How to Draw a Happy Witch and 99 Things That Go Bump in the Night

Shirley J.                        Juvenile Fiction                      Story and Directions on how to draw most of the                                                    characters etc. in the book

How to Draw a Happy Witch and 99 Things That Go Bump in the Night by Joy Sikorski and Nick          96 pages                                                                                                                                            Sunday

A good story about a cat named, Little Man, who has a home but likes to prowl the woods at night with and his people are okay with his meanderings.   They think he is out hunting - little do they know he is also out at a costume party with friends one of whom is a happy French witch who cooks him escargot! There are also line drawings showing the reader how to draw just about everything you see in the book. Well told story with an inventive plot and a happy artistic addition with the details on how to draw  lovely things for Halloween or even any time of year but particularly meaningful in the cool Fall of the year.    I recommend this book for any age, you get a cute story and it teaches you to draw a bunch of cool stuff.                                                                                                                                                            

The Whites

 Shirley J.             Adult Fiction                                         Best Detective Drama I have read to date

The Whites by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt   352 pages

Where do I begin?  This storyline, the characters and the real situations and dialogue made the best detective drama I have read to date.   The life of a cop/detective is told so genuinely that the reader will feel you are in the space with them at all times it is that realistically told.  The main character is flawed but likeable and for the most part a good person.   He is a good person who will do bad things if necessary but he is totally devoted to his wife, his kids and his former cop Dad who is living with them and has Alzheimers.   He juggles all that along with the crime and criminals every shift and the banter between him and his detective buddies from his youth to the guys that work for him now, not to mention the trials and tribulations they all go through and share among themselves.  There is a twisted killer holding a vendetta over one of the unsuspecting characters that keeps a fire burning all the way through till the climactic culmination.   It is such a great story and I definitely recommend this one.   The whites is not racially oriented, but, instead refers to the cases that got away like Captain Ahab's great white whale, Moby Dick.  This story captures your attention and won't let you go till the end.   I think middle schoolers on up will enjoy this story.   Adults might enjoy it just that much more because once you have had a little living under your belt you get the gray areas in life and subtle nuances that don't always mean a person is good or bad they just are (human).   GREAT BOOK.

The House That Wasn't There

 Shirley J.          Juvenile Fiction                            Magic, an Opposum, love for trees, family

The House That Wasn't There by Elana K. Arnold   304 pages

Alder lives with his Mom in Southern California, there is a walnut tree that he and his Mom love that grows in the yard next door that has always been there until one day a new family moves in, the mother is an architect and cuts the tree down to make way for remodeling of the house adding a second floor to the property.  Alder and his Mom are devastated!  The new people have no feeling for the tree at all just hack it down!  Gone!  Alder glares at the new neighbors every chance he gets, what kind of people are they?  Why would they kill a beautiful living tree like that?  This causes a thorn of contention between the two households.   The new girl can't figure out why the strange boy next door won't stop staring at her like she did something wrong.     What starts out as a strained relationship soon lands the two in the same school, some of the same classes and being partnered on projects by their teachers.   What starts out rocky soon turns out to show that these two have something in common.  For one thing they both see the shiny mirage like image between their homes and eventually both begin to explore this magical stirring and what they meet up with is even more surprising than any mirage!   Good story with twists and magic that youngsters on up will enjoy, so will adults if they give it a chance.  Magic is always fun and you never know what you will find.  I recommend it as a fun read.

Brighter By the Day

 

Shirley J.                   Adult Non-Fiction                                   Positivity

Brighter By the Day by Robin Roberts  240 pages

Such an uplifting, highly motivating book.  Robin Roberts, co-anchor of Good Morning, America, tells her story in such a delightful positively motivational way that you would just like to be around her to scoop up some of that sunshine.  She offers family sayings that take you back to your own childhood and all the great family members who offered up homespun wisdom.   She shares stories on surviving cancer twice, the ups and downs of her 20+ years with her wife and how she got into covering sports then later news then her anchor position on Good Morning, America.   The love she has for God, and for her wife, Amber, her family both living and those who have gone home to glory and her gig on GMA come through as she talks about a multitude of personal experiences.   This is such a bouncy, feel good book all brought about by the lovely person who is Robin Roberts.   I recommend her story to middle schoolers on up.   She imparts wisdom and joy throughout the book with grace and panache.

Man For All Seasons

A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt, 163 pages

Sir Thomas More, councillor to King Henry VIII, stubbornly refuses to approve of the conduct of his king.  In return, the ministers of that king force him first into retirement and finally to the scaffold.  Sir Thomas alone, amid a crowd of vain, greedy, and ambitious men, remains true to himself and his principles, and this earns him persecution and death.  The story is a familiar one, but here beautifully and movingly told.

