+++ Manda Gets Back At It + Brief Reviews +++

[Maple]

Challenge: 2023 ATY, Topic 5: A book with four or more colors on the cover.
Colors: Red, black, grey, white, and blue.

The Siberian Incident


3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was okay. There are moments in this book where I had to read it repeatedly because I just kept glazing over the words and disconnecting from it. The ending was exciting and fast-paced, but up to that was a chore.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2023 ATY, Topic 7a: A book with one of the seven "W"s.
W: WHO

Those Who Wish Me Dead


4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was amazing! I loved the story and the character development. I had no idea which way the plot would turn and loved the way everything developed. I wish I could go back and read it for the first time again.

[Maple]

Challenge: Side Piece #350

A Whole New World


2/5 ⭐️⭐️

I was very disappointed with his book. Maybe I had my hopes too high and wanted too much from it. What I got was a muddle of confusion and an unclear story path.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2017 PopSugar Challenge, Topic 19: A book about food.
Food: Fish (Cod)

Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World


3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
How could a book about the history of a fish as food be good? It's what I have been asking myself for years as I have seen this on my shelf and have avoided reading this for YEARS! I was pleasantly surprised by how decent this was and how rich the cod fish's history is.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2023 Topic Discard, Topic 20: An author who lives more than 2,023 miles from me.
Total Distance: 2,198 miles

The Apple Orchard


3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Chick-lit isn't my favorite and is typically a genre I avoid. Though I find myself picking it a lot for these challenges to force myself to read them, otherwise I probably never would. I didn't love this book, but I found it enjoyable. It had many of the typical romance troupes but I didn't find they to stick out like they typically do for me. I enjoyed it enough that I have already jumped into the second book of the series. This may be a series I grow to love.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2023 ATY, Topic 12, a book connected to birds, bees, or bunnies.
Connection: Bees

The Beekeeper's Ball


3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was an excellent follow-up to the first book, and I like how it continues on the stories of our leading characters. A gentle chick-lit story that is fun and funny.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2023 Topic Discards, Topic 28: A book featuring a widow.

Tehanu


4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This series is getting wild and amazing. I am loving it and the character development.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2020 Topic Discards, Topic 102: A genre that is unusual for the author.

Waterloo: The True Story of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles


2/5 ⭐️⭐️

I love history and I enjoy reading about history, but this was so painful! I have never been so bored reading about a battle.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2020 Topic Discards, Topic, 223: A book tagged with a two-word genre.

Genre: True Crime

Body Of Proof


3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was unfamiliar with this case, and I enjoyed having this as my introduction to it. After listening to this I want to seek out more information about this; to learn more.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2020 Topic Discards, Topic 253: An own voices book.

New Family Values


2/5 ⭐️⭐️

I really wanted to like and enjoy this book. I was looking forward to reading about a different set of ideals regarding family values. The book ended up being this convoluted mess of back and forth. There wasn't a real thesis but just felt like unorganized interviews of the author.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2020 Topic Discards, Topic 235: A book with a historical landmark.

Landmark: The Ancient Athenian marketplace

A Little History of Philosophy


3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Philosophy has not been my strongest suit, but this book was delightful and was an easy-to-digest book. I would like to jump into other books the author has that are of a similar nature, "A Little History of ...".

[Maple]

Challenge: 2023 ATY, Topic 2: A book by an author you read in 2022.

Author: Octavia E. Butler

Adulthood Rites


4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story was lovely and mindblowing. I finished it several hours ago, and I am still trying to process all that happened inside the pages. it is very well written and has a great story I am eager to continue. The copy I had included a preview of book three, and now I am even more excited to continue on.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2023 ATY, Topic 46; A title that contains a word found in a recipe.

Word: Water

The Water Keeper


3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was okay. I enjoyed it while reading it, but it was not very memorable.

[Maple]

Challenge: Side pieces #339

Mirror, Mirror


2/5 ⭐️⭐️

I love retellings, but this one was a struggle for me. It was supposed to take the story of Snow White that we know, but instead of the Queen trying to kill Snow, she attempts to kill the prince in this story. The story as a whole is muddled, and the plot line about the prince felt like a footnote instead of a major story arch.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2020 Topic Discard Challenge, Topic 248; A cover that is mainly one color (not black and white).

Color: Purple

Lethal Bayou Beauty


4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I seem to be saying this a lot lately, but this is not my usual reading genre. I dislike the predictability and formula. However, I try to read books I would not typically read to challenge myself personally and maybe find something new.

This is a book that has paid off in the challenge area. I read book one a 2020 challenge and really enjoyed it. Book two is just as great. I love the writing and the character development. It is fun, intriguing, and really well-written.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2020 Topic Discard Challenge, Topic 3; Set in a location with less than two members on the 2019 Reading Map.

