You Can't Always Get What You Want

I wanted to read Three Women by Lisa Taddeo. I found it at my local library and turns out....I couldn't renew it. *insert sad face here* So I gave it back, promptly put another hold on it, and will hope the next reader is a speed reader. I could have kept the book past my due date and paid the fine ...

But that makes me feel guilty and bad for the next person in line who just wants to read a good book. Am I alone in thinking this way?

On a different, more audio, tangent: Somehow I have 3 audiobooks going. I'm not sure how this all happened but here we are.

I started listening to CraftLit's Treasure Island. Heather is a gem! She lays out the land before the book pieces and catches up with you on the flip side. There's a lot of pirate-y lingo that she explains. This is turning out to be a good one! I mean, it's a classic so duh, right?

After seeing IT: Chapter Two, I decided to re-read IT by Stephen King. I got the book from the library and damn, man. I forgot what a doorstop that was! So I bounced over to Audible and grabbed the 43+ hour audio. I started IT while waiting for the next Treasure Island to drop. Makes sense, yes?

Well, THEN, my IRL book club was doing Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I was already reading other books so I grabbed the audio. Wasn't that long (well, yes it is) and I already read IT so no big deal.  I didn't finish in time and ended up not able to go to book club anyways.

So here I sit. With three audiobooks, that have absolutely no relation, winding in and around each other.

What have I actually finished since we last spoke? Here's the run down!

Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen - pretty typical Hiaasen. A coworker described this as "Florida Man: The Movie" and he's not wrong

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead - This is an unnerving and upsetting novel. I had to re-read sections once I realize what had happened and was still shook.

A Grown Up Guide to Dinosaurs by Ben Garrod - Did you know Audible has originals? And you get two free a month? This was one of their originals, just a few hours long but so awesome for the geek in me.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood - I'm shocked how quickly I got this from the library! It was a good continuation and satisfying conclusion to The Handmaid's Tale.

The Man Who Knew the Way to the Moon by Todd Zwillich - another Audible original. I've always wanted to work at NASA and this was a fascinating listen about how the moonshot came about.

Outer Order, Inner Calm by Gretchen Rubin - Not quite what I thought but still a good little book that gives advice on how to clear out your clutter so your mind is calmer and less anxious.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs by Caitlin Doughty - LOVE. I love her. I have so many new fun facts about death that I'm no longer invited to parties.

The Institute by Stephen King - Now THIS is a damn fine King novel!!! This is always the kind of scary book I look for, no monsters, just horrible people. Kind of like reality.

Bloody Genius by John Sandford - The 12th Virgil Flowers book and just as good as all the rest. I will never, I repeat, never, tire of John Sandford.

Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat - A postal club book that I had to rush through a bit to get out the door on time. Good but sad read that had a touch of "Is this a bit fabricated?"


Goodreads says I am 5 books away from my goal this year. If I can knock out those audios soon, heck, I'll clobber this goal!

We All Float Down Here

I went to the movies and saw IT Chapter Two this weekend. I've been chewing over my thoughts and feels on this movie and have decided that Chapter One is much better. I'll be honest, I never liked the spider thing at the end. I think the movie tried to make it creepier and it just failed. I did appreciate how everyone, including Stephen King as the Shopkeeper, made sure to let Bill know his endings suck.

I love King, but sometimes his endings really suck. I really disliked how the Losers defeated IT in the movie. I also wanted more of Henry Bowers. He is such an excellent villian who really made their fight against IT so much harder and he wasn't given his due role in the movie.

Character/actor-wise, I think the casting was pretty damn good. Bill Hader as Ritchie was spot on...and who doesn't want to imagine Finn Wolfhard growing up to be Bill Hader???

The kids are back as well for the flashback scenes. I did appreciate how the adult losers faced down their adult fears separately (Ben, I feel ya on your fear of dying alone).

Overall, I'd say watch it. But for the love of god, just read the book!

I've read A LOT since we last spoke. Let's run them down:

Still Waters by Tami Hoag was pretty decent. I really like Hoag but this did annoy me some. It ended up being a good beach read and stayed in Florida.

The Titan's Curse and The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan were both consumed on my Kindle while in airports and airplanes. My tween seat mate on the way home heartily approved of the Percy Jackson series...and I agree. Good reads even if they are YA.

Blood Work by Michael Lister was a BookBub book deal. Jumped right into the middle of a series but the author let me know it was ok. Surprisingly good book with some nice twists.

