Saturday, March 16, 2024

Listen for the Lie

Listen for the Lie 
By Amy Tintera
Celadon Books, 2024. 336 pages. Fiction

What would you do if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thinks so too? What if the truth doesn't matter? As Lucy Chase's Texas hometown begins to tell versions of what happened and who Lucy is to a nationwide, true crime obsessed audience, at the bequest of her grandmother, she returns to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend's murder, even if she is the one that did it. 

Listen for the Lie is a classic who-dun it modernized for the podcast generation. I really enjoyed how the story was intertwined with the podcast transcript and, while I read the book, I predict the audiobook would really make the story come alive during those sections. Tintera did a fantastic job at describing rural, small-town Texas and the community that type of town fosters. Also, for a thriller, it’s quite funny...in a dark comedic way. Overall, if you’re looking for a modern, suspenseful tale, Listen for the Lie is the book for you!

By Simone St. James
Berkley, 2024. 342 pages. Fiction

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They're looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to be a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchhiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them. When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

By Ashley Elston
Viking Books, 2024. 340 pages. Fiction

Evie Porter has everything a Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, and a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn't exist. The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she's given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job. Evie isn't privy to Mr. Smith's real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she's starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can't make any mistakes--especially after what happened last time. Because the one thing she's worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to--her real identity--just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there's still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn't be higher, but then, Evie has always liked a challenge.

BW

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

A Little Devil in America

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance 
By Hanif Abdurraqib 
Random House, 2021. 300 pages. Nonfiction 

A Little Devil in America is an urgent project that unravels all modes and methods of Black performance, in this moment when Black performers are coming to terms with their value, reception, and immense impact on America. With sharp insight, humor, and heart, Abdurraqib examines how Black performance happens in specific moments in time and space--midcentury Paris, the moon, or a cramped living room in Columbus, Ohio. Abdurraqib's prose is entrancing and fluid as he leads us along the links in his remarkable trains of thought. A Little Devil in America considers, critiques, and praises performance in music, sports, writing, comedy, grief, games, and love. 

This is one of the most stunning collections of essays I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I, personally, listened to the audiobook, which I would highly recommend. Hanif Abdurraqib writes so poetically that these essays are enhanced by being spoke out loud. He speaks about the subject of each essay with reverence and generosity while delving into critically important social commentary. He is able to paint the bigger picture while highlighting the most beautiful intricacy. The essays “The Josephine Baker Monument Can Never Be Large Enough” and “It Is Safe to Say I Have Lost Many Games of Spades” were particularly profound for me. Highly, highly recommend. 

If you like A Little Devil in America, you might also like: 

By Danyel Smith 
Roc Lit 101, One World, 2021. 292 pages. Nonfiction 

From one of the preeminent cultural critics of her generation, a radiant weave of memoir, criticism, and biography that tells the story of black women in music--from the Dixie Cups to Gladys Knight to Janet, Whitney, and Mariah-- as the foundational story of American pop. 

By Jasmine Mans 
Berkley, 2021. 245 pages. Nonfiction 

A literary coming-of-age poetry collection, an ode to the places we call home, and a piercingly intimate deconstruction of daughterhood, Black Girl, Call Home is a love letter to the wandering black girl and a vital companion to any woman on a journey to find truth, belonging, and healing. As a competitive spoken-word poet who draws large crowds of people, Jasmine Mans's collection is divided into six sections, each with a corresponding active telephone number where she has recorded excerpts of her poems. You can listen now, just dial! Using poetry to bring change to the world with positive agitation and hoping to prompt dialogue where there is normally fear, poet Jasmine Mans explores the intersection of race, feminism, and queer identity in her latest collection Black Girl, Call Home.

