It's Monday 3/14! What Are You Reading?

Happy Pi Day! (Get it? Today is  March 14, aka 3.14) And thanks to the Today Show for reminding my groggy self this morning, so I could change my menu plans for dinner tonight to making Chicken Pot Pie and mini Apple Pies for dessert. Join the fun! Here's a previous Pi Day (half homemade and half store-bought):

Chicken pot pie (on right) and pie for dessert!

The weather's been crazy here, as is the norm for March. On Friday, I took a photo of crocuses that had just opened, and on Saturday, we got snow. Today and the rest of this week are going up into the 60's and maybe even 70, so that last blast of winter was short-lived, thank goodness!

First crocuses

 

Snow Saturday!

As I've mentioned, we are arranging hospice for my 96-year-old father-in-law, so he is nearing the end of his life. We each visit every day and much of the time, he is either asleep or pretty out of it. But I had an extraordinary visit with him Saturday. He was wide awake and alert--completely in another world but so very happy! He pointed out his world-record fish on the wall (there's nothing on the walls of his tiny nursing home room) and told me fishing stories for the next 90 minutes. He loves to fish, so he was just immersed in happy memories the entire time. He thought he was at a lake--even encouraged me to put my line in!--but he was so happy and so fully engaged in that imaginary world of his memories. After watching him suffer so much in recent months (and years), it just filled my heart with joy to see him so happy again. By dinnertime when my husband and son visited, he was back to his usual state. I feel blessed to have been there with him during that brief, magical respite.

My father-in-law with his world-record fish!

Back to the reading world! I recorded and uploaded a video of my February Reading Wrap-Up, so check that out to hear about the seven wonderful books I read, mostly for Black History Month. It was an outstanding reading month!

As of the end of February, here's my progress on my 2021 Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Challenge - I've read six books from my own shelves so far - my goal is 48!

Monthly Motif Challenge - February was Girl Power, and Kindred by Octavia Butler was an perfect choice!

Back to the Classics 2022 - My goal is to read 6 classics this year, and I've already read two! I'm so proud of myself. In February, I added Black Boy by Richard Wright, a 1945 memoir that I counted in the Nonfiction Classic category.

Alphabet Soup Challenge - I have 8 letters filled in so far (of 26).

Nonfiction Reader Challenge - Black Boy by Richard Wright also counted for my Nonfiction Challenge, bringing my total to 3 so far, with a goal of 12.

Diversity Challenge - I've read 12 diverse books already this year! That's almost everything I've read so far.

Travel the World in Books - In February, I added Indonesia and Haiti, two places I have rarely read about before.

Literary Escapes Challenge - I've filled in 8 of the 51 states (including DC) so far.

And here's what we've all been reading this past week!

I finished my first book for Booktopia 2022 (for more info at the link, click Events and scroll to the bottom), Country of Origin by Dalia Azim, and I loved it! The booksellers at Northshire Bookstore always choose amazing books/authors for the event, and this debut novel is no exception. It begins in Egypt in 1952 when Cairo is set aflame, and the revolution for independence begins. Fourteen-year-old Halah is pulled out of the British girls' school she is attending and begins to feel like a prisoner in her own home. She's grown up privileged and protected and experienced very little of the outside world. A few years later, she runs away with a soldier to New York. The novel has different parts from the perspectives of Halah, her husband, and their daughter. It was engrossing and compelling, and I am still thinking about it (always a good sign).

 

 

Now, I am reading one of my Christmas gifts from my husband, The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel, a book I have been looking forward to! I loved Station Eleven, and so far, this second novel is just as good. A young woman named Vincent grew up on the remote far end of Vancouver Island in a small town, Caiette, with just a few other houses. Her mother went out canoeing one day when Vincent was fourteen and disappeared. Vincent wanders through her life, unable to put down roots, living in Vancouver, working as a bartender at a luxury hotel built right in Caiette, fake-marrying a wealthy man, and working as a cook on a container ship. I am totally immersed in this novel about an unusual life.

