Harry Potter: Feasts and Festivities

Harry Potter: Feasts and Festivities 

By Jennifer Carroll 

Insight Editions, 2021. 191 pages. Nonfiction 

Every event is magical when it’s inspired by Harry Potter. With loads of photos, this book features five unique Harry Potter-themed events, from a movie marathon to a wedding to a Halloween party. Under each party, there are decoration ideas, invitations, food, activities, and more. There are 40 different printables available through the publisher’s website for all the different parties, and many come in multiple languages. This book offers step-by-step instructions to create, craft, and cater a beautiful Harry Potter event. 

As someone who has planned a Harry Potter event before, I appreciated the variety of ideas, foods, and activities presented in this book. Almost every idea or recipe comes with a photo, so you know what you are creating. The printables are easy to use and available to everyone. My favorite ideas are the Sorting Ceremony Ice Cream Sundaes (there are different color sprinkles hidden in the ice cream cones) and the phoenix invitation. I would recommend this to anyone who is hosting a Harry Potter party, looking for decoration ideas or printables, or just loves to throw elaborate events. 

If you like Harry Potter: Feasts and Festivities, you might also like: 

Entertaining with Disney 

By Amy Croushorn 

Insight Editions, 2019. 189 pages. Nonfiction 

Celebrate your love of Disney with this gorgeous guide to creating magical and memorable events. Does your best friend love The Little Mermaid? Is your Lion King-obsessed sister hosting a baby shower? Would your family movie night benefit from a little Aladdin magic? This is the party planning guide for you, with exceptional events ranging from Halloween pumpkin carving, elegant dinner parties, fun birthday bashes, and sophisticated New Year eve soirees. 

Knitting Magic 

By Tanis Gray 

Insight Editions, 2020. 207 pages. Nonfiction 

Channel the magic of the Harry Potter films from the screen to your needles with the ultimate knitter's guide to the Wizarding World. Featuring over 25 magical knits pictured in gorgeous full-color photography, this book includes patterns for clothing, home projects, and keepsakes pulled straight from the movies -- and even includes a few iconic costume pieces as seen on-screen. With yarn suggestions based on the true colors used in the films, projects range from simple patterns like the Hogwarts house scarves to more complex projects like Mrs. Weasley's Christmas sweaters.

Supernatural: the Official Cookbook 

By Julie Tremaine 

Insight Editions, 2019. 127 pages. Nonfiction 

Filled with delicious recipes inspired by the hit television series, this cookbook allows fans to experience the world of Supernatural like never before. Whether you’re a seasoned chef, beginner cook, or diner food enthusiast like the Winchester Brothers, Supernatural: The Official Cookbook brings a variety both savory and sweet recipes from the show to life. When they aren’t keeping humanity safe from all kinds of otherworldly threats, Dean and Sam often take time to eat and devise their next steps for hunting monsters at a small-town diner. This complete culinary guide features some of the brothers’ favorite dishes, such as Dean’s breakfast Pigs N A Poke, cheeseburger and fries, angel food cake, Sam’s salads, and, of course, pie!

TT

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music
by Dave Grohl
Dey Street Books, 2021. Biography/Memoir

In this colorful autobiography, David Grohl talks about his life, from growing up in Springfield, Virginia with a growing passion for rock and drumming, his struggles in school, then touring with the band Scream starting at 18 years old, his time with Nirvana, and his subsequent projects and passions both in the music world and outside of it.  He shares stories of his time with the Foo Fighters and many other incredible musicians, some heart-wrenching, some inspiring, and many hilarious.  His experiences as a father round out the book with heart and depth that the reader might not have expected.  Grohl has a passionate love for music and his loved ones, endearingly enthusiastic nerd/fanboy tendencies, and lots of heart, and it all comes through in spades in this compellingly readable book.

If you like The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music, you might also like:

The Beatles: The Biography
By Bob Spitz
Little Brown, 2005. 983 pages. Biography

Even before the Beatles hit the big time, a myth was created. This version of the Beatles legend smoothed the rough edges and filled in the fault lines, and for more than forty years this manicured version of the Beatles story has sustained as truth -- until now.

