Misty's "Clear the Shelves" ATY-24 challenge

[Misty]

I finished the third book in the Nsibidi Scripts trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor: Akata Warrior. It was really good. It was a little slow towards the beginning, but then it really took off. I loved it.

[Misty]

I read another book of poetry by Hala Alyan tonight: The Twenty-Ninth Year. I really enjoy her poetry. A lot of it is very raw.

[Misty]

I listened to Naya Rivera's autobiography/memoir today: Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up. It was a lovely book, and I enjoyed it. It is tinged with a great deal of sadness though knowing what happened to her a few years ago.

#20BooksByLatinaAuthors

[Misty]

I listened to Ta-Nehisi Coates' memoir today mostly while I was working. It's hard to listen to a lot because of his dad's actions, but I really enjoyed listening to Coates' story. He is about my age, so hearing about his childhood in Baltimore during the time I was a kid in NW Arkansas was really interesting. Good book.

[Misty]

I just finished Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, and it is maybe the best book I have read this year, and that is saying something because I have had a good year in books. Dana is living in 1976 Los Angeles, but she involuntarily keeps time traveling back to the early 19th century Maryland. Being that she is Black, that time period is very dangerous for her. This book was so good, and I highly - HIGHLY - recommend it.

[Misty]

I finished The Fireground by Dervla McTiernan today. I really like her books. I only discovered her work either last year or the year before. She writes really cool and exciting thrillers. This story takes quite a while to get to the thriller part of the story, but none of the early part of the book is boring at all. It's all backstories for the main characters, and it's really good.

[Misty]

I found Rainbow History Class: Your Guide Through Queer and Trans History in Audible's included catalog, and I thought it would be interesting, so I listened to it. I am so glad that I did. It was really a fabulous book with lots of great information. There is one very trouble chapter, and her approach to it bothered me a lot. The rest of the book is so well done.

[Misty]

I finished Real Murders by Charlaine Harris today. It was quite enjoyable. I liked the mystery. I liked the premise. It was a good book.

[Misty]

I finished book 2 of the Aurora Teagarden series. It's pretty much like a cozy mystery, but I find a lot of cozy mysteries aren't all that well written and are super cheesy. I don't find that to be the case with these books. I really like the characters, and I like the story lines. I also have book 3, and I will likely read it very soon. A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris is a fun and quick read.

[Misty]

I finished the third Aurora Teagarden book: Three Bedrooms, One Corpse by Charlaine Harris. I am really enjoying the series.

[Misty]

Done with book 4: The Julius House by Charlaine Harris. I'm just zipping through this series. Loving it!

[Misty]

Dead Over Heels by Charlaine Harris - book five of the Aurora Teagarden series - loving it. This one starts out with a body falling out of an airplane onto Aurora's yard.

[Misty]

Book 6 of the Aurora Teagarden series by Charlaine Harris is A Fool and His Honey was the best one yet, and might end up being my favorite of the series.

[Misty]

Book 7 of the Aurora Teagarden series by Charlaine Harris is Last Scene Alive. This book brings a lot of the series full circle.

[Misty]

I have now finished books 8, 9, and 10 in Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden series: Poppy Done to Death, All the Little Liars, and Sleep Like a Baby. I really enjoyed this series, and I found out that it was made into a TV series, so I am hoping to find it on a streaming service. It's been a stressful year, and these books quickly became comfort reads for me.

[Misty]

I am sick in bed with a very nasty bout of food poisoning, so I spent the day listening to books. I read my second Susan Isaacs book: Takes One to Know One, and I really enjoyed it. I read Shining Through years ago, and I remember enjoying it as well. Not sure why it took so many years to read another one of her books.

[LeahS]

Get well soon!

[Misty]

The bulk of my graduate and undergraduate research has been on women in the arts (mostly music) and women's and gender issues. This book - In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing by Elena Ferrante - is fantastic. She talks about books from a gendered point of view, and I really enjoyed it. She has some poignant things to say. I highly recommend it.

[Misty]

I read the second book in the Lightlark series. I hope it is just going to be a trilogy because if it isn't, I'm done with this series. I enjoyed the first one - then the ending was fabulous. The second one was - meh. I will finish it if there is just one more book. If not, I won't read any more.

