Book of the Month: March

Animal Pound is my favorite book for this month. It is a 4 part comic series where the dogs, cats and rabbits of an animal pound remove the employees and take over. Led by a cat called Fifi and dog Titan the doors to all of the cages are unlocked and all of the cats, dogs and rabbits roam freely throughout the building and grounds. After enjoying free reign for several weeks they realize that they will need to find a new source of food in order to survive on their own. Enter politics. A campaign to elect representatives begins. There are 2 additional releases coming soon and I cannot wait to finish reading this adorable story.

You Only Call When You're in Trouble

You Only Call When You're in Trouble is author Stephen McCauley's seventh book.  It follows the lives of the Kemp family and their friends and acquaintances. Tom Kemp is a sixtysomething architect about to be replaced by a younger employee. He specializes in tiny houses. Sister Dorothy has never had stable employment but managed to raise daughter Cecily. Cecily is a 34 college professor who is being investigated for improper behavior with a student. Tom has always supported Cecily and Dorothy to the detriment of his romantic relationships. After decades of lying about the identity of Cecily's father, Dorothy decides

to invite both of them to the opening of her new business where she has promised herself that she will tell Cecily the truth.

I thought the first half of the book was entertaining but got bogged down in all the details of this weekend business opening. There were several other characters who didn't provide much insight into the story.  When these other characters failed to offer a reason for the action, or lack of action, I became a little bored. While in the beginning I thought this book was going to be a 5 star read, it fizzled into a 3 star story. The novel was the first of McCauley's that I have read and I am sad that it will probably be my last. It had such promise.

3 out of 5 stars.

Can't Wait Wednesday #28

The Can't Wait Wednesday meme is hosted by the Wishful Endings blog. While I am having a difficult time this month concentrating on books, I am still interested in adding books to my TBR list. Go figure. This morning I discovered that Susan Witting Albert will be publishing the 29th China Bayles cozy mystery novel on June 4, 2024. This is something to celebrate. When she did not publish a book for the series last year, I was afraid that the series was over. I am thrilled to hear about this new novel, Forget Me Never.

In this installment of the series, Pecan Springs resident Olivia Andrews has a blog and podcast, “Forget Me Not: A Crime Victim’s Storyboard,” that is dedicated to telling the stories of victims of crime. She has a stunning story to tell about a decades-old murder mystery involving a prominent citizen of Pecan Springs, someone who isn’t the man everybody thinks he is. Olivia is killed by a hit-and-run driver while she’s out jogging early one morning. Was it an accident—or something else? Her sister and China Bayles want to know.

Who is the prominent citizen Olivia was about to expose? How did he manage to get away with murder twenty years ago? Did he kill Olivia to keep her from revealing his secret? What is local lawyer Charlie Lipman trying to hide? Then there’s another murder. With a cousin's scrapbook that was compiled to honor the memory of one of the victims, China wants to determine whose face was scissored out of the photos. The answer to that question may solve the murder investigations.

I love that a scrapbook is part of the story and cannot wait to read more about it.

Murder in the Tea Leaves

Laura Childs newest book was published earlier this month and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Murder in the Tea Leaves is the 27th installment of her Indigo Teashop Mystery Series and I have been anxiously awaiting its publication. I have read every book in the series and most were fantastic.

In this particular story, main character Theodosia Browning is reading tea leaves on the set of the movie, Dark Fortunes, which is being filmed in her native city of Charleston. Her teashop, the Indigo Teashop, provided the snacks on the set. The next thing she knows the film director has been electrocuted while sitting on a chair that was rigged with electronics. One of the suspects is Theo's friend Delaine Dish who was dating the director but had a noisy break-up of their relationship in a ritzy restaurant the previous night. As usual, Theodosia begins her own investigation of the murder despite being told by Detective Tidwell to stay out of it. Between hosting a Breakfast at Tiffany’s Tea, and a Poetry Tea, Theodosia tries to find clues that will identify the killer. In this novel she did not do the usual interviews of her suspects but she does explore the haunted Brittlebank Manor where the murder took place. Her tea sommelier Drayton Connelly talks Theo through her many theories to help her come to some conclusions about the murder. Soon thereafter, a member of the Charleston Film Board is also murdered.