 

 

Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery
by Scott Kelly
Alfred A. Knopf, 2017, 387 pages, Autobiography

The veteran of four space flights and the American record holder for consecutive days spent in space, Scott Kelly has experienced things very few have. Now, he describes navigating the extreme challenges of long-term spaceflight, both existential and banal: the devastating effects on the body; the isolation from everyone he loves and the comforts of Earth; the pressures of constant close cohabitation; the catastrophic risks of depressurization or colliding with space junk, and the still more haunting threat of being unable to help should tragedy strike at home.

 

BHG

You’ll Be the Death of Me

You’ll Be the Death of Me 

By Karen M. McManus 

Delacorte Press, 2021. 326 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

Estranged friends Ivy, Mateo, and Cal witness a murder while skipping school, and the only way they can solve it is by revealing what they have been hiding from one another--and themselves. 

I know whenever I pick up one of McManus’s books I’m in for suspenseful teen mystery, and this one fits the bill. I appreciate the multiple perspectives from Ivy, Cal, and Mateo, and all three teens have understandable reasons to keep the secrets they do. Their stories and situations have varying levels of relatability, and are complexly woven together in a way that kept me guessing until the end. 

If you liked You’ll Be the Death of Me, you might also like: 

This is Why We Lie 

By Gabriella Lepore 

Inkyard Press, 2021. 312 pages. Young Adult Fiction

When a fellow student is murdered, Jenna Dallas and Adam Cole, who discovered the body, launch their own investigation and discover that everyone in the community of Gardiners Bay has something to hide. 

Broken Things 

By Lauren Oliver 

Harper, 2018. 408 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

Everyone thinks Mia and Brynn killed their best friend after becoming obsessed and delusional over a novel, but on the anniversary of their friend's death a discovery pulls them back together to find out what actually happened that night. 

ACS

The Next Right Thing

The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions
By Emily P. Freeman
Baker Publishing Group, 2019. 250 pages. Religion

Nothing gets our attention like an unmade decision: Should I accept the new position? Which schooling choice is best for my kids? How can I support my aging parents? When we have a decision to make and the answer isn't clear, what we want more than anything is peace, clarity, and a nudge in the right direction. The Next Right Thing offers a fresh way of practicing familiar but often forgotten advice: simply do the next right thing.

Conversational, not preachy, and draws from the author's personal experiences. With bite-sized chapters and simple suggestions, readers can find several new practices to make their day-to-day decision-making intentional and less stressful.

If you liked The Next Right Thing, then you may also like:

The Last Lecture
By Richard Pausch
Hyperion Books, 2008. 206 pages. Biography/Memoir

Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

How to Figure Out What to Do with Your Life (Next)
By Jennifer Turliuk
Dundurn, 2021. 207 pages. Business

Jennifer Turliuk was dissatisfied in her corporate job, so she quit...but she had no idea what to do next. She embarked on a "self-education journey," interviewing and shadowing some of the world's leading professors, founders, and investors. What she discovered is not only a way to find out what she really wanted to do with her own life, but a career design process that would help others do just the same.

Stretched Too Thin: How Working Moms Can Lose the Guilt, Work Smarter, and Thrive
By Jessica N. Turner
Revell, 2018. 228 pages. Religion

At the end of each day, many working moms are exhausted and stretched too thin. But this doesn't have to be the norm! Turner shows working moms how to establish clear work boundaries that will help them discover more flexibility and develop home management solutions.

AS

El Oficio de Narrar Sin Miedo

El Oficio de Narrar Sin Miedo

Por Harris Whitbeck
Two Rivers Distribution, 2021. 264 páginas. No Ficción

En sus 30 años como periodista, Harris Whitbeck ha viajado a los lugares más peligrosos del mundo para narrar acontecimientos históricos. Por su impecable profesionalismo, fue reconocido con un Emmy especial en 2002. Esta obra relata el detrás de cámaras de su labor periodística y sus recuerdos por los países que visitó para llevar al lector las más poderosas historias. Con un punto de vista crítico y entrañable, desde sus inicios en CNN en Español, Whitbeck ha cubierto sucesos como el huracán Mitch en Centroamérica, el tsunami de 2004 en Indonesia, los disturbios políticos en Haití y Venezuela, las guerras de Irak y Afganistán, y la disolución de la Unión Soviética.