[Misty]

I have several books that are leaving Audible's included catalog that I am trying to get through before they disappear on 10/30. The first one I read was Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto. It was a very sweet story about healing from something tragic and not having answers about the tragedy. I really enjoyed the book.

[Misty]

I finished the third book of the Brooklyn Brujas series. There are only three, so I thought it was a trilogy, but I am wondering now if there are going to be other books. I hope so. I really enjoyed this series. This book follows the third sister as she is pulled into another realm and must use her powers to help stop something powerful that I won't give away! I recommend Wayward Witch by Zoraida Cordova.

#20BooksByLatinaAuthors

[Misty]

I finished Can't Get Enough by Connie Briscoe. She's a very good writer and kept my attention even in a genre that is not my favorite. The story is about these really rich folks in D.C., and all their DRAMA. Four stars.

[Misty]

I read A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness for this month's book club, and I really enjoyed it. I was the only one to finish it in time for our meeting - LOL. I'm going to have to read the rest of the series, and I have found out that it was a TV show, so I'll check that out as well. I loved the cast of characters. It is a slower story, but it definitely had a lot of action as well.

[Misty]

I had honestly never heard of the Iroquois Theatre disaster before seeing this book. Tinder Box: The Iroquois Theatre Disaster 1903 by Anthony P. Hatch is a very well researched account of the US's worst theatre disaster where 500+ people were killed when a fire broke out. There was shoddy construction, safety precautions had not been implemented, the sprinkler system had not been installed, there was no phone backstage - it was a clusterf--k of crap. There were many children who perished in the fire. It was a horrible disaster and a very large loss of life.

[Misty]

A Secret Rage by Charlaine Harris is a story about a man who is breaking into houses and raping women and kills one of them. The police are stumped as to who is doing it, so the women take it into their own hands to figure it out.

[Misty]

I really enjoy Bebe Moore Campbell's writing. This book: What You Owe Me wasn't quite as good as the other two of hers I've read, but it was still a very enjoyable book.

[Misty]

Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova is the first book in a duology, and there is a serious twist at the end. I knew there was something going on, but I honestly didn't put it together. I immediately started book 2!

#20BooksByLatinaAuthors

[Misty]

I finished the Hollow Crown duology today, and it was very good. Illusionary is the second book. I have read five of Zoraida Cordova's books this year, and I am so glad that I discovered her writing. I really recommend her books.

[Misty]

LeahS wrote: "Get well soon!"

Thank you! It took a week for me to finally feel healthy again. Ugh.

[Misty]

Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers is a collection of short stories. They are creepy paranormal stories that include vampires, werewolves, zombies, and aliens. I enjoyed most of them. A couple of them were meh, but most of them were enjoyable.

[Misty]

I listened to Leslie Marmon Silko's memoir The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir yesterday. I really enjoyed it. I like the way she looks at things even if my beliefs often vary quite a bit from hers. Her views on the desert were really interesting. I hated Arizona, so it was pretty cool to listen to her love of the state. Granted, my hatred of the state had more to do with living in Phoenix, but still.

[Misty]

I listened to The Wisdom of the Native Americans by Kent Nerburn today. Since he is white, I first looked to see if there was any backlash from Indigenous communities, but it seems as if there is a lot of support for the book, so I listened to it. It was really interesting. He has a lot of great historical information in the book. It is very well-researched. It is a little dry, but I would still recommend it.

[Misty]

I read my first Patricia Highsmith novel - The Tremor of Forgery. I enjoyed it, but I also never felt like the story got going. It was weird. I would read another of her books though.

[Misty]

I finished the Nsibidi Scripts trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor. Akata Woman is book 3. It's a very good trilogy. I love the characters and the world she has built. She has a phrase that she uses over and over and over and it is so freaking annoying, that I almost gave it four stars instead of five because of it, but the book is still very much worth reading.

