Week-in-Review: Winter Break!

I'm excited that Winter break is finally here. We need a good break.

Our dishwasher kaputed and instead of our plans for our 17th anniversary we ended up installing a new one all day! But my fancy anniversary/pandemic mugs just came in so it makes it all worth it! We did get some yummy Thai food from our favorite place and we popped some special bubbly as well. So overall considering everything...it could've been worse!

We tried to spread some Christmas holiday cheer by taking treats to our neighbors...I had wanted to make some peppermint bark but it did not turn out...so Costco to the rescue! We enjoyed some neighborhood lights as well. 

We got a bit of snow a couple of days ago and G enjoyed playing outside and building forts with some friends. 

I tried to make a chocolate Swiss roll but...I'd never made one before or any sponge actually and it somehow broke in two places before I could even roll it! So it was extremely broken and messy but it tasted really good so I'm not going to complain. My calling in life is not baking and I'm ok with that! But I do have a strong desire to make it again and see if I can do better so I'm hoping for Christmas Eve. Fingers crossed.

I've also been trying out some fun winter cocktails. Last night I made hot buttered rum and today I made a Christmas Coffee cocktail. Yum! I'm definitely making that again for Christmas morning! 

Our anniversary mugs came: A wonderful way to remember this infamous year of 2020! They turned out great and glad I got some.

Grateful For:

• Two of my good friends have tested positive for Covid and they're both doing fine and not getting super sick. More and more people I know are getting this and it's scary but grateful all are doing well.
• Winter break for two whole weeks!
• Some fabulous online entertainment for free this week. The Nutcracker by our local ballet company is airing for free online next week. And a documentary on Christmas music is also screening live and for free next week. And let's not forget about the Met Opera. I hear some good ones are airing next week as well.
• Holiday reading. I'm really looking forward to lots more downtime to read over the next couple of weeks!

Reading:

I have finished 6 books since my last update: 

• Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha--really enjoyed this graphic novel memoir on being an immigrant and learning a new language and culture as a teenager. So good.
• She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next by Bridget Quinn--This is a great little overview with short chapters and some new information. Also the artwork is so fun.
• Blood on the River: James Town, 1607 by Elisa Carbone--I read this one out loud with G and it was a great historically accurate look at James Town from a kid's perspective. 
• Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine--This was a different reading experience. I really enjoyed the raw thoughts she shares and the questions she asks even when there are no straight answers.
• 
  
  Niksen: The Dutch Art of Doing Nothing by Annette Lavrijsen--This was a fun and colorful read on Niksen philosophy. She has little exercises you can do to get you closer to Niksen. I don't think our country will ever even get close to this but it sure makes me want to move to Holland and never leave...
• Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie--Basically read this in two days and it was just what I needed. I had no clue who it was with all the red herrings. I need to read more of her books.

I'm still making my through A Promised Land by Barack Obama and Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (this one is fantastic!). I just started A Christmas Carol Murder by Heather Redmond, and The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice by Caroline McVickar Edwards with G. We're starting to read some holidays stories from around the world. 

Classics that I'm reading: Still working on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I'm enjoying taking my time here. It's been a long time and it's the perfect classic to read as the weather gets chilly and the holidays approach. 

Philosophy: At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir,  Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Others by Sarah Bakewell. Last chapter this week and then we'll be reading The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir!

Listening to:

I just started On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss. It's pretty interesting so far but I find my audiobook listening has been a lot less this year. I just don't make it out quite as much as I used to and forget to listen! Hopefully I can keep up on this one...

New Books Acquired:

  

Looking forward to some extra horror holiday reading and some wintery type reads. I've heard The Snow Child is perfect.

  Watching:

Movies:

• Prohibition by Ken Burns--so fascinating on how that all came about and what happened after that made it not work and to be reversed!
• 
  
  Lovers Rock on Prime. I had never heard of this music movement or anything about it at all. Loved learning about this piece of music history.
• Queen of Katwe--watched this right after I finished of Queen's Gambit!
• A Christmas Horror Story--G wanted to watch a Christmas horror and this one was right up both of our alleys!
• The Prom--Not the greatest told story ever but it was so much fun to watch as a family, even with James Corden getting the heat...

