klahyatt
  • Home
  • Moving Pictures - A Novel
  • The Iris Project
  • Other Writing
  • Arts & Hobbies
  • Hat Gallery
  • About me/Contact
  • Professional site

April Reads, Part 2

5/14/2021

0 Comments

 
Miss Buncle’s Book, by D.E. Stevenson
A classic and a delight. I’ve had this book on my list for a while, after people in my Georgette Heyer group recommended it. I loved it. It’s 1930s, in a small village in rural England and Miss Buncle is in need of money so she writes a book based wholly on her neighbors. Her publisher can’t decide if it’s satire or sincere, but it doesn’t matter because the book is a hit. Except in her neighborhood where those who look the worst in the book (because they are the worst in real life) are out for blood, trying to determine who among them is the snake that exposed them. The story is hilarious and has a lovely ending.
 
Pumpkin, by Julie Murphy
This is to be the last entry in Murphy’s Clover City trilogy, and it follows Dumplin’ (wonderful) and Puddin’ (so great). Waylon is a fat, openly gay boy just about to graduate from high school with his twin sister, Clementine. When he is nominated for Prom Queen, and his sister’s girlfriend, Hannah, is nominated for Prom King, they decide to run with the joke and go for it. As part of the process, he is teamed up with Prom King nominee, Tucker, who is a long-time frenemy. But turns out Tucker might have some secrets of his own. Just like the other two books in the series, this is highly readable story of an outsider making it and reading along as Waylon truly comes into his own was a pleasure.
 
Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire
This is the origin story of Jack and Jill, two of the main characters in McGuire’s Every Heart a Doorway. Jaqueline was raised to be a girly girl while her identical twin Jillian was raised to be a tom boy, neither of which was who they really were. When they step through a doorway into the world of the Moors, they get to become who they most are, which for Jill is not so good. This was an interesting addendum to the original novella. It seemed to drag for me as the story was a lot of explaining and not much action. I think it was meant to read as a fairytale, but that got lost in the twee language and its length.
 
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, by Becky Chambers
I have been very excited for this fourth installment in the Wayfarers series. It did not disappoint. The story takes place just after the action in A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and includes the character Pei who is a minor character in that book. She is staying at a small enclave during a layover between space hops along with a few other disparate species. When an atmospheric accident strands the travelers along with their hosts for a few days, they learn about each other, their differences, and how they can overcome them to be friends. A lovely, quiet sci fi book. A perfect ending for this beloved series.
 
Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, by Jess Kidd
And on to a horror-ish book. This is an odd one to describe. It’s a thriller, a ghost story, an odd couples story, and a story about grief and guilt. Maud is a caregiver to the elderly and her latest project is Cathal Flood who has a reputation for scaring his caregivers off within a few days. Yet, he and Maud find a balance. Maud’s life is circumscribed, going only to work and visiting with her agoraphobic landlady. She also sees and interacts with Saints who flit in and out of her life. Maud uncovers a mystery surrounding Cathal’s long-lost daughter that seems to mimic a tragedy in Maud’s life and she becomes obsessed with discovering the truth. I liked this one a lot. Tons of stuff going on, but nothing that doesn’t add to the story. It left me with lots of thoughts, which is a good thing.
 
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, by Jose Antonio Vargas
A short, bittersweet somewhat memoir about Vargas’s life as an undocumented Filipino immigrant. He was brought to the U.S. as a 12-year-old and had no idea about his status until he was 16. He describes his life as a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist while constantly fearing his deportation. It is a worthwhile book to read that everyone should read. This quote towards the end stuck with me: “Home is not something I should have to earn. Humanity is not some box I should have to check.”
 
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, by Dawnie Walton
This book is written in an interview format with passages identified as “Editor’s Notes.” It is a retrospective on the lackluster start and meteoric rise of the (fictional) early 1970s pop punk duo known as Opal & Nev. Researched and written by a music journalist, Sunny, who has a tragic connection to the duo, the story examines the history of singer, provocateur Opal (black) and the pop songwriter Nev (white), their work together, including the tragic death of their drummer, and the aftermath of their work together. Along the way it morphs into a story of Sunny’s own connection with Opal and how the racism Opal dealt with in 1972 is still occurring today. The format made this a difficult read for me, but the ending was so so satisfying.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Welcome!

    Thanks for visiting. If you are looking for information about  Moving Pictures or The Iris Project, click on the links above. Here you’ll find short stories and other works by me, including arts and crafts and hats. Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy.



    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

Proudly powered by Weebly