 

I finished listening to Room to Dream by Kelly Yang, for Middle-Grade March (see #Booktube) - it was really great (and apparently the third book in a trilogy, so the first two books are probably good, too). Now, I am listening to another middle-grade book on audio, Set Me Free by Ann Claire LeZotte. It's about Mary, a fourteen-year-old deaf girl in the early 18th century who lives on Martha's Vineyard in a loving family and supportive community. A friend working on Boston asks Mary to come help a young girl who is deaf and mute and is being treated like an animal. Mary is excited to teach the eight-year-old girl, but is it even possible to teach someone who has never known any language at all? It's excellent so far.

 

My husband, Ken, is still reading Never by Ken Follett. We have both been fans of Follett's books since the 80's, when he mostly wrote thrillers, and here, he returns to his roots with a modern, globe-spanning, unique race against time. The author's note at the beginning says he was thinking about how a series of seemingly small events dominoed to start WWI, so he's setting up a similar set of scenarios in today's world (with a female U.S. President!). It sounds fascinating, and knowing Follett's writing, I'm sure it's gripping as well.

 

 

Our son, 27, is back to reading a favorite series, The Magic of Recluce, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. He finished book 4, The Order War, which we gave him for Christmas. OK, now try to stay with me on this--he explained it to me when he was home last week. Before he moves onto book 5, The Death of Chaos, he's gone back to re-read book 1, The Magic of Recluce, because book 5 is actually a direct sequel to book 1. This series is hard to follow! (for me, not for him). In the chronological order of the series, book 4 was #18, book 1 is #21, and book 5 is #22. Got that? Anyway, he loves this series and is enjoying it.

 

New blog posts: 

 

YA Review: Kent State by Deborah Wiles - powerful, first-person accounts of the event from multiple perspectives - outstanding on audio

Middle-Grade Review: Behind the Mountains by Edwitch Dandicat - moving story of immigration from rural Haiti to Brooklyn, NY

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week?

 

Middle-Grade Review: Behind the Mountains

I was looking for one more audio book for Black History Month and zeroed in on my backlog of middle-grade audios, since I only had one week left in February to listen to it. I chose Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Candicat and thoroughly enjoyed this story of a girl's journey from the mountains of Haiti to the concrete jungle of New York City.

Celiane lives with her mother and older brother in a small, rural village in the mountains of Haiti. They have a small farm, but Celiane's father moved to New York five years ago so that he could earn money to send back to his family, due to limited opportunities in Haiti. The rest of the family are waiting for their visas to be approved so they can join him. Celiane is the top student in her class, but her parents want to provide better educational options for her. And her brother, Moy, is training to be a tailor, though he dreams of being an artist. Celiane and her mother travel down the mountain to the city of Port-au-Prince to visit Celiane's aunt. There is growing danger in the city, as the election draws near and supporters of both sides resort to violence. Traveling on a bus one day, Celiane and her mother are both badly injured when the bus is bombed. Now, there is even more reason to leave Haiti, and their visas are soon approved. The three family members travel to New York to join Celiane's father, but Brooklyn is an entirely different world from what they are used to! They each struggle to adjust to their new, strange lives.

Celiane's teacher gave her a notebook to use as a journal, so the novel is written from Celiane's perspective, as she records her family's experiences in her journal. This first-person narrative allows the reader to experience both Haiti and all the new things in New York just as Celiane does. The lovely voice and accent of narrator Ella Turenne on the audio adds to this immersive experience. I enjoyed the unique setting, as I'd never read a novel set in Haiti before, and the author does a wonderful job of describing both the serene rural areas in the mountains and the raucous, colorful city. The novel also beautifully depicts the immigrant experience, as even a very smart student like Celiane struggles to keep up in a foreign language and feels out of place among so many students different from her. New York is a difficult adjustment for all of them. In an author's note, Dandicat explains that the novel is based on her own family's experiences when she was a child, and that realism shines through. I thoroughly enjoyed accompanying Celiane on her journey to a new life.

