🕊️🦅🦆🦜I Read Books Where Animals are the Heros🐑🐺🐑

 

    In a world where birds are magical creatures that are underappreciated and exploited, two competitive ornithologists seek to win the most fabulous prize of all: tenure! Circumstances, evil foes, unscrupulous competitors, and their own desires conspire against them. The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton is a rollicking Romantasy. It is the first in her "Love's Academic" series. 

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    Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, translated from German by Anthea Bell, is a wonderfully weird book. George, the Shepherd, has died in the sheep pasture with a spade through his middle. His flock of sheep work together to find who has killed their caring shepherd, who read to them each day, explaining the hard words. Who murdered their shepherd? The story is told entirely from the sheep's point of view, which makes for some fun misinterpretations.

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🍰🐇🍷😭 Contemperary Dark Humor, Not a Single Dragon

    Through a strange quirk of fate, I have read two books about two possible suicides back to back. Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett is narrated by eleven-year-old Elvis Babbit, who shares a birthday with Elvis Presley, so her mother named her after him. Elvis is a science nerd trying to survive the grief of losing her mother. Elvis' mother drowned while sleepwalking. Her 15-year-old older sister, Lizzie, is also a sleepwalker. Grief causes some to fold in on themselves, while others explode out, and others freeze in place. Rabbit Cake portrays these sides of loss. The book is darkly humorous and genuine. A counselor tells Elvis that it takes about 18 months to move through the distress of the death of a parent. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I like the idea of there being a timeline. Despite its somber premise, I found Rabbit Cake a hopeful read because it helped me see that a loved one's death can bring about change, leading to new paths and a deeper understanding.

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    There Are No Rules for This by J.J. Elliott was recommended to me at a St. Patrick's Day party by the person who had been Elliott's nanny after her mother died of suicide. At first, I thought the book was a memoir, but it is actually a work of fiction written in the first person. There is a tight group of four friends, and one of them commits suicide. The surviving three are left to comprehend how their amazing friend could choose to leave her family and friends behind. The plot unfolds from the moment Ali is told by the remaining friends, Max and Liddy, of their friend Finney's suicide. As they suffocate in sadness for their beloved, funny, amazing friend, they seek to understand why. Elliott does a stellar job of showing how complex and unfathomable the path to suicide. The death of Finney moves the friends to celebrate life in darkly humorous ways. The book has an authentic quality in that there aren't rules for how to respond to someone's suicide, but crying and wine help the process.

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    Limelight by Amy Poeppel is like an enemies-to-lovers romance story, only between a teenager and a mom-like mentor.  Allison Brinkley is getting her dream of living in New York City. Her husband's job necessitates a move to Manhattan. She has carefully planned to move her job and their three children and has a job, apartment, and schools lined up. Then it all falls apart. Her kids are unhappy, the apartment is so small, and her long-term sub high school English teacher falls through. She finds herself a personal assistant to a wildly famous 18-year-old pop music celebrity. They both learn a lot. The characters find themselves in foolhardy, laughable predicaments. I found myself invested in what was going to happen. Poeppel writes a tight, suspenseful, likeable story.

Here is a link to another Amy Poeppel book I reviewed:

https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2022/05/reading-about-atom-bomb-cello-music-and.html

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🪐🚀👨🏻‍🚀Aliens, Banned Books and Dragons!

 

Walking to Aldebaran is a standalone novella by Adrian Tchaikovsky about astronauts from Earth who get the privilege of being the first to examine an alien artifact in the Kuyper Belt. It appears to be an artificially created portal (wormhole) to other planets. But what is it really? And what is it capable of? This was a creepy, quick read.

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    Rogue Protocol, the third novella in The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, finds Murderbot growing into his independence and trying to understand the complicated relationship between humans and robots. He makes friends with another robot similar to him, but not a SecUnit; rather, it is a friend and is befriended by their humans. This makes Murderbot so angry, and he doesn't know why. Wells packs a lot of character growth and exploration into 158 pages. 

Here is a link to the previous Murderbot books: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Murderbot

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One of the best depictions of a middle-aged, menopausal woman who tries to do it all

    The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen is the second book to take place in Tanria, a former prison for the old gods and recently cleared of its infestation of drudges. Bannen's depiction of a middle-aged, menopausal woman who is trying to keep up with being a mom, employer, friend, grandmother, and widow leaves her feeling more like an object and less than a person. The book holds together because Twyla is someone we know, even though her day job is hunting bad guys and helping dragons. She gives lots of mom energy. 

