September: Fall(Finally!) and Back to School

 Hello fellow bibliophiles,

September was a huge improvement over August in our house. For one, we had the coolest September in several decades in the DC area, which meant lovely fall weather all month instead of summer dragging on. Also, our preschool/daycare reopened after Labor Day, and so far, has been able to stay open. Hooray! And there was much rejoicing. The girls were really happy to be back at school, especially Chloe, how was literally like, “see ya guys!” Maya took a few days to adjust, but now toddles off to class happily every day.

I had some interesting reading this month too with three quick novels and one really long nonfiction book. As always, let me know your thoughts about these books and any suggestions for future reading.

Cheers,

Tonya

 

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, if you enjoy fantasy and mythology especially

Review: Moreno-Garcia writes a column reviewing and recommending novels for the Washington Post that I enjoy, so I decided to check out this book. It was amazing. It had all of the things that I love in fantasy: a strong female lead, a fascinating mythology that is skillfully woven into the plot instead of just explained to the reader, a believable romance, and an amazing quest with world-saving/ending stakes. The story is set in 1920s Mexico. It starts in the Yucatan peninsula, but our heroes' journey takes them to Mexico City, San Antonio, Baja, and Xibalba – the Mayan underworld. Casiopea is our fearless heroine who begins on a life-and-death journey with the Mayan god of death after accidentally releasing him from a century-long prison. They embark together on an epic quest to restore his throne and kingdom that his traitorous twin brother usurped from him. It’s awesome. I really enjoyed how each character was multidimensional and believable. Even the bad guys have relatable motivations, and I ended up unexpectedly empathizing with surprising characters. Really well written and an awesome idea.

 

 

Pitfall by Clair M. Paulson

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Recommendation: meh

Review: This was the first “Mormon” fiction book that I’ve read in a long time, and it was a bit weird to read characters talking about ministering and young women’s activities in the context of a murder mystery. The author was a career detective, who has since written several dozen mystery novels. The thing that I found most unbelievable though was the motivations and intelligence of the bad guy. In the book, sixteen year-old Sparky Graves is the adopted second brother in a family of six. His older brother, Kal, is literally a psychopath, who always manages to blame his wrong-doings on Sparky. Fed up with the abuse, Sparky runs away. Kal kills their mother when she begins to suspect that Sparky wasn’t responsible for everything his older brother had blamed on him. That’s right. Kal kills his mother. This seemed really dark considering the audience and general tone of the book otherwise. The book tells the story of Sparky’s escape and how he eventually finds a safe haven at a ranch in southern Utah, which is where he meets several members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, hence the religious connection and discussions. I was surprised to find though the second half of the story was mostly told from the perspective of two detectives who are trying to piece together what really happened to the boys' mother and find Sparky. It’s billed as a “suspense” novel, but it wasn’t the suspense that kept me reading, but the disbelief at the stupidity of the murderous older brother. His absolute hatred of the protagonist was mystifying, and the author’s only explanation is “he’s a psychopath.” Maybe there are criminals like that in the world, but it wasn’t very believable to me.

 

 

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

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes

Review: I’m continuing to learn more about how to be anti-racist, and Kendi is definitely an expert on racism and anti-racism. As in his other book How to be an Antiracist, he defines racism as an adjective to describe any idea or action that is based on the idea that races aren’t equal. From this definition, he explains how himself and other great civil rights and abolition activists from W.E.B. Du Bois to William Lloyd Garrison espoused racist ideas at different points in their lives. This book is much denser than Antiracist because it’s basically a history book. It took me a while to slog through, and I struggled to keep track of all the names and dates that he introduces. The book is told in five large parts as he explains the progression of racist thought in America through the lens of the lives and writings of prominent historical people. Starting in pre-revolutionary times with Cotton Mather, moving on with Thomas Jefferson to the revolution and establishment of the Constitution with all of its racist flaws, continuing to the Civil War and abolition with William Lloyd Garrison, covering the failure of Reconstruction and eventual reinstallation of white supremacy with W.E.B. Du Bois, and then bringing us through the Civil Rights movement and to present day with Angela Davis. It’s a hard read, and not just because it’s long and dense. It’s hard to read about and accept the prominent role that racism has played in U.S. history, and it’s no wonder that it’s still a problem today. I highly recommend that everyone read this book. I know that my public school education, and subsequent college and graduate studies woefully omitted this disturbing part of my country’s history. I think every U.S. citizen needs to come to terms with this racist past and learn about how it continues to effect our present through pervasive and systemic inequalities in income, education, justice, etc. between white and black communities. Then we need to decide what we’re going to do to change it and take more steps towards building an anti-racist society.

 

 

Power of Pen and Voice: A Spoken Mage Companion Novel by Melanie Cellier

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, but only if you’ve read the 4 other books in the Spoken Mage series

Review: This is a spin-off novel from the four volume Spoken Mage series that focuses on two minor characters in that series. I enjoyed the fantasy world and magic system that she created there. This book expands on that world, adding new revelations about the people and the magic system. As was the case with the original series, a budding romance is a key plot in the story, but there’s also action, intrigue, and a good deal of mystery. Highly recommend for fans of the original series, though you might want to find an online plot summary of the first four before reading. I had trouble remembering all the characters at the beginning of the book. I particularly enjoyed that this was a one-novel story. Sometimes it's nice to read some fantasy that isn't a three-ten book series. 

Mommy Corner

Chloe was very brave at the dentist. No cavities!

Maya's learning lots of new things at school, like how to drink from a cup!

and how to sleep on a cot.

Chloe loves the art projects they do in class. She has a tendency to write her name backwards, I think it's because she's left-handed. Any other lefties out there that had the same problem as kids?

We enjoyed the cool, fall weather at the park.