192 pages, Scholastic

Scholastic Audio

NOTE: This novel will be re-released in paperback and audio on April 5, 2022.

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Diversity Challenge

Travel the World in Books - Haiti

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. Note that the audio sample will be available on April 5, 2022.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

     

 

Or you can order Behind the Mountains from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

YA Review: Kent State

Looking for an audio book to listen to last month, I noticed a Deborah Wiles historical novel, Kent State, among my audio backlog. I loved Wiles' Revolution, part of her middle-grade Sixties Trilogy, and I mistakenly thought this might be a part of that series. But this book is aimed more at teens and young adults, and it tells the story of four American college students shot by National Guardsmen while protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State. This is not just any historical retelling but a powerful first-person recounting, told from multiple perspectives, that was all the more stunning on audio. I won't ever forget it.

Most people in the U.S. know the basic facts of this horrific historical event, if from nothing other than pop music and culture. On May 4, 1970, on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio, United States National Guardsmen were called in to quell student protests about the Vietnam War. Protests were common then, but this time, it turned deadly as the National Guardsmen opened fire on the students, killing four of them. The event drew national news headlines and inspired a now-familiar song by Neil Young (Four Dead in Ohio), but Wiles presents it here in a whole new light. Her book is told entirely in the first-person, from a wide variety of perspectives, as people who were involved are remembering the events of that week, leading up to the shootings. The narrative alternates between the stories of students at Kent State who knew the students who were killed, townspeople from Kent who were terrified of the increasing violence of student protests that week, a Black student from Ohio State where similar protests occurred, and even a National Guardsman who was there. The book is structured as if all of these people are in the same room together, each remembering events in their own way and telling their own stories. The result is an interwoven narrative of different perspectives that together provide a detailed and nuanced description of what occurred. The audio production features different narrators for each of the different characters, each speaking in the first-person, so that it feels as if they are all telling you their story.

The result, particularly on audio, is stunning, moving, and so powerful. I was absolutely riveted to this two-hour audio production and felt as if I was listening to these stories first-hand, in person. I learned a lot about the specific history of that event but also about what was happening in the U.S. at that time, on campuses across the nation, and the impact of the shootings. The author even includes songs and other pop culture references that resulted. I was not at all surprised to see that this audio won the 2021 ALA's Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audio Production--that award was well-deserved, as this was an audio experience that blew me away. Author's Notes at the end provide an idea of the depth of Wiles' research in pulling together these first-person accounts and different perspectives. Fifty years later, this event is still important and carries lessons that we can--and should--still learn from today. Listening to this recounting in first-person from so many varied sources is a powerful way to learn about the past.

144 pages, Scholastic

Scholastic Audio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Ohio

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

    

 

Or you can order Kent State from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

It's Monday 3/7! What Are You Reading?

I try to keep things light in my weekly posts here, but life is kicking my ass lately. Skip ahead two paragraphs, if this is too heavy for you! I've been struggling with awful flu-like aches this past week, which is a messed-up immune system thing, though I can't figure out exactly why (which drives me crazy!). I'm adjusting my meds and trying not to overdo. My husband says it's the weather, which is super frustrating but could be true! It's a gorgeous, warm (almost 80!) day today but that means high pressure, which does sometimes affect me. So, I can't take a walk like I want to. I'm just sick of feeling sick. I had my 20th anniversary of chronic illness last week, so you'd think I'd be used to it all by now, but the unpredictability can still get me down sometimes.

We're also still struggling to care for my father-in-law, so I know stress is part of the problem, too. We have meetings today and tomorrow with our doctor and with the nursing home care team. We are setting up hospice this week. Even at 96, his heart is strong, but he's not eating and drinking enough. He needs more care and support than the overworked nurses and aides there can provide, and my husband and I are at our limits and need the support, too. We're both over there every day (me at lunchtime and him at dinnertime). Our doctor explained that hospice will do a lot more and give him emotional support, too.

