Where Is Your Bookmark: Quick Peek into We Carry Their Bones (& Other Friday Discussion Fun)

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the amazing Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

Before the lawsuits and protests, before the ground-penetrating radar and DNA testing, before we stalked and before the citizens of Jackson County tried to have me arrested, before we ever stuck a shovel in the red dirt of North Florida to exhume bodies, I stood in the women's restroom as the news media gathered in the large room outside and began setting up their cameras and checking their microphones and waiting for me to step before them and tell them what I had learned about the dead boys. 

I did not want to do this. [opening of We Carry Their Bones]

This is such an effective start to a book. The author is letting me know what to expect, preparing me for an emotional, at times tense, read, and also adding a hint of a more personal nuance to the story about her own experiences and thoughts in how it relates to the events she is about to share with the reader. 

A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Hosted by the wonderful Freda of Freda's Voice. NOTE: Friday 56 is currently on an indefinite hiatus.

A few hours after noon on the first day, with thunderstorms rolling in, we found the first signs of a burial at the bottom of our first shallow hole about thirty meters north of those rows of crooked pipe crosses. [excerpt from 56% of We Carry Their Bones]

I am only about 20% into We Carry Their Bones, and have not yet reached the chapter with the above excerpt. What these boys and their families went through . . . There are no words.

One of my reading goals this year was to pair a fiction and nonfiction book together, and read them back to back. I recently read Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys and intentionally am following it up with this book. While the subject matter may be heavy, these are important stories, a part of America's history (and frankly, present) that we cannot afford to hide or ignore. 

We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys by Erin Kimmerle

Forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle investigates of the notorious Dozier Boys School--the true story behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Nickel Boys--and the contentious process to exhume the graves of the boys buried there in order to reunite them with their families.

The Arthur G. Dozier Boys School was a well-guarded secret in Florida for over a century, until reports of cruelty, abuse, and "mysterious" deaths shut the institution down in 2011. Established in 1900, the juvenile reform school accepted children as young as six years of age for crimes as harmless as truancy or trespassing. The boys sent there, many of whom were Black, were subject to brutal abuse, routinely hired out to local farmers by the school's management as indentured labor, and died either at the school or attempting to escape its brutal conditions.

In the wake of the school's shutdown, Erin Kimmerle, a leading forensic anthropologist, stepped in to locate the school's graveyard to determine the number of graves and who was buried there, thus beginning the process of reuniting the boys with their families through forensic and DNA testing. The school's poorly kept accounting suggested some thirty-one boys were buried in unmarked graves in a remote field on the school's property. The real number was at least twice that. Kimmerle's work did not go unnoticed; residents and local law enforcement threatened and harassed her team in their eagerness to control the truth she was uncovering--one she continues to investigate to this day.

We Carry Their Bones is a detailed account of Jim Crow America and an indictment of the reform school system as we know it. It's also a fascinating dive into the science of forensic anthropology and an important retelling of the extraordinary efforts taken to bring these lost children home to their families--an endeavor that created a political firestorm and a dramatic reckoning with racism and shame in the legacy of America. [Goodreads Summary]

Does this sound like something you would want to read? What book is your bookmark in right now?  

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. It is co-hosted by Linda Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, Roberta from Offbeat YA, Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About, Berl's from Because Reading is Better than Real Life, and Karen from For What It’s Worth. Join in by answering this week's question in the comments or on your own blog.

Libraries: do you prefer to visit in person or check out on-line?

Some of my fondest memories of the library are the weekly summer children's hour at the small library my brother, mother, and I frequented when I was a child. Entertainers and educators would share books and knowledge, sometimes we would do crafts, and always my brother and I would browse the shelves looking for our next books to check out and read. As I got older, the library, both the public and school libraries, became more a source for material for papers, research, studying, and access to computers. My favorite job was working in the university library as part of the work study program when I was doing my undergraduate studies. It was home away from home. 