I also watched Happiest Season on Hulu. This was so good. I will be watching it yearly, a new classic for me!

TV:                           

Let's see...I finished off The Queen's Gambit which was really fun. And we all watched The Derry Girls together! So funny. My formative years were in the 90s (not Norther Ireland) but there was a lot of pop culture and history I could make reference too. Cranberries were my jam back in the day. And it's just so wickedly funny and smart!

DH and I are watching The Mandalorian together. Silly but fun. Baby Yoda is the cutest!

Making: 

Swiss roll cakes, sugar cookies on Christmas Eve, and if I can find a good deal I may try to make beef sirloin for Christmas dinner, and of course lots of yummy winter cocktails.

Looking forward to our Winter Solstice celebration on Sunday, our first week of winter break, and Christmas weekend next week! It'll be a quiet affair for our little family but it should be relaxing and fun!

Joining in with Readerbuzz's Sunday Salon

Nonfiction Mini Book Reviews: Stamped from the Beginning...

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

Published: March 8th, 2016 by Bold Type Books

Genre: Nonfiction, Antiracism, History

Format: Paperback, 592 Pages, Own

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

Ibram X. Kendi really lays out the evolution of racist ideas in the United States. He divides the book into five parts and focuses each part on five individuals who were alive during that time, or still alive as in the case of Angela Davis. And his main thesis rests on three categories of ideas and thus those that hold them: segregationists, assimilationists, and antiracists. His other thesis rests on the idea that policies were made such as slavery in order to make money and to hold power and in order to justify these policies racist ideas were sought out and incorporated into the U.S. narrative.

It's a bold book with bold ideas and leaves much to chew on and think over. Sometimes I found the sarcasm and eye-rolling mood of his book a bit off-putting but overall I enjoyed discussing and stewing over it all with my book club. It's a must-read book to gain an understanding of where racist ideas have come from and why America continues to hold them today.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Published: August 13th, 2019 by One World

Genre: Nonfiction, Antiracism, Memoir

Format: Hardcover, 305 Pages, Own

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed Kendi's blend of his journey into his ideas of what it means to hold antiracist ideas and how that also crosses into all other aspects of social justice and intersectionality. Each chapter focuses on these ideas and how he learned about each and those that helped him along the way. He includes his own racist ideas that he grew up with and how he unlearned these ideas and how we can too.

A Velocity of Being: Letters to a Young Reader edited by Maria Popova

Published: December 14th, 2018 by Enchanted Lion Books

Genre: Nonfiction, Essays, Young Adult

Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages, Own

Rating: 5 stars

My Thoughts:

An excellent collection of letters to young readers from writers around the world. I enjoyed reading these aloud to G and giving him a bit of fire under the belly to read and write more! Also the illustrations that go with each letter are fun and whimsical. A beautiful collection and one I'll turn back to over the coming years.

1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O'Neill Grace and Margaret M. Bruchac 

Published: October 1st, 2004 by National Geographic Kids

Genre: Nonfiction, History, Juvenile

Format: Paperback, 48 Pages, Own

Rating: 5 stars

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed reading this with G over the Thanksgiving break. We learned a lot about what really happened and the myths that still persist in the American psyche. We'd love to visit the live museum. So much to learn.

Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells by Pico Iyer

Published: April 16th, 2019 by Knopf Publishing Group

Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, Nature

Format: Kindle, 256 Pages, Own

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

I loved reading through Iyer's ruminations on living in Japan and his favorite season in Japan, Autumn. Fall is also my favorite time of the year and it was especially beautiful and meaningful when I lived in Japan. While I don't live there like he does I could still feel his love and fascination with Japan. He has truly beautiful insights and way to see with his words. It's the next best thing to actually being there. This is probably one I will revisit every Autumn.

Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha

Published: January 28th, 2020 by Balzer + Bray

Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, Graphic Novel, Young Adult

Format: Paperback, 240 Pages, Library

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

Robin Ha's memoir of leaving Korea for America with her mother and without knowing she was permanently moving to America was heart-wrenching! She describes her childhood and how much she loved her neighborhood and her friends and to leave that all behind and not knowing when she would be able to go back was tragic. Her experience trying to fit in in Alabama and not knowing English and being bullied by students and even her own stepsister and stepcousins was also hard to read. But ultimately it's a story of finding your own and making the best of a bad situation. Highly recommended.