El centro de este libro es una anécdota emotiva sobre el vínculo con su profesión y su natal Guatemala. El oficio de narrar sin miedo es una oportunidad única para descubrir, a través de la mirada del autor, la realidad compleja en la que vivimos: guerras, miseria e injusticia que atraviesan y lastran nuestro presente. «Al enfrentarme a desafíos enormes y verme cara a cara con la desgarradora violencia de la guerra, afronté mi propio temor a la muerte, me di cuenta de que el miedo pierde su fuerza cuando se le encara».

Si le gusta «El Oficio de Narrar Sin Miedo» le recomendamos:

El Lenguaje No Verbal en la Comunicación
Por Joan Francesc Canovas

Lectorum Pubns, 2022. 200 páginas. No Ficción

Durante la crisis de la Covid-19, hemos tenido que incorporar a nuestro día a día un número casi ilimitado de plataformas tecnológicas para poder mantener nuestras conexiones profesionales o personales. Así pues, si antes de 2020 hacer una videollamada podía tener, en según qué ámbitos, incluso un punto de esnobismo, ahora es un hecho habitual que ha venido para quedarse. A raíz de esta situación, las personas (más preparadas para relacionarnos de manera presencial que remota) hemos tenido que aprender a marchas forzadas los secretos y las eficiencias de esta nueva comunicación online.

A base de aciertos y errores, cada persona ha ido erigiendo un manual propio de cómo comunicarse en una videoconferencia, por lo que, sin saberlo, todos juntos hemos ido creando un nuevo lenguaje que hay que conocer muy bien. Por primera vez, todos estos aprendizajes se han reunido en un solo libro «El lenguaje de la comunicación online» una obra con una finalidad muy práctica y didáctica que da respuesta a las miles de dudas que surgen a la hora de preparar y participar en una videoconferencia, como por ejemplo qué fondo debe utilizarse, qué tipo de plano o ángulo de la cámara, qué ropa o complementos son idóneos para salir en pantalla, qué iluminación es la correcta, y un larguísimo etcétera. Y sin olvidar la adecuación del tipo de lenguaje utilizado (verbal, vocal y no verbal), ya que, como en cualquier otra comunicación, condicionarán mucho el resultado final. 

Cómo las Personas Exitosas Crecen

Por John C. Maxwell

Center Street, 2014. 147 páginas. No Ficción

 
¿Existen principios probados y verdaderos que siempre seguramente ayudarán a una persona a crecer? John Maxwell dice que la respuesta es sí. Ha sido un apasionado del desarrollo personal durante más de cincuenta años, y aquí enseña todo lo que ha aprendido sobre lo que se necesita para alcanzar nuestro potencial. De la forma en que solo él puede comunicarse, enseña John. . . 

La ley del espejo: debes ver el valor en ti mismo para agregar valor a ti mismo. La ley de la conciencia: debes conocerte a ti mismo para crecer. La ley del modelado: es difícil de mejorar cuando no tienes a nadie más que tú para seguir. El crecimiento se detiene cuando pierdes la tensión entre dónde estás y dónde podrías estar. La ley de la contribución: desarrollarte a ti mismo te permite desarrollar a los demás. Esta lectura compacta ayudará a los lectores a convertirse en aprendices de por vida cuyo potencial sigue aumentando y nunca se "agota".

MEB

Etiquetas: Español, No Ficción, Biografía, Negocio, Autoayuda

Once Upon a Broken Heart

Once Upon a Broken Heart 

By Stephanie Garber 

Flatiron Books, 2021. 408 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

Desperate to stop her beloved from marrying another, 16-year-old Evangeline Fox strikes a deal with the mythic Prince of Hearts leading her down a dangerous path that may ultimately end in her destruction. 

While this is the first in Garber’s newest series, references to her Caraval series are plentiful, and we get to see more of Jacks, The Prince of Hearts! I love that, while this book works well as a stand-alone, it also builds upon an already established and loved world. Garber’s settings are richly detailed, and the characters are multifaceted with a lot going on behind the scenes. I was thoroughly engrossed in the story, and can’t wait to see where this new series takes us. Garber has definitely become one of my favorite YA fantasy/romance authors. 