When my daughter was younger, Saturdays were designated for soccer class, park time, and the library. We always looked forward to going to the library, picking out books to check out and other books to read right there. My husband and I took turns sitting on the little couch in the children's section with Mouse, reading to and with her. We would always stop at the craft table if there was a project set out, whether coloring or cutting and gluing, or what have you. 

Visits to the library are less common for us now, but there's still something almost magical about being inside one: being surrounded by all those books, reaching out to touch or hold them, flipping through the pages, and randomly reading pages to see if the book is a good fit. The library is a great place to stop in for some quiet time, to read or rest--even to use the restroom in a pinch. It is a sanctuary. 

I haven't really explored all the online options the library offers, other than seeing if the local library has a particular book Mouse or I need (sadly, I'm often left disappointed). I have tried a couple of times to figure out and explore the city's library system for e-books, but have not had much success with it so far. My personal shelves (both physical and electronic) are full of TBR books already, and so it has not been a priority to figure out. 

So, the short answer to today's question is that I much prefer to visit libraries in person. 

Do you prefer to visit libraries in person or do you prefer their online services?

Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

How long does it usually take you to finish a book? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

It depends on a multitude of factors: writing style, length, genre, how engaged I am with the book, access to the book, how many other books I am reading at the time, life and work commitments and responsibilities, my mood and emotional state, non-bookish distractions, my attention span at any given moment, and other reasons I am sure I am forgetting. And honestly, I am all over the map when it comes to the amount of time it takes me to finish a book. It could be one day to over a hundred days. Poetry, manga and graphic novels are often the ones that I can fit in within a day or so. Short story anthologies and audiobooks take the longest for me to get through. The first I stretch out over months, reading a story here and there in between other books; and the latter because fitting in listening time is a challenge for me. I am not as fast as many book bloggers seem to be at finishing books, but I am definitely a faster reader compared to the average person. That is, if you consider the average person reads about twelve to fifteen books a year (at least according to one source). 

How long, on average, does it take you to finish a book?

 I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

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© 2023 Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Can't Wait to Read Wednesday: The Hexologists / The Wake-Up Call / The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch / The Strangers on Montagu Street

The New

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.

Magical artifacts, rivals coming together for a common cause, and a witch-y Jane Austen re-telling--I cannot wait to read each of these books!

The Hexologists (#1) by Josiah Bancroft

(Orbit, September 26, 2023; 409 pgs)  

The first book in a wildly inventive and mesmerizing new fantasy series from acclaimed author Josiah Bancroft where magical mysteries abound and only one team can solve The Hexologists.

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.

But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.

Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for a case that will test every spell, skill, and odd magical artifact in their considerable bag of tricks. [Goodreads Summary]

The Wake-Up Call by Beth O'Leary

(Berkley, September 26, 2023; 367 pgs)  

Two hotel receptionists--and arch-rivals--find a collection of old wedding rings and compete to return them to their owners, discovering their own love story along the way.

It's the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel's front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through.

The hotel won't stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest's lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in the lost & found, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel--and their jobs.

As their bitter rivalry turns into something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas begin to wonder if there's more at stake here than the hotel's future. Can the two of them make it through the season with their hearts intact? [Goodreads Summary]

The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch by Melinda Taub

(Grand Central Publishing, October 3, 2023; 440 pgs)

A sparkling, witchy reimagining of Pride and Prejudice, told from the perspective of the troublesome and—according to her—much-maligned youngest Bennet sister, Lydia.

In this exuberant reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet puts pen to paper to relate the real events and aftermath of the classic story from her own perspective. Some facts are well known: Mrs. Bennet suffers from her nerves; Mr. Bennet suffers from Mrs. Bennet, and all five daughters suffer from an estate that is entailed only to male heirs.

