Lots of good books this month. I was once again pretty well balanced between my books and the girls books. Lots of historical fiction this month. Here's the rundown:
The Daughters of Erietown - Connie Schultz - fiction - five stars - I really liked this book, although I confess that as I read it, there were times where I also groaned 'not again'. It traces the life of a working class family in Ohio, and it shows the cycle of decisions and events that kept the women in the family in the same situation over and over again...unexpected pregnancy, lack of education, infidelity, etc. Despite the fact that they continued to fall into this same cycle over and over, I really liked the female characters in the book, they were strong women who were adversely affected by circumstances. They went through periods where they were beaten down, belittled, but ultimately they were able to rise above their circumstances, sometimes just for a short period of time, other times longer. Great book.
Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy - Ben Macintyre - non-fiction - four stars - The story of Ursula Kuczynski, a German Jewish communist who spied for Russia throughout WWII, and was key in helping them develop nuclear weapons following the war. She was Klaus Fuchs handler until he left for the U.S., and continued to provide scientific information to Russia through other sources during the Cold War, when she resided in Britain. She believed strongly in communism and that the U.S. should not be the only power to have nuclear weapons, she provided that information out of a desire to level the playing field. She was also a mother of three (to three different men, all of whom were also spies). She was never caught, but was able to escape to Germany when she knew she was compromised (after the arrest of Fuchs). This was a really interesting read that juxtaposed her private family life with her spying life and how the two intersected with one another.
Wink - Rob Harrell - juvenile fiction - five stars - This was a great book that we all enjoyed. It's about Ross Maloy who has been diagnosed with a rare eye cancer. Ross was already not the most popular kid in school, but now he's pitied and even worse, his condition is generally gross, he hates having a goopy eye, losing his hair, etc. Thankfully he has a great friend, an amazing chemo guy, and has discovered a new love for music. It's an encouraging and uplifting book and a great look at how cancer affects a kid and what they are dealing with. Highly recommend.
Ready Player Two (Ready Player One, #2) - Ernest Cline - science fiction - three stars - This was a big disappointment. Basically after they win the last contest Wade becomes a jerk, and he's that way for quite some time. But, he discovers a new clue/contest and is obsessed with it. The whole premise of this book seemed just kind of half baked. It took a long time to get to the contest part itself, then the whole contest and finding the clues was really lengthy and involved and had me losing interest, especially, then the ending seemed just kind of lame like he couldn't figure out how to close things out. Just meh.
Walking with Miss Millie - Tamara Bundy - juvenile fiction - five stars - Alice's father has left the family, and they move back to Rainbow, Georgia where her parents grew up to help care for her grandmother who has begun to exhibit signs of dementia. Alice is angry about the move, hates and hates Rainbow. She's befriended by Miss Millie, the elderly black woman who lives next door. They take walks together and Miss Millie tells Alice about her life, sharing with her the challenges of growing up black in the south. This was a book I picked up for Carina to read and she really enjoyed it, but warned me that it was sad. It definitely is, but there is a sweetness and hope in it too.
Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl - juvenile fiction - four stars - This was another book for Carina. It's very different than the other Roald Dahl books I've read, nothing particularly fantastical or silly or magical, it's a really sweet story about a boy and his dad. It's also the story that the BFG comes from - it grew out of a story that Danny's dad tells him. Anyway, Carina has been having trouble getting to sleep the past few months, and on the days that she just can't get her mind to slow down, she'd come out and we'd read a chapter of this book, it was just the right pace/cadence, just enough to be interesting, but not necessarily to keep you up thinking, and the relationship between Danny and his father is just so comforting and comfortable, it was the perfect get to sleep book, and a good story too.
The Blossom and the Firefly - Sherri L. Smith - young adult - three stars - I thought this book would be a lot better. It tells about two teenagers in Japan during WWII. Taro is an amazing violinist whose father is a pilot and so he enters the military to become a pilot. He excels and eventually ends up in the kamikaze squadron. Hana is a girl whose education has been s subsumed by the war effort. Her teacher and the girls in her class are now assigned to assist the pilots, they wash their clothes, change their sheets, bid them farewell when they leave on flights. She meets Taro, and they form a bond. I was disappointed by this one. It just moved so slowly, Taro and Hana really don't meet until the last third of the book, there is a lot of build up, I was definitely getting bored about a quarter of the way through the book. There were definitely interesting parts, learning about the training was interesting, but I feel like it really dragged and probably needed some more editing.