If you liked Once Upon a Broken Heart, you might also like: 

Spin the Dawn (Blood of Stars, #1)  

By Elizabeth Lim 

Alfred A. Knopf, 2019. 392 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

Risking her life by disguising herself as a boy to secure the position of imperial tailor, Maia is given the impossible task of sewing three magic gowns representing the sun, moon and stars for the emperor's reluctant bride-to-be. 

The Cruel Prince (Folk of the Air, #1) 

By Holly Black 

Little, Brown and Company, 2018. 370 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. 

ACS

The Maid

The Maid

By Nita Prose

Ballantine Press, 2022. 304 pages. Mystery

Molly has her daily routine. She wakes up, eats her breakfast, dresses in her uniform, and heads to work as a maid at The Regency Grand Hotel. Her life is lonely and stressful since her Gran died and her life savings were lost, and Molly struggles to make friends and interpret social cues. But making beds, vacuuming neat lines in the carpet, and returning each room to a state of perfection brings order and joy to Molly’s life. 

That is, it brings her joy until the day she finds wealthy Mr. Black, a regular hotel guest, dead in his bed. As the person who found the body and because of her confusing reaction to this shocking event, Molly winds up as the police’s primary suspect. Molly must turn at last to the people she works with each day, finding hidden foes and stalwart friends among them. 

This is a compulsively readable novel with real heart. Whether you’re usually a mystery fan or not, Molly quickly will win you over with her good heartedness, and you’ll find yourself rooting for her every step of the way.

If you like The Maid, you might also like:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

By Gail Honeyman

Pamela Dorman Books, 2017. 336 pages. Fiction (general)

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. That, combined with her unusual appearance (scarred cheek, tendency to wear the same clothes year in, year out), means that Eleanor has become a creature of habit (to say the least) and a bit of a loner. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kind of friends who rescue each other from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond's big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

By Mark Haddon
Doubleday, 2003. 226 pages. Fiction (general)

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.

SGR

The Turning Pointe

 

The Turning Pointe

by Vanessa L. Torres

Alfred A. Knopf, 2022.425 pages. Young Adult Fiction

When sixteen-year-old Rosa Dominguez pirouettes, she is poetry in pointe shoes. And as the daughter of a tyrant ballet Master, Rosa seems destined to become the star principal dancer of her studio. But Rosa would do anything for one hour in the dance studio upstairs where Prince, the Purple One himself, is in the house. After her father announces their upcoming auditions for a concert with Prince, Rosa is more determined than ever to succeed. Then Nikki--the cross-dressing, funky boy who works in the dance shop--leaps into her life. Weighed down by family expectations, Rosa is at a crossroads, desperate to escape so she can show everyone what she can do when freed of her pointe shoes. Now is her chance to break away from a life in tulle, grooving to that unmistakable Minneapolis sound reverberating through every bone in her body.

I was deeply struck by the amazing descriptions and imagery used to describe the music of Prince and the dances in the book. This novel is really just a love note to Prince and the artist that he was. It was well written, a bit gritty, not preachy, and full of the effervescence of dance. What's not to love?

If you liked The Turning Pointe, you might also like:

The Sky is Everywhere

by Jandy Nelson

Dial Books, 2010. 275 pages. Young Adult Fiction

 In the months after her sister dies, seventeen-year-old Lennie falls into a love triangle and discovers the strength to follow her dream of becoming a musician.

What Happened to Goodbye?

by Sarah Dessen

Viking Children’s Books, 2011. 402 pages.

 Following her parents' bitter divorce as she and her father move from town to town, seventeen-year-old Mclean reinvents herself at each school she attends until she is no longer sure she knows who she is or where she belongs.