[Misty]

The Trees by Percival Everett has gotten so much praise, that I thought I would probably love it. I wanted to love it. The book is so over the top though - all of the characters felt like caricatures. I kept reading it because of the subject matter and all the praise it has gotten. It just got more outlandish as it went on. I get that it was supposed to be outlandish - I just don't think he pulled it off. I really wanted to love a book where these awful people were getting their karma, but it was just poorly written. His style of writing (albeit very different subject matter) reminds me of Grady Hendrix - they are both so over the top, and I don't feel like the pull it off.

[Misty]

I read my first Frieda McFadden novel - The Locked Door. I really enjoyed it. It was fast-paced thriller that kept me guessing. I have a couple more of her books, and I am looking forward to them.

[Misty]

I haven't read a Mrs. Pollifax book in a long time. When I saw that there were some on Audible's Included catalog, I snapped them up. What a fun time to jump back into Dorothy Gilman's world with The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax. It was a fun read, and I really enjoyed it. It is such a stressful time, that I think I will jump right back into that world with the other book of hers I have.

[Misty]

I listened to A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman while I was cleaning house today. This year has been a year for comfort reads. I have a feeling I am going to need a lot more over the next four years. I really enjoyed it.

[Misty]

I finished the next book in the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman: Mrs. Pollifax on Safari. Mrs. Pollifax ends up on safari where she is only supposed to take pictures, but she ends up kidnapped.

[Misty]

Book 7 in the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman: Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha. This book was written in the 70s, and it is very interesting to read about her adventures in the context of the political climate of that time. This book was darker than the others. I adore Gilman's writing.

[Misty]

I just finished Book 8 in the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman: Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle. This time, she and Cyrus on going on holiday in Thailand. She is asked to just pick up some information. Of course, everything goes south, Cyrus is missing, and Mrs. Pollifax is out in the jungle with someone she is not sure she can trust. Very entertaining.

[Misty]

Keeping up my comfort reading streak with book 9 in the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman: Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish. This one was super fun to read. Set in Morocco, Mrs. Pollifax quickly finds herself in a bad situation with someone who may or may not be a CIA agent.

[Misty]

Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief - the tenth book in Dorothy Gilman's series - finds Mrs. Pollifax being summoned to Italy by a cryptic but desperate note from an old friend. Loved it.

[Misty]

I have finished books 11 and 12 of the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman. Mrs. Pollifax Pursued is book 11. Emily finds a young woman hiding in her pantry and decides to help her and accidentally finds herself wrapped up in a missing persons case. She and her charge end up working in a circus in Maine. It is a very fun read. Book 12 Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer is also a good book, but it does skirt the line of "white savior" for a while. Set in a fictional African country, Mrs. Pollifax finds herself wrapped up in a mystery that threatens to topple the progress being made in that country.

[Misty]

Book 13 of the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman - Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist - is another fun read. Mrs. Pollifax and her friend go to Jordan and while en route, Emily meets a rather annoying traveling salesman who slips a mysterious and gaudy souvenir into her bag. Then someone comes looking for it.

[Misty]

Now I'm sad because I have finished the Mrs. Pollifax series, and there will be no more. It has been a fabulous comfort series for me. My only gripe is that I wish the end of the series had more of an end. I don't think she planned on stopping writing the series. I think it just happened. Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled by Dorothy Gilman is book 14. Emily finds herself in Syria this time.

[Misty]

I read a memoir called: In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. She talks about a lot of heavy stuff. I found her when looking specifically for Latina authors. Finding new authors is my favorite thing about doing these challenges.

[Misty]

I read The Night of Four Hundred Rabbits by Elizabeth Peters. It was not one of my favorites of hers, but it was enjoyable.

[Misty]

I started listening to Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton last night. Luckily, I had a bunch of busy work to do at work today, so I was able to finish it today. It is an excellent book, but it is also really hard to read right now with Trump getting ready to take office. He got there without a military fight, but he got there just the same. Listening to what happened in Cuba under Fidel is kind of terrifying. I still recommend the book though.

[Misty]

I absolutely do not understand why Elena Ferrante's The Days of Abandonment is on all these "must read" lists. Ugh. It was pretty bad. I have absolutely no interest in what happens to her - at all. I kept thinking it would get good, and it got slightly less worse.