Part of the story's familiarity is due to the classic 1966 movie version of this very play, adapted by Bolt himself.  The play differs from the film primarily in the part of the Common Man, who plays various minor roles and offers sporadic commentary to the audience.  If this is a stagy artifice, there is a certain value in the character precisely as he represents our own practical natures against the very impractical sanctity of Sir Thomas.  Of course, Bolt hollows out that sanctity by presenting St Thomas as a martyr, not for the truth, but rather for what he believes.

The Hidden One

Shirley J.                       Adult Fiction                         Former Amish Life, now, Lady Sheriff

The Hidden One (Book 14 in the Kate Burkholder Series) by Linda Castillo    336 pages

Good story!  Once Amish now Englisher, Sheriff Kate Burkholder, of Ohio, is requested by Amish elders from a Pennsylvania Dutch Amish community to come help an Amish man who she grew up with that is accused of murder.   It is an issue she isn't sure at first whether to get involved or not, afterall, she and the accused, Jonas Bowman, were once in love and caught by her father making whoopie in the haybarn after which due to the shame in the community Jonas' family moved away to Pennsylvania, Kate unable to bare the shame left the community and forsaking her religion went to live in the Englisher (non-Amish) world.  Lots of water under that bridge but the elders sought her out because of her reputation of once being Amish and now in law enforcement and Jonas is being tried in Englisher court.  They hope she can help him navigate the legal system and help to defend him or work with the local constabulary to find out what happened and who committed the murder which is not something an Amish man would ever do and knowing Jonas to be a firmly committed practitioner of the Amish religion and lifestyle she did not believe he was guilty, but the evidence against him sure made it seem so.   The local police blow her off.  She is not local, she is a woman and they basically dismiss her and won't share information with her even though she is a sheriff.   She ends up searching for clues in the local Amish community and the things she turns up almost get her killed in a brutal beat down and more.   An unlikely informant comes to her aid and when all the information comes to light it is so unlikely it boggles the mind.   Good story.   I like this character she is a flawed survivor and overcomer.  A strong female in a tough line of work.  I recommend this one to highschoolers on up.  If you like mysteries, murder mysteries and seeing behind the veil on the Amish you will especially enjoy this story.  Good writing, Linda Castillo.

This Could Hurt: A Novel

 Shirley J.                   Adult Fiction                      Work life, work family loyalty

This Could Hurt: A Novel by Jillian Medoff      400 pages

I loved this book.  It rings so true, the kind of love for your workplace, your work family and the fierce loyalty co-workers will go the distance to protect one another and help one another when that extended family feel is there.   Boss Rosa Guerrero has busted through the glass ceiling and survived.   She sees the foibles in some of her fellows that she supervises good and bad, those workers so dedicated she has to practically force them to go home and stop working to those so blase' apathy dripping off of them seem to care less about much of anything but do come through in a pinch if on their own terms.   She has been mother hen over her brood of employees so long she knows who to lean on and who not to and in her human resources repertoire magically blends the strengths and weaknesses of all to provide a salient crew within the corporation.   Till one day, she starts to topple.   A health crisis occurs and the tough don't just get going, hell, they become a corporate navy seal unit.   This is a wonderful, funny, poignant story of the cavalry really coming through in a crisis told with such hilarity the reader who is in the working world will see themselves and so many of their coworkers here.  It was a joy to read.   I recommend this one to mature teens on up, folks who are in or on their way in to the working world who will get all the inside jokes and realize the workplace types and often very real situations.   Truly a joy to read.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store

 Shirley J.                       Adult Fiction                    Bookstore, Eccentric Clientele, Ancient Texts

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan    288 pages

Clay Jannon is a victim of the recession, his web design job evaporated and in his search for a job he comes upon a sign on a building, "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store."   As he is mulling that over he notices there is a help wanted sign so he applies.  Turns out it is for the 3rd shift.  The first thing Clay notices on his new job there are few customers but there are an eclectic looking small group of individuals who do show up throughout the night none of them buy anything, they "check out" books of obscure text constantly returning them only to get another and all this is some select book group Mr. Penumbra is somehow involved with.   Between the quirky relationships Clay develops with the regular clientele and the somehow quirkier staff, the mystery unfolds as to what the late night "readers" are up to in an entertaining way with twists a plenty.  I recommend this one to middle schoolers on up. 

