Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
A sprawling tale of the complex and extremely bloody history of the melting pot that was early 17th century Haiti. It’s a seething brew of the indigenous people of Haiti, slaves brought from Africa to work the sugar plantations, and the various European settlers from Spain, England, and especially … [Read more]
Finlay Donovan Crosses The Line by Elle Cosimano
The problem with Vero’s advice not to go looking for chin hairs where there aren’t any is that there’s always a seven foot long chin hair to be found. She’s so young, she’ll learn mwuhahahaha… Also don’t go borrowing trouble is pretty good advice. But trouble is what Finlay Donovan is best at! In … [Read more]
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford
In Francis Spufford's imaginative Cahokia Jazz, life in the United States in 1922 is not as we remember it from the history books. The "Cahokia" of the title refers to a state run largely by and for Native Americans, as a partial monarchy informed by Catholic teachings. As a thriving state, Cahokia … [Read more]
The Shippers by Katherine Center
2.5 stars Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. This book will be out on May 19th. Josephine "JoJo" Burton runs away from her own wedding, after her childhood best friend, Cooper Watts, shows up unexpectedly from London just as she's about to walk … [Read more]
Make Believe by Mac Barnett
Mac Barnett is one of my favorite picture book authors. My favorite book of his, The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown, is one of my favorite picture books period. I reviewed it here for this very reading challenge! So I eagerly preordered my copy of Make Believe, his first book for … [Read more]
Pot Shot by Laura Piper Lee
For a book I ended up loving, I struggled at a couple of points early in the book. First of all, there is a medical emergency in the first chapter that brings Nomi and Julian back together. That had me putting the book down for a week. The other challenge I had was Julian for the first quarter or so … [Read more]