When I first began reading I had a sense of deja vu. The story sounded familiar and I remember a comment that Theo made in an earlier novel "I was reading a book by Susan Witting Albert." The statement returned! Eventually, I discovered that another one of my favorite cozy mystery series, the Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle, had a murder take place on a film set also. Yet another similarity with this series is that the main characters of both series are dating police officers. Coyle had these aspects of her series in place many books ago.  

It is unusual for Theo not to go out of her way to interview suspects. In fact, it has never before happened in the series. She also did not drive around town inspecting several buildings that might provide her with some clues. Toward the end of the story Theo and Drayton broke into Brittlebank Manor to find evidence concerning the how and why of the murders.

The novel had a slow pace, presumably because there wasn't much action. Detective Tidwell did not play a prominent role and I missed his gruffy personality.  Theo's personality meshed well with Tidwell which always added excitement. Hopefully, he will return in the next installment of the series.

3 out of 5 stars.

The Way of the House Husband Volume 11

The Way of the House Husband is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kousuke Oono. Published in the online manga magazine Bunch Comics since 2018, Volume 11 was published on January 1, 2021. The series has been filmed for  Netflix but I haven't seen it. The Way of the House Husband follows Tatsu, an infamous and feared yakuza boss nicknamed "the Immortal Dragon" who retires from crime to become a househusband so that he can support wife Miku. The episodic series depicts a variety of comedic scenarios, typically wherein Tatsu's banal domestic work as a househusband is juxtaposed against his intimidating personality and appearance, and his frequent run-ins with former yakuza associates and rivals.

Tatsu found that it was not easy to walk away from the gangster life. What should have been mundane household tasks are anything but. In this installment of the series Tatsu must help Masa move his operation to a new pad, and fast, after the cocky kid lands himself in trouble with the wrong enforcer, his landlady! There’s just one catch  the kid lacks the funds to make any big moves. Luckily for Masa, the Immortal Dragon has some househusband tricks up his sleeve to transform even the cheapest, shadiest apartment into a comfortable place! The funniest thing Tatsu does in this volume is to buy a professional grade laundry dehumidifier that will dry his clothes indoors. The reader also gets a drawing showing the humidifier drying his clothing. Four pages were devoted to this subplot which should give you a sense of the flow of the book.

I don't usually read manga because the romantic stories I usually see are rather sappy. The Way of the Househusband is different but it still retains the Japanese sense of humor as one would expect from a Japanese author. However, I don't share that type of humor. It seems to me that I have been forcing myself to read these volumes because a comic fan should be a manga fan, right? Well it hasn't worked out for me. While I have enjoyed the premise of the series and loved reading about many of Tatsu's adventures, I think it's time to cease reading the series. Volume 12 will be coming out soon but I will skip it.

3 put of 5 stars.

Animal Pound 1 and 2

Animal Pound is a hilarious 4 part comic book series where the caged animals stage a take over of the pound. Led by a cat called Fifi and dog Titan the doors to all of the cages are unlocked and all of the cats, dogs and rabbits roam freely throughout the building and grounds. Author Tom King and illustrator Peter Gross give us an updated version of Animal Farm for 21st century America, where a two-party system gives way to fear and facism. Volume 1 was released on December 20, 2023. 

Animal Pound #1 opens with an old dog named Lucky talking to a kitten named Fifi. Her explains that he is going to be euthanized the next day but before he goes Lucky explains how unfair the world is for animals. He hopes that some day the animals will rebel against the humans who control them and become free. Several years go by and Fifi is still in the pound. A new dog named Titan is scheduled to be put down the next day. The two of them decide that they must enact the escape plan that they have been working on. Fifi rallies the rest of the cats and Titan rallies all of the dogs. When the next day comes they enact their plan. While Titan distracts the humans working at the pound, Fifi opens the cages. The dogs are able to expel the guards. Volume 2 shows the animals trying to come up with a government that works for all of them.