She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened After by Bridget Quinn

Published: August 11th, 2020 by Chronicle Books

Genre: Nonfiction, Feminism, History

Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages, Library

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed the short history chapters and mini bios of those pioneering women who helped fight for suffrage and those who continue to fight for social justice. Quinn does not paint all as saints. We hear about the racism from the frontrunner White women of the movements. I loved the chapter on Sojourner Truth. I learned that she didn't actually say "Ain't I a woman?" All the art in each chapter was beautiful and interesting. So many great tidbits in each chapter. It's a great starter on women's history in the U.S. with tons of sources to keep reading.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Winter TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is all about what's on our TBR list for that dark winter ahead of us...What's on your winter TBR?

Over the next couple of weeks my TBR list is:

The Battle for Christmas by Stephen Nissenbaum

Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas by Stephanie Barron

One Day in December by Josie Silver

Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

January to March:

A very loose list that will probably change!

Vesper Flights by Helen MacDonald

World of Wonders: In Praise of Butterflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

Go Tell it on a Mountain by James Baldwin

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs by Camilla Townsend

Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty

The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas

The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas

Published: May 21st, 2019 by New York University Press

Genre: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism

Format: Hardcover, 340 Pages, Library

Rating: 5 stars

Publisher's Summary:

Reveals the diversity crisis in children's and young adult media as not only a lack of representation, but a lack of imagination

Stories provide portals into other worlds, both real and imagined. The promise of escape draws people from all backgrounds to speculative fiction, but when people of color seek passageways into the fantastic, the doors are often barred. This problem lies not only with children’s publishing, but also with the television and film executives tasked with adapting these stories into a visual world. When characters of color do appear, they are often marginalized or subjected to violence, reinforcing for audiences that not all lives matter.

The Dark Fantastic is an engaging and provocative exploration of race in popular youth and young adult speculative fiction. Grounded in her experiences as YA novelist, fanfiction writer, and scholar of education, Thomas considers four black girl protagonists from some of the most popular stories of the early 21st century: Bonnie Bennett from the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, Rue from Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, Gwen from the BBC’s Merlin, and Angelina Johnson from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. Analyzing their narratives and audience reactions to them reveals how these characters mirror the violence against black and brown people in our own world.

In response, Thomas uncovers and builds upon a tradition of fantasy and radical imagination in Black feminism and Afrofuturism to reveal new possibilities. Through fanfiction and other modes of counter-storytelling, young people of color have re-envisioned fantastic worlds that reflect their own experiences, their own lives. As Thomas powerfully asserts, “we dark girls deserve more, because we are more.”

My Thoughts:

I was blown away by this in-depth and down-to-earth criticism of the "fantastic" genres that feature Black characters. Her description of the dark fantastic is  "...the role that racial difference plays in our fantastically storied imaginations...the fantastic...includes fantasy fiction but goes beyond it to include all stories-about-worlds-that-never-were, whether they are marketed, shelved, or classified as fairy tales, horror, superhero comics, "soft" science fiction, alternate histories, or otherwise." And she is specifically not talking about Black fantastic. I would say she is dissecting White authors and their worlds which feature Black characters in some way. "...the fact remains that the vast majority of speculative narratives read and viewed in the United States are still written by White authors and screenwriters and consumed by mass audiences."

What Thomas sets out to do is critically analyze Black characters and their voices within these texts. "...shifting focus away from White heroic protagonists and illuminating the imaginary stories of people of color at the margins can reveal much..." Who and what has traditionally been othered? Who are the monsters in these traditionally Anglo tales? Thomas asks what happens to Black readers when all they see is the Others, dark monsters are villains? What happens to readers who are White and never read anything different about who can the hero and who are the villains and monsters? "For many readers, viewers, and fans of color, I suspect that, at the level of consciousness, to participate in the fantastic is to watch yourself be slain--and justificable so, as the story recounts. After all, in fairy tales, it was you who terrorized the hapless villagers, who kidnapped the fair princess, who dared wage war against the dashing hero."

