Shomeret's Jabbering June 1/4

[Shomeret]

I had so much to say about June books that I had to get another book journal about halfway through the month, and I posted more blog entries than normal. So I'm going to call this my jabbering June.

1)Balm: A Novelby Dolen Perkins-Valdez ( paranormal historical fiction) Source: e-galley from publisher via Edelweiss Started: 5/31 Finished: 6/1

Why Read: This is a blog tour book and the publisher made it available through Edelweiss, a website that provides digital ARCs from publishers like Net Galley. I hadn't previously been a member of Edelweiss. I registered with them in order to obtain this book. This is a post Civil War novel dealing with the impact of slavery and with characters who have paranormal gifts. The author is African American.

Comments: One of the viewpoint characters is a wealthy woman who sees ghosts and is a spirit medium. Another is a female herbalist who also has a paranormal gift. I saw this as a novel about healing. I gave it a B+. My review is at http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2015/...

2)The Just Cityby Jo Walton (science fantasy) 368 pages. Source: Library Started: 6/1 Finished: 6/2

Why Read: I wanted to read this book ever since I found out about it from the publisher's website before it was published. It deals with the Greek Goddess Athena establishing a city based on Plato's Republic. She brought people from multiple time periods to populate the city. It sounded like an immensely cool concept.

Comments: An interesting novel but I had problems that very few readers would care about. These picayune issues are why I gave the book an A-. If you would like to see me jabber on about what Plato meant by Atlantis and who would have lived there, see my review at http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...

3)Tidewater: A Novel of Pocahontas and the Jamestown Colonyby Libbie Hawker (historical fiction)Source: Net Galley Started: 6/2
Finished: 6/3

Why Read: I'm interested in Pocahontas and I know the author from the GR group Historical Fictionistas. She asked for reviews of this book there and I volunteered to review it. So this is what is called an R2R (Read To Review).

Comments: The author wanted to write about a Pocahontas who would be more authentic than the one portrayed by Disney. This was a complex version of Pocahontas who wasn't entirely sympathetic. Rating B+. See my review at http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...

4)Saying Goodbye to Warsaw by Michael Cargill (historical fiction)Source: Author for review Started: 6/4 Finished: 6/7

Why Read: The GR group Books,Blogs,Authors and More selected it as their June book of the month, and I voted for it. I had read a reviewed a book by this author before. This is the first time I've seen him write a female protagonist. It's a WWII novel that takes place in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Comments: The protagonist is a nine year old girl. I thought she was too perfect. I also had some minor historical problems. Rating B- For my review see http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...

To Be Continued...

[Ann]

Shomeret: I love the headline "Jabbering June" It makes me smile and think of birds and summer. :) Crazy, yes.
I have Tidewater: A Novel of Pocahontas and the Jamestown Colony on my Kindle to read soon and am especially drawn to Balm: A Novel which my library has on MP3 so I am on the hold list to listen to it soon. I love your month end posts when I get a lot of ideas for books I might never have heard of!
Shomeret wrote: "I had so much to say about June books that I had to get another book journal about halfway through the month, and I posted more blog entries than normal. So I'm going to call this my jabbering June..."