The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts

cover of "The Six," featuring a photo of a space shuttle, with outlines of the first six female astronauts standing in front.
The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts
by Loren Grush
Scribner, 2023. 422 pages. Nonfiction

When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilotsa group then made up exclusively of menhad the right stuff. It was an era in which women were steered away from jobs in science and deemed unqualified for space flight. Eventually, though, NASA opened the application process to a wider array of hopefuls, regardless of race or gender. From a candidate pool of 8,000, six elite women were selected in 1978Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon. In The Six, acclaimed journalist Loren Grush shows these brilliant and courageous women enduring claustrophobicand sometimes deeply sexistmedia attention, undergoing rigorous survival training, and preparing for years to take multi-million-dollar payloads into orbit. Together, the Six helped build the tools that made the space program run.

If you had asked me before reading this book, the only female astronaut I could have named was Sally Ride. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that there were at least five other female astronauts working along with Sally, all with their individual specialties and interests, and all of them got to go to space! This book also covers the intrepid women who came before "the Six," fighting make the case that women really can be astronauts, even though they weren't allowed to do so themselves. Of additional interest to Utah-based readers, this book also covers the spaceflight of Utah senator Jake Garn, since he shared a spaceflight with Rhea Seddon. This book is a great read for those who are interested in NASA, the 80s, and learning about awesome real-life women who accomplished amazing things.

If you like The Six you might also like:

by Meredith E. Bagby
William Morrow, 2023. 511 pages. Nonfiction

The never-before-told story of the barrier-breaking NASA class of 1978, which for the first time consisted of a diverse crew of women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and more, and their triumphs and tragedies working on the newly launched space shuttle program, with the exclusive cooperation of five astronauts.

cover of the book "Fly Girls," featuring a photo of female pilots
Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
by Keith O'Brien
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. 338 pages. Nonfiction

High adventure and high ideals merge when a corps of intrepid female aviators battle to take part in the hugely popular air shows of the 1920s and 1930s. Ultimately, one of our heroines would win a race that earned her the right to be called America's best pilot.

by Amy Shira Teitel
Grand Central Publishing, 2020. 426 pages. Nonfiction

The mostly-unknown tale of Jackie Cochran and Jerrie Cobbtwo accomplished aviatrixes, one generation apart, who each dreamed of being the first woman in space, but along the way battled their egos, their expectations, and ultimately the patriarchal society that stood between them and the stars.

MB

Monday, March 11, 2024

A Fate Inked in Blood

By Danielle L. Jensen
Del Rey, 2024. 418 pages. Fantasy

A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king—while fighting her growing desire for his fiery son.

A Norse Mythology infused romantic fantasy, perfect for those looking for the same instant attraction that they found so enjoyable between the characters of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.  This is a steamy action-packed story, and while its’ storyline has its’ roots in the mythology it reads much more like a contemporary novel with just a few words and phrases here and there to remind the reader that it isn't.  Recommended for avid Romantasy lovers, and all who enjoy their male leads of the strong dark tattooed variety.      

If you like A Fate Inked in Blood you might also like:


Sanctuary of the Shadow
By Aurora Ascher
Red Tower Books, 2024. 405 pages.  Fantasy

Hidden within an unusual circus run by a centuries-old Enchanter, Harrow, keeping her true identity and magical ability a secret, finds her destiny in an elemental with no recollection of who he is, forcing her to reveal the secrets from her own dark past to save this dangerous creature.

Fourth Wing
By Rebecca Yarros
Red Tower Books, 2023. 498 pages. Fantasy

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

RBL

Saturday, March 9, 2024

A Season of Monstrous Conceptions

A Season of Monstrous Conceptions 
By Lina Rather
Recorded Books, 2023. 4 Hours. Fantasy

An eldritch historical fantasy of midwifery, monstrosity, and the rending of the world, for fans of The Essex Serpent and The Death of Jane Lawrence. In seventeenth-century London, unnatural babies are being born with eyes made for the dark and webbed digits suited to the sea. Sarah Davis is intimately familiar with such strangeness. Having fled her old life under suspicious circumstances to start over in the city as a midwife's apprentice, she'd hoped to leave such uncanniness far behind. But with each new unnatural birth she attends, the greater the fear in London grows of the Devil's work. When the wealthy Lady Faith hires her to see her through her pregnancy, Sarah quickly becomes a favorite of her husband, the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren, whose interest in the uncanny borders on obsession. Sarah soon finds herself caught in a web of magic and intrigue created by those who want to use her power for themselves, and whose pursuits threaten to unmake the earth itself.


I started this book with the intention of it being my introduction to horror. While there are darker themes and a general "uncanny" vibe (that word is used quite a lot), I did not feel horrified. The mood was compelling and suspenseful, but we hear the story mixed in with the main characters thoughts, memories, and feelings. She is a interesting mix of practical and thoughtful in every situation. I think her own lack of fear helps remove some of that horror for the listener as well. I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of the midwives being women of magic in a world turning more towards men of science. This is a great short listen for anyone wanting something softly creepy and ultimately feminist that examines the choices people make for power and acceptance.        


If you like A Season of Monstrous Conceptions, you might also like: 



By Alexis Henderson
Ace/Berkley, 2020. 359 pages. Fantasy

A young woman living in a rigid, repressive society discovers dark powers within herself, with terrifying and far-reaching consequences, in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut. In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet's word is law, Immanuelle Moore's very existence is blasphemy. The daughter of an union with an outsider that cast her once-proud family into disgrace, Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the women in the settlement. But a chance mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still walking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the diary of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood. Fascinated by secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.

By Gabriela Romero Lacruz

Orbit, 2023. 559 pages. Fantasy


When Reina arrives at Aguila Manor, her heart stolen from her chest, she's on the verge of death--until her estranged grandmother, a dark sorceress in the Don's employ, intervenes. Indebted to a woman she never knew, and smitten with the upper-caste daughter of the house, Celeste, Reina will do anything to earn--and keep--the family's favor. Even the bidding of the ancient god who speaks to her from the Manor's foundations. To save the woman she loves, Reina will have to defy the gods themselves, and become something she never could have imagined.



The Witching Tide
By Margaret Meyer
Scribner, 2023. 327 pages. Historical Fiction

East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer, and servant, has lived peacefully for more than four decades in her beloved seaside village of Cleftwater. Having lost her voice as a child, Martha has not spoken a word in years. One autumn morning, a sinister newcomer appears in town. The witchfinder, Silas Makepeace, has been blazing a trail of destruction along the coast, and now has Cleftwater in his sights. His arrival strikes fear into the heart of the community. Within a day, local women are being captured and detained, and Martha finds herself a silent witness to the hunt. Powerless to protest, Martha is enlisted to search the accused women for "devil's marks." She is caught between suspicion and betrayal; between shielding herself or condemning the women of the village. In desperation, she revives a wax witching doll that belonged to her mother, in the hope that it will bring protection. But the doll's true powers are unknowable, Martha harbors a terrible secret, and the gallows are looming.

KJ

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

The Heiress

The Heiress  
St. Martin’s Press, 2024. 304 pages. Fiction.
by Rachel Hawkins

 When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she's not only North Carolina's richest woman, she's also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family's estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past. Ten years later, his uncle's death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable. And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what's written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave. 

2024 is the year of thrillers for my reading list. This Gothic fiction is a fast-paced, addictive read. Plus, the short chapters have you thinking, ‘Just one more!’ while you stay up way past your bedtime. The point of view varies between 3 characters. Ruby is my favorite, whose point of view is shared through letters to an unknown recipient. Ruby is an unreliable, sarcastic yet intimidating personality. There is also a husband and wife, Cam and Jules. It's hard to put trust in any character though, they all have secrets. If you want family drama, wildly rich people, inheritance and succession all written in a compelling, atmospheric style with a pretty satisfying ending, this book is a great choice.

