Book 33 Will Rise From Ashes

 

 

 Will Rise From Ashes by Jean M. Grant fulfilled the category “Book with Two Points of View” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge.

As you know, most romances have two points of view—the love interests of the tale. I had a full playing field to choose from for the category. But when Ms. Grant told me about her book, I grabbed it.

Jean M. Grant writes both historical and contemporary romances. I always equated her with the historicals. But when I heard about Will Rise From Ashes, I knew the book would hit all my buttons.

First, it’s a post-apocalypse book—kinda. The volcano under Yellowstone has erupted! Thank God, it wasn’t the super massive, earth-altering event scientists predicted. But it’s bad.

Really bad.

A.J. Sinclair arrives home in Maine just as the volcano goes. She and her son, Will, are devastated to realize A.J.’s brother and her younger son never caught their flight home. They are still somewhere in the western US, most likely Colorado. The entire region was hit hard. Not in complete panic (some rational thoughts prevailed), A.J. packs up Will for a cross-country trip to find her son.

Phew!

From there comes a wild ride on a newly widowed woman driving 3000 miles to find one small boy. Along the way, she encounters thieves, mad men, kind people, and one sweet gentleman. A.J. gives in to her better instincts and allows that gentleman, Reid Gregory, to join them in their quest. He’s headed toward Colorado, too. Sparks fly between them, but A.J. feels compelled to keep her eyes on the prize, protecting the son with her and finding her other boy.

The novel is told from two points of view. One would expect to hear from A.J. and Reid. Nope, Ms. Grant mixes it up. The story is told from A.J.’s point of view and Will’s—her autistic son. It blew me away to see the novel unfold with these two telling the tale. Not only that, but the author chose to further disregard conventions. A.J.’s side of the tale is told in the first person (with I and me) while Will’s is in third person (he and him).

It worked well, like five stars good.

Listening to the book from these two voices brought home the real angst of the tale, the frantic fear for her son, and Will’s unique perspective with his autism. His scenes really give voice to people with that condition. Will has some of the “expected” behaviors of someone with autism, but he has other unique qualities one might not expect. Just having his point of view shows the reader that people with autism have a wide range of behaviors, habits, intelligence, and interests. I loved hearing his thoughts.

I refuse to spoil anything more because you need to read this book. It is a romance at heart, so you might guess the ending… I loved every second.

I give Will Rise From Ashes by Jean M. Grant Five Reliable SUVs for a cross-country trip.

 

Book 32 You Had Me at Hola

 

You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria fulfilled the category “Book by Latinx Author” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge. Ms. Daria is a multi-award-winning author of romance.

At first, I had another of Ms. Daria’s titles on my list, Take the Lead. When initially published, this novel won an elusive RITA award for romance. When I went to grab it, the title was transitioning with its publication. It will be available again in 2023. Instead, I picked up You Had Me at Hola.

This title is the first in the Primas of Power series. I don’t love the series title, but I do like a good story about cousins. (The story wasn’t about power but love and respect. Anyway…) Jasmine Lin Rodriquez is our heroine, a woman from a large family in Brooklyn. She’s Latina, as is everyone else in her family—mostly. There’s a brilliant mix of cultures and countries of origin within the family. Jasmine is a star. Or she wants to be.

A budding actress, Jasmine is taking a chance on a new streaming network. She’s poised to star in a show with a predominately Latinx cast. The opportunity is fantastic to headline such a show and to stick it to the critics chasing her down after a nasty breakup.

Then comes her leading man, Ashton Suarez. He’s an old-school Telenovela star with thousands of swooning fans. He’s a last-minute replacement for her previous love interest for the show. Jasmine worries they won’t have the chemistry to pull off the on-screen romance.

Boy, is she wrong!

What follows is a fun, sexy romantic comedy with these two soulmates. They need to figure out how much they need each other. Jasmine has a “leading lady” plan with does not involve dating coworkers. But Ashton’s conflict is much more interesting.

Ashton has a fear of publicity. He wants to keep his private life private and his family life a secret. Hard to do when you are a star in your own right and have a leading lady who hits the tabloids each week with speculation on her big breakup. Ashton is hiding his son from the press. A rabid fan broke into his house when his son was a baby. Since then, Ashton fears for his child and his privacy.

I loved how this story turned “family dynamic” tropes on their ears. Ashton is the over-worried parent, doing insane things to protect his family. Is there really a threat? Does he need to be so distant and private? Or is it his response to the responsibility of keeping his kid safe? Usually, this is a role for a woman in a book. I think it’s fantastic that Ms. Daria gave this issue to her hero. Well done!

The book challenged me a bit as there’s Spanish language all over. I’m not saying it was hard to read. I loved the use of another language to illustrate culture, personality, and diversity. As a super nerd, I wanted to read the Spanish without translation. I listened on audio. When someone spoke in the other language, I stopped the play and tried to figure it out myself. Ms. Daria ensured that non-native speakers would enjoy the book as much as those fluent in Spanish. Good thing too, because my Spanish is rusty.

