Hearts Unbroken Book Review

As a librarian, I come across books that have never been checked out all the time. Recently, I decided to check out a YA book called Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith. At that time, it hadn’t been checked out at all, and had been out on the shelves for nearly two years. There is another reason why I chose to read it, but I’ll explain later. Did this book deserve to be read? Despite some minor flaws, it did!

Hearts Unbroken is a realistic and cultural young adult book about Louise Wolfe – a Muscogee (Creek) Native teenager who dumps her jock first boyfriend after he makes a very insensitive remark about her race. She then spends her senior year working on the school newspaper with Joey Kairouz – the ambitious Lebanese American photojournalist – and covering the backlash of the musical director’s color-conscious approach to casting The Wizard of Oz from the newly formed Parents Against Revisionist Theater (PART). This hostility leads to anonymous threats, bullying, and blackmail, which affect teachers; parents; students; and the cast members, including Hughie – Louise’s brother who was cast as the Tin Man. Oh, and she might have feelings for Joey despite trying to date in a mostly white Kansas suburban area.

The main reason why I picked this novel up was because I had felt guilty for not liking Rain is Not My Indian Name (RINMIN) – another book by Smith – as much as I should’ve. While on the Internet, I discovered that both titles take place in the same universe, and that both protagonists are actually cousins. Another plus was that Rain, Fynn, and the rest of the Summer Indian Camp gang (including Queenie) made appearances throughout the book. I assume that Rain and Queenie managed to pack things up between the events of Rain is Not My Indian Name and Hearts Unbroken. Think of the latter as a spinoff of the former. 

But these aren’t slap dashed cameos. Rain and Fynn help Louise out as much as they can with her issues with school and Joey throughout the novel. The only thing that I have to nitpick about this aspect is that the book wants us to believe that the events of Hearts Unbroken take place 2-3 years after the ones from Rain is Not My Indian Name. However, both novels were published 17 years apart, and it sometimes shows, especially when technology is mentioned. I kind of wished that Rain was in her 30s in Hearts Unbroken, so she could give wisdom to Louise as an older cousin.

Speaking of Rain and Louise, both realize the true meaning of empathy. Both demonstrate that they are capable of relating to others (especially Louise with her journalism class), yet both learn that they need to walk a mile in other people’s shoes. In the older book, Rain realizes that closing herself prevented her from not only sharing her heritage with others, but also understanding their side of the story and realizing that she may have been wrong in her views. With the newer novel, even though Louise dumps Cam – her first boyfriend – via email immediately after he makes an inconsiderate quip about her race, she almost endangers her relationship with Joey when she says some things that he perceives to be insensitive regarding the Middle East. She even recognizes that she was an asshole for dumping Cam via email, thus justifying his post-breakup anger towards her. 

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room: its wokeness. The racism in Hearts Unbroken is far more overt than it was in Rain is Not My Indian Name. Along with the comment that Cam makes, the book contains a group of parents who are clearly against the color-conscious casting even if they refuse to admit that. At one point, someone tells Louise’s family to go back to where they came from by spraying that onto the side of their house. 

Normally, readers might think that these actions of racism are too blatant. However, as more people become empowered to express their racist views, many have grown emboldened to combat them to ensure that everyone is treated equally and given the same access to resources, especially within the last four years. It helps that Louise and her family have different reactions to these situations. Her parents want to be resilient and not worry about her, yet Louise wants to write about it since she’s a reporter for the school newspaper. In addition, the novel also tackles reconciling the actions of historical figures. While rehearsing for The Wizard of Oz, Hughie discovers L. Frank Baum’s views of Native Americans, and he has to decide if he’s able to separate the art from the artist.

Another plus to this book is that it actually contains Muscogee words and phrases that the main characters (mainly Louise and Hughie) use throughout as beginning speakers. Smith was kind enough to include a Mvskoke (Muscogee)-English Glossary at the end of the book. These contain sentences like estonko? (how are you?), hesci (hello), and cokvheckv omvlkat enakes (education for all). All I have to say is cokv kerretv heret os or learning is good!

