Adult and Young Adult Fiction:
Shanghai GIrls by Lisa See. Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted (Chinese) sisters. Semicolon review here.
The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris. Love and loss in war-torn Sierra Leone. Semicolon review here.
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card. Columbus gets a second chance to do right by the native Americans he meets on his historic voyage. Semicolon review here.
Hush by Eishes Chayil. ARC of a YA book that’s due out in September. I’ll have the review posted when the book actually comes out, but suffice it to say that the novel takes a powerful and thought-provoking look at abusive relationships within a closed and secretive religious community. Very well done.
Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson. Scarlett’s family not only name their children for actors and movie characters, but they also own a dilapidated hotel in NYC. However, the hotel’s about to go bust, and Scarlett’s brother, Spencer, can’t get a handle on his acting career. Fluffy, sometimes witty, slightly unbelievable.
Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson. More hotel hijinks with Scarlett and family.
Children’s Fiction:
Blood on the RIver: Jamestown 1607 by Elisa Carbone. Karate Kid read this one for school, and then he said he wanted to re-read it. I suppose that’s a recommendation on his part. I thought it was adequate, a good portrayal of the Jamestown experiment and of Captain John Smith.
Nonfiction:
Sparky: The Life and Art of Charles Schulz by Beverly Gherman. Semicolon review here.
Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder. Having survived civil war and genocide, Deo Gratias arrives in the U.S., psychologically traumatized and physically destitute. The book tells Deo’s story: how he made a life for himself in the U.S. and how he returned to Burundi to help his people begin to rebuild.
The Mayflower and the Pilgrims’ New World by Nathaniel Philbrick. Fair and compelling, the book will probably offend both Pilgrim fans and Native American advocates. What more could one ask from a retelling of a highly controversial story?
I keep wanting to add more Tracy Kidder titles to my stack. I enjoyed this one, but the book before this is my Kidder favorite.
I just finished The Three Musketeers and that’s the subject of my Sunday Salon today. Hope you will stop by!
So did you like Suite Scarlett overall? Maureen Johnson was the keynote speaker at the Book Blogger convention and I thought she was HILARIOUS in person. She really had a captive audience! However, I wasn’t sure I’d like what I found inside her books, so I took a pass on reading the book. Having heard her speak, of course, I’m curious. But I’m not sure whether or not I want to spend my time reading it.