The Light of Days

 

Title:  The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos

Author: Judy Batalion

Publisher: HarperAudio

 
ISBN: n/a

 

Thoughts: Uplifting true stories of female Jewish resistance fighters, but it was hard to keep all of them straight, which may have been easier with a print copy.

Rating: 3/5

The Art of Living

 

Title:  The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness

Author: Epictetus & Sharon Lebell

Publisher: HarperOne

 
ISBN: 9780061286056

 

Thoughts: Interesting and approachable introduction to stoicism.

Rating: 3/5

Slavery by Another Name

 

Title:  Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americas from the Civil War to World War II

Author: Douglas A. Blackmon

Publisher: Anchor

 
ISBN: 9780385722704

 

Thoughts: Blackmon starts the book by saying it is the story of Green Cottingham, but it is a lot more than that and overly dense with information.

Rating: 3/5

Billy Miller Makes a Wish

 

Title:  Billy Miller Makes a Wish

Author: Kevin Henkes

Publisher: Greenwillow

 
ISBN: 9780063042797

 

Thoughts: Things happen, but still not as exciting as some books I remember reading when I was younger.

Rating: 3/5

Call Down the Hawk

 

Title:  Call Down the Hawk

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Scholastic

 
ISBN: 9781338188325

 

Thoughts: So deep with so many moving parts, but they all come together in a magical way.

Rating: 5/5

Girls with Bright Futures

 

Title:  Girls with Bright Futures

Author: Tracy Dobmeier & Wendy Katzman

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

 
ISBN: 9781728216461

 

Thoughts: Fun, fast-paced, and often shocking story that cannot be put down.

Rating: 5/5

Ivy + Bean Get to Work!

 

Title:  Ivy + Bean Get to Work!

Author: Annie Burrows

Publisher: Chronicle

 
ISBN: 9781797205106

 

Thoughts: Fast-paced chapter book that does allow young readers to draw some of their own connections.

Rating: 3/5

Rodham

 

Title:  Rodham

Author: Curtis Sittenfeld

Publisher: Penguin Random House

 
ISBN: 9780525527848

 

Thoughts: This starts very realistic, but some absurdness creeps in as the altered history gets further from its deviation point, making for a fun read.

Rating: 3/5

Final Justice

 

Title:  Final Justice

Author: Fern Michaels

Publisher: Zebra

 
ISBN: 9781420101881

 

Thoughts: I know this was the 12th of a series, but at so many points, I had absolutely no clue what was going on or why, even when it was part of the plot of just this installment.

Rating: 1/5

The One and Only Ivan

 

Title:  The One and Only Ivan

Author: Katherine Applegate

Publisher: HarperCollins

 
ISBN: 9780061992254

 

Thoughts: An approachable look at animal captivity and abuse for younger readers wrapped in a highly engaging story.

Rating: 4/5

King of Scars

 

Title:  King of Scars

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Imprint

 
ISBN: 9781250142283

 

Thoughts: Amazingly well-thought fantasy world, and while this does reference back to previous GrishaVerse novels, it can definitely be an entry point into the world.

Rating: 4/5

The Book of Koli

 

Title:  The Book of Koli

Author: M. R. Carey

Publisher: Orbit

 
ISBN: 9780316477536

 

Thoughts: This takes a little bit to get into because of the minor but logical language changes Carey imagines in this future, but it is so worth it as this is one of the best dystopians I have read in a long while.

Rating: 5/5

The Boys King Arthur

 

Title:  The Boys King Arthur

Author: Sidney Lanier

Publisher: Createspace

 
ISBN: 9781523813025

 

Thoughts: This story of King Arthur was pared down for children, but it was still complicated and, frankly, boring, plus riddled with typos that could have easily been fixed with a good proofing.

Rating: 1/5

Circe

 

Title:  Circe

Author: Madeline Miller

Publisher: Hachette

 
ISBN: n/a

 

Thoughts:  Seems like it is best for a true mythology lover - must at least have some knowledge of mythology to appreciate.

Rating: 3/5

Stacking the Shelves: 4/4-4/10

 Bought from Scholastic:

The Palace of Secrets by Rhona Cleary, Agnese Innocente, Gaia Urbinati, & Ilaria Cardinali

Unicorn of Many Hats by Dana Simpson

The Sand Warrior by Mark Siegel, Alexis Siegel, Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller, & Boya Sun

City of a Thousand Gates

 

Title:  City of a Thousand Gates

Author: Rebecca Sacks

Publisher: Harper

 
ISBN: 9780063011472

 

Thoughts:  Beautiful weaving of the stories of various fictional Israelis and Palestinians taking the conflict from news to heart.

Rating: 5/5

Monday or Tuesday

 

Title:  Monday or Tuesday: Eight Stories

Author: Virginia Woolf

Publisher: Dover

 
ISBN: 9780486294537

 

Thoughts:  Well-written, mainly stream-of-conscious stories; especially liked "A Society".

Rating: 3/5

Simon B. Rhymin'

 

Title:  Simon B. Rhymin'

Author: Dwayne Reed

Publisher: Little, Brown

 
ISBN: 9780316538978

 

Thoughts:  Very positive story about finding your voice and helping your community, although there seemed to be some plot jumps.

Rating: 3/5

Royal Scandal

 

Title:  Royal Scandal

Author: Marquita Valentine

Publisher: Loveswept

 
ISBN: n/a

 

Thoughts:  If this had stayed sweet like it wanted, it would have been a perfect read, but the spicy bits just did not seem to fit with the characters and through me out of the story.

Rating: 3/5

Icebound

 

Title:  G.I. Joe Frontline: Icebound

Author: Dan Jolley & Drew Johnson

Publisher: Devil's Due

 
ISBN: 1932796142

 

Thoughts:  I have never read G.I. Joe before, so I had no clue it was going to be not just action but sci-fi as well.

Rating: 3/5

The Rib King

 

Title:  The Rib King

Author: Laddee Hubbard

Publisher: Amistad

 
ISBN: 97810062979063

 

Thoughts:  I have no clue how to describe this - just read it!

Rating: 5/5

Big Summer

 

Title:  Big Summer

Author: Jennifer Weiner

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

 
ISBN: n/a

 

Thoughts:  I was expecting a good beach read, but this was so much more.

Rating: 5/5

Stacking the Shelves: 3/14-4/3

Received in Bibliosmia Box:

 

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden