(Trying to) Keep up with the Book Work

The to-read shelf is still wildly out of control, but I have moved four more books off of it and into other problem areas.

I mentioned in other places a little bit about Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer.  It’s an Obama-Biden buddy mystery narrated from Joe’s perspective.  It was clever and hilarious.  It also took my mind off the world for a little while, a not-inconsiderably benefit in these times.

Ann M. Little’s book The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright fills some of the empty space that is women’s place in history.  It tells the story of a woman who began life in colonial America, was captured by Native Americans, converted to Catholicism, and became a nun in what is now Canada.  We often think of history as what happens in war or politics, but that leaves out so much of how people live, what culture exists, how daily life shapes wider movements and vice versa.  This book is fascinating and well-written.  I highly recommend it.

I would not have sought out Marjorie Dorner’s book Seasons of Sun and Rain.  It came with my Little Free Library.  It tells the story of a group of women who have been friends since college.  They are on a girls’ trip with the twist that one of them has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  Each chapter comes from the perspective of a different friend, which brings something to the story, or would if the voices of the women were more distinct.  I didn’t find any of the characters particularly memorable and if I had to read about anyone else’s slim hands I was going to throw the book.  It wasn’t a horrible book, but definitely not a keeper.

The Lost Kingdom by Matthew J. Kirby, however, is a keeper.  I like his books for kids/young adults.  This particular one is an alternative history in a colonial America that has a flying ship and mammoths.  It’s a classic quest story with all the life lessons, drama, and character development that implies, all well-told.  Bonus points for cameos of Ben Franklin and George Washington.

Current Summer Reading Total:  21