tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6602676649338501592024-03-04T22:33:51.958-07:00JactionaryA Book Lover's Blog. Book reviews, author interviews, recommendation lists, and more.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger169125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660267664933850159.post-80080302652065434032023-12-06T12:22:00.002-07:002023-12-06T12:24:11.045-07:00Book Announcement - Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7bhyuFOUrfmSYx5HDCIJuLpf3gR9G3Sqt_Cu2Enna1ae5fYY-iGRRxhgxDrM1TE_QuazglK3ZBNlxGaRD5GZa7Xf3YlPzU8yl2t_uA6lpE7JNR4lvH93J7hwYhrBMt3qlcvsS9kgNumFsAkoyAsaK8ZudJ4kR9IKAiVoezQLiCgdtUXTlrS-gczh6g8/s674/Concepts%20of%20Managing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc7bhyuFOUrfmSYx5HDCIJuLpf3gR9G3Sqt_Cu2Enna1ae5fYY-iGRRxhgxDrM1TE_QuazglK3ZBNlxGaRD5GZa7Xf3YlPzU8yl2t_uA6lpE7JNR4lvH93J7hwYhrBMt3qlcvsS9kgNumFsAkoyAsaK8ZudJ4kR9IKAiVoezQLiCgdtUXTlrS-gczh6g8/s16000/Concepts%20of%20Managing.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><h2><b>Concepts of Managing:<br />A Road Map for Avoiding Career Hazards</b></h2><b>by Ronald Harris<br />with Jacqueline H. Harris, PhD, and Casey B. Harris, JD, MBA<br /></b><br /><b>Genres</b>: Business, Nonfiction, Career Self-Help, Academic<br /><b>Publisher</b>: AuthorHouse<br /><b>Length</b>: 208 pages<br /><b>Published</b>: October 18, 2023<div><b>Formats</b>: Available in hardback, paperback, and e-book<br /><b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> </b><a href="https://www.authorhouse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/846865-concepts-of-managing#:~:text=About%20the%20Book&text=Concepts%20of%20Managing%20reveals%20essential,action%20which%20empower%20workplace%20application." target="_blank">AuthorHouse</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/3RxATFX" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book/1144246906?ean=9798823015196" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a><div><b>Author Website</b>: <a href="http://ronaldharrisauthor.com">ronaldharrisauthor.com</a></div><div>Author LinkedIn: <br /><br /><b>My Goodreads Rating</b>: 5 out of 5 stars<br /><br />I co-wrote a book!<br /><br /></div><div>I'm excited to share the publication of <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3RxATFX" target="_blank"><b>Concepts of Managing: A Road Map for Avoiding Career Detours</b></a></i>!<br /><br /></div><div>For me, this book has been a 15-year labor of love and I am so proud to see it in print. I am also incredibly proud of my father--the main author--who has spent over 25 years compiling his experiences and wisdom from working in management.<br /><br /></div><div>With sections including career navigation, leadership and management, motivation, relationships, and ethics, it offers accessible and practical guidance on the workplace illustrated with helpful real-world situations. I really feel it's of value to anyone in the workplace.<br /><br /></div><div>It's available now in hardback, paperback, and e-book from the links above. If you cannot buy a copy but would like to help, please share the news or make a purchase request at your local public library. Later, I'll post with an interview with the lead author, Ronald Harris.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can check out the Table of Contents <b><a href="https://www.ronaldharrisauthor.com/table-of-contents/" target="_blank">here</a></b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can also read the first chapter, "The Most Important Word," <a href="https://www.ronaldharrisauthor.com/first-chapter/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.</div><div><br />Thank you for your support!</div><div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Official Book Summary:</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Attaining a valued leadership role requires more than technical skills. Interacting appropriately with everyone in the organization, while introducing or supporting tactical initiatives, is fundamental. <i><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3RxATFX" target="_blank">Concepts of Managing</a></b></i> reveals essential lessons leaders must understand. Offering uniquely realistic portrayals of situations encountered in business, Ronald Harris’ principles reveal beneficial concepts in action which empower workplace application. Utilizing this guidance—which is seasoned with candor and optimism—readers can anticipate scenarios and thoughtfully approach challenges. Armed with real-world wisdom, they will consequently experience fewer career detours and avoid the roughest waters. Furthermore, self-esteem and the respect of admirable peers will be cultured, increasing employment opportunities and heightening success. This book speaks to supervisors and managers as well as aspiring workers, since everyone faces employment challenges. Harris’ concepts are relevant to university students, employees in training programs, people in business, and those trying to succeed with limited access to mentoring resources.<br /></div></div><div><br /><div><b>About the Authors:</b></div><div><br /></div><b>Ronald Harris</b> retired as VP of Real Estate, Facilities & Construction at Young Living Essential Oils, having also served as Chief Logistics Officer. During his tenure, Young Living grew in annual sales from $60M to $2.2B and he assembled and oversaw the team constructing the 263,000-SF global headquarters, winning seven honors. Harris earned a Master’s in Organizational Behavior from BYU and worked for seven firms with sales ranging from $90M to $3B and four with holdings equaling/exceeding these figures. He has an extensive breadth of experience in logistics, operations, retail, direct sales, construction, real estate, banking, agriculture, and taught at two universities.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jacqueline H. Harris</b> is a tenured professor of English in Idaho. She earned a B.A. from BYU, an M.S. from USU, and a Ph.D. from UNL. She has conducted and presented her research both nationally and internationally. Her publications include multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Casey B. Harris</b> works as an in-house counsel in Washington. He earned a B.A. from BYU, a J.D. from Lewis & Clark, and an M.B.A. from UIUC. He practices in general corporate, intellectual property, and regulatory law. His publications include multiple articles with the Association of Corporate Counsel."<br /><div><br /></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<a href="http://www.linkwithin.com/"><img src="http://www.linkwithin.com/pixel.png" alt="Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger..." style="border: 0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660267664933850159.post-28631379864171453422022-08-01T13:08:00.001-06:002022-08-02T12:04:57.548-06:00Middle-Grade Mystery Recommendations<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZNCSlFMkKDg3vh7KhOOpFAzjw5k6Aw1V4AlglDGvhL0JYsr15fgJEgJs9vHeOgDmDn3eSBLKq1mkpi61qutV7X7sCYvW9nOYJsnA9MmUjRW2ddtzL8SQFkrDNYQH-1QCox83D5448Ga6TCeillQWt66c928jn03qKqMjPKQ8BMhAgIhVujHz-fTx/s1200/Blog%20-%20Middle-Grade%20Mystery%20Series%20Recommendations.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZNCSlFMkKDg3vh7KhOOpFAzjw5k6Aw1V4AlglDGvhL0JYsr15fgJEgJs9vHeOgDmDn3eSBLKq1mkpi61qutV7X7sCYvW9nOYJsnA9MmUjRW2ddtzL8SQFkrDNYQH-1QCox83D5448Ga6TCeillQWt66c928jn03qKqMjPKQ8BMhAgIhVujHz-fTx/w640-h320/Blog%20-%20Middle-Grade%20Mystery%20Series%20Recommendations.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Middle-Grade Mystery Recommendations<br /></h3><p>If you're looking for fun and engaging middle-grade mysteries, look no further than the following two series. Both are now well-established and popular with young readers and feature vivid characters, historical fiction settings, and young and capable sleuths puzzling together page-turning whodunits.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9T_fpGu2x1QqLxyMDnAkQRpNiz2Q81Ecn1fmDd7wQ4wsTaRaa6pXVl3ZBRgYqqHxYzh91qwPQPb5rmCEU93D-zzw6C1Qno4pi9NezRAZuSM59I6EKAT9sH6oB_TG0qyRRPemddk05TtSqUUOJnmOD5ncMzH-EWnAmR_XplmwiIO_AeLU8KA5rj59g/s1200/Blog%20-%20Middle-Grade%20Mystery%20Series%20Recommendations(1).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9T_fpGu2x1QqLxyMDnAkQRpNiz2Q81Ecn1fmDd7wQ4wsTaRaa6pXVl3ZBRgYqqHxYzh91qwPQPb5rmCEU93D-zzw6C1Qno4pi9NezRAZuSM59I6EKAT9sH6oB_TG0qyRRPemddk05TtSqUUOJnmOD5ncMzH-EWnAmR_XplmwiIO_AeLU8KA5rj59g/w640-h320/Blog%20-%20Middle-Grade%20Mystery%20Series%20Recommendations(1).png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3d07thy" target="_blank"><b>The Myrtle Hardcastle Series</b></a><br />by Elizabeth C. Bunce</h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b>(order the entire series <a href="https://amzn.to/3d07thy" target="_blank">here</a>) </b><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Set in early twentieth-century Edwardian England, Myrtle Hardcastle is a smart and curious twelve-year-old set on piecing together clues to solve local mysteries. Having lost her mother several years ago to cancer, Myrtle lives with her father, the town prosecutor, and her governess, Ada Judson. With Miss Judson at her side, Myrtle can't help but obsess over how to use science and the law to bring criminals to justice. My favorite character is her lovable cat, Peony, who seems just as curious as she is. Bunce includes numerous witty footnotes and chapter epigraphs that add a unique style to the narrative voice. Her penchant for capitalizing key terms like Mysterious Circumstances adds to Myrtle's voice and her likability as a character. The series has won numerous awards and the newest installment will be out this fall. I've enjoyed every installment thus far and will continue to keep an eye out for each new mystery in this lovable series.<br /></p><p><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3OPLJ5m" target="_blank">Premeditated Myrtle (#1)</a> (purchase <a href="https://amzn.to/3OPLJ5m" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /></b></p><p>In the introduction to the series, readers meet the lovable cast of characters and get to know the village of Swinburne, England in which Myrtle live. When her wealthy neighbor dies, Myrtle and Miss Judson can't help but be curious about the strange series of events connected to her death and the likelihood of a murderer on the loose.<br /></p><p><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3oMVPcQ" target="_blank">How to Get Away with Myrtle (#2)</a> (purchase <a href="https://amzn.to/3oMVPcQ" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /></b></p><p>In the hopes of sending her to a more proper and suitable setting for a growing girl recently tangled in a murder investigation, Myrtle's father sends her on holiday with her prim Aunt Helena. On board the train are an odd cast of characters, but all are intrigued by the beautiful Northern Lights tiara on display on its way to its new resort home. When the tiara disappears and a body is discovered, Myrtle's vacation turns into an investigation of who among them is a murderer and jewel thief.<b> <br /></b></p><p><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3Q94Ecl" target="_blank">Cold-Blooded Myrtle (#3)</a> (purchase <a href="https://amzn.to/3Q94Ecl" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /></b></p><p>Back at home in Swinburne, the Christmas season has begun and the village is celebrating the anniversary of the local college. During the reveal of a local shop display, the store merchant is found poisoned and his holiday display has been turned into a crime scene, pointing the finger to the past unsolved mysterious disappearance of a local college student. Myrtle and Miss Judson are intrigued, but when they learn Myrtle's mother was not only friends with the missing woman but was also involved in a secret society, they set out to uncover the truth at all costs.<b> <br /></b></p><p><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3Jk409T" target="_blank">In Myrtle Peril (#4)</a> (purchase <a href="https://amzn.to/3Jk409T" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /></b></p><p>Set to be published this fall, the fourth installment in the series focuses on the case of a missing heiress who was lost at sea. When Myrtle's father becomes involved in the case and is tasked with finding the true identity of a woman claiming that the money is hers, events become dangerous and he winds up in the hospital. In order to save her father, it's Myrtle's duty to find out who is putting their lives at risk.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygK3Y1TLQmwC2JRxk2pHtzqwJwFfXjdSjvKMYNJw3xrG8EH2D_EqvTsau0n4r9ttl6C9GGiHpIfbxfkhFVJRzMAj2ExYa_JWYGiu9nbDyodNokw_sY-fwgVsuR0OKKFEAdFIwA8NYjEc2tCdS9JDP-iagsvQI3l96EA-4vZ0Z2iKJBKf5OVCUypod/s1200/Blog%20-%20Middle-Grade%20Mystery%20Series%20Recommendations(2).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygK3Y1TLQmwC2JRxk2pHtzqwJwFfXjdSjvKMYNJw3xrG8EH2D_EqvTsau0n4r9ttl6C9GGiHpIfbxfkhFVJRzMAj2ExYa_JWYGiu9nbDyodNokw_sY-fwgVsuR0OKKFEAdFIwA8NYjEc2tCdS9JDP-iagsvQI3l96EA-4vZ0Z2iKJBKf5OVCUypod/w640-h320/Blog%20-%20Middle-Grade%20Mystery%20Series%20Recommendations(2).png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3cRHfOp" target="_blank">The Aggie Morton Mystery Queen Series</a></b><br />by Marthe Jocelyn, illustrated by Isabelle Follath</h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b>(order the entire series <a href="https://amzn.to/3cRHfOp" target="_blank">here</a>) </b><br /></p><p>Set at the turn of the century, Marthe Jocelyn's series pays tribute to the Queen of Mystery, Agatha Christie, in this fun fictionalized interpretation of her childhood. Like Christie, Aggie Morton lives with her mother and older sister, their father having died years prior. Her mother is overwhelmed with grief, her sister is newly married and beginning life with her husband, and Aggie feels unsettled and different from the other young girls with whom she associates. When she meets a young boy named Hector (a tribute to Christie's famed detective, Hercule Poirot) who has been sent to England and is similarly missing his own family in Belgium, and the two bond over their love of methodical detection and solving crimes. Their friendship is charming, clever, witty, and I fell in love with this cast of characters, including Aggie's friendship with a journalist-in-disguise who's always on the hunt for the latest bit of crime news. Illustrator Isabelle Follath provides helpful family trees and renderings of the cast of characters in each book's front pages that help readers envision the curious persons under suspicion in each story. The settings are lovely, the crimes and detection propel you through the pages, and I was thrilled to see that another adventure will be published this fall.<br /></p><p><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3znEEDA" target="_blank">The Body Under the Piano (#1)</a> (purchase <a href="https://amzn.to/3znEEDA" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /></b></p><p>Unwillingly participating in a dance recital for young girls, Aggie is shocked when a body is found in the dance studio. First on the scene, Aggie spots clues that the police and investigators don't seem to notice. When she meets and befriends Hector, they set out to learn why someone would want to kill an old woman before her seemingly innocent dance instructor is sentenced for murder.<br /></p><p><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3JmcBJ6" target="_blank">Peril at Owl Park (#2)</a> (purchase <a href="https://amzn.to/3JmcBJ6" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /></b></p><p>Aggie and her family visit her older sister Marjorie, now Lady Greyson of Owl Park, to celebrate the Christmas season. As Aggie and Hector wander the large grounds and mansion, they and the other guests are entertained by a visiting theater group. When one of the performers is found dead, the entire household is under investigation. Soon a servant takes a spill down the stairs and lies unconscious unable to identify his attacker and a member of the party goes missing. Sneaking through secret passageways and eavesdropping on the suspects and the investigators, it's up to Aggie and Hector to find the attacker before they strike again.<br /></p><p><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3zjfOVg" target="_blank">The Dead Man in the Garden (#3)</a> (purchase <a href="https://amzn.to/3zjfOVg" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /></b></p><p>On a trip to the seaside so her mother can benefit from the restoring waters and care of a local health spa, Aggie and Hercule get to know the other holiday vacationers and learn of a recent unsolved murder that took place at the Wellspring Hotel. They soon learn spa staff might be involved and Aggie fears for her mother's safety. When Aggie and Hercule are attacked, they fight back to save the town from danger as another victim is found.<br /></p><p><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3blbSeN" target="_blank">The Seaside Corpse (#4)</a> (purchase <a href="https://amzn.to/3blbSeN" target="_blank">here</a>)<br /></b></p><p>Later this fall, Jocelyn's fourth installment in the series will take place at a seaside camp that features the work of local paleontologists, a tribute to Agatha Christie's own interest and involvement in the search for fossils in the Middle East. Aggie and Hector have a grand time learning this new science, but things turn upside-down when a corpse washes ashore and everyone begins pointing the finger at who might be responsible. The search for fossils turns into a hunt for a murderer.</p><p>I really admire what both Elizabeth C. Bunce and Marthe Jocelyn are creating in these middle-grade mystery series. If you're a fan of middle-grade fiction or if you have a young reader who enjoys a good whodunit plot, I highly recommend every book in these collections.</p><p>Have you read Myrtle Hardcastle or Aggie Morton? If so, let me know in the comments below or share your own recommendations for middle-grade mysteries.<br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<a href="http://www.linkwithin.com/"><img src="http://www.linkwithin.com/pixel.png" alt="Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger..." style="border: 0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660267664933850159.post-14507770364796142162021-03-10T09:42:00.003-07:002023-02-10T13:51:07.807-07:00Book Review - The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold<div><p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QGe3e4dTU9Y/YEES1tmBQvI/AAAAAAAAGPc/Hi43iIcQykQf4v9lfgFS5lxHUCukazkegCLcBGAsYHQ/s2298/Rubenhold%252C%2BHallie%2B-%2BThe%2BFive%2B-%2BJactionary%2BBook%2BReview.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2298" data-original-width="2292" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QGe3e4dTU9Y/YEES1tmBQvI/AAAAAAAAGPc/Hi43iIcQykQf4v9lfgFS5lxHUCukazkegCLcBGAsYHQ/w638-h640/Rubenhold%252C%2BHallie%2B-%2BThe%2BFive%2B-%2BJactionary%2BBook%2BReview.jpg" width="638" /></a><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #45818e;">The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper</span><br /></b></h3>
<b>by Hallie Rubenhold</b><br />
<br />
<b>Genres</b>: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, British History, Biography, Mystery, Feminism<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt<br />
<b>Length</b>: 333 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: April 9, 2019<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/2OrHaF6" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-five-hallie-rubenhold/1129185729?ean=9780358299615" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Official Book Summary:</b></span></h3></div><p>"Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London—the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper <br /><br /> Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Catherine, and Mary Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden, and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffeehouses, lived on country estates; they breathed ink dust from printing presses and escaped human traffickers. <br /><br /> What they had in common was the year of their murders: 1888. The person responsible was never identified, but the character created by the press to fill that gap has become far more famous than any of these five women. </p><p>For more than a century, newspapers have been keen to tell us that “the Ripper” preyed on prostitutes. Not only is this untrue, as historian Hallie Rubenhold has discovered, but it has prevented the real stories of these fascinating women from being told. Now, in this devastating narrative of five lives, Rubenhold finally sets the record straight, revealing a world not just of Dickens and Queen Victoria, but of poverty, homelessness, and rampant misogyny. They died because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time—but their greatest misfortune was to be born women." <br />
</p><div style="text-align: left;"><h3>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Quote:</b></span></h3></div> “It is for them that I write this book. I do so in the hope that we may now hear their stories clearly and give back to them that which was so brutally taken away with their lives: their dignity.”</div><div> <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Excerpt:</b></span></h3></div> “Just as it did in the nineteenth century, the notion that the victims were 'only prostitutes' seeks to perpetuate the belief that there are good women and bad women; madonnas and whores. It suggests that there is an acceptable standard of female behaviour and those that deviate from it are fit to be punished. Equally, it assists in reasserting the double standard , exonerating men from wrongs committed against such women. These attitudes may not feel as prevalent as they were in 1888, but they persist - not proffered in general conversation... but, rather integrated subtly into the fabric of our social norms.” <br /><div>
