18:100 Black Panther: Avengers of the New World Part One by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Really hard to summarize this series as there are plots and subplots and just a lot going on.  I'm reading slowly trying to catch it all.  In order to not give stuff away, I'm going to just use my review from the first volume for all subsequent volumes.  Know that I'm really enjoying them but I think the way they unfold means they are best experienced fresh.

I have so much to say about this but it's hard to nail it all down.  Having read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and completely loved the Black Panther movie, I was super excited when I saw that Mr. Coates would be writing for the comic.  I was not disappointed.  The story was a bit slow in this as it was the first installment but that is because there was so much being set-up.  There is a lot of depth to T'Challa (from my understanding drawing from many different comic versions of the character), the "villains" are ones that are understandable even sympathetic, the questions being asked are not simply answered and force T'Challa to question so much of what he thinks he knows and understands.  Layers upon layers.  On another note, I also really enjoyed the art which I tend to be incredibly picky about (or why I don't read tons of comics).

Page count: 144p/4,790p ytd/315,695p lifetime

17:100 The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Kenny, age 9, is part of the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan.  As a middle child and a bookish soon with a more physical older brother and more biddable younger sister, he has a hard time figuring out just where he belongs in the scheme of things.  Some days, he wants to be more like his older brother, Byron, but then there are days like this when they are packing up the family for a road trip to Alabama to drop Bryon off with their grandmother to try and keep him out of trouble at home and see if she can't help him learn to behave better.  However, the kids have never been in the deep South before and there are some lessons that hit too close to home.

I read this with my 7th grader and we both really enjoyed it.  There are some scary parts in it and the end section talking about how things like the church bombing were too common are hard for kids to read but I felt it was hard enough to try and open eyes to the racism that exists in our country without being too graphic for more sensitive readers.  Of course, with too many of children having to live through active shooter drills at schools, I think they are all too aware of at least what hate can do and that is a sad commentary on our society today,

Page count: 224p/4,646p ytd/315,551p lifetime

16:100 Educated by Tara Westover

Tara's family, and particularly her father, wanted nothing to do with the government or any establishment that might possibly be affiliated with.  They birthed their children at home and did not report it or get them birth certificates unless they had to for some reason. They homeschooled which mostly seemed to consist of teaching them the basics of reading and math and then putting them to work helping the family to prepare for the end of days that they believed were coming.

As Tara grew, her father seemed to become more erratic and one of her older brothers is becoming more violent.  Tara realizes she needs to get out but with no formal education and no government records of existing, it will not be easy.  She receives help from many different sources, although not all of it does she feel she can trust based on her upbringing, but through it she goes to college and studies all over from Harvard to Oxford.  Her only problem is that the more she travels and learns, the further she departs from her family's teachings and their idea for how she should behave and live her life.  Finally, it comes that she must make a choice between the person she has become and the person her family wants her to be.

This was a hard read.  It's an autobiography but still, you want those that are awful (and there are several that are truly awful people) to face some sort of justice for what they put her through but the real world doesn't work like that and they not only survive, but thrive.  However, so does Tara. She has to make hard choices but she realizes that being true to who she has become and wants to be is important and it's hard to do anything but want to hug her for her courage.


Page count: 336p/4,422p ytd/315,327p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 2nd Quarter 2019

My usual disclaimer:

Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

While work has finally slowed down, I'm now crazy with getting things done for the third kid's high school graduation and dealing with a new soccer season and trying to catch up all the stuff that got waaaaaay behind last year so I'm still very behind on my reading but I'm hoping to catch up soon.  That said, there are books that I'm very much interested in because they are either books in series that I'm heavily invested in or by authors that I love and this coming quarter, there seem to be a lot.

First up is Grave Destiny by Kaylana Price, the 6th book in the Alex Craft series.  I'm a book behind at the moment but apparently Alex has been tied even more to the Fae courts and now there is a murder for her to investigate, the ramifications of which could cause issues with the Fae-Human relations. 

Release Date: April 2


Next up is a new one from Mira Grant, Alien: Echo.  This looks to be a standalone YA novel that combines terrifying aliens, alien world, and family secrets.  My youngest and I are both looking forward to seeing what she does with aliens since her zombies and mermaids have been so delightful.

Release Date: April 9


And then comes one that I've been waiting for, Blood Bonds by Yasmine Galenorn.  This is the final book in her Otherworld series, book 21.  Obviously the sisters and their friends are going to win the day against Shadow Wing but it's the how and who will make it out alive and how will the lives of those remaining change.

Release Date: April 15


I really, really need to get caught up on the Cainseville series by Kelley Armstrong since it's over and now there are more interesting novellas coming out like Cruel Fate.  This appears to take place after the main series (so I'm trying not to read too much about it since I'm still 2 books behind) but it appears that Olivia's real father has been freed but someone is trying to get him returned to jail.

Release Date: April 30


Seanan McGuire is at it again with a new novel, Middlegame.  Rodger and Dodger are geniuses that have been created to help Reed obtain godhood.  That is probably not something the rest of us want.

Release Date: May 7


Broken Places & Outer Spaces by Nnedi Okafore is an autobiography of how a once star athlete dealt with paralysis and found her creative voice.  I've been fascinated with Nnedi's works and started following her on FB and am just in awe of her strength. 

Release Date: June 18

15:100 Otherworld Chills by Kelley Armstrong

A collection of novellas and short stories set in the Women of the Otherworld series.  All but one of these was previously published although I had only read 4 of the 7 before.  Those (Brazen, Chaotic, Amityville Horror, and the Puppy Plan) were previously reviewed.

Sorry Seems to the Hardest Word - Zoe short story with Cassandra.  Neither of them are super big characters in the universe to date so they tend to fall off my radar easily.  This story was a fun little romp.

Off-Duty Angel - I always enjoy a good Eve story and one where she is bored and Kristoff tries to keep her occupied but she ends up in a totally different adventure is just super fun.

Baby Boom - This one is way too creepy although its not really meant to be but in this current day, finding out that someone deliberately screwed with Paige's birth control to make sure she got pregnant is just terrifying.  I'm glad that this is a story and she was able to choose how to handle it with support from Lucas.


Page count: 464p/4,086p ytd/314,991p lifetime

14:100 Monkey: Folk Novel of China by Wu Cheng’en, Arthur Waley (Translator)

This is a translated and abridged version of Journey to the West, one of the 4 great novels of China, originally published in the 16th century after centuries of being passed on verbally.  It starts with the story of the Monkey King and his rise and then fall from grace through pride and how he then becomes a disciple of the holy monk who was chosen to go to India to fetch the writings of Buddha which results in his redemption.  The monk has other disciples as well who are also on their own redemption arcs but Monkey does seem to be the focus (as he would have it).

My son wanted to read this as part of his world literature studies this year and I wasn't about to tell him no. I really enjoy reading literature from around the world now (not always the case but I'm continuing to branch out) and this was definitely a fun read with a lot of depth and lots going on in many different levels.  Interestingly, as we read it, I realized that I had had a children's book detailing one of the stories when I was little and remembered it.  I don't know what ever happened to that book but I'm glad that my parents had it for me. 

The original Journey to the West is 100 chapters in total.  This version is about half as long but everything I read said that the stories that were cut out were fun but weren't really necessary to the overall story arcs and this was a good translation and compromise.  Of note, I looked everywhere I could think and asked many people to help me find an actual curriculum for it.  I feel that this is a serious issue in that we don't study the great works of other cultures much and yet, shared stories and seeing the common threads that weave through stories of all cultures is how we can bring people together.


Page count: 324p/3,622p ytd/314,527p lifetime