short and sweet

A Coffee for Two by Renée Gendron

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Genre: romance, novella

Review: In this first installment of Megan the Matchmaker's Brilliant Blind Dates, Megan sends reluctant coworker Arianna on a blind date at a local coffee shop.  When the coffee shop becomes the meeting place for a local improv history group, the two find themselves falling for each other as they lean in to the hilarity surrounding them.  Short, sweet, and funny, this novella is a lovely bite-sized romance.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this e-book from the author in exchange for this review.

6DoBS - July - Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

We start with Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, in which 19-year-old Katherina begins an affair with a married man in the late 1980s and follows their relationship through the fall of East Germany and beyond.

Kairos is translated from German, as is *Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.

In Inkheart, fictional characters escape from their books.

In *The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, the antagonist wants to live outside of his book.

The Eyre Affair takes place in an alternate history.

*The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal also takes place in an alternate history.

In The Calculating Stars, a meteor strike causes drastic climate change that changes the development of space travel. 

The development of space travel is changed by the explosion of the moon in *Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. 

Neal Stephenson received his Bachelor's degree from Boston University.

Isaac Asimov was a professor at Boston University.

Isaac Asimov won several Hugo Awards, including one for The Foundation Trilogy.

Carl Sagan also won a Hugo Award, for Cosmos.

From Kairos to Cosmos, it's all Greek to me!

*indicates that I've read the book

6DoBS - June - Butter by Asako Yuzuki

We start with Butter by Asako Yuzuki, which features a gourmet cook imprisoned for serial murder and the journalist who interviews her.

Butter is inspired by a true story, as is Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

Take My Hand centers around questions of reproductive freedom in the 1970s.

*All You Have to Do is Call by Kerri Maher is a fictionalized account of the Jane Collective, an underground abortion network in the 1970s.

All You Have to Do is Call takes place in Chicago.

Much of the action in *Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano takes place in Chicago.

Basketball is a big part of Hello Beautiful. 

Basketball also features in *The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian takes place in Washington State.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, the subject of Undaunted Courage, ends in Washington State.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition also crossed through Idaho.

What says Idaho more than potatoes?!  We end with The Potato: How the Humble Spud Saved the Western World.

From Butter to The Potato!

*indicates that I've read the book

a different approach

Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: romance

Reveiw: Christina Lauren's fans will likely agree that this offering is somewhat different from their previous romance novels, in that the steam level is greatly reduced, and they address some heavier themes than usual.  But if a good romance is about the emotions, their fans won't be disappointed as all the feels you expect to find in their stories is evident on nearly every page.

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

6DoBS - May - The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop

 We start with The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop, which features a couple celebrating their anniversary when things take a dark turn.

The Anniversary is billed as an Australian novel, and books don't get much more Australian than *Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington.

Rabbit-Proof Fence features aboriginal Australian children, forcibly removed from their families who have escaped their government schools.

From Australia to the US, *This Tender Land by William Kent Kreuger also features native children who have escaped their government school.

Much of the action in This Tender Land takes place on the Mississippi River.

*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is the ultimate classic tale of a runaway's experience on the might Mississippi.

Mark Twain was a pseudonym used by Samuel Clemens.

Pablo Neruda was a pseudonym used by Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto.

Pablo Neruda was name-checked in the song La Vie Bohème in Rent.

Maya Angelou was also name-checked in La Vie Bohème.

*I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings takes place in Missouri.

*Welcome to the World, Baby Girl by Fannie Flagg is the first in the series that takes place in the fictional small town of Elmwood Springs, Missouri.

From Australia to Missouri!

*indicates that I've read the book

why does it have to end?!

Business Casual by B.K. Borison

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Genre: romance

Review: I am so glad that I discovered Lovelight Farms and the town of Inglewild, and I hope that Borison changes her mind and writes more stories about other characters in the small town.  Borison's characters grow and change over the four books, but remain true to themselves, even when the focus has moved on to another couple.  My only complaint about this last installment is that Nova and Charlie's story is a bit too similar to Luka and Stella's story, but, again, it's Borison's characterizations that make this story a success.  Even if Nova and Charlie's path is similar to Luka and Stella's, they are very different characters, and that makes all the difference.  Borison has given us another warm and fuzzy (and steamy) love story.  You probably won't want to have to leave Inglewild either.

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

6DoBS - April - start with a travel book

 Let's start in Hawai'i...

*Moloka'i by Alan Brennert takes place in the 1890s features a young Hawaiian girl who is diagnosed with Hansen's disease (leprosy, as it was known at the time) and is sent to the Kalaupapa, the leper colony on Moloka'i.

From one leper colony to another...

*Carville's Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice by Pam Fessler is a non-fiction book about the only leprosarium in the continental United States, located in Carville, LA and operational from 1894-1999.

Author Pam Fessler was a journalist for NPR, as was our next author.

It. Goes. So. Fast.: A Year of No Do-Overs by Mary Louise Kelly is the All Things Considered's host's reckoning with her struggle to balance work and family as her oldest son is a senior in high school.

From a memoir about parenting, to a memoir about a child-free woman who has to move back in with her parents.

*Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhonda Janzen is both hilarious and moving, as Janzen tells her story of going back home to her close-knit Mennonite family after a personal crisis.

When I think of humor, I think of Dave Barry...

*Tricky Business by Dave Barry is where you find out what happens when a gambling cruise ship with a very ... interesting ... collection of people on board gets hit with a massive storm.

Of course, Dave Barry is very proud to be a Floridian.

And so we end in Florida.

And there you have it: Hawai'i to Florida in six books.

*indicates that I've read the book

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

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.

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.

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.

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.