The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

 

Title:  The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Author: Kim Michele Richardson

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

 
ISBN: 9781492691631

 

Thoughts:  While the very end seemed rushed, the rest of the story is deep and layered, and it is amazing to think that is was set less than a century ago.

Rating: 4/5

The Authenticity Project

 

Title:  The Authenticity Project

Author: Claire Pooley

Publisher: Penguin Random

 
ISBN: n/a

 

Thoughts:  Wonderfully fun character-driven story with a few unexpected twists.

Rating: 5/5

The Magical Reality of Nadia

 

Title:  The Magical Reality of Nadia

Author: Bassen Youssef & Catherine R. Daly

Publisher: Scholastic

 
ISBN: 9781338572285

 

Thoughts:  This was a lot of fun book with a good lesson, but I felt there could have been more to it.

Rating: 3/5

Catch and Release

 

Title:  Catch and Release

Author: Laura Drewry

Publisher: Loveswept

 
ISBN: n/a

 

Thoughts:  Sweet, enjoyable romance.

Rating: 4/5

 

The Butterfly Defect

 

Title:  The Butterfly Defect

Author: Adam Hughes

Publisher: self

 
ISBN: 9781370110629

 

Thoughts:  Some strong points, but also somewhat confusing due to lack of fleshing out some other points.

Rating: 3/5

Ruins of Sapphire

 

Title:  Ruins of Sapphire

Author: Justine Alley Dowsett

Publisher: Mirror World

 
ISBN: 9781987976700

 

Thoughts:  Amazing world-building, but I cannot figure out why the English/Canadian author chose a Japanese school girl as a main character except maybe to attract manga/anime fans.

Rating: 3/5

The Night Watchman

 

Title:  The Night Watchman

Author: Louise Erdrich

Publisher: HarperAudio

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts:  I know the title character is based on Erdrich's grandfather, but it is a little misleading because the story, which is very well-written, is about the whole community, not just one person.

Rating: 3/5

Stacking the Shelves: 2/7-3/13

LibraryThing Early Review:

 

The Step Back by JT Bushnell

 

Too Many Women, Too Little Time by David William Pierce

This Is How You Lose the Time War

 

Title:  This Is How You Loose the Time War

Author: Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

 
ISBN: 9781508287070

Thoughts:  Very inventive blending of sci-fi and fantasy, but it was hard to tell the two narrators apart on the audiobook.

Rating: 3/5

Zingers

 

Title:  Zingers: Five Novellas Blowing Like Dust on the Desert Wind

Author: John C. Krieg

Publisher: Anaphora

 
ISBN: 9781681145433

Thoughts:  None of these had a plot I enjoyed, but they were even harder to read with all the head-hopping and dialogue mushed into paragraphs.

Rating: 1/5

The Making of the American Theatre

 

Title:  The Making of the American Theatre

Author: Howard Taubman

Publisher: Coward McCann

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts: The historical parts of this were very insightful, but once it go to the mid-20th century, Taubman began offering too many opinions.

Rating: 2/5

Chibi Vampire: Bites

 

Title:  Chibi Vampire: Bites

Author: Yuna Kagesaki

Publisher: Tokyopop

 
ISBN: 9781427831866

Thoughts: Honestly, not really sure whom this is for since more than half of it covers things die-hard fans would already know.

Rating: 2/5

Anxious People

 

Title:  Anxious People

Author: Fredrick Backman

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts: Backman's distinct writing style paired with Marin Ireland's spot-on narration make for a story that is actually way more hilarious than it sounds.

Rating: 5/5

Prayer for Beginners

 

Title:  Prayer for Beginners

Author: Peter Kreeft

Publisher: Ignatius

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts: Some good thoughts, some I am not sure of, but the big issue was the narrator just did not fit - her accent took away from when Kreeft talked about being American and her voice was very zen, making the whole book sound like a long meditation.

Rating: 2/5

Jewish Fairytales

 

Title:  Jewish Fairy Tales

Author: Gerald Friedlander

Publisher: Dover

 
ISBN: 9780486419824

Thoughts: I had heard versions of a few of these before, but I cannot say any really stood out.

Rating: 3/5

Flawless

 

Title:  Flawless

Author: Heather Graham

Publisher: Mira

 
ISBN: 9780778318811

Thoughts: Great romantic suspense that leaned more heavily on the suspense than romance.

Rating: 4/5

Take It Back

 

Title:  Take It Back

Author: Kia Abdullah

Publisher: St. Martin's

 
ISBN: 9781250273017

Thoughts: Not only is there a powerful message here, there are so many twists and turns that I could not put it down.

Rating: 5/5

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher

 

Title:  The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher

Author: Dana Alison Levy

Publisher: Delacorte

 
ISBN: 9780385376549

Thoughts: With its concentration on all four brothers, it made it a little hard to get into until about halfway through when it hit its stride.

Rating: 3/5

From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime

 

Title:  From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America

Author: Elizabeth Hinton

Publisher: Harvard

 
ISBN: 9780674737235

Thoughts:  Interesting look at how the war on poverty led to over-policing in African-American areas, but it felt like it was written in the the time it covered, so much so that the epilogue seemed incongruous.

Rating: 3/5

The Age of Grief

 

Title:  The Age of Grief

Author: Jane Smiley

Publisher: Anchor

 
ISBN: 9780385721875

Thoughts: Moving collection of stories, especially the title novella.

Rating: 4/5

Battlefield Earth

 

Title:  Battlefield Earth

Author: L. Ron Hubbard

Publisher: Galaxy

 
ISBN: 9781592129577

Thoughts: Hubbard is a highly detailed and imaginative writer, but each section would have worked better as a novella in a series rather than all together in a 1K page tome.

Rating: 3/5

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

 

Title:  Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race

Author: Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD

Publisher: Basic

 
ISBN: 9780465060689

Thoughts: Excellent and approachable look at race relations and racial identity.

Rating: 5/5

The Office of Historical Corrections

 

Title:  The Office of Historical Corrections

Author: Danielle Evans

Publisher: Riverhead

 
ISBN: 9781594487330

Thoughts: Evans's writing is so engaging that these stories sucked me in and really flew by; all were great, the the title piece was simply outstanding.

Rating: 4/5

Wrecking Ball

 

Title:  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball

Author: Jeff Kinney

Publisher: Amulet

 
ISBN: 9781419739033

Thoughts: Great lighthearted fare to balance out heavier reads or to get kids interested in reading.

Rating: 4/5

The New Jim Crow

 

Title: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Author: Michele Alexader

Publisher: The New Press

 
ISBN: 9781620975459

Thoughts: While there are a ton of facts and I understand where this is coming from, it is a little odd that there are sections that directly contradict the title.

Rating: 3/5