But Lydia also suffers from entirely different concerns: her best-loved sister Kitty is really a barn cat, and Wickham is every bit as wicked as the world believes him to be, but what else would you expect from a demon? And if you think Mr. Darcy was uptight about dancing etiquette, wait till you see how he reacts to witchcraft. Most of all, Lydia has yet to learn that when you’re a witch, promises have power . . .

Full of enchantment, intrigue, danger, and boundless magic, The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch, has all the irreverent wit, strength, and romance of Pride and Prejudice—while offering a highly unexpected redemption for the wildest Bennet sister. [Goodreads Summary]

Do these books interest you? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to reading?

The Old(er) 

Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books has given me the perfect excuse to spotlight those unread books on my TBR in her Books from the Backlog feature, reminding me what great books I have waiting for me under my own roof still to read!

I confess I am not a huge fan of Melanie, the main character in the Tradd St. series, but I love White's writing and keep thinking I need to give this series another chance. I've read the first two books and have had this one on my e-reader, waiting for me to make up my mind. I am leaning toward yes.

The Strangers on Montagu Street (Tradd St. #3) by Karen White (Berkley, 2011; 354 pgs)

With her relationship with writer Jack Treholm as shaky as the foundation of her family home, Melanie’s juggling a number of problems. Like restoring her Tradd Street house...and resisting her mother’s pressure to ‘go public’ with her talent—a sixth sense that unites them to the lost souls of the dead. But Melanie never anticipated her new problem.

Her name is Nola, Jack’s estranged young daughter who appears on their doorstep, damaged, lonely and defiantly immune to her father’s attempts to reconnect. Melanie understands the emotional chasm all too well. As a special, bonding gift Jack’s mother buys Nola an antique dollhouse—a precious tableaux of a perfect Victorian family. Melanie hopes the gift will help thaw Nola’s reserve and draw her into the family she’s never known.

At first, Nola is charmed, and Melanie is delighted—until night falls, and the most unnerving shadows are cast within its miniature rooms. By the time Melanie senses a malevolent presence she fears it may already be too late. A new family has accepted her unwitting invitation to move in—with their own secrets, their own personal demons, and a past that’s drawing Nola into their own inescapable darkness... [Goodreads Summary]

Have you read The Strangers on Montagu Street?  Does this book sound like something you would like to read? 

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© 2023, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Weekly Mews: Another Busy Week

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

I am linking up Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently.  

We got more rain this morning. It was a nice surprise after a week of more heat. This past week was a busy one at work--we're in our busiest stretch right now, a time when I long for the slightly slower summer days. Mouse had her first school dance this past week (she had a great time with her friends), we celebrated a birthday, I accompanied my husband for a routine medical procedure, and I had an emergency dental visit. Mouse's friend is visiting for the day, and I am catching up on laundry, household chores, and taking time out to visit with all of you. I hope your weekend is going well! Tell me what you have been up to!

This past week I read Lodestar (The Keeper of the Lost Cities #5) by Shannon Messenger. It's my daughter's favorite middle grade fantasy series, and I have been enjoying it as well. I recently started the sixth book in the series, Nighfall.

One of my reading goals this year is to read a fiction/nonfiction pairing, and I chose Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys and We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys by Erin Kimmerle. I recently read The Nickel Boys (which was very good) and am now a couple chapters into We Carry Their Bones. I am already finding these two books compliment each other very well. It is horrific and unjust what those boys went through under the guise of reform. 

Next up, I will be picking up the September TBR Winner of my TBR List Poll. Thank you again to all who voted. Mrs. Morris and the Witch (A Salem B&B Mystery #2) by Traci Wilton received 3 votes, while Mother-Night Murder Night by Nina Simon got 4 votes. 

Winning with 11 votes is Heather Fawcett's Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (#1). I am excited about reading all three of these--and plan to--but first, I will be reading this one. Thank you to everyone who voted!

