Great Women of Mackinac

Extremely well researched - this nonfiction collection of biographies is perfect for fans of Mackinac history, Native American Studies, and women in history. This regional history comprises of biographies of thirteen notable women who resided, visited, or spread the word of Mackinac Island. The women ranged from Native fur traders to poets, nurses, wives, and authors. Each of them helped impact Mackinac Island even if their contributions are unknown or overlooked. Included are photographs which help the reader visualize some of these great ladies. Slow paced, but of interest to those who love Mackinac.

Cell

Honestly - even those this concept is a little outdated - I enjoyed the ride. It was a fun audiobook and it kept me intrigued. In Cell, everyone who is on their cell phones on a normal October afternoon, are suddenly turned into crazies. They will bite and attack anyone or anything that gets in their way. Clay is in Boston for an important meeting and is instantly terrified. On the way back to his hotel he bands up with another man, Tom, and they carefully try to see shelter. They rescue a teenaged girl named Alice and soon the trio realizes they need to flee Boston before it burns to the ground. Clay desperately wants to get back to Maine to see if his son and ex-wife are ok - but doing so seems near impossible. The phone crazies are everywhere and they are starting to organize - they start flocking together and soon it is only safe to travel at night. A new apocalyptic tale that doesn't seem as relevant since no one really talks on phones anymore - they just text. Still a fun (and gory) horror read filled with interesting characters. Gotta love Stephen King!

Some Kind of Hate

Honestly, I think this book was good, not enjoyable per se, but necessary and gripping. It's a book for teens that shows just how easy it can be to surround yourself with the wrong people. When Declan breaks his arm after doing a stupid stunt his baseball career is all but over. He is beyond devastated and angry. Baseball was his everything. He starts lashing out at his twin sister, his parents, and his friend Jake. He wants to blame everyone but himself. He starts alienating his friends and family and holes himself up in his room playing video games. When he gets an invite to play an exclusive crusades style game by some new online friends, he is stoked. These guys seem to "get" him. Slowly he starts to think and act like his new online friends and then finds out that some of his co-workers at the grocery store think the same way. Soon he is totally immersed with these "friends." The guys he hangs out with believe that globalists are out to take over the world and that white people need to take back what is theirs. It gets dark quick. The story is told through two alternating perspectives: Declan and his best friend Jake who just happens to be Jewish. Eye opening. For fans of Heroine by Mindy McGinnis.

Old Trails and New Roads in South Dakota History

Really a 3.5 rating for me; this collection of historical essays was a mixed bag. Old Trails and New Roads contains 13 essays about South Dakota history written by various scholars and professors. Topics included filming locations, railroads, sports, cookbooks, the American Indian Movement, weather and more. What I knew of South Dakota before reading this was next to nothing. I knew only about the Black Hills, Mt Rushmore, and the Badlands. So virtually nothing. The essays were very eye opening on a lot of different facets of midwest history that I hadn't considered. Some of the essays were very compelling and interesting; others were a bit more of a slog. Overall an interesting collection!

What the River Knows

I was sold at Egyptian, archaeology, magic, and romance. It's a young adult novel which is easy to tell because of the brash, hasty, unthought out actions of our heroine. Inez Olivera is done being left behind in Argentina while her parents have all the fun in Egypt. She longs to go with them on their months long travels. but she always gets left behind with her aunt and cousins. When she receives word that her parents are dead, she decides to sneak away in the dead of night to board a steam liner headed to Egypt. She has to find out what really happened to her parents. Posing as a very young widow, no one thinks it's scandalous that she is travelling unaccompanied. But when she arrives in Egypt she accompanies her very irate uncle who demands she return to Argentina at once. Inez ignores her uncle at every turn, making Whit (her uncle's assistant) run all over Egypt trying to keep her safe and return home. Filled with intrigue, history, and romance - this is a fun novel that is the first in a series. 

The Lily of Ludgate Hill

Regency romance lovers will swoon over the third offering in the Belles of London series. Bestselling author, Mimi Matthews, pens another entertaining regency romp. Lady Anne Deveril may look dour and weak in her mourning clothes, but she’s really a fierce defender of those she loves. When her father tragically passed away seven years prior, she and her mother put on their black mourning clothes and began a long engagement with the spiritual side of the world. Lady Anne isn’t a lover of seances or spirits but she’ll do anything to keep her mother happy, even if it means losing her standing in society and losing the love of her life. When Lady Anne needs a favor to help a friend she calls on Mr. Felix Hartford, a gentleman from her past. He agrees to help her, for a cost. In return she must accompany him to a house party on his family’s estate. Unrequited love, hurt feelings, and family secrets come to light the more time they spend with each other.  Delightfully narrated by Samuel Roukin and Elizabeth Knowelden - this audiobook is oozes, fun, charm, and growing sexual tension. Fans of the Bridgerton series and regency romance will delight in this book and the series as a whole.

A Long Petal of the Sea

Lyrical and evocative historical fiction about two lost souls fleeing the Spanish Civil War and the lives they make for themselves in Chili. Victor, a medic for the militia, must flee Spain with his mother and Roser, his brother's pregnant lover. Since his father and brother's death, Victor must do what is best for the women in his life. Told over the course of decades, A Long Petal of the Sea, tells us the up and downs of the life that Victor has forged for himself. Set in a country where I have read little, it was fascinating to learn more about Chile and the political strife they were facing. This story is really a 3.5 rating for me. For a lot of the book I wasn't sure where the story was going but I was still intrigued. I enjoyed the characters and thought they were very human, but didn't always love them. They were real and flawed. Character driven and beautifully narrated.