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<b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivj9p3KQRikmFuAl0Oj68L5oJWL_URfD_G0vAjyR5U2Bo7mlkydWSk7MQpP5EpQJftpyKELnLgSTHsvdcUqcjMKhnHuD9fwwEf6Qn_jlGzAO09LvdvP5TPjaigwyH1v2zLRzIrXXT7jk4/s1700/Rubenhold%252C+Hallie+-+The+Five.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1700" data-original-width="1127" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiivj9p3KQRikmFuAl0Oj68L5oJWL_URfD_G0vAjyR5U2Bo7mlkydWSk7MQpP5EpQJftpyKELnLgSTHsvdcUqcjMKhnHuD9fwwEf6Qn_jlGzAO09LvdvP5TPjaigwyH1v2zLRzIrXXT7jk4/w424-h640/Rubenhold%252C+Hallie+-+The+Five.jpg" width="424" /></a></div></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3><span style="color: #45818e;"><b>My Book Review:</b></span></h3></div><p>Brava to the Hallie Rubenhold for her extensive research delivering the truth behind the lives of the five women brutally murdered by Jack the Ripper. I cannot commend her enough for the work that she did in this book paying tribute to the victims of a mass murder and correcting what so many of us got wrong.</p><p>I feel like I’ve waited years for this book. Ever since I started studying Victorian literature, the infamy of Jack the Ripper has been a part of the cultural and historical backdrop. However, I've always been disappointed by histories that focus on the madman and dismiss the whole story about his victims. We've never really known who these women were and what we were told about them--they were prostitutes--was nowhere near the truth of what these women had gone through and who they were. By reducing them to a category, we failed to understand their humanity. Rubenhold corrects that mistake.</p><p>The research Rubenhold presents in <i>The Five </i>was detailed and informative, but never felt overwhelming or distracting. She proceeds one by one through each of these women's stories, carefully piecing together the truth of their lives and their relationships. I respect how difficult this venture would have been and so because there were pieces missing, Rubenhold had to research the contexts of their lives in order to best fill in the gaps. It would have been easy for her to make something up, but wanting to be accurate led her to include moments of wonder as she places together what we do know with what we might suppose.</p><p>I really respected the author's choice to entirely leave out the scenes of their murder or the horrors of what Jack the Ripper did to them. That information can be readily found on any internet search, but what she does in telling their stories is so much more important.<br /></p><p>If you want to learn more about these women, this is the only book you need.<br /><br /></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<b>by Agatha Christie</b><br />
<br />
<b>Genres</b>: Mystery, Fiction, Detective, Thriller, Murder Mystery, British Literature<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: William Morrow Paperbacks (HarperCollins)<br />
<b>Length</b>: 288 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: December 2001 (originally published July 6, 1936)<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/3c0gHq5" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murder-in-mesopotamia-agatha-christie/1100154036?ean=9780062073907" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Official Book Summary:</b></span></h3></div><p style="text-align: left;">"Suspicious events at a Middle Eastern archaeological excavation site intrigue the great Hercule Poirot as he investigates <i>Murder in Mesopotamia</i>, a classic murder mystery from Agatha Christie.<br /><br />Amy Leatheram has never felt the lure of the mysterious East, but when she travels to an ancient site deep in the Iraqi desert to nurse the wife of a celebrated archaeologist, events prove stranger than she could ever have imagined. Her patient's bizarre visions and nervous terror seem unfounded, but as the oppressive tension in the air thickens, events come to a terrible climax--in murder.<br /><br />With one spot of blood as his only clue, Hercule Poirot must embark on a journey not just across the desert, but into the darkest crevices of the human soul to unravel a mystery which taxes even his remarkable powers" <br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Quote</b>:</span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p>“I'm not often bored,' I assured her. "Life's not long enough for that.” <br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Excerpt:</b></span></h3></div><p>"I suppose I ought to say a word or two about myself. I’m thirty-two and my name is Amy Leatheran. I took my training at St. Christopher’s and after that did two years maternity. I did a certain amount of private work and I was for four years at Miss Bendix’s Nursing Home in Devonshire Place. I came out to Iraq with a Mrs. Kelsey. I’d attended her when her baby was born. She was coming out to Baghdad with her husband and had already got a children’s nurse booked who had been for some years with friends of hers out there. Their children were coming home and going to school, and the nurse had agreed to go to Mrs. Kelsey when they left. Mrs. Kelsey was delicate and nervous about the journey out with so young a child, so Major Kelsey arranged that I should come out with her and look after her and the baby. They would pay my passage home unless we found someone needing a nurse for the return journey.<br /><br />Well, there is no need to describe the Kelseys—the baby was a little love and Mrs. Kelsey quite nice, though rather the fretting kind. I enjoyed the voyage very much. I’d never been a long trip on the sea before."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2j6-p8s5kwrPRR-5iLGGOl0FPoEBUwCxpciRxsZlsV9zesnOh-jRDmy5oZLOPCaXbLVWtGyjybS9B1A_FNY6lnamRrBTjfmgIof5RIC9JfDQH5ltX1dvE0eedSMAFJHO0mKSYWeRlETKW/s1360/Christie%252C+Agatha+-+Murder+in+Mesopotamia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="893" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2j6-p8s5kwrPRR-5iLGGOl0FPoEBUwCxpciRxsZlsV9zesnOh-jRDmy5oZLOPCaXbLVWtGyjybS9B1A_FNY6lnamRrBTjfmgIof5RIC9JfDQH5ltX1dvE0eedSMAFJHO0mKSYWeRlETKW/w420-h640/Christie%252C+Agatha+-+Murder+in+Mesopotamia.jpg" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>My Book Review:</b></span></h3></div><p>Nurse Amy Leatheran is hired by an archeologist to attend to his wife, Louise Leidner, who is becoming increasingly paranoid, seeing faces at windows, and believes she's going to be murdered. When she's found dead and only the members of the archeological dig are suspects, Hercule Poirot pieces together the clues to solve this variation on the locked room mystery tradition.</p><p>My jaw literally dropped when the truths behind the mystery were revealed.<br /></p><div>Over the last several years, I've been working my way through the Hercule Poirot series. It's commonly known which are the most famous installments in the series--<i>The Murder of Roger Ackroyd</i>, <i>Murder on the Orient Express</i>, <i>Death on the Nile</i>, etc.--but I absolutely love it when I come across a new favorite that I hadn't anticipated.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fans of Agatha Christie likely know that her marriage to her second husband welcomed a new period of adventures abroad into her life, including a lot of time spent on location at archaeological digs in the Middle East. Christie's first-hand experience with areas like Baghdad allows her to add so much to the setting of this novel, creating a strong sense of mood and place just as strong as her celebrated tales set in the English countryside.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you're a fan of Christie or murder mysteries in general, I definitely recommend reading <b><a href="https://amzn.to/3c0gHq5" target="_blank"><i>Murder in Mesopotamia</i></a></b>. The Hercule Poirot series can be enjoyed by anyone and you do not have to read them in order to appreciate their plots.</div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<b>by Liz Rosenberg<br />illustrated by Julie Morstad</b><br />
<br />
<b>Genres</b>: Biography, Nonfiction, Canadian History, Middle Grade<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Candlewick Press<br />
<b>Length</b>: 339 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: June 12, 2018<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/3bgKlrT" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/house-of-dreams-liz-rosenberg/1127124030?ean=9781536213140" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Official Book Summary:</b></span></h3></div>"An affecting biography of the author of Anne of Green Gables is the first for young readers to include revelations about her last days and to encompass the complexity of a brilliant and sometimes troubled life.<br /><br />Once upon a time, there was a girl named Maud who adored stories. When she was fourteen years old, Maud wrote in her journal, 'I love books. I hope when I grow up to be able to have lots of them.' Not only did Maud grow up to own lots of books, she wrote twenty-four of them herself as L. M. Montgomery, the world-renowned author of Anne of Green Gables. For many years, not a great deal was known about Maud’s personal life. Her childhood was spent with strict, undemonstrative grandparents, and her reflections on writing, her lifelong struggles with anxiety and depression, her 'year of mad passion,' and her difficult married life remained locked away, buried deep within her unpublished personal journals. Through this revealing and deeply moving biography, kindred spirits of all ages who, like Maud, never gave up 'the substance of things hoped for' will be captivated anew by the words of this remarkable woman."
<b> </b><div>
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><h3>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Quote:</b></span></h3></div>
"She had come to a bend in the road--though at that moment she could not see around it. It seemed merely the end of a vibrant June day. She had a new friend in town, and she had begun a new story. Maud had no way of knowing that absolutely everything in her life was about to change."<b> </b><br /></div><div>
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Excerpt:</b></span></h3></div>"On a late June afternoon in 1905, Maud Montgomery sad in her grandmother's kitchen, writing. She sat not <i>at</i> the kitchen table, but perched on top of it, her feet set neatly on a nearby sofa, her notebook propped against her knees. From here she could jump down if someone stopped by for their mail, as was likely to happen--for the kitchen doubled as the post office of Cavendish, a tiny seaside village on Prince Edward Island.<br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Maud was thirty, but she looked younger, barely out of her teens. She had large, sparkling gray-blue eyes with long eyelashes, and a small mouth she sometimes covered with her hand, since she thought her teeth were her worst feature. She was medium height, slight, trim, and erect. Maud believed her one beauty to be her lustrous hair, a feature she'd inherited from her late mother. When she let it down at night, her hair hung past her knees in masses of soft brown waves. But most of the time she wore it up, pinned under the most fanciful and elaborate hats she could find.<br /> <br />At this moment Maud was working on a new story. Though she had just begun, she felt immediately transported to another world--a Cavendish-like place she would call Avonlea."<b> </b><br /></div><div>
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</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VEEymXT77Os/YEEaZ0sjwQI/AAAAAAAAGP0/WGJQXsuY8qgmbkCnUnz-THvj72gOn8LvQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2560/Rosenberg%252C%2BLiz%2B-%2BHouse%2Bof%2BDreams.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1792" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VEEymXT77Os/YEEaZ0sjwQI/AAAAAAAAGP0/WGJQXsuY8qgmbkCnUnz-THvj72gOn8LvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w448-h640/Rosenberg%252C%2BLiz%2B-%2BHouse%2Bof%2BDreams.jpg" width="448" /></a></div>
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>My Book Review:</b></span></h3></div><p>I adored this young reader’s biography of the life of L.M. Montgomery.</p><p>Like many readers, I have been a fan of the <i>Anne of Green Gables </i>series since I was a child. As an adult, I read <i>The Blue Castle</i> and have increasingly found myself curious to not only read all of her books, but to get to know more about the author herself. Rosenberg's biography was just the ticket.</p><p>First off, I want to celebrate just how beautiful this book is. The hardback edition would make an excellent gift, which was how I received it. The illustrations by Julie Morstad are delightful. There were quite a few that I wanted as art prints as they would be beautiful displayed within a home or office.</p><p>As for Rosenberg's biography of L. M. Montgomery, I learned so much about her very complicated life that I didn’t know before; more importantly, I learned how she was different from her character, Anne. It's not uncommon for readers to imagine that the author is thinly veiling the truth with their fiction, but for Montgomery, writing Anne's story was a way of dealing with the pain in her own past as she rewrote a happier, safer, and more positive depiction of coming-of-age through the story of an orphan who finds love and acceptance from her family. Montgomery didn't experience the same.</p><p>The author doesn’t mince words when explaining Maud’s romantic relationships, romantic disappointments, depression, and dependence (and even addition) to medications, so this might shock some younger audiences and be better in the hands of older or more mature teen readers. As an adult reader, I loved her candor and honesty and appreciated Maud more knowing about the complexities of her life. However, though this is pitched as middle grade fiction, some younger readers might not be the ideal audience. <br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<b>by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu<br />with Douglas Abrams</b><br />
<br />
<b>Genres</b>: Nonfiction, Self Help, Spirituality, Philosophy, Religion, Friendship, Inspirational<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Avery (Penguin Random House)<br />
<b>Length</b>: 354 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: October 18, 2016<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/3r2X7zF" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-book-of-joy-dalai-lama/1123869517?ean=9780399185045" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
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<b>My Goodreads Rating</b>: 5 out of 5 stars<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Official Book Summary:</span></span></h2></div><p>
"The occasion was a big birthday. And it inspired two close friends to get together in Dharamsala for a talk about something very important to them. The friends were His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The subject was joy. Both winners of the Nobel Prize, both great spiritual masters and moral leaders of our time, they are also known for being among the most infectiously happy people on the planet.<br /><br />From the beginning the book was envisioned as a three-layer birthday cake: their own stories and teachings about joy, the most recent findings in the science of deep happiness, and the daily practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives. Both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu have been tested by great personal and national adversity, and here they share their personal stories of struggle and renewal. Now that they are both in their eighties, they especially want to spread the core message that to have joy yourself, you must bring joy to others.<br /><br />Most of all, during that landmark week in Dharamsala, they demonstrated by their own exuberance, compassion, and humor how joy can be transformed from a fleeting emotion into an enduring way of life."<b> </b></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Quote:</span></span></h2><p> “The more time you spend thinking about yourself, the more suffering you will experience.” <br />
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</p><div style="text-align: left;"><h2><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Excerpt:</span></span></h2></div><p>"'Is joy a feeling that comes and surprises us, or is it a more dependable way of being?' I asked. 'For the two of you, joy seems to be something much more enduring. Your spiritual practice hasn’t made you somber and serious. It’s made you more joyful. So how can people cultivate that sense of joy as a way of being, and not just a temporary feeling?'<br /><br /> The Archbishop and the Dalai Lama looked at each other and the Archbishop gestured to the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama squeezed the Archbishop’s hand and began. 'Yes, it is true. Joy is something different from happiness. When I use the word happiness, in a sense I mean satisfaction. Sometimes we have a painful experience, but that experience, as you’ve said with birth, can bring great satisfaction and joyfulness.'<br /><br /> 'Let me ask you,' the Archbishop jumped in. 'You’ve been in exile fifty-what years?'<br /><br /> 'Fifty-six years from a country that you love more than anything else. Why are you not morose?' 'Morose?' the Dalai Lama asked, not understanding the word. As Jinpa hurried to translate morose into Tibetan, the Archbishop clarified, 'Sad.'<br /><br /> The Dalai Lama took the Archbishop’s hand in his, as if comforting him while reviewing these painful events. The Dalai Lama’s storied discovery as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama meant<br /> that at the age of two, he was swept away from his rural home in the Amdo province of eastern Tibet to the one-thousand-room Potala Palace in the capital city of Lhasa. There he was raised in opulent isolation as the future spiritual and political leader of Tibet and as a godlike incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950, the Dalai Lama was thrust into politics. At the age of fifteen he found himself the ruler of six million people and facing an all-out and desperately unequal war. For nine years he tried to negotiate with Communist China for his people’s welfare, and sought political solutions as the country came to be annexed. In 1959, during an uprising that risked resulting in a massacre, the Dalai Lama decided, with a heavy heart, to go into exile. The odds of successfully escaping to India were frighteningly small, but to avoid a confrontation and a bloodbath, he left in the night dressed as a palace guard. He had to take off his recognizable glasses, and his blurred vision must have heightened his sense of fear and uncertainty as the escape party snuck by garrisons of the People’s Liberation Army. They endured sandstorms and snowstorms as they summited nineteen-thousand-foot mountain peaks during their three-week escape.<br /><br /> 'One of my practices comes from an ancient Indian teacher,' the Dalai Lama began answering the Archbishop’s question. 'He taught that when you experience some tragic situation, think about it. If there’s no way to overcome the tragedy, then there is no use worrying too much. So I practice that.' The Dalai Lama was referring to the eighth-century Buddhist master Shantideva, who wrote, 'If something can be done about the situation, what need is there for dejection? And if nothing can be done about it, what use is there for being dejected?'<br /><br /> The Archbishop cackled, perhaps because it seemed almost too incredible that someone could stop worrying just because it was pointless.<br /><br /> 'Yes, but I think people know it with their head.' He touched both index fingers to his scalp. 'You know, that it doesn’t help worrying. But they still worry.'<br /><br /> 'Many of us have become refugees,' the Dalai Lama tried to explain, 'and there are a lot of difficulties in my own country. When I look only at that,' he said, cupping his hands into a small circle, 'then I worry.' He widened his hands, breaking the circle open. 'But when I look at the world, there are a lot of problems, even within the People’s Republic of China. For example, the Hui Muslim community in China has a lot of problems and suffering. And then outside China, there are many more problems and more suffering. When we see these things, we realize that not only do we suffer, but so do many of our human brothers and sisters. So when we look at the same event from a wider perspective, we will reduce the worrying and our own suffering.'"<br /><b> </b>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Jactionary Book Review The Book of Joy Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu" border="0" data-original-height="2518" data-original-width="1680" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9zElMLskdOE2ld26D4lxL7GMd442d8oxhU5uJW7NKj0CQqQICfvbVZ4JfXXVIe9ymTn2DWpe-hli0c2uOUcGyn-y6mQD8WQY6gTCAzWlcQGx4Baz71TCQveBu09CRZGgQy9Il0R9PJC8/w428-h640/Dalai+Lama+and+Desmond+Tutu+-+The+Book+of+Joy.jpg" title="Jactionary Book Review The Book of Joy Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu" width="428" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">My Book Review:</span></span></h2></div><p>Uplifting and inspirational.</p><p>The love and friendship between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu is beautiful. I didn't know that they had this deep of a connection, and they reading about the way that they each approach life while coming from very different religious backgrounds was truly inspirational and uplifting.</p><p>It’s not surprising that all of their wisdom on how to increase joy is supported by science.</p><p>I wholeheartedly recommend this book—it was just what I needed. </p><p> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<b>by Svetlana Alexievich<br />translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky</b><br />
