An American Summer Sadly Like Every Other American Summer

although this one seems worse.  Or maybe I am finally more aware.  An American Summer:  Love and Death in Chicago is written by the brilliant Alex Kotlowitz.  And if one hasn't read There are No Children Here, it should be read today.  And then this one. 
And we have to do something, right?  But what do we do?  How do we make things right?  How do we, especially those of us who claim to follow the example of Jesus, and try to be Christ in the world, live out of faith so that we will live in a world where Black Lives will Matter?

A Winner

in every sense of the word.  The Only Road is the first book and now I MUST read the sequel, The Crossroads.    TOR by Alexandra Diaz was named a Pura Belpré Honor Award for narration in 2017.  And may I just say in my humble opinion, it deserved it.  Don't know if this was 1954 because I have not yet read the winner, Juana & Lucas. 
This book is timely and heartbreaking.  And boy did I learn a great deal.  Jaime and his cousin travel from their home in Guatemala across the border to Mexico and then into the United States. 
Please note that in the past I have linked countries to the CIA World Fact Book.  I love this country.  But right now it is run by an administration that has proven time and time again to be untrustworthy, that is why I am not linking to them this time. 

Novels in Verse

Already have a leg up for me.  And I really liked House Arrest.  I need to listen to the second one, that came out last year.  Great story.  Really heart-felt and honest.  A good one for reluctant readers, too, I think. 

Is It Just Me...

or are more YA thrillers and mysteries being written and published?  Maybe I was just not finding them before, but it seems like I have been luckily stumbling upon and more often.  The Cheerleaders is one such book and I recommend it.  Very well done.  Just a little too long for me, for a 5 star as compared to a 4 star.  But definitely will appeal!  She also wrote Little Monsters! 

I don't know...

At first I thought Give Me Your Hand was a decent book, you know, a three star kind of book.  But then after reflecting on all of the incredible books that I have read lately, I realized that it was more of a two star kind of book.  I think that people who are hesitant to read children's or tween or young adult books just because they are for "younger" audiences are really, really missing out on some exceptional and original stories.  Not that GMYH wasn't original.  It was.  It was just...it was okay.  The story was good.  It was just the characters were lacking I thought. For me anyway.  Also I guess because most of the adult books that I do read are of this genre, I know what I like and I like what I like.  Not to say that others wouldn't enjoy it.  I just wasn't for me. 

Very Glad

When I read Summer Knight I thought the reason I didn't fall in love with it was the abundance of fairies.  And I think it was.  Because I really did enjoy, 5 stars worth, Death Masks.

I think it was the fairies....

I LOVE The Dresden Files.  And I am for sure going to read more in the series.  This one was only 4 of 5 stars for me and that is only because it was so heavy on the fairies. I thought that maybe it would be about Michael, because it is called Summer Knight and he's a knight and all, but no.  But I still really am looking forward to the next one!

Terrible Peril

Grave Peril was awesome!   I was so happy to finally get it!  I love this series to much and it just keeps getting better and better.  I especially love the character of Michael and wonder if faith will become a topic in future books.  Oh how I LOVE Bob!
Another thing that made me so grateful was that when Harry's Double was doing evil things, everyone saw that the double wasn't really Harry.  I would have been SO frustrated and also disappointed that Butcher had used such a common theme in a very uncommon series if it would have been one of those "we are all after Harry" thing of mistaken identity. 

Finally!

My hold on Fool Moon finally came through and I read it in one day.  I am so enjoying The Dresden Files.  I think that they are hilarious.  They have been around since 2000 and given the long list of holds for even the first few books, a lot of people feel the same way!  

When the first two books were written cellphones were around and used a lot, sure, but not in the way in which they are used today.  So I don't know if it was intentional that Butcher explains Dresden's lack of technology in such a brilliant and believable way!  I will definitely find out though, as I fully hope to read the whole series!  

Oh Wow!

