tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34056909714148474012024-03-13T18:57:26.757-04:00czuk it and czukartbookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.comBlogger488125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-29526664530094581442020-12-18T14:58:00.004-05:002020-12-18T14:58:29.040-05:002020 Wishes<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSa-yItgES26klaxVhJ4qFiTbQO4FWPpGzqy2U_5_z2s3yCtXFJIobqsfDgYpJOJrrImhIlLW2PdWdfdJJjkbdMnDZth5IACGHPOYDh1-nGEYCuUmUY7AR3U_OC4NzG0ZmOp_Po0BTrAQ/s2048/635C45CE-5A1A-41B6-82A1-CAAB73723145.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="czukart 2020" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSa-yItgES26klaxVhJ4qFiTbQO4FWPpGzqy2U_5_z2s3yCtXFJIobqsfDgYpJOJrrImhIlLW2PdWdfdJJjkbdMnDZth5IACGHPOYDh1-nGEYCuUmUY7AR3U_OC4NzG0ZmOp_Po0BTrAQ/w400-h246/635C45CE-5A1A-41B6-82A1-CAAB73723145.heic" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">ANR 2020</span></blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> It's a pandemic and a holiday season. And my pod is just two people, both with the same last name, and married to each other. All of which is reason to pop in to send love and good wishes to anyone who might be reading this. </p><p>We are both well. We still like each other, and there's still a lot of laughter in our home. I've taken to saying that as an introvert, a voracious reader, a retired nurse, and someone who likes to tinker creatively/artistically when able, I've been in training for this my entire life. We've kept to ourselves and done all that we can to stay healthy. There's some street art here in Charleston that says "I can't wait to hug you when this is over." It's currently right up there in my list of favorite art.</p><p>I'd wish for an exciting and precedent setting 2021 for everyone, but 2020 has taught me to be careful what I wish for. Instead, I'll wish you the chance to reconnect with what you hold dear, to experience joy, and much happiness-- and of course good health.</p><p>Here's to 2021. </p><p><br /></p>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-3121420326170285862018-11-17T13:03:00.000-05:002018-11-17T13:29:35.104-05:00So Long, Farewell-- for nowI'm taking a break from blogging. This is one of my happiest periods personally, deep into a wonderful life with the newly retired Javaczuk. There's a lot of laughter and a lot of love. It's the stuff from the outside that wears me down. I am deeply saddened by much in our world now, locally, nationally, and world-wide. So, I am going into protective mode, and taking leave of the internet where I can.<br />
<br />
You can still find me as bookczuk on instagram, because pictures. I am still on Telegram and What'sAp, though I rarely check them. The accounts at bookish sites I frequent are still active, though pretty much only for recording. If you desperately need me, my screen name @ gmail will probably work.<br />
<br />
Be well, be happy. Take care.<br />
<br />
Until later,<br />
<br />
Bookczuk<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikV9_Wws1s4-ArQP-vU_MI769-tZX1gDIofyX_sR_SgTTxs1JTTcGkTSdFRsy4u3IFdMSVfwRk6A35fN-DkOUAniY-uqWpYYi27oXEDW8CopC-5-mZp7s9Zr6KqbWt3yIjTeAGq4edTLo/s1600/VkP21ke9R%252BmI%2525r1P303n3Q.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikV9_Wws1s4-ArQP-vU_MI769-tZX1gDIofyX_sR_SgTTxs1JTTcGkTSdFRsy4u3IFdMSVfwRk6A35fN-DkOUAniY-uqWpYYi27oXEDW8CopC-5-mZp7s9Zr6KqbWt3yIjTeAGq4edTLo/s320/VkP21ke9R%252BmI%2525r1P303n3Q.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bernal Heights in days before the smoke from the Camp Fire hit San Francisco</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-62717599047876280262018-10-17T11:02:00.001-04:002018-10-17T11:02:31.183-04:00One Day in December by Josie Silver <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522871742l/38255337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522871742l/38255337.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
Having been hit by the same sort of thunderbolt that hit Laurie, one day on a bus when her eyes met those of a guy at the bus stop, I know what the certainty that <i>this</i> is the person for you feels like. I got to meet and spent these last 36 years with my guy; life is good. Laurie wasn't so lucky. She spent a year looking for him, then found him again, but he was, by that point, her best friend's new boyfriend. Oops.<br />
<br />
This was an enjoyable book to read: interesting characters, fresh writing, realistic narratives. Chick lit, yes, but not mindless. There are some deep explorations into the curveballs life brings, and a really beautiful example of friendship (Laurie/Sarah) that is a rare and precious gift in itself.<br />
<br />
Bottom line, I liked it. I also really want one of those Delancy Street Specials. Sounded delicious!<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Many thanks to Read it Forward and the publishers for sending me a copy.</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-75920504870609085282018-10-14T16:55:00.001-04:002018-10-14T16:55:44.878-04:00Mammoth by Jill Baguchinsky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519662296l/38769727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="304" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519662296l/38769727.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
<span id="freeTextreview2562066453" style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">I really enjoyed reading this book, and not just because I had a former lifetime as a dig-nerd while at uni. We were investigating a Native American site up in Watertown NY one January, and it was colder than a polar bear's arse that winter. I never found anything of significance, despite my desires, and got permanent mud stains on my Christmas present that year -- sky-blue parka with fake fur on the hood.<br /><br />Seriously, there was so much to like about this book, starting with the clear voice of Natalie, author of the Fossilista and summer intern at a site uncovering Mammoths. I'm really tired of perfectly proportioned women getting front and center all the time, and Natalie's approach to donning her armor and confronting the world is great. And yes, while I may not be the target demographic for this book, I can still be grateful that such a fresh voice is available to them. Plus, the story was interesting, the characters and interactions authentic. So yay, again.<br /><br />Many thanks to Library Thing early readers program and the publishers for sending me this.</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-37688750934644741202018-08-28T15:17:00.002-04:002018-08-28T16:22:44.518-04:00I remember joy<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>On a recent road trip, I had the chance to see my first childhood friend, my first best friend. Memories began to flow, as did laughter. At one point, she commented that my recollections of childhood were better than hers. I probably countered with a joke of some time, but the remark lingered long after our time together. It was a wonderful visit, a golden memory in itself, that I shall cherish the rest of my own remembering. Our time together sparked a flood that hasn't stopped yet. I've sent those following thoughts on to her, but this is the original piece. It's not polished, but I've decided to let it stand as it is. It was important to me for her to read it as soon as possible. She now has, and while she may have been better than me in swim meets and on the monkey bars, I apparently rock memory recall. (And also in looking up stuff-- the Cape Cod location we stayed in 1959 was Nobscussett Beach, Dennis MA.)</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPR6KIFZbJiT5ii72QxhyDs-loZ478ETXH91C-TIjHTSc9G7RNHcJPI8KWaKF6ygHIFwXynFl1O95eH03eJ_kd4DGSMrp07l8UzotsMUSDI61duJX1Gc8hnMg02x9QrMcjHBK_Jryas3Y/s1600/IMG_0037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="712" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPR6KIFZbJiT5ii72QxhyDs-loZ478ETXH91C-TIjHTSc9G7RNHcJPI8KWaKF6ygHIFwXynFl1O95eH03eJ_kd4DGSMrp07l8UzotsMUSDI61duJX1Gc8hnMg02x9QrMcjHBK_Jryas3Y/s200/IMG_0037.jpg" width="197" /></a></i></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember joy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our childhood filled with exploration</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With the freedom we found</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as we pumped our legs harder and faster</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">letting our swings carry us high in the air,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as our imaginations soared even higher</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We flew, like the robins we watched for in the spring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember lying on our bellies, tiny girls, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">watching the train circle the Christmas village </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">at Mrs Piper's.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My mother told me once that we met through Mrs Piper, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">before we both could walk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I secretly thought she was Mrs Claus, and had given me the gift of a best friend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Plus, she always had cookies, more proof of magic.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember the playground behind my house at Oakview</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tumbling about on the tunnels and see-saw, riding the merry-go-round </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Graduating to the jungle gym and monkey bars,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">on which you were faster.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whenever I see two little blonde headed girls on a playground</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wonder if that's how we looked</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember when your mother brought you to visit me </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">when our families each were at Cape Cod.