Marriage💔❤️‍🩹National Security🔐📱👂and Time Travel⏳💔

 

    How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key is a truly crazy story. Reading about Harrison's struggle with his wife's infidelity made me squirm. It sounded like a nightmare. He credits his ability to love his wife through everything to his faith in God, the support of good friends, his church, and an understanding of his wife's past hurts. Harris doesn't gloss over how painful her betrayal was or how angry he felt. Key lays bare the hurt. He avoids trashing his wife and her lover. He demonstrates the need to own his part of the breakdown and to ask and to extend forgiveness. It is miraculous to me that their marriage survived. As a bonus, he's quite funny. 

💍⛪️ 💔😍🏩

    I heard about Going Zero by Anthony McCarten, and it intrigued me. It is a technical science fiction thriller relating to how individual privacy is endangered. Ten contestants are challenged to "go zero"--not be found--for thirty days by an agency that has full use of everything electronic. I've watched NCIS, where the first step in an investigation is to look into the victim's emails, messages, phone records, bank transactions, and closed-circuit television. This book moves beyond police access and into national access in the name of preventing mass shootings and terrorist attacks. How far can we go, and how far should we go to keep people safe? I asked a security-minded friend about some of the incredible claims of the book, like can your television be used as a listening device when you think it's off? Answer: maybe. https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-stop-smart-tvs-from-snooping-on-you I choose to have an Alexa device and Siri, understanding that they are always listening, but not always responding. After reading Going Zero, I'm slightly creeped out about what those who gather data on me know. Do they know Ed Sheeran's song "Thinking Out Loud Makes" me cry? That too much dairy makes me gassy? Do they know I fought with my husband because he solved all the crossword clues before me? Oh, please, no. That's not even the worst of it. 

    This book has a technicality that is similar to The Martian by Andy Weir, a book I greatly enjoyed. I found the science in Going Zero accessible and exciting, if somewhat fantastical and scary. It generated good discussion as it became the book I talked to everyone in my orbit about. You're welcome!

🔐📱👂🙉🪪

Reece's Book Club choice. It had an interesting premise and an engaging protagonist. Cassandra, a neuroatypical woman, gains the ability to time travel. Can she use it to engineer herself a happier, less lonely life? Cassie is losing her job, her living situation, and her boyfriend. A tragedy in her past haunts her. It took too long to get to the good part of the book. There is a thread of Greek mythology that hadme guessing if Cassandra was a modern day prophet. The set-up could have been more succinct and the action streamlined. It felt like the book couldn't decide what it wanted to be: romance, redemption, an exploration of being neuroatypical? In the end, I'm glad I finished it, but the book felt uneven, like a cake baked in a wonky oven; some parts were overdone, others underdone, with occasional spots of just right.

🏺🏛️⏳💔

Many Books Where Someone Dies 🐋🦊🐰🧙‍♂️

SPOILERS AHEAD

    Every book I've read this week featured the death of someone crucial. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling is book six in the Harry Potter series, the second to the last. It stands in a difficult position of setting up the final book, but not outshining it and still telling a worthwhile story. It accomplishes that. The book ends with the death of Dumbledore, the protector of Hogwarts and Harry Potter. The defeat of Voldemort is all up to Harry now. 

    As a reader, I know Rowling is willing to sacrifice beloved characters, making for intense, compelling reading. I badly want to read the final book even though I've read it before. Not enough to actually pay for it, though. 

🧙‍♂️☠️🐍😵

    In The Last Devil to Die, the fourth in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman, the adventures of four dissimilar seniors continue. In this book, I learned about the antique field, more about Alzheimer's and dementia, the background of Ibraham, how drugs travel into England, and online romance fraud. It's a lot. Like the previous books, The Last Devil to Die is humorous, with unexpected hijinks. Osman tackles the nature of death and the morality of euthanasia. It gave the book a different, deeper flavor from the previous ones. Even though the main characters are elderly, in their late 70s or early 80s, they change and learn. This keeps Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibraham exciting and me wanting to read more of their escapades.