We did pledge to take a little time for ourselves this weekend, so we got out for a short, flat walk on Saturday (aches, be damned!) at a pretty local park. We walked alongside a creek, and the sun even came out. In the evening, we enjoyed our usual Saturday take-out and TV. We are rushing to finish The Handmaid's Tale (which is amazing!), since our son's Hulu subscription runs out this month, and we are also really enjoying Reacher--two shows based on books!

The skies cleared a bit!

My husband checking out the creek

 Oh, and big news--and something to look forward to! Booktopia is back on, in-person, in 2022! This unique event, "where readers and authors meet," is held annually in Manchester, VT, on the first weekend in May at the fabulous Northshire Bookstore. My mom and I attended our first Booktopia in 2015 (my summary at the link) and went to three more, until 2020 hit, and it was suspended. It's a fun book event, where a group of 100-150 readers spend all weekend hanging out with about 10 authors. There are author talks, which are more like book group discussions than typical bookstore readings; recommendations from the booksellers; a "big event' Saturday night with all the authors; plus a really fun Friday dinner, with book trivia and a Yankee book swap. It's an entire weekend packed with book fun! Here's my summary of Booktopia 2019. Many of the same people return every year, so it's also a reunion of book friends, especially this year, after two years off. Everyone is welcome to attend, so check out the details at the Northshire Bookstore site (click on Events, then scroll to the bottom to Booktopia 2022). Let me know if you're going!

I only managed one short video last week, but it was a double-header: my usual weekly wrap-up of what I'm reading PLUS what I plan to read for Middle-Grade March, a fun #Booktube readathon you might enjoy, too!

Middle-Grade March and Friday Reads 3-4-22

And here's what we've all been reading this past week:

I finished The Editor by Steven Rowley and discussed it with my book group. This is a fun story about a first-time author in the 1990's whose book is acquired by a publisher. James goes to his first meeting at the publisher's only to discover that his new editor is Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis! The book has fun with that premise (she was an editor in the 90's), but it also has plenty of emotional depth. James' novel is autobiographical, about a difficult relationship between a mother and son. His mother is none too happy about it, and James has a lot of stuff to work through before the novel has a satisfactory ending. I really enjoyed it, and we had a good discussion.

 

Next, I moved onto my first Booktopia selection, Country of Origin by Dalia Azim. The booksellers at Northshire always choose amazing books/authors for the event, and this debut novel is no exception. It begins in Egypt in 1952 when Cairo is set aflame, and the revolution for independence begins. Fourteen-year-old Halah is pulled out of the British girls' school she is attending and begins to feel like a prisoner in her own home. She's grown up privileged and protected and experienced very little of the outside world. She runs away with a soldier to New York. The novel has different parts from the perspectives of Halah, her husband, and their daughter (so far). It is engrossing and compelling.

 

I kicked off Middle-Grade March with a graphic novel I've been meaning to read, The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo: The Tangled Web by Drew Weing. I love this fun, creative series! I read the first two books in this series, and this is the third entry. A boy named Charles moves to Echo City when his parents buy an old apartment building. Charles discovers a troll living in the basement, and his new friend, Kevin, suggests he call Margo Maloo, Monster Mediator. Margo, who is also a kid, helps humans and monsters (who most adults are unaware of) live together peacefully. Now, Charles is her assistant, and in this third book, Margo is missing when a new case comes up, so Charles tries to tackle it on his own. I'm loving it so far, as always!

 

Also for Middle-Grade March, I started a new audio book, Room to Dream by Kelly Yang. Seventh-grader Mia Tang is dealing with some issues in middle-school, but she's very excited that she and her parents are finally going to visit their family in China! It's been five years since they went back (and since they've had a vacation), so Mia can't wait to see her cousins and grandparents. Mia wants to be a writer, and a unique opportunity presents itself while she's in China--she's going after her dreams! I love how the author shows parallels between problems in China and in 1990's California--big problems, like gentrification and big box stores putting mom and pop places out of business, as well as smaller problems among middle-school-aged kids. I'm really enjoying this book and can't wait to see how it gets wrapped up!