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We would turn 3 that September</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We made sand castles, and played in shallow waves while my brothers </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">dove the bigger ones.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My mother later took me to the town on the Cape where your family was staying,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So that in a two week vacation, our first apart from each other,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">we saw each other twice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember the magic in our own back yards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Where we climbed the mimosa tree in mine,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">dug in the sandbox at yours,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Playing that ever wonderful game of "let's pretend"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">building adventures far larger than the yard we were in.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember driving home from a cross country trip in 1962 with my family.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We'd been away for 3 months, while my father was at Stanford University.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We pulled up to our house at almost 9 pm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was inconsolable that I couldn't go see you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My mother called yours, who said that you were awake, waiting for me to come home</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You'd refused to even get in bed until we could see each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, my mother walked me down the hill. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once we saw each other, it was ok. We didn't need to stay up-- just to check in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then we could sleep. Full reunions would come the next day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember my father coming home from work,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">pretending he couldn't tell the two of us apart;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">calling you Ambo, and me Ab-the-Rab,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eventually coining a mixture of our full names to call us both:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">AbAm MarLiz HeNa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And suddenly we were a club of two, giving new dimensions to our play,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">hiding amidst the table legs, spying on mothers sipping tea or cleaning kitchens,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">whispering, convinced we were invisible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My mother swore she never read our minutes, and I almost believe her.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember the "what if's" about becoming sisters</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The only problem was we each didn't want to give up our parents </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">thinking the other should move in with our family.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We never worked that one out.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember hide and seek</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How the best hiding place <i>ever</i> was when you curled behind your father</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as he watched TV. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You covered yourself with pillows.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I searched everywhere, finally when I called "<i>ally ally oxen free</i>",</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">you crawled out from behind him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was better than the time you folded yourself into the hamper, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and had Nancy put towels on top of it, to trick me from looking inside.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember your cats. I remember Harry the parakeet. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember playing in your basement, which was much nicer than ours.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember my mother being mildly insulted when I'd ask her to make tuna fish or</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lamb chops like Mrs Herson did. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember walking to Packets Pharmacy, Bernstein's Bakery, and Woolworths,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or going to visit your grandma with your mom. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(She let us stand up in the back seat, which my mother never did.)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember Daleview and the swimteam. You were better at that, too, than I was</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but I cheered so loudly for you in your first race that I lost my voice.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Summer was filled with those days at the pool, the mixed scents of baby oil and chlorine, </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">while the jingle of the Good Humor man's Ice Cream truck played.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember how our parents put us in Nursery School together, </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">my mother switching me </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">from the one my brothers had attended because I got in on legacy, but they didn't have space for you;</span><br />
<div style="color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">how Mrs Alderton thought we needed to be separated in elementary, which we were until 6th grade.</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember when my family moved away that summer, you gave me a surprise party.</span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I kept that pen with a huge feather, which you gave me, though two more moves, </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">then it flew off.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember Greek Dodge on the blacktop, and kick the can on at the corner </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of Walden and Schyler</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the kids our age we'd play with, </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or how my mother took a school picture every year of Abby, Amy, and Judy.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Only a few of those are left, but probably that's ok- none of us were at our best then.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember other stuff too:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">being at your home when my mother was in the hospital,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or the day Kennedy died,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or the time you cut your hand when it when thought the glass door.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or the Beatles were taking over the music scene, and we couldn't decide</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">which one we liked best. (though maybe that was me, and you knew all along.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember going off to sleep-away camp with you (you didn't like the lack of plumbing).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or you coming to visit me in St Louis after we moved, and me coming back to see you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And when we moved to Charleston, you and your mom got tickled because there was a case of Elephantitis in the news and the person was from Charleston</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then later, discovering friends in college who knew you at Blair.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or visiting you at Emory.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember how we kept in touch over all these years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I came to your wedding. Your parents walked hand in hand. It was wonderful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You didn't make mine, but only because your first child decided to be born within a few hours of the ceremony. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Your pearl earrings were my "something borrowed"; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I danced with Lenny at the reception.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I remember hearing a woman laugh, just a few years ago,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and thinking it was you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It wasn't, but she and I have become good friends.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When she laughs, I hear two people--</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">her, plus that bubble in your voice when you're amused.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can almost see that sparkle in your eyes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe we didn't see each other frequently,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but we've talked and written-- never missed a birthday, though once or twice the wishes might have been a little belated (probably me, late, but I always came through.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We've helped each other through loss, and celebrated the good stuff</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wish I knew your family better, but revel in the bits that I've heard from you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have gained other friends, but hold the inaugural <i>best friend</i> spot entirely for you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seeing you this summer has been one of the most precious memories, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">not only of Abby and Amy, but of my life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Your courage awes me, your spirit inspires me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And I still love talking to you, like we did long after lights out on our sleepovers.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Quite simply, I cannot remember a time when you weren't in my </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">world,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">which is a better place for having you in it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have so many more memories of our childhood, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as well as the years that followed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One thing is clear, though:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think I owe Mrs Piper a huge debt of gratitude.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best Christmas present EVER.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-35303048489677901062018-07-21T15:43:00.003-04:002018-07-23T07:03:51.006-04:00Calculating the Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal<br />