The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan: Discover the Joy of Spending Less, Sharing More, and Living Generously

 Shirley J.         Adult Non-Fiction                 Re-Use, Re-Purpose, Recycle, Community Round Robins

The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan: Discover the Joy of Spending Less, Sharing More, and Living Generously by Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller   288 pages

Friends Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller live on a tiny island off the coast of Seattle, Washington.  In 2013 after cleaning up the beach only to find thousands of tiny pieces of plastic in the sand and multitudinous plastic items abandoned there on the beach and washing up out of the ocean they were struck by the horrors being done to the planet and the ocean life from this potentially re-useable and/or recyclable material.  They decided to do something to save the planet locally and started the Buy Nothing Group in which they pledged not to buy anything but to re-use, repurpose, recycle or share items within their community to save folks money and save the environment by not adding new stuff to their homes thereby in their way stopping factories from making new stuff, finding more uses for their current stuff to serve their needs and buy as little as possible.  They grew their own food to cut down on buying groceries (the vegans really won out on that one), they started a round robin with everyone weeding out the clothes they no longer wanted from their closets and passed around a bag of these items for everyone to take out what they needed which gave everyone new additions to their wardrobe for free and cleared space in their own homes.   They began doing this with household items and on to everything easily shared in this way among their group.   As word got out more and more people in their community joined.   They began a lending library of tools and appliances, then services to barter.   What they found was neighbors began to get to know and spend time with one another.   They began to trust each other and feel safe allowing strangers in their homes.   They began to do more as a community and the movement spread over social media and people in other communities began to form their own Buy Nothing Groups.  Now it also has a site to post anything you would like to have no matter how exorbitant to see if the universe might put you in touch with someone who could provide what you are  looking for.   People have been amazed it actually happens!    Great book with lots of sources and recommendations.   It really does take a village, a worldwide one to bring change.  I recommend this one to middle-schoolers on up.   What a great idea.  They prove one man's trash really is another man's treasure.

Never Saw Me Coming

Shirley J.                    Adult Fiction                    Psychopaths, Revenge Killings, Clinical Studies

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian     432 pages

Chloe Sevre is attending college on a full-ride grant from a clinical study researching psychopaths.  Turns out Chloe is one of 7 psychopath students at the university.  They are given watches that track their moods.  They have to check in from time to time and discuss their triggers and express their feelings rather than going through with the actual act of killing anyone.   Of course, Chloe is only attending so she can get close to Will Bachman, who along with some of his friends raped her.  Before she can do the deed a student in the study is killed and Chloe is wondering which of the other psychopaths in the program did it?  This slows but does not deter her from her quest.  But who is the actual killer?   This book was so good I could hardly wait to get to the end.   I recommend this one to high schoolers on up.  I highly recommend this one to all murder mystery fans.  It is excellent.

It's Better This Way

 Shirley J.             Adult Fiction            Divorce, heart break, step-family sibling feuds, new love

It's Better This Way: A Novel by Debbie Macomber    368 pages

Julia Jones is still reeling after 6 years from her husband's betrayal and their divorce, though Julia did everything she could to try to save her marriage.   Their grown daughters think their father is the worst and refuse to have anything to do with his new wife and they literally hate her two boys who they already had a run in with nearly turning into an altercation of profound proportions just shy of drawing first blood.   It galls the new wife if Julia has to call regarding something to do with the girls which is the only reason she ever calls him.  Both her ex and his new wifey are incredibly rude to Julia though she does not reciprocate.  Now they want the house sold and are forcing Julia out even though that has been her home all of her adult life.  New wifey is a realtor and she looks into the going price for homes in Julia's area and when they find the price is now triple what they paid for it as a newly married couple she insists they sell it and hubby goes along with it.  This makes the girls dislike her even more.  Julia finds a condo she can afford with her half of the money from the house and reluctantly rebuilds her life for her new chapter.  her father's comforting words to her growing up whenever she had a problem come back to her, "Maybe it's better this way."  She finds she likes her new digs which fortunately come with a handsome neighbor.  Love blooms again but not without a hidden bombshell!   Good story.  I really enjoyed this one.  I recommend this one to teens on up, to all who are Debbie Macomber fans, to romance readers and to older ladies who will enjoy seeing an empty nester Mom on the other side of a divorce finding her happy place again.   

The Old Man and the Sea

 Shirley J.                   Adult Fiction                                    Old Fisherman, the Sea as a character

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway  128 pages

I'm playing catch up on the classics I have never read.  Seems most people read classics in highschool but many of the older books were never part of my curriculum.  So here I am and I find I truly enjoyed this story, probably more than I would have as a teen.  It flowed almost like poetry and I like the way Hemingway made the sea come alive like another character in the story.   Such a battle like a loving, respectful Moby Dick, the old man had his fight with a marlin, struggled through heat and a shark attack but came back to tell the tale.  Hemingway displays a real love in his writing for the hearty swarthy fisherfolk he describes and the sea as a melancholy lover caressing and assailing his soul.  Wouldn't my teacher have enjoyed that sentence had I given a report or comment in class on the story?  : )  I recommend this story to all who love classic literature, who love Hemingway and who love the sea and the people who survive on her bounty, highschoolers on up.   

