It's What to Read!

I've read a lot - and I mean A LOT of excellent books this summer.  I wanted to share them with you!  In no particular order, here are my favorite reads of the summer!


Hope Never Dies
by Andrew Shaffer
In this amazing book written in the style of a Carolyn Keene Nancy Drew novel, Former Vice President Joe Biden is lamenting the end of 8 grade years and the dissolution of his wonderful Bromance with Barack Obama.  The suspicious demise of his favorite Amtrak conductor leads Joe to find out more.  As he begins to investigate the circumstances of Finn's death, he finds an unexpected partner in Barack Obama and his Secret Service guard, Steve.  The jokes roll nonstop, the plot is solid, and the Bromance continues unabated.  It's a great read for those who appreciate satire.




The Parker Inheritance
by Varian Johnson

This children's book is appropriate for children of all ages.

In 2007, a mysterious letter is sent to 4 people in the city of Lambert, South Carolina.  The letter gives clues to a hidden treasure that will help the people of Lambert.  There's just one catch - the letter is written with a bunch of clues, and the recipients must unscramble the clues in order to find the treasure.  After the City Manager digs up the tennis courts, the hunt is called off, the letters are destroyed, and all is forgotten.  Or is it?

Abigail Caldwell, the former City Manager leaves the letter in a box in her attic for her granddaughter, Candice, to find when she gets older.  Ten years later, in 2017, Candice discovers the letter and begins the hunt to find the treasure.  While on the hunt, Candice and her friend Brandon discover the tense racial history of Lambert. 

As the hunt continues, Candice discovers more about her life, the world around her, and her family.  But will she and Brandon find the treasure before time runs out?

*Remember this book.  I think it's going to be an award winner.

The Invisible Library 
by Genevive Cogman
There exists an interdimensional library.  The great authors exist across all dimensions.  But, not all works exist in every dimension.  The library collects manuscripts and books that are unique to each dimension.  The librarians are the individuals charged with collecting these books and bringing them back to the library.  Complicating their tasks are Dragons and Fey, who exist across all dimensions and work towards their own purposes - sometimes working with the Librarians, and sometimes actively working against them.

Irene and her assistant Kai have been sent to this particular dimension to retrieve a copy of a book that exists only in this dimension.  Unexpected obstacles are thrown in their way by the Fey and another, unknown entity.  As Kai and Irene race against time, can they find the missing text before their unknown adversary?



The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century
by Kirk Johnson



This true crime novel was NOT what I was expecting when I picked up the book.  In 2007, Edwin Rist, a Flautist with a promising concert career ahead of him broke into the Tring Museum in Great Britain and stole priceless birds - many of these specimens are not extinct - that were collected by Alfred Russell Wallace in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Edwin then very carefully dissected his stolen birds and sold them on the internet to Classic Fly Tiers - people who were desperate for authentic feathers to make their Victorian Fishing Lures more appealing.

Johnson carefully traces the history of the birds, and of the theft of the birds and the recovery of some of the priceless treasure.  I found myself using all of my sluthing skills, garnered after hours of watching NCIS.  The resolution of this story will haunt you.  You will find yourself going back again and again, attempting to figure out what, if anything, you missed.  This book is a must read.

Fascism: A Warning

by Madeline Albright
This book should be required reading for every human on the planet.  Albright takes a look at Facism in the 20th Century.  How it developed in different countries throughout the last hundred years.  No political commentary whatsoever.  Just a historic look back in time.






Children of Blood and Bone
by Tomi Adeyemi

I don't even know where to start this review.  This was a phenomenal book.  From one end to another, one of the best Fantasy Stories I have read in a very long time.  The world building!  The characters!  The character development!  The plots within plots within plots!  I want to put it right up there with Lord of the Rings and the Dragon Lance Chronicles.  WAIT!!!!  THIS IS MY BLOG, I CAN PUT IT WHEREVER I WANT!!!  So, I'm putting this book up there in the same hallowed grounds as my other favorite icons of the Fantasy World. 

Zelie Adebola lives in a world where she must keep her magic hidden.  There was a time when Tiders called the waves, Burners ignited waves, and Reapers called forth souls.  Zelie comes from a long line of magicians.  These magicians were killed by the king's men the night the magic disappeared.

As Zelie's own magic begins to surge, she is forced to hide it, and herself more and more.  The King's men are constantly searching for magicians to purge, and taxing the rest of the citizenry to the breaking point.

The breaking point for Zellie comes when she is forced to go into the city to sell a prize fish her grandfather caught in order to pay the latest levies from the King.  An unexpected series of events leads Zellie and her brother to the place they least want to be: harboring the daughter of the King.

As Zellie attempts to control her magic and growing feelings for the one person she can't afford to love, the story grows only deeper and more gripping.

*Tomi, how long must we wait for the sequel? I am pining away here, waiting for the next book.  Literally wasting away, worrying about Zellie, worrying about Orisha, wanting to know what happens next..... All other books are just a little less bright while I anxiously await the next book.