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<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522037588l/33080122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522037588l/33080122.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
I absolutely adored the <i>The Lady Astronaut of Mars</i> byMary Robinette Kowal, featuring the same lead character as this book. I kept waiting for this Elma to grow into that one-- and undoubtedly she will, though it will be in the period between the end of this book and the beginning of the novella. Either way, there still was a lot to enjoy about this story, and the premise has given me lots to think about-- a meteorite strikes the east coast of the US in 1952, wiping out cities and lives, setting the world up for drastic climate change. It also causes drastic changes in the timeline for the US Space program.<br />
<br />
Things I liked about this book: the relationship the two Drs York have, both the playfulness, and the support they give each other, how Elma's eyes are slowly opened to the inequality to those Americans not fortunate enough to be born white or male, the friendships that existed and the strength many of the characters showed. Yes, this is an alternative history, and the science behind that "what if" is fascinating, but like Kowal's other books, it is the relationships between the characters that drives the story.<br />
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I did listen to the audio version, read by the author, and I admit to willing suspension of disbelief when she tried to do what she thought would be a Charleston accent speaking Yiddish or Hebrew.<br />
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From the publisher:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">A meteor decimates the U.S. government and paves the way for a climate cataclysm that will eventually render the earth inhospitable to humanity. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated timeline in the earth’s efforts to colonize space, as well as an unprecedented opportunity for a much larger share of humanity to take part.</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(24, 24, 24); color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">One of these new entrants in the space race is Elma York, whose experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too—aside from some pesky barriers like thousands of years of history and a host of expectations about the proper place of the fairer sex. And yet, Elma’s drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions may not stand a chance.</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-17153089622311672672018-07-16T19:27:00.001-04:002018-07-16T19:44:43.469-04:00Childhood treasures<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShALv1pKBjW3QcHrgYJOhlMA0sS1KBbufHZJ3smUkA-kevBL7KIwer2Lx85LIFuGPZ2gps-aS0cFAyRqfZfYklmuv4F1t8OEE8pqIoLWc8yMEfKbg2THlFmxIf9vVbGYEz98Gh0snHv4/s1600/swing+59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="712" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShALv1pKBjW3QcHrgYJOhlMA0sS1KBbufHZJ3smUkA-kevBL7KIwer2Lx85LIFuGPZ2gps-aS0cFAyRqfZfYklmuv4F1t8OEE8pqIoLWc8yMEfKbg2THlFmxIf9vVbGYEz98Gh0snHv4/s200/swing+59.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amy and Abby, 1959. Is it weird that I still remember that hat?</td></tr>
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My three best friends, when I was a girl, were Abby, Morgan, and Cindy. Abby lived on the next block from my family. I was born 12 hours ahead of her, almost to the exact minute, but as my birth time was in the evening and hers in the morning, our birthdays fell on different days. Childhood memories are filled with adventures with Abby, everything from swing sets, snow days, swimming, and secret clubs. We stayed friends even as we grew older. I moved away, and we still kept in touch. I was at her wedding, but she wasn't at mine. Her excuse was pretty good, though. She'd given birth the night before to her eldest child. After my mother and brother died, Abby has been one of the only people who still calls me the Yiddish affectionate version of my name: Amele (pronounced Aim-a-la). She is still one of the people in that "best friends" group for me.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtEb-Ms_93AltEuleCzkbDjwAotcFhQi6Qn5h_BkctonvgZ5vTbeoZVBPV7iYTQdYTE43q5qkGN-W-tucwT_ys8PQPILc68oMclgGrlH5AtWEGgYND-fGH6uFLA0arLnMNpbzG-LPq8I/s1600/morgan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="837" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOtEb-Ms_93AltEuleCzkbDjwAotcFhQi6Qn5h_BkctonvgZ5vTbeoZVBPV7iYTQdYTE43q5qkGN-W-tucwT_ys8PQPILc68oMclgGrlH5AtWEGgYND-fGH6uFLA0arLnMNpbzG-LPq8I/s200/morgan.jpg" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amy and Morgan 1959</td></tr>
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Morgan came to me even before Abby, but not by much. Morgan is a plush toy dog, that I only recently discovered has some sort of connection with the Gary Moore show. Apparently, he was the perfect gift for a newborn girl in 1956, because I received two. The story is that my mother was delighted, because when the first one wore out, she pitched it and gave me the second one. She couldn't understand why I wept inconsolably for several days at the loss of my stuffed dog, and refused to give any notice to the pretender. But eventually, the new Morgan dog became the pillow that caught my tears, and we bonded. Morgan had a nose that squeaked, soft satiny ears, button eyes, and my deep love.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMPyNWYHQt8ny8swQG_oQDIE7rBLq56nCV10cFERj-uxLdItElPzsWlnQSKKO-AjewPruI7iTJlVgtfAtoqTuKVLbt5083UDvqMV5SbUqOWBJgIZH74ls2fHvqQBpagB0S74Fh65_3oBs/s1600/Yellowstone++Eli+3+kids%252C+cindy+the+dolljpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="248" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMPyNWYHQt8ny8swQG_oQDIE7rBLq56nCV10cFERj-uxLdItElPzsWlnQSKKO-AjewPruI7iTJlVgtfAtoqTuKVLbt5083UDvqMV5SbUqOWBJgIZH74ls2fHvqQBpagB0S74Fh65_3oBs/s200/Yellowstone++Eli+3+kids%252C+cindy+the+dolljpg.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amy and Cindy at YellowStone 1963</td></tr>
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Cindy came to me the year I started Kindergarten. A baby doll, with a soft body, and blond hair, she accompanied me on a trip across the country that my family took in 1962. Unfortunately for Cindy, by 1963, Pebbles Flintstone had been born and I took to putting her hair up in a barrette to imitate the cartoon baby. Cindy (like the first Morgan) got rather battered from constant loving, so my mother decided to replace her. Rather than suffer the indignities of a wailing child for several weeks, she thought that involving me in the replacement process would be a good idea. So, my parents and I went off to Toys R Us and wandered the aisle until we found an updated Cindy doll to be a replacement. I promptly named her Daisy, and much to my mother's chagrin, refused to give up Cindy, because now, with the addition of Daisy, Abby had a doll to play with at our house, too. My mother embraced the idea, and that year, for holiday gifts, presented both dolls with handmade gowns, embroidered with their names. The girls have them still and wear them proudly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_wVmGjbDv0GAxkI0eh-TWxY6IXDzKlhFzC0PmKw6eFs7QWuDo25D_xi8Gh65pM018IwkBTtbOL4MbwHpN1-rw73d4N0Q3yGruAG1bNo-nF4E-azqbDvpVg4pQeizQDt8U053z4kNrIQ/s1600/IMG_1280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="823" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq_wVmGjbDv0GAxkI0eh-TWxY6IXDzKlhFzC0PmKw6eFs7QWuDo25D_xi8Gh65pM018IwkBTtbOL4MbwHpN1-rw73d4N0Q3yGruAG1bNo-nF4E-azqbDvpVg4pQeizQDt8U053z4kNrIQ/s320/IMG_1280.JPG" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elanor, Amy, and a whole lotta well loved toys</td></tr>