While looking at reviews, I noticed two main complaints from readers: the chapters themselves and too many characters. Most of the chapters were pretty short, which makes it a good book to read before going to bed, but I too noticed that some were longer than others. I can see how readers might perceive this as inconsistent, but I wasn’t bothered by this because some chapters will be longer due to important plot points occurring. Now, for the other criticism of the whole load of characters, I think that one is a little more valid. There were people who showed up for a scene, and then, they were never seen again. For example, Louise visits a student who works as a page for the school library, and she gives her a book when being asked about the musical. Readers never see this character nor the book again. I think Smith could have reduced the character count and still have the same story.

The only thing that I have a slight problem with is how Louise and Joey reconcile. During the climax, a tornado comes around (did I mention the book is set in Kansas?), and what do they do? After Joey forgives Louise, they go into his Jeep, and they start making out. Yep, they do that in a Jeep in a parking lot while an actual tornado is happening. I couldn’t take that seriously! It sounded like it could be in a PG-13 Hallmark movie.

All in all, Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith is a YA book that people should read. It tackles the issue of race in necessarily overt, deep, and simple ways. In fact, I actually think that this is better than Rain is Not My Indian Name. Like that title, I would recommend this novel to those who are looking to read stuff with Native American protagonists. When one has the chance, try to check out a book that looks like it needs love. It’s available in print as well as on Hoopla and Libby.

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Rain is Not My Indian Name Book Review

When researching for book reviews, I go to sources like Goodreads and see what other readers have said about the book in question. Sometimes, they’ll praise novels that I didn’t find all that interesting. It’s not that it was bad; it’s just that I didn’t really connect with it as much as I would’ve hoped. This sometimes happens because of the book itself, my expectations on it, or both. I’ve been thinking a lot about this ever since I read the reviews for Rain is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith – a book that I liked but didn’t connect with it all that much.

Rain is Not My Indian Name is about Cassidy Rain Berghoff – a mixed race Native American girl, who, on the eve of her 14th birthday, loses her best friend and possible boyfriend Galen. For six months, she shuns herself from the outside world until controversy arises with her Aunt Georgia’s Indian camp in their mostly white community in Kansas. She goes back into the real world by taking photographs of the campers for the town newspaper. Soon after, Rain has to decide how involved she wants to be with the camp. Should she keep a professional distance from the inter tribal community that she belongs to? And how will she connect with the other campers after her great loss?

The reasons that I didn’t really get attached to the novel were because of the multiple subplots and the expectations that I set for it. The book itself is 135 pages, yet there are a lot of minor stories going on in the background. These include the rift between Rain and her second-best friend Queenie – a black girl who dated Galen prior and whose great-grandfather was Seminole – and Rain’s brother becoming a father. Normally, I wouldn’t have an issue with this if the book was longer. For example, The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati is 768 pages, and it too, contains a lot of minor plots. The difference between that and Rain is Not My Indian Name is that the former has the space to develop all the plots while retaining focusing on the main one. With the latter, it felt like the subplots were so crammed into the novel that the major story got lost.

The second reason why I didn’t relate to it as much is on me. After I read the blurb for the first time, I immediately thought that the book was going to be a slightly sanitized version of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky since the main characters in their own ways shun themselves from the outside world after the deaths of their friends and loved ones. After reading Rain is Not My Indian Name, I came to the conclusion that it was like that, except the situations were similar to the ones shown on kids’ tv shows like her camera accidentally destroying the noodle bridge that the campers were building. Again, I felt that it could’ve been better with less subplots. It didn’t help that I partly rushed through the book, when in hindsight, I should’ve taken my time with it.

I feel that I would’ve enjoyed the novel more if I didn’t assume what the book was going to be like because there was some really good material in it. Rain is Muscogee Creek-Cherokee and Scots-Irish on her mom’s side, Irish-German-Ojibway on her dad’s. She details subtle experiences of racism and white privilege, while not being perfect herself. When she finds out that the newspaper intern is Jewish, she comes very close to saying that he doesn’t look like one, something that she hears on an almost daily basis regarding her Native American heritage. 

In addition, I liked how there weren’t any neat resolutions. Rain will never know how Galen truly felt about her and what he was thinking when he and Queenie broke up. It also might take a long time before she is able to move on from Galen’s death. Who knows what will happen with her.