<br />
<b>Genres</b>: Nonfiction, History, World War II, Russia, Autobiography, Memoir, War<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Random House<br />
<b>Length</b>: 320 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: July 2, 2019 (first published in 1985)<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/3q2JteJ" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/last-witnesses-svetlana-alexievich/1129705383?ean=9780399588761" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
<br />
<b>My Goodreads Rating</b>: 5 out of 5 stars<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Official Book Summary:</span></span></h2></div>
"From the Nobel Prize-winning author comes an oral history of children's experiences in WWII across Europe and Russia, in the celebrated tradition of her masterpiece, <i>The Unwomanly Face of War</i>.<br /><div><br />Bringing together dozens of voices in her distinctive style, <i>Last Witnesses</i> is Svetlana Alexievich's collection of the memories of those who were children during World War II. These men and women were both witnesses and sometimes soldiers as well, and their generation grew up with the trauma of the war deeply embedded in them--a trauma that would forever change the course of the Russian nation. This is a new version of the war we're so familiar with. Alexievich gives voice to those whose stories are lost in the official narratives, uncovering a powerful, hidden history from the personal and private experiences of individuals. Collectively, these voices provide a kaleidoscopic portrait of the human consequences of the war."<b> </b><b> </b><br /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Quote:</span></span></h2></div><div style="text-align: left;"> “For a child, the loss of a parent is the loss of memory itself.” <b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2><span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Excerpt:</span></span></h2></div><p>"'He was afraid to look back . . .'<br /><br />Zhenya Belkevich<br /><br />Six years old. Now a worker.<br /><br />June 1941 . . .<br /><br />I remember it. I was very little, but I remember everything . . .<br /><br />The last thing I remember from the peaceful life was a fairy tale that mama read us at bedtime. My favorite one—about the Golden Fish. I also always asked something from the Golden Fish: 'Golden Fish . . . Dear Golden Fish . . .' My sister asked, too. She asked differently: 'By order of the pike, by my like . . .' We wanted to go to our grandmother for the summer and have papa come with us. He was so much fun.<br /><br />In the morning I woke up from fear. From some unfamiliar sounds . . .<br /><br />Mama and papa thought we were asleep, but I lay next to my sister pretending to sleep. I saw papa kiss mama for a long time, kiss her face and hands, and I kept wondering: he’s never kissed her like that before. They went outside, they were holding hands, I ran to the window—mama hung on my father’s neck and wouldn’t let him go. He tore free of her and ran, she caught up with him and again held him and shouted something. Then I also shouted: 'Papa! Papa!'<br /><br />My little sister and brother Vasya woke up, my sister saw me crying, and she, too, shouted: 'Papa!' We all ran out to the porch: 'Papa!' Father saw us and, I remember it like today, covered his head with his hands and walked off, even ran. He was afraid to look back.<br /><br />The sun was shining in my face. So warm . . . And even now I can’t believe that my father left that morning for the war. I was very little, but I think I realized that I was seeing him for the last time. That I would never meet him again. I was very . . . very little . . .<br /><br />It became connected like that in my memory, that war is when there’s no papa . . .<br /><br />Then I remember: the black sky and the black plane. Our mama lies by the road with her arms spread. We ask her to get up, but she doesn’t. She doesn’t rise. The soldiers wrapped mama in a tarpaulin and buried her in the sand, right there. We shouted and begged: “Don’t put our mama in the ground. She’ll wake up and we’ll go on.” Some big beetles crawled over the sand . . . I couldn’t imagine how mama was going to live with them under the ground. How would we find her afterward, how would we meet her? Who would write to our papa?"<b> </b>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xhBMZW0mTVs/YDqHsC8OsII/AAAAAAAAGOY/ZzRBTZ2KZ5IKuCpbK90GKz4fF6FrgT1wACLcBGAsYHQ/s2560/Alexievich%252C%2BSvetlana%2B-%2BLast%2BWitnesses.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1684" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xhBMZW0mTVs/YDqHsC8OsII/AAAAAAAAGOY/ZzRBTZ2KZ5IKuCpbK90GKz4fF6FrgT1wACLcBGAsYHQ/w420-h640/Alexievich%252C%2BSvetlana%2B-%2BLast%2BWitnesses.jpg" width="420" /></a></div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #45818e;">My Book Review:</span></h2></div>If you've never read one of Svetlana Alexievich's books before, you're definitely missing out.</div><div> </div><div>A Ukrainian historian who focuses her work on recording the lives and testimonials from individuals who participated and survived some of the most difficult wartime hardships ever experienced, Alexievich's work as a journalist and editor earned her the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature. Her research is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of humanity.<br /></div><div> </div><div><i>Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II</i> is an absolutely heartbreaking and gut-wrenching account of testimonials from childhood survivors of the war from both Europe and Russia. Alexievich presents their stories without interruption or framed narrative. The collection is organized from memories of the beginning of the war, through the painful years that followed, and culminates with the war's end. I’ve read many books about the Holocaust, but I never knew about some of the pains and horrors these men and women shared. To hear these individuals reflect back on their lost childhood is extremely emotional, but so very important.<br /></div><div> </div><div>If you're a fan of nonfiction and history, I recommend it wholeheartedly. I've also read Alexievich's collection <i>War's Unwomanly Face </i>and it is an equally powerful and significant text. Some of her other titles--<i>Secondhand Time</i>, <i>Zinky Boys</i>, <i>On the Battle Lost</i>, and <i>Voices from Chernobyl</i>--are also on my to read list. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you've read any of her books before, please share your thoughts with me!</div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<br />
<b>Genres</b>: Nonfiction, Picture Book, Art, Gift Book<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Chronicle Books<br />
<b>Length</b>: 64 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: October 11, 2016<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/37SIkjQ" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/other-wordly-yee-lum-mak/1123256570?ean=9781452159065" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
<br />
<b>My Goodreads Rating</b>: 5 out of 5 stars<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Official Book Summary:</b></span></h2></div> "Discover words to surprise, delight, and enamor. Learn terms for the sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees, for dancing awkwardly but with relish, and for the look shared by two people who each wish the other would speak first. Other-Wordly is an irresistible gift for lovers of words and those lost for words alike." <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Quote:</b></span></h2></div>
"Komorebi (noun, Japanese) the sunlight that filters through the leaves of the trees"<b> </b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>Excerpt:</b></span></h2></div><p>
"Gökotta (noun, n, Swedish) lit. "dawn picnic to hear the first birdsong"; the act of rising in the early morning to watch the birds or to go outside to appreciate nature"<b> </b><br />
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Jactionary Book Review Other-Wordly by Yee-Lum Mak" border="0" data-original-height="2478" data-original-width="1871" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yy5Z9CRQs9o/YDqAjbcT86I/AAAAAAAAGN0/j9xpebKixusDSL5a55G54i2epFcxfoA2ACLcBGAsYHQ/w484-h640/Mak%252C%2BYee-Lum%2B-%2BOther%2BWordly.jpg" title="Jactionary Book Review Other-Wordly by Yee-Lum Mak" width="484" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>My Book Review:</b></span></h2></div><div style="text-align: left;">This gift book is absolutely lovely.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Other-Wordly: Words Both Strange and Lovely from Around the World </i>is a beautifully illustrated walk through seventy unique words from over a dozen languages. Written by Yee-Lum Mak and illustrated by Kelsey Garrity-Riley, the gouache, collage, and ink pictures are so nice to look at and each word is so perfect to describe a feeling, experience, place, or person in a way that you never knew existed before. It was such a pleasure to slowly leaf through its pages and not only enjoy the images but the emotion of each foreign word or phrase.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">This book would be a lovely present to a loved one and would also make for an enjoyable additional to a stack of gift books on coffee table, perfect for flipping through in its entirety or just picking up here and there to soak in a new page or two.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">I received mine as a gift and it’s so cute. I loved soaking in its pages and I imagine I’ll turn to it again and again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">It’s both calming and thoughtful.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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The following article is adapted from one I recently wrote for my department. I hope it is of help to many of you and readers at-large everywhere.</p><p>Please note that by no means is this a complete list. I'm only quickly referencing Goodreads and I've included just a brief footnote at the end about BookCon. My quick lists are not comprehensive, so if you're a writer, reader, publisher, business, or influencer and you'd like to share your reading community platform, please feel free to add a comment and tell us more.</p><h1 style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #45818e;">*</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">*</span><span style="color: #45818e;">*</span> <br /></h1><p>Many of our students have been active on social media most of their life, but usually not on the platforms used by older generations. If you’re a reader on social media, there’s an entire world and vocabulary to catch up on. I assume you’re all familiar with <b>Goodreads</b>, so I’m mentioning it here but skipping it. Use it. [Follow my reviews on Goodreads here: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/jactionary">http://www.goodreads.com/jactionary</a>.]</p><p>I first became aware of the Bookstagram community in 2015 when I learned the most popular hashtags, influencers, and what the reading community was like on that platform. A couple of years later, I stumbled across BookTube and have been an avid fan of several book review vloggers ever since. Though I don’t anticipate falling down the BookTok rabbit hole, I’m aware that readers are uniting there as well. Some readers are actively involved in these communities; others are unaware but might benefit from learning that influencers are actively posting this type of content on social media. If you’re not already aware, I thought I’d share some basic details about these bookish communities. Let me know what I’m still missing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Jactionary Bookstagram Definition" border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="1930" height="136" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OaC342Qd2ak/YC2ThQe0DLI/AAAAAAAAGLQ/FNPLYuDXpkkzisiHlU2cnB9Ia8dj5yo-wCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h136/Jactionary%2BBookstagram.jpg" title="Jactionary Bookstagram Definition" width="640" /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Bookstagram: [noun] the book community on Instagram </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p>Instagram has been around since 2010 and focuses on photo-based posts that users can caption, edit, and tag. That, you already knew. <b>Bookstagram</b> is how readers, writers, and publishers connect on Instagram. There are popular influencers who make their living off of their platforms (but it takes years to achieve anything notable), others who don’t make money but thrive on gaining followers by posting heavily staged <b>#bookstagram</b> photos, publishers hocking their wares, writers trying to gain a following, and those who are just in it for the show. </p><p>Big-time Bookstagram influencers make their living a variety of ways, but it’s almost always first and foremost bolstered by their YouTube channel (I’ll get to that later with <b>BookTube</b>). Bookstagrammers create content by posting edited photos of new book releases, book-related merchandise, what they’re currently reading, mail from publishers (<b>#bookmail</b>), etc. They’re paid through endorsements from publishers or other businesses looking to advertise which often results in a combination of food, clothing, or similar venues as they hobble together income from multiple sources. The more followers, likes, and comments, the better. This can also, obviously, become problematic as living for “likes” can lead to serious mental health struggles. Notwithstanding the professional downsides, it’s a fun community. Following your favorite influencers, authors, and publishers keeps you in the loop for new releases, cover reveals, author interviews, book reviews, reading challenges, and more. It's a fun group of like-minded souls.</p><p>Because Instagram is focused on visual appeal, there are an endless number of users who go the route of spending hours staging a book, a cup of tea, and a candle in just the right sunlight. There are also numerous book subscription companies that advertise their wares, everything from what new releases are available for discounted delivery that month to others who’ll send you bookish merchandise, knick-knacks, and other gew-gaws if you fork over the right price. </p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oxAQlaf7t6w/YC2Vs5EpAjI/AAAAAAAAGL0/Cw0ts2SQP6Uzdhdcc2KNKn9DfAgxykXKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1558/Bookstagram.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jactionary Bookstagrammers" border="0" data-original-height="1558" data-original-width="1552" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oxAQlaf7t6w/YC2Vs5EpAjI/AAAAAAAAGL0/Cw0ts2SQP6Uzdhdcc2KNKn9DfAgxykXKgCLcBGAsYHQ/w638-h640/Bookstagram.jpg" title="Jactionary Bookstagrammers" width="638" /></a></div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Bookstagram Quick List: </span></h2><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p><b>Bookstagrammers</b>: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/subwaybookreview/" target="_blank">@subwaybookreview</a> [133k], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/littlefreelibrary/" target="_blank">@littlefreelibrary</a> [106K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/wellreadblackgirl/" target="_blank">@wellreadblackgirl</a> [412K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nypl/" target="_blank">@nypl</a> [461K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jessethereader/" target="_blank">@jessethereader</a> [156K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bookriot/" target="_blank">@bookriot</a> [259K], and me <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jactionary/" target="_blank">@jactionary</a> </p><p><b>Aesthetic appeal</b>: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/james_trevino/" target="_blank">@jamestrevino</a> [243K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/eviebookish/" target="_blank">@eviebookish</a> [70.9K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hayaisreading/" target="_blank">@hayaisreading</a> [116K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/newleafwriter/" target="_blank">@newleafwriter</a> [46K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/foldedpagesdistillery/" target="_blank">@foldedpagesdistillery</a> [119K] </p><p><b>Book subscription companies</b>: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/owlcrate/" target="_blank">@owlcrate</a> [227K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thebookishbox/" target="_blank">@thebookishbox</a> [124K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bookofthemonth/" target="_blank">@bookofthemonth</a> [1M], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/illumicrate/" target="_blank">@illumicrate</a> [90.1K] </p><p><b>Notable authors</b>: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/authorkierstenwhite/" target="_blank">@authorkierstinwhite</a> [20.2K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/neilhimself/" target="_blank">@neilhimself</a> [678K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lbardugo/" target="_blank">@lbardugo</a> [242K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/veschwab/" target="_blank">@veschwab</a> [177K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/krakauernotwriting/" target="_blank">@krakauernotwriting</a> [102K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth_gilbert_writer/" target="_blank">@elizabeth_gilbert_writer</a> [1M] </p><p><b>Publishers</b>: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/randomhouse/" target="_blank">@randomhouse</a> [517K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/scholasticinc/" target="_blank">@scholasticinc</a> [211K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/penguinteen/" target="_blank">@penguinteen</a> [294K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/barnesandnoble/" target="_blank">@barnesandnoble</a> [636K], <a href="https://www.instagram.com/harpercollins/" target="_blank">@harpercollins</a> [428K] </p><p><b>Popular hashtags</b>: #bookstagram, #amreading, #currentlyreading, #booklover, #booknerdigans, #shelfie, #bookshelfie, #bookworm, #reader, #tbrpile</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-THqtkZDh59s/YC2Txi3Xg5I/AAAAAAAAGLY/h18PSukN0WE0hhxozMA-fHrtNEzF6DTNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1912/Jactionary%2BBookTube.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jactionary BookTube Definition" border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="1912" height="138" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-THqtkZDh59s/YC2Txi3Xg5I/AAAAAAAAGLY/h18PSukN0WE0hhxozMA-fHrtNEzF6DTNQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h138/Jactionary%2BBookTube.jpg" title="Jactionary BookTube Definition" width="640" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">BookTube: [noun] the book community on YouTube </span></h3><p>Users have been uploading video content on YouTube since its creation in 2005. Over time, the platform’s relationship to subscribers has changed, with many younger viewers spending as much time streaming YouTube as Netflix, Hulu, or Prime, and definitely much more than standard cable. <b>BookTubers</b> are users whose content is (mostly) dedicated to reading <b>vlogs</b>, book reviews, book recommendations, book clubs and livestreams, monthly <b>TBR</b>’s (to-be-read lists), reading goals, reading recaps, <b>book hauls</b> (monthly book acquisitions), opening monthly book box subscription deliveries, etc. Some BookTubers exist and upload content independently, while others will reference each other’s videos and collaborate. </p><p>Either way, like Bookstagram, the end goal is usually the same: talk about books and make money. BookTubers make an income off of ad revenue (only attainable after reaching YouTube milestones for hours streamed by viewers), paid sponsorships, affiliate links, or connecting to other social media platforms. Many are young enough they’re still living at home or going to college, while others are out on their own and use it as a side income. Occasionally, some BookTubers solely depend on the income from their platform, but I’ve found that my favorite creators are those who are slightly older and still work full-time jobs in the “real world” (whatever that even means any more). That being said, even they admit their part-time BookTube income requires full-time hours. Websites like <a href="http://socialblade.com" target="_blank">socialblade.com</a> provide ballpark estimates for how much YouTubers make from views but some question its reliability. Once again, it’s not a get-rich-quick-scheme. </p><p>There are many YouTube channels in this category, so really it’s about knowing what kind of books you like, matching that with a creator’s content, and deciding whose reviews you can really trust. In my experience, the younger the creator, the more likely they are to go easy on reviews (5-stars to everything followed by ten exclamation points) because they’re more focused on gaining followers and not upsetting authors and publishers. Even if I don’t always read the same genres as a BookTuber, I’m more apt to be curious about their reviews when it’s clear they give a wide range of scores and are willing to be open and honest about their opinions. </p><p>Much of the current conversation with BookTube aligns with concerns with other social media platforms: diversifying content, both from the creators and what they’re reading. 