Animal Pound has no violence or foul language and is suitable for young children. The story is a fast and fascinating read and I highly recommend it. I am looking forward to reading the next volume when it is released on April 17, 2023.

Can't Wait Wednesday #27

The Can't Wait Wednesday meme is hosted by the Wishful Endings blog. While my reading time has plummeted this month because of collage work and planning a trip to Japan, that doesn't mean I won't keep picking up books.  am currently interested in Tom King's Animal Pound comic series. 

When animals grow tired of being caged, killed, and sold off, an uprising puts them in control of the pound. The animals quickly find themselves as comrades, united against everything that walks on two legs. However, with this newfound power comes the challenge of determining how best to lay the groundwork for their new democracy as they write their first constitution.

I know that I am going to love this lighthearted story. The first three releases have already been published but they will be followed up with another three. Also, I can't wait for them all to be published in one book which happens alot with comic book series.

The Atlas Maneuver

The Atlas Maneuver is the 18th Cotton Malone spy thriller from Steve Berry. The story is action packed on 2 fronts. The pace is super fast and it felt like I was reading faster than normal in order to keep up with the pace. In this installment of the series Cotton unravels a mystery from World War II that involves the legendary lost treasure, Yamishita’s Gold, worth billions.

The publisher's summary:

1945. In the waning months of World War II, Japan hid vast quantities of gold and other stolen valuables in boobytrapped underground caches all across the Philippines. By 1947, some of that loot was recovered, not by treasure hunters, but by the United States government, which told no one about the find. Instead, those assets were stamped classified, shipped to Europe, and secretly assimilated into something called the Black Eagle Trust.

Present day. Retired Justice Department operative, Cotton Malone, is in Switzerland doing a favor for a friend. But what was supposed to be a simple operation turns violent and Cotton is thrust into a war between the world’s oldest bank and the CIA, a battle that directly involves the Black Eagle Trust. He quickly discovers that everything hinges on a woman from his past, who suddenly reappears harboring a host of explosive secrets centering around bitcoin. The cryptocurrency is being quietly weaponized, readied for an assault on the world’s financial systems, a calculated move that will have devastating consequences. Cotton has no choice. He has to act. But at what cost?

From the stolid banking halls of Luxembourg, to the secret vaults of Switzerland, and finally up into the treacherous mountains of southern Morocco, Cotton Malone is stymied at every turn. Each move he makes seems wrong, and nothing works, until he finally comes face-to-face with the Atlas Maneuver.

Berry has utilized several conspiracy theories surrounding bitcoin and made them into the background for the story. Around the halfway point I was so curious about bitcoin that I stopped reading and went over to Wikipedia to determine what parts of the story were true to life. I was astonished to learn that every fact Berry gave us concerning the creation of the bitcoin, including the name of its creator as well as the rules on buying and selling, were accurate. 

Also, there are several figures from real life. We have General Yamashita and his cohort Prince Chichibu as well as the legendary creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoyo. Characters from earlier books in the series have returned in The Atlas Maneuver including Derrick Koger (CIA European station chief) and Casseiopia Vitt (Malone’s lover). In addition, there are several other characters who don't even know who they are really working for. This was confusing for me because I couldn't identify whose side they were on until the end. Instead of adding suspense it created confusion. Also, it amazes me how realistically Berry brings Malone back into the spy world from retirement year after year. Perhaps Cotton Malone should never have retired but it doesn't really matter because his return to work is always seamless.

All of these characters are on the trail of a huge cache of bitcoin that, in the absence of any legal records of ownership, will belong to anyone who can track it down and grab it. As for what the Atlas Maneuver is, I will keep to myself in order to avoid spoiling the fun for future readers.

The Atlas Maneuver is an enjoyable read and I am thrilled to have received a copy from Net Galley. I am rating 4 out of 5 stars.

Book Cover of the Month: February

My favorite book cover for this month was done by illustrator Leuyan Pham. She illustrated both the cover and inside pages for Gene Luen Yang's Lunar New Year Love Story. It is also my best book for this month. Pham was born in Vietnam. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles from 1991 to 1993, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1996 from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. After graduation, she worked as a layout artist from 1996 to 1999 at Dreamworks Animation. She then quit to illustrate children's books full-time.