Here is a link to the first book, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Mercy+and+Hart

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    The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman is a Newbery Award Winner, and my club is discussing it this month. I recall reading it when my children were in late elementary school and enjoying its rags-to-riches, prince-and-the-pauper over-the-top storyline. But it has been challenging to find. When I reread it, I think I understand why. Jemmy, the rat catcher's orphan son, becomes the crown prince's, Prince Brat, whipping boy. This is a historical truth. There were children designated to receive the punishment of the royals who misbehaved. There are several scenes of children being whipped. I suspect that has led to its decline. It will make for an interesting discussion!

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   I chose  Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller because it was on a list of books about books. It was a book about the power of books to educate and to change hearts and minds. George R. R. Martin says: A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. Some studies show people who read tend to be more empathetic: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3559433

    I wanted to like this book because I have found that books can be transformative in understanding others who hold convictions that differ from my own. I think this book aimed to do that, but in the end, what I experienced was that only those who read banned books would have the "right" set of beliefs. This made the characters on both sides of the moral divide two-dimensional and stereotypical

    Another theme could be: our secrets make us sick, and I agree there are complex topics like racism,  abuse, and fake news that need to be discussed, but I doubt anyone responds well to "only ignorant idiots would believe that." 

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📕📗📘📙📚📕Eight Books! New Record!

To be fair, four of the books are under 150 pages and could be read in two hours or so, but still, 8!

 

    John Scalzi is excellent at sci-fi, and I was absorbed by his premise in his Audible series. For some inexplicable reason, people who are murdered don't die, but reanimate somewhere they feel safe, with their body reset to where it was an hour or so before they died. From this strange phenomenon arises a profession called Dispatcher, who work at hospitals and other high-risk places. If something goes wrong in an operation and the patient is about to die, the Dispatcher murders them, enabling them to get a reset. It is a fascinating world where murder is off the table for bad guys. What's a crime boss to do? Our protagonist is a Dispatcher, and Scalzi takes the reader on a tour of the problem set and hidden benefits of this new "reality." If you are fortunate enough to have an Audible membership, they are free to you. They are short, each lasting less than four hours. Zachary Quinto (new Spock) does a bang-up job as narrator.

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    Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino was another interesting premise book. An alien civilization sends a scout to learn about Earth and report home. She is born as a baby and grows up learning of her mission. The book offers unique insights into people, relationships, and life as Adina Giorno matures, so does her understanding. A part of the book's tension revolves around whether she will be perceived as an alien or as mentally ill, and what her alien progenitor's plan for Earth entails. 

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    I am watching the Apple TV Series, The Murderbot Diaries, so I am rereading the books the series is based on. It is annoying when TV veers away from the "canon" of the book. I try to remember that it is challenging to create an accurate map of the world due to the need to flatten the sphere. Books are the sphere, and TV is the flattened map. With books, it is more difficult to convey the inner thoughts of the characters. It needs to be demonstrated. I like all forms, TV and books, so far. Martha Wells has created a prickly, likeable character who wants to be free. It's hard not to cheer for Murderbot.

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    Martha Grimes is one of my favorite mystery writers. I have been finding her books in libraries for 30 years, so now her main character, Richard Jury, feels like a long-time friend. All of her books are named for British pubs or bars. The Old Success is consisely written and there are many characters from previous books. It's probably best to start with the first, Man With A Load of Mischief, and work your way through. I have rarely guessed who the murderer was. A notable feature of her books is that they often feature precocious children and beloved pets. She is definitely an animal lover. 

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    The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, by Megan Bannen, was a light horror Romantasy. I found it clever and creative in its premise--Zombies, called Drudges, are real--and Hart fights them out on the wastelands of Tanria while Mercy fights to keep her family's undertaking business afloat. They are hostile toward each other due to a series of misunderstandings, but these two lonely people find each other writing letters to an unknown friend--A You've Got Mail situation. The setting gives an eighteenth-century Western vibe. It is a fun read.

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    I always get excited when I get to read a new Emily Henry romance, so when Great Big Beautiful Life landed in my inbox yesterday, I wondered how far I would get before today's post. I just finished it a few minutes ago, and it was delicious. Emily Henry's characters are funny and wounded at the start, then remain funny but become less wounded. She sparkles at dialogue, and I snort-laugh over a quip or retort without fail during every book. A romance book follows a formula, so at times the plot feels predictable, but Henry imbues her characters with life, which I am glad that the formula is followed. In Great Big Beautiful Life, topics discussed include celebrity life, family dynamics, the cost of love, and island life in North Carolina. 

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