🦊👺👴🏻👵🏻⚱️😵

 

    Reviews of Whalefall by Daniel Kraus have compared it to The Martian in its scientific depth and imagining. The premise of Whalefall is a scuba diver is swallowed by a sperm whale. It is set in the Monterey, California area. I lived there for a year and a half and recognized many locations. John Steinbeck's book Cannery Row features prominently in the book and the setting. When I lived there, I also read Steinbeck. It seemed appropriate.

    The young scuba diver, Jay, is trying to find his father's remains in the Pacific. The story moves between Jay's predicament of how to get outside of the whale and recalling his relationship with his erratic, larger-than-life, recently deceased father. The story is one dangerous episode after another. I read it in a day because I wanted to know what happened. 

🐋🤿🐳😵

    When I heard my grandson was reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, I also wanted to be one of the cool kids. I enjoyed other Kate DiCamillo's books like Because of Winn Dixie and Tales of Despereaux. Edward, the well-dressed china bunny and narrator, did experience a journey of discovery both in the world and in his heart. Initially, he is a self-centered, adored toy who needs to learn to love others. It is hard, and he finds it costly, but, in the end, it is worth it. He does go through extraordinary adventures.

    This was not my favorite Kate DiCamillo's book. Edward Tulane grew in his ability to love others; however, I didn't warm up to him. My ten-year-old grandson likes the book, so I may not be the target audience. The story gives many opportunities to discuss love, sacrifice, and death. 

🐰❤️💔❤️🐰

😵

 

One Book Week, But it was a Looooong One 🪄🧙‍♂️😵

 

        In reading a series, I find myself comparing one against the other. Which is the best? Which is my least favorite? I feel differently about the books this time around.

SPOILERS AHEAD

    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling feels different from the series' previous books. Harry is an angry teen, and his problems and concerns are more mature. The dangers are more significant, and the difficulties more complex. In past readings of the series, I enjoyed book five less than the others. Harry loses his optimism, becoming cynical and angry. Considering what he's faced, it feels authentic.

    As I read through the series this time, I realized that each book ends with the death of a character. In book one, it is Professor Quirrell; in book two, it is Tom Riddle's diary--not a person--but definitely a character; in book three, it's Buckbeak; in book four, it's Cedric Diggery; and in book five it's Sirius Black. There are many more deaths to come. 

    I've read criticism of Rowling's choice to have characters die in a young adult series. For me, it gives the series gravitas and tension as the possibility of the death of a beloved character exists. A mark of good writing to me is causing me to care about a character. I remember reading Sounder by William H. Armstrong and Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls and being devasted by the dogs' deaths. I didn't regret reading them; I still remember them fifty years later. Children's books can be a way to talk about life's painful events before they happen and can be a source of solace. 

🪄🧙‍♂️😵

🧘‍♀️ A Famous Travel Book and🫙One of the Weirdest Books I've Read

 

    The first stop in my book club's journey of reading travel writers is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I listened to the audiobook read by Elizabeth Gilbert. Her writing is humorous and insightful. She likes to delve into her motivations. If you are uptight and repressed, it can get uncomfortable. So I was uncomfortable. 

    I find people either love this book or hate this book. I fall in between. I like how she tames her inner critical voices by addressing them directly and reasoning with them. 

    I had some beliefs challenged by her understanding of spirituality and God. There is a common metaphor for religion. Several blind men are brought to an elephant; each feels a different part and thinks he understands what an elephant is. One feels the trunk and proclaims the elephant is like a hose. One feels a leg and thinks the elephant is like a tree. The point of the story is they are all wrong. Someone wiser and more knowledgeable is needed to reveal the whole elephant. It feels like Elizabeth Gilbert believes she sees the elephant. I find her story vacillates between humility and I-know-better. It can be annoying because it feels disingenuous. 

    Still, she tells an engaging story of her adventures.

