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Book of the Month: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
A classic mystery by Agatha Christie, how can you not pick it for a book club. Pick one up, and you’re sure to be in for a twisty turn of murder and mystery.
Hercules Poirot’s dentist has committed a suicide. Yes, it’s an irritation to Poirot’s own meticulously planned life that he has to find a new dentist but it seems a bit suspicious, non. Dr. Morley was a perfectly genial man, nothing wrong with his life that he’d do such a drastic act. When it’s revealed that his last patient died of an overdose of dentist syringe (I forgot the drug name), the supposed explanation does not fit when there is a much more prominant man with many enemies who had been in the dentist chair just a few minutes earlier, Mr. Blunt.
Was Mr. Blunt the real object of the murder? Then how did Dr. Morley get caught in the crossfire?An then the last witness to see who may or may have not murdered Dr. Morley goes missing. . . well that convinces Poirot that this is definately a murder.
There’s lots of missing threads and half-baked explanations that just don’t fit, and we all know Poirot’s skill in deduction lies in his irritation of unaligned items be it clues, hairs of his mustache or anything else.
As one can guess, the titular rhyme is the chapter title scheme of the book and the unbuckled shoe plays a pivotal part to figuring out the mystery so pay attention to it. Which you could but Poirot’s explanation is as twisty as all his movie monologues so you might have to read it twice to understand how and why the murders happened the way they did.
I must confess this is the first time I read a Hercules Poirot mystery. I mainly know him from the movies, so I was surprised by the humor here. Not haha funny but deadpan English way like Poirot’s fear of the dentist and whimsical musings on courting couples in the park.
Filled with distinct red herrings, there are plenty of potential suspects for one to question who benefits the most, but I’ll leave you one hint, who has no disregard for human life because the safety of a nation matters more than a one human life, something Poirot cannot abide.
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Classics Remixed
If you’re ever in the mood for a classic but aren’t in the mindset to translate the sometimes archaic eighteenth/nineteenth century language and lengthy descriptors, or just plain want classic characters that look like you and apply to your experiences, try Feiwel & Friends’ latest line, Classics Remixed.
I briefly highlighted the premiere book in the series, So Many Beginnings which takes Little Women but makes it the story of the African-American March family and their experiences of growing up, and finding love and career in the Roanoke Free Men’s Colony during the Civil War.
Since then they’ve dove into Romeo & Juliet, The Great Gatsby and many more.
Here are the latest I got from my library (and the only, I’d suggest more but I’m limited to just three suggestions per month and I have a lot of others on my TBR list).
(more…)#ardenhigh, #c.l.lee, #cheriedimaline, #clashofsteel, #disneyhyperion, #feiwel&friends, #graphicnovel, #intothebrightopen, #katelynbayron, #kingcheer, #kinglear, #macmillan, #mollyhortonbooth, #mydearhenry, #rachelreads&reviews, #retelling, #secretgarden, #stephaniekatestrohm, #thestrangecaseofdrjeyllandmrhyde, #treasureisland, #twelfthgradenight, #twelthnight, #williamshakespeare, #YA -
All for One Review
The final book in the Alex and Eliza trilogy may just be my favorite as De La Cruz fully leans into what makes the Hamilton’s love story so memorable all these years later. Eliza and her forgiveness, and the love the Hamiltons shared for each other and their country despite their flaws.
Set a year after book 2, the Hamiltons are eager to start their own family but have been busy with their roving social scene of rehabilitated New York and Alexander’s booming clientele as the lawyer of hopeless causes. Not that their dry spell lasts for long, Eliza soon finds herself pregnant and the impending future brings joy and stress.
On Eliza’s side, her maternal instincts are already emerging as she works on her pet charity cause, the orphans and fundraising to build a housing facility to serve New York’s orphanage population. Ontop of that, she takes in a girl of modest station, Emma, as a lady’s companion and hosts her younger brother, John Schuyler whose come to NY to attend Columbia College. With her maternal instincts already budding, she schemes to uplift Emma’s station by pairing her with her younger brother, hoping Emma’s calm will soften the carousing lothorio and he will liven her from her sturdy, duty-driven life.
Hamilton is thrilled to bits that they’re about to start a family, he wants nothing more to be the father he never had. But in typical Hamilton dramatics, he spirals when he thinks of the legacy or lack of financial legacy he will has to provide for his kids. While he’s respected, he hasn’t exactly been raking money from his needy clients. The new Trinity case will be a financial boon, and maybe he’ll finally be able to sooth his ego that he can keep Eliza in the manner shes accustomed and keep up with the privileged peers of New York.
However, another case is also taking up his attention and hitting close to home. That of a battered young woman seeking to divorce her abusive husband. A woman who has shady past, and whose similarities with his beloved, suffering mother strike a nerve. Yes, it’s Maria Reynolds.