The Late Show

 Shirley J.                         Adult Fiction                                 Female detective, harrassment, murder

The Late Show by Michael Connelly  544 pages  (Book 1 of the Renee Ballard series)

Detective Renee Ballard has a tough go on her job.   Because she brought allegations about another male employee earlier in her career she has been assigned to what is considered the crappiest shift in the crappiest location, Hollywood, in Los Angeles.    Determined to give them a forget you attitude she makes the best of her circumstances.  She loves being a cop, her dad was a cop, too.   Being a woman in a man's world of police enforcement every day is a struggle to get some respect but she holds her own and gives back as good as she gets, in an old boys network.   Her hands get slapped on most things and when day comes she turns over whatever she had been working on to the day shift until she works a case where a prostitute has just about been beaten to death (but she lives) then a waitress is killed,  Was the latter a case of wrong place wrong time?   Detective Ballard starts noting links between the two cases.  Her partner and other cops eventually tell her to back off but she searches for information by day to solve the cases before the brass pulls them away from her.   Oh yeah, she just happens to get pregnant by her very married detective coworker over drinks after work one night.  Good story, well told.  I think I will read the entire series as the character is smart, funny and doesn't take all the bull only the bull she must while still working her case to end solution.  I recommend this one to all murder mystery fans, cop story fans, female detective fans and feminists.    

Modern Lovers

 Shirley J.     Adult Fiction              Ex-band mates, still friends now with their own kids in Brooklyn

Modern Lovers by Emma Straub  384 pages    

Good story about growing older after being friends and bandmates in their early years.  The surviving band mates share a lot of history but some of the history (as happens) is known by some but not all.  Happy Marriages aren't all they are cracked up to be and bliss only happens when everyone is comfortable in their truth with one another, till they're not.   A long dead band mate comes back to haunt the survivors in her drug laden legacy which holds up their going forward and cashing in on the retro love being shown for the band again but when a filmmaker wants to do a documentary on them complete with re-releasing an old hit some legal issues as to who can claim ownership of the song and lyrics, who is to get credit and oh yeah, the dead gal happened to be sleeping with the oh so loyal and loving husband.    Musicians write love songs but seldom do they bear the feelings expressed in the music - modern lovers no matter how hard they try sometimes find that one thing they can't get past.   Good story.  I recommend it to all romance readers and folks who like a good coming of age and then coming of middle age story.  Teens on up though it will probably speak more to 20, 30 or 40 somethings.

Night Shift

Shirley J.         Adult Fiction             Demons, vampires, weretigers and witchy virgin sacrifice

Night Shift (Book 3 in the Midnight, Texas series) by Charlaine Harris  400 pages

Most excellent trilogy about the paranormal goings on in the small town of Midnight, Texas.  There has been a demonic voice talking to and sometimes taunting local witch, Figi.  There are always weird things going on in Midnight, but, now people and animals are going to the crossroads in town and offing themselves by their own hand/paw or committing suicide via alternate sources.   The townies are on a 24/7 suicide watch for anyone or anything acting a little "squirrely," no pun intended.   Figi loves living in Midnight, she loves the people, well, most of them - the folks that own the diner creep her out worse than ever now that she walked in and found him in her house!  So much going on and Charlaine wraps it all up in the end.  I hope she reconsiders and brings these characters back.   I recommend this book to all paranormal fans especially those who love the Trueblood folk as much as I do.   I recommend this one to middle schoolers on up.   

Rumble Tum

 

Shirley J.                         Juvenile Literature                             Falling in love with a new kitten

Rumble Tum by Stephanie True Peters   32 pages

OMgosh!  The illustrations in this book look so real they could step off the page, literally they are 3-D like.  And the story is one near and dear to me, meeting a new kitten for the first time.   Awwww!  So precious!   When Beth meets her new kitten for the first time, she doesn't just love him, she love, love, loves him!  She names him Rumble Tum.  The book talks about Beth learning to care for her kitten and of course they play together all the while Rumble Tum is growing and getting stronger and more CURIOUS.   When the front door is opened Rumble Tum makes a break for it and is out the front door and disappears.   Wouldn't you know a rainstorm occurs!  YIKES!  Poor Baby Kitty!!!!  But all is not lost.  That baby knows where his grub comes from!  : D   I loved this story but, bad adult opening that door without looking when there is a baby kitten in the house!  I recommend this book to pre-schoolers on up.   A sweet read for parents, teachers and all relatives who love kids and kittens.