Personal by Lee Child is a Jack Reacher book. I'm getting more and more hooked on Reacher IF I pretend that Tom Cruise never played Reacher in a movie. :) This was a really good and speedy read.

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Gran was a IRL book club book. We had a pretty lively discussion but man, if this true account of the Osage Indians does not prove that Americans refuse to learn from history, I don't know what does.

The Third Secret by Steve Berry has been sitting in my stacks forever! It came from a library book sale and I've heard good things about Berry. In this one, the Catholic Church has a secret (NO, not that one - which isn't really a secret) and one of their own is trying to solve a mystery. Less chaotic and Hollywood-y than a Dan Brown book.

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott was a postal book club book. Never heard of the author but I was intrigued by the premise of a church taking in a widow and her baby after the husband commits suicide. Two back to back church books!

Body Double by Tess Gerritsen was another one in my stacks forever. I do love Tess. This was a pretty good, weird, mystery that involves pregnant women and really creepy sickos.

Good Talk by Mira Jacobs was discovered by listening to episode 118 of So Many Damn Books. I instantly went to Powells online and got the book. READ THIS. It's important. You can never really step into someone else's shoes but this is a good start to trying.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens was another good one. Why do people still need to be told not to judge other people? The Marsh Girl has more intelligence in her pinky than the entire town has collectively. 

So...wow. I've read a lot since June. According to GoodReads, I've read 30 of my 45 books this year. Not too shabby.

What to do?

I surprised myself by finishing 2 books on a work trip. Normally, I knit quite a bit but on both flights, I read for the entire flight.

I have a vacation coming up where I will be in the air a bit over 4 hours, with some layovers. When forced to choose between a 30 minute layover vs a 2 hour one, I'll choose the longer one. I hate rushing.

With all that, I know I need to choose books wisely for this trip. I'll have a fully charged iPod with my audiobooks and podcasts, along with knitting. But book-wise......

I'm 99% sure I'm taking Bonfire by Krysten Ritter. Definitely taking my Big Damn Classic War of the Worlds by HG Wells. War is on my Kindle so I'm taking that which means I'll have a wealth of books to choose from, provided the battery stays charged! Bonfire is a hardback. I need some paperback beach reads that won't cry if the ocean gets on them. I think this is the funnest part of planning a trip, besides choosing some knitting projects for the ocean view on the balcony.

I finished The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian on my work trip. I ALWAYS love his work but tend not to seek it out on my own. Why is that? I also grabbed Edge of Evil by JA Jance from my stacks before I left because I was worried I'd be left bookless. I nearly was. I finished The Sleepwalker on the flight home with 40 minutes left of the flight. Thank goodness I had another book.

Still listening to A Gentleman in Moscow and am about 6 hours in (17 hour book). Also finishing up Sing, Unburied,Sing by Jesmyn Ward. This is a tough read. It's good, very good, don't get me wrong. It's the subject matter that makes it a difficult read. I both want to hug and smack Leonie. I'll have this done before vacation.

I guess I need to get to the hard task of finding more vacation books. With over 1,100 books in my house, you wouldn't think that would be difficult.

Revamp

I decided to try a new thing with Iced Tea Diaries. Instead of just individual reviews, I'm just going to write. Reviews are still a thing and I'll link to them on Goodreads!

Firstly, I finally finished George R R Martin's Fire and Blood, a history of the Targaryen family. It was an audio book that was a billion hours long but, aside from some meandering, was pretty good. I finished out the Game of Thrones series with my friend, Jaime. I will say I'm a bit disappointed in how rushed the last season felt. Give us more episodes instead of making characters go against who they are just to hit the plot point!

I just finished Lincoln Child's Death Match. Just ok. Not really what I was hoping for, as a data IT geek, but I guess because I am a data IT geek, I was accurate in my prediction of the ending.

Computers are assholes. That sums up everything.

I have so many books mid-read but just haven't finished them. I think some of them were too cerebral for what my brain can handle, with work being what it is. Hence Death Match.

When I was on vacation, I stopped in at Indy Reads Books and got me a good armful of books. I just grabbed The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E. Pitman (actually a purchase from Silver in the City on Mass Ave) as my next book book. Seems like the right time to read that.

I did also grab The Library Book by Susan Orlean and Art Matters by Neil Gaiman at Indy Reads.

