HomeSeeking by Karissa Chen

My Rating: 4.0

Haiwen is buying bananas at a 99 Ranch Market in Los Angeles when he looks up and sees Suchi, his Suchi, for the first time in sixty years. To recently widowed Haiwen it feels like a second chance, but Suchi has only survived by refusing to look back. 

Suchi was seven when she first met Haiwen in their Shanghai neighborhood, drawn by the sound of his violin. Their childhood friendship blossomed into soul-deep love, but when Haiwen secretly enlisted in the Nationalist army in 1947 to save his brother from the draft, she was left with just his violin and a note: Forgive me. 

Homeseeking follows the separated lovers through six decades of tumultuous Chinese history as war, famine, and opportunity take them separately to the song halls of Hong Kong, the military encampments of Taiwan, the bustling streets of New York, and sunny California, telling Haiwen’s story from the present to the past while tracing Suchi’s from her childhood to the present, meeting in the crucible of their lives. Throughout, Haiwen holds his memories close while Suchi forces herself to look only forward, neither losing sight of the home they hold in their hearts. At once epic and intimate, Homeseeking is a story of family, sacrifice, and loyalty, and of the power of love to endure beyond distance, beyond time.

This book had promise and i liked the premise of starting from current day and going back from Haiwen's (Howard's) perspecitve and then working forward from Suchi's (Sue's) perspective, I really enjoyed the first portion of this book, especially the perspective of Howard. As the book progressed, I found that I cared less and less about the characters (particularly Suchi) and what happened to them. 

Fool's Assassin (Fitz & The Fool Book 1) by Robin Hobb

 My Rating: 4.9

Tom Badgerlock has been living peaceably in the manor house at Withywoods with his beloved wife Molly these many years, the estate a reward to his family for loyal service to the crown. 

But behind the facade of respectable middle-age lies a turbulent and violent past. For Tom Badgerlock is actually FitzChivalry Farseer, bastard scion of the Farseer line, convicted user of Beast-magic, and assassin. A man who has risked much for his king and lost more… 

On a shelf in his den sits a triptych carved in memory stone of a man, a wolf and a fool. Once, these three were inseparable friends: Fitz, Nighteyes and the Fool. But one is long dead, and one long-missing. 

Then one Winterfest night a messenger arrives to seek out Fitz, but mysteriously disappears, leaving nothing but a blood-trail. What was the message? Who was the sender? And what has happened to the messenger? 

Suddenly Fitz's violent old life erupts into the peace of his new world, and nothing and no one is safe.

I can't even capture how amazing Robin Hobb's writing and story is. She has completely pulled me into the cozy castle world of Withywoods and made me fall in love with Fitz, The Fool and Bee. I never want this series to end but also can't wait to start the next book.

Blood of Dragons (Volume 4 of the Rain Wild Chronicles) by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.6

The dragons and their dedicated band of keepers have at last found the lost city of Kelsingra. The magical creatures have learned to use their wings and are growing into their regal inheritance. Their humans, too, are changing. As the mystical bonds with their dragons deepen, Thymara, Tats, Rapskal, and even Sedric, the unlikeliest of keepers, have begun transforming into beautiful Elderlings raked with exquisite features that complement and reflect the dragons they serve. But while the humans have scoured the empty streets and enormous buildings of Kelsingra, they cannot find the mythical silver wells the dragons need to stay health and survive. With enemies encroaching, the keepers must risk "memory walking"- immersing themselves in the dangerously addictive memories of long-deceased Elderlings - to uncover clues necessary to their survival. And time is of the essence, for the legendary Tintaglia, long feared dead, has returned, wounded in a battle with humans hunting dragon blood and scales. She is weakening and only the hidden silver can revive her. If Tintaglia dies, so, too, will the ancient memories she carries - a devastating loss that will ensure the dragons' extinction.