 

AG

She Who Rides the Storm

She Who Rides the Storm 

By Caitlin Sangster 

Simon & Schuster, 2021. 595 pages. YA Fantasy 

Deep in the past of the Commonwealth there was a time when shapeshifters ruled the land with a destructive hand. After their overthrow a new power, the Warlord’s, is what governs the people, along with her Devoted. When an ancient shapeshifter’s tomb is unearthed bearing a cursed sword in its’ depths many are after its’ power.  Among those are a healer bent on finding her twin’s murderer, a fugitive of the Warlord’s Devoted tormented by his sister’s ghost, a dandy archaeologist searching for a cure to his magical illness, and a girl desperate to escape the life foisted upon her. Who will end up with it? 

Dive into a whole new magic system with She Who Rides the Storm. Where everyone’s motivations are suspect and trust is a delicate tightrope between all parties. The character’s in this story are well explored and memorable. It is a clean read, but brings up themes of obsession and potential abuse that could be triggering for some individuals. This is also the beginning of a series, and while there are some conclusions made, the reader is left hanging a bit at the end, you have been forewarned! 

If you like She Who Rides the Storm, you might also like: 

Six of Crows (Six of #1)

By Leigh Bardugo 

Henry Holt and Company, 2015. 465 pages. YA Fantasy

Six dangerous outcasts must learn to work together after they are offered an impossible heist that can save the world from destruction. The whirlwind pace, along with some witty banter, burgeoning romance, and high-stakes action, makes this series opener a surefire crowd-pleaser. 

The Bone Shard Daughter (Drowning #1)

By Andrea Stewart 

Orbit, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, 2020. 438 pages. Fantasy

In the first book of the epic Drowning Empire series, Stewart writes of constructs powered by spirit and bone, and of a struggling kingdom and those who are entangled in its eventual fate. The characters are sharp: Lin, the emperor’s daughter, vying for his trust and his knowledge; Jovis, the smuggler who finds himself saving children with a mysterious creature named Mephi at his side; and Phalue, a governor’s daughter drawn into rebellion by Ranami, the woman she loves. The book gets off to a slow start in this complicated, magical world, but the pace quickly picks up, and the twists that readers think they can predict will be followed by completely unexpected realizations.

RBL

Dustborn

Dustborn 
By Erin Bowman
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. 422 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

When raiders sent by a man known as the General attack her village, Delta suspects he is searching for her. Delta sets out to rescue her family but quickly learns that in the Wastes no one can be trusted; perhaps not even her childhood friend, Asher, who has been missing for nearly a decade. If Delta can trust Asher, she just might decode the map and trade evidence of the Verdant to the General for her family. What Delta doesn't count on is what waits at the Verdant: a long-forgotten secret that will shake the foundation of her entire world.

I’m not generally a fan of westerns, but I do like post-apocalyptic fiction, and Bowman solidly combined the two genres in such a way that I was thoroughly engrossed in the story. Delta is a determined, focused protagonist. She knows what she wants, and will problem solve and take the steps necessary to reach her goals. The wasteland setting thoroughly immersed me, so be sure to have a glass of water on hand as you read. 

If you liked Dustborn, you might also like: 

Blood Red Road (Dustlands, #1)
By Moira Young
Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2011. 459 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

In a distant future, 18-year-old Lugh is kidnapped. While his twin sister, Saba and, nine-year-old Emmi are trailing him across bleak Sandsea, they are capture and taken to brutal Hopetown, where Saba is forced to be a cage fighter until new friends help plan an escape. 

Killer of Enemies (Killer of Enemies, #1)
By Joseph Bruchac
Tu Books, 2013. 361 pages. Young Adult Fiction 

In a world that has barely survived an apocalypse that leaves it with pre-twentieth century technology, Lozen is a monster hunter for four tyrants who are holding her family hostage. 

 ACS

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections 

By Eva Jurczyk 

Poisoned Pen Press, 2022. 323 pages. Mystery 

Liesl Weiss has been happy working behind the scenes in the rare books department of a large university for many years. But when her boss suffers a stroke, she must take over and soon discovers that the library’s more prized manuscript is missing. Everyone tells her to keep quiet and keep the donors happy, but when a librarian goes missing as well, it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible. Amidst the dusty manuscripts are secrets about her colleagues that have been years in the making, and Liesl must unravel them all in order to find the missing books. 