Thomas lays out her theory of how the dark fantastic cycle works and she then uses that theory to critique and analyze characters and their texts from Rue in The Hunger Games, Bonnie Bennett in The Vampire Diaries, Gwen in Merlin, and finally race in the Harry Potter series.

Her analysis of Rue and her role to play for Katniss and the rebellion was brilliant. New insight flooded in from all angles. She continues this insight into each and every one. I never watched The Vampire Diaries or Merlin but reading her analysis was chilling. Knowing how the characters are ultimately tossed aside. 

I remember when The Hunger Games came out and so many people were angry that Rue was cast with a Black actress. They read the story, and even though Collins specifically talks about Rue being a person of color, they could not accept and see in their reading that Rue could be an innocent Black little girl.

I could go on. There are so many aspects to this book. I got it from the library but I need to buy it and reread. I love fantasy and sci-fi and I think this is a critical literary analysis going forward in reading any classic fantasy and reading any present and future fantasy by White authors. How do we subconsciously bring our biases to our worlds in writing?

Thomas' Dark Fantastic theory is one to keep at the forefront as we read anything really but especially in the fantastic genres. While some parts were a bit academic for me overall, I feel it's very readable for non-English majors like me.

Cat Thursday-- Christmas Kitty

Welcome to the weekly meme (hosted by Michelle at True Book Addict) that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite lolcat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! 

What kind of antics do your kitties get up to when the holiday decor comes out!? I'm constantly batting my cats away from eating the tree and swatting at the ornaments! At least they haven't attempted to climb the tree this year...

2021 Nonfiction Challenge

It's that time of year again to join all the reading challenges and to get excited about the next reading year! It's truly not hard at all to wish 2020 good riddance...blech. I've seen this challenge before but have never joined. I'm terrible at reading challenges. I forget usually and never work on my categories or books I've chosen. I'm a choose as the mood takes me kind of reader. But these categories look fabulous. I'd like to hone in some of my nonfiction reading and this will (hopefully) help me out this year!

The 2021 Nonfiction Challenge will be hosted over at Book'd Out. All. Check out the site for more details.

My goal is the Nonfiction Know-it-all! I love nonfiction and about half or sometimes more of my reading year is usually nonfiction. The key will be dipping into each category. I'm going to make a tentative list soon and post it later. But I am looking forward to expanding my nonfiction reading horizons in 2021!

My updated tentative list for the challenge.

The aim of the Nonfiction Reader Challenge is to encourage you to make nonfiction part of your reading experience during the year.

JOIN IN

The challenge will run from January 1st to December 31st 2021. Participants may join at any time up until December 1st 2021

Create a blog post committing to your participation in this challenge.

* If you don’t have a blog you are still welcome to sign up. You can create a shelf for the challenge at Goodreads or LibraryThing, post via Instagram, or Twitter. Just add your name and a link to your shelf/account in the sign-up.

CHOOSE A GOAL

Nonfiction Nipper : Read 3 books, from any category

Nonfiction Nibbler : Read 6 books, from any category

Nonfiction Know-It-All : Read 12 books, one for each category

* You can choose your books as you go or create a list in advance. You may combine this challenge with others if you wish. Use your best good faith judgement as to whether a book fits the category or not.

* Where a book is identified by more than one category, it may only count for one, not both.

* You can read your chosen titles in any order, at any pace, just complete the challenge by December 31st 2021

CATEGORIES 

1. Biography

2. Travel

3. Self-help

4. Essay Collection

5. Disease

6. Oceanography

7. Hobbies

8. Indigenous Cultures

9. Food

10. Wartime Experiences

11. Inventions

12. Published in 2021

Back to the Classics Challenge 2021

I have read about a few people finding classics and older books very enlightening this last year through this pandemic. I'm taking that to heart and I'm joining Karen's, from Books and Chocolate, classics challenge. This will be her 8th year hosting! I know the pandemic is still not going away any time soon, at least for the first half of 2021. So bring on the classics. I have so many I've been meaning to get to...

If you complete the challenge there's even a chance at a 30$ gift card at the end! Check out her website for all the rules. 