Rain is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith is a good story that I couldn’t quite connect to because of the reasons mentioned above. Despite that, it contains realistic Native American characters and situations. I would recommend this novel to those who are looking to read stuff with Native American protagonists. Even though it’s only 135 pages, I would also let them know to take their time with it. There’s a reason why slow and steady ultimately wins the race.

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What Am I Reading – Chapter Eleven

Hi Everybody!

I’ve been going through books like a pack of Oreos! I finished Carry the One by Carol Anshaw and The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp recently. Now, I’ve started two new novels that I would love to share with all of you.

Let’s get started!

Translated from Russian, Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko is basically a dark version of Harry Potter. While vacationing with her mom, Sasha Samokhina meets the mysterious Farit Kozhennikov. He directs her to perform certain tasks, and she is powerless to refuse. Every time she completes a one, she is rewarded with strange gold coins. As her schooling and summer end, her domineering mentor makes her move to a remote village and use her gold coins to enroll in the Institute of Special Technologies. Even though Sasha doesn’t want to go, she feels that this is the only place she should be. She quickly finds out that the institute’s “special technologies” are unlike anything she has ever encountered like the books being impossible to read and the lessons being maddening. The institute uses terror and coercion to keep students in line, yet they don’t outright punish them. Instead, their families pay a price. Despite her fear, Sasha goes through changes that defy matter and time as well as experiences which were nothing she ever dreamed of and suddenly all she ever wanted.

As one can see from this summary, it’s a lot. But, it’s truly like Harry Potter. Like Sasha, Harry also goes to a magical school and experiences things that he couldn’t ever dream of while living with the Dursleys. The difference is how more intense Vita Nostra is, especially with how Sasha is forced to go to the school almost against her own will.

It grabbed me from the very first page. I could vividly imagine a lot of the locations like the remote village, especially when Sasha and Kostya – Farit’s son – first encounter it. I want her to be free, but I also want to see how she does in the school. We’ll see how it goes.

Now, let’s move onto the second and final book of this latest installment…

Inside the O’Briens by Lisa Genova revolves around Joe O’Brien – a 44-year-old police officer, husband, and father of four adult children from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. After experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and involuntary movements, Joe goes to a neurologist and gets diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease. Sadly, the disease has no treatment nor a cure. What’s worse is that each of the children has a 50% chance of inheriting it, and a simple blood test could seal their fate. The youngest – 21-year-old Katie – struggles with whether or not she wants to know. As his symptoms get worse, Joe loses his job and battles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose. In the meantime, Katie and her siblings must find the courage to live their lives “at risk” or take the test and learn their fate.

Going into this novel, I knew that Genova was a neurologist. This makes sense as her previous and most famous book Still Alice deals with a woman struggling with the early onset of Alzheimer’s. I’ve not read that book, but I refuse to compare it with Inside the O’Briens because it isn’t fair for the time being.

I started reading Inside the O’Briens today, and it’s going good so far. I like how the main character tries to give excuses for his more unusual behavior like stress on the job. He even doubts them at the same time, thinking that it could be something worse (a mentality he has undoubtedly developed while working as a police officer).

I’m listening to the audiobook, and it’s narrated by Skipp Sudduth – an actor best known for his role as Sully in the series Third Watch. He gives a Bostonian vibe to the main character that doesn’t come off as a caricature. I look forward to hearing the rest of Sudduth’s performance as well as reading the rest of the novel.

We now have come to the end of the eleventh chapter of “What Am I Reading?”

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Lilac Girls Book Review

I’ve been reading historical fiction for a long time, and I’ve noticed that the genre adores stories about World War II. I can understand that. Authors can tackle one or multiple aspects of the war like women’s efforts, the Western Front, the Pacific Front, etc, and they can show them from any perspective. It’s a gold mine. But, how would a WWII-based historical fiction novel stand out during this present time? Martha Hall Kelly provides one effective answer with her multiple-narrator book Lilac Girls.