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We Should All Be Feminists
Ah yes, the iconic Tedtalk that made waves everywhere when Aidichi talked about the dangers of a single story and why feminism isn’t a scary word that others make it out to be. In honor of women’s history month this had to be the first thing I read. I also read her A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. Both books clock under 60 pages but deliver heartfelt thought.
Aidichi writes as if she’s talking to a friend, making these complex words with loads of positive and negative connotations into easy steps that don’t make you a man-hater or doom your marriage, it simple encourages you to be yourself whoever that may be.
I’m not going to talk much about the books’ content itself because seriously you can read both in an hour, go get it yourself but to sum up words of advice for men and women.
Hold your opinions and be firm in them. Gender should not limit your voice or be a reason not be listen to, it’s your knowledge base that matters.
Marriage is a wonderful thing, it’s a union between two people who love and respect each other. So why should women be the only one to aspire to it. Men should want it too and maybe if we encouraged men to aspire for a partner, they wouldn’t act like they’re still single when their married and women wouldn’t feel the need to compromise so much because marriage is the ultimate female goal.
Be open-minded. That doesn’t mean be so non-judgemental that you don’t say what you think as to ‘not offend’ but be aware everyone has their own path, their own views of normalcy and make their own choices.
Being feminist isn’t about being a man, be as girly as you like because differences should be celebrated as much as the common bond we share.
Women are always looked at as vain for caring about their appearences. Men are vain too, their vanity just stems from having cars, money and all those entails. Men feel pressured to be the providers and to be a man, we shouldn’t force the men to shoulder all these burdens. Be a breadwinner too.
That’s only a few bits of her advice but it makes you think. The whole marriage and vanity thing was a total change in perspective for me.
I also read Isabel Allende’s The Soul of a Women. Her latest memoir which she did three years ago in the pandemic, reflecting on her generation being a transitional phase in feminism between her mother’s and her own daughter’s. Allende was full of fire for equal rights to the point of being radical to her more traditional mother and abuelos. After all, women’s rights didn’t affect them.
There’s a lot going on here as Allende reflects on the turmultuous politics of Chile leading to her exile, her marriages and her current lover at the ripe age of 80 as well as reflections on her relationship with her mother and understanding her mother’s point of view as a single mother and the limits of her position in society.
This also leads a lot of “promotion” for her foundation. I put that in quotes because it does tie into Allende’s story as she touches on racism, gentile mutilation, abortion, sexism, domestic violence, rape as a weapon of war, all the women’s issues that are supposedly not our issue and totally resolved. So her foundation gets mentioned a lot as she laments how it feels like there is so much to deal with and so little of an impact in the long-run but it does matter. Every choice, every action matters.
Plus she ties into women’s history as well by mentioning prominant and not-so prominant women who have inspired including her friend, Olga who helps sex-trafficking victims in Serbia, the first female Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, her mother. Always remember the mothers.
Her work is just as thoughtful and descriptive as her fiction and with light humor too as she jokes she shouldn’t be wriing a memoir but a novel like Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Love in the Time of a Pandemic.
The ending was a bit bittersweet I must admit as she ends in a hopeful note that the end of the pandemic might lead to a softer, more loving society after being isolated from other human beings. It was at first but now it’s less so. Bittersweet but her words are a soothing balm that you can escape into.
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Feb Books
All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr
This poetry follows in the vein of Elizabeth Acevedo with short prose that pack a punch. Makes sense as Sawyerr thanks Acevedo for her mentorship and help in the acknowledgements.
But Sawyerr’s work stands on its own as she tackles the difficult topic of assault and what to do when the person who assaulted you is the very pastor that the community adores. Who will believe you? How can you believe in yourself after such trust has been broken?
Amina already leaves in silences after her mother’s death and her father’s subsequent love for church. It’s like they no longer know how to communicate with one another. Add to how she has been demonized for always fighting (for injustice but try tell that to the system), always questioning, this is one space where she feels like she can’t. She’s lost herself.
It can be a difficult book. Although it is not graphic, the emotions are intense like the feeling of self-blame that permeates Aminda’s thoughts after the assault. Sawyerr highlights how prejudice and perceptions of others cause unnecessary stress and judgement that divides the community rather than brings it together. More importantly, it shows that there are so many different ways to react to trauma and to process the options of going to trial or not, and they’re all valid. They’re different ways to fight and to find yourself again, you just have to find the right one.
(more…)#allthefightingparts, #avonbooks, #breatheandcountbackfromten, #contemporaryromance, #hannahvsawyerr, #harpercollins, #janeausten, #joyagoffney, #myweekwithhim, #nataliasylvester, #nikkipayne, #penguinrandomhouse, #rachelreads&reviews, #realisticfiction, #retelling, #senseandsensibility, #sexliesandsensibility, #YA -
Soul of the Deep Review
Happy blog anniversary to me! Can you believe it’s been two years. time flies.