Welcome to the Big Kids Club: What Every Older Sibling Needs to Know!

Shirley J.            Juvenile Non-Fiction                 Everything Big Brothers and Sisters Need To Know

Welcome to the Big Kids Club: What Every Older Sibling Needs to Know! by Chelsea Clinton  32 pages

This really is an everything you need to know if you are the older brother or sister.  This book should be a manual given out at the hospital with every birth to families with other children in them.  Literally this is all need to know stuff for how to deal with the new role as older sibling to a baby.  It is wonderful.  I had to check to see if Chelsea has children of her own because she was an only child but she is a mom of three so she knows of which she speaks and it is all such great information for kids that will get them through every situation with the new kid on the block.  Well done, Chelsea!   I recommend this to pre-schoolers on up.  Parents, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents and Teachers will want this one, too.  It is EXCELLENT.  
 

Patchwork

 

Shirley J.          Juvenile Non-Fiction        Inspiring Read for Youngsters showing career potential

Patchwork by Matt De La Pena    48 pages

Excellent book for youngsters exploring the thought that what you are about and doing today may look very different in their future, ie. the class clown may grow up to be an inspiring teacher, a young ballerina may grow up to do wonderful things with computer technology like encoding, designing programs for all sorts of life improvements, etc.   Very well told and chock full of inspiration for youngsters wondering what the future might bring and what part they will play in it.  I recommend this book for pre-schoolers on up.   Grandparents and teachers will enjoy it too and it may spark ideas for others to inspire our someday presidents.

Lincoln in the Bardo

Shirley J.                Adult Fiction             Abraham and Mary Lincoln and the loss of their son Willie

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders   200 pages (I did not complete the book)

I know this is a work of fiction but the grief and despair described was so intense and so incredibly sad I decided not to go further.   That is a testament to the writer's talent that he can convey such raw and abysmal agony of a tortured father's and mother's soul.    The story begins with the time just before Willie Lincoln's death at eleven in the White House.  It shows the utter love the parents feel for their children (Todd and Willie), it discusses the finite perfectionist's attention Mary gave to each and every detail when entertaining and the very public life they had to live even in the darkest of family moments.  It is a very well told tale of a father's heart being ripped from his very fiber to the point he goes to the boy's tomb to hold the tiny lifeless body once again, night after night, trying to hold onto his son as long as he possibly can.  It also tells the tale of displaced souls cooling their heels in a state of purgatory or as the Tibetans call it "the Bardo" which takes place in the cemetery where Willie's body is interred.   There are conversations between Willie's spirit and the other specters "haunting" the place.  The feeling is Abraham's misery and longing is what is holding Willie in that in-between place lest he move on to the "light."   Many other characters from all walks and times of life are there, decent folk and not so decent ones.   The conversations among them are witty and funny, but, it made me wish I could have somehow helped Mr. Lincoln who was in such dire need of comfort and relief from his burden of guilt over purchasing his beloved son a pony to which the boy wanted to be on the pony so long and so often that bad weather didn't phase him to the point he made himself ill from exposure only to die from his illness days later.    A sad story made even sadder in the telling.  I couldn't enjoy the comical dialogue for the pallor of misery in poor President Lincoln's devastation.   Easily the saddest book I have ever read though I suppose it tries not to be.  Since this is such a verbal foray into death and its effects I am reluctant to recommend it.

Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life

Shirley J.                Adult Non-Fiction                Biographical Look at the life of one of the stars of                                                 Queer Eye for the Straight Guy

Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life by Jonathan Van Ness   272 pages

A deeply emotional story of highs and lows, love and activism.  Jonathan is a bubbly bundle of energy like a fiesta waiting to happen though he has his tragic moments (cat lover that he is he brought his beloved cats with him on a gig only to lose a dearly loved kitten when the air went out at his hotel and he opened a window to get some air not considering the curiosity of this little one who fell to his death.  A tragedy Jonathan still has not completely recovered from.   He talks about suffering abuse as a child, HIV as an active participant in sex with multiple partners for many years in his 20s, how he loves to do hair, how much he enjoys doing his podcast, his deep love of figure skating and the stars of figure skating and Olympic figure skating, he also talks about his latest adventure in doing stand-up comedy for a living.  His life is one exciting career after another even adding a floor routine at the start of his comedy set just to wake the audience up and let them be surprised!  He finds a great balance of yin and yang - negative and positive to share with his fans, his readers.   He does an excellent balancing of finding the funny in most everything but proves he has the chops to be serious and a strong voice for the causes he believes in.   A good read and insight into a celebrity that the reader will enjoy getting to know better.  I recommend this one to mature teens on up as some content might not be for younger folk.