This is a witty mystery with great character development and lots of little secrets that keep the reader engaged. I especially loved all the details about the special collections and the politics that occur at universities. Liesl has a wealth of personal issues, but is relatable and easy to sympathize with. As someone who has worked in special collections, I found the book authentic and addressed many of the issues that continue to influence academia today. This is a good read for anyone who loves old books, mysteries, or flawed main characters. 

If you like The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, you might also like: 

Anxious People 

By Fredrik Backman 

Atria Books, 2020. 341 pages. Fiction 

Taken hostage by a failed bank robber while attending an open house, eight anxiety-prone strangers--including a redemption-seeking bank director, two couples who would fix their marriages, and a plucky octogenarian--discover their unexpected common traits. 

The Unkindness of Ravens 

By M. E. Hilliard 

Crooked Lane, 2021. 329 pages. Mystery 

Greer Hogan is a librarian and an avid reader of murder mysteries. She also has a habit of stumbling upon murdered bodies. The first was her husband's, and the tragic loss led Greer to leave New York behind for a new start in the village of Raven Hill. But her new home becomes less idyllic when she discovers her best friend sprawled dead on the floor of the library. Though Greer admires the masters of deduction she reads about in books, she never expected to have to solve a mystery herself. Fortunately, she possesses a quick wit and a librarian's natural resourcefulness. But will that be enough to protect her from a brilliant, diabolical murderer? 

The Shadow of the Wind 

By Carlos Ruiz Zafon 

Penguin Press, 2004. 486 pages. Fiction 

Barcelona, 1945--just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face. To console his child, Daniel's widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona's guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world. Daniel's father coaxes him to choose a volume and Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax's work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. 

The Personal Librarian 

By Marie Benedict Berkley, 2021. 341 pages. Fiction 

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. Pierpont Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and well-known advocate for equality. The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go-for the protection of her family and her legacy-to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

TT

Fugitive Telemetry

Fugitive Telemetry

by Martha Wells

Tordotcom, 2021. 168 pages, Science Fiction

Murderbot is a Security construct (a robot with some organic parts), tasked to keep humans safe when they head out on dangerous missions. Murderbot also has a secret: a glitch in its code gave Murderbot a chance to override its governor module, effectively giving it free will. However, instead of using its ability to disobey to Kill All Humans, Murderbot's main goal in life is to be left alone so it can watch as much streaming content as possible. But Murderbot's main function is still to keep people safe, so it keeps getting pulled into dangerous situations.

In this sixth installment of the Murderbot Chronicles, when Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it is asked to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?) Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans! Again!

Although this is book six in a Hugo and Nebula award-winning series, I just discovered the Murderbot Chronicles a couple of months ago. I am obsessed! These books are action-packed, suspenseful, snarky, and warm-hearted. Although Murderbot's brand of snark might not be for everyone, I laughed aloud whenever Murderbot got especially annoyed with things. Another bonus for me is that all but one of the books in the series (so far) are novellas, which means reading the book goes quickly not just because the pacing is fast, but because the book is short. These books are also very well-written. Although the novella format doesn't leave a lot of room for world building, Murderbot still lives in a complex world full of inequities, injustices, bad people, kindness, and good people too. These books are a joy to read.

If you like the Murderbot Chronicles, you might also like:

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

by Becky Chambers

Tordotcome, 2021. 147 pages, Science Fiction

It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They're going to need to ask it a lot.

Project Hail Mary

by Andy Weir

Ballantine Books, 2021. 476 pages. Science Fiction

Although this book is significantly longer than the Murderbot books are, it still has a sense of humor that Murderbot fans might also enjoy. Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone. Or does he?

MB

Seaside Harmony

Seaside Harmony

by Evangeline Kelley

Guideposts, 2013. 336 pages. Fiction

After the passing of their mother, sisters Caroline, Gracie, and Sam reunite for the summer in Nantucket, the seaside village vacation spot from their childhood. They soon discover that the historic Misty Harbor Inn that their mother loved all those years ago has fallen into disrepair and has been put up for sale. The three sisters decide to purchase the inn and restore it to the gorgeous bed-and-breakfast it once was.

