Nailed (A Ron Ketchum Mystery Book 1) —by Joseph Flynn

 Fiction / Mystery

342 Pages / 2173 KB

5 Stars

 

As I’ve stated on several reviews, I read fiction for the escape and to feel better when I put the book down than when I picked it up. Mr. Flynn has yet to let me down.

 

My favorite series of his, to date, has been the John Tall Wolf series. Ron Ketchum is running a mighty close, photo-finish second. (And I see where the next Ron Ketchum book features John Tall Wolf in it! It will be loaded on my reader before this review is posted. Honest. Trust me.)

 

This book has a mountain lion out hunting humans, a racist killer nailing a black minister to a black, charred tree. A town mayor “for life” who is a high-rolling movie star. Killers, scammers, and down-home boys trying to do their jobs and maintain the peace. 

 

The only think about this book I didn’t like was it was too short, and I reached the end. Fortunately, (and I just checked my reader) Defiled is downloaded and ready to read. Alas, it will be my carrot. When chores are finished, I have a date with John Tall Wolf AND Ron Ketchum.

Choose Me --by Tess Gerritsen and Gary Braver

 Fiction / Who Done It?

290 pages / 4375 KB

3 Stars

 

Alas, I didn’t appreciate the constant movement “Before” and “After” format. It felt, I dunno, contrived. I know it’s becoming the “in” way to write, but somehow it seemed a tad overdone. Maybe I’m old and too linear in my thinking?

 

It was an OK story, I finished it. I finished it, three stars. It was not, for me a page burner. In fact, I read other books while completing this one. It held me enough to read it to find out if my suspicions were correct as to the killer (they were not), but that’s about it. 

Still Life with two dead Peacocks and a Girl --by Diane Seuss

 Nonfiction / Poetry

120 pages

5 Stars

 

If you make a list of all the superlatives you can think of, you will still run short to define this book. It is beautiful, it is terrifying. This book is lullaby soft and hard as granite. Do you cry or get angry? Perhaps both. And maybe even laugh. Depends, I suppose on how often you read the poem, the book, on what you bring to the table in this free-for-all called life. 

 

As one cannot step into the river in the same place twice, one will not read these poems in the same voice twice.

 

From writing about losing her baby blanket, to writing her Self-Portrait with Amy (Creation Myth) and all those poems in between and on either side, the reader in in for a treat. The more often read, the bigger and better the treat!

Atomic Paradise --by Jules Nyquist

 Nonfiction / Poetry 

119 pages

5 Stars

 

I love historical poetry, and this book did not let me down. Nyquist takes us from the parties of the Oppenheimers to the concentration camps of fellow Americans, from Los Alamos to the bombs, and everything in between and after. I hope this book is picked up and taught in American History Classes. And don’t think you’ll only read one or two poems at a time. You won’t. You’ll read several, if not the whole book. Yes, they are that good.

Binti: The Complete Trilogy --by Nnedi Okorafor

 Fiction / Science Fiction Fantasy

366 pages / 3758 KB

5 Stars (x4) 

 

Wow! Where to start? The world building was wonderful. I had no trouble finding my way through the worlds. I had some questions, the answers to which were not important to the story, so when they weren’t answered, I was okay with that.

 

Being a math phobe since forever, I wasn’t sure how I would get along with the protagonist being a math genius who did math to relax, fortunately, the wee bit we read was just enough to know she was way beyond me, but not enough to toss me out of the story. In other words, for me, the amount of math was perfect.

 

I became enthralled with the main characters, and hope the author revisits the planets and people again at a later date. I’d like to know what comes next. There were some interesting hints dropped at the end that could be at least one more book. If not, I’ll be happy for the opportunity to read Binti, and look forward to more of Ms. Okorafor’s books.

 

Loved the story, the worlds, the characters.

Pacific Northwest Foraging for Beginners: A 3 Step…Field Guide —by Paul Macy

 Nonfiction / Food Gathering

153 pages / 9249 KB

4 Stars

 

Though I haven’t foraged in night on to 70 years, this book has ignited a spark to once again head for the hills, or at least the flats, and see what can be found. This book is easy to read and understand. Mr. Macy uses actual photos of the plants and fine drawings. I would not hesitate to take his book and forage.

 

I did find the recipes at the end difficult to read, as the brown seemed to bleed into the white letters, but not impossible. And I would have liked, since this is a book on the Pacific Northwest to have seen a few more plants mentioned, e.g., Chamomile, Devil’s Club, Fir Trees, Russian Olive, Miner’s Lettuce, and one found in Eastern Oregon and Washington, Datura. I don’t think we have enough Pine Trees to make them worth the mention, though I could be wrong.

 

I appreciated how Mr. Mace stressed sustainable harvesting, not just when to harvest, but how. I thought his ideas on cooking, serving, or saving/preserving were quite well done and appreciated. I would add one more item to my foraging kit: brand name hand sanitizer. I’ve found it works well on bites and blisters to cut the sting and burn, as well as cleaning hands.

 

If you’ve ever considered foraging for food, fun, or profit, this is the book for you. Nicely done.

 

Deaf Republic: Poems --by Ilia Kaminsky

 Nonfiction / Poetry

80 pages

5 Stars

 

 

I am blown away. Never have I read a book like this. It is a long poem made up of several small poems; it is a play in two acts. It is the beauty of love and survival juxtaposed against the nightmare of war and its cruelty. It is humor, it is tears. It is the most unique book I’ve ever read. Stunning. As someone said, it is something akin to grasping the live wire of poetry and feeling the current traverse your hand, your body, your brain. If you never read another book of poetry, read Deaf Republic.

An Insomniac's Slumber Party with Marilyn Monroe --by Heidi Seaborn

 Nonfiction / Poetry

84 pages

5 Stars

 

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to have been Norma Jean/Marilyn? Well, wonder no more! Heidi Seaborn did a fantastic job of researching and imagining and then putting all those imaginings into poems.

 

If you plan on your own slumber party with Marilyn, put on your sexiest and go to bed early, because once you start these poems, you will resent having to put the book down before you are finished reading. 

 

I very seldom suggest you read a book of poetry straight through, but these just naturally lead one to the other and you just naturally have to go to the next, the next, the next, the…

 

I laughed. I became intimate with anger. I cried. And when the book was finished, I started over again!

All the Wild and Holy: A Life of Eunice Williams 1696-1785 --by Gayle Lauradunn

 Nonfiction / Poetry

100 pages

5 Stars

 

Like many European girls and women, Eunice Williams found a life worth living with the Indians who abducted her and refused to return to the strangled life of a female in colonial America. The amount of research Ms. Lauradunn accomplished shows in this collection of chronological poems as told by Eunice beautifully imagined by Lauradunn. 

 

We are taken from the horrific abduction to the realization that the Natives not only allowed, but encouraged, singing and dancing and joy in all its manifestations; that women were respected and the head of the family. As an Indian she was a woman of means with a loving husband. As a European woman in the colonies, she would be little more than a drudge in a world of drudge. 

 

When, as an adult, she returned to her family to visit, they could not understand why she wouldn’t stay. Here, in her own words as imagined by Lauradunn, you will understand.

 

I’ve read this book more than once and will read it several times in the future. I have read other books about Eunice Williams with this book being at the top of my favored stack. If you enjoy good writing, history, poetry, this is a must read.