🍝🪷🏝️ 🧘‍♀️

If you're interested, here is a website that talks about Elephant illustration:

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/3-ways-the-blind-men-and-the-elephant-story-backfires/

🐘

    I like a weird book, and Things in Jars by Jess Kidd is one of the strangest I've ever read. It is difficult to categorize. It contains historical fiction, suspense, mystery, fantasy, and horror. The main character, Bridie Devine, is an Irish immigrant to Victorian London who works as a female private detective. The book moves between Bridie solving her current case of a missing child and gradually revealing Bridie's childhood. I like Bridie because she is unconventional, and fiercely fights for the abused and exploited. Even though Things in Jars is teeming with fantastical characters, it feels authentic. She is helped by the ghost of a boxer and her seven-foot-tall housemaid. The story can be gruesome, with detailed discussions of dead bodies, surgeries, and autopsies. I found it fast-paced and riveting. 

🧜‍♀️👻🫙🐌💧

🍁🇨🇦 Canadian Mystery, Facing Anxiety 😬, and Juicy, Literary Family Drama 🌊🐳

 

   At its heart, Every City is Every Other City by John McFetridge is a missing-person story. Gordon Stuart is a Canadian whose primary job is as a movie location scout. When that season ebbs, he works as a private detective for a security firm called OBC. Gordon doesn't like to get involved in the action, but circumstances force a change. I found this book quirky, but enjoyable. Its flavor is deeply Canadian. (If I had a bent toward poor metaphors, I might say as Canadian as maple syrup and ice hockey--thank goodness I'm not!) I found the book engaging. I liked the main character and learned about the life of a location scout, the city of Toronto, and the suicide rates of Canadian men of a certain age. 

🍁🇨🇦🏒🎥🎬🎞️

    It took me a while to read The Anxiety Opportunity: How Worry is the Doorway to Your Best Self by Curtis Chang. I heard him interviewed on The Allender Center Podcast and found his ideas intriguing. Chang is someone who has anxiety. He was a church pastor in San Francisco, but had to resign because of crippling anxiety. I also have anxiety and have read many books and articles aimed at anxious Christians. Most advice boils down to this: stop being anxious and trust in God more. The try-harder-do-better approach hasn't worked for me and, in fact, contributes to my anxiety. Chang's perspective is that anxiety can lead to deeper faith and trust. He gives practical advice like getting out in nature, eating and sleeping well, and talking with a therapist. He urges the reader to have the courage to face the roots of anxiety in their lives and also to understand God is not disappointed in them. I think I will always be an anxious soul, and instead of beating myself up, I want to pivot to the question of what my anxiety is showing me. Chang's encouraging book helped me consider what my anxiety can do for me and know God is with me. 

😬😳😰🥺🫨

    Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur is well-written literary fiction about a perfect-looking family with secrets living on Cape Cod. It contains thoughtful images and language with complex, somewhat unbalanced people. The mental state of the main characters gives the book an edgy suspense. Little Monsters made me think about the roles of men and women, art, the ocean, whales, and Cape Cod. Brodeur is an experienced, talented writer that I want to read more of.

🌊🐳🐋⛵️

🏞️ Travel Writing (the First of Many) and Two Harry Potter Books!🪄🪄

 

   My book club's theme for this year is travel writing. Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to_Zion Journey through America's Nation Parks by Conor Knighton. I picked this book to listen to on a car trip with my DH. As someone who has visited several national parks (Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon), I enjoyed "revisiting" them through the narration. Conor Knighton (http://www.conorknighton.com/) is a television news reporter who experienced a devasting breakup. He decided to travel for a year, visiting National Parks and reporting occasionally on the CBS Morning News. I thought the book would be, and this park is fantastic for this, and this park is excellent for that and was surprised in a good way. He organizes the parks topically: Sunrise, Water, Mystery, Diversity, Food, etc. I learned new things and have parks I want to visit, like the Great Sand Dunes, perhaps the quietest place in America. 

🏕️🌲🌳🏞️🥾

    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling, is the favorite in the series of a friend of mine, Gabriel Soll. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5.Harry_Potter_and_the_Prisoner_of_Azkaban?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=f4Wh4OPJOO&rank=1#SocialReviews  

It sparked the question in me: which HP is my favorite? I can see why Gabe likes this one. As the third in the series, I'm familiar with the characters and the main problem of Voldemort's desire to kill Harry and rule the world. In this book, the three friends still feel innocent of larger evil at work. Rowling writes well in both the present story and the meta-story. She grows her characters up from ten to twelve years old. The magical world she's created is believable and fascinating. 