If you like The Heiress, you might also like:

 By Eve Chase England 
G.P. Putnam’s Son, 2020. 353 pages. Mystery.

On the one-year anniversary of the Harrington family's darkest night, their beautiful London home goes up in flames. Mrs. Harrington, the two children, and live-in nanny Rita relocate to Foxcote Manor, ostensibly to recuperate. But the creeping forest, where lost things have a way of coming back, is not as restful as it seems. When thirteen-year-old Hera discovers a baby girl abandoned just beyond their garden gate, this tiniest, most wondrous of secrets brings a much-needed sunlit peace, until a visitor detonates the family's tenuous happiness. All too soon a body lies dead in the woods. Forty years later, London-based Sylvie is an expert at looking the other way. It's how she stayed married to her unfaithful husband for more than twenty years. But she's turned over a new leaf, having left him for a fresh start. She buried her own origin story decades ago, never imagining her teenage daughter would have a shocking reason to dig the past up--and to ask Sylvie to finally face the secrets that lead her back to Foxcote Manor. 

By Lisa Jewell 
Atria Books, 2019. 340 pages. Mystery. 

Gifted musician Clemency Thompson is playing for tourists on the streets of Southern France when she receives an urgent text message. Her childhood friend, Lucy, is demanding her immediate return to London. It's happening, says the message. The baby is back. Libby Jones was only six months old when she became an orphan. Now 25, she's astounded to learn of an inheritance that will change her life. A gorgeous, dilapidated townhouse in one of London's poshest neighborhoods has been held in a trust for her all these years. Now, it's hers. As Libby investigates the story of her birth parents and the dark legacy of her new home, Clemency and Lucy are headed her way to uncover, and possibly protect, secrets of their own. What really happened in that rambling Chelsea mansion when they were children? And are they still at risk? 

JK

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

The Enchanted Life

By Sharon Blackie
Ambrosia, 2018. 356 pages. Nonfiction

Taking as her starting point the inspiration and wisdom that can be derived from myth, fairy tales, and folk culture, Dr. Sharon Blackie offers a set of practical and grounded tools for enchanting our lives and the places we live, so leading to a greater sense of meaning and of belonging to the world.

Enchantment. By Dr. Blackie's definition, a vivid sense of belongingness to a rich and many-layered world, a profound and whole-hearted participation in the adventure of life. Enchantment is a natural, spontaneous human tendency—one we possess as children, but lose, through social and cultural pressures, as we grow older. It is an attitude of mind which can be cultivated: the enchanted life is possible for anyone. It is intuitive, embraces wonder, and fully engages the mythic imagination—but it is also deeply embodied in ecology, grounded in place and community.

"To live this way is to be challenged, to be awakened, to be gripped and shaken to the core by the extraordinary which lies at the heart of the ordinary."

Sharon Blackie shares with us what she perceives as the enchanted life. With beautiful prose and creative storytelling, she crafts thought provoking chapters describing how to find the magic in the everyday. At times the advice can seem a bit woo woo but it is impactful all the same. At the end of each point, she provides stimulating questions to help you evaluate your life and see how you can enliven your being. This book would be a great one to read for a book group as it contains its own talking points! Anyone who enjoys self-evaluation, myth and fairy tales, and connecting with nature will find themselves enchanted by this book.

JJC

If you like The Enchanted Life you might also like:

Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit

By Lyanda Lynn Haupt
Little, Brown Spark, 2021. 240 pages. Nonfiction

In Rooted, cutting-edge science supports a truth that poets, artists, mystics, and earth-based cultures across the world have proclaimed over life on this planet is radically interconnected. Our bodies, thoughts, minds, and spirits are affected by the whole of nature, and they affect this whole in return. In this time of crisis, how can we best live upon our imperiled, beloved earth?

Award-winning writer Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s highly personal new book is a brilliant invitation to live with the earth in both simple and profound ways—from walking barefoot in the woods and reimagining our relationship with animals and trees, to examining the very language we use to describe and think about nature. She invokes rootedness as a way of being in concert with the wilderness—and wildness—that sustains humans and all of life.

