Review: In an Absent Dream

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

McGuire can write a kick ass fairy tale, as evidenced by this latest release in the Wayward Children world. I was sucked in completely and HAD to finish the book as soon as I started it. She seems to choose each word deliberately, creating beautiful illusions and just pure magic.

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Review: Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam

Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read this in two lunch hours and it was freaking fascinating. Love how Partridge used each chapter to focus on how one person was involved with the Vietnam War--nurses, soldiers, presidents, musicians, etc. She even includes a South Vietnamese refugee who eventually ends up in America. This is a great introduction to the war for teens and adults.

My two complaints--a few of the pictures didn't quite match up to what was being talked about on the page and I didn't want to hear from repeated people (I'm looking at you, LBJ and Nixon).

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Review: A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder

A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Romp through Victorian England, with a female serving as the nosy woman who makes a good detective. :) I enjoyed it enough to finish the audiobook, but not enough to read the next book in the series.

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Review: The Butterfly Garden

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I feel gross for finishing this book, because it's that kind of horror/serial killer read that you can't get enough of, yet feel dirty because you want to keep reading!

The Gardener kidnaps young girls, rapes them, "cares" for them in his greenhouse garden, and seals them up like real butterflies on their 21st birthday. Gross storyline, but you want to read it to find out who and how they escape from his torture chamber.

Quick, disturbing, fascinating read.

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Review: The Witch Elm

The Witch Elm by Tana French
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was sooooo slow for me. The audio production was a bit over the top, and, wow, the last third of the book lasted forever. I may be done with French's books, since the last few haven't been the best for me. I just wanted tighter editing, more action, and less discussion between the characters.

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Review: The Hunger Angels

The Hunger Angels by Jason Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short little teaser that you can download for free from Google Play.

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Review: Red Dog

Red Dog by Jason Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this series and this author, and I wish they were more popular! All rural libraries need to push this series to their mystery and gritty readers--they are perfect. The setting is southern Illinois, so I appreciate hearing about Olney, Makanda, etc., and the people are pretty much the lowest of the low in that area--dog fighters, meth makers, and swindlers. But, whoa, it's such a good read.

Slim and his 13-year-old daughter take a simple case of finding and retrieving a pit bull, but it turns into a huge mess that even the FBI can't sort out. These books are funny and snarky and full of literary, pop culture, and redneck references and I just can't get enough of them. Hoping a Book 3 will be out soon!

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Review: Exit Strategy

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These little novellas are so freaking good. You just get sucked in and it's the best hour you've spent all day. Murderbot has FEELINGS, ya'll. It's learning all about loyalty and friendship still, with plenty of excitement to keep you reading.

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Review: Broken Places

Broken Places by Tracy Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes! I found a new mystery author to follow and love! And she's from Chicago, African-American, and created a kick-ass main character who is also from Chicago and African-American!

So Cass was a respected Chicago police officer who left the force by choice. Now she's a private investigator who becomes personally involved in an active police investigation because her father figure has been murdered. She's always one step ahead of the cops, but she still has great friends in the force, and they end up helping each other out. Love the Chicago setting, and I also love how similar she is to my favorite kick ass character by Zoe Sharp. I want more books like this! Can't wait to read Book #2.

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Review: The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I thought some of the writing was unclear. For example, on page 78, the only country referred to by name is Greece. Then, the first line of writing on the next page is "By 2016, Russia--the longtime ally of Assad--helps bomb the president's enemies." My first thought--whose president? Russia? Syria? Greece? America? Would kids know?

I know this is a nonfiction graphic novel, so there doesn't have to be a continuous storyline following a certain character, but I think that would have made a stronger work. All the "they had to" and "They rejected" and anonymous theys everywhere threw me off as a reader. I wanted to know exactly WHO. It sounded like a drunk guy at a bar creating his own defense and using "THEY said" and then no one believes him. I know Brown based this story on facts, and so I wanted names. I wanted a picture of the exact person he's talking about. The generalities of it bothered me. Instead of "the Aleppo pals," I wanted the names of the two men.

I may not think this book is an award winner, but I still think it deserves to be in every library and could easily be used in a social studies curriculum unit about immigration and/or refugees and/or war.
It's important and teens and adults need to know about all the statistics that are used in this book.
The numbers are huge. This will continue to be a problem forever--the world has to figure out what to do with dictators and the people they hurt. It will be interesting to see what the current generation of teenagers do with immigration and refugee policies in America over the next 20 years.

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Review: Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved that Darius and his family travel to Iran to visit their ailing grandfather--the setting, the culture, and the food really made this novel awesome! Darius is teased a lot in Portland at his American high school. He doesn't fit in, his depression meds make him chunky, and he thinks too much about what everyone is saying about him. He's a lot like his father, who also suffers from depression, although Darius would never think so. To him, his "Teutonic" father is perfect, strong, and manly, and doesn't understand why Darius is bullied. When the family goes to Iran, Darius makes his first TRUE friend, although there may be some other type of attraction there, too (love how the book doesn't fully go there, and how that's okay for someone to just wonder). It's just such a sweet read. And now I want to visit Iran someday, because everything in this book makes it sound like a great place to visit.

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Review: A Death of No Importance

A Death of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ahh, this is the kind of book I needed for my last days of freedom before the semester begins. :) Jane, a servant to two young society ladies, becomes an amateur detective when the beau of one of her ladies is found murdered on the night of his engagement. She's good at what she does, since servants hear and see so much, and she is able to talk to other "little people" to find out the dirt about the wealthy. A bit fluffy, and no real twist to the mystery, but it was a good, quick read.

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