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Sadly, the younger generation in my family has shown little interest in my old toys. But recently, Cindy, Daisy, and Morgan, as well as my whole collection of "foreign dolls" (foreign in quotes because included in the collection are Native American, Hawaiian, Amish, and unspecified American dolls as well as ones from Holland, Japan, China, Greece, Italy, Germany, France, Denmark, and some other places in between) have come to find a new heart to love them all<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">. The daughter of a dear friend, she's a strong girl: bright, compassionate, artistic, and lively. Her favorite song is <i>It's a small world</i>. When asked if she was interested in the dolls, learning that they were well loved and old, </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">she said it doesn’t matter if dolls are older or newer, it only matters what their personality is. This large hunk of my childhood (including Daisy, with Abby's blessing), now resides in the childhood of another girl, blossoming and growing into new experiences. Thank you </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Elanor; I know these beloved companions will bloom in the garden of your love. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-size: x-small;">(Botton picture is Elanor with Morgan and Raggity Ann, another childhood treasure, and me with Cindy and Daisy. Foreign doll collection is on the table in front of us.)</span></span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-92092562444204967332018-05-20T17:16:00.001-04:002018-05-20T17:16:38.248-04:00By Invitation Only by Dorothea Benton Frank<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sometimes Dottie Frank has me laughing so hard I fear I may have to change my panties, other times are a total miss. Luckily for me, this time was a winner. I had the good fortune to hear the author the week before the book was officially out, when she co-hosted and spoke at the spring Books and Authors luncheon, sponsored by the Post Courier. One of the authors had to bow out at the last minute, so Ms Frank filled in. As usual, she was warm, engaging, and downright hilarious. If you ever have the chance to hear her speak, regardless of if you like her books or not (or like me, like some of them, but are not fond of others) go hear her. For her fabulous ability to engage an audience while speaking, she is one of my favorite authors, let alone for her ability to catch elements of the lowcountry in her writing. She's got a way with words, and an eye for what makes entertaining reading (as evidenced by this book, inspired by her two children each getting married, and by the birth of her first grandchild.)<br />
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For the record, DBF had a magic way with the rules of publishing and was able to swing copies her book for the luncheon, the week before the actual publishing date. I didn't complain!<br />
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From the publishers:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In this thoughtful, timely, humorous, and bighearted tale, perennial </span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">New York Times</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank examines what happens when a young sophisticated Chicagoan falls for the owner of a farm on Johns Island, a lush Lowcountry paradise off the coast of South Carolina-trading the bustle of a cosmopolitan city for the vagaries of a small southern town.</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-80641602306094814422018-05-16T16:48:00.000-04:002018-05-16T16:48:25.125-04:00Lies That Bind US by Andrew Hart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1518042983l/36278104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1518042983l/36278104.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
Despite the fact it's taken me a few weeks to sit down at the computer and write my thoughts, it's not the fault of the book or the author. I broke my patella a month or so back, and my computer sits in a location at my home quite inconvenient to wiggling in with ambulation aids. I am loathe to do much on my iPad or phone, because I make so many typos anyway, and that number multiplies on those devices. It's really vanity speaking, because I like Andrew Hart and enjoy the few conversations I've had with him when he's used his other name, so don't want him believing me to be a total dullard. Ah vanity...<br />
As to the book, I truly enjoyed it. A good suspense novel engages the mind and grabs the attention. This also seemed to grab my fingernails, because several are now mere nubs, when I am sure I had a full set at the start of the book. I loved the weaving of mythology and location into the story. Mr Hart blended a intriguing tale of friendship, betrayal, and regaining of trust, along with the additional element of danger. The tension ramps up pretty quickly, especially after the fatal flaw of the main character is revealed.<br />
Bottom line? Read the book. You'll get a good yarn, and might just learn something in the process.<br />
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From the publisher:<br />
<b style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">From a prize-winning and <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author comes a chilling novel of deception under the sun…</b><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Jan needs this. She’s flying to Crete to reunite with friends she met there five years ago and relive an idyllic vacation. Basking in the warmth of the sun, the azure sea, and the aura of antiquity, she can once again pretend—for a little while—that she belongs. Her ex-boyfriend Marcus will be among them, but even he doesn’t know the secrets she keeps hidden behind a veil of lies. None of them really know her, and that’s only part of the problem.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Then again, how well does she know </span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">them</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">?</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When Jan awakens in utter darkness, chained to a wall, a manacle around her wrist, her echoing screams only give her a sense of how small her cell is. As she desperately tries to reconstruct what happened and determine who is holding her prisoner, dread covers despair like a hand clamped over her mouth. Because, like the Minotaur in the labyrinth in Greek myth, her captor will be coming back for her, and all the lies will catch up to her…</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-75666485575650778842018-05-14T16:00:00.000-04:002018-05-14T18:01:15.292-04:00Immediate Dead by Blue ColeI <i>love</i> the premise of this story: Young cop gets transferred Homicide and is paired with the notorious detective nicknamed The Reaper, who has closed out far more cases than everyone else. His secret (and it is a secret from everyone he works with) is that he's able to converse with the recently dead. His prime witness is the person just knocked off. Pretty cool, huh? But even his plucky, organized, and smart new partner doesn't know his secret. Will his surly introverted nature run her off, or will they go on to become a team made in heaven (or hell, depending on how you view things)? And remember, she's plucky, organized, and smart, and intent on finding out what's driving him.<br />
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This was my first Blue Cole book, and an early one of his. The premise, as I said, wowed me. I'm looking forward to following the characters, and also watching the author evolve in his craft. Also, it was fun to see characters named after folks Blue and I both know through the ever wonderful JordanCon, a yearly fantasy con dedicated to the memory of Robert Jordan, which is fast turning into a celebration of fantasy literature and art, while remaining a heck of a good time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6kUWY6cXYm1Rogn_AC_CMQAQVZkIQw1Y2PmACBCZ5lDGytns3keIhyctbpT9pthLLQTgU9tu0SJkcU70ZbKe9oTNHBd2zAnhni_niJvTmiBKLe95onTyF0HG7VJlyEtCLb3gZ5qj1eY/s1600/39661500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6kUWY6cXYm1Rogn_AC_CMQAQVZkIQw1Y2PmACBCZ5lDGytns3keIhyctbpT9pthLLQTgU9tu0SJkcU70ZbKe9oTNHBd2zAnhni_niJvTmiBKLe95onTyF0HG7VJlyEtCLb3gZ5qj1eY/s320/39661500.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
I will be honest: stories that dip into horror are not my thing, but AJ Hartley is one of my favorite authors, so I decided to read this. It wasn't easy getting a copy. When I first tried, the book was not even listed on amazon (now listed, but currently sold out, as the book has gone into a second printing.), and unheard of by other booksellers. I finally tracked a copy down through Book Depository (fantastic service and free shipping to the US from UK). Was it worth it? You betcha!<br />
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Preston Oldcort's nightmare returned. The Bannister Doll, with all its ghostly horror had come after him, and he finds himself flat out on the sidewalk, waking from the terror-- only to find that it is true, and he is dead, trapped in an in-between place, where the all the horrors of the ghost world are real.<br />
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AJ Hartley set this book in his hometown, and uses the setting, including the local legends and stories to full advantage. AS I said, horror isn't my genre of choice, but a well-told ghost story is terrific. And this is a good tale. (Plus the cover is maybe one of my all-time favorites. You have to see it in person to understand the true nature of it, though I did put up a video over at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BhcAPlGjZ-u/?taken-by=bookczuk" target="_blank">Instagram</a>.<br />
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2018-read, a-favorite-author, great-cover, made-me-look-something-up, met-or-know-the-author, not-my-usual-read, read, ya-lit<br />
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Publisher blurb:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Preston Oldcorn is in a desolate void between life and death. In order to save his soul he must brave his greatest fear - Cold Bath Street. A gothic thriller - think Hunger Games crossed with Artemis Fowl - that will keep you gripped to the end. Stunning black and white illustrations throughout.</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-47652074672504724632018-04-13T17:16:00.000-04:002018-04-13T17:16:12.021-04:00Everlasting Nora by Marie Miranda Cruz <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Listen up all you school librarians and parents of middle school age readers: This is a beautiful book for middle schoolers. It taught me so much about a culture of which I know very little. The world can be a scary place, and bad things can happen to those we love. Yet friends can help us through those tough times and even in finding solutions. It reminds me, yet again, why one of my favorite quotes is from Aesop: No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Thanks to Nora, and Marie Miranda Cruz, I now know more about the cemetery culture/community in the Philippines.<br />