Atomic Love - Jennie Fields - historical fiction - four stars - It's sometimes interesting how my holds come in, and it was very interesting to read this book so shortly after Agent Sonya. It's 1950. Rosalind Porter, who worked as a physicist on the Manhattan Project is now working a jewelry counter at a department store. She was let go following the dropping of the atomic bomb, she had been buried by guilt over the outcome of the bomb and then her colleague and boyfriend Thomas Weaver had left her. She's still struggling to regain her footing, when she is contacted in short order by both Weaver and the FBI. The FBI suspects that Weaver is spying for the Russian. Meanwhile, Weaver has things he needs to unburden himself about to Rosalind. The FBI asks Rosalind to spy for them, and pass on any information that Weaver provides. Rosalind is torn between duty, the feelings she still has for Weaver, and her feelings for her FBI handler Charlie, who struggles with memories of his time as a Japanese POW during the war. I liked the premise and the characters, the love story part of it was a little hokey, it was a bit annoying to me that Rosalind was still so hung up on and willing to jump into bed with Weaver, but overall a decent book.
Dear Edward - Ann Napolitano - fiction - five stars - The story of Edward Adler, a twelve year old who is the sole survivor of a plane crash. While it's Edwards story, it's also the story of the people on the plane. The book jumps between snippets of those individuals as the board the plane and during the flight, as well as Edward as he deals with the celebrity, guilt, and aftermath of being the only survivor from that flight. And then later, does he owe anything to those who lost loved ones on the flight. Growing up is hard in general, but growing up with the weight of being the sole survivor and a 'miracle' is quite another. I thought this book was really interesting, and I especially loved the last third of it.
All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook - Leslie Connor - juvenile fiction - five stars - Another of the girls books. Eleven year old Perry Cook was born and raised by his mother at Blue River Co-Ed Correctional Facility, a minimum security facility in Surprise Nebraska with a forward thinking warden and a 0% recidivism rate. Perry's mom is an inmate there, but the warden was made Perry's official guardian and allowed him to live there with her. There's a new district attorney in town, and upon learning of the situation, he's decided it's unacceptable and Perry needs to move out. Perry struggles with the change, missing his family and Blue River, meanwhile his mother's parole hearing has been held up due to the unconventional parenting arrangement. An extremely unusual situation, but characters that you love and are rooting for, loved this one.
How to Raise an Elephant (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #21) - Alexander McCall Smith - detective - five stars - I really enjoy this series and have read all the books. Some of them tend to be better than others. There was a period of time where Mma Makutsi was really getting on my nerves, sometimes I don't like the stories/scenarios as much, but I really enjoyed this one. The main event is the fact that Charlie has managed to end up with a baby elephant. It takes a bit of sleuthing and coaxing to sort out how this came about, and then Mma Ramotswe needs to figure out what to do with the baby elephant. At the same time, she's been approached by a very distant relative who needs some money for an operation. Is this a legitimate request? And, there is a new neighbor at Zebra Drive. It was a nice mix of stories and interactions, really enjoyed.
The Light After the War - Anita Abriel - historical fiction - three stars - The story of Vera Frankel and Edith Ban two Hungarian Jews who jump off a train to Auschwitz and survive the remainder of the war hiding on an Austrian farm. After the war ends, believing their families and loved ones have perished, they travel to Naples where Vera gets a job at the American embassy and falls in love with her supervisor, Anton Wight. Anton disappears, and the girls leave Italy ending up in Caracas Venezuela where they create a new life for themselves. This book was just meh. It just seemed very soap opera, romance novel like. It just seemed too easy how the plot moved along and how things occurred for the girls. Disappointing.
The Worst Class Trip Ever (The Worst, #1) - Dave Barry - juvenile fiction - three stars - This one was just OK. It's about 8th grader Wyatt Palmer, from Florida, headed to DC for a class trip. He and his friend Matt tend to get in a bit of trouble in general and they get mixed up with a couple guys they suspect are terrorists leading to several chases around the DC area, Matt being kidnapped, another friend being kidnapped, etc. I think part of the problem is that I borrowed the book for Ellie because it was about 8th graders and she's in 8th grade. She didn't like it, but Carina really enjoyed it. It's really much more appropriate in terms of humor and style for younger kids.
Flooded: Requiem for Johnstown - Ann E. Burg - historical fiction - five stars - I really enjoyed this one. It tells the story of the 1889 Johnstown flood from the perspective of six young adults. The story is told in verse and the action takes place beginning just over a week before the flood. I thought Burg did a great job of character development despite the very tight timeline and the format of verse. I really liked the different characters and the issues they were dealing with. The book is really effective in dealing with issues of class, the flood was caused by the breaking of the South Fork Dam which held back Lake Conemaugh part of the private South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club whose members included Carnegie, Mellon, Frick, and many other wealthy members. The dam had not been kept up properly despite warnings to the club. The flood killed over 2200 people, including 99 whole families, over 700 individuals were never identified. The book does a great job introducing the disaster to kids in a way that is moving and really makes you think. Ellie really enjoyed is as did I. My only complaint is towards the end when the the voices are no longer identified, it was a little confusing and hard to see who was talking, but overall a great read and highly recommended.
Favorites this month are probably Daughters of Erietown and Dear Edward, on the kids side I really enjoyed Wink and Flooded. I'm currently working on The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. There is also a huge stack of books from the girls that I need to try and get through. Would love to hear what you guys have been reading!
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