This book had the Rain Wild series come together for me. I would almost miss it except, I know that my beloved Fitz and The Fool are waiting for me next. I never thought fantasy would appeal to me but, I absolutely LOVE this series and highly recommend. 

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

My Rating: 4.6

Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, sold one of his internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the genius's life and work, from his tumultuous upbringing in South Africa and flight to the United States to his dramatic technical innovations and entrepreneurial pursuits. Vance uses Musk's story to explore one of the pressing questions of our age: can the nation of inventors and creators who led the modern world for a century still compete in an age of fierce global competition? He argues that Musk is an amalgam of legendary inventors and industrialists including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs. More than any other entrepreneur today, Musk has dedicated his energies and his own vast fortune to inventing a future that is as rich and far-reaching as the visionaries of the golden age of science-fiction fantasy

There are things I like about Musk and things I do NOT like about him. I wanted to understand him more so got this audio book for us to listen to. I finished the book admiring him and being leery of him. He is brilliant and cut throat, genius and scary. I am just as divided in my feelings for him as most people who know him intimately. You do have to admire many things about him while also recognizing his many negative traits. Interesting read.

All The Broken Places by John Boyne

 My Rating: 4.9

Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same well-to-do mansion block in London for decades. She lives a quiet, comfortable life, despite her deeply disturbing, dark past. She doesn't talk about her escape from Nazi Germany at age 12. She doesn't talk about the grim post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn't talk about her father, who was the commandant of one of the Reich's most notorious extermination camps.

Then, a new family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can't help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a disturbing, violent argument between Henry's beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel's hard-won, self-contained existence.

All The Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel's girlhood in Germany to present-day London as a woman whose life has been haunted by the past. Now, Gretel faces a similar crossroads to one she encountered long ago. Back then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choice than before -- whatever the cost to herself....

This is a fabulous book about grief, guilt and even hope.....and how people handle their circumstances. I wasn't aware that this was a sequel until I was well into the book and, I am glad. I loved Boy In The Striped Pajamas so much that I think that I wouldn't have been as receptive to this book if I had known it was a sequel. I absolutely loved Gretel in the present day and felt so horrible for young Gretel. As strange as this sounds with the heavy topic, this also had a light and enjoyable tone to it. Boyne did a beautiful job of the writing and doing justice to this sequel. 

City of Dragons (Volume 3 of the Rain Wild Chronicles) by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.6

A small group of weak, half-formed and unwanted dragons and their displaced human companions as they search for a legendary sanctuary, Kelsingra. Now, as the misfit band approaches its final destination, dragons and keepers alike face a challenge so insurmountable that it threatens to render their long, difficult odyssey utterly meaningless.

This series is building as are the characters - both humans and dragons alike. The ending had Sedric, Reyn and Malta back again and I can't wait for the next and final book in this Rain Wild series.

Dragon Haven (Volume 2 of the Rain Wild Chronicles) by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.5

As the fledgling dragons and their keepers forge a passage through the uncharted waters of the Rain Wild River, they are supported by the liveship Tarman, its captain, Leftrin, and Alise Finbok, who has escaped her cruel marriage in Bingtown. 

A vial of dragon blood can earn a man enough gold to last a lifetime: there may be some in the party who see the dragons as more valuable as body parts than whole and alive. But it is the Rain Wilds themselves – mysterious, unstable and ever perilous – that may provide the deadliest danger as they make their way towards the mythical haven of Kelsingra. The hazards of that journey will push them all to the very brink of survival.

Hobb has excellent character development but it can still be a slow slog. The Rain Wild Chronicles is my least favorite of the series so far but, still well worth my time. 

Mount Vernon The Love Story by Mary Higgins Clark

My Rating: 4.5

Published in 1969, the book was more recently discovered by a Washington family descendant and reissued as Mount Vernon Love Story. Dispelling the widespread belief that although George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, he reserved his true love for Sally Carey Fairfax, his best friend's wife, Mary Higgins Clark describes the Washington marriage as one full of tenderness and passion, as a bond between two people who shared their lives—even the bitter hardship of a winter in Valley Forge—in every way. In this author's skilled hands, the history, the love, and the man come fully and dramatically alive.