2020’s focus on social justice has encouraged many channels to include non-fiction titles or do some self-reflection on who they are (or are not) reading. I openly admit that I need to work on expanding the diversity of those I subscribe to and I've been really grateful for Kayla from BooksandLala for how many new BookTubers she supports and references. She is a valuable resource for finding more influencers in the community.</p><p>The look and feel of videos will greatly vary. While standing in front of white, Ikea bookshelves displaying many hardbacks (sometimes color-coded) is standard, some channels edit their videos to include quick cuts, special effects, or artistic shots, while others keep it simple or focus on the standard hand-held camera vlog format. Since format and content greatly vary, I’ll just feature a few of my current favorites. It’s easy to find more by searching, checking which channels BookTubers subscribe to, mention, or noting who they credit and link in the description box when they participate in a challenge or trend. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-8K-m3Vin6IsrnK9UtYI81YRGnbSYpG1XVRutCM1MvdrFmDOgCsLF8IhOp60FBJa_NjsH2QPXBYP9AX95Xwl_v7YscpTgfLVUPmXyqV9ijMiCAHNN2UsfluIu8CVXCsdhDY-8UJ6YnUL/s1500/BookTube.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jactionary Popular BookTubers" border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1202" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-8K-m3Vin6IsrnK9UtYI81YRGnbSYpG1XVRutCM1MvdrFmDOgCsLF8IhOp60FBJa_NjsH2QPXBYP9AX95Xwl_v7YscpTgfLVUPmXyqV9ijMiCAHNN2UsfluIu8CVXCsdhDY-8UJ6YnUL/w512-h640/BookTube.jpg" title="Jactionary Popular BookTubers" width="512" /></a></div>BookTube Quick List: </span></h2><p><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/BooksandLala/videos" target="_blank">@BooksandLala</a> [112K subscribers, 13M views]</b>: Kayla (aka Lala) is a married mom who works full time, lives in Canada, and loves to read thrillers and horror. She’s in her early 30’s, reads a couple hundred books a year, and seems like someone I’d want to hang out with in real life. One of the “older” BookTubers, she also reads a fair amount of nonfiction, middle grade, YA, and is a fan of anthologies. She also does many book challenges. </p><p><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/PeruseProject/videos" target="_blank">@PeruseProject</a> [314K subscribers, 41M views]</b>: Regan is in her mid-20’s and lives in downtown NYC while working full-time in program analytics. She lives with her boyfriend, her pug, and does weekend reading vlogs from her apartment. Her edits are simple and she mostly reads YA fantasy, YA sci fi, middle grade, contemporary fiction, and the occasional non-fiction title. I respect that she’s a full-time working woman who fits in her reading on the nights and weekends like a more semi-normal grown-up. She’s a good example of a BookTuber who’s very successful with sponsorships. </p><p><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/HaileyInBookland/videos" target="_blank">@HaileyinBookland</a> [294K subscribers, 32M views]</b>: Hailey mostly reads YA and writes YA romance (she’s currently on submission with her first manuscript). She’s an example of a full-time BookTuber depending on it as her sole income.</p><p><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/jessethereader/videos" target="_blank">@JessetheReader</a> [403K subscribers, 49M views]</b>: Jesse is one of the few male BookTubers I’ve encountered. He does fast edits, humorous cuts, and he’s a mindful reader who enjoys Manga, YA fiction, contemporary fiction, and is looking to read more works in translation. </p><p><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/polandbananasBOOKS/videos" target="_blank">@PolandBananasBooks</a> [411K subscribers, 74M views]</b>: Christine Riccio posted videos for years, gained a strong following, and is now an author (<i>Again, but Better</i> came out in 2019 and <i>Better Together</i> comes out this spring). She’s very quirky, frequently profane, and obsessed with Taylor Swift, <i>The Shadowhunter Chronicles</i>, and romance.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaST59W-nV7QYs-rxRA1Y9Rbeg8gPN5_zCMnVmHGhfzMPvATd3KiXaSPm_KWlJI4KQ5jWG5o3TLwDgOEeA6peXi_TJT23WjvVrj_KxPen0cKWh7-FmrlFfzZ1n-qlBX6oz7nr65Aj6DEVQ/s2330/Jactionary+BookTok.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jactionary BookTok Definition" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="2330" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaST59W-nV7QYs-rxRA1Y9Rbeg8gPN5_zCMnVmHGhfzMPvATd3KiXaSPm_KWlJI4KQ5jWG5o3TLwDgOEeA6peXi_TJT23WjvVrj_KxPen0cKWh7-FmrlFfzZ1n-qlBX6oz7nr65Aj6DEVQ/w640-h138/Jactionary+BookTok.jpg" title="Jactionary BookTok Definition" width="640" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">BookTok: [noun] the book community on TikTok </span></h3><p>TikTok is the 2016 trending video blackhole that will try to entice you to watch hour after hour of short clips for as long as you’ll let it. You become TikTok famous when your short video goes viral. Once again, the more subscribers and the more views, the more money users stand to make from influencer marketing (working with brands for sponsored posts), creating merchandise, or even selling your now-famous account to another user. Like Instagram, you can search videos and creators with hashtags. Like Instagram’s infinite scroll, TikTok will keep playing videos as its algorithm learns to continuously stream content it thinks you’ll want to see. You can “heart” videos, swipe, tap, comment, etc. <b>BookTok</b> is then—you guessed it—how readers share their videos and bookish tags. I’ve only spent limited time watching TikTok videos, but as with Instagram and YouTube it can be helpful to know that there are specialty creators who feature reading content on this platform. Use the hashtag <b>#booktok</b> and fall down the rabbit hole from there.</p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Jactionary BookTokkers" border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="2328" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlGsyX4GySvoLRGCs64lLjZW18fuYevboSzKJjbTubBV2VxNrE6IJeYU3zA-qQk4qNbf9-lZdNxhmzUsbTa-JWP4cB9vzB2JDh2uzu2ZnYxukzJZrZboPZiFCh3AfLswHb5XVbxeeTovT/w640-h320/BookTok.jpg" title="Jactionary BookTokkers" width="640" /></div></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">BookTok Quick List: </span></h2><p><b>Popular booktoks</b>: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@sashaalsbergg?lang=en" target="_blank">@sashaalsbergg</a> [36.7K], <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@abbysbooks?lang=en" target="_blank">@abbysbooks</a> [208K], <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@bookedj?lang=en" target="_blank">@bookedj</a> [36.7K], <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@lovebookstoo?source=h5_m" target="_blank">@lovebookstoo</a> [31.9K], <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@moongirlreads_?lang=en" target="_blank">@moongirlreads_</a> [107.6K], <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@gvhslibrary?lang=en" target="_blank">@gvhslibrary</a> [36.4K], <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@kellyygillann?lang=en" target="_blank">@kellyygillann</a> [65K], <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@the.ones.about.books?lang=en" target="_blank">@the.ones.about.books</a> [81.2K], <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@penguin_teen?lang=en" target="_blank">@penguin_teen</a> [225.1K], <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@ezeekat?lang=en" target="_blank">@ezeekat</a> [169.5K]</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sLtfi4a1kmM/YC2UkJZwVUI/AAAAAAAAGLo/sP9OzWucNgQYFLc_oH99gHL-I3fLoWTQwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2212/Jactionary%2BBookCon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jactionary BookCon Definition" border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="2212" height="138" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sLtfi4a1kmM/YC2UkJZwVUI/AAAAAAAAGLo/sP9OzWucNgQYFLc_oH99gHL-I3fLoWTQwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h138/Jactionary%2BBookCon.jpg" title="Jactionary BookCon Definition" width="640" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">BookCon: [noun] the annual fan convention for readers, a spin-off of other conventions like Comic-Con </span></h3><p><b>BookCon</b> began in NYC in 2014 as an annual fan convention for readers. Publishers, authors, BookTubers, book bloggers, and readers could all attend panels, talk books, and spend all their pocket money at this popular trade show. </p><p>The convention’s status, however, is currently not looking good. The 2020 and 2021 conventions were canceled due to COVID-19—no surprise—but the company that coordinates the event is going under. It’s possible another business might take over, but for now, stay tuned for more updates.</p><p><b>Share your favorite Bookstagram, BookTube, or BookCon influencers below!</b></p><p> <br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<a href="http://www.linkwithin.com/"><img src="http://www.linkwithin.com/pixel.png" alt="Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger..." style="border: 0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660267664933850159.post-25991617474672456452021-02-19T10:54:00.002-07:002023-02-10T13:50:01.175-07:00Favorite Fiction & Poetry Books of 2020<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Vkd3qI_I20/YCcv2WpoU_I/AAAAAAAAGKw/1slhnWHmtkEHnxz_f_mY0FkOrAnEtcTywCLcBGAsYHQ/s2524/Jactionary%2BFavorite%2BFiction%2B%2526%2BPoetry%2Bof%2B2020.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="2524" height="228" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Vkd3qI_I20/YCcv2WpoU_I/AAAAAAAAGKw/1slhnWHmtkEHnxz_f_mY0FkOrAnEtcTywCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h228/Jactionary%2BFavorite%2BFiction%2B%2526%2BPoetry%2Bof%2B2020.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p>To conclude my year in review, here are all of my favorite fiction and poetry books that I read during 2020. I had a chance to reread several longtime faves as well as encounter new books that I adored. Books were a welcome form of escape during so many months spent in isolation.</p><p>What were your favorite books from 2020? <br /></p><p><i><b>Circe<br /></b></i>by Madeline Miller<i><b><br /></b></i></p><p><i><b>Jane Eyre<br /></b></i>by Charlotte Brontë</p><p><i><b>Frankenstein<br /></b></i>by Mary Shelley</p><p><i><b>The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club #1)<br /></b></i>by Richard Osman<br /></p><p><i><b>Troubled Blood (Cormoran Strike #5)<br /></b></i>by Robert Galbraith</p><p><i><b>The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot #4)<br /></b></i>by Agatha Christie</p><p><i><b>Once Upon a River</b><br /></i>by Diane Setterfield</p><p><i><b>The Midnight Library<br /></b></i>by Matt Haig</p><p><i><b>Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems<br /></b></i>by Billy Collins<br /></p><p><i><b>Such a Fun Age<br /></b></i>by Kiley Reid</p><p><i><b>Dearly: New Poems<br /></b></i>by Margaret Atwood</p><p><i><b>Murder in the Mews (Hercule Poirot #18)<br /></b></i>by Agatha Christie</p><p><i><b>The Invention of Wings<br /></b></i>by Sue Monk Kidd</p><p><i><b>Mrs. McGinty's Dead (Hercule Poirot #30)<br /></b></i>by Agatha Christie</p><p><i><b>The Grand Sophy<br /></b></i>by Georgette Heyer</p><p><i><b>The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories<br /></b></i>by Agatha Christie</p><p><i><b>Dear Edward<br /></b></i>by Ann Napolitano</p><p><i><b>The Glass Hotel<br /></b></i>by Emily St. John Mandel<br /><b></b><i><b></b></i></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">John Newbery Medal </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Most outstanding contribution to children's literature </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>When You Trap a Tiger</i></b> by Tae Keller </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team </b></i>by Christina Soontornvat </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom</b></i> by Carole Boston Weatherford </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Fighting Words</b></i> by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>We Dream of Space</b></i> by Erin Entrada Kelly </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>A Wish in the Dar</b></i>k by Christina Soontornvat</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Randolph Caldecott Medal</span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Most distinguished American picture book for children</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>We Are Water Protectors</b></i> by Carole Lindstrom, illus. by Michaela Goade</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books</h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart</b></i> by Zetta Elliott, illus. by Noa Denmon</p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Cat Man of Aleppo</b></i> by Irene Latham & Karim Shamsi-Basha, illus. by Yuko Shimizu</p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Me & Mama</b></i> by Cozbi A. Cabrera</p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Outside In</b></i> by Deborah Underwood, illus. by Cindy Derby</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Coretta Scott King Book Awards </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">African American creator of outstanding books for children and young adults </span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Author Book Award </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Before the Ever After</b></i> by Jacqueline Woodson </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Author Honor Books </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>All the Days Past, All the Days to Come</b></i> by Mildred D. Taylor </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>King and the Dragonflies</b></i> by Kacen Callender </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box</b></i> by Evette Dionne </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Illustrator Book Award </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul</i></b> by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. by Frank Morrison </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Illustrator Honor Books </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration</i></b> by Samara Cole Doyon, illus. by Kaylani Juanita </p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brook</i></b>s by Suzanne Slade, illus. by Cozbi A. Cabrera </p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Me & Mama</i></b> by Cozbi A. Cabrera </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">New Talent Author Award </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Legendborn</i></b> by Tracy Deonn </p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Schneider Family Book Award </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Books embodying artistic expression of the disability experience </span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Young Children (ages 0-10) </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>I Talk Like a River</i></b> by Jordan Scott, illus. by Sydney Smith </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books for Young Children </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything</i></b> by Annette Bay Pimentel, illus. by Nabi H. Ali </p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Itzhak: A Boy who Loved the Violin</i></b> by Tracy Newman, illus. by Abigail Halpin </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Middle Grades (ages 11-13) </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Show Me a Sign</i></b> by Ann Clare LeZotte </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books for Middle Grades </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!</i></b> by Sarah Kapit </p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>When Stars Are Scattered </i></b>by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, illus. by Victoria Jamieson, color by Iman Geddy </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Young Adult (ages 13-18) </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i>This Is My Brain in Love </i></b>by I.W. Gregorio</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Margaret A. Edwards Award </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Lifetime achievement in writing for young adults</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"> Kekla Magoon</p><p style="text-align: left;">
</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /><span style="color: #45818e;">Children’s Literature Legacy Award</span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Creator of substantial, lasting contribution to children’s literature through demonstrating integrity and respect for all children’s experiences</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"> Mildred D. Taylor</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p> <h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Michael L. Printz Award </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Excellence in literature for young adults </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story)</b></i> by Daniel Nayeri </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Apple (Skin to the Core)</b></i> by Eric Gansworth </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Dragon Hoops</b></i> by Gene Luen Yang, color by Lark Pien </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Every Body Looking</b></i> by Candice Iloh </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>We Are Not Free</b></i> by Traci Chee</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Alex Awards </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Black Sun</b></i> by Rebecca Roanhorse </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The House in the Cerulean Sea</b></i> by TJ Klune </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice—Crossing Antarctica Alone </b></i>by Colin O’Brady </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio</b></i> by Derf Backderf </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Kids Are Gonna Ask</b></i> by Gretchen Anthony </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Only Good Indians </b></i>by Stephen Graham Jones </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Plain Bad Heroines</b></i> by emily m. danforth </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Riot Baby</b></i> by Tochi Onyebuchi </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Solutions and Other Problems</b></i> by Allie Brosh </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>We Ride Upon Sticks: A Novel</b></i> by Quan Barry </p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Pura Belpré Awards </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Latinx creators whose children's books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience </span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Illustrator Award </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat</b></i> by Raúl Gonzalez </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Book </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Sharuko: El Arqueólogo Peruano/Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. Tello</b></i> by Monica Brown, illus. by Elisa Chavarri </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Children’s Author Award </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Efrén Divided</b></i> by Ernesto Cisneros </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez</b></i> by Adrianna Cuevas </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Lupe Wong Won’t Dance</b></i> by Donna Barba Higuera </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Young Adult Author Award </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Furia</b></i> by Yamile Saied Méndez </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Never Look Back</b></i> by Lilliam Rivera </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>We Are Not from Here </b></i>by Jenny Torres Sanchez</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature </span></h3><h2 style="text-align: left;">Picture Book</h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist</b></i> by Julie Leung, illus. by Chris Sasaki </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Danbi Leads the School Parade</b></i> by Anna Kim </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Children’s Literature </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>When You Trap a Tiger </b></i>by Tae Keller </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Prairie Lotus</b></i> by Linda Sue Park </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Youth Literature </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>This Light Between Us</b></i> by Andrew Fukuda </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Displacement </b></i>by Kiku Hughes</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Theodor Seuss Geisel Award</span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Most distinguished beginning reader book </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog</b></i> by David LaRochelle, illus. by Mike Wohnoutka </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Bear in My Family </b></i>by Maya Tatsukawa </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Ty’s Travels: Zip, Zoom! </b></i>by Kelly Starling Lyons, illus. by Nina Mata </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>What About Worms!? </b></i>by Ryan T. Higgins </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Where’s Baby?