I give You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria Five Hit Shows on a Streaming Channel.

 

 

Book 31 Killers of the Flower Moon

 

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann fulfilled the category “A Book You Know Nothing About” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge. I picked several random books for the prompt, but my library job makes it tough to not know anything about a title.

I grabbed a few that had topics I had little knowledge about. I picked up The Beautiful Cigar Girl, a nonfiction featuring Edgar Allan Poe. Also, I grabbed Triangle about the Triangle Fire. Reading The Beautiful Cigar Girl was a slog. It had a history of Poe and tales of a horrible murder of a young girl in New York City in 1841. My thoughts turned to The Devil in the White City, but this book was a pale comparison to that one. The pacing felt off and spoiler—they never solved the murder, nor gave good information about Poe’s odd demise. It was disappointing.

Instead, I grabbed Killers of the Flower Moon. It came through my circulation desk frequently when first published. The title intrigued me and I downloaded the audio. Wow, I’m glad I did. I knew nothing about the events in the book. More history that I somehow missed.

In this nonfiction, the author relates the history of the Osage tribe, who are pushed into new territories. They are finally settled in what is now Oklahoma. And guess what? Oil is found on their lands. Because of how tribal law and Native American dealing with the government work, the tribe became rich, the richest people per capita in the world (from the blurb). By the 1920s, many of the Osage families were enjoying the high life to its fullest.

Until they started dying one by one.

The book horrified me, especially since it’s nonfiction. You can guess who was killing these people and letting the murders go unsolved. It happened because they had money, because they had land rights, because they were living a cushy life, because they were brown. Some white folks didn’t like that. By the time the investigation got moving—law enforcement dragged their feet—they realized more than a few deaths occurred. Teems of tribesmen were killed in various ways, and their claim on the oil and the land were deferred to others—usually whites. The whole idea and execution (literally) of the plan to remove the Osage from their oil and their land was horrific. They should teach this book in high school. These historic events need to be put into the light.

I could go on, but this is not a political blog. Read the book, please and email me. We’ll talk.

The subtitle includes the words “And the Birth of the FBI.” Honestly, that caught my attention as much as the other half, “The Osage Murders.” Yes, the Federal government sent agents in to help solve the murders. The assigned men worked together in a new way to help solve crimes ignored by local law enforcement. Honestly, that “birth” of a federal agency had nothing on the story of the people in that town. It’s haunting and heartbreaking.

I give Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann Five Oil Strikes and a Bowed Head in sympathy and shame.

 

 

Book 30 Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and Shadow of the Wind

 

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan and Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón fulfilled the category “Two Books Set in Sister Cities” for the PopSugar 2022 Reading Challenge. Mr. Penumbra takes place in San Francisco while Shadow of the Wind is set in Barcelona, Spain.

Again, like last week, I’m posting these with two works because I read four for the prompt. I didn’t care for two of them. This time it was Shadow of the Wind.

Here are my thoughts.

I read the novel on audio. We all know I don’t love literary fiction. I’m a genre girl through and through. I like plot and characters rather than high concepts. I spent most of my college career reading pretentious junk that was supposed to be enlightening. Okay, sure, I’m educated now. Sigh.

Shadow of the Wind felt like English 101 homework. The story went nowhere, and the characters were interesting and compelling. But no one did anything. The audio even played lyrical music between some chapters. OMG, really?

I chose these two books initially because they both had a library at the center. What fun to have both sister city books about the same topic—secret libraries. I failed, big time. Shadow of the Wind has a brilliant concept for a secret library with out-of-print books that are covertly stored away. Each person who enters can take one book, and they must keep it safe and secret. That doesn’t happen, and the idea of this amazing library is dropped in favor of a boy’s infatuation for an author. So much so that the kid lives almost the same life as the author.

Anyway, it was too high concept for me. Most of it when over my head, and I no longer have an English professor to tell me what I missed.

On the other hand, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore hit the mark better. But not that much better. The story involves Clay Jannon getting a job at a little bookstore where he works nights. The store is open 24 hours, and sometimes, strange customers come in late at night looking for very specific books. The store is quirky and packed with little-known titles. They hardly seem to do any business. So, bored Clay looks into his odd customers. He’s a computer programmer, and he decides to map the store with a program. What he discovers opens up new worlds for him and unravels the secret of the bookstore.

The story was cute and fun. In the end, though, it was totally Raiders of the Lost Ark. Fun adventure, but nothing mattered in the end. The kid with his program broke the fun.

Anyway, I’m blogging them all here. Sorry to be negative two weeks in a row.

I give Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore Four Obscure Volumes from the Top Shelf.

I give Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón Three Old Novels No One Has Read.