My dear friend, Everett Hitch (okay, that is not her name, but we often pretend we are Virgil and Everett and she has taken great care over the years to render herself unable to find on the internet, with great success) recommended The Dresden Files  by Jim Butcher to me.  Storm Front is the first. 
Because we both love Robert B. Parker, Stuart Woods and Dean Kootz's Odd Thomas, I was very thankful for the recommendation.  There aren't any Stone-ish qualities to Harry, but there are qualities off all of the rest, especially Odd.  And wow, wow, wow, I am so excited to have a new series!  This is great! 

Death

Death's Betrayal:  Transgressions:  5 and 9 is another couple of short stories from the book edited by Ed McBrain which is incredible!  These two stores were quite good.  Some day I do need to explore the books of Jeffery Deaver because I have enjoyed the short stories that I have read. 

#ReadSomeKimberlyReid!

#Prettyboy Must Die is by Kimberly Reid who also wrote this series which I LOVED LOVED LOVED!  This is what I hope, a great start to a new series! 

Spring!

And how excited does that make me for a new Prey novel from John Sandford!!!  Twisted Prey was GOOOOOOOD!  I was so worried I wouldn't like it, being that it was a political-type thriller.  But this was a Prey novel, so it was beyond political and it was, indeed twisted.  REALLY GOOD 

Always

been a fan of Bill Pronzini's Nameless series, so it was a no brainer to download The Violated.  As much as I enjoy the Nameless books, I never expected to enjoy this stand-alone book SO much.  It was just an excellent, excellent mystery.  Great characters and a mystery that kept me guessing.  Dude I did NOT like the mayor!  But of course, we weren't supposed to like him!  What a weenie!  And what an apt title. 

Set in Minnesota

any book set in Minnesota is going to get you 4 stars right there, it seems.  And then any book with Virgil where he contemplates his God?  Yeah.  5 stars for sure.  That F%9king Flowers.  Deep Freeze, 5 stars it is.  Yet another reason to love October.  A new Virgil Flowers book to devour. 

Tough Not to Give

anything less than a 5 star to a Stone book.  It just is, for me anyway.  I have come to see Stone as an old friend.  Quick and Dirty is no exception.  No Ben or Peter, but still just good old fashioned Stone.  Interesting to think about what is next for Holly Barker, too!

Family Values

Thieving Weasels is proof that Jesus was so right when He redefined family!  Always makes me laugh, the "family values" Christians, who seem to forget that!  Billy Taylor is a new author for me and I want to read his adult book now.  This was just such a funny and fresh book!  I loved it!
I especially loved Skip's girlfriend's reaction to finding out about Skip's past.  I think that it was so not like every other book and just the real and best reaction.  I won't say more because it wouldn't be a big spoiler, but it would spoil that particular part.

Another All True Kinda Deal!

Robert B. Parker's Little White Lies by Ace Atkins has a message that is all too true, sadly.  In this case the "bad guy" is a big time fraud and yet has been on countless news shows as an expert, faking his way through it all.  Claiming to be a former Navy SEAL or special forces, serious military hero, all kinds of things.  And one of the reasons he is easily able to defraud the woman who hires Spenser is that the guy has really been on these news shows- the media having never checked his background!   There are a lot of creeps who do this.  Great book, as usual.  Atkins, as I have said before, does a really terrific job with Spenser!  

SUPER Quick, even quicker!

Many of the Stone Barrington books are super-quick reads.  Fast and Loose was even quicker than most!  But that is not to say that it was bad.  On the contrary, it really kept my attention and while kinda light, even for a Stone book, I liked it a lot!  No Peter or Ben and not a lot of Dino and no President Lees to speak of, but still good stuff.

Another Millionaire Playboy!

In Sex, Lies and Big Money, Stone Barrington #39, Laurence B. Hayward has just won the lottery, BIG time and who knew there were so many problems that go along with being super rich.  I guess looking at Stone's life, we have seen that is true though. Great book, even though it mostly is about Laurence B. Haywood than Stone or any of the usual gang.  From the way the book ended though, it seems like Haywood is going to be one of the gang.  It didn't feel like a Stone book, but it was great anyway!