If you're new to the challenge, here's how it works:

• Complete six categories, and you'll get one entry in the drawing; 
• Complete nine categories, and you'll get two entries in the drawing; 
• Complete all twelve categories, and you'll get three entries in the drawing

Without further ado, here are the categories for 2021: 

1. A 19th century classic: any book first published from 1800 to 1899

• War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy

2. A 20th century classic: any book first published from 1900 to 1971. All books must have been published at least 50 years ago; the only exceptions are books which were written by 1971 and posthumously published.

• Go Tell It on a Mountain by James Baldwin

3. A classic by a woman author.

• The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

4. A classic in translation, meaning any book first published in a language that is not your primary language. You may read it in translation or in its original language, if you prefer. 

• The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

5. A classic by BIPOC author; that is, a non-white author.

• Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance by Zora Neale Hurston
• Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autiobiography by Zora Neale Hurston

6. A classic by a new-to-you author, i.e., an author whose work you have never read.

• A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

7. New-to-you classic by a favorite author -- a new book by an author whose works you have already read. 

• Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

8. A classic about an animal, or with an animal in the title. The animal can be real or metaphorical. (i.e., To Kill a Mockingbird).

• Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

9. A children's classic. 

• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin

10. A humorous or satirical classic.

• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Slaughter-house Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

11. A travel or adventure classic (fiction or non-fiction). It can be a travelogue or a classic in which the main character travels or has an adventure. 

• Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift
• The Kon-Tiki Expedition by Thor Heyerdahl

12. A classic play. Plays will only count in this category.

• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

These are just a few ideas that I researched out and some I have in my lonely kindle shelves! I'm looking forward to it! 

Week-in-Review: Thanksgiving

Well, it's already a week into December and I haven't even gotten up my post on Thanksgiving! I know where my brain has been...I've been busy trying to get homemade gifts made and packages sent and Christmas cards out.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We enjoyed time spent together as our little family of three and two kitty cats. I made rolls with yeast and they turned out yummy! They wouldn't win any awards...lol. I made a no-bake peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake. I even threw together a little charcuterie board. We didn't have to travel up to my sister's place like we usually do. So I just scaled it down and threw on a lot of yummy bite-sized snacks. I made up some mulled cider and hot cocoa. We played games. I even popped open a bottle of wine with Thanksgiving dinner. My family doesn't drink so I've never actually had wine with my Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice and pleasant. We made the best of it and had a great weekend.

We've also committed to a really big project. My mom has had some mobility issues within the last two months. And they live in a home where there are quite a few stairs to get out of their home. Well, being the genius my husband is he has planned out how to build a ramp to get her out in her wheelchair. We just bought all the lumber and will spend part of our winter break building that. I'll have pics as we start working on it. I'm really hoping this helps her and my dad out for a little while till other arrangements can be made. It's so hard to see my mom getting older. But so grateful we can help out where we can.

And we got the holiday decor up! It was a busy but fun and enjoyable weekend together.

Reading:

I finished up 4 books since my last update: Wonderland by Zoje Stage, 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O'Neill and Margaret M. Bruchac, A Velocity of Being: Letters to Young Readers by Maria Popova, and Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi. We had our last book club discussion. I made it through! That is a large book and it was great to discuss with friends.

I'm still making my through A Promised Land by Barack Obama. I started reading Legendborn by Tracy Deonn and She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next by Bridget Quinn. I've got a couple of holiday themed books I may try to get to this month...We shall see. I'm really playing catch up here.

I am planning on doing a small unit with G on holidays around the world. I got a bunch of books from the library and some recipes to try and decor to DIY...so hopefully it'll be fun and interesting!

 

I'm taking my time with The Self-Driven Child by William Stixrud. There's a lot to digest and I don't want to miss anything. I haven't read anything in two weeks but I plan to finish this week/weekend! Crossing fingers...

Classics that I'm reading: Still working on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I'm enjoying taking my time here. It's been a long time and it's the perfect classic to read as the weather gets chilly and the holidays approach. 

Philosophy: At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir,  Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Others by Sarah Bakewell. We're getting closer to the end!

Listening to:

Christmas and holiday music! A few news podcasts to catch up on but not a lot. Braiding Sweetgrass is still there but I just haven't gotten to it for a few weeks. Hopefully soon.