 

My husband, Ken, finished A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson (it seemed like an apt choice for February). He really enjoyed A Solitude of Wolverines by the author last year, so I gave him this second novel for Christmas. Both books feature Alex Carter, a wildlife biologist who studies endangered species, and this second installment takes her to the Canadian Arctic. He enjoyed both of them. I want to read these, too!

 

Now, Ken has started a chunkster, Never by Ken Follett (#Booktube is also celebrating March of the Mammoths, and this book would qualify!). We have both been fans of Follett's books since the 80's, when he mostly wrote thrillers, and here, he returns to his roots with a modern, globe-spanning, unique race against time. The author's note at the beginning says he was thinking about how a series of seemingly small events dominoed to start WWI, so he's setting up a similar set of scenarios in today's world (with a female U.S. President!). It sounds fascinating, and knowing Follett's writing, I'm sure it will be gripping as well.

 

Our son, 27, is back to reading a favorite series, The Magic of Recluce, by L.E. Modesitt, Jr. He's reading book 4, The Order War, which we gave him for Christmas. There are 22 books in this epic fantasy series, so it should keep him busy for a while!

 Last week's blog posts:

Fiction Review: Kindred by Octavia Butler - Outstanding, powerful novel of a modern Black woman going back in time to a southern plantation in 1815.

Middle-Grade Review: Ruby Lee and Me by Shannon Hitchcock - Moving, tender story of friendship between two girls and the racial tensions of school integration in North Carolina in the 1960's

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week?

Middle-Grade Review: Ruby Lee and Me

Waiting for my book group pick to become available, I needed a quick book last month to squeeze in between books, and I wanted to stick with my Black History Month theme. I found the perfect choice on my TBR shelves (from 2016!): Ruby Lee and Me, a middle-grade novel by Shannon Hitchcock. It's a warm, rich story that combines family drama, friendship, and the racial tensions of integration in the South in the 1960's.

Twelve-year-old Sarah is supposed to be watching her little sister, Robin, on a summer day in 1969 North Carolina, but she gets distracted by the book she's reading. Robin runs into the street and is hit by a car. She's seriously injured, and Sarah and her family are devastated. Sarah goes out to her grandparents' farm to stay with them, while her parents spend every day at the hospital with Robin. No one knows that Sarah blames herself and is torn apart with guilt over what happened. But life on the farm with her grandparents in the summer is always comforting to her, and she's especially excited to see her friend Ruby, a Black girl who lives with her grandma next-door to the farm. Sarah notices that while their grandmothers are close friends at home, they barely speak to each other when they pass in town. Now, the big news in town is that the school that Sarah will be attending in the fall will be integrating for the first time, with their very first African-American teacher. Sarah is nervous about going to a new school but is reassured that her friend, Ruby, will be by her side ... until Ruby tells her that they can't be friends at school, only at home, like their grandmothers. Their different attitudes cause a rift between the two girls, and Sarah's summer becomes even worse, as she worries about Robin and now doesn't even have her friend to talk to. 

I loved this sweet story with so much emotional complexity woven through it. Poor Sarah has so many worries for a young girl, and the novel highlights how much she (and by extension, other kids) think about these difficult topics that many adults won't talk to them about. The author paints a beautiful picture of life on the farm, contrasted with all the things that went wrong that summer. She explains in an Author's Note that Sarah's experiences are based on her own childhood in 1967 North Carolina when her sister was injured and schools were integrated, though she was younger than Sarah at the time. She even includes some of her own photos in the back. Perhaps that's why this story is so moving and authentic, with real-feeling characters. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Sarah and Ruby and was rooting for them (and the town) to work things out.

