Review: The Darkest Child

The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dang, this was a rough listen. I never read this back in the day, so I was happy to see a new audio version, narrated by THE Bahni Turpin. She also narrated The Hate U Give, and, at first, I kept hearing that book and character's voice.

But, dang, Tangy Mae will grab hold of your heart. She's the young narrator, and her family is full of siblings, and a mother that you will want to kill. Seriously. Bad enough that it's 1950s Georgia and Jim Crow is present. But, whew, that mother. You'll see what I mean.

Give this a listen. So sad that this was the first and only book written by Delores Phillips--she's wonderful. This audio does give you a teaser of a rough draft sequel that Phillips was writing, but I almost wish it weren't included. I wanted to write my own future for Tangy.


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Review: The Brilliant Death

The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read a lot of kickass YA fantasies with strong female characters who unexpectedly have to take charge and become leaders. But this one is DIFFERENT and I loved it. Not only does it have Italian-ish family clan/capo stuff, but it also has stregas with magical powers. I felt like I was reading pieces of other novels that felt kinda familiar, but put together in a new way. The stregas are gender-bending, and the fact that sometimes they enjoy being male, and sometimes female, is freaking awesome. Loved it. I think this one will be big. Or at least I hope so.

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Review: The Ruin

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Set in Galway, but much different than the Jack Taylor series!

This detective was in Dublin, but moved to Galway when his girlfriend receives a grant at the university there. He isn't that happy with the move, since it's a step down from Dublin Castle, but he is determined to make it work. Given the cold cases, he knows he's being humiliated, but it's even worse when his fellow detectives seem to be shunning him and making his life miserable. Turns out that a case he worked years ago is reopened, and he's in the thick of a mess. Lots of turns and twists in this one, but there is enough foreshadowing that you know what happens before the end. I wanted more of a surprise instead of learning that I was right.

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Review: The 48

The 48 by Donna Hosie
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'll read anything about the Tudors, so I was thrilled to see this YA novel at an ALA conference. While I kept reading to the end, I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. I loved the idea--twin brothers travel back to the Tudor court to try to keep Jane Seymour from marrying Henry VII. But things just didn't come together because I had a difficult time telling the two brothers apart. They each narrated parts of the novel, along with a fictional character Lady Margaret who was in Queen Anne's court, but their voices weren't distinct. They are part of a secret group called The 48, traveling back in time to fix history, which, of course, always causes trouble. It just felt like there was too much thrown into this. The plot needed streamlined and then fleshed out so that I could connect to the characters more.

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Review: Star of the North

Star of the North by D.B. John
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kick ass CIA/political intrigue/international thriller! This audiobook kept me wanting to keep listening, which is always a good thing. Just the right combination of family drama, political shenanigans, and foreign mystery to keep me going. Loved the author's note at the end when he describes how much of this novel is based on facts from the North Korea regime. Scary stuff.

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Review: Starless

Starless by Jacqueline Carey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you're a fan of conventional high fantasy, give this book a chance. I felt like I'd read most of it before, since it's a kid being trained to be a warrior. A bit slow going for me, but I see why fantasy lovers like it.

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Review: The Kremlin Conspiracy

The Kremlin Conspiracy by Joel C. Rosenberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What a weird mix of Tom Clancy-ish political intrigue and the occasional Biblical verse. This was the first time I read something like this from a Christian publisher and it was kinda weird. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, even if I kept trying to identify the American president that was being written about and what foreign leader. There are some obvious Trump/Putin things going on, but it could have used some tighter editing.

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Review: The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma's Table

The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma's Table by Rick Bragg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is longer than my teacher's 40 mile walk to school everyday that was uphill in four feet of snow. In which he had to beat off the wolves with his lunchbox.

This is a love cookbook to the hill people, and so much of it reminded me of my Great-grandmother and grandmother, who have been known to fight off garden groundhogs with hoes at age 98 and cook the best damn noodles in the whole world.

Love hearing all the recipes with butter and lard and cracklings, and how to make the best food with fresh garden ingredients and wild things found in the hills. But what excels here is really the storytelling. Rick Bragg is a wonderful storyteller and the audiobook just flows. Even the recipes aren't boring because he throws in side-bits and tries to define things like "mess of greens" according to his ancestors. He comes from a generation of cooks, male and female, and hearing the stories that come along with the food just suited me just fine. Most of the people had nothing material in his family, but the love of good food is something that made their family tick. And hard work. And government cheese. ;)

This stuff is history that we are losing as our grandparents pass on. I'm glad he wrote it down.

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