My next audiobook will be A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles because my friend James keeps asking if I read it yet. Plus it was a book club pick, even though I missed book club.

The GRRM audio was such a beast though I'm taking a small break and listening to podcasts. I just found Books of Your Life and, lo and behold, the first episode I hear is with Neil Gaiman.

Speaking of Neil, have you watched Good Omens yet? Is it just me or does David Tennant really have that lanky, dorky sexiness going on??? Ahem. Anyways, the show is fantastic. If you are geeky enough, there are lots of easter eggs for you to find (Pratchett's hat!) and I'm fairly certain I missed some. Which I guess means I must watch all 6 episodes again. How sad.

I have a public group on Facebook to chat all things books called A Novel Discussion. It's new but hopefully will start scooting along with conversations! Join up!

Flawed Dogs by Berkeley Breathed

This was an adorably dark book that made me tear up more than once. A little dachshund with a ladle for a leg is being put in a dog fighting ring. He sees what he's up against and just lays down to die.

This is how we start the book!

We flashback to how Sam the Lion wiener dog is actually bought and paid for by Mrs. Nutbush for the sole purpose of winning the Westminster Dog Show. Fortunately for Sam, he spies an girl, Heidy, who looks like she should be his human. Heidy is an orphan, going to live with her uncle. Sam escapes Nutbush and ends up chasing down Heidy, who keeps him. Because, who wouldn't?

In Heidy's new home, there is Cassius, a French Poodle who is evil (aren't they all?) and Cassius wants Sam gone so he can have Heidy's love for himself. Cassius actually crafts a plan to be rid of Sam, that results in Sam being shot and left for dead.

Sam survives and ends up at the National Last-Ditch Dog Depository with other flawed and misfit dogs. Sam is scarred up, missing a leg, and has been through hell. We come back to the dog fight and Sam's story continues from there.

Sam and his misfit friends are adorable, sad, and awesome. The drawings in the book just emphasize the crazy that this book is but they are heartbreaking too. Sam comes out on top, flawed as he is.

Perfection is overrated.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby

This book of essays came highly recommended by Jenny Lawson, and since I love Jenny, I assumed I would love this book. I was right!

Samantha Irby is insanely funny and vulgar. She starts off this collection with her Bachelorette Application that introduces her to us.

“You know, what I really need is someone who remembers to rotate this meaty pre-corpse toward the sun every couple of days and tries to get me to stop spending my money like a goddamn NBA lottery pick.” 

And we just go running from there. A few things she mentioned sounded crazy familiar, so I looked her up. Yup, she has Crohn's Disease. I had Ulcerative Colitis (a cousin to Crohn's) and I truly feel her pain. One of the fascinating things about people with IBD is the ability to speak plainly and often about butts and poop. Samantha is no exception, so if butthole talk makes you nervous, well.....

How about lesbian talk? Her essay on her first girl encounter, referencing an open-face, medium rare, roast beef sandwich and soft serve ice cream, is a visual. For real.

She details her "dumpster fire" of a childhood. Saying she had it rough is a bit of an understatement but she has the ability to make you laugh as her dad's ashes end up in her mouth instead of the river (damn wind!).

“I am a simple person. Kind of. I mean, I don’t really have any dreams beyond comfortable pants and unlimited sparkling water.” 

Neon Prey by John Sandford

I love real books. Dead tree type books. But I also like my Kindle because when I hear the ding on Prey release day, I know I have instant happiness. And like that *snapping fingers*, the new Lucas Davenport book was in my hot little hands.

This is the 29th Davenport book and it really doesn't show it's age at all. Don't get me wrong, Lucas is aging. When his description said he was 52, for some reason, I was really surprised. But, I'm 43 and now 50s really don't seem that old. Maybe his chases are slowing a bit but his mind is still whirring at top speed, intelligence and humor were always his best points.

Deese is a killer. Not only that, he's a cannibal (the opening BBQ scenes take on a totally different feel when you know this fact). Not only is he a killer cannibal, he's out on the loose and Davenport, along with Rae and Bob, are brought in to find him. They start off in New Orleans, but tips lead them out to LA and Las Vegas. Sandford can write excellent characters. Rae and Bob are ideal sidekicks to Lucas and they stand up fully in their own right, much like Virgil Flowers.