In the tradition of Rachel Carson, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Mary Oliver, Haupt writes with urgency and grace, reminding us that at the crossroads of science, nature, and spirit we find true hope. Each chapter provides tools for bringing our unique gifts to the fore and transforming our sense of belonging within the magic and wonder of the natural world. 

By Kaitlin B. Curtice
Brazos Press, 2023. 208 pages. Nonfiction

In an era in which "resistance" has become tokenized, popular Indigenous author Kaitlin Curtice reclaims it as a basic human calling. Resistance is for every human who longs to see their neighbors' holistic flourishing. We each have a role to play in the world right where we are, and our everyday acts of resistance hold us all together.

Curtice shows that we can learn to practice embodied ways of belonging and connection to ourselves and one another through everyday practices, such as getting more in touch with our bodies, resting, and remembering our ancestors. She explores four "realms of resistance"—the personal, the communal, the ancestral, and the integral—and shows how these realms overlap and why all are needed for our liberation. Listeners will be empowered to seek wholeness in whatever spheres of influence they inhabit.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Confetti Realms

Confetti Realms
By Nadia Shammas
Maverick, 2023. 196 pages. Young Adult Comic.

On Halloween night, when the moon is full, teenagers get up to mischief. But when an encounter with a giant, sentient puppet in a graveyard sends four teens to a mysterious dimension called the Confetti Realms, they must overcome obstacles in their own friendships and collect the debted teeth owed to the puppet in order to make their way home. But the allure of staying in a fantasy world is a hard one to beat, and going home to their normal lives is starting to sound less and less appealing for some. Will these friends return home?

I know what you're thinking.  A Halloween book at this time of year?  But to anyone looking for something mildly spooky to make their spring a little bit more interesting, I'd definitely recommend giving Confetti Realms a try!  As the characters complete their quests for teeth they find out more about themselves, each other, and the weird and whimsical Confetti Realms they've been transported to.  The book has a color scheme and creatures that reminded me of Studio Ghibli movies, and many of the questions asked are left for the reader to answer, giving the book a generally eerie vibe without being so Halloween-y that readers can't enjoy it outside the month of October.  It has a fast plot and an open ending that leaves the reader wondering about the characters' true fate. All-in-all, a somewhat spooky and very interesting read!

If you liked Confetti Realms, you may also like: 
 
Spirited Away
By Hayao Miyazaki
Viz, 2002. 171 pages. Young Adult Comic.
 
Ten-year-old Chihiro and her family are on their way to their new home. Dad takes a wrong turn, though, and they become lost in a forest. Eventually they find their way to a strange abandoned amusement park. Chihiro wanders off. As night falls, Chihiro finds out she's in a world of ghosts, demons, and strange gods. A mysterious boy, Haku, tells her that to survive Chihiro must find work. She must go down to the boiler room and seek out an old man named Kamaji.

The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor
By Shaenon Garrity
Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2021. 224 pages. Young Adult Comics.
 
After she saves a man from drowning, Haley wakes up in a pocket universe that appears as a gothic estate and helps three brothers whose job it is to protect her world against a penultimate evil.

ERB

Friday, March 1, 2024

Letters to a Diminished Church

Letters to a Diminished Church   

By Dorothy L Sayers

W Publishing Group, 2004. 284 pages. Nonfiction

In her writings, Dorothy L. Sayers turned the popular perception of Christianity on its head. She argues that the essence of Christianity is in the character of Christ - energetic, dramatic, and utterly alive. This collection of sixteen brilliant essays reveals Sayers at her best - a robust view of Christianity as startling and relevant today as it was fifty years ago.