Lilac Girls tells the stories of three women – Caroline Ferriday, Kasia Kuzmerick, and Herta Oberheuser from 1939 to 1959. Caroline is a former Broadway actress who works at the French Consulate in New York City when Hitler invades Poland. She later sets her sights on France. Kasia is a Polish Catholic teenager at the beginning of the war; she becomes a courier for the underground resistance movement. Herta is a young German doctor who lands a position at Ravensbruck, yet she finds herself in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power. Their lives begin to collide when Kasia, her mother, and sister are sent to that same concentration camp. As a result, their stories intertwine as Caroline and Kasia seek justice for people that history has forgotten.

What makes Lilac Girls stand out is that it encompasses a broader view of the non-soldier’s experiences throughout World War II. This is especially true with the home front and the work that women performed on both sides, despite how deadly some of that actually was. Some sections can be hard to get through, especially the parts that involve Kasia and her family at Ravensbruck. Yes, there are times, in which it focuses on Caroline’s glamour parties to raise money, but it doesn’t stray far from the cruel realities that people faced during the war, especially Kasia’s and Herta’s. While the story could have been solely Kasia’s and be just as gripping, having the multiple-narrator aspect makes the story stand out from its peers. 

In addition, the main characters are fleshed out and have their own real struggles and flaws. Caroline wants to help the Rabbits of Ravensbruck (women like Kasia who were used as lab animals for medical experiments), but some of her efforts can come off as tone deaf. This is especially true in the scene in which she tries to give the survivors handbags, but the women themselves are from Communist Poland, and they’re not allowed to have gifts like those. At first, Herta questions the treatment of the prisoners, yet over time, she becomes desensitized to the cruelty thrusted upon them. I also want to point out that her colleague Fritz forced her to inject an elderly prisoner with a lethal drug although he would later leave the camp to be a medic on the front lines because he couldn’t stand what was going on there. In other words, Fritz is a hypocrite. And then, there’s Kasia, who has a hard time letting go of her time in Ravensbruck. It gets to the point where she refuses to have a relationship with her father’s new girlfriend (after her mother disappears) and slaps her own daughter for accepting paint brushes from her sort of stepmother. Despite her questionable actions, Kasia’s journey to move forward with her life and family drew me in and made me root for her to achieve that.

I’ve noticed that some readers are not really fans of how the novel jumps from one character to another, especially right on a cliffhanger. Even though I felt annoyed by this at times, I think that Kelly did this on purpose to balance out the negative and positive story elements. It could have been done better, yet it’s Kelly’s first book, so I’ll let it slide.

The only thing in this novel that didn’t work as well as it should have was the romance between Caroline and Paul. The Author’s Note reveals that the love story was fictionalized, so Caroline could have a real connection to France, especially during the war. That’s understandable. I didn’t mind the romantic subplot, and I was fine with them not working out in the end. However, I did mind that the book spent so much time on it that it felt misleading when the relationship ultimately fizzled. 

There’s another thing I have to address: the cover. I’ve noticed that there’s a certain trend with WWII-based novels having covers depicting women looking away. Why does this happen? I don’t think anybody really knows, but it’s here and in full force. What is worse is that the cover in this case doesn’t work. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel that it’s misleading because I thought it would be all of the main characters walking together. While reading the novel, I realized that it wasn’t going to happen since Caroline and Kasia would never be friends with Herta. In fact, the other books in the Lilac Girls trilogy (yep, it’s a trilogy) have similar covers. I’ve reviewed a book with a similar cover (The Atomic City Girls), and in that instance, that one made sense as the two women are walking to the facilities that would aid in making the atomic bomb. In the case of the Lilac Girls cover, it was basically a cash-in on an existing trend. 

I listened to the audiobook, and it was very good. Cassandra Campbell (an award-winning audiobook narrator from everyone’s favorite book Where the Crawdads Sing) is Caroline, and she voices her like a Hollywood starlet with kindness in her heart. Kathleen Gati (from General Hospital) plays Kasia with a vague Polish accent, and she captures the emotions that Kasia feels, especially during her time at Ravensbruck and how she deals with it afterwards. Kathrin Kana – a bilingual German/English actress – takes on the role of Herta. Kana plays her part well as her character becomes desentized to the horrors while working at Ravensbruck. For those who haven’t read the book yet, the audiobook is the best way to do so.