</b></i> by Anne Hunter</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Mildred L. Batchelder Award </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Outstanding children’s book originally published in a foreign language outside the U.S. and subsequently translated for publication in the U.S. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Telephone Tales</b></i> by Gianni Rodari, illus. by Valerio Vidali, trans. from Italian by Antony Shugaar </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Book </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Catherine’s War</b></i> by Julia Billet, illus. by Claire Fauvel, and trans. from French by Ivanka Hahnenberger</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Odyssey Award </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults available in English in the U.S. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Kent State</b></i> by Deborah Wiles, narrated by Christopher Gebauer, Lauren Ezzo, Christina Delaine, Johnny Heller, Roger Wayne, Korey Jackson, and David de Vries </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Audiobooks </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Clap When You Land </b></i>by Elizabeth Acevedo, narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo and Melania-Luisa Marte </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Fighting Words</b></i> by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, narrated by Bahni Turpin </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You </b></i>by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, narrated by Jason Reynolds </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>When Stars Are Scattered</b></i> by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, narrated by Faysal Ahmed, Barkhad Abdi and a full cast</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Sydney Taylor Book Award </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience </span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Picture Book Gold Medalist </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail</b></i> by Lesléa Newman, illus. by Susan Gal </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Picture Book Silver Medalists </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>I Am the Tree of Life: My Jewish Yoga Book</b></i> by Mychal Copeland, illus. by André Ceolin </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Miriam at the River</b></i> by Jane Yolen, illus. by Khoa Le</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Middle Grade Gold Medalist </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Turtle Boy</b></i> by M. Evan Wolkenstein </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Middle Grade Silver Medalists </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>No Vacancy</b></i> by Tziporah Cohen </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Anya and the Nightingale</b></i> by Sofiya Pasternack </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Blackbird Girls </b></i>by Anne Blankman </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Young Adult Gold Medalist </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Dancing at the Pity Party</b></i> by Tyler Feder </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Young Adult Silver Medalist </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>They Went Left</b></i> by Monica Hesse</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh</b></i> by Candace Fleming </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Finalists </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team</b></i> by Christina Soontornvat </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival</b></i> by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess with Laura L. Sullivan </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity's Greatest Adventure</b></i> by John Rocco </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>You Call This Democracy?: How to Fix Our Democracy and Deliver Power to the Peopl</b></i>e by Elizabeth Rusch</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">William C. Morris Award </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>If These Wings Could Fly</b></i> written by Kyrie McCauley </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Finalists </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard</b></i> by Echo Brown </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>The Black Kids</b></i> by Christina Hammonds </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>It Sounded Better in My Head</b></i> by Nina Kenwood </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Woven in Moonlight</b></i> by Isabel Ibañez</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Stonewall Book Award </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the LGBT experience </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>We Are Little Feminists: Families</b></i> by Archaa Shrivastav, designed by Lindsey Blakely </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Beetle & The Hollowbones</b></i> by Aliza Layne </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Darius the Great Deserves Better</b></i> by Adib Khorram </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Felix Ever After</b></i> by Kacen Callender </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>You Should See Me in a Crown</b></i> by Leah Johnson </p> <p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award </span></h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Most distinguished informational book for children </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera</b></i> by Candace Fleming, illus. by Eric Rohmann </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Honor Books </h2><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>How We Got to the Moon</b></i> by John Rocco </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks</b></i> by Suzanne Slade, illus. by Cozbi A. Cabrera </p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><b>All Thirteen</b></i> by Christina Soontornvat </p> <p style="text-align: left;"><style>@font-face
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<a href="http://www.linkwithin.com/"><img src="http://www.linkwithin.com/pixel.png" alt="Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger..." style="border: 0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660267664933850159.post-79092618640324881492021-02-06T11:44:00.004-07:002021-02-06T11:44:56.701-07:00Book Spotlight: Beneath the Falls by Mark D. Bennion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W4OfAqbBHOw/YB7jb7mL9nI/AAAAAAAAGJk/RXPxsSw8qi4udO72UBXpptag5Xa_UfuYACLcBGAsYHQ/s2032/Jactionary%2BBook%2BSpotlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="2032" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W4OfAqbBHOw/YB7jb7mL9nI/AAAAAAAAGJk/RXPxsSw8qi4udO72UBXpptag5Xa_UfuYACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h358/Jactionary%2BBook%2BSpotlight.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YgqVK-jXyiw/YB3PPDtFedI/AAAAAAAAGJI/7ga_-H06Fb0htpykXTW1yGcFpCo3kE7cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s461/Bennion%252C%2BMark%2B-%2BBeneath%2Bthe%2BFalls.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="298" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YgqVK-jXyiw/YB3PPDtFedI/AAAAAAAAGJI/7ga_-H06Fb0htpykXTW1yGcFpCo3kE7cQCLcBGAsYHQ/w414-h640/Bennion%252C%2BMark%2B-%2BBeneath%2Bthe%2BFalls.jpg" width="414" /></a></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Beneath the Falls: Poems</span></h3><p><b>by Mark D. Bennion</b> </p><p>Genre: Poetry</p><p>Length: 102 pages</p><p>Published: December 16, 2020<br /></p><p>Purchase Links: <a href="https://amzn.to/2YOKdsH" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://wipfandstock.com/9781725282261/beneath-the-falls/?fbclid=IwAR2w5xbFWgnWCvf_X7CfbfyIZiiXXCqpDKAM5hGZ7743X_XyoPcoP-gLyBU" target="_blank">Wipf and Stock Publishers</a></p><p> </p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Official Description:</h2><p>"In its own modest way, <b><i>Beneath the Falls</i></b> celebrates the archetypal journey of birth, death, and change. These poems grapple with upheaval and peace, tragedy and renewal, estrangement and conversion. This collection explores how belief is born in simplicity, mundaneness, struggle, and seeming irrelevancies. The complexities of faith then arise in the face of death, specifically the passing of situations, others, old selves, and our loved ones. Birth becomes death, which in turn creates birth again. Change happens both incrementally and immediately in this fascicle of poems, showing us God's ample mercies, vital nudgings, and watershed moments along life's way." <br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">About the Author:</h2><p>"Mark D. Bennion teaches writing and literature courses in the English Department at Brigham Young University-Idaho. His poems have been published in <i>Aethlon</i>, <i>The Lyric</i>, <i>RHINO</i>, <i>Windhover</i>, and other journals. In addition to this book, he has authored two previous collections of poetry: <i>Psalm & Selah: A Poetic Journey through the Book of Mormon</i> and <i>Forsythia</i>. He and his wife, Kristine, are raising their children in the Upper Snake River Valley."</p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Early Reviews:</h2><p>“There is quality in this collection. It comes to the reader from the ‘magician’s fiery pot.’ Whether pecking at some ‘horseradish heavy breather’ he worries about finding his daughter on the internet to the pure translation of faith, his steadfast gaze gives us a complex world. Bennion handles the grit as well as the sacred. His work is full of wonder as he decides ‘what to gather, what to leave in the sun.’”</p><p>—Diane Glancy, author of <i>Island of the Innocent: A Consideration of the Book of Job</i><br /><br />“In the opening poem of Mark Bennion’s new book he imagines his mother the first morning after his birth, ‘you cradle me in the yellow haze / after a fitful night.’ . . . And the poem ends with a powerful recognition that he was not the ‘real star’ of the day, but only part of something much bigger, ‘a constellation I am just now beginning to see.’ This wonderful recognition becomes a guiding principle the reader can see and feel at work throughout the book, although in order to understand the full force of the recognition it is necessary to experience the backstory and the growing pains, to relearn and re-earn such insight. That is what these poems do, they give us the authentic lived details that lead to a true and affirmative vision.”</p><p>—Greg Pape, Montana Poet Laureate (2007–2009) and author of <i>Four Swans</i><br /><br />“<i>Beneath the Falls</i> showcases Mark Bennion both as a keen observer of all the world around him and as a composer skilled with language’s sounds. For all their biographical content and specificity, these poems speak clearly to the range of human experience, welcoming readers rather than alienating them."</p><p>—Nathaniel Lee Hansen, editor of <i>The Windhover</i></p><p><i> </i> <br /></p><p> </p><p>Click <a href="https://soundcloud.com/byu-idaho-radio/byu-idaho-english-teacher-publishes-a-book-of-poems?fbclid=IwAR0P0ZN2EkuUo5PjLxMiqB6u8qkwkolV84tghemAQ3-DIrOwmNFF0m5QXCg" target="_blank">here</a> to hear a recent radio interview of the author speaking about his book. <br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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If you've not heard of the Reading Rush before, it's quite popular on BookTube (YouTubers who post book reviews and reading updates). It's sort of a jam-packed readathon where the organizers post some prompts to help you choose your TBR (to-be-read) books and then you see how many you can get through. It's great for those who already read a lot or if you don't it can help increase your motivation. To me, the best part is that it's about encouraging you to read without any guilt if you can't get through everything on your list. The event occurs ever July and this week happens from July 20-26. It's never too late to join in, even if you're only finding out about it today. You can read more about it at <a href="https://www.thereadingrush.com/">https://www.thereadingrush.com/</a>.</div><br />While I've never formally participated in the Reading Rush, I thought I would join in this year and post my TBR pile online to help make myself a little bit more accountable. Here are the seven challenges this year:<br /><br /><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">1. Read a book with a cover that matches the color of your birth stone.</span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">2. Read a book that starts with the word “The.”</span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">3. Read a book that inspired a movie you’ve already seen.</span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">4. Read the first book you touch.</span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">5. Read a book completely outside of your house.</span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">6. Read a book in a genre that you’ve always wanted to read more of.</span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">7. Read a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live.</span></h2>Here's how I'm going to try to fulfill some of these challenges this week. I highly anticipate not getting through everything on my TBR list, but I figure if I aim high, I'll be happy with whatever I'm able to accomplish.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R8ujW5wl4TE/XxXF3G7zZiI/AAAAAAAAGEY/tlcFptv_-L0nNDjBR-xA1LS771lSIkBvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2560/Barnhill%252C%2BKelly%2B-%2BThe%2BGirl%2BWho%2BDrank%2Bthe%2BMoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1715" height="625" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R8ujW5wl4TE/XxXF3G7zZiI/AAAAAAAAGEY/tlcFptv_-L0nNDjBR-xA1LS771lSIkBvgCLcBGAsYHQ/w419-h625/Barnhill%252C%2BKelly%2B-%2BThe%2BGirl%2BWho%2BDrank%2Bthe%2BMoon.jpg" width="419" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2><a href="https://amzn.to/3hipxjZ" target="_blank">The Girl Who Drank the Moon</a></h2>by Kelly Barnhill</div><div><br /></div><div>The great thing about this book is that it fulfills multiple challenges. It checks the box for challenge #1 for just about anyone for having a cover that matches the color of your birth stone because the artwork includes shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, black, gold, gray, and white--score. It also starts with the word "the" (challenge #2) and as a fantasy novel could be considered to take place on a different continent (challenge #7). I recently received a copy of this Newbery Award winning novel and as a fan of middle grade fiction, I'm really curious to check it out. Here's the official summary:</div><div><br /></div><div> <i>"Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey. <br /><br /> One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule--but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her--even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known."</i></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16gt9PecvnjDNssTOnr3ltCN5IlCqs8XsIQJZP8mWHntypEBNqY0E-2UdjCoVOI8w1ospqipWoGNOSBjmHzWtywjdb4JRKSbGMR8RapLW9yfpjpHstiU2elu4F_UlW7De4hls3BF-ednh/s2030/Collins%252C+Suzanne+-+The+Ballad+of+Songbirds+and+Snakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2030" data-original-width="1348" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16gt9PecvnjDNssTOnr3ltCN5IlCqs8XsIQJZP8mWHntypEBNqY0E-2UdjCoVOI8w1ospqipWoGNOSBjmHzWtywjdb4JRKSbGMR8RapLW9yfpjpHstiU2elu4F_UlW7De4hls3BF-ednh/w414-h625/Collins%252C+Suzanne+-+The+Ballad+of+Songbirds+and+Snakes.jpg" width="414" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2><a href="https://amzn.to/3hjQNie" target="_blank">The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes</a></h2>by Suzanne Collins</div><div><br /></div><div>I pre-ordered this prequel to <i>The Hunger Games</i> and was really excited to receive it in the mail. I'm about half-way through, but since there aren't any real rules to the Reading Rush, I'm going to count my goal of finishing the last three hundred or so pages of the book this week. This book could fulfill challenge #2 (a book that starts with the word "the") or even challenge #3 (a book that inspired a movie you've already seen). Since it's a prequel to <i>The Hunger Games</i> and I've seen all of those movies, I'm going to say that it could have partially inspired those stories since it's backstory. For what it's worth, I'm really enjoying it so far and it's definitely holding up to the original series. Here's the official summary:</div><div><br /></div><i>"Ambition will fuel him.<br />Competition will drive him.<br />But power has its price.<br /> <br />It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.<br /> <br /></i><div><i>The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined—every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes."</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig2fOf_s0tVL5O_fUDmq98vSPHkG4AfRVZ3LB8ndO0DZHjUkcFPyn8wwXDAJ8MO2_ZBR2Y9Y1OvXK3J0plcdDa4qGZ4J0kwoDaUayV1J75jYgESFt5JE1S1vg2rE6maJ5St-trTSxhRn0z/s2400/McNamara%252C+Michelle+-+I%2527ll+Be+Gone+in+the+Dark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1600" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig2fOf_s0tVL5O_fUDmq98vSPHkG4AfRVZ3LB8ndO0DZHjUkcFPyn8wwXDAJ8MO2_ZBR2Y9Y1OvXK3J0plcdDa4qGZ4J0kwoDaUayV1J75jYgESFt5JE1S1vg2rE6maJ5St-trTSxhRn0z/w416-h625/McNamara%252C+Michelle+-+I%2527ll+Be+Gone+in+the+Dark.jpg" width="416" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2><a href="https://amzn.to/2Cv9znV" target="_blank">I’ll Be Gone in the Dark:<br />One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer</a></h2>by Michelle McNamara</div><div><br /></div><div>I've just started the audiobook and I'm hooked, so for me this book fulfills challenge #4 (the first book you touch) and challenge #7 (a book in a genre that you've always wanted to read more of). I've only read a little bit here and there in the true crime genre and normally this book would scare me off, but after it was recommended to me I decided to give it a try--so far, I'm really glad. Here's the official summary:</div><div><br /></div><i>"A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.<br /><br />'</i>You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark.<i>'<br /><br />For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.<br /><br />Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.<br /><br />At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.<br /><br /></i>I’ll Be Gone in the Dark<i>—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle’s lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer."</i><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DyY9EJWBeIM/XxXJ3aP0RXI/AAAAAAAAGE4/pE4o5jyMo8Y6h9i-9fc08IqGf1v6VvdMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Miller%252C%2BMadeline%2B-%2BCirce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="331" height="625" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DyY9EJWBeIM/XxXJ3aP0RXI/AAAAAAAAGE4/pE4o5jyMo8Y6h9i-9fc08IqGf1v6VvdMgCLcBGAsYHQ/w414-h625/Miller%252C%2BMadeline%2B-%2BCirce.jpg" width="414" /></a></div><div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3hh1YIm" target="_blank">Circe</a></h2></div><div>by Madeline Miller</div><div><br /></div><div>I've both taught and read <i>The Odyssey</i> by Homer several times, so I've been interested in reading Miller's retelling of Circe's story since it first came out. I received a hardback copy for Christmas and I'm excited to dive in. I do worry that this is the one book I won't get to this week, but I'm keeping it on the list because even starting the first few pages while juggling all of these other books this week would be a success. I don't believe you have to have read <i>The Illiad</i> or <i>The Odyssey</i> to appreciate what Miller is doing in this book, though you might get more out it if you are familiar with the backstory. For me, this book fulfills challenge #6 (a book that takes place on a different continent than where you live). Here's the official summary:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>"In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.<br /><br />Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.<br /><br />But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love."</i>