    As an organizer, I wonder if she uses spreadsheets to keep track of everyone? Did she use software? Did she hire someone to help with consistency? 

    Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire takes a darker turn. A fellow student dies, and the evil forces gain strength. This book reveals much about Voldemort's earlier reign and how terrible and terrified everyone felt. Hagrid reassures Harry that they will be okay as long as they have Dumbledore. I like the values that Rowland points Harry toward--loyalty, friendship, and courage. Good stuff!

🪄🧙‍♀️🧙‍♂️🏆🐍🚂

☠️ Great Mystery and Amusing Short Stories🥠

 

    I like a clever, amusing, dark mystery. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson is a practically perfect mystery. At the beginning, the narrator, Ernest Cunningham, who writes ebooks on how to write mysteries, says he will abide by Ronald Knox's famous 10 Rules of Mystery Writing:

1. The Criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has allowed to follow. 
2. All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
3. Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.
4. No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end. 
5. No Chinaman must figure in the story.
6. No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.
7. The detective must not himself commit the crime.
8. The detective must not light on any clues that are not instantly produced for the reader's inspection.
9. The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly below that of the average reader. 
10. Twin brother, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been dully prepared for them.

    These rules are from the 1930s, and Ernest has updated them, replacing racist #5 with something else. Ernest hilariously refers to the rules explaining when someone is not guilty as the mystery unfolds. I enjoyed the ride he took me on, and I figured out the killer but didn't know why he did it. My favorite rule is #9. 

    My DH, who also likes murder mysteries, found this one too dark at first.

    "But it's funny," I protested. 

    That makes all the deaths okay, right?

    Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone is written by an Australian author and takes place in Australia. I listened to the audiobook read by an Australian, so it was like being read to by Bluey's father, Bandit. Win!

🔎🎿🇦🇺☠️🔍

amusing, insightful, quick bites

    Alexander McCall Smith's book Tiny Tales is like eating delightful little canapés. The stories are quick, humorous, and usually have a little zing. My favorites are several stories about Pope Ron, the first Australian pope. Smith swims in some deep waters, talking about God and the nature of evil and how your native childhood country owns parts of your heart. By the end of the book, I'd been encouraged to look for the good in those around me and not take myself too seriously. The short stories are like fortune cookies: sweet but with a message.

Here is another review of Alexander McCall Smith's book The Number One Ladies Detective Agency: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=McCall+

🥠🥠🥠

I Read a Super Serious book 🐍💉, a Clever Mystery 🔐🐟📱, and YA Fantasy 🐉🐲

  Barbara Kingsolver is a SERIOUS writer (Pulitzer Prize winner), and her goal is to make you experience injustice viscerally. Demon Copperhead is a first-person narration of a young boy called Demon Copperhead, patterned after Charles Dickens's book David Copperfield. Kingsolver writes about a scrappy hero born into poverty in the Appalachian mountains at the cusp of the opioid crisis. His single, ex-drug addict mother tries her hardest to give him what she never had--stability and love--but is sucked back under, orphaning Demon at ten years old. He is at the tender mercy of the stressed foster care system in one of the poorest regions in the United States. As Demon grows up, he encounters a spectrum of people, from those who care for him to those who want to use him up. It is a brutal story of abuse, addiction, and exploitation set against the beautiful scenery of his beloved mountains. David Copperfield is easier to read because it happened long ago and far away. Demom Copperhead is fiction that is true for a child today. It gives the book gravitas.

    Kingsolver uses her prodigious writing skills to humanize an unfairly despised and disadvantaged population. It is a well-told story, heartbreaking story. I wish it had been shorter. At times, I felt crushed by Demon's bleak circumstances and choices. I stopped midbook and read something else for relief. I'm glad I read it, and I doubt I'll ever reread it.