Overall, Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly is a wonderful book that stands out in the midst of established WWII-based historical fiction. It focuses on three women with vastly different struggles throughout the war and afterwards, and each of the characters are distinct (I’m not just saying that because of the audiobook). This novel is so good that one can easily overlook the relatively minor flaws. I would definitely recommend it to people, who enjoy not only historical fiction set during WWII, but also stories about women who made differences in people’s lives.

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What Am I Reading – Chapter Ten

Hello Everybody!

I’ve finished the two books from the last chapter, so it’s fitting to read two more. They’re pretty eclectic.

One of them is…

The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp is a coming of age story of what it is to be a young Native man growing up in Canada. Larry Sole is a Dogrib Indian growing up in a small town in the Northwest Territories. At age 16, he loves Iron Maiden and Juliet Hope – the high school “tramp.” When Johnny Beck – a Metis – moves to town, Larry is pretty much ready for anything, especially confronting his memories and his future.

While I’m almost done reading it, I have enjoyed it. Larry is like any other teenage boy right down to his thoughts about doggy style. At the same time, he is fleshed out as a character. He can be brave, but he can also be vulnerable. In addition, he has a traumatic past that involves his abusive father and an accident that killed many of his cousins. How he deals with them is very much in line with his self-deprecating and bottled up behavior.

Johnny is a very charismatic character, as in one who’s so unique that he draws in outcasts like Larry. He’s one of those troublemakers that wouldn’t be one if it weren’t for the environment that he was raised in. He even changed the seating arrangements in one of his classes, so he and other students could focus more despite the ire of their teacher.

I wish Juliet was little more developed. I appreciated the moments, in which she isn’t talking about past relationships, the male characters, or her body.

The copy I’m reading is in the 20th Anniversary special edition. This consists of an introduction from the author himself about the novel’s legacy as well as two short stories “Where Are You Tonight?” and “How I Saved Christmas.” The first short story shows readers what the main characters are doing in one night, and it displays some unexpected character development, especially Johnny. I have not read the second one, but I hope to soon.

Now, let’s move onto the second and final book of this latest installment…

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars: Making a Legend by Simon Van Booy and Harvey Briggs is exactly what it is: a book about how these famously luxurious British automobiles are made.

I started reading it yesterday, and I noticed that it really wants readers to see how bespoke these cars are. These mainly come through the photographs that are peppered throughout the book, and I’m not mad. They’re absolutely stunning! The book also wants readers to know that these motor cars are still being made by human hands (as much as possible) with how many times they mention craftsman (meaning both men and women), but that’s the point. The book is endorsed by the Rolls-Royce automobile company. I can’t wait to read it more!

We now have come to the end of the tenth chapter of “What Am I Reading?”

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The Many Adventures of Peter and Fi Volume I: Homecoming Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free audiobook version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When reading, I usually form an opinion of the novel that I have in my hand during the first third. But sometimes, that changes after a certain moment, and it would change my beliefs for better or for worse. Luckily, in the case of The Many Adventures of Peter and Fi Volume I: Homecoming by Kelvyn Fernandes, that development was for the better.

The Many Adventures of Peter and Fi Volume I: Homecoming follows Peter – a bubble mage – and Fi – an orphaned rabbit-eared chimera – as they go on adventures searching for something uniquely special to them within the four kingdoms of their known world. They encounter goblins, pirates, a prissy princess, and fantastical beasts and use biochemistry-based magic to aid in their journey.

As one can see from the title and the summary, the book is not one story. It contains multiple plots that all culminate into one at the very end. Think of it as a season of a television show. It has one main arc and several little ones, which all come together in the finale.

Speaking of television shows, judging by its cover (guilty!), I noticed that it had a very anime-centric style to it. Some readers and reviewers were initially put off by it, claiming that it made them think the book was for kids, yet in my case, it got me excited for the novel due to its similarities with mangas in terms of art style. As a result, while I was reading The Many Adventures, I couldn’t help but to imagine it as an actual anime show. I would definitely subscribe to Crunchyroll to see that!

In addition, the main characters Peter and Fi are very intriguing and distinct. Peter is a no nonsense magician who is helping Fi find her way home despite the fact that he was already on another quest. Fi is an engeratic chimera, whom readers don’t really get to know her backstory until the final chapter. Their relationship is much like the one that siblings have. They argue about certain things, but in the end, they still care about each other.