In the New York Times Book Review, when they interview an author, they often ask them whom they would invite to a dinner party. If I could answer that question, Dorothy L. Sayers would definitely be on my list. Better known for her Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series (which I also love and highly recommend), she was a very intelligent woman who graduated from Oxford in the 1910s, when women earning degrees was still a novelty. She translated Dante's Divine Comedy and was friends with C.S. Lewis. 'Letters to a Diminished Church' is a sharp and pertinent critique of modern society and how religion can sometimes get mixed up with the world, Through that critique, she shows a light on the proper way to live a Christian life, by focusing on the dogma or doctrine of Christianity. Her command of language makes this a delight to read. If you are a fan of C.S. Lewis, I highly recommend this book. 

If you like Letters to a Diminished Church, you might also like: 

By C.S. Lewis
Harper 2001. 227 pages. Nonfiction

One of the most popular introductions to Christian faith ever written, Mere Christianity brings together Lewis's legendary broadcast talks during World War Two. Here, Lewis provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith. A collection of scintillating brilliance, Mere Christianity remains strikingly fresh for the modern reader and at the same time confirms C.S. Lewis's reputation as one of the leading writers and thinkers of our age.

By Madeleine L'Engle
Convergent Books, 2017. 224 pages. Nonfiction

Most of the literature on Genesis and creation emphasizes what was created, and how. But in And it was good, Madeleine L'Engle casts long, loving, and perceptive glances at not only the created universe but at its Creator as well. At every level she sees the connections between Made and Maker, and in the vast beauty, order, and complexity of our world she observes many of the characteristics of God, the first poet. Just as L'Engle learns about God from his book Genesis, we learn about this human author from her book And It Was Good, the first volume in her Genesis Trilogy.

By G.K. Chesterton
Garden City, 1955. 280 pages. Nonfiction

According to the evolutionary outlines of history proposed by Wells and others, mankind is simply another sort of animal, and Jesus was a remarkable human being, and nothing more. Chesterton's thesis, as expressed in Part I of the book ('On the Creature Called Man'), is that if man is really and dispassionately viewed simply as another animal, one is forced to the conclusion that he is a bizarrely unusual animal. In Part II ('On the Man Called Christ'), Chesterton argues that if Jesus is really viewed as simply another human leader and Christianity and the Church are simply another human religion, one is forced to the conclusion that he was a bizarrely unusual leader, whose followers founded a bizarrely and miraculously unusual religion and Church. "I do not believe," he says, "that the past is most truly pictured as a thing in which humanity merely fades away into nature, or civilization merely fades away into barbarism, or religion fades away into mythology, or our own religion fades away into the religions of the world. In short I do not believe that the best way to produce an outline of history is to rub out the lines."

MGB

Thursday, February 29, 2024

The Frozen River

The Frozen River
by Ariel Lawhon
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2023. 432 pages. Historical Fiction 

1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day. 

I was familiar with Martha Ballard through Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s Pulitzer Prize winning biography, and I enjoyed returning to Martha’s life through the lens of fiction. The author’s lush descriptions, realistic historical details, and vivid characters immerse the reader immediately in the tense atmosphere of the story. I found myself outraged at how often the brilliant protagonist is sidelined professionally and personally by less knowledgeable men, but was fascinated by the ways she and the other women of the time still manage to claim autonomy in their lives. Author Ariel Lawhon has clearly researched the norms of the time period and the life of Martha Ballard in meticulous detail. Throughout the novel, the question of who killed Joshua Burgess adds an element of suspense to draw in mystery fans as well as historical fiction readers.

If you like The Frozen River, you might also like: 

The Lost Apothecary
by Sarah Penner
Park Row Books, 2021. 301 pages. Historical Fiction 

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientĆØle. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries. Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary's in a stunning twist of fate, and not everyone will survive. 