Deese ends up with his brother, Marion, and his home invasion gang. He's surrounded by some nasty folks and it would seem they are brought down pretty quick. Honestly, it felt really easy in the beginning, good tips, cooperative cops, happening upon the right house, etc. Even Bob and Rae felt this was easy.

It was too easy.

A gunfight between cops and gang leads to some perilous results.

In the end, I'm going to say we're at a "typical" Prey ending but dammit, they are all GOOD. I only meant to read this a bit at a time but devoured it in 2 nights. I love Davenport. I love who he is, I love what he does, I love his complexities. He's not perfect, he can royally screw things up, but his intelligence brings him back to the top.

I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi

This was an interesting premise. Maddy, a seemingly perfect mom/housewife, jumps to her death off of a building and everyone is left to wonder why. Maddy herself is in another realm watching over her husband and teenage daughter, trying to make life better for them now that she is gone.

This could have easily went south and dark but it actually didn't. I admit to being irritated with Maddy. "Why are you playing God with your family now when you chose to leave them?" That thought kept playing in my head as Maddy manipulated feelings and situations to get the outcome she wanted.

Her husband, Brady......I'm shocked anyone stayed married to him, to be honest. Eve, her 17 year old daughter, was a typical selfish teenager. But Eve was the one who really reflected and worked on understanding her mom's suicide. Eve's transformation was partially sad and partially amazing. Brady stays an ass for a while :)

I felt the ending was a bit forced but I'll leave that for you to discover and make your own opinions on! Overall though, this was a really good book that made me reflect on how I treat my loved ones and what I would need to change to make people feel appreciated while they are still here.

Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

I was pleasantly surprised to see this on the new book shelf at the library. I had no idea there was a sequel to Moloka'i, which I read back in 2008. I vividly remembered the book and it became one of my favorites that I recommend to everyone. It took me forever to read this thanks to work and many late nights and weekends taken from me. I had to schedule car repair and sit in a waiting room for 2 hours just to get time to finish.

Little Ruth is taken to an orphanage immediately after being born to Rachel (the main character in the first book). People with Hanson's Disease (or leprosy)  were not allowed to be with their children and babies were immediately removed from Moloka'i to avoid contracting the disease.

Ruth is spirited, to say the least, and is eventually adopted by a Japanese family. Ruth's is a hapa, half Hawaiian and half Japanese. She endures a lot of teasing and bullying growing up due to her halfness. The family moves to California to work on Uncle Jiro's farm. This was right before Pearl Harbor and even then, the racism was terrible. Once Pearl Harbor happened, it got much much worse.

Ruth, now a wife and mother, ends up imprisoned in Manzanar, an interment camp for anyone who looks Japanese, even if they were born in the US. This really happened, people. Our government really did this to Americans because of how they looked and it's sickening. With all the hysteria happening today, I sincerely hope we never become this horrible again.

Ruth is in the prison (camp is to nice and not realistic) with her parents and immediate family. The atrocities that happened, with the the fatality of one family member, are horrible. Once the government gets it's brain back, the families are allowed to leave and try to regain their livlihoods. Back home, however, anything Japanese, including homes and businesses, were torched by white idiots.

Ruth and family start gaining back their lives, when a letter arrives from Hawaii. Rachel, now cured of Hanson's Disease (and on "parole" from Moloka'i) thanks to Sulfa, wants to hear from Ruth. Ruth was never told about why she was given up for adoption and, with her mother's blessing, meets her birth mother.

This was another fantastic book that was real and raw and lovingly written. Read both in order, they are well worth your time.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

I started listening to this in January. The length of time it's taken me to read is not a reflection of the book, just a reflection of my chaotic, messy life right now. I appreciated the Obamas as a First Family, even if I didn't always agree with President Obama's policies all the time. The entire family, Michelle's mom included, seemed like a classy group and getting through 2 terms with nary a scandal in sight, seemed to prove that.

In Becoming, Michelle recounts her childhood, growing up on the South side of Chicago, living in a small apartment in her aunt's house, her father's battle with MS, trekking to school and doing her best to make sure she went to college. She studied law because it seemed like the right thing to do (100% understand her thinking here) and became a junior partner after graduating. Thankfully for us, and her, she stuck it out for a bit even when she realized that a big time lawyer isn't the path she really wanted keeping going down. Barack Obama ended up at her law firm as an intern. And the two quickly become enamored of each other.