There are other wonderful characters like Captain Mathers and Abigail the snotty princess, but readers don’t really get to interact with them alot. Maybe they will come back in the next volume.

Unfortunately, my excitement waned when I couldn’t follow what was going on. I didn’t even understand how the world that they inhabited worked a lot of the time. To be fair, I was listening to the audiobook, and the narrator didn’t make the voices distinct enough for me. However, I will give him credit for vocalizing most of the villains like Vegeta from Dragonball Z with a Southern accent (I was waiting for him to say Kakarot to prove my point) and giving the snobby princess a Terry-Jones-as-a-pepperpot voice. On a positive note, his whimsical and relaxed tone was totally suitable to the story and made me keep going. In addition, his narrating became better as the book progressed.

Given all that I have said up till this point, I would have probably said that it’s on the border between okay and good, but it was the final chapter that made everything click and tipped it to being the latter. As I mentioned earlier, readers discover Fi’s backstory in that chapter. All I will say is that it’s extremely heartbreaking, and it reveals her goals as clear as a whistle. Also, like a season finale, it even sets up what potentially might happen in the second one.

Overall, The Many Adventures of Peter and Fi Volume I: Homecoming by Kelvyn Fernandes is a pretty good book. Even though I wasn’t able to connect with it as much as I could have, I enjoyed the main characters, and I look forward to reading about them again in Volume II. I would recommend this to teenagers and adults who love fantasy and adventure. Oh, and if it’s picked up for an anime, I’ll find a way to watch it and possibly recommend that too.

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What Am I Reading – Chapter Nine

Hi Everybody!

I recently finished two of the books that I have been reading for a long time – Blowback by Brad Thor and What Was Your Name Downriver by Anthony Lowe!

Spring is around the corner, so it’s time to start anew with two new books!

One of them is this:

Carry the One by Carol Anshaw is about three siblings and their friends who experience a devastating moment following a wedding. It takes place over 25 years as they deal with this trauma in their owns ways through friendships and love affairs, marriage and divorce, parenthood, holidays, and the modest calamities and triumphs of ordinary days.

Much as I liked the premise, I had a feeling that not much would happen. Now that I’m over halfway through, I can say that it’s more a character study, but with a goal of trying move on. It’s not a bad thing. The Four Sworn: Spring Equinox by Leonore Sagaskie was like an origin story for the main characters. It explained how they got their powers as well as how they met and later formed a group to defeat a powerful villain. Both have thin plots, but the characters are compelling enough that I can look pass that flaw. In Carry the One, each of the siblings – Carmen, Alice, and Nick – deal with the tragedy in different ways. One puts herself into her work, her son, and her family with her second husband; another goes through women while trying to get over her true love; and the other one does drugs. Anyway, I’m hoping they’ll be fine in the end.

I’m listening to the audiobook, and it’s narrated by Renee Raudman. Raudman is best known for voicing Ms. Butterbean in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. At first, I was worried that I might hear that character throughout the novel and not be able to take it seriously. Luckily, that was not the case, for none of the main female characters had that voice. Raudman has a range with voicing Carmen as a woman who acts like she has it together, but in reality doesn’t, while she portrays Alice as more free-spirited, but frustrated with her love life. The men kind of sound the same, but as I have mentioned on this website, voicing audiobooks is hard.

Now, let’s move onto the second and final book of this latest installment…

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (yes, that’s her real name) is about two high school outcasts who fall in love with each other throughout one school year. One is the new girl in town with unruly red hair, mismatched clothes, and a chaotic family life. The other is the boy at the back of the bus who wears black t-shirts, listens to his headphones, and reads his comics.

This got me hooked from the very beginning. Both Eleanor and Park are very realistic characters who initially don’t like each other for some reason (teenagers, am I right?). Afterwards, their relationship slowly blossoms like those in Korean dramas. I hope their love for each other gets stronger, yet I sense that things will not end well. The opening bit of dialogue is reminiscent of the prologue in Romeo and Juliet.

We now have come to the end of the ninth chapter of “What Am I Reading?”