Day Shift

 

Shirley J.              Adult Paranormal Fiction               Not all the good stuff happens at night in Midnight.

Dayshift by Charlaine Harris  (Book 2 of the Midnight, Texas series)  

People who actually live in Midnight, Texas tend to keep their personal business to themselves.  Not a lot of sharing feelings nor confiding in town.   Everyone seems to have secrets,  town psychic, Manfred Bernardo is in Dallas doing private one on one sessions reading Tarot, scrying the crystal ball and holding seances.  When he contacts the dead husband of one of his longtime best customers, she dies!    Small world that it is, he runs into Olivia Charity another Midnight resident who just happens to be conversing with what may be a swinger couple in the hotel restaurant.   Oddly enough that couple ends up dead shortly thereafter.   What are the chances these are just coincidence?   It takes a village or in this case a town to come together to find out the story and try to keep those two out of the slammer!  Nothing is ever easy in Midnight but it sure is always interesting.   I recommend this series to teens on up to seniors.   A very good read.   And what are those folks running the diner up to?   And that little boy with the Rev?  He's already grown out of 3 sets of clothes and shoes and it has only been 2 weeks! Good grief!  He'll have wrinkles soon at this rate!

Midnight Crossroad

 Shirley J.                   Adult Paranormal Fiction           A Small Texas Town of Otherworldly Inhabitants

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris (Book 1 of the Midnight, Texas series)   384 pages

A tiny town in Texas (3 1/2 hours from Killean) that has very few inhabitants but all of them have a quirk and that quirk is either paranormal or akin to paranormal.   The one kind of human townie has a special skill set that any hit man would be envious of.   There is a resident witch, a newly arrived psychic, a couple no one knows the scoop on yet that runs the diner, a vampire who can't glamour but he can suck blood or energy, a reverend that has a secret scary power, a couple of gay angels and more.   Welcome to Midnight, Texas.  An excellent story.  I fell under Charlaine Harris' spell with her Sookie Stackhouse series and now she has another great property here.   There are so far 3 books in the series and I am now up to the third book.  LOVE IT.  Paranormal fans, fans of the weird and wonderful, you will thoroughly enjoy this series.   I recommend this one to teens on up.

100 Things to Know About the Oceans

 Shirley J.            Youth Non-Fiction                 Facts about the oceans, sea life and maritime info.

100 Things to Know About the Oceans by Alex Frith, Minna Lacey, Alice James, Shaw Nielsen Dominique Byron, and Dale Edwin Murray   128 pages

Fascinating book that will really open your environmental eyes when you read there are more pieces of plastic in the ocean than there are stars in the galaxy!  It also talks about the floating islands of plastic debris floating in the oceans there are two maybe more.  One is 5x the size of France!  This debris traps sea life drowning them and there are over 5,000 plastic fish nets abandoned in the seas by fishermen that also trap and drown sea life.   There are subjects where the reader is asked questions about various topics and what the reader thinks the best answer would be when sometimes more than one answer could be correct and sometimes is.   There is survival on the ocean info here, background on sea creatures all the way down to single cell ones.   There is mysterious information shared on the vents in the ocean that produce toxic molten temps from underwater volcanoes and so much more.  This is a treasure trove of information and so interesting.  I recommend this to second graders on up to senior citizens especially to the environmentally conscious and those who love the ocean above and below.

The Moon Over High Street

The Moon Over High Street by Natalie Babbitt 148 pages

Please don’t hate me when I tell you I have never read “Tuck Everlasting.” When it was originally published in 1975, I was already a grown woman and never felt the need to read it.

I’m not sure how I wound up with a copy of Babbitt’s “The Moon Over the High Street.” This short novel is aimed at what I call middle-schoolers, grades 4-9. Its themes of family, friendship, rich versus poor and the working class still resonate with readers all these years later.

Twelve-year-old Joe Casimir has only known his grandmother as his family. His parents died in an accident when he was a baby, and the only other family is a cousin of Gran’s, Aunt Myra.

When Gran breaks her hip, she sends Joe to live with Aunt Myra in Midville, across the state. I didn’t envy his long bus trip. Anyone who has taken a long bus trip knows how awful it can be. Midville is a tiny town with clearly delineated lines of where its citizens reside based on class. Class is an important theme in this story.

