Friday, March 15, 2024

6DoBs - March - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

We start with *Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, which features a family of orchard farmers.

*At the Edge of the Orchard
 by Tracy Chevalier also features a family of orchard farmers.



Author Tracy Chevalier is an alum of Oberlin College, as is our next author.
*Song Yet Sung by James McBride is a historical fiction novel centering around slavery on Maryland's Eastern Shore and the Underground Railroad.
 


From the Underground Railroad in Maryland, to the Underground Railroad in Ohio.
*The House of Dies Drear
 by Virginia Hamilton is a middle grade novel centering around a family which moves into a house that was a station on the Underground Railroad in Ohio.

Virginia Hamilton was the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant, as was our next author.
*Parable of the Sower
 by Octavia E. Butler takes place in a dystopian society that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages, and follows one young woman determined to find a place that offers a chance for a better life.


Who does dystopia better than our next author?
*1984 
by George Orwell is the classic cautionary tale about Big Brother and the Thought Police.


One book's title is a year in the past (although it was the future when he wrote the book), and our next book's title is a year in the near future.
*2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America by Albert Brooks is another dystopian novel that plays out what will happen if this trend continues...






And there you have it: from an idyllic orchard to a dystopian near-future.

*indicates that I've read the book

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

in the eye of the beholder

Barely Even Friends by Mae Bennett
Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: romance
Review: Ok, we've discussed before that plot is not usually the primary element of a romance novel.  But the plot does have to hang together a little bit, or at least a little bit more than it does here.  Bennett certainly leans into her Beauty and the Beast homage, which I support, but I think if I hadn't read the publisher's blurb (and seen the Disney movie more times than I like to think about), I might have been more than a little bit confused about the set-up and the characters' motivations.  Still, it's an enjoyable read, with all the feelings and the Happily Ever After one expects.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

Monday, March 11, 2024

let your sun shine

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
Genre: romance
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
Review: Rom-com heroines tend to be a spunky, sassy bunch, but even among her compatriots Anna Green stands out.  She's self-aware, determined to be true to herself, and totally unimpressed with the opulence with which she finds herself surrounded.  Not only is she one of the few willing to speak truth to power, but she's determined to save her partner from his family.  This being a romance novel, it spoils nothing to say that she succeeds quite nicely.  Going along for the journey is a real treat.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

Friday, March 1, 2024

melting the ice

The Au Pair Affair by Tessa Bailey
Genre: romance
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Review: Most readers understand that the plot is usually not the primary factor in determining whether one enjoys a romance novel.  It's about the feelings and the characters and all that.  Sometimes a handy plot device is just the thing that moves us all toward that Happily Ever After, most romance fans will just roll with it.  Sometimes, however, the plot device strains credulity just a little too much, especially when the backstory just doesn't match with the character's contemporary actions.  Such is the case here, unfortunately, which is really the only reason this book gets only 4 stars.  Other than that, it's a delightful read, with characters you'll root for, and, yes, all the feelings.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

Friday, January 12, 2024

history repeats itself

Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction by Fergus M. Bordewich
Genre: non-fiction, U.S. History
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Review: Although the title of this book is somewhat misleading, as Ulysses S. Grant is something of a minor characters, there is a lot of information about the early KKK, and anyone interested in American History will find this book a worthwhile read.  Grant was a strong proponent of civil rights, but he's not really the focus of the book.  Bordewich does justice to Grant, detailing legislation he championed in support of civil rights, as well as the judges and cabinet members he appointed who helped make his vision a reality.

And it was a reality.  Sort of.  For a little while.  The reader learns about many of the new elected officials, many newly emancipated, in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, and the ways their activism pushed forward the civil rights agenda.

Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, there's a backlash, and it is this that forms the bulk of this book.  Alongside the stories of brave people who fought for equal rights are the stories of people who believed in both segregation and subjugation, and the violence they perpetrated in pursuit of their goals.  There are numerous descriptions of lynchings, assaults, brutality, and cruelty as the KKK became more organized.

Readers will learn the many ways in which the KKK of the 1860s and 1870s was different from what we now think of as the Klan, and may be surprised to find out that the Klan was essentially dormant from the late 19th century until the early 1920s, at which point it was increasing immigration that provided the impetus for the resurrection of the Klan into what we know today.

Friday, October 27, 2023

don't be derivative

The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale by Virginia Kantra
Genre: fiction
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Review: My loyal readers will know that I'm typically wary of any book that takes an old favorite and attempts to transpose it on the modern-day.  However, I trusted Virginia Kantra with Meg & Jo, and was not disappointed, so I opted to take the plunge with her again as she takes on the fruits of L. Frank Baum's imagination.

This time, my own failure to read the publisher's description closely got me into trouble.  The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale is not described as a "modern retelling" of anything, but I assume that it was (perhaps not unfairly), and was therefore disappointed that, aside from the fact that Dorothy lived in Kansas with her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, and some cleverly punny character names, there really isn't much relation between this book and either Baum's book, or the movie based on it.

That being the case, I wish Kantra hadn't tied her book to Oz at all.  This is an excellent book on it's own, and doesn't need to be propped up by allusions to anyone else's work.  Change the names of the characters, and Kantra has given us something original and well-written.  Tied to such a cultural touchstone, however, fans are bound to be disappointed.

ps. Oz devotees who haven't read Finding Dorothy must do so, as soon as possible.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

if i could turn back time

Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale
Genre: fiction
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: An interesting take on the time travel/live your life again trope, with Cassandra discovering the ability to rewind parts of her life to do again.  Cassandra is a great character, and I immediately sympathized with her and rooted for her.  But, I had a couple of issues with this book:
  1. The title is misleading.  Cassandra is not actually living her life in reverse.  Rather, she has the ability to turn back time and relive certain parts of her life.  Cassandra Rewinds might have been a better choice.
  2. Are we seriously expected to believe that no-one in Cassandra's life understood that she's on the autism spectrum?  It's books like this that make me wish I were an editor.  If I'd seen the manuscript, I would have suggested some seriously reworking of this point.  To be clear, I'm not objecting to Cassandra being on the autism spectrum, but rather that a major piece of the plot seems to hinge on neither she nor anyone in her life recognizing it.  I would have advised making it part of the plot from the beginning, rather than a mystery that has to be solved for Cassandra's life to make sense.
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.