Barack had political aspirations and quickly pursued all of them, ultimately ending up as POTUS. Michelle had her own path to follow and left the law firm to work in the public sector, even if that meant a pay cut. She talks candidly about using IVF to have Malia and Sasha. She also talks candidly about what it meant to be a politician's wife: the long hours waiting for the husband to get home, essentially being a single working parent, having to balance the plates of mother, wife, and Director at the same time. There were a few places in the book that really shows what working mothers deal with. Dads have a focus, their job, but the extras that make up family life are usually left up to mom.

Michelle eventually gave up her career to go with Barack to the White House. She gives great detail of life in the White House, most of which I had no idea. I had no idea the POTUS and FLOTUS gets a bill every month for the food and supplies they consume. I don't know why that surprised me.

Michelle details her time as FLOTUS, doing a job that had no job description. She was up front and making changes during her eight years in the White House, and it shows. The White House garden is still there, just ignored by the current administration, and she definitely made her stamp during the eight years.

The Obama family are still people I admire, but I greatly respect Michelle.

The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow

I was reading some book reviews and saw The Border by Don Winslow being praised. As per usual, I went to Goodreads to add it to my To-Read pile (that will still be there after I die, it's so large) and discovered that it was third in a series.

We all know my trouble with starting a series in the wrong spot.

I did my research and ended up getting book #1, The Power of the Dog, from the library. Work is making it increasingly difficult to just sit down and read. My mind wanders, thinking about all the work I should be doing, instead of relaxing and escaping reality. The Power of the Dog caught me right from the start and tried so hard to make me just sit and read. It turns out, I had to read this in fleeting moments, mostly waiting in waiting rooms for appointments or kept in my car and purse for quiet minutes before a dinner or stuck in traffic. Any chance I had, I read.

“Deliver my soul from the sword; my love from the power of the dog. Psalms 22:20” 

I would be incorrect to say this was just a novel about the Mexican drug cartel. It's Irish Mafia, Russians, American DEA, Italian Mafia, Hookers, Priests, drug lords, Columbians and the American government out for their own agenda. It's every-fricking-thing.

It's Art Keller. A Mexican-American kid grown up to be DEA. It's Adan Barrera and his brother, Raul. Their uncle is in charge of Operation Condor, in 1975, that destroys the poppy fields in Mexico, taking out the main source of heroin. Tio Barrera delivers the main drug lord to the Americans and makes it appear the operation was a success. But Tio has other plans. Instead of heroin, he brings together a federation of drug dealers (suppliers, soon to be millionaires), including his nephews, to start producing crack cocaine and distributing it across the border to the US. Two thousand miles of border is split up so every area is covered. And soon, America has a crack epidemic.

In New York, we have O-Bop and Callan, two Irish kids, who run into the wrong side of the Irish mob. The Italian Mafia wants to start bringing in crack to the area to make more money and run into the Irish kids. Callan turns out to be a killer...literally. O-Bop comes along for the ride but it's really Callan's show. The Italians start using and investing in the kids.

The book moves along the years to follow all of the players, and there are a lot. Starting off in 1975 and ending 2004, we cover a lot of, often bloody, ground. I was amazed at the detail, not necessarily the gory details. The human beings caught up in events they really don't want to participate in, trying to get away from the mafia and have a normal life, agreeing to do things knowing that if they don't, the Barrera brothers will torture or kill them and their families. How drugs make it past the border (and don't you think a wall is going to help with this!), how the American government looks the other way when it needs something and how the Mexican government pretends nothing is wrong because of the drug money kickbacks being handed over by the Barrera's for "protection".

Corruption is ripe in this novel and it's almost disheartening. Even our protagonist, Art, has to make some sketchy decisions that move him from the right side towards the more morally gray area.

Damn good book. Really looking forward to continuing the trilogy.

Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag

I was picking through my stacks at home and found this. Whew, this is an old one. Old, but damn good.  I always forget how much I like Tami Hoag until I pick up one of her books.

I honestly didn't figure out the killer until near the end and one word was spoken. Then I started yelling at the book "OH NO IT'S NOT OH NOOOO IT'S NOT ARE YOUSHITTINGME?!?"

Good stuff.

In Minneapolis, a serial killer is hard at work, killing women and setting their bodies on fire in a park. The first two victims are sex workers (considered a "high risk" job so the cops don't spend too much time one it). The third victim appears to be the daughter of a billionaire. While setting this corpse on fire, The Cremator has a witness to his act. The Cremator is clearly a loser, who believes he's a god. Torturing and killing women because of mommy issues. He's disgusting.