My TBR List is hosted by the awesome Michelle  at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and let you vote for my next read during that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

Recent purchases:

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Secrets and Sidekicks (Katie the Catsitter (#3) by Colleen A.F. Venable and Stephanie Yue (Mouse's)

Birthday Loot: 

Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments (Edinburgh Nights #2) by T.L. Huchu

Death Checked Out (A Larkspur Library #1) by Leah Dobrinska

Morgan Is My Name by Sophie Keetch

Thief of Souls (Inspector Lu Fei Mystery #1) by Brian Klingborg

What new books made it onto your shelf recently? 

I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!

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© 2023, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Weekly Mews: September Already and Juggling Books (Please Vote in my TBR List Poll!)

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

I am linking up Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently.  

I am sitting here on the  couch listening to the summer rain outside. This area went from a heat wave most of the week with temperatures well into the 100's to cooler rainy weather this weekend. Before that a tropical storm blew through, bringing record amounts of rain. My part of the state wasn't hit as hard as others, fortunately, but we were prepared just in case. 

My reading has felt off these past few months, and I am hoping September will be different. I want to try to complete a few books I have been in the middle of for awhile now and hopefully squeeze in a few I really want to read but haven't been able to make time for. 

What have you been up to? 

I currently am reading Lodestar (Keeper of the Lost Cities #5) by Shannon Messenger, deciding it was time to jump back into my daughter's favorite series. It doesn't feel like it's been as long as it has since I last visited the elven world of Sophie and her friends. Lodestar is a nice change of pace when I need a break from Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys, which I am also reading at the moment. I hope to follow it up with Erin Kimmerle's The Bones We Carry: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys, which is a nonfiction account of events at the school at the center of Whitehead's novel.  

I thought I would try another audiobook and started listening to The Hating Game by Sally Thorne last weekend because I was in the mood for romance. Hopefully it won't take me months to listen to like it took me with the last audiobook I read.

I haven't touched my nonfiction book (Untangled by Lisa Damour) and the two short story anthologies (Reader, I Married Him edited by Tracy Chevalier and Into the Woods by Kim Harrison) I am making my way through in over a month. I really must get back to them this month. I assure you it isn't the books; it's all me and my mercurial reading moods. I hardly read anything in July and I spent too much time trying to read a book in August that I should have given up on sooner.

What book are you reading at the moment? 

My TBR List is hosted by the awesome Michelle  at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and let you vote for my next read during that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

I could use your help deciding which book to read next! Which of these three books do you think I should read next? They are all very different from one another, and I will be curious to see which one gets the most votes.  All three sound good to me! Have you read any of them? If so, what did you think? 

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett 

A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love, in this heartwarming and enchanting fantasy.

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart. [Goodreads Summary]

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

Nothing brings an estranged family together like a murder next door.

A lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Think: Gilmore Girls, but with murder.

“Mother-Daughter Murder Night is the perfect mix of family drama and murder mystery.” — Kellye Garrett, award-winning author of Like a Sister

High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud of: her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does.

Then Jack—tiny in stature but fiercely independent—happens upon a dead body while kayaking. She quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power.

With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they’ve always resisted: depend on each other. [Goodreads Summary]

Mrs. Morris and the Witch  (A Salem B&B Mystery #2) by Traci Wilton

In Traci Wilton's second cozy mystery featuring a new sleuth on the Salem scene, when widowed B&B owner Charlene Morris discovers the dead body of a local Wiccan on Halloween, she and her charming ghostly partner must help the local Salem, Massachusetts, coven to find the killer.

Halloween is the biggest holiday of the year in Salem, Massachusetts--but when B&B owner Charlene Morris finds the dead body of a witch, it spells trouble...

Charlene, recently widowed, has renovated her historic mansion just in time to greet guests arriving for the town's annual Halloween festivities. She's lucky to have a helpful staff to provide support--as well as a handsome ghost named Jack standing invisibly by her side.