Joe meets and becomes friends with the girl, Beatrice Sope, who lives across the street. Through Beatrice, Joe meets the town’s millionaire, Mr. Boulderwall. Boulderwall takes a shine to Joe and offers to adopt him. He wants Joe to be his protégé. Joe is forced to decide whether to live a life of wealth and abandon Gran and Aunt Myra or stay with his family and chase his dreams.

There aren’t a lot of characters in this book, but the supporting characters provide Joe with the skills necessary to make this crucial decision.

I thought the book was a quick read with surprising depth. However, it does tend to meander a bit. That’s why “The Moon Over High Street” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Utter Catastrophe

The Utter Catastrophe by Sandra Hutchison (Book 3 in the Lawson Trilogy) 400 pages

Hutchison has done it again; she has written a book that sweeps the reader into its fictional world!

In the third and final book (much to my dismay) of the Lawson Trilogy, the topics are much, much heavier—the opioid crisis, drug addiction and recovery—yet it is tempered by a romance.

It’s the summer of 2016. Winslow Jennings is now Lawson’s Chief of Police. He and the other chiefs in the nearby small towns are overwhelmed with drug-related deaths. Winslow doesn’t realize it, but the crisis is about to hit home.

Everyone in Lawson has noted that Winslow’s cousin, Dave Cantwell, and Dave’s wife, Peggy, have been acting strange. They seldom leave the house anymore, don’t interact with their old friends or their extended family. It’s been a bad year for them with Dave hurting his back at work. But they still manage to make it work. Or so they thought.

The Cantwell’s have three children: Megan, Mike and Zach. Megan, twenty-one and just home from college, has noticed that her parents were acting stranger than usual, but she shrugged it off as to her being away. When they overdose in a nearby town after making a buy, it is up to Megan to become the adult. Mike is in Afghanistan and Zach is a middle-schooler.

As Megan tries to sort out her parents’ financial affairs and save their farm, there is another problem looming on the horizon. Seems her first, and only so far, love, Noah, is back in Lawson. He has recently been discharged from a rehab center and is home to bury his wife and raise his daughter. But can Noah say clean? Megan still has feelings for him, but it would not be smart to get involved with a drug addict.

At times, “The Utter Catastrophe” was a tough book to read, but Hutchison managed it with compassion. I really liked that Hutchison focused on those left behind to clean up the mess(es) and muddle their way through life instead on the addicts themselves, and how they could not get off that road.

I also like that Winslow and Mary did not take center stage in this chapter, but they were strong supporting characters. The Somali refugee family (whose names I can no longer recall) are also supporting characters who help to frame the story of a small town in big trouble,

“The Utter Catastrophe” is another 5-star read in Julie’s world!

 

The Poet's House

The Poet’s House by Jean Thompson 320 pages

Author Jean Thompson is new to me. I really enjoyed her writing, and in reading about her and this book in various book newsletters and magazines, it sounds as though I am missing something by not reading her work.

While poetry is at the heart of this novel, this book is not about poetry. Art, yes. Poetry. No. There is also a mystery in the story that mostly stays in the background until near the conclusion.

Twenty-one-year-old Carla is a landscape artist. She has no plans; nothing seems to excite her, except hard work. A community college dropout, Carla feels stupid and unteachable. Unfortunately, she is suffering from un-diagnosed form of dyslexia; she doesn’t process the written word as others do. 

Carla likes her job. It makes sense to her. However, she life is drastically changed when she hears one of her clients, Viridian, reading her poetry aloud. She gets it!

Like Viridian’s friends and colleagues, Carla is drawn to the seventy-ish Viridian. She just wants to be around her, and Viridian notices her. For the first time in her life, Carla feels noticed. She begins to find excuses to go to Viridian’s where she meets all kinds of interesting and quirky people.

And if art is the heart of this novel, the mystery of a lost collection of poetry is its pulse. Viridian’s past lover---the great poet, Mathias---supposedly burned his last poetry collection. But no one seems to believe that he would do such a thing. Most people believe that Viridian has hidden it. But no one can claim to have ever seen it or where it could possibly be. And most don’t understand why Viridian doesn’t haul it out and put it on the auction block, since she is struggling financially. And as her physical health declines, what will become of the lost masterpiece?  Only readers of the book will know.

I enjoyed reading “The Poet’s House,” and it receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

The Steal

The Steal (Book 1in To Catch a Leopard series) by C. W. Gortner and M. J. Rose 135 pages 

I was drawn to this novella because of the cover. The woman reminded me of Grace Kelly and Cary Grant when they made the movie “To Catch a Thief.” However, the movie is not based on this book as it was published in 2021.