</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYX6KZBryJZshyphenhyphenkCrzmYKRQ6rtC508FPrGn8CkbKLMK7ztjaBdxQvDicVW3vBay8PJsQyOnIaLHi-r4mK94f5YvCeS04gPHrmOq1GujDrKPwWtRrEQMHp8wdwOO8SKrGA-UhgAFRI80iYs/s1360/Christie%252C+Agatha+-+Black+Coffee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="850" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYX6KZBryJZshyphenhyphenkCrzmYKRQ6rtC508FPrGn8CkbKLMK7ztjaBdxQvDicVW3vBay8PJsQyOnIaLHi-r4mK94f5YvCeS04gPHrmOq1GujDrKPwWtRrEQMHp8wdwOO8SKrGA-UhgAFRI80iYs/w391-h625/Christie%252C+Agatha+-+Black+Coffee.jpg" width="391" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2><a href="https://amzn.to/2DWTmbn" target="_blank">Black Coffee</a></h2></div><div>by Agatha Christie</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyone who reads my book blog knows I'm a fan of Agatha Christie and that I'm steadily working my way through all of her novels, focusing right now on the Hercule Poirot series. <i>Black Coffee</i> is one of Christie's plays and I think it's #7 in the Poirot series. At this point, I've read maybe 30-35 of the Poirot novels, including a few of the short story collections, but this one has been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read since last year. As it's shorter, it would fit nicely into a Reading Rush and would also help with challenge #5 (read a book completely outside of your house). Since we're in the middle of a pandemic and it's also really hot outside, I can't promise that will actually happen but if not I could at least play nature soundtracks on my phone. During quarantine do whatever works, right? Here's the brief official summary:<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>"The story concerns a physicist named Sir Claude Amory who has come up with a formula for an atom bomb (Black Coffee was written in 1934!). In the first act, Sir Claude is poisoned (in his coffee, naturally) and Hercule Poirot is called in to solve the case. He does so after many wonderful twists and turns in true Christie tradition."</i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This is my TBR pile for the 2020 Reading Rush. Five books. One week. I don't know how much I'll get through, but as an avid reader I know I'll manage at least a couple of these books. One of the most difficult aspects of this challenge for me (aside from balancing reading outside of a full-time job) is that while I always have books on my to-read shelf, I like to pick new books up at random so I don't know if I'll be able to stick to a predetermined list. I guess we'll see how it goes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Are you participating in the 2020 Reading Rush? What are you planning on reading this week? </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<b>by Daphne du Maurier</b><br /></div><div>
<br />
<b>Genres</b>: Gothic, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Classic<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: HarperCollins<br />
<b>Length</b>: 410 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: September 5, 2006 (originally published in 1938)<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/3h7LKkX" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rebecca-daphne-du-maurier/1100182387?ean=9780380778553" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
<br />
<b>My Goodreads Rating</b>: 5 out of 5 stars<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3>
<b>Official Book Summary:</b></h3></div>"A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick<br /><div><br />'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again.'<br /><br />With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten—a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house's current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim's first wife—the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca."<b></b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><h3 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Quote:</b></h3></div> "If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again." <br />
<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3VPz9TBkN0/XwzEh4MFP3I/AAAAAAAAGDk/NEq-LmvC88AoZccdwwpUYYR9oZ9zFvgsACLcBGAsYHQ/s1799/Du%2BMaurier%252C%2BDaphne%2B-%2BRebecca%2B-%2BAlternate%2BEdition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1799" data-original-width="1200" height="625" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3VPz9TBkN0/XwzEh4MFP3I/AAAAAAAAGDk/NEq-LmvC88AoZccdwwpUYYR9oZ9zFvgsACLcBGAsYHQ/w416-h625/Du%2BMaurier%252C%2BDaphne%2B-%2BRebecca%2B-%2BAlternate%2BEdition.jpg" width="416" /></a></div><div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><h3 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Excerpt:</b></h3></div><div> "Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me. There was a padlock and a chain upon the gate. I called in my dream to the lodge keeper, and had no answer, and peering closer through the rusted spokes of the gate I saw that the lodge was uninhabited.</div><div><br /></div><div>"No smoke came from the chimney, and the little lattice windows gaped forlorn. Then, like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me. The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it had always done, but as I advanced I was aware that a change had come upon it; it was narrow and unkept, not the drive that we had known. At first I was puzzled and did not understand, and it was only when I bent my head to avoid the low swinging branch of a tree that I realized what had happened. Nature had come into her own again and, little by little, in her stealthy, insidious way had encroached upon the derive with long, tenacious fingers. The woods, always a menace even in the past, had triumphed in the end. They crowded, dark and uncontrolled, to the borders of the drive. The beeches with white, naked limbs leaned close to one another, their branches intermingled in a strange embrace, making a vault above my head like the archway of a church. And there were other trees as well, trees that I did not recognize, squat oaks and tortured elms that straggled cheek by jowl with the beeches, and had thrust themselves out of the quiet earth, along with monster shrubs and plants, none of which I remembered.</div><div><br /></div><div>"The drive was a ribbon now, a thread of its former self, with gravel surface gone, and choked with grass and moss. The trees had thrown out low branches, making an impediment to progress; the gnarled roots looked like skeleton claws. Scattered here and again among this jungle growth I would recognized shrubs that had been landmarks in our time, things of culture and grace, hydrangeas who blue heads had been famous. No hand had checked their progress, and they had gone native now, rearing to monster height without a bloom, black and ugly as the nameless parasites that grew beside them."<br /> <b></b></div>
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</div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3>
<b>My Book Review:</b></h3></div><div style="text-align: left;">In my opinion, <a href="https://amzn.to/3h7LKkX" target="_blank"><i>Rebecca</i></a> is a perfect novel--perfect in its slow, long simmering suspense until it boils over in a thrilling ending. The language is absolutely lovely with its Gothic descriptions of Manderley and the way the house itself becomes a character. I've read it twice and would easily rate it among my favorite novels of all time. <a href="https://amzn.to/3gNSdkK" target="_blank">Hitchcock's film adaptation</a> is good too, but the novel itself is perfection.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> The mood and atmosphere are outstanding. While the book stands on its own merit, it has the haunting Gothic quality of <i>Wuthering Heights</i>, <i>The Turn of the Screw</i>, <i>The Haunting of Hill House</i>, <i>Howard's End</i>, and <i>The Age of Innocence</i>. Heavily influenced by Charlotte Brontë's <i>Jane Eyre</i>, <i>Rebecca</i> isn't exactly a direct retelling but more likely a nod to this classic Victorian romance.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The novel begins with its famed opening line, "Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again," as the narrator--the second wife of widowed Max de Winter--awakes from her recurring, haunting nightmare of the Manderley family estate. The story moves back in time as it retells the story of their meeting. The narrator remains unnamed, readers only get snippets about de Winter's life and the story of his first wife in scattered puzzle pieces, but as the new Mrs. de Winter moves to his home and meets the staff and begins to learn more about what life was like at Manderley before she arrived, the mystery grows and grows.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The narrative voice is engaging, the quiet suspicion and intrigue grow slowly over time, and I love the questions that arise in your mind as you question the motives of Mr. de Winter, become increasingly frightened by the housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, and wonder about the fate of this young, second wife. I simply adore this novel. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller this is not the book for you, but if you enjoy slow-burning Gothic mysteries, this is one of the finest books in its genre.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><h3>
<b>If You Like This, Then Try:</b></h3></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Other Gothic Mysteries</b><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Charlotte Brontë's <a href="https://amzn.to/2AVuL5P" target="_blank"><i>Jane Eyre</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Emily Brontë's <a href="https://amzn.to/2C5Kn7a" target="_blank"><i>Wuthering Heights</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Anne Brontë's <a href="https://amzn.to/306zie3" target="_blank"><i>The Tenant of Wildfell Hall</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Henry James's <a href="https://amzn.to/3gURTAB" target="_blank"><i>The Turn of the Screw</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shirley Jackson's <a href="https://amzn.to/32fY8uD" target="_blank"><i>The Haunting of Hill House</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Shirley Jackson's <a href="https://amzn.to/3j0nqmE" target="_blank"><i>We Have Always Lived in the Castle</i></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Other Novels with Strong Settings</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">E.M. Forster's <a href="https://amzn.to/30lr6XN" target="_blank"><i>Howard's End</i></a><div style="text-align: left;">Edith Wharton's <a href="https://amzn.to/2ZrdURy" target="_blank"><i>The Age of Innocence</i></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Additional Books by the Author</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Daphne du Maurier's <a href="https://amzn.to/3iVohVP" target="_blank"><i>My Cousin Rachel</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Daphne du Maurier's <a href="https://amzn.to/3gTaxJc" target="_blank"><i>Jamaica Inn</i></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Daphne du Maurier's <a href="https://amzn.to/32duFBN" target="_blank"><i>The House on the Strand</i></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b></b><br /></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<b>by Agatha Christie</b><br />
<br />
<b>Genres</b>: Mystery, Fiction, Detective, Crime, British, Series<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: William Morrow<br />
<b>Length</b>: 253<br />
<b>Published</b>: June 14, 2011 (originally published March 10, 1935)<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/2ZoG0Mj" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-in-the-clouds-agatha-christie/1100083191?ean=9780062073747" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
<br />
<b>My Goodreads Rating</b>: 5 out of 5 stars<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Official Book Summary:</b></h2></div>
"Hercule Poirot must solve a perplexing case of midair murder in <i>Death in the Clouds</i> when he discovers that the woman in seat two of the airborne aeroplane he’s traveling on is quite unexpectedly—and unnaturally—deceased.<br /><br />From seat No. 9, Hercule Poirot was ideally placed to observe his fellow air passengers on the short flight from Paris to London. Over to his right sat a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite; ahead, in seat No. 13, sat a countess with a poorly concealed cocaine habit; across the gangway in seat No. 8, a writer of detective fiction was being troubled by an aggressive wasp.<br /><br />Yes, Poirot is almost ideally placed to take it all in, except what he did not yet realize was that behind him, in seat No. 2, sat the slumped, lifeless body of a woman. Murdered, and likely by someone in Poirot’s immediate proximity."<b> </b><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2>
<b>Quote:</b></h2></div> "There are more important things than finding the murderer. And justice is a fine word, but it is sometimes difficult to say exactly what one means by it. In my opinion the important thing is to clear the innocent." <br /><div><br />
</div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2>
<b>Excerpt:</b></h2></div><div>
"The September sun beat down hotly on Le Bourget aerodrome as the passengers crossed the ground and climbed into the air liner <i>Prometheus</i>, due to depart for Croydon in a few minutes' time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jane Grey was among the last to enter and taker her seat, No. 16. Some of the passengers had already passed on through the centre door past the tiny pantry-kitchen and the two toilets to the front car. Most people were already seated. On the opposite side of the gangway there was a good deal of chatter--a rather shrill, high-pitched woman's voice dominating it. Jane's lips twisted slightly. She knew that particular type of voice so well.</div><div><br /></div><div>'My dear--it's extraordinary--no idea--Where, do you say? Juan les Pins? Oh, yes. No--Le Pinet--Yes, just the same old crowd--But of <i>course</i> let's sit together. Oh, can't we? Who--? Oh, I see...'</div><div><br /></div><div>And then a man's voice--foreign, polite:</div><div><br /></div><div>'--With the greatest of pleasure, Madame.'</div><div><br /></div><div>Jane stole a glance out of the corner of her eye.</div><div><br /></div><div>A little elderly man with large moustaches and an egg-shaped head was politely moving himself and his belongings from the seat corresponding to Jane's on the opposite side of the gangway."<br /><b> </b></div>
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</div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2>
</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiceVXKI8MuixIv_3CXu2EMW0nR_jbKI15fXai-NVra8Fu5MwSLLdOv_Jkq-Ca4JIBf7OUc8nnrNbD1Y30xk4Dd3OvnqecF9ITRM_HVQ8GbcR7Hqeu3cvBj76vsAUHNiPTvIkMhEOTYc7yZ/s2294/Christie%252C+Agatha+-+Death+in+the+Clouds+-+Alternative+Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2294" data-original-width="1500" height="625" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiceVXKI8MuixIv_3CXu2EMW0nR_jbKI15fXai-NVra8Fu5MwSLLdOv_Jkq-Ca4JIBf7OUc8nnrNbD1Y30xk4Dd3OvnqecF9ITRM_HVQ8GbcR7Hqeu3cvBj76vsAUHNiPTvIkMhEOTYc7yZ/w408-h625/Christie%252C+Agatha+-+Death+in+the+Clouds+-+Alternative+Cover.jpg" width="408" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2><b>My Book Review:</b></h2></div><div style="text-align: left;">Book twelve in Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot detective series was a wonderful story and in my opinion, every bit as good as <i>Murder on the Orient Express</i>. I'm surprised I hadn't heard it singled out before as one of Agatha Christie's best mysteries.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">A locked room mystery, <i>Death in the Clouds</i> begins when twelve passengers are on board the Prometheus, an airplane traveling from France to England. The mystery ensues when toward the end of the flight one of the stewards notices a woman at the back of the plane slumped over. The crew and passengers discover she's been killed. Each of the passengers on board immediately becomes a possible suspect, including our beloved Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Questions of revenge drive the detective case and twists and turns set a suspenseful pace, including when Poirot himself becomes suspect #1 when the the murder weapon--a blowpipe that shot a poisoned dart into the deceased woman's neck-- is found disposed behind his seat. Hercule sets out to solve the murder which becomes increasingly complicated as the seating chart, possessions, possible motives, and gains and losses from the murder are each weighed in turn.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The story is so clever. I mistakenly thought I knew who the actual murderer was very early on, only to discover I fell hook, line, and sinker for a very deceptive red herring. To my knowledge, out of all of the Hercule Poirot novels I've read thus far (a good twenty or thirty to date), this is the only one where Poirot becomes one of the accused. A truly fantastic story and one I highly recommend to any fan of Agatha Christie or suspenseful mysteries.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><i><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextContainerreview1732439392"></span>
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</i><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><h2><b>If You Like This, Then Try:</b></h2><div><b>Other Books from the Hercule Poirot Series</b></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3dOtYAN" target="_blank"><i>The Murder of Roger Ackroyd</i></a> (#4) by Agatha Christie</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/2VLDOxx" target="_blank"><i>The Big Four</i></a> (#5) by Agatha Christie<br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3ih3tr8" target="_blank"><i>Murder on the Orient Express</i></a> (#10) by Agatha Christie</div><div><i><a href="https://amzn.to/31qPedy" target="_blank">The ABC Murders</a> </i>(#13) by Agatha Christie</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/31rnhSK" target="_blank"><i>Murder in Mesopotamia</i></a> (#14) by Agatha Christie</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3dLCuRk" target="_blank"><i>Cards on the Table</i></a> (#15) by Agatha Christie</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/2ZrWvay" target="_blank"><i>Death on the Nile</i></a> (#17) by Agatha Christie</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/2ZoeUVl" target="_blank"><i>Five Little Pigs</i></a> (#25) by Agatha Christie [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2015/04/book-review-five-little-pigs-by-agatha.html" target="_blank">read my review here</a>]<br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/2ZiQ1uw" target="_blank"><i>Halloween Party</i></a> (#39) by Agatha Christie [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2015/04/book-review-halloween-party-by-agatha.html" target="_blank">read my review here</a>]<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Other Agatha Christie Mysteries</b></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3gdcKyC" target="_blank"><i>And Then There Were None</i></a> by Agatha Christie [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2016/10/31-halloween-reads-for-october.html" target="_blank">read my mini review here</a>]<br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/38b6wws" target="_blank"><i>Crooked House</i></a> by Agatha Christie<br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3eNkQhh" target="_blank"><i>Murder at the Vicarage</i></a> (Miss Marple #1) by Agatha Christie</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/2YKSeQd" target="_blank"><i>The Secret Adversary</i></a> (Tommy & Tuppence #1) by Agatha Christie</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Nonfiction about Agatha Christie</b></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/3iouIAq" target="_blank"><i>Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie</i></a> by Richard Hack [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2015/06/book-review-duchess-of-death.html">read my review here</a>]<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Other Mysteries</b></div><div><i><a href="https://amzn.to/2NIoZHv" target="_blank">Once Upon a River</a> </i>by Diane Setterfield (historical fiction, fantasy, magical realism)</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/38bS4V7" target="_blank"><i>Where the Crawdads Sing</i></a> by Delia Owens (historical fiction, mystery)</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/2BfjJIS" target="_blank"><i>The Secret Keeper</i></a> by Kate Morton [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2020/01/secret-keeper.html">read my review here</a>] (historical fiction, romance, mystery)<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Young Adult Mysteries</b></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/31viMXr" target="_blank"><i>Truly Devious</i></a> (#1) by Maureen Johnson</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/2YLxHLh" target="_blank"><i>Sadie</i></a> by Courtney Summers</div><div><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3eNwhpi" target="_blank">One of Us is Lying</a> </i>(#1) by Karen M. McManus [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2018/09/one-of-us-is-lying.html" target="_blank">read my review here</a>]<br /></div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/38d5boW" target="_blank"><i>Two Can Keep a Secret</i></a> by Karen M. McManus</div><div><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3dO7EaK" target="_blank">Stalking Jack the Ripper</a> </i>(#1) by Kerri Maniscalco [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2019/05/escaping-from-houdini.html" target="_blank">read my review of #3 in that series here</a>] (historical fiction)</div><div><a href="https://amzn.to/2BUwPeg" target="_blank"><i>A Study in Charlotte</i></a> (#1) by Brittany Cavallaro (retelling, mystery, crime)<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<b>by Shirley Jackson</b><br />