207 pages, Scholastic

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Challenge (bonus points since this one was on my shelf for 6 years?)

Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge - R

Diversity Reading Challenge

 Literary Escapes Challenge - North Carolina

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

     

 

Or you can order Ruby Lee and Me from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Fiction Review: Kindred

For years, I have heard nothing but rave reviews of Kindred by Octavia Butler, and I've wanted to read it. So, when I saw that my local indie bookstore had chosen it for its monthly book group discussion for Black History Month, I signed up. Wow. Just wow. This moving story of a modern black woman who time travels back to a southern plantation in 1815 just blew me away. It's a compelling, gripping, and very powerful story that made for a great discussion.

Dana is a black woman living in California in 1976 with her white husband, Kevin. They are both writers, and Dana works temporary jobs to help make ends meet. On her twenty-sixth birthday, Dana suddenly disappears from their living room while she and Kevin are unpacking boxes from their recent move. She finds herself on the bank of a river in a rural area, surrounded by trees. She sees a child drowning in the river and acts instinctively, jumping in the water and swimming out to save him. She pulls him back to shore, but he's not breathing, so she begins mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She's stunned when his mother arrives on the scene and starts to beat on Dana's back. The boy, Rufus, begins breathing again, but his father arrives and points a gun at Dana. She disappears from the scene and reappears back in her living room, wet and muddy and out of breath. She tells Kevin what happened, and though it's hard to believe, it's impossible to ignore the physical evidence Dana brings back with her: river water, mud, and bruises on her back. Soon, it happens again, and Dana finds out that her first trip was to 1815 and that Rufus lives on a plantation in Maryland. He seems to have the ability to somehow call her to him whenever his life is in danger, which happens far too frequently as he grows older. Each time Dana is pulled back in time, she stays for longer periods; she gets pulled abruptly back to her own time when her own life is threatened. While on the plantation, Dana must live and work with the slaves, and she frequently gets herself into trouble by not remembering to speak and act submissively to Rufus' often-cruel parents. Dana confides her true story to Rufus, who sees her appear and disappear, and though the two become somewhat close, their relationship is always strained as Rufus has been taught that Blacks are lesser people, almost animals. To complicate matters further, Dana's own family history is threatened by what happens on this plantation.

Did I say wow?? Frequent readers of my blog know that I love time travel novels, especially those that include historical fiction, like Connie Willis' Doomsday Book, Blackout, and All Clear. But this historical time travel novel was just so incredibly powerful. We had a lot to discuss in the book group. We all agreed that Dana experiencing slavery on a southern plantation was all the more powerful because she was a modern woman, and the contrast with her modern life made the atrocities of slavery all the more potent. Going back and forth between the two time periods had a powerful effect on Dana--and on Kevin, who also got pulled back with her once. By showing the perspectives of both Black slaves and white people at that time and Rufus' growing conflict between liking and respecting Dana and the perspectives he grew up with, the novel illuminates many aspects of that time period in great depth. Dana faces some impossible choices and makes some very difficult decisions, as she tries to balance between the needs of that time--and the people there she comes to care about--against her own modern life and her family. It's a compelling, powerful portrait of a horrifying time and place in our history, told in a wholly unique way. I want to go back and reread the entire novel; I'm sure I will one day.

NOTE: When you get back to the end of the novel, be sure to go back and re-read the Prologue!

264 pages, Beacon Press

Recorded Books

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Challenge

Monthly Motif - Girl Power (there is no more fierce female character than Dana!)

Alphabet Soup Challenge - K for Kindred

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - North Carolina

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the Prologue and the beginning of the novel, and/or download it from Audible. It sounds great!

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 
  

Or you can order Kindred from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

It's Monday 2/28! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

It's very late on Monday already, and I am pretty exhausted after a whirlwind week and a very long day.