New Books Acquired:

 

  Watching:

Movies:

We watched a couple of fun holiday movies as a family...Jingle Jangle on Netflix was lovely! We watched Elf last night as one of our classics we watch every year!

I also watched Happiest Season on Hulu. This was so good. I will be watching it yearly, a new classic for me!

TV:                           

TV has been mostly holiday baking shows like Sugar Rush on Netflix and Great British Baking Show Holiday edition. I also finished up The Undoing on HBO Max and just started The Queen's Gambit on Netflix.

Making: 

My no-bake pumpkin cheesecake on Thanksgiving didn't set...I forgot to buy heavy whipping cream and tried half n half instead and it did not work! I knew it wouldn't but I was desperate. But other pies turned out fine. So I made it again this weekend and it was a hit! It set and everything. 

I've also been trying some winter cocktails--I made a white winter hot chocolate out of white chocolate and added some peppermint vodka. This weekend I made up coquito, a traditional eggnog from Puerto Rico! So delicious. I'll take this over regular eggnog any day!

Holiday baking will commence this week and weekend......

Looking forward to my 17th wedding anniversary! We're not really going anywhere but we're going to hit the big city for holiday lights outside and a fancier curbside dinner! I also ordered a pair of personalized mugs. It's small but it's what must be during a pandemic. 

Joining in with Readerbuzz's Sunday Salon

 

Mini Book Reviews: The Year of the Witching...

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Published: July 21st, 2020 by Ace

Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction

Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages, Library

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

Immanuelle shouldn't even exist. Her mother's union with an outsider was considered blasphemy. Her father was killed at the stake before she was born and her mother died giving birth to her. She lives with her grandfather and his three wives and their children. Her religion is one of absolute obedience to the Prophet and disobedience is punished severely. The woods are strictly forbidden since that is where Lillith and her witches were cast out long ago in a great religious war. But Immanuelle is drawn to those woods and one night she enters them and soon after the plagues are unleashed. It's up to her to find out why and how to stop them. And through this all she begins to question her religious leaders and their intentions....

Fascinating story and world. I'd love to hear more about the world Immanuelle lives in. All that rich history of goddess and god magic and sorcery and visions is exciting and different. I really hope Henderson tells more stories in this world. I do feel the pacing was a bit off in some spots and some of the things that happen seemed a bit unrealistic or brushed over...but it's a small complaint. I can't wait to read more from Alexis Henderson. Fantastic world-building and characters. It was a fun and exciting spooky and feminist-leaning read for Halloween time.

The Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega

Published: April 7th, 2020 by Scholastic

Genre: Juvenile Fiction, Paranormal

Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages, Library

Rating: 4 stars

My Thoughts:

When Lucely and her best friend Syd accidentally cast a spell that summons malicious spirits they must join forces with Syd's with grandma Babbette, her cat Chunk, and Lucely's ancestor ghosts to stop them and save their town St. Augustine.

My son and I really enjoyed the mystery and friendship and folklore all on display here. Chunk was a favorite with both of us. Cutest fat kitty ever! And super helpful. I also really enjoyed Lucely and Syd's friendship. They were supportive and loyal and it felt really genuine. It's also a fun ghost story for Halloween time.

Wonderland by Zoje Stage

Published: July 14th, 2020 by Mulholland Books

Genre: Horror

Format: Hardcover, 354 Pages, Library

Rating: 3 stars

My Thoughts:

I really liked the storyline. The Bennett family is fleeing the New York City way of life to hunker down in the middle of nowhere where the Bennett patriarch will create his artistic masterpieces. But Orla misses everything about her old life where she was a ballet dancer until her injury. When they get to their house in the middle of the woods, everything starts to feel off. Strange weather occurs. Her nine-year-old daughter also feels something strange from a large tree in the back of their property. Even her husband starts to become obsessed with painting this tree. What's this strange force that has taken ahold of her family?

A great premise but the execution wasn't there for me. The story slogged in parts and I felt like one part of the book happened too quickly and didn't know where to go from there. The ending felt a bit rushed but overall it was satisfying. I liked it. It had a great atmosphere and mood and isolation about it that felt creepy. But overall, I didn't love it and wished the pacing was a bit better. I do now want to read her first novel "Baby Teeth," though. She's a great writer and look forward to more from her.