<br />
<b>Genres</b>: History, Nonfiction, American History, Paranormal, Middle Grade<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Random House Books for Young Readers<br />
<b>Length</b>: 160 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: First published in 1956, reprinted 1987<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/2YBAgj5" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witchcraft-of-salem-village-shirley-jackson/1100271943?ean=9780394891767" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
<br />
<b>My Goodreads Rating</b>: 5 out of 5 stars<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Official Book Summary:</b></h2></div> "Stories of magic, superstition, and witchcraft were strictly forbidden in the little town of Salem Village. But a group of young girls ignored those rules, spellbound by the tales told by a woman named Tituba. When questioned about their activities, the terrified girls set off a whirlwind of controversy as they accused townsperson after townsperson of being witches. Author Shirley Jackson examines in careful detail this horrifying true story of accusations, trials, and executions that shook a community to its foundations." <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Quote:</b></h2></div><div>"Much of this gossip died away naturally, but people did not forget the incident."</div><div><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTKPX7_gvE3cN9r0W8xcPss48fDI3LGoQig3674ILLB1aAc-tV4aJGlbn3yaO16eZNswH1xHmVFJHH3Hv3IhedH_LlEzcAZKaBRC5KcQJAV9o6g5IFjTUse-Gm7k4A37CRb4eXfAKKCaM/s790/Jackson%252C+Shirley+-+The+Witchcraft+of+Salem+Village+-+Table+of+Contents.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="726" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTKPX7_gvE3cN9r0W8xcPss48fDI3LGoQig3674ILLB1aAc-tV4aJGlbn3yaO16eZNswH1xHmVFJHH3Hv3IhedH_LlEzcAZKaBRC5KcQJAV9o6g5IFjTUse-Gm7k4A37CRb4eXfAKKCaM/w460-h500/Jackson%252C+Shirley+-+The+Witchcraft+of+Salem+Village+-+Table+of+Contents.jpg" width="460" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Excerpt:</b></h2></div>
"Note: Salem, Massachusetts, and Salem Village, Massachusetts, were two
separate places in 1692. Although only a few miles apart, they differed a
good deal. Salem, where the witchcraft trials were held, was a large
town, busy and active. Salem Village was a small community,
self-centered and frequently almost isolated in the winter, although one
of the main highways of Massachusetts ran, and still runs, past the
site of Ingersoll's inn. The witchcraft cases began in Salem Village,
although Salem has had to accept full responsibility. Salem Village no
longer exists. Even the ghosts of George Burrough's two wives would have
trouble finding it today."<b> </b><b> </b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>My Book Review:</b></h2></div><div style="text-align: left;">I love Shirley Jackson and have been a big fan of her fiction. While she's widely known for her famed short story "The Lottery" which is frequently taught in U.S. high schools, I'm a die-hard advocate for reading her novels <i>The Haunting of Hill House</i> and <i>We Have Always Lived in the Castle</i>--both are fantastic. To date, I've only read one of her other nonfiction titles, <i>Life Among the Savages</i>, a likable, dry humor approach which recounts her daily frustrations and reflections of raising four young daughters.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I've long been curious about the Salem Witch Trials, growing increasingly curious after taking an absolutely phenomenal graduate literature course themed "Saints, Witches, and Madwomen." When I stumbled across Jackson's historical account and saw that it was designed for young readers, I was immediately intrigued. I've read Stacy Schiff's tome <i>The Witches: Salem, 1692</i> (you can read <a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2017/08/witches-salem-1692.html">my full book review here</a>), and dabbled in fictional retellings like Arthur Miller's play <i>The Crucible</i>, but I really wanted to see how Jackson told the story to middle-grade audiences. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">Part of Penguin Random House's Landmark Books Series, <a href="https://amzn.to/2YBAgj5" target="_blank"><i>The Witchcraft of Salem Village</i></a>
by Shirley Jackson is an accessible but short and comprehensive
middle-grade account of the Witch craze in Salem Village, Massachusetts
in 1692. During the chaos, eighteen innocent people were sentenced to
death, others died while imprisoned in jail, and many more were
terrorized and falsely accused. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Jackson's account is a great read for young readers: it's clear and fascinating. The discrimination, racism, sexism, and pervasive ignorance throughout the entire situation is haunting and still timely. The fact that the girls who found themselves at the center of attention in this scandal continued to carry on and sent people to their death while they ended up living free lives wholly unpunished is terribly messed up.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Jackson also does a fine job including a really important discussion of spectral evidence--where an accusation is considered as good as solid evidence--and continued examination into these incidents is especially significant today. It's crucial to study Salem Village to avoid repeating history, particularly as recurrence today in new forms, modern-day ongoing manifestations of injustice, discrimination, sexism, and racism.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>If You Like This, then Try:</b></h2></div><b>Books about the Salem Witch Trials</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/31u43MC" target="_blank"><i>The Witches: Salem, 1692</i></a> by Stacy Schiff [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2017/08/witches-salem-1692.html">read my review here</a>] (history, nonfiction)<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2ZiaTlC" target="_blank"><i>The Crucible</i></a> by Arthur Miller (drama, fiction, American history)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/38awmkc" target="_blank"><i>Six Women of Salem</i></a> by Marilynne K. Roach (children's books, history)</div><div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="https://amzn.to/31EZcZ5" target="_blank"><i>Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem</i></a> by Elaine G. Breslaw (history, nonfiction, biography)<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Other Books by Shirley Jackson</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/2AcUlTu" target="_blank">The Haunting of Hill House</a> </i>by Shirley Jackson [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2016/10/31-halloween-reads-for-october.html">read my mini review here</a>] (Gothic, horror)<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3fWAEyu" target="_blank"><i>We Have Always Lived in the Castle</i></a> by Shirley Jackson [<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2016/10/31-halloween-reads-for-october.html">read my mini review here</a>] (Gothic)<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><a href="https://amzn.to/2Vot47X" target="_blank">Life Among the Savages</a> </i>by Shirley Jackson<i> </i>[<a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2017/01/read-in-2016-childrens-comics-memoirs.html">read my mini review here</a>] (memoir, humor)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3ib1qF0" target="_blank"><i>The Lottery and Other Stories</i></a> by Shirley Jackson (short stories, fiction, horror)<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Books about Shirley Jackson</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2VwzmSS" target="_blank"><i>Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life</i></a> by Ruth Franklin (biography, nonfiction)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Other Titles from the Middle-Grade Landmark Books Series</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/31sjyED" target="_blank"><i>Gettysburg</i></a> by MacKinlay Kantor (American history, nonfiction)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2Vuwru4" target="_blank"><i>Meet Abraham Lincoln</i></a> by Barbara Cary (American history, biography, nonfiction)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/31sk7OL" target="_blank"><i>Meet Martin Luther King, Jr</i>.</a> by James T. deKay (American history, biography, nonfiction)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3dIB5eh" target="_blank"><i>The American Revolution</i></a> by Bruce Bliven Jr. (American history, nonfiction)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2ZzvuC7" target="_blank"><i>The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt</i></a> by Elizabeth Payne (history, nonfiction)<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2Vujkcu" target="_blank"><i>The Wright Brothers</i></a> by Quentin Reynolds (American history, biography, nonfiction)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b></b><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYn6Gn-aRfY3I4rNJA3x2rVDgRqQjUGngwYTzIMlkyn4JmWILEiDC5G_s3qiGnYI7fuKIWwu0ZBawZh1Rz765NhHRXkKi6JRWYTKbU-7iR8su1yTWMus5QLCLOx1_pQJjcYcuHk_KddO7/s1600/Grover%252C+Quinn+-+Wilderness+of+Hope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1036" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYn6Gn-aRfY3I4rNJA3x2rVDgRqQjUGngwYTzIMlkyn4JmWILEiDC5G_s3qiGnYI7fuKIWwu0ZBawZh1Rz765NhHRXkKi6JRWYTKbU-7iR8su1yTWMus5QLCLOx1_pQJjcYcuHk_KddO7/s640/Grover%252C+Quinn+-+Wilderness+of+Hope.jpg" width="414" /></a></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b><a href="https://amzn.to/31oPKWi" target="_blank">Wilderness of Hope:<br />
Fly Fishing and Public Lands in the American West</a></b></h2>
<b>by Quinn Grover</b><br />
<b>(Outdoor Lives series)</b><br />
<br />
<b>Genres</b>:<b> </b>Memoir, History, Nonfiction, Nature, American Literature<b> </b><br />
<b>Publisher</b>: University of Nebraska Press<br />
<b>Length</b>: 248 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: September 1, 2019<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/31oPKWi" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <b><a href="https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/bison-books/9781496211804/" target="_blank">University of Nebraska Press</a></b><br />
<b><br />
</b> <br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<h2>
<b>Official Book Summary:</b></h2>
</div>
"Longtime fly fisherman Quinn Grover had contemplated the 'why' of his fishing identity before more recently becoming focused on the 'how' of it. He realized he was a dedicated fly fisherman in large part because public lands and public waterways in the West made it possible. In <b><a href="https://amzn.to/31oPKWi" target="_blank"><i>Wilderness of Hope</i></a></b> Grover recounts his fly-fishing experiences with a strong evocation of place, connecting those experiences to the ongoing national debate over public lands.<br />
<br />
Because so much of America’s public lands are in the Intermountain West, this is where arguments about the use and limits of those lands rage the loudest. And those loudest in the debate often become caricatures: rural ranchers who hate the government; West Coast elites who don’t know the West outside Vail, Colorado; and energy and mining companies who extract from once-protected areas. These caricatures obscure the complexity of those who use public lands and what those lands mean to a wider population.<br />
<br />
Although for Grover fishing is often an <i>'</i>escape' back to wildness, it is also a way to find a home in nature and recalibrate his interactions with other parts of his life as a father, son, husband, and citizen. Grover sees fly fishing on public waterways as a vehicle for interacting with nature that allows humans to inhabit nature rather than destroy or 'preserve' it by keeping it entirely separate from human contact. These essays reflect on personal fishing experiences with a strong evocation of place and an attempt to understand humans’ relationship with water and public land in the American West."<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Author Bio:</b></h2>
</div>
"Quinn Grover teaches courses in writing and literature at Brigham Young University–Idaho. His research interests include the literature, lands, and cultures of the American West. Quinn's work has been published in national fly-fishing magazines such as the <i>Flyfish Journal</i>, <i>the Drake</i>, and <i>American Angler</i> as well as literary outlets such as <i>Newfound</i>, <i>Cirque</i>, and <i>Juxtaprose</i>."<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Excerpt (from the Prologue):</b></h2>
</div>
"I caught my first fish using a fly rod on a Boy Scout outing. I was thirteen years old. We were camped along a small creek in central Utah, and I had insisted on taking my fly rod, even though I had yet to actually catch anything using it. The stream--just three or four feet wide in many places and bordered by bunches of willows--snaked through a meadow carpeted with the green grass of a wet summer.<br />
<br />
"I spotted the fish rising in a flat, unprotected section of river between willow bunches and I felt suddenly--alarmingly--visible. I decided to kneel before making the cast because the landscape was so wide open. I felt exposed--as a fisherman, as a beginner, as an outsider in a wild place. I'd like to believe that I sensed something divine in the presence of the rising of a trout, some sort of holiness, something that demanded reverence. But really, I was just scared I was going to screw up my one chance." (Grover xiii)<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Early Praise:</b> </h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
“<b><a href="https://amzn.to/2GMflk3" target="_blank"><i>Wilderness of Hope</i></a></b> joins a long tradition of books—including <b><a href="https://amzn.to/33jvFSP" target="_blank"><i>The River Why</i></a></b> and <b><a href="https://amzn.to/31mJzlk" target="_blank"><i>A River Runs through It</i></a></b>—which remind us all that, of the many possible paths toward understanding the universe, few are as reliable as fly fishing. Quinn Grover makes a strong case for passion as the key ingredient of a meaningful life, but also for knowing how the planet might make best use of us.”<b>—Brooke Williams, author of <a href="https://amzn.to/2KknkH3" target="_blank"><i>Open Midnight: Where Ancestors and Wilderness Meet</i></a></b></div>
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“Quinn Grover’s <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2GMflk3" target="_blank"><i>Wilderness of Hope</i></a></b> provides a life compass for those of us who pursue wild and native trout on our public lands and waters. He preserves our capacity for wonder by weaving together the fabric of family and fishing friends, wilderness, and the importance of preserving and protecting our public lands and resources for future generations.”<b>—Craig Mathews, author of </b><i><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2GNYSeX" target="_blank">The Yellowstone Fly-Fishing Guide</a></b></i><br />
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“On his first trip out, Quinn Grover lands a whopper! There’s a casting and reeling rhythm to his writing, long luxurious passages on nature’s elusive tributaries, then—zing!—thrilling bites of witty insight spilling into pools of reflection. He seems to have spawned a new genre, the <i>Ichthysroman</i>. In Grover’s own words, he’s a ‘middle-class man’ in love with places ‘worth knowing.’ I say he’s the high-class author of a book worth keeping. I’m hooked!”<b>—Matthew James Babcock, author of <a href="https://amzn.to/2YMGAB2" target="_blank"><i>Heterodoxologies</i></a></b><br />
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“With meditations born from experience, Grover conveys the mystery and pull of the trout rivers that run through the American West. These essays make one want to pick up a fly rod, wade into the nearest swift water, and revel Thoreau- or Dillard-like in the wild atmospheres found there.”<b>—Braden Hepner, author of <a href="https://amzn.to/2MKxDpp" target="_blank"><i>Pale Harvest</i></a></b></div>
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</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://amzn.to/31n1kB5" target="_blank"> </a><b><a href="https://amzn.to/31n1kB5" target="_blank">Four Tales of Troubled Love</a></b></h2><b>by Matthew James Babcock</b><br />
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<b>Genres</b>:<b> </b>Fiction, Novellas, Contemporary Fiction<b> </b><br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Harvard Square Editions<br />
<b>Length</b>: 342 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: January 25, 2019<br />
<b>Purchase Link</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/31n1kB5" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><h2><b>Official Book Summary:</b></h2></div>"Enter this tetrad of tangled love tales at the turn of the last millennium when what were then the latest technologies--personal computers, fax machines, and mobile phones--started to short-circuit pacemakers. This tour de four of realistic love stories operates operatically, like a piece of music in four movements, sometimes zany and tragic, at times surreal and sublime.<br />
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<b>'Help Phone Thirteen' </b>(<i>scherzando con misterioso</i>): A young father moves his family across the country to escape his oppressive in-laws and, when his job and marriage implode, gets guidance from a mystical voice on a "help phone" at the local mall and a professional clown masquerading as social savior.<br />
<b><br />
'Meer, Tarn, Water, Fell' </b>(<i>marcia moderato con fuoco</i>): A poetry-loathing Dutch tour bus driver on a stopover in The Lake District plots revenge on his German ex-wife, unaware that the daughter he never knew he had has followed him half way around the world for the love she was denied.<br />
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'Impressions' </b>(<i>appassionato</i>): An ex-military pilot turned tech CEO finds his unconventional marriage and newfound faith at odds when he discovers the joys and dangers that come with waiting for answers from heaven and the heart.<br />
<b><br />
'The Seal'</b> (<i>eroico non troppo</i>): A young family, caught between the baby blues and the deep blue sea, battles professional and personal pressures, but thanks to a homeless benefactor and captive harbor seal, learns that loving the environment and loving each other are a matter of instinct.<br />
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T. S. Eliot had his <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2yIfiBd" target="_blank"><i>Four Quartets</i></a></b> of poetry, now comes a foursome of fiction. For beach readers, literature connoisseurs, and book club junkies alike, these tales will quadruple the pleasure in reflecting on how we live and love. Wherever you take them, they will find you once again, in love with trouble and troubled by love."<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Author Bio:</b></h2></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A veteran presenter, professor, and reader, Matthew James Babcock has traveled, studied, and written in Utah, New York, Pennsylvania, Great Britain, Germany, and has come home to roost in the great basins of the Rocky Mountain Northwest. He lurks online under the code name ‘Wordman.’ He is also the author of <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2KvpQcs" target="_blank"><i>Private Fire: Robert Francis's Ecopoetry and Prose</i></a></b>, <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2YTZrtT" target="_blank"><i>Strange Terrain</i></a></b>, <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2GSFE8a" target="_blank"><i>Points of Reference</i></a></b>, and <b><a href="https://amzn.to/31pELMg" target="_blank"><i>Heterodoxologies</i></a></b>. You can visit his website <b><a href="https://matthewjamesbabcockdotorg.wordpress.com/fiction/" target="_blank">here</a></b>.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Interview and Excerpt:</b></h2></div>Available <b><a href="http://www.byui.edu/radio/byu-idaho-professor-matthew-babcock-publishes-fifth-book-next-month" target="_blank">here</a></b>.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Praise:</b> </h2>"Matthew James Babcock is charming with a poetic bent.... Throughout all the stories there is a push and pull for what love really means. For all those beach readers or book clubs looking for their next read -- this is it." ⎯<b>J Bowen West, <i>The Times News</i></b><i><br />
</i><br />
"With sentences like, 'His sick heart swings like a clapperless bell,' Matthew James Babcock's <i><b><a href="https://amzn.to/31n1kB5" target="_blank">Four Tales of Troubled Love</a></b> </i>is a banquet of rich, abundant and wildly inventive language. In these novellas, only oddly matched lovers survive, and the fantastic and hilarious are indistinguishable from the painful and dismal. A unique and exceptional book." ⎯<b>John Vernon, Author of <a href="https://amzn.to/2GRPszm" target="_blank"><i>Lucky Billy</i></a></b><br />