What I love most about this book cover is the color. The reds and purples mix well together and produce an eye catching piece of art. This color pallette is continued throughout the inside The reader knows they are getting a happy story because of the color palette.

Book of the Month: February

Lunar New Year Love Story is my best book for this month. It is a graphic novel written by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Leuyen Pham. As the title suggests, the story is about a couple who cannot get together as a couple during their senior year of high school. They are part of a dance troupe who perform as lions and dragons at lunar new year festivals and other Chinese events. While the two kids can dance together beautifully the girl, Val, doesn't know who she wants as a boyfriend. This book is clean reading, no sex or foul language, perfect for young adults.

Stacking the Shelves #32

As I mentioned last Saturday, it's hard to think about reading another book when you're in the middle of 750+ page biography. Jon Meacham's Lincoln biography And There Was Light was a bear to get through. I am exhausted from reading it and probably won't be able to read anything else until next month. 

However, the show must go on as they say. I obtained copy of Luana Ehrlich's Three Weeks in Washington from Kindle Unlimited for the Clock Reading Challenge. The book is part of her Titus Ray Thriller Series which I have been enjoying this year. 

In Three Weeks CIA intelligence operative, Titus Ray, arrives in Washington, D.C. on the day a terrorist enters the Washington Navy Yard and murders five people. He is convinced the incident is connected to a Hezbollah plot to use chemical weapons on an American city. As usual, Titus will jeopardize his own career in order to interrogate the killer and learn the truth.

The story sounds interesting and I am looking forward to reading the book.

And There Was Light

Last year I bought a copy of Jon Michael's newest  book, And There Was Light. It is a biography of Abraham Lincoln and it covers his entire life from birth to death. It has received a couple of awards. The book won the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize and was longlisted for the Biographers International Plutarch Award. Both Kirkus Reviews and the Christian Science Monitor said it was one of the best books of the year for 2022. It took me awhile to get through it's 750 pages but it was well worth it. Note that this review is going to be long. There is a lot to say, yet I have left much comment out.

It is obvious that Meacham idolizes Lincoln as he describes Lincoln’s self-education, romances with women, bouts of depression, political successes and failures, and his faith. In America Lincoln tends to be seen as the greatest of American presidents. I don't disagree with this statement but in this book Meacham gives the reader a new portrait of a very human Lincoln, an imperfect man whose moral antislavery commitment, essential to the story of justice in America, began as he grew up in antislavery Baptist churches. What was surprising to me was the number of times in Lincoln's life that his friends had to watch over him for several weeks or months to prevent him from killing himself. After his first love Ann Rutledge died he was despondent and unable to work for months. When his son Willie died, he had to be watched over again. It is interesting that history tells us that Mary Todd Lincoln lost her mind after this loss. However, Abe was in worse shape. He was suicidal. I counted the number of times that he was suicidal to be 7 times during his life. 

Meacham addresses Lincoln’s religious faith by stating in the Prologue: 

Raised in an antislavery Baptist ethos in Kentucky and in Indiana, Lincoln was not an orthodox Christian. He never sought to declare a traditional faith. There was no in-breaking light, no thunderbolt on the road to Damascus, no conviction that, as the Epistle to the Philippians put it, “every knee should bow” and declare Jesus as Lord. There was, rather, a steadily stronger embrace of the right in a world of ambition and appetite. To Lincoln, God whispered His will through conscience, calling humankind to live in accord with the laws of love. Lincoln believed in a transcendent moral order that summoned sinful creatures, in the words of Micah, to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God—eloquent injunctions, but staggeringly difficult to follow. “In the material world, nothing is done by leaps, all by gradual advance,” the New England abolitionist Theodore Parker observed. Lincoln agreed. “I may advance slowly,” the president reputedly said, “but I don’t walk backward.” His steps were lit by political reality, by devotion to the Union, and by the importuning of conscience.  Meacham, Jon. And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle (pp. 15-16). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

 

