Tuesday Book Review on Thursday

Three-star review of Lincoln at Cooper Union: the Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President by Harold Holzer

I listened to the Audible version of this scholarly book about the speech Lincoln gave in New York that launched his path to the White House, the type of book that tells you what it’s going to cover, covers it, then reiterates what it covered and finally gives a version of the speech, which Lincoln revised and re-presented many times. Yes, I learned a bit about the politics of the time and even a little about the man who became our 16^th president, but it was a rather dry accounting mainly of his whistle-stop tour of New York and New England. Obviously, Holzer did his research into the records of the time, although they weren’t expansive. The speech itself centered on whether new states coming into the union should be regulated as to whether they be free states or ones admitting slavery, an important topic. Listened to for a book club. 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Five-star review of All Systems Red: the Murderbot Diaries 1 by Martha Wells

 

There’s a reason these books are so popular and spawned a TV series. This isn’t your normal science fiction. The humor alone is unusual. The Security Bot who calls itself Murderbot has a great sense of what’s absurd about humans, including the survey team it was assigned to, and about its predicament. This novella is fast-paced and a fun read. I loved Murderbot and all the members of the team. Each character is well-rounded. I’m looking forward to reading more of the series and hope it maintains this level.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Five-star review of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

This story went from the cliched romantic triangle between a poor girl who doesn’t know the powers she possesses, her childhood friend and a handsome and magnetic powerful man to something much more sinister. Alina and her friend Mal grew up as orphans under the benevolent watch of a nobleman. When they leave they become soldiers but crossing the shadow fold, a dark and mysterious area between Ravka and the sea, Alina releases the magic inside her. She is selected to be one of the Grisha and catches the eye of the Darkling. Alina’s character arc is off to a good start in this book. I loved that many names are echoes of places in Russia and are vividly described. I’ll continue this series to find out what happens next.

Tuesday Book Review

Five-star review of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

I laughed in many places as I read Eleanor’s story even though she’d had a traumatic childhood and the results, combined with possible neurodivergence, left her at thirty as a lonely office worker in Glasgow. Much of the humor came from Eleanor’s lack of knowledge about some of the stupid and silly things people do. It sometimes felt like she’d come from another planet as she learned about some of society’s quirks because of her growing friendship with Raymond, an IT guy from her work. I listened to this on audible and kudos to the narrator for the voices and accents she gave both the female and male characters. Eleanor’s arc worked beautifully. Although I could guess where the story was going and the twists in the story, the ending was quite satisfying.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Five-star review of Survive (The Atlantis Grail series Book 4) by Vera Nazarian

The final book in this series ends with non-stop heart-pounding action that answers many of the questions the rest of the story raised and a few we didn’t know we had. The fates and survival of both Earth and Atlantis are at stake, and Gwen and company have more than one challenge, not to mention a wedding to achieve. Nazarian’s imagination continues to come up with surprising new twists up to the end. Gwen’s growth is finally evident, although she still occasionally questions her own abilities. I particularly enjoyed the relationships among all the characters, not just the romantic couples. The characters and their relationships were consistent through the series.

Tuesday Book Review

 

Five-star review of The Sacred Bridge by Anne Hillerman

Chee and Bernie each have a case to deal with separately in this story. Each one is interesting written in an engaging style. They take place in different places, Chee’s in the area of Lake Powell and Paige, Arizona, where he discovers a body while exploring the area, and Bernie’s, about a hemp growing enterprise on Navajo land, is closer to home (theirs and mine) in the Shiprock area of northwestern New Mexico. The other worldly scenery of the far-flung Navajo Nation provides a wonderful background for the two investigations. Both cases highlight some of the difficulties the Diné people have with maintaining their culture and preserving their artifacts. I’m so pleased Anne has continued to give us stories about these characters.  

 

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Four-star review for The Booklovers Library by Madeline Martin 

Considering most of the events of the book occurred during World War II, I’d expected more action, but this was more of an examination of the lives of people in Nottingham, England, the difficulties women had at the time to be allowed to work if they were married and/or had children, and the literature of the time. I hadn’t known about the lending libraries in Boots Pharmacies back then where, for a subscription fee, patrons could find books that libraries didn’t carry and were too expensive to purchase. I did know about the efforts to send children into the country to escape the bombing of the cities and the women’s volunteer service. All of this is told through the eyes of a widow with a young daughter, whose father had a bookstore in the city which had burned, killing him and leaving her an orphan in her teens. Emma is plucky and determined. The other characters are well-described. The relationship between Emma and her daughter, Olivia, seemed genuine. I listened to the audiobook, which was read with the women distinct, but the men sounding alike.