    Here is a lovely, five-minute interview with Barabara Kingsolver talking about Demon Copperhead and Charles Dickens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TwYw0cjxlw

🐍💉💊⛰️🙁

 

    I visited a fantastic independent bookstore in Severna Park, Maryland, called Park Books & LitCoLab. The knowledgeable and helpful employee recommended this mystery to me because I like Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (reviewed here: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Thursday+Murder+) and Robert Thorogood's Death Comes to Marlow (reviewed here: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Death+Comes+to+Marlow). I consume most of my books in audio format, but The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett needs to be read. It is hard to describe, but I will try. First of all, the entire story is told through transcribed audio files. It is a mystery about a little boy who discovers a book containing a code, causing something terrible to happen to his beloved teacher. Steven Smith is dyslexic and didn't learn to read well until he was an adult in prison. When he gets out, he is determined to solve the mystery of what happened to his teacher, Miss Isles. Or the book is about something else. You have to read it to see. You will like this one if you like clever, code-filled books (and I do).

📚📱🔐🐟💸

    I have been a Cornia Funke fan since I read her Inkheart trilogy. Her books are translated from German into English, and they resonate with me because I lived in Germany for nine years of my life. The descriptions of the flora and fauna conjure up walking in the German countryside. Her characters are German folk art with fairies, trolls, and other fantastic creatures come to life. Dragon Rider isn't her best work; however, I enjoyed her character arcs and plot twists. They don't feel American to me, but European. It is an old-world quest and coming-of-age story.

🐲🐉🐸🐦‍⬛

The Lastest Ann Patchett Novel 💦🍒 and I am Tricked into Starting Another Trilogy ☹️ and It's a Good One😠🧵🪡

elegiac--a story told with sorrow

 I am in awe of Ann Patchett for many reasons. She co-owns a bookstore, loves opera, and is a successful novelist. She's living the dream. I have read almost everything she's written and vibe with her style a great deal. 

   Tom Lake is her latest novel. I listened to it on audio read by Meryl Streep. It was sublime. I received it in my Libby App but waited to start it. I knew the book would wreck me, and I needed to fortify myself against the elegiac thread stitched into Ann Patchett's prose and plucked powerfully by Meryl Streep. A writing teacher once told me suffering is plot. These women are masters of suffering. The combination of Patchett's writing and Streep's interpretation is devastating, but in the best way. I've seen Tom Lake described as the story of young love versus mature love, and I agree. What resonated for me was the love between mothers and daughters as it changes over time. Small children are physically consuming, teenagers are emotionally exhausting, and adult children are untethered from your ability to protect them. 

   The plot reminds me of nesting dolls. There is plot within plot within plot. It is the beginning of COVID, and Lara's three daughters, in their twenties, have returned home to the cherry farm in Michigan where they grew up. The book is told from Lara's perspective. As they work to hand pick sweet cherries, the daughters want to hear again about their mother's early life as an actress and her summer love affair with a not-yet-famous actor, Duke--the gritty details they've been too young to be told before now. There are many precarious minefields to navigate as the narrative moves between young aspiring actress Lara and the mature woman of fifty-eight Lara. Will the cherry farm stay afloat, or will it be destroyed by climate change? What daughters will stay? What does the future hold for the daughters? What was Lara's relationship with Duke? Why did she stop acting? Who does Lara love the most--her husband or her young love? What can she tell her daughters about her past? What needs to remain secret?  

   Tom Lake vibrates with symbolism and meaning that I won't fully understand until my fourth or fifth reading. There is much to be said about this book because it is wonderfully dense, like a great carrot cake filled with juicy raisins, bitter walnut pieces, and tender shreds of carrot, then covered with cream cheese frosting. So delicious and complex!

    I predict this will be the best book I read this year. 

🍒🪆🏊‍♀️

 

    My daughter recommended the book, This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi, and I'm glad she did. It is a well-done fantasy book full of adventure, magic, and intrigue. As I approached the end of the book, I wondered how will Mafi, who'd been crushing it, end this fantastic book? There only so many pages left to do it justice . . . *gasp*. It's a trilogy. And the final one has yet to come out. 