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I received my copy from Tor Books. Sorry it took me so long to write my thoughts. Nora is a great character for the target audience. There's a great balance of threat and positive resolution, while also tackling some issues that exist in many cultures.<br />
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Tags: tor, 2018-read, first-novel-or-book, taught-me-something, thought-provoking, kids-of-most-ages, made-me-look-something-up, made-me-think, advanced-reader-copy<br />
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From the publisher:<br />
<b style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">An uplifting middle-grade debut about perseverance against all odds, Marie Miranda Cruz's debut <i>Everlasting Nora </i>follows the story of a young girl living in the real-life shanty town inside the Philippines' North Manila Cemetery.</b><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">After a family tragedy results in the loss of both father and home, 12-year-old Nora lives with her mother in Manila's North Cemetery, which is the largest shanty town of its kind in the Philippines today.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When her mother disappears mysteriously one day, Nora is left alone.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">With help from her best friend Jojo and the support of his kindhearted grandmother, Nora embarks on a journey riddled with danger in order to find her mom. Along the way she also rediscovers the compassion of the human spirit, the resilience of her community, and everlasting hope in the most unexpected places.</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-7729838996102928072018-04-03T11:41:00.001-04:002018-04-03T11:41:27.884-04:00Thoughts on two books by Margaret Killjoy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion <a class="greyText" href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/206071-danielle-cain" style="text-decoration: none;">(Danielle Cain #1)</a></u></span></span></h1>
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I think I've found a new author to add to my favorites list. I'm not much of a traditional horror fan, but Killjoy didn't write a traditional horror story. For starters, the main character is homeless, queer, punk traveller, who comes to an anarchist squatter settlement in Freedom, Iowa, in search of answers as to why her best friend killed himself after leaving there. The semi-utopia she finds in Freedom has some deeper darkness below the surface: power struggles, magic, and a demonic bloodred deer with three antlers. All wrapped up in some pretty decent writing. Even better, there's a sequel. Yay!<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: small;">The Barrow Will Send What it May <a class="greyText" href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/206071-danielle-cain" style="text-decoration: none;">(Danielle Cain #2)</a></span></u></span></h1>
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After I devoured <i>The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion</i> I was really excited to read another novella by Margaret Killjoy, featuring the punk, queer, homeless, anarchist Danielle Cain, fresh on the road with companions from Freedom, Iowa. They're headed out into the world with the loose idea of fighting demons. Their journey takes them to a small town things are not exactly right. For starters, there are a couple of people who have returned from the dead, and occultists running the library. As with the first in this series, I really enjoyed Killjoy's style, and am hoping for more in this series.<br />
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I received both books courtesy of Tor Books, as part of a care package to to keep me from going stir crazy while healing from a broken patella. It made falling and breaking myself almost worth it.bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-50499798424985560332018-04-03T10:29:00.001-04:002018-04-03T10:29:51.305-04:00Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality by Sarah McBride<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sarah McBride is an amazing woman, a powerhouse in the fight for trans equality. Her own story is beautifully told in <i>Tomorrow Will Be Different</i>. Sarah is honest, forthright, and informative in recounting her journey to bring her from the gender identified at birth to her true gender as female. Because of her political activism, a passion from a young age that grew into a career, Sarah has also had the opportunity to support and fight for gender equality and supportive legislation in Washington DC, her home state of Delaware, and elsewhere in the US. Her fight for equality also brought Andy, a trans man into her life. Their time together was brief, cut short by cancer, but clearly these two remarkable people had something very special. And clearly, the work that the two of them each did to lay the foundations for a world where transgender individuals are safe, respected, supported, and truly equal is incredibly important. It is more than most of us do in a lifetime. Sarah did it before she turned 26. And she hasn't stopped.<br />
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Thank you, Sarah. I am in awe of your accomplishments. Thank you for sharing so beautifully the story of your journey and for allowing us to come along. You give me hope.<br />
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Thank you to blogging for books for sending me this copy. Sadly this program is ending, but at least I get to go out on a high note with this amazing memoir.bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-58308747577834882352018-03-25T13:36:00.002-04:002018-03-25T13:36:36.081-04:00Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maaren<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's a lot to really enjoy in this tale of storytelling, time-travel, and best of all, using your brain, and your heart to work things out. Having grown up with books that suddenly launch children into other realities-- ones where the writer is more focused on telling a story, with twists and turns than some of the constructs that commonly are buzzed about in books of the last decade or two (why does the phrase "world-building" come to mind?) I was quite content to sit back and be Kari Maaren's audience as she unrolled her story across the pages. She gave me tools to unravel the mysteries, but I didn't realize that until well after she began to reveal the mechanics within the tale itself. And even then, I wasn't sure which way she'd take it, but was content to read on and enjoy the ride. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My one criticism might be with the pacing of the story. I found the chapters quite long, with a lot happening, but no chance for me to necessarily stop and dwell upon that, as is afforded by a chapter break. Then toward the end, when the reader enters the final timeline (trying not to give spoilers here) the pace quickened dramatically. The pacing wasn't a true deterrent, because I obviously kept reading, but I can see that it could bother some folks who need a quicker pace throughout a story. I am also a bit embarrassed I didn't recognize the literary source of the title until it slapped me in the face. My English teacher just rolled over in her grave that this happened, and that I admitted it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One nice thing about this book was how it dealt with the issues inherent with both siblings and step siblings. Way back in another lifetime, I did my post grad thesis on stepfamilies, and included a bibliography for professionals to recommend to blended families. I would have, without hesitation, included this book on the list.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you to Diana Pho, at Tor Books, who sent me my copy of this book to read while recovering from a broken patella. With my leg unable to bear weight or bend, I had a lot of enforced reading time. Luckily, this book was part of my healing process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=2018-read" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">2018-read</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=fantasy" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">fantasy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=first-novel-or-book" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">first-novel-or-book</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=grandgirl-nonsparkly-fodder" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">grandgirl-nonsparkly-fodder</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=great-cover" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">great-cover</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=great-title" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">great-title</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=i-liked-it" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">i-liked-it</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=kids-of-most-ages" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">kids-of-most-ages</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=quirky" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">quirky</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=read" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">read</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=read-on-recommendation" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">read-on-recommendation</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=rounded-up-in-star-rating" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">rounded-up-in-star-rating</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=time-travel-reincarnation-etc" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">time-travel-reincarnation-etc</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=tor" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">tor</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=will-look-for-more-by-this-author" style="color: #00635d; padding: 0px 0px 1px;">will-look-for-more-by-this-author</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the publisher:</span><br />