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Wild Women of Michigan: A History of Spunk and Tenacity Book Review

Today is International Women’s Day. What a better way to celebrate it than reviewing a book that celebrates the women who defied expectations and changed the world. Coincidentally, I have one that just happens to fall into that category, and these women lived in Michigan at some point. It’s called Wild Women of Michigan: A History of Spunk and Tenacity by Norma Lewis. Even though it could have been written better, this book is a highly informative text that honors women who performed extraordinary acts that challenged the world.

Wild Women of Michigan: A History of Spunk and Tenacity ranges from known people like Gilda Radner and Gillian Anderson to the obscure like Anna Howard Shaw and Pearl Kendrick. The book even includes women of color like Sojourner Truth (she lived in Battle Creek until her death), Loney Gordon – an African-American woman who assisted Kendrick with developing the vaccines against diseases like the Whooping Cough, and Madeleine LaFramboise – a mixed Ottawa and French woman who was one of the most successful fur traders in the Northwest Territory in the early 19th century.

Lewis often injects a lot of older woman humor (which is not a bad thing) while telling the stories of these women. For example, when she discusses Lauren Wolfe – the first girl on the winning high school wrestling team because she was eligible for the boys’ team, she mentions, “it’s a safe bet that when in high school, any boys she dated took her word for it when she said no, and she didn’t have to ward off any attempts to engage her in the back-seat Chevy Cha-Cha-Cha” (p. 120). For younger audiences, it’s best to shake your heads and move on.

The one complaint that I have is the structure. In each chapter, there’s always a section that’s devoted to one person, but it will end up talking about others at the end. It could have worked better if Lewis had added other sections to emphasize women, in which not much is known about them outside of what they did, even if it means grouping them into one part. In addition, the book is structured based on topics like crime, sports, and reform. I think it’s fine, but it could be improved if it was structured by era.

I also noticed that the book was rushed editing wise. I noticed some factual errors while reading it. For instance, the author notes that blues singer Sippie Wallace was born in 1888 and died in 1986 at age 88 (p. 113-114). As someone who excelled in math in school, I sensed that something was wrong. A simple Google search confirmed that Wallace was actually born in 1898. A more egregious error occurs when the book talks about Alice Lawrence, who murdered her husband and married her brother Raymond Coates. It mentions that Raymond was from Detroit “but had to come to the eastern part of the state hoping to find work” (p. 129). Alice lived in Holland, which as far as I know, is in the western part of the state. Even if one doesn’t know where Holland is, most readers would know where Detroit is. For a book that has a whole lot of extensive research, I wish that someone had looked over the information just to make sure it was accurate on the most basic level. 

Overall, Wild Women of Michigan: A History of Spunk and Tenacity by Norma Lewis is an essential book for Michigan history. Although it could have been written and edited better, the positive aspect of learning about these wild women in an accessible way outweighs the negatives. I would recommend it to those who want to read more about women who defied expectations and a double must if they live in Michigan (like me). So have a happy International Women’s Day, everybody!

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What Am I Reading – Chapter Eight

Hello Everybody!

What a wonderful first day of March! I’m looking forward to spring, especially to travel more! Even if I’m walking around the block, it’s traveling by pandemic standards. I’ve had traveling on my mind ever since I started reading this book:

Around the World in Eighty Days with Michael Palin by Michael Palin is the book companion to the 1989 BBC series of the same name. In the show, the Monty Python member-turned traveler circumnavigates the globe in the same amount of time as Phileas Fogg – the protagonist of the famous Jules Verne novel of the same name – and using the same modes of transportation that were available in Fogg’s time. Along the way, he describes his joyous and sometimes chaotic experiences.

Pandemic or no pandemic, seeing pictures of Venice and Cairo make me want to travel even though they were taken over 30 years ago. Palin offers hilarious insights into them. For example, in Venice, a photo depicts an older man faced down, and he muses that the mafia probably got to him (forgive me if I misremember the comment).

I also like how every page indicates which part of the world Palin and his Passepartouts (the film crew essentially) are in. For instance, on one page, it lists Day 5: Cornith Canal in Greece as the author talks about going through it. On the next page, it lists Day 5: Athens as he talks about his experiences in that city. It’s good to know that Palin wants readers to know where he’s at all times (in the book of course).

The travelogue makes me want to watch the 7-part BBC series, which is available in its entirely on Amazon Prime. I look forward to hearing Palin’s narrations since I hear his voice constantly while reading the book.