Anyway, it’s been several months since Simidele made her deal with oisa of the dead, Olokun, that in exchange for helping to capture Esu, she will keep him company in the Land of the Dead. The bitter currents never leave her bones, and she misses the sun but Simi feels that her sacrifice is worth it to make up for her mistakes.
It’s soon revealed that in using one oisa to defeat another, more danger abounds in the kingdom of Oko. Olokun did not keep his part of the deal to send Esu to the surpreme god for punishment. He has kept Esu hidden and chained up in the deep, allowing the agojun (anti gods/warlords of destruction) to sow chaos across the Earth.
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Skin of the Sea Review
Simidele is one of Yemoja’s Mami Wata, mermaids who collects the souls of the dead tossed from ships and blesses their journeys to the beyond. But Simidele remembers her life as a human, in bits and pieces, she is the only one who doesn’t want to let the water wash away her memories as it buries the bones of the forgotten dead. So when a boy, Kola, is thrown overboard and turns out to be alive, she breaks the rules to save him. She didn’t think much of bringing him to a deserted island but her transgression has greater consequences to her ancestral goddess and the rest of the Mami Wata.
She must ask forgiveness from the creator oisa, Olodumare but there is a bitter obstacle that threatens her and the rest of the Earth.
Esu, the messenger god has harbored jealousy against the rest of the oisha’s powers, using his role to sewn chaos and dissent. The rings that will allow Simidele contact Olodumare are the same rings that Esu seeks to amplify his powers to rival Olodumare, himself.
Can Simidele save her fellow Mami Wata, Kola and the world she knows?
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Ranking Bad Boys & Wallflowers
Emma, Olivia and Prudence are wallflowers and though they started their first season with high hopes, they’ve come to accept their position. Until it’s their fourth season and their finishing school’s annual reunion approaches. No one in their school has arrived at their fourth season and unmarried in a 100 years! They certainly don’t want to ruin their school’s reputation so these three unlikely wallflowers end up in a mad romp across countryside, stables and barns to find a marriage of convenience. . . Only to find a marriage of love. This trilogy relates to Rodale’s contemporary Bad Boy Billionaire trilogy so it’s an interesting mix of regency with modern anachronism and thoughts so you are forewarned. Also there is computer talk. Okay, Difference Engine talk.
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Scarlett Peckham Interview
Scarlett Peckham fell in love with romance novels when she was a kid, and has been writing about dukes, and the women who love them ever since. She is the author of The Society of Sirens, and Secrets of Charlotte Streets trilogies, and graciously took the time to answer my questions about her Georgian era settings, faith, trope subversion and much more. Enjoy!
1. Let’s start easy, what are your favorite tropes?
My favorite is only one bed! If I weren’t scared of being reptitive I’d put it in every book.
2. What is a trope you want to do?
I’d love to pull off a secret baby!
3. Regency England is almost a default romance setting, what drew you to the colonial era in particular?My books are set in England in the Georgian era (1750s for Charlotte Street, 1790s for Society of Sirens)—so a little before the Regency. I’m attracted to that period because the social mores were a little more permissive than they became in the Regency and Victorian eras—it was the age of revolution, as opposed to the more conservative backlash that developed in response.
But I chose a “Regency-ish” milieu because I wanted to tackle that subgenre of romance, as I had grown up reading it.
My books center on themes of feminism and female agency and writing in a period where women lacked financial and political power makes it interesting to see how other kinds of power (social, sexual, romantic) can influence their lives and relationships. It’s also an interesting lens to look at our own culture and see what has changed—and what hasn’t.
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Dark Ascension: The Lost Ones Review
In a small fishing village in England, a modest couple expected a child. What they did not except were twins! James, the eldest is cautious, sensible, pragmatic, a way with numbers that is completely at odds with the expectation that he’ll continue their father’s fishing business. A fact he hates when he fears the sea. Marlene has an aptitude for the sea but doesn’t enjoy the ladylike pursuits her mother wishes she’d care about. Yet she strives to make up for feeling the burden by excelling in everything else, always sociable and making her presence known.
As one can imagine, with their meager lives, they long to leave for London. James wants to be an accountent or something but Marlene’s dreams are less tangible. It’s one thing not to fit at home, but that’s all that’s expected a lady to be. Moving to London wouldn’t fix her problems. Growing older seems like a horrifying abstract where Marlene will have to constantly feel like she doesn’t belong.
Then on their fifteenth birthday, they get swept away to Neverland.
Implied spoilers ahead. I think one can figure it out but I’ll still put it below.
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