I’ve read another ton of stuff acquired for the local education support organization … thus, again, not my usual truckload of romance, but I won’t list all of the kids’ books I read this week.
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1. ‘Slayers of Old’ by Jim C. Hines, which was a great standalone paranormal thriller / family dramedy starring three mid to late life heroes.
2. ‘Abolition and the African American Story’ by Patricia Williams Dockery, which contains the John Brown Crazy Bloodbather* half-story but otherwise tracks with other histories I’ve read, is well documented and a good place for teen readers to start on this subject. Race to the Truth
*yes, he was a violent man with a messiah complex who thought the ends justified the means. Not a nice guy, not a hero. But I tend to accept the counter-story that much of Brown’s violence was in self-defense or in retaliation. The famous Kansas “massacre” of pro-slavery fighters, for example, followed a massacre BY pro-slavery fighters.
3. ‘Stone and Sky’ by Ben Aaronovitch, also great. Latest in the Rivers of London series, set in Scotland and offering plenty of foxes.
4. ‘Carry on, Mr. Bowditch’ by Jean Lee Latham, a terrific biographical novel (1956 Newbery Medal winner) about a self-taught mathematician, astronomer, and marine navigator. Taken out of school at 10 to work, indentured at 12 for nine years; with the help of supportive community taught himself advanced math, Latin, French, and a ton of other stuff before joining a ship as second mate. Later wrote ‘The American Practical Navigator’ which corrected thousands of errors in the previous standard work. Story begins in 1779. Highly recommended.
DNFd a thing despite getting to 56% because it just kept getting worse. Actually zipped to the end and rated it 2 stars, which I almost never do. All I will say is that it had Wine in the title.
5. ‘Dead and Breakfast’ by Kat Hillis and Rosiee Thor. A somewhat goofy (intentionally) paranormal MM cozy mystery involving a long-established vampire couple who’ve moved to a small town to open a B&B which is not exactly getting off the ground, then find the mayor exsanguinated in their backyard. The most serious thread in this book has to do with the emotional cost of never feeling safe to settle down. If you like cozy mysteries in which the people solving the crime are a couple of opposites-attract men with a history, it’s pretty entertaining.
6. ‘The Castle of Stories’ by Matt Cain, who I really want to like. He’s a good writer and he’s dealing with themes that resonate with me, but he does this thing with cutesy speech tags that are just nails-on-a-chalkboard to me. His characters chirp, trill, chime, etc instead of just SAYING something. This one’s about an MM established couple. POV character inherits a historic property in Tuscany. Renovation summer follows, complicated by his boyfriend’s three kids (2 hostile) whose (also hostile) mother, the boyfriend’s ex-wife, drops on the men at the last minute. I rounded down to 4 stars because of the speech tags, but there’s a lot good about this book.
7. [re-read] ‘Boyfriend Material’ by Alexis Hall.
8. ‘Composite Nation’ by Frederick Douglass, bound copy of his speech from late 1860s speaking tour. Intro by David W. Blight, published by Applewood Books, bought from Arcadia Publishing. Stirring! (also shit-stirring!) The full text can be found online, I just wanted the book version for the education folks.
9. [re-read] ‘Husband Material’ by Alexis Hall.
10. ‘Father Material’ by Alexis Hall, which I finished at two in the morning because I was invested and didn’t have to work the next day. Very satisfying resolution to the three-book arc. Enjoyed Luc’s Mom’s presence in this. Liked the focus on Luc & Oliver continuing to learn about themselves and evolve in the relationship within the framework of pet and foster parenting. Truly moving conclusion, 5 stars.