☹️

    This Woven Kingdom reminds me of Cinderella. I wonder if Mafi had that in mind as her framework. It works well, but this isn't a Cinderella waiting to be rescued by a prince. Alizeh kicks butt. The story is told between Alizeh and the crown Prince, Kamran. There might be a bit of Romeo and Juliet going on as well. All these elements are skillfully blended into a crisp, fast-paced book stocked with likable characters trying to solve big problems with adeptness and tenacity. 

      These Infinite Threads is a worthy sequel to Tahereh Mafi's first book of her newest series, This Woven Kingdom. The characters grow in complexity, and while some problems are solved, larger ones arise. It continues to be fast-paced and attention-grabbing. My biggest complaint is Mafi likes to end her book on a giant cliffhanger. My subsequent complaint is the next one will be out sometime in 2024. My life is so hard. My reading life, at least.

🥹

🔮🪄❤️🧵🪡🧽🧹🧞‍♀️

Maybe Aliens, more HP, and a Family Saga

 

    This quirky book, Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah, was superb. A biology graduate student doing field research encounters a lost child who claims to be an alien inhabiting a dead child's body. The characters in this book are wonderfully broken and complex. The book asks a big question: what do you do with death and pain? Move closer or move away? I like where it landed--risking to care is costly, but worth it.

🌳✨⭐️👽🌟🌌

  I avoid spoilers, but if you haven't read or seen the Harry Potter series, you probably have chosen not to. There are spoilers ahead. Also, I'm revisiting the Harry Potter series, so expect to see more HP posts in the future. This week I read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It is instructional to see seeds of future story plots being planted. The tight plot of the entire series, is a lesson to writers.

 Knowing that Harry and Ginny end up together makes Ginny's early reactions to Harry hilarious. He was her crush for a long time. I thought Hermione and Harry were better suited to each other than Harry and Ginny, but as I reread HP and the Chamber of Secrets, I wonder if I'm not as right as I believe. I will probably say this as I reread through each Harry Potter book.

🪄🧙‍♂️🧙‍♀️🐍🪄

   Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo was recommended to me as a family drama, and it does that exceptionally well. Acevedo weaves the stories of four magical sisters and two of their daughters into a gripping, wrenching, loving, heart-expanding tale that is hard to put down. Halfway through, I did put it down because of the graphic sex. It was too much for me, but I returned and finished it because the story was compelling, and I wanted to know what happened. It is a great book I'm not 100% happy I read.😐

🍲👨‍👩‍👧‍👧💍👶🏻💃🏻

Baltimore, Hogwarts, and London 💔🧪🇬🇧🧙‍♂️

 

  R. Eric Thomas's book Kings of B'more--great double entendre of a title--takes place in and around Baltimore (B'more). The narration ping-pongs between two sixteen-year-old gay friends, Linus and Harrison. Linus is moving out of state in a few days and has yet to tell Harrison. An anxious soul, Harrison wants to give his friend, Linus, a final fantastic day together. I moved a lot growing up because my dad was in the military, and this book captures the poignancy of losing your best friend when you need each other most. Navigating growing up is better when you have someone who gets you, what you're going through, and is striving to "be more."  

🩳🌞☀️😎🚗🏳️‍🌈

 J. K. Rowling has become a controversial figure of late. Is that why Audible is offering her book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for free, if you're a member, through August 10th? https://www.audible.com/about/newsroom/stream-the-first-harry-potter-audiobook-free-on-audible-stories

  Jim Dale does an award-winning narration of a complex, many-character book. This book is always delightful. The characters are multilayered, with several storylines, and they are humorous and clever. I admire how the three friends work together, shoring up each other's weaknesses and celebrating each other's strengths. The despised child becoming the hero never gets old for me, and this is probably why I love A Wrinkle in Time, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Inkheart. 

🪄🧌🐲🧙‍♂️

    The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is her first novel. It is interesting and well researched--it is historical fiction, but it is too closely following a formula for its multiple plot lines. I found the main character too flawless. It also gets off to a slow start, but gains momentum. I think her subsequent novels will improve as she ventures out a little more into her own style. It is a worthwhile read, especially if you are an Anglophile. 

🧪💍🧐🗺️🇬🇧