This was about George Washington, the man. There is no doubt that he loved Sally but, I also believe that George and Martha (Patsy) had a very deep loving relationship. This captured their marriage, the hardship of the children and their shared love for Mount Vernon. The only complaint I had with this book was that it felt disjointed with bouncing around in the timeline.

Dragon Keeper (Volume 1 of the Rain Wild Chronicles) by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.5

Too much time has passed since the powerful dragon Tintaglia helped the people of the Trader cities stave off an invasion of their enemies. The Traders have forgotten their promises, weary of the labor and expense of tending earthbound dragons who were hatched weak and deformed by a river turned toxic. If neglected, the creatures will rampage--or die--so it is decreed that they must move farther upriver toward Kelsingra, the mythical homeland whose location is locked deep within the dragons' uncertain ancestral memories. 

 Thymara, an unschooled forest girl, and Alise, wife of an unloving and wealthy Trader, are among the disparate group entrusted with escorting the dragons to their new home. And on an extraordinary odyssey with no promise of return, many lessons will be learned--as dragons and tenders alike experience hardships, betrayals . . . and joys beyond their wildest imaginings.

Unlike other books in this series, this one took me a while to get in to. Completely different characters and a new scene would be difficult enough but, after Fitz and the Fool well, that is an impossible act to follow. Once I got in to the book, I quite enjoyed the story of the dragons and the people who wanted to help them.

The Secret Sky: A Novel Of Forbidden Love In Afghanistan by Atia Abawi

 My Rating: 4.5

Fatima is a Hazara girl, raised to be obedient and dutiful. Samiullah is a Pashtun boy raised to defend the traditions of his tribe. They were not meant to fall in love. But they do. And the story that follows shows both the beauty and the violence in current-day Afghanistan as Fatima and Samiullah fight their families, their cultures and the Taliban to stay together. 

This book is based on the people the author met and the events she covered during her nearly five years in Afghanistan. I thought that she did an excellent job of making the reader reaize the conditions in Afghanistan today. Definitely worth a read.

Fool's Fate: The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 3 by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.9

Fitz, Chade, the Prince and many others set out from Buckkeep to Aslevjal to fulfill the Narcheska's challenge to lay the head of the dragon Icefyre on her hearth. Having abandoned the Fool in Buckkeep, Fitz is guilt-stricken; but determined to keep the fate of his beloved friend at bay, since prophecy foretells the Fool's death if he ever sets foot on the isle of the black dragon. But as their ship draws in towards Aslevjal a lone figure awaits them...

Despite my claim that "I don't like the fantasy genre", I continue to absolutely LOVE this series. Hobb has an incredible ability to make her writing seem simple and readable and yet she captures so much. The icy cold world of Aslevjal had me grabbing a blanket. This book had several VERY gruesome scenes (think Silence of the Lambs, torture, disturbing types of scenes) but it also brought me to tears. Hobb has such amazing ability to make you fall in love with characters and cheer for them that you are shattered and broken with how she treats your beloved friends so ruthlessly and yet seemingly so cavalierly. I do not want this series to end and yet will be immediately jumping in to the Rain Wild Trilogy. 

Amity & Prosperity by Eliza Griswold

 My Rating: 3.6

Stacey Haney, a lifelong resident of Amity, Pennsylvania, is struggling to support her children when the fracking boom comes to town. Like most of her neighbors, she sees the energy companies' payments as a windfall. Soon trucks are rumbling down her unpaved road and a fenced-off fracking site rises on adjacent land. But her annoyance gives way to concern and then to fear as domestic animals and pets begin dying and mysterious illnesses strike her family--despite the companies' insistence that nothing is wrong.