<span id="freeText12571536694893485767" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #181818; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The unexpected can move in next door</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Freddy wants desperately to <i>not </i>be noticed. She doesn't want to be seen as different or unusual, but her step-brother Roland gets attention because he's deaf, and her little sister Mel thinks she's a private detective. All Freddy wants to do is navigate high school with as little trouble as possible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then someone moves into the house on Grosvenor Street. Two extremely odd someones.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cuerva Lachance and Josiah aren't . . . normal. When they move in next door, the house begins to exhibit some decidedly strange tendencies, like not obeying the laws of physics or reality. Just as Freddy thinks she's had enough of Josiah following her around, she's plunged into an adventure millennia in the making and discovers the truth about the new neighbors.</span></div>
bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-65066443575833449452018-03-10T17:19:00.002-05:002018-06-14T06:45:40.649-04:00Rolling homeI've been meaning to write-- but I couldn't find the time, nor tone, nor words. I've been taking tumbles and spills of late, only one of major significance... until last month, when, almost a year to the day from my first blackout/fall, I fell again, and came away with the usually bruises and scrapes... and unfortunately, I broke myself, as well.<br />
<br />
It's a small bone, that patella, but one that plays an important role. When it breaks, it needs to heal, but can't be casted, can't bear weight, and can't bend. And since my other knee, bruised enough that when people saw it, they blanched, was somewhat unreliable in holding up 120 pounds of bookczuk, plus a couple pounds for the leg brace/extender/cage the wounded leg is in, crutches for a primary means of locomotion was apparently out. So wheelchair, it is.<br />
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Keep in mind, I'm very comfortable around wheelchairs, both because my mother used one and from my years working with children in the Spina Bifida clinic. The one we have, while not exactly suited for a leg injury, is easily manageable. I appear to have inherited the wheelchair gene, and can maneuver in it quite well. I've MacGyvered a leg extension for the wounded limb, and jury-rigged the seat so that I'm sitting relatively evenly. Because I do use the crutches for short hops (ha!) and a cane holder attachment would cost $70, plus shipping and installation, I've figured out a solution for a way to carry the canes, and Mr Grabby, my reach extender stick for picking up stuff, with me. It's not particularly elegant, but it works.<br />
<br />
Javaczuk has been a hero, taking over my share of household chores (and doing a better job) and cooking, too. Not exactly how he'd planned on spending the early days of retirement, but hey, I'm glad and grateful he's here.<br />
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The initial problems of pain and discomfort are lessening, as is my regular frustrations with my inability to do the things I want to do. I miss being able to sidle into my workspace and do my pysanky and other art, but most of all, I miss walking. Ambulating around Charleston is one of my greatest joys, particularly in the spring<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXyy1dsA4iv5LBIqTON8u2sPlwLkgbUKdAr1fy_p6ARC_syMAcmYZ7JmkWiKftaWj9yVEg7crZQHxfbdA5Iq6cKyMNSuTeth_m__heT41j3jeI6pNYIKEk4ZELqA0ED37dEFRImyWNiY/s1600/IMG_9101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1203" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXyy1dsA4iv5LBIqTON8u2sPlwLkgbUKdAr1fy_p6ARC_syMAcmYZ7JmkWiKftaWj9yVEg7crZQHxfbdA5Iq6cKyMNSuTeth_m__heT41j3jeI6pNYIKEk4ZELqA0ED37dEFRImyWNiY/s200/IMG_9101.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doing "lap art" because I can't get into my workspace #determinedartist</td></tr>
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. The loss is almost visceral, eased a tad by the outings I take with Javaczuk, his walking, me rolling. I'm slowly working up strength in my arms as my leg withers from disuse. (The leg muscles will come back as soon as I'm allowed to exercise as I like.) But for now, for another month I'm into alternative ambulation, be it crutches for indoors and short distances, or the chair, which one of my JordanCon friends has christened "Wheels of Time." I'm hoping to be fully ambulatory in time for the JordanCon art show, but if not, we'll do what we need to do to keep me moving.<br />
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Oddly enough, <span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">I've noted when I wheel in the chair that I get auditory memories of my mother. I'd forgotten how her hands wheeling the chair made a whispery sort of sound, or the clank of her ring as she wheeled. Even the sound putting up the footplate is evocative. It's a sound that I lived with for 40 years as she wheeled through life, making magic and memories </span><span style="color: #222222;">wherever</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"> she went. And apparently, she's doing that still.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cQoYCPlsQLUCKneQACWM2SG-d_ObK8UuuupWiveS3Kv8lTuWJt6N1dYHRRomJhGCtBxGjsSs3Sng9FZ4RDYq_1rBzFl8pQ_G0o9O5FSgZMhORYui3BqfWC5ugHSJQIlF-1bJQjAWAbQ/s1600/IMG_8167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2cQoYCPlsQLUCKneQACWM2SG-d_ObK8UuuupWiveS3Kv8lTuWJt6N1dYHRRomJhGCtBxGjsSs3Sng9FZ4RDYq_1rBzFl8pQ_G0o9O5FSgZMhORYui3BqfWC5ugHSJQIlF-1bJQjAWAbQ/s320/IMG_8167.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mother, with her eldest grandson, circa 1991</td></tr>
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bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-79799498547006623272018-03-07T10:42:00.001-05:002018-03-07T10:54:46.276-05:00Eating from the Ground Up By Alana Chetnila<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "Brandon Text", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Really love this book— straightforwardl, simple, clean recipes. I feel like I can go straight from the farmers market to my kitchen, to my table! Even my simple cooking is best husband likes the recipes. Recipes are easy to follow and the photography is gorgeous. As an avid farmers market shopper, I know the best recipe suggestions come from the folks who sell the stuff. This book proves it.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "Brandon Text", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thank you to blogging for books and the publisher for sending a copy my way.</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-91963010408851064572018-02-20T10:58:00.002-05:002018-02-20T10:58:31.669-05:00Sweet Potato Soul: 100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul by Jenn Claiborne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507709265l/35134103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507709265l/35134103.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "Brandon Text", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I'm always a little put off by recipes from vegan chefs/cooks who go a long way to make things taste/resemble the foods they no longer eat, and use lots of seitan and TVP in the process</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "Brandon Text", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">. Happily this is not the case with this book. While there is some use of the aforementioned stuff, for the most part, the recipes are clean, simple and approachable for anyone. I was a little sad that I'd allergic to wheat, because some of the recipes that use it look marvelous, but I was too </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "Brandon Text", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">uncertain in the substitutions of flours to experiment.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "Brandon Text", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "Brandon Text", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "Brandon Text", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Thank you Blogging for Books and the publisher for my copy.</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-63475081283352277882018-01-20T17:32:00.000-05:002018-01-20T17:32:06.630-05:00My Name is Venus Black by Heather Lloyd<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508251904l/35340556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508251904l/35340556.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
Will try and come back for a more thorough review, but in the meantime, this was well written, thought provoking, and doesn't travel the usual paths that might be assigned to a coming-of-age novel (which I usually can't stand). Venus went to prison after committing a horrible crime that pretty much tore her family apart. And in the midst of it all, while she is incarcerated, her developmentally disadvantaged brother goes missing. Five years later, she's out, still estranged from her mother, but wants to find her brother. Into that, weave a variety of people who populate her new world and the threads tangle and twine, trying to make whole cloth out of a torn life.<br />
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Thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewer program and to the publisher for my copy. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did.<br />