As for the other novel that I’m reading, I finished My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman, and I’m almost done with What Was Your Name Downriver?: Tales of the Shattered Frontier by Anthony Lowe.

We now come to the end of the eighth chapter of “What Am I Reading?”

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Nighthawk Book Review

One of the most prolific authors who passed away last year (and not from COVID-19) was Clive Cussler. With and without credited ghost writers, he wrote over 70 books during his lifetime. These usually involved characters who worked at the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) and tried to save some aspect of the environment. They often utilized scientific knowledge and contained 2 subplots. I can now say that I read my very first Cussler book with Nighthawk – the 14th book in the NUMA Files series. It was a very fun, action-paced novel that one should not read before going to bed.

In Nighthawk, NUMA crew leaders Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are assigned to locate a highly advanced aircraft, which went missing. The titular aircraft carries antimatter, which was extracted from the upper reaches of the atmosphere and has to remain frozen. If thawed, it will unleash a catastrophe that will have a lingering global impact. The NUMA team along with Russia and China try to find the aircraft before it’s too late.

Before I go any further, I must add that like with Chief Armand Gamache series, the NUMA Files books can stand on their own, but the characters develop throughout. 

The book itself is a very easy read. The scenes move at a quick pace like those in an action/adventure movie. I especially loved the first scene between Kurt and Emma Townsend – the scientist turned agent for the National Security Administration – as they try to run from and fight the Chinese agents. I felt like I was in it as a good book should do. I would love to see this book turned into a film with George Clooney as Kurt, John Cena as Joe, and Jennifer Lawrence as Emma. I think it would be a big draw at the box office.

Having a fiancé who reads Clive Cussler helped me a lot to understand his books. For example, he mentioned that every one of them has a main plot with two subplots. In Nighthawk, the main story is about finding the aircraft, while the minor ones are about the antimatter that could possibly destroy the world when it hits a certain altitude and about the implications of governmental actions without properly considering the past, present, and future.

The latter subplot comes into play in the prologue with the Spaniards giving smallpox to the Inca people in 1525, and later when Kurt, Joe, and Emma go to Peru. They are assisted by Urco – an archaeologist studying the origins and disappearance of the Chachapoya people – with finding the aircraft. However, it turns out that he is the villain, but the book portrays his motivations empathically even if it agrees with the readers that his actions would create more destruction. 

In fact, I came across Bodacious Bookworm’s review of Nighthawk recently, and I’ll let her explain more about Urco:

“This villain … is motivated by tragedy and anger. He is a scientist betrayed by a government agency. An agency he warned about an experiment he worked on. In the government’s effort to keep him quiet, they try to kill him but end up only damaging him mentally and physically. He then turns the tables of the project he created against the three major superpowers- USA, Russia, and China.” (http://bodaciousbookworm.com/book-review-nighthawk-by-clive-cussler-spoilers/)

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Another plus for this book is the humor. It’s sprinkled with quips and retorts up the wazoo. I especially love the banter between Kurt and Emma throughout it. Also, the ending is one of the most hilarious ones that I have ever read in awhile.

I was also amused by the mention of Dirk Pitt in the book. Pitt is the main character of the first series that Cussler ever wrote. I bet the author has a Marvel universe with his characters since most of the main ones work at NUMA.

The only thing that I noticed while reading the book is that if one is going to read it, don’t do it before going to bed. For some, this may not be a big deal, but to others, it is. It contains so many details that I hate to admit this, but I almost missed the subplot about the antimatter. I will be frank. I read the book right before I fall asleep, and I now realize that I should have read it while wide awake. I had a similar feeling while reading So Anyway by John Cleese and vowed never to read nonfiction before I went to bed ever again.

All in all, Nighthawk by Clive Cussler is a very good book and introduction into the Marvel, uh I mean, Cussler universe. It’s full of great action and adventure with a lot of humor thrown in. I would recommend this book to Cussler fans who haven’t read it yet as well as to those who like marine-based suspense books and action/adventure novels with sharp wit. Also, please read this book while awake and not before sleeping. In the meantime, I look forward to more of his books even if they are completely written by someone else. 

RIP Clive Cussler (1931-2020)

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