Mostly, we are still focused on my father-in-law, who is declining in a local nursing home. We visit every day and spend a lot of time managing his care and trying to get what he needs (challenging in a busy care home still under-staffed from COVID). This past weekend, my husband and younger son spent all day moving Grandad's stuff out of his assisted living apartment, which was very sad. Our basement now looks like a storage facility, with all of our son's stuff (he's between apartments) and all of my father-in-law's stuff, too. Look for us on an upcoming episode of Hoarders!

The highlight of the week, even though we were all exhausted, was our tradition of celebrating Mardi Gras on Saturday evening. I cooked a huge pot of jambalaya Saturday, then traded some for the delicious bread pudding our friends made (we all used to live in New Orleans). Normally, we'd have a big party Saturday night before Mardi Gras, but for the second time, we did a Zoom celebration instead. We gathered virtually with our closest friends, including several that used to live in New Orleans when we did. We haven't seen any of them in a long time, so it was great to catch up! I didn't take any photos, but I'll include some food photos from previous years.

Jambalaya

Bread Pudding and King Cake

If YOU want to celebrate Mardi Gras (tomorrow, March 1, is Mardi Gras Day), check out my tips, Celebrate Mardi Gras at Home!, which includes lists of great movies, TV shows, and books set in Louisiana, plus foods to cook or buy and even some travel tips if you're planning a trip down South. We will be at our oldest friends' house tomorrow (the ones who made the bread pudding) for our annual Mardi Gras Popeye's dinner (yes, Popeye's is authentic!).

Somehow, I managed to upload two new videos last week:

All About Me Tag - a fun new get-to-know-me video

Friday Reads 2-25-22 - my weekly update on what I'm reading

Here's what we are all reading this week:

After finishing Kindred by Octavia Butler (amazing!!), I moved onto another book group pick, The Editor by Steven Rowley. This is a fun story about a first-time author in the 1990's whose book is acquired by a publisher. James goes to his first meeting at the publisher's only to discover that his new editor is Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis! The book has fun with that premise (she was an editor in the 90's), but it also has plenty of emotional depth. James' novel is autobiographical, about a difficult relationship between a mother and son. His mother is none too happy about it, and James has a lot of stuff to work through before the novel has a satisfactory ending.

 

I fit in one last audio book for Black History Month, Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Dandicat, a middle-grade book set in Haiti and New York. Celiane (about 13 years old) lives with her mother and older brother in a remote village in the mountains of Haiti, while her father lives in New York, where he can earn money to send home. During a visit to Port-au-Prince, Celiane and her mother are both injured in a bombing due to politic unrest, and their U.S. visas are finally approved. The first half of the autobiographical novel takes place in Haiti and the second half in Brooklyn, as Celiane and her family adjust to life as U.S. immigrants. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this engrossing story with a unique setting.

 

For my husband, Ken's, next book, he chose A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson (it seemed like an apt choice for February). He really enjoyed A Solitude of Wolverines by the author last year, so I gave him this second novel for Christmas. Both books feature Alex Carter, a wildlife biologist who studies endangered species, and this second installment takes her to the Canadian Arctic. I want to read these, too!

 

Our son, 27, has been reading up a storm! He finally finished Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook, a volume that contains the first several books in the series (which he really enjoyed). 

 

Next, he tackled the Spellslinger series, a favorite. He re-read book 2, Shadowblack, so that he could move onto book 3, Charmcaster, which I gave him for his birthday last year. He was telling me all about this series in the car today and loves it, as it includes magic and also has a great sense of humor, including a magical squirrel-cat who acts as the main character's partner! It was another book blogger, Beth Fish Reads, who first told me about this fun series!

 

And now, our son has returned to another favorite series, The Magic of Recluce,. He's reading book 4, The Order War, which we gave him for Christmas. There are 22 books in this epic fantasy series, so it should keep him busy for a while!

Blog posts last week:

Fiction Review: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead - 

Memoir Review: Black Boy by Richard Wright - 

Celebrate Mardi Gras at Home! - books, TV, movies, and foods to celebrate this week!

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week?