When readers first arrive in Cannes for the 1957 film festival, they see the area through Jerome Curtis’ eyes. But he hasn’t come to enjoy the scenery, gawk at the film stars, play in the casinos or to watch the new movies. Instead, Jerome is there to investigate a jewel robbery. A robbery that, if he cannot solve, will cost the company he works for millions of dollars. He is confident that he can solve the case.

The jewels have been stolen right under the nose of their owner, Ania Thorne. Her father is the world-famous jeweler, Virgil Thorne. Ania has studied under him since she was child, and at 29 has also designed iconic pieces and is ready to take over the company’s majority.

Jerome is not the suave, elegant Cary Grant figure; he is more of a Colombo. Immediately he suspects a notorious jewel thief whose moniker is The Leopard because he always leaves a leopard print glove behind. Naturally, there is no such glove at this crime scene, which happens to be the fabled Carlton Hotel.

Jerome and Ania work every lead and every suspension that comes their way, whether it be in Cannes, Paris or New York. Their arrival in New York unearths startling evidence and gets them close to the thief.

Of course, I cannot forget the attraction that leaps between the Ania and Jerome. It’s fun to watch them steer around each other, trying to maintain their professionalism.

I’m looking forward to reading Book 2, “The Bait.” “The Steal" receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.  “The Steal” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

Grant’s Last Battle: The Story Behind the Personal Memoir of Ulysses S. Grant

 Grant’s Last Battle: The Story Behind the Personal Memoir of Ulysses S. Grant by Chris Mackowski, PhD 192 pages

One of the books on my bucket list is “The Complete Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant.” I have put it off because the two-volume set is intimidating, especially to a reader who enjoys historical fiction than total history.

When I saw this small book on the shelf at the library, I thought I would try it. I’m glad I did. The reader/writer in me loved the first sentence: “Frederick Ward was a sociopath, but no one knew it at the time.” Doesn’t that make you want to read more? I was certainly hooked.

Most of us know Grant as the Union general who defeated General Robert E. Lee in the Civil War and who went on to become a tow-termed United States President. Two terms. But Grant had a full life off the battlefield and after his presidency. Author Mackowski does an excellent job in summing up the before the war made Grant a household name without getting in the way of this extremely personal story.

This succinct history takes place between May 4, 1884, and mid-July 1885. It is the story of Grant’s financial ruin, his tortured battle with throat cancer (from twenty cigars a day) and a drive, plus the urging of Samuel Clemens, which made him complete his memoirs before his illness killed him.

In the compulsively readable book, readers get to go behind the scenes in the life of a public man to learn about what drove him in this last stretch. And what drove him was Clemens’ assurance that the sales of his memoirs would provide financial security for his family. The memoirs were an instant hit when they were released in 1885 and remain one of the few books that has never gone out of print.

Mackowski has authored a book that is “Filled with personal intrigues and supported by a cast of colorful characters that included Mark Twain, William Vanderbilt, and P. T. Barnum, ‘Grant’s Last Battle’ recounts a deeply personal story as dramatic for Grant as any of his battlefield exploits.”

When I finished reading, I closed the book with a greater sense of respect and admiration for the “Hero of Appomattox.” 

“Grant’s Last Battle” receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world

Li Chi

Li Chi: Book of Rites, translated by James Legge, 949 pages (2 vols)

The Li Chi (pinyin Liji) is a collection of Confucian texts compiled in the Han dynasty dealing with matters of classical Chinese ceremonial.  Much of it concerns the minutiae of proper observance, including difficult questions when unusual circumstances impose conflicting obligations.  Other texts consider the nature and value of ceremony against those who would reject it as mere outward show, maintaining that ritual is essential to the proper ordering of emotion, evoking the proper feelings in those who lack them and restraining the passions of those who cannot control themselves.

The Li Chi is one of the "Five Classics" of Confucian philosophy.  As such, it has been studied, interpreted, glossed, and debated by legions of scholars for thousands of years.  Legge attempts to condense some of this conversation into the footnotes, along with notes on difficult translations and the claims of textual critics, and he succeeds in doing so without burying the text in the commentary.  Most readers will find it to be primarily of antiquarian interest, which is hardly surprising given that the motives of the authors and compilers was itself antiquarian, a search into the past, not due to idle curiosity or academic ambition, but out of a love of wisdom and a deep need for models to be imitated.  

SLPL August 2022 Team Totals

 

In August, 3 people read 24 books for a total of 8427 pages.  Shirley had the most with 20 books and 7228 pages.   Congrats to Shirley for finishing Infinite Jest!