Unfortunately, while the revelers head out on haunted tours, have their fortunes told, or grab a drink at Brews and Broomsticks, a killer walks among them. When Charlene discovers Morganna, a local Wiccan, dead in her shop, she starts getting cozy with the local coven, looking for clues to locate the crafty culprit. Salem may be famous for the false accusations of witchery in centuries past, but this time someone is genuinely guilty--of murder... [Goodreads Summary]

Thank you for voting!

Thank you to everyone who voted in last month's TBR List Poll. I eagerly dove into the winning book, Jenny Colgan's Welcome to the School by the Sea, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. It's been ages since I decided to DNF a book, but I could not get past the fat shaming/fat phobia. If it had just been a case of mean girls picking on one child and then learning a lesson in the end, I might have been able to tolerate it, but the attitude carried over to other characters (the teachers) as well who should have known better. It was too frequent and too much for me and kept pulling me out of the story. It's disappointing because I have enjoyed Colgan's work in the past. The setting was lovely and the book had sounded so promising. In reading some of the reviews on Goodreads about the book, I know I am not alone in my issues with this one, but I also know some people really enjoyed it. Welcome to the School by the Sea just was not for me. 

Murder at a London Finishing School (Beryl & Edwina Mystery #7) by Jessica Ellicott

Kensington, 2023; 304 pgs

Source: NetGalley (all thoughts are my own)

The day was just exactly the sort Edwina Davenport most loved. ~ Opening of Murder at a London Finishing School

I bumped up Murder at a London Finishing School in my TBR, the second runner up in August's poll, and am so happy I did. Although this was the 7th book in the series, it was my first introduction to Edwina and Beryl. Set just after World War I, the enquiry agent team of the prim and proper British Edwina Davenport and the American adventuress Beryl Halliwell, are hired by the headmistress of their former alma mater to uncover who is behind the mysterious happenings at Miss Dupont's Finishing School. Neither women really want to return to their old stomping grounds of the school, but they do not feel like they can refuse. 

Someone appears to be sabotaging the school--there have been strange sounds at night and items are being misplaced, if not outright stolen. And in the midst of all that a former classmate of Edwina and Beryl's is found dead on the school's property. A murder at the school would be ruinous to its reputation.

The school has already been suffering business-wise, from having had to shut down during the war and then with the changing climate after as interest in schools like Dupont's Finishing School diminish all over. Author Jessica Ellicott adeptly weaves the shifting culture of the times within her story. Not to mention she has created a cast of characters with interesting backgrounds and possible motives, and a mystery that kept me guessing right up to the end. 

Coming into the series late can be risky, but this was a great way to get to know the characters and their backgrounds, getting to see where they met and glimpsing some of their childhood memories. Edwina and Beryl are very capable and intelligent women, each with their own strengths. They work well together and make a great team. This was an easygoing mystery with plenty of intrigue. I hope to read more of this series in the future.

Challenges Met: Cruisin' with the Cozies / Historical Fiction Reading Challenge / COYER

The Last Graduate (The Scholomance #2) by Naomi Novik

Del Rey, 2021; 389 pgs

Source: Own TBR

Keep far away from Orion Lake. ~ Opening of The Last Graduate  

I really enjoyed the first in the trilogy, A Deadly Education, and had high hopes for The Last Graduate. I was not disappointed. It is hard to review a middle book of a trilogy, especially if one is trying to avoid spoilers, and so I will not offer much about the plot here. El has always been an outcast, especially given the nature of the magic she wields. But she is not without friends in her final year at the Scholomance. And she will need everyone of them if they are all to survive the deadly graduation ritual that is known to claim students lives. If you like fantasy novels with intricate world building, school settings, and plenty of monsters to fight, you will enjoy this series. I have really enjoyed seeing El's growth as a person over the course of the first two books, and even more so in this second installment. This one was hard to put down. I will offer you one spoiler: the ending is a huge cliffhanger. I came very close to starting the next book right away, but am holding off, torturing myself for some odd reason I can't explain. I probably won't wait much longer though. I have to know what happens!