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2018-read, advanced-reader-copy, didn-t-want-to-put-it-down, early-review-librarything, first-novel-or-book, made-me-think, new-yorker-or-nyt, read, review-still-needed, thought-provoking, will-look-for-more-by-this-author, ya-litbookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-11032259919939791862018-01-18T15:46:00.000-05:002018-01-18T15:49:06.346-05:00The Darkest Time of Night by Jeremy Finley<br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">I read this book in 2017 and neglected to post my thoughts on it. Blame it on the holidays and end of the year. There are possible spoilers after the 3rd paragraph/tags, but there's a warning, so proceed at your own risk.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">Perhaps it's just the political climate in which I read this book, but a thriller with aliens and political conspiracy suddenly didn't seem so bad. The book does present a rather clear view of our society in regards in the lengths people will go to find a missing loved one and a bleak view of the lengths others might go to keep them from doing so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The author has put a lot of time, research, and details from his own experience into the story. And like almost any thriller, there were the times I wanted to yell "don't go into the woods alone!" Though I didn't necessarily warm to the characters, I was interested in the journey the author mapped for the reader to follow. There was a</span></span><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"> little too much conspiracy theory for me, particularly with the asset in the WH right now, but ultimately, it all came together.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">tags: <a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=advanced-reader-copy" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">advanced-reader-copy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=creatures" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">creatures</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=first-novel-or-book" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">first-novel-or-book</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=great-cover" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">great-cover</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=made-me-look-something-up" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;">made-me-look-something-up</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=made-me-think" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;">made-me-think</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=read" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">read</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=read-in-2017" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">read-in-2017</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=science-fiction" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">science-fiction</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">, </span><a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=suspense-thriller-mystery" style="color: #00635d; font-size: 14px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">suspense-thriller-mystery</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">A few possible spoilers: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px;">The</span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> big reveal about Lynn's illness as a child, and subsequent loss of memory was not such a big reveal, but that may be because I am a pediatric nurse and the cover story just didn't jibe for me. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">I liked that this was a different slant from many alien encounters, and though I found some elements of the alien behavior interesting, it was a bit confusing in presentation. I keep remembering that Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man"-- it's good to remember not every visitor is coming in peace, nor is each conquest won via battle, sometimes disruption and breakdown of systems works just as well. (Conquest via disruption?)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">The methodology and technology for the control of humans also was interesting. Lynn is awfully lucky that the little device in her head hadn't chosen to explode (yet).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. My thanks for the opportunity to read the book. The book will be out in June 2018.</span><br />
<br />bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-78371931220253113432018-01-13T10:40:00.000-05:002018-01-13T10:40:25.783-05:00Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498054963l/32620349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498054963l/32620349.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<span id="shelfList1710557_32620349" style="color: #181818; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;">This book had me at "bookstore", sucked me in as it headed toward cozy mystery, then hooked me to the finish with the thriller/ bookstore noir developments. All this and good characters/writing too? A great start to the new year. When I turned the last page, I was genuinely distressed that it didn't go on longer so I could stay immersed in the story. What a great first novel!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">tags <a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=2018-read" style="color: #00635d; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">2018-read</a>, <a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=didn-t-want-to-put-it-down" style="color: #00635d; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px 0px 1px;">didn-t-want-to-put-it-down</a>, <a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=e-book" style="color: #00635d; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">e-book</a>, <a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=read" style="color: #00635d; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px 0px 1px;">read</a>, <a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=read-on-recommendation" style="color: #00635d; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">read-on-recommendation</a>, <a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=suspense-thriller-mystery" style="color: #00635d; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">suspense-thriller-mystery</a>, <a class="shelfLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1710557?shelf=thank-you-charleston-county-library" style="color: #00635d; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-decoration: none;">thank-you-charleston-county-library</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">From the Publisher (and Goodreads):</span><br />
<b style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Goodreads Debut Author of the Month and an Indie Next Pick!</b><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><b style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">“Sullivan’s debut is a page-turner featuring a heroine bookseller who solves a cold case with clues from books—what is not to love?” —Nina George, author of <i>The Little French Bistro</i>, and the <i>New York Times</i> bestselling <i>The Little Paris Bookshop</i></b><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When a bookshop patron commits suicide, his favorite store clerk must unravel the puzzle he left behind in this fiendishly clever debut novel from an award-winning short story writer.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, she keeps a meticulously crafted existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs—the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day marauding the store’s overwhelmed shelves.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">But when Joey Molina, a young, beguiling BookFrog, kills himself in the bookstore’s upper room, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has been bequeathed his meager worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely, uncared for man. But when Lydia flips through his books she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia?</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey’s suicide, she unearths a long buried memory from her own violent childhood. Details from that one bloody night begin to circle back. Her distant father returns to the fold, along with an obsessive local cop, and the Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia’s life long ago and, as she soon discovers, never completely left. Bedazzling, addictive, and wildly clever, </span><i style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"> is a heart-pounding mystery that perfectly captures the intellect and eccentricity of the bookstore milieu and will keep you guessing until the very last page.</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-62626576207570483862018-01-13T10:26:00.004-05:002018-01-13T10:41:18.416-05:00The Black Witch by Laurie Forest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BSQthS8LL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="329" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BSQthS8LL.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
I'd read more in this series. I originally heard about it at YAllfest, then read an article in the New York Times about sensitivity readers, and a response in Kirkus to the kerfuffle from the starred review given. I'm writing my thoughts late, but in an era where the highest office in the USA can refer to other countries as sh!thole, and not see that this is racist, I'd say sensitivity training is a necessity.<br />
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/24/books/in-an-era-of-online-outrage-do-sensitivity-readers-result-in-better-books-or-censorship.html?_r=0" target="_blank">New York Times</a>: In an Era of Online Outrage, Do Sensitivity Readers Result in Better Books, or Censorship?<br />
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<a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/disagreement/" target="_blank">Kirkus:</a> On Disagreement<br />
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<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-attacks-protections-for-immigrants-from-shithole-countries-in-oval-office-meeting/2018/01/11/bfc0725c-f711-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html?utm_term=.eb6901d03e0d" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>: Turmp attacks protections for immigrants from shithole countries in Oval Office meeting<br />