The witness is just a kid and she ends up with Kate Colan, a witness advocate. Angie, the witness, is a tough nut to crack, and why not, the kid just witnessed some horrible shit. The billionaire, see above, brings in the legendary John Quinn, FBI profiler, to catch the killer.

Did I mention Kate and John have a past? Oh yes, complete with smoldering looks and everything.

We get really good background on the key players and then things get really twisted, like knickers twisted, really fast. I was impressed with the story and the twists and turns. Another great Hoag book!

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Sometimes I think fantasy books should come with someone, a fantasy expert, holding your hand and helping you make sense of the very made up jargon. That being said, I really liked this book. Loaned to me by an intelligent and pretty friend (hi Jaime!) I was still hesitant to read it. Fantasy novels just aren't my "thing".

The characters and the story line, along with all the twists, kept me going "What's next? Now what? What happens to them NOW?" Them's good story-writin'!

We're in a time where a Lord Ruler is a self-proclaimed god, the skaa are a beaten down class of slaves, and nobility feels they can do anything they want. Vin, a street urchin who is part of a thieving crew, is working to pay off her brother's debts. The crewleaders beat and abuse her but still she stays. Her brother has abandoned her and she has no where else to turn. The crewleader forces Vin to his scams because of her Luck. She's able to use some gift of hers to calm people and make them less worried. She doesn't know much about her Luck, just that it takes a lot to make it and a lot of time to store it back up.

Along comes Kelsier. He's survived the unsurvivable and makes it his goal to upset the Lord Ruler and get everyone to cause trouble. And he's really good at it. He learns of Vin and her Luck and takes her away from the crew and under his wing. What Vin has is really Allomancy, the power of a Mistborn. Vin's really special, you guys.

Allomancy is the ability to ingest metals and burn them, creating different powers from each. I'll be honest in that I got a bit confused here but the fight scenes where metal powers were every where were great and...confusing.

Move on from that and you have a plot to overthrow the Lord Ruler and get the skaa to rebel. This book is almost 650 pages and the nail-biting explosions come towards the end. Work your way through the explanations of nobility, powers, mistborns, etc and you get a (upsetting) satisfying conclusion.

Mistborn is a series and Goodreads tells me there are 7 books. Despite my hesitancy....I'm in.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I was blown away by this book. My IRL book club picked it for our first book of 2019 and, frankly, I'm surprised at the choice. I listened to the audio book and was 100% in it with Starr. Probably through my own ignorance at what is out there, I've never read a book that was this heartbreaking and made me view things in a different light.

Starr Carter is a 16 year old African American living in Garden Heights (the hood). She's met up with her old friend Khalil at a party and, when gunshots ring out, he gets Starr out of there and into his car to take home. Khalil and Starr have know each other since they were babies. Khalil is a good kid but there are rumors that he's been selling drugs. On the way home, Khalil is pulled over by the police for a broken taillight. If you've paid a bit of attention to the news, you know what happens. I was still upset when it happened.  Due to "circumstances" (white prejudice), Khalil is shot in the back 3 times. He's unarmed, there are no weapons in the car, but a 16 year old kid is laying on the street dying from being shot repeatedly in the back by a cop. Starr has the gun turned on her as well, until the cop's backup arrives.

The journey from that night to the end, riots in Garden Heights, is Starr's story of how she has dealt and is dealing with seeing two of her best friends murdered. Natasha, her other friend, was killed in a driveby when she was 10. Now Khalil at 16 is murdered. My heart broke a thousand times over for Starr and for everyone in her neighborhood.

This is such a worthwhile read and, actually, so important to read and understand that what you read in the news or see on TV isn't the real story. People get into situations they can't get out of, but that doesn't make them bad or make them deserve to be murdered.

Starr is one of my literary heroes. She shines.

Big Damn Classic of 2019 is........

For real this time...


Between my google forms and the poll I put up in Goodreads, the winner, with 41 of the 152 votes is:

I'm really excited for this one! I have heard the radio version - we listened to it in a creative writing class - but I'm excited to read the book that has never been out of print, thanks to it's popularity. And, one of the earliest stories to even handle the extraterrestrial race.

click to embiggen

Thank you to all who voted!