“I have often wished that I was a more devout man than I am,” Lincoln said in his White House years. “Nevertheless, amid the greatest difficulties of my Administration, when I could not see any other resort, I would place my whole reliance on God, knowing that all would go well, and that He would decide for the right.”  Meacham, Jon. And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle (pp. 16-17). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

 

Lincoln, who knew slavery, saw it, and was likely exposed to teaching and preaching that declared it wrong. Still, there was something in the faith of his father that kept Lincoln from declaring himself a believer and joining the church in which he was raised. Perhaps he disliked following his father, a parent with whom he had a complicated relationship on the best of days. Perhaps he was uncomfortable with the Baptist expression of predestination, which held that an omnipotent God had previously determined who was to be saved and who was to be damned, a theological assertion derived from John Calvin. Perhaps he never truly felt the call to make a public assent to the claims of the frontier Baptist sect he knew. And perhaps he sensed, at some level, a discrepancy between scripture, which Lincoln was coming to know well, and religious doctrine.  Meacham, Jon. And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle (pp. 60-61). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  

 

Lincoln's step-mother Sarah Bush Lincoln recalled. “He read all the books he could lay his hands on.” The psalms of the King James Version were favorites, as were the hymns of Isaac Watts. Meacham, Jon. And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle (p. 70). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  

 

I personally believe that conflicts over his father's abusive treatment was the reason he never joined a church. Lincoln did, however, get his anti-slavery stance from his father so it was complicated. Another reason I believe Thomas Lincoln was the reason is that Abe never introduced his children to Thomas or his step-mother.  

A president who govered a divided country has a lot to teach us in the twenty-first-century given the polarization and political crisis we are currently experiencing. I was amazed at how similar our past is just like our present. There are the same calls for state's rights. In fact, until the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, the U.S. Constitution was interpreted to mean that the federal government could not force the states to do anything. This is the reason that abolitionist leaning leaders did nothing to stop slavery. Lincoln changed this interpretation which angered both pro-slavery and anti-slavery people. Lincoln also ruled by executive order. He was the first president to do this and we know from current headlines how well this goes over. Citizens called for Lincoln to be assassinated the day after his election and then continued until he was assassinated. Also, he had to come to Washington for his inaugural disguised as someone else. In addition, I was surprised to learn that the southern states began seceding a few days after his election and all but one state had seceded before his inaugural. Southerners knew that Lincoln would outlaw slavery and did not wait until he was in office to take action. There was speculation that they would take over Mexico or the Central American countries and create a new nation based on slavery. Many of the confederate leaders were U. S. Senators and willingly resigned their offices in support of the south.

And There Was Light is a fantastic account of Abraham Lincoln's life. While there is a lot of minutiae concerning his political fights, it is good that we have this record to lean back on.  I am rating the book 5 out of 5 stars.

Stacking the Shelves #31

It's hard to think about picking up another book when you've just begun a 750 page non-fiction book. But . . . I noticed that J. M. Cannon has come out with a new book titled Girl in the Dark. Cannon wrote Blood Oranges which was one of my favorite books in 2023. Girl in the Dark was published two days ago on February 15, 2024 and I obtained a free copy from Kindle Unlimited.

Here is how the publisher summarized the story:

On a cold evening in November, Zoey Knight gets a frantic call from her sister. Their childhood home in remote Maine has burned to the ground. Two bodies have been discovered in the basement.

When the FBI suddenly takes over the case, it's clear something more sinister than a random double homicide has taken place.

Rumors go back to The Family-cult or commune, the wealthy enclave of Black Castle, Maine has never been sure. Twenty years ago, after the disappearance of a local girl, the group vanished. Now, signs of them are resurfacing.

Zoey finds this is no ordinary conspiracy. It doesn't just involve strangers, but the very people she loves. And if she wants the truth, she'll have to risk everything to find out.

The book has mixed reviews on Goodreads with ratings spanning from 2 stars to 5 stars. I have high hopes for the book based upon Blood Oranges. If I ever finish Jon Meacham's Lincoln biography And There Was Light, I will start reading this novel next.