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From the Publisher:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Elloren Gardner is the granddaughter of the last prophesied Black Witch, Carnissa Gardner, who drove back the enemy forces and saved the Gardnerian people during the Realm War. But while she is the absolute spitting image of her famous grandmother, Elloren is utterly devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at the prestigious Verpax University to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy. But she soon realizes that the university, which admits all manner of people—including the fire-wielding, winged Icarals, the sworn enemies of all Gardnerians—is a treacherous place for the granddaughter of the Black Witch.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">As evil looms on the horizon and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, everything Elloren thought she knew will be challenged and torn away. Her best hope of survival may be among the most unlikely band of misfits…if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to hate and fear.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #bd081c; background-position: 3px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: 14px 14px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: none; color: white; cursor: pointer; display: none; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; z-index: 8675309;">Save</span><span style="background-color: #bd081c; background-position: 3px 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: 14px 14px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: none; color: white; cursor: pointer; display: none; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; opacity: 1; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; position: absolute; text-align: center; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; z-index: 8675309;">Save</span>bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-9428333925266926132017-12-25T16:57:00.001-05:002017-12-25T16:57:23.320-05:00The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503590162l/26854212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503590162l/26854212.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
I guess I had higher hopes for this from the author's previous books. Again, it's ordinary people in everyday situations trying to make a life, but, even with the musical references, I wasn't drawn in. Frank is a big bear of a man, devoted to keeping vinyl alive as a source of audio listening, and he has the knack of finding just the right bit of music for someone at exactly the time it is needed. He carries wounds from his past and is surrounded by a band of misfits who inhabit the street where his somewhat lackadaisical vinyl shop resides. And then, one day, a woman faints outside his shop door, and for all in the book, the world changes.<br />
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I really wish I liked this book better. Even with the references to music, the little explanations and stories attached to various pieces, and some moments of beautiful writing, I never was fully drawn into the story. But, I've liked two other works by this author, so I am not giving up on her.<br />
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Thank you to the publisher and to LibraryThing Early Readers program for sending me this copy. The book is due out January 2, 2018.<br />
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Tags: 2017-read, advanced-reader-copy, an-author-i-read, early-review-librarything, everyone-else-liked-it, mixed-feelings, ok-but-not-great, read, somewhat-disappointing, thought-i-was-gonna-likebookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3405690971414847401.post-9898047441251648592017-12-22T17:26:00.001-05:002017-12-22T17:28:41.105-05:00Smoke Eaters by Sean Grigsby<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT00ncqHIZKAav5-sy6IidAP8HY_3IARgWn6-kvNxvBfkAc0kCd7TB0zYxwiAON6qi-U1EnIL6mvTPUVBUVc2BQrJTk4DLP7HE0pj9oo9sP_MepFqFr43-aS6rDe3TLcfClLK3q8q8628/s1600/Smoke-Eaters-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="909" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT00ncqHIZKAav5-sy6IidAP8HY_3IARgWn6-kvNxvBfkAc0kCd7TB0zYxwiAON6qi-U1EnIL6mvTPUVBUVc2BQrJTk4DLP7HE0pj9oo9sP_MepFqFr43-aS6rDe3TLcfClLK3q8q8628/s320/Smoke-Eaters-cover.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
When I was three, we had a house fire. I was tucked in my bed in a tiny upstairs bedroom. A fireman rescued me, and when he set me in my mother's arms, I told her "he carried me out, just like Superman." I knew a good hero when I saw one. When I was offered the chance to read an ARC of <i>Smoke Eaters</i>, even though I wasn't sure if this was my kind of book, I said sure, because Firefighters vs Dragons? Heck yeah.<br />
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This was a good romp in a future world, where not only has the United States devolved into city states, but a plague of dragons is pretty much boiling up from the center of the earth, hellbent on feeding, mating, and consequently ravaging everything in their path. Cole Brannigan, a firefighter for 30 years, is just about to fight his last fire, when he finds out he one of the few people who are immune to dragon smoke. He is recruited into a group called the Smoke Eaters, an elite cadre of people who can withstand the smoke, and fight the creatures destroying the civilization above ground.<br />
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Things get dicey as the dragons get stronger, and political intrigue, in the form of a dastardly plot to take over the city, is discovered. Brannigan and his cohorts spring into action to fight the baddies, be they scaled or human. It's a pretty entertaining story. Oh, did I mention there are also wraiths? And robots? And some kick-ass battles?<br />
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Aside from my early firefighter interaction, my knowledge and appreciation of these men and women grew when my own son, also age three, developed a major fire truck (and firefighters, by extension) fascination. From that experience, and the inside views a hero-struck boy was given by very kind firemen* the details Sean Grigsby used in the novel all ring true, thanks to his firsthand experience as a firefighter.<br />
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It's my understanding that this may develop into a series. If so, I think it could be something fun to follow. I'd like to see a little tightening in the descriptions and rules of the world as it unfolds (but, I do like the cicada theory) and the interactions between the former US and Canada or other countries. The strengths of the book lie in the realism of the characters and of their work in fighting fire. One can extrapolate that the techniques applied to fighting dragons also rings true, but personally, I hope we never find out. But it settles one thing. I <i>do</i> want a robot dog.<br />
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I received my copy from the author's agent, for which I am most grateful. The book is due out in March 2018.<br />
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*There were no women that we met as firefighters in the early 1990's, though there are many now.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTvsxIeBU3_36msMKZUOpNpmFiBXjIWlbf8QvWVJMcJuaKbMf7-wlNO4UpNaM2eOnny2SuhoMzFsq-PGQIum-lpNMbzQLNOogBLSiYM0b9cSqubBTomDLdc9mSPG7mwC8TdX0b2daz9c/s1600/fullsizeoutput_42ac.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTvsxIeBU3_36msMKZUOpNpmFiBXjIWlbf8QvWVJMcJuaKbMf7-wlNO4UpNaM2eOnny2SuhoMzFsq-PGQIum-lpNMbzQLNOogBLSiYM0b9cSqubBTomDLdc9mSPG7mwC8TdX0b2daz9c/s320/fullsizeoutput_42ac.jpeg" width="253" /></a></div>
I've read the Wayward Children books in a topsy turvy manner, starting with <i>Down Among the Sticks and Bones</i>, then <i>Every Heart a Doorway</i> (I actually bought another book with a similar title thinking it was this one, and by the time I figured it out, had "Sticks and Bones" in my hands so read that first). The only one I've read in order is this, and I'm so glad I did, because it answered a lot of questions I had from <i>Down Among the Sticks and Bones</i>.<br />
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Children disappear for a number of reasons, some nefarious, some with an element of magic. That there are doorways between worlds is accepted, thanks to wardrobes, subtle knives, portals, and other devices so many of us have come across in literature. (I personally believe books are gateways, too, but that's another story.) Sometimes those of us who leave one world and enter a different one can stay there, sometimes we come back for one reason or another, sometimes we long to return to that other place-- to find the doorway to take us back. Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, provides a place for those wishing to return to their new world from their home world of Earth, r wait for a new door to open. <br />
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In the second book in the series, we were introduced to Eleanor West's home and some of the students living there. This book doesn't exactly take up where that one left off, though it does take place after in time. What it does do is focus on some of the other students, peripheral in the original story, and weave a story where they go on a rescue mission, taking them to a couple of other worlds.<br />
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Again, a fascinating story -- one which proves there is a place for each of us, and that maybe it's true: those who live in gingerbread houses seem to have cold, cruel hearts.<br />
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The book is due out January 8, 2018.<br />
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Thanks to friends at Tor for sending me this advanced readers copy. You're the best!<br />
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From the publisher:<br />
Beneath the Sugar Sky returns to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the "real" world.<br />
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Sumi died years before her prophesied daughter Rini could be born. Rini was born anyway, and now she’s trying to bring her mother back from a world without magic.bookczukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850191262821439869noreply@blogger.com0