Location: Nome, Alaska

The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic


4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As an Alaskan, I love learning about the history of the state. This is a beautiful history of the Dypthiera Epidemic in 1925 and the thousands of miles transported across the state by sled dogs (most notably Balto) and mushers. Though we know how the story ends, it is still engaging and nailbiting.

[Maple]

Challenge: Side Pieces #352

Fly Girl: A Memoir


2/5 ⭐️⭐️

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It was frustrating (the sexism and toxic behavior enforced upon flight attendants for "beauty's sake"). It was insightful to learn how things have changed and improved for flight attendants over the years and just how truly appalling the working conditions were. The subject matter was great, but the writing was boring and lacked something.

[Maple]

Challenge: Side Pieces #351

Six Days in Rome


3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is one of those books that I enjoyed while reading it and felt engaged, but it has not left much of a lasting impression. In all fairness, it is Chick-Lit, which is probably my least favorite genre, and I tend to struggle to get through or thoroughly enjoy these. It is probably one of the better Chick-Lits I've read.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2020 Topic Discards, Topic 245; A book featuring a character in at least two different stages in life.

Stage 1: Young Child
Stage 2: Young Adult

Silent Child


3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was heartbreaking. It is a parent's worst fear; that her child will go missing. For our leading lady, her child comes back ten years later but is very traumatized. The story itself is good and keeps pulling you in. The book switches between Aiden (the missing child) as a young kid when he is taken and as a young adult. Sometimes the switches happened and you did not realize it, so the story stopped making sense. Overall, good, but can get confusing in places.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2020 Topic Discard, Topic 273; A books et in the ancient world.

Location: Rome

The Silver Pigs


1/5 ⭐️

I loved the premise of this story, but the writing was confusing, and many of the characters blended together.

[Maple]

Challenge: 2023 ATY, Topic 51; A book published in 2023

Spare


5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have always been neutral about the monarchy because I am from the US, and I can see a lot of problematic issues with the history of the monarchy. Still, I can also see the areas where they have immense influence and can do much good with that.

Like most women of the 80s, my mother loved and respected Princess Diana. I read this book for two reasons; the first and obvious is morbid curiosity. I am intrigued by the monarchy behind the curtain and aspects generally unavailable to the public, let alone to people in another country. The second is more personal; I lost my mother last year (very unexpectedly). I read this because I knew that had she been alive, my mother would have read this the first day it came out. Finishing it was difficult because there were so many times I wanted to ring my mother and talk to her about this book.

This book is exceptionally well written. There are always two sides to each story, and I appreciate hearing things from Harry's perspective. I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I have a lot of sympathy and empathy for Harry and his family. On the other hand, I found frustration with his privilege and resources. These privileges do not negate the issues he and his chosen family have faced.

I cannot understand how difficult it was for him to lose his mother at a young age and to "put on a brave face" because that is the "way of the crown". I cannot understand how it was here that he was disposable and only the "spare." No child deserves this. I appreciated how real and down-to-earth Harry seems in the book. He seems like a good guy to have a drink and game of darts with.

Hearing him recount the stories of his life with Meghan was so beautiful. It makes me believe in storybook love; it seems like something straight out of Disney, and you can see his genuine love for her. She (and their children) are far more critical than anything else to him. I cried at many points throughout this book, but two points hit the heart hard; the loss of his mother and, for years believing she was just hiding to get away from the monarch, the media, and the pressure, and then when he talked about the painful miscarriage they suffered.

Regardless of how you feel about Harry and Meghan, their choices, or the monarch, it does not diminish the experience they had or the way they perceive these events. This is a very enlightening book, filled with emotion and insights we don't often see. I am very sorry for the way his family has treated him and Meghan. I am sorry that his country has treated him so horribly. I hope they have happiness and peace in their new lives that is filled with love and joy.

I will say that since reading this, my perception of many people has changed since reading.
My preception of the queen has improved. She seemed like a really sensible and reasonable person, especially in her later years. Being a female leader is not easy, and I can only imagine how much harder that is when you are the leader (or figurehead) of a country.

My opinion of Charles and Camila has improved; Harry related stories of his father when he was a young child, sharing that Charles would read him stories at bedtime, tuck him in, and seem to be a good father, but unfortunately, that changed as Harry aged up. Camilla is not the "villain" I had always believed she was.

My opinion of William and Kate has plummeted. They seem like genuinely horrific people who are demanding and using their resources, privilege, and position against others. They seem very vengeful and filled with hate. If everything Harry wrote here is accurate, I cannot blame Harry and Meghan for stepping way; no one deserves to be treated as less.