A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785 – 1812
by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Knopf, 1990. 444 pages. Biography 

Between 1785 and 1812 a midwife and healer named Martha Ballard kept a diary that recorded her arduous work (in 27 years she attended 816 births) as well as her domestic life in Hallowell, Maine. On the basis of that diary, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich gives us an intimate and densely imagined portrait, not only of the industrious and reticent Martha Ballard but of her society. At once lively and impeccably scholarly, A Midwife's Tale is a triumph of history on a human scale. 

Year of Wonders
by Geraldine Brooks
Viking, 2001. 308 pages. Historical Fiction 

 Eighteen-year-old Anna Firth tells the story of her remote English village, Eyam, which was infected by the plague in 1666 and where, persuaded by the vicar, the townspeople decided to quarantine themselves.



SGR

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

The Milky Way

The Milky Way: An autobiography of our galaxy 
By Moiya McTier
Grand Central Publishing, 2022. 244 pages. Nonfiction

After a few billion years of bearing witness to life on Earth, of watching one hundred billion humans go about their day-to-day lives, of feeling unbelievably lonely, and of hearing its own story told by others, the Milky Way would like a chance to speak for itself. All one hundred billion stars and fifty undecillion tons of gas of it. It all began some thirteen billion years ago, when clouds of gas scattered through the universe's primordial plasma just could not keep their metaphorical hands off each other. They succumbed to their gravitational attraction, and the galaxy we know as the Milky Way was born. Since then, the galaxy has watched as dark energy pushed away its first friends, as humans mythologized its name and purpose, and as galactic archaeologists have worked to determine its true age (rude). The Milky Way has absorbed supermassive (an actual technical term) black holes, made enemies of a few galactic neighbors, and mourned the deaths of countless stars. After all this time, the Milky Way finally feels that it's amassed enough experience for the juicy tell-all we've all been waiting for.

I have two very bad habits. First, I buy nonfiction books about science and lose the motivation to read them. Second, when I happen to read anything science related I just skip right over the numbers regardless of how important they are. This book fixed both problems. McTier presents scientific concepts in an accessible voice that allows even the most inexperienced science-lovers to engage with new concepts and ideas. I love the blend of artful storytelling and hard science. The voice of the Milky Way is unique, funny, and extremely endearing. I would recommend this book to anybody that's new to astronomy and everyone that supports STEAM over STEM.        


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Eat, Poop, Die: How animals make our world
By Joe Roman
Little, Brown Spark, 2023. 277 pages. Nonfiction

If forests are the lungs of the planet, then animals migrating across oceans, streams, and mountains—eating, pooping, and dying along the way—are its heart and arteries, pumping nitrogen and phosphorus from deep-sea gorges up to mountain peaks, from the Arctic to the Caribbean. Without this conveyor belt of crucial, life-sustaining nutrients, the world would look very different. Eat, Poop, Die takes readers on an exhilarating global adventure, revealing the remarkable ways in which the most basic biological activities of animals make and remake the world—and how a deeper understanding of these cycles provides us with opportunities to undo the damage humanity has wrought on the planet.

By Caitlin Doughty

W.W. Norton & Company, 2019. 222 pages. Nonfiction


Licensed mortician Caitlin Doughty answers real questions from kids about death, dead bodies, and decomposition. Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. What would happen to an astronaut's body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral? In the tradition of Randall Munroe's What If?, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, blends scientific understanding of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five urgent questions.



The Stuff of Life
By Mark Shultz
Hill and Wang, 2009. 150 pages. Graphic Novels, Nonfiction

Let's face it: From adenines to zygotes, from cytokinesis to parthenogenesis, even the basics of genetics can sound utterly alien. So who better than an alien to explain it all? Enter Bloort 183, a scientist from an asexual alien race threatened by disease, who's been charged with researching the fundamentals of human DNA and evolution and laying it all out in clear, simple language so that even his slow-to-grasp-the-point leader can get it. In the hands of the award-winning writer Mark Schultz, Bloort's predicament becomes the means of giving even the most science-phobic reader a complete introduction to the history and science of genetics that's as easy to understand as it is entertaining to read.


KJ