Similar to the Erin Brockovitch story, this brings to light all of the horrific impact that fracking has on the people. I am not a big non-fiction fan but this was well told and felt fair and impartial. As others have pointed out, there are some scientific inaccuracies which calls her work in to question. There is a LOT of details - both about the individuals (trying to build up sentiment) and the science (trying to back her case) that I felt the book could have done without. It was an important story but I am surprised that this was a Pulitzer Prize winner. 

Golden Fool The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 2 by Robin Hobb

My Rating: 4.9

Prince Dutiful has been rescued from his Piebald kidnappers and the court has resumed its normal rhythms. But for FitzChivalry Farseer, a return to isolation is impossible. Posing as Tom Badgerlock, bodyguard to Lord Golden, FitzChivalry becomes the eyes and ears behind the walls. And with his old mentor failing visibly, Fitz is forced to take on more burdens as he attempts to guide a kingdom straying closer to civil strife each day.

The problems are legion. Prince Dutiful’s betrothal to the Narcheska Elliania of the Out Islands is fraught with tension, and the Narcheska herself appears to be hiding an array of secrets. Then, amid Piebald threats and the increasing persecution of the Witted, FitzChivalry must ensure that no one betrays the Prince’s secret—a secret that could topple the Farseer throne: that he, like Fitz, possesses the dread “beast magic.”

Meanwhile, FitzChivalry must impart to the Prince his limited knowledge of the Skill: the hereditary and addictive magic of the Farseers. In the process, they discover within Buckkeep one who has a wild and powerful talent for it, and whose enmity for Fitz may have disastrous consequences for all.

Only Fitz’s enduring friendship with the Fool brings him any solace. But even that is shattered when unexpected visitors from Bingtown reveal devastating secrets from the Fool’s past. Now, bereft of support and adrift in intrigue, Fitz’s biggest challenge may be simply to survive the inescapable and violent path that fate has laid out for him.

I loved that no time had passed at all (maybe one day?) since the last book. It could have just been the same book and I was immediately immersed in the story. I loved the scenes of Fitz teaching Dutiful the Skill. I continue to feel swept away by these books as Hobb's is such a powerful story teller. I am jumping right in to the next one in the series and don't want it to ever end!

Maame by Jessica George

My Rating:  3.4

It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting. So when her mum returns from her latest trip, Maddie seizes the chance to move out of the family home and finally start living. A self-acknowledged late bloomer, she’s ready to experience some important “firsts”: She finds a flat share, says yes to after-work drinks, pushes for more recognition in her career, and throws herself into the bewildering world of internet dating. But when tragedy strikes, Maddie is forced to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils—and rewards—of putting her heart on the line.

This is a classic coming of age story with a bit of a unique style. I didn't enjoy the excess of sex or the depression. I did enjoy the Ghana influence and her family. The author has definite promise.

Fools Errand: The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 1

 My Rating: 4.7

Fifteen years have passed since the end of the Red Ship War with the terrifying Outislanders. Since then, Fitz has wandered the world accompanied only by his wolf and Wit-partner, Nighteyes, finally settling in a tiny cottage as remote from Buckkeep and the Farseers as possible.

But lately the world has come crashing in again. The Witted are being persecuted because of their magical bonds with animals; and young Prince Dutiful has gone missing just before his crucial diplomatic wedding to an Outislander princess. Fitz’s assignment to fetch Dutiful back in time for the ceremony seems very much like a fool’s errand, but the dangers ahead could signal the end of the Farseer reign.

Oh, I loved having Fitz and the Fool back! Even though time has passed, it felt like no time had passed since we were last with them. It was like reuniting with old friends. They were so good as they went back and forth in their roles, between Fitz and the Fool and Tom and Lord Golden, and had me chuckling many times. I enjoyed their hunting for Prince Dutiful and the Piebalds / Old Bloods and all the political intricacies of the palace. I can't wait for the next book in this series. LOVE!