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Author of Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe</b></h2>Today, I'm happy to share my interview with middle-grade author, Josh Allen. Allen's book of scary stories, <a href="https://amzn.to/2GPlNqw" target="_blank"><i>Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe</i></a>, is being published by Holiday House on September 3, 2019. Perfect for any reader aged 8-12 who loves mystery and creepy twists and turns, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/31ouUpX" target="_blank">Out to Get You</a> </i>is highly anticipated and is already receiving great recognition. You can order the book <a href="https://amzn.to/2GPlNqw" target="_blank">here</a> and read my review <a href="http://www.jactionary.com/2019/07/out-to-get-you.html" target="_blank">here</a> (I gave the book 5 out of 5 stars for its creativity and fun).<br />
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Allen teaches creative writing and literature. His work has appeared in <i>Cricket</i>, <i>Dialogue</i>, <i>Juxtapose</i>, and other literary magazines.<span id="freeTextContainer14240794334596285167"> He lives in Idaho with his family.</span><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>What draws you to middle-grade audiences and the scary story genre? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">I’m drawn to middle-grade audiences because I’m passionate about transforming kid readers into adult readers, about reminding kids as they age that books are wondrous and fun. I think that when a kid stumbles upon the right book at the right time, that kid becomes a lifelong reader. So I write for kids because my dream is to offer a book that will do that for just one kid. <br />
<br />
I write scary stories for two main reasons. <br />
<br />
First, I think kids today have a lot to be afraid of. The world is big and frightening, and too many of adults that kids encounter are angry—angry at their world leaders, angry at their televisions, angry at each other. Horror offers kids a catharsis for their fears, a safe space to experience and work out their anxieties, so that when real fears inevitably descend, which they will, kids will be better equipped to navigate those emotions. Basically, I’m trying to use horror stories to inoculate kids against a massively frightening world. <br />
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Second, and this is perhaps the more important reason I wrote scary stories, they’re massively fun.<br />
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</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Do you also write for young adult or children’s audiences? What other projects are you working on? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">I write primarily for middle-grade audiences, that is, 8-12 year olds. I’ve got a second collection of horror stories in the works that I hope will be out there in the world soon, and I’m also working on a non-horror novel for kids set in the 1980s that’s all about family bonds, the healing power of music, our need for community, a man with eight fingers, the space shuttle explosion, and the death penalty. Trust me, it’ll all eventually make sense. I hope. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfppMn-VxcoP4dTCaDIQPZVYVsf-ms6zuumqe1XlXkeXoqEIV-BqtkcVrghh-f-Djemd97wY9PTrZflVP180tsKwdxnuXg3drhnbF0hZybPE75GKTrqD5YCUzPMxh-XBlBV8mRU2Dcnq__/s1600/Allen%252C+Josh+-+Out+to+Get+You+13+Tales+of+Weirdness+and+Woe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="794" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfppMn-VxcoP4dTCaDIQPZVYVsf-ms6zuumqe1XlXkeXoqEIV-BqtkcVrghh-f-Djemd97wY9PTrZflVP180tsKwdxnuXg3drhnbF0hZybPE75GKTrqD5YCUzPMxh-XBlBV8mRU2Dcnq__/s640/Allen%252C+Josh+-+Out+to+Get+You+13+Tales+of+Weirdness+and+Woe.jpg" width="422" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Who are your favorite writers of middle-grade fiction? Who are some of your other favorite writers? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">I love Gary D. Schmidt, Jason Reynolds, Kate diCamillo, Lauren Wolk, Erin Entrada Kelly, and too many other brilliant middle-grade writers to name. There’s just so much talent in the genre right now. <br />
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I also love Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O’Connor, Anthony Doerr, Michael Chabon, and Alice Walker.<br />
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</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Your story collection features eerie conundrums and mysterious twists and turns. Where do your ideas come from? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">This answer is a bit hippy-dippy, but I believe we exist in a creative universe that wants to help us be creative, that is actually designed to draw out our creativity. So, I believe that the universe is out there trying to give us what we need to fulfill our creative destinies, whether we’re trying to write, paint, sculpt, dance, or whatever (see, like I said, pretty hippy-dippy). The secret to getting ideas then, is to Pay Attention. As Anne Lamott says, “There is ecstasy in paying attention... Anyone who wants to can be surprised by the beauty or pain of the natural world, of the human mind and heart, and can try to capture just that - the details, the nuance, what is. If you start to look around, you will start to see.” <br />
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Most ideas just kind of come to me when I slow down, breathe, and look around. When I Pay Attention.<br />
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</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>What’s the editing process been like? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">LONG! I revise a lot. A few months ago, I cleaned up my office, and every time I came across a printed draft of <a href="https://amzn.to/31ouUpX" target="_blank"><i>Out to Get You</i></a>, I stacked it in the corner. Here’s how high that stack got by the time I finished: </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2P9aOnvWOlM/XUmx_XoeJFI/AAAAAAAAFxo/tXKhxGyPX20Z0ReUDszdCYMkhVt-it5zACEwYBhgL/s1600/Allen%252C%2BJosh%2B-%2BInterview%2BPicture.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="345" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2P9aOnvWOlM/XUmx_XoeJFI/AAAAAAAAFxo/tXKhxGyPX20Z0ReUDszdCYMkhVt-it5zACEwYBhgL/s1600/Allen%252C%2BJosh%2B-%2BInterview%2BPicture.png" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">And I should point out that this doesn’t include all of the drafts I never bothered printing.<br />
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</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>How did you find your book agent? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">I found an agent with the help of Gary D. Schmidt, who’s a fine writer and a fine friend. After I published a creepy story in a national magazine called Cricket, Gary put me in touch with Rick Margolis, who runs the Rising Bear Literary Agency. I sent Rick a manuscript, and fortunately for me, he liked it.<br />
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</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>What’s the best reaction you could envision an 8-12 year-old having to reading your book?</b></h2><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Reading it, loving it, and then running out to find another book they love just as much.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Have your kids read your book? Do they think you’re cool? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">They’ve read some of the stories. I’m not sure they think I’m cool. In their eyes, I think I’ve always been just their moderately geeky dad. (PROOF: I’m writing this in cargo shorts.) So I suspect that my publishing a book hasn’t raised my kids’ opinion of me as much as it has lowered their opinion of all writers in general.<br />
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</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Out to Get You features some great cover art and illustrations from Sarah Coleman. Were you able to collaborate or share ideas at all? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">Not much, but I love Sarah’s work! Sarah is this fantastic illustrator who’s done work for so many amazing writers including Harper Lee, Cornelia Funk, and Lauren Wolk. She’s so good that I just got out of the way and let her do her thing. <br />
<br />
But there was one day she reached out to me for collaboration. One of my stories is set in a boy’s bathroom, and Sarah was working on an illustration that had a bunch of graffiti on the walls. But because Sarah is British, her graffiti was very British. And because Sarah is a girl, her graffiti was a bit girly. So, she asked me one day to send her a list of the kinds of things that might be written on bathroom walls in American boy bathrooms. So, I spent a bunch of time that day brainstorming bathroom graffiti. It was a hoot! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F79G-WIFh7I/XUm2qBEJssI/AAAAAAAAFx0/JDKtyTSqHJQGvAbXdmaMFgBftlvi7BTswCLcBGAs/s1600/Allen%252C%2BJosh%2B-%2BOut%2Bto%2BGet%2BYou%2B13%2BTales%2Bof%2BWeirdness%2Band%2BWoe%2BGlow%2Bin%2Bthe%2BDark%2BCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="1000" height="402" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F79G-WIFh7I/XUm2qBEJssI/AAAAAAAAFx0/JDKtyTSqHJQGvAbXdmaMFgBftlvi7BTswCLcBGAs/s640/Allen%252C%2BJosh%2B-%2BOut%2Bto%2BGet%2BYou%2B13%2BTales%2Bof%2BWeirdness%2Band%2BWoe%2BGlow%2Bin%2Bthe%2BDark%2BCover.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Your book also has a glow-in-the-dark cover. What was your reaction to hearing your publisher was doing this? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">The ten-year-old who lives inside my forty-five-year-old body completely took over. I think I actually squealed and jumped around like a madman. I’m glad there’s no video.<br />
<br />
</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Could Out to Get You turn into a series? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">I sure hope so! I’ve got a second book of spooky stories almost finished, and I’d love to continue this amazing ride.<br />
<br />
</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>You teach full-time as an English professor. When do you manage to fit in your writing time? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">I sneak in writing time when I can. Evenings. Weekends. During boring meetings. Mostly, I write early in the morning before the day gets going because once I start with classes and students and grading papers, it’s very hard to eek out any time at all.<br />
<b> </b></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>What advice would you give to aspiring writers? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">Write something every day. Read something every day.<br />
<br />
</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>In “The Voice,” the teacher has mastered a voice she uses to get her students to follow instructions. Have you mastered “the voice”? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">Do I have an authoritative teaching voice? No way. When I completely lose control of my class, my go-to technique is to point out with some lame joke that I’ve completely lost control of the class. (“Wow, I’m a mess. I usually don’t lose control of a class this bad until at least the third week. Oh well.”) Then my students take pity on me and let me pretend I’m still in charge.<br />
<br />
</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>What’s more stressful, facing a pile of papers to grade or facing a story that needs rewriting? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">Grading papers. I almost always want to write. I almost never want to grade. I generally like <i>reading</i> my students' work. I just hate grading it.<br />
<br />
</div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Lastly, in your “Sorry, Froggy” story, Brady eats a pizza bomb. That sounds amazing, but what exactly is that? </b></h2><div style="text-align: left;">Pizza bombs are like calzones—bread dough stuffed with pizza toppings and cheese and sauce. Google them and check out the images. Your mouth will water. I chose pizza bombs for the story because I needed a food Brady could eat in the opening scene that would make him seem slightly barbaric. He couldn’t really be eating a chef’s salad or a lamb chop or anything that would include utensils. Also, I think the name <i>pizza bomb</i> is kind of hilarious. <br />
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But yes, they’re delicious.<br />
<br />
</div></div></div><script type="text/javascript">
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illustrated by Sarah J. Coleman</b><br />
<br />
<b>Genres</b>: Middle Grade (ages 8-12), Fiction, Short Stories, Scary, Paranormal, Ghost Stories<br />
<b>Publisher</b>: Holiday House<br />
<b>Length</b>: 176 pages<br />
<b>Published</b>: September 3, 2019<br />
<b>Purchase Links</b>:<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/2Gz2Fga" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/out-to-get-you-josh-allen/1129997651#/" target="_blank"><b>Barnes & Noble</b></a><br />
<br />
<b>My Goodreads Rating</b>: 5 out of 5 stars<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Official Book Summary:</b></h2></div>"Thirteen ordinary kids. Thirteen ordinary towns. Danger lurks around every corner . . . where spooky things are hiding in plain sight. <br />
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Get ready for a collection of thirteen short stories that will chill your bones, tingle your spine, and scare your pants off. Debut author Josh Allen masterfully concocts horror in the most innocent places, like R.L. Stine meets a modern Edgar Allan Poe. A stray kitten turns into a threatening follower. The street sign down the block starts taunting you. Even your own shadow is out to get you! <br />
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The everyday world is full of sinister secrets and these page-turning stories show that there's darkness even where you least expect it. Readers will sleep with one eye open . . .<br />
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Thirteen eerie full-page illustrations by award-winning artist Sarah J. Coleman accompany the tales in this frightful mashup that reads like a contemporary <i>Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark</i>."<b> </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiZ7bCti8NrMKo2IBKPxLqe-Eej9EKClkrHn6SE70YGvo1LezYYjdFhfq8VCJgDZiIe2v5td1tgGhknYKJMG4bzE7BPPc5uW2iT5lLEshwuXlUc0eIhUFFeR27gLcuXriOsw01-8FLa78L/s1600/Allen%252C+Josh+-+Out+to+Get+You+13+Tales+of+Weirdness+and+Woe+Glow+in+the+Dark+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="1000" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiZ7bCti8NrMKo2IBKPxLqe-Eej9EKClkrHn6SE70YGvo1LezYYjdFhfq8VCJgDZiIe2v5td1tgGhknYKJMG4bzE7BPPc5uW2iT5lLEshwuXlUc0eIhUFFeR27gLcuXriOsw01-8FLa78L/s640/Allen%252C+Josh+-+Out+to+Get+You+13+Tales+of+Weirdness+and+Woe+Glow+in+the+Dark+Cover.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>My Book Review:</b></h2></div>Josh Allen's collection of scary short stories, <a href="https://amzn.to/2Gz2Fga" target="_blank"><i>Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe</i></a>, is exactly what is middle-grade readers need right now. While great detective mysteries, graphic novels, and comic stories abound, really entertaining short stories that have the power to immediately captivate audiences and have even non-readers coming back for more have been missing: <i>Out to Get You</i> is the book we've been waiting for, just in time for Halloween.<br />
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Growing up, I had books like R.L. Stine's classic <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2GCSuat" target="_blank">Goosebumps</a> </i>series and Alvin Schwartz's even creepier <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2SPmLHX" target="_blank">Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark</a> </i>to haunt my sleepovers (Stephen Gammell's <i>Scary Story</i> illustrations still give me the shivers). Allen delivers what modern kid audiences have long needed.<br />
<br />
In <a href="https://amzn.to/2Gz2Fga" target="_blank"><i>Out to Get You</i></a>, Allen successfully proves he can capture readers' attentions in just a few lines, drawing them in to well-written stories of the odd, paranormal, unexplained, and horrifying. Twist-endings, dramatic irony, and characters' nightmares come to life and each story is a page-turner, engaging and delighting with "weirdness and woe." It's difficult to pick a favorite, but a couple contenders would be "When Daunted Vanished, They Said He Moved to Ohio" (a tale wherein a boy gets to pick the devil's brain) and "The Color of Ivy" that will make me think twice before writing on my hand in pen ever again. Below is a short synopsis of each of the thirteen tales.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"Vanishers"</b></h2>After school one day, best friends Jacob and Jakob walk home and brainstorm how to write a scary story for a homework assignment. They invent “The Vanishers” and what horrifying things these monsters are capable of doing to their unwilling, child victims.<br />
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<h2><b>"Nine Lives"</b></h2>Miranda’s mom gets fed up with the messes her cat, Licorice, keeps making. When Miranda doesn’t stick up for her feline friend, she learns what it means when they say cats have nine lives.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"The Stain on the Cafeteria Floor"</b></h2>Malia and her klutzy friend, Janet, discover a weird stain on the cafeteria floor. Even weirder, the stain swallows dimes and turkey sandwiches whole, growing bigger and bigger. Janet wants to get help, but Malia wants to keep it a secret.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"When Daunte Vanished, They Said He Moved to Ohio"</b></h2>This story has a great, most attention-grabbing first line. The plot: Daunte Frederick Coleman gets to meet the devil and ask him three questions. <br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"The Color of Ivy"</b></h2>Ivy finds a sparkly, greenish-black marker and instead of turning it in to the lost and found, she uses it to draw an ivy with her name. But Ivy doesn’t just draw her name on a piece of paper--she draws in on her hand--and soon the marker starts drawing for her.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"Neat-o Burrito"</b></h2>Matt feels like a fool after he says the words “neato-burrito” to his crush, Caroline Spencer. On his way home from school, he finds a magic lamp and a genie who can grant him one wish, but something about the genie makes Matt worry he’s in for trouble.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"Crossing"</b></h2>Every day when they walk to school, Owen races his older sister, Hannah, up a hill in front of a school-crossing sign. Every day, Hannah wins. When Owen takes a closer look at the sign, he notices something unusual about the boy and girl on it.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"The Voice"</b></h2>Cindy Watson’s teacher, Mrs. Huber, has mastered how to use a particular voice when yelling at her students to get them to listen to her. Cindy wants Mrs. Huber’s power to end.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"Goodbye, Ridgecrest Middle School"</b></h2>One day when washing his hands in the bathroom wondering when he’ll ever stop mixing up his teachers’ names (Mr. Johansen and Mr. Johnson), a scary message is dispensed onto Wally's paper towel, warning him that he only has two days left.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"Mighty Comfy"</b></h2>Heidi’s dad picks up a couch someone has left by the side of the road. While he’s excited to sit on it and watch old cowboy movies, Heidi’s worried about where it came from.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"Sorry, Froggy"</b></h2>It’s frog-dissection day in biology class. Brady couldn’t be more excited, but Julia thinks Brady needs to learn a lesson. <br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"Staring Contest"</b></h2>Livvy and her dad have just moved two-hundred miles to an old house in need of a lot of repair. For Livvy’s dad this is a dream come true, but Livvy feels like the house is watching her.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>"The Shadow Curse"</b></h2>Mason has had a month to do his book report, but on the morning it’s due he still hasn’t started. When it’s his turn to stand in front of the class to give his presentation, Mason invents the story of "The Shadow Curse," but his classmates and teacher aren’t the only ones listening.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"></div><br />
I highly recommend <a href="https://amzn.to/2Gz2Fga" target="_blank"><i>Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe</i></a> for any middle-grade reader (ages 8-12). It's just the right balance of creepy mystery and fun intrigue, without ever crossing a line to draw discomfort from teachers, parents, and librarians. My one hope is that the publisher will realize what a great book this is and quickly turn it into a series.<br />
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If you still need another reason to order Josh Allen's book, the glow-in-the-dark hardcover should seal the deal for you. Though I received a paperback advanced reader's copy from the publisher, I've seen (and tested) the glow-in-the-dark cover in person and let me tell you, it was pretty cool. <br />
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<i>Advanced reader's copy received from the publisher.</i></div><script type="text/javascript">
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