a strong interest in Australia Flora and Fauna, and can be found traversing the Australian wilderness. Gwendolyn has a BA (Hons.) in Religious Studies, as well as an extensive academic background in philosophy and computing. Before becoming a full time author, Gwendolyn worked as the web and graphic designer for the National Centre for Research on Europe (New Zealand). Gwendolyn used the proceeds of the award to establish further titles, and now also publishes other authors. The book Primordial Traditions has recently been republished as a revised edition. Primordial Traditions featured a selection of articles from a free online magazine with the same name, which was in operation from 2006-2010. In 2009 Gwendolyn Taunton was the recipient of the Ashton Wylie Award for Literary Excellence for her first book,Primordial Traditions, which was presented by the New Zealand Society of Authors and the Mayor of Auckland. This new second edition of the original award winning collection features a selection of essays by Gwendolyn Taunton and other talented authors from the original periodical Primordial Traditions (2006-2010). She is a former resident of Christchurch (New Zealand) and relocated back to Australia following the 2010-2011 earthquake series which caused wide scale destruction in the city of Christchurch. Primordial Traditions Primordial Traditions was the winner of the 2009 Ashton Wylie Award for Literary Excellence. Gwendolyn Taunton was born in Queensland and currently resides in Australia. □: Therapist and recent widow Mariana’s life couldn’t get any more out of her control, until she receives a call from her niece that her friend has been murdered, and she thinks she knows who did it. This post also includes an affiliate link to purchase this book. ⚡️ I was provided with an audio-ARC by the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It doesn’t go much beyond that, I don’t think that it needs to, but it was still a let down to have anticipated reading it (based on the summary alone). I have a feeling that this book was destined to be sold in airport bookstores because it’s just quickly-paced enough to be a vacation read. I was honestly very disappointed with it, and even more disappointed with the concept that it will definitely be popular enough that I won’t get to forget about it existing anytime soon. So when I say that it’s really too bad that I didn’t like this book, I mean it. I was very determined to stay neutral on this book when I went in and not let the expectations that I had for it ruin my enjoyment of it. This book made me ask myself if I’d ever see a book that is so aggressively marketed to be THE hot new book of the Summer that promises to be a combination of some of your favorite books and not have high hopes for it. 5/9/2023 0 Comments A hidden witch debora gearyI never read Amy Chua’s The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, but I did read an excerpt in the Wall Street Journal, where Chua describes what she believes is an aspect of western parenting: We all have different parenting styles, and several of them have made the news recently, from “Tiger Mom” to attachment parenting. It’s a subject that may also resonate with parents.Īs a mom raising three children (pictured above), this book reminded me of my own past failures and triumphs and has encouraged me to think more carefully about how I define success for my children. This subject may resonate with young adults, whom we teach to reach for the stars, without necessarily teaching them how to land gracefully if they don’t quite make it. This is a novel about re-adjusting expectations when you don’t succeed, or, if you do, re-adjusting expectations when success doesn’t turn out to be the way you dreamed it would. For me, Geary focuses too heavily on the mechanics of a possible new type of magical power when Elorie’s personal development is the real beauty of this story. This follow-up to A Modern Witch is another peek into a charming witching world, where our friends from the first book have either prominent roles or make guest appearances. Debora Geary’s A Hidden Witch, the second book in her Modern Witch series, focuses on Elorie, a 26-year-old woman from a traditional witching family in Nova Scotia who is a talented witch mentor and a jewelry artist, but does not appear to have magic, despite her longing for such powers. Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 - 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his Essays of Elia and for the children's book Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764-1847). However, as noted in the authors' Preface, " Shakespeare's] words are used whenever it seemed possible to bring them in and in whatever has been added to give them the regular form of a connected story, diligent care has been taken to select such words as might least interrupt the effect of the beautiful English tongue in which he wrote: therefore, words introduced into our language since his time have been as far as possible avoided." Mary Lamb was responsible for the comedies, while Charles wrote the tragedies they wrote the preface between them. The book is designed to make the stories of Shakespeare's plays familiar to the young. Tales from Shakespeare is an English children's book written by Charles Lamb and his sister Mary Lamb in 1807. It retells, in language accessible to children, the stories of twenty of Shakespeare's plays. Tales from Shakespeare is a children's book by Charles and Mary Lamb, first published in 1807. 5/9/2023 0 Comments The Way It Is by Donalda ReidPowerful-racism and sexism in the 1960s-are given short shrift here. The weighty issues that could have made the story more Participation in classes considered for boys and develops her firstįriendship with Tony, an outsider at school who lives on the local She must move away from the world she knows and learn to Resort in "the interior," Ellen's life changesĭramatically. When her father decides to quit his job as an accountant to run a University of British Columbia than spend time socializing with her She would much rather work as a research assistant at the In 1967, fifteen-year-old Ellen is an excellent student in anĪccelerated program at her high school in Vancouver, but she has alwaysīeen so focused on school that she has never developed any friendships This story could have ended with maybe 20 chapters and even that would have been a couple too many. And even when things seemed to be better, it actually didn’t feel any better. No sane person could survive the darkness that prevailed in their world for so many years. By chapter 13 I felt the need to get out of the muck and mire that Cole the rock star and Harper the nanny were living in. That doesn’t mean books shouldn’t be heavy or sad, but this book was the most depressing piece of long winded mess I’ve ever tried to read, in a long time. Second, when Most people read, it’s to escape and/or enjoy. First, where the hell was a female narrator? Cheaper to have only one performer, perhaps, but so boring with only one voice. That certainly is the case with this one. Seriously, I will never understand why authors think it’s ok to drag readers through their books. "The Black and the Blue is an affirmation of the critical need for criminal justice reform, all the more urgent because itĬomes from an insider who respects his profession yet is willing to reveal its flaws." - USA Today "Horace's authority as an experienced officer, as well as his obvious integrity and courage, provides the book with a gravitas." - The Washington Post He dissects some of the nation's most highly publicized police shootings and communities to explain how these systems and tactics have hurt the people they serve, revealing the mistakes that have stoked racist policing, sky-high incarceration rates, and an epidemic of violence. Through gut-wrenching reportage, on-the-ground research, and personal accounts from interviews with police and government officials around the country, Horace presents an insider's examination of archaic police tactics. Yet it was not until seven years into his service- when Horace found himself face down on the ground with a gun pointed at his head by a white fellow officer-that he fully understood the racism seething within America's police departments. During his 28-year career, Matthew Horace rose through the ranks from a police officer working the beat to a federal agent working criminal cases in some of the toughest communities in America to a highly decorated federal law enforcement executive managing high-profile investigations nationwide. |