Challenges Met: Mount TBR / Backlist Reading Challenge / COYER

Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School #1) by Jen Calonita

Sourcebooks for Young Readers, 2015; 257 pgs

Source: Own TBR

Sometimes spying on low-level royals can be so boring. ~ Opening of Flunked

I picked this fairytale themed middle grade novel up at the height of my daughter's interest in fairytale retellings, thinking she might like it. She has not yet read it--but I do think she would enjoy it. I know I did.

Twelve year old Gilly would do anything for her family, and that includes stealing so her brothers and sisters have enough food. Her father's shoe business hasn't been doing so well since the fairy god mother started making glass slippers. Gilly is an excellent thief--at least until she gets caught and sent to the Fairy Tale Reform School run by Princess Ella's Wicked Stepmother. The teachers at the school are all former villains, now reformed. Remember the Big Bad Wolf, and the Evil Queen? Or the siren who tried to ruin the Little Mermaid's life? The promise of the school is to reform children who are on the path to villainy and turn them into heroes. But can villains really change?

It turns out reform school isn't at all what Gilly expected, and she quickly learns that not everything is quite what it may seem. Joined by her new friends, Jax and Kayla, among others, Gilly finds herself at the center of a wicked plan--and they the only ones who can put a stop to it. 

Gilly is the kind of character I think my daughter would really like. She may be a thief, but it is hard not to understand why she does it. The Royals have everything and the commoners have hardly anything. Her family is poor and struggling. She loves her family and is very loyal to them. She is surrounded by friends with complex backgrounds of their own. There are funny moments as well as thoughtful ones, and plenty of action and suspense throughout the novel. Anyone who is familiar with the original fairytales may recognize some of the characters, and hopefully will enjoy this fresh take on them. I know I did. I especially was interested in the world building. Happily ever after for the ruling princesses and royal class clearly isn't a happily ever after for everyone else, and it is nice to see that side explored more. Not to mention, I enjoy a story in which unexpected heroes rise to the occasion. I am be curious to see where the author takes this series.

Challenges Met: Mount TBR / Backlist Reading Challenge / COYER

New to my shelves:

My favorite local independent bookstore finally opened it's doors at the new location in mid-August and you can bet I was there on the first day. The owner and her staff had not expected to be closed for months, but the transition took much longer than expected. In order to show support and help keep them in business (even as small as my contribution might be), I have been buying books from them online. I was able to pick up the first part of my order (and a couple other books) while there:

Rubicon by J.S. Dewes

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Evergreen (Japantown Mystery #2) by Naomi Hirahara

Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jussen

Freddie vs. the Family Curse by Tracy Badua (Mouse's)

We always follow up a doctor's visit at the hospital with a trip to Barnes and Noble. And this past week was no different. Mouse found several manga novels (not pictured) to add to her collection and a thriller (pictured below). I couldn't resist getting a book for myself. 

In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari

Secrets Never Die by Vincent Ralph

What new books made it onto your shelf recently? 

I recently finished the first season of Imposters about three former marks who discover they were married to the same women, and so they band together to find her. Meanwhile, the con artist, played by Inbar Lavi, is working her latest con. Which goes terribly array. I am enjoying this twisty dark comedy with its mix of suspense. I am looking forward to seeing the second season.

My husband and I are in the middle of the seventh season of Bosch. I continue to be impressed with how well done the show is and how great the casting is. For those who are not familiar with the series, it is based loosely on a Michael Connelly mystery series set in Los Angeles. We plan to watch Bosch: Legacy next.

But before we do that, we will start the third season of Only Murders in the Building, which is such a funny series about three strangers who become friends over their interest in true crime and start their own podcast about murders in--you guessed it--their apartment building.

My family and I are all caught up with Crime Scene Kitchen, a fun baking competition, in which the contestants must guess what they are supposed to make by putting together clues they are given. It is fun to see how close everyone comes to what the actual dessert is supposed to be. 

What have you watched recently?

I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!

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