If you're looking for a leisurely, summer read that will whisk you off to a quaint seaside inn filled with friendship and a dash of mystery, then this book is for you! Get ready to breathe in the salty ocean air, enjoy a community clambake barbecue with the locals, and discover the unique history of a small east-coast village, all while exploring the heartwarming themes of sisterhood, faith, and friendship. This book is clean, Christian fiction focused on family relationships and friendships, perfect for anyone who's ready for a beach getaway. You can access this book as an e-book through Overdrive or the Libby app.

If you like Seaside Harmony, you might also like:

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe

by Heather S. Webber

St. Martins Press, 2019. 336 pages. Fiction

After the death of her beloved grandmother, Anna Kate travels to Wicklow, Alabama to settle her estate and sell the cafe she ran, but finds herself drawn to the quirky town and the mysterious blackbird pie everyone is talking about. You can access this book as a digital audiobook through Overdrive or the Libby app.

A Christmas by the Sea

by Melody Carlson

Revell, 2018. 176 pages. Fiction

Hoping that an inherited beach house will help her recover from debts after her husband's death, a widow moves into the property to renovate and sell it before a local craftsman encourages her to stay. You can access this book as a physical copy at the library, or as an e-book or digital audiobook through Overdrive or the Libby app.

KMC

Proof

Proof: The Science of Booze

by Adam Rogers

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. Nonfiction

Humans have been perfecting alcohol production for ten thousand years, but scientists are just starting to distill the chemical reactions behind the perfect buzz. In a spirited tour across continents and cultures, Adam Rogers takes us from bourbon country to the world's top gene-sequencing labs, introducing us to the bars, barflies, and evolving science at the heart of boozy technology. He chases the physics, biology, chemistry, and metallurgy that produce alcohol, and the psychology and neurobiology that make us want it. If you've ever wondered how your drink arrived in your glass, or what it will do to you, Proof makes an unparalleled drinking companion.

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A History of the World in Six Glasses

by Tom Standage

Walker & Co, 2005. 311 p. Nonfiction

A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization.

The Drunken Botanist

by Amy Stewart

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2013. 381 p. Nonfiction 

 Amy Stewart explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries.

NS

Houseplants for All

Houseplants for All: How to Fill Any Home with Happy Plants
by Danae Horst
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. 195 pages. Nonfiction

Turn over a new leaf with Houseplants for All and keep all your plants happy and healthy, while they do the same for you. Filled with bright and colorful photos, this beautiful primer is best for finding the perfect plant for your situation. Including ways to manage low light or low humidity areas, the author also covers common pests and problems with houseplants and how to prevent or care for plants when you get them. 

If you haven't found a plant for your indoor space yet, or plants have a tendency to wilt over time, then start here. It covers all the basics with clarity and makes having houseplants an achievable goal, especially for those who have difficulty incorporating them into their lives.

If you liked Houseplants for All, you may also like:

Plant Therapy: How an Indoor Green Oasis Can Improve Your Mental and Emotional Wellbeing
by Katie Cooper
Hardie Grant Books, 2020. 159 pages. Nonfiction

Broken down into five chapters--The Human-Nature Relationship, Plants and Health, Plants and People, Living with Plants and an informative Plant Directory--the book first explains how we have come to exist in an environment that is at odds with our mental, emotional and physical needs. Then the book explores how we can readjust this balance, before showcasing plants that help us to breathe, restore balance, and boost our wellbeing.

Plant Style: How to Greenify Your Space
by Alana Langan
Thames & Hudson Inc., 2018. 149 pages. Nonfiction

With design-savvy tips and expert advice, you’ll learn all there is to know about decorating with plants and botanical styling--plus the necessities like light requirements and when to water and feed. From bathroom to boudoir to every room in between, create your very own green oasis with Plant Style.

Houseplants: The Complete Guide to Choosing, Growing, and Caring for Indoor Plants
by Lisa Eldred Steinkopf
Cool Springs, 2017. 272 pages. Nonfiction

In Houseplants, expert grower Lisa Eldred Steinkopf gives you the advice and information you need to confidently bring a plant (or two, or more!) home and find joy in keeping it lush and healthy. Organized by easiest to hardest to care for, this resource is key in finding and maintaining your indoor landscape.

AS