April: What I Read & Cauliflower Salads

In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde Hot & Fresh I’m a big baseball fan and I’ve actually seen my favourite team, the Toronto Blue Jays play in Chicago but I can only do a sporty contemporary romance every so often, so I had never read this author or her Windy City series. When this book came out as a standalone spinoff, I was excited to read it. Right away I liked this book. Reese takes over as president and owner of a Chicago MLB team in this cute romance novel. Of course, because she’s a woman she isn’t taken seriously by the other owners, the players, or her staff. Monty, the team’s manager isn’t quite sure about Reese, but after being a single dad who raised a daughter he wants to see her succeed and treats her like an equal. Monty is a sweetheart and has created a whole family within the baseball team. Reese is his boss. I love Reese, she is strong, smart, funny and confident and yet can be vulnerable. There are some great 1 liners in this book lol some that made me stop and go “oooohhh” lol. There’s also some things that made me groan, the word thick is used waaaay too many times about different body parts lol. Written from both Reese and Emmett’s point of view, I really liked both characters and that last chapter, was dynamite! This was a fun and spicy book to kick off the baseball season!

The Calculating Stars by Maryelle Robinette Kowal Alternative History. After watching Artemis II go around the moon this past month, the space camp nerd in me wanted more lol. The first chapter alone had me holding my breath and sitting on the edge of my seat. This is an alternate history book set in the 1950s. After a catastrophic event happens, scientists, Nathaniel and Elma take on larger roles with the NACA working to put the first person into space in hopes of colonizing up there to save the human race, The mission, Artemis! It is still the 1950‘s though so women, no matter how smart, talented and experienced they are, still have to fight to be included in the space race. There’s still blatant racism, sexism and mental illness that is pointed out again and again throughout the book. Throughout the book Elma works as a computer with other women who are computers and pilots. Together the women work together to train and become astronauts but the goalposts are constantly moving for the Lady Astronauts. I enjoyed how Elma’s husband and brother are very supportive but I didn’t like the climate change deniers and how much they reminded me that we too are dealing with this emergency. I loved the ending and this book totally satisfied my Moon Joy craving lol, I will definitely read the next one.

Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Morris Her story I’m sad to say that I have never read a book by Octavia E Butler. I had heard of her before this book, but I had never read any of her essays, short stories, or novels. After this book, that is going to change. Octavias’s life was fascinating and coincides with a turning point in America regarding racial and gender tensions. The way she discusses the history of her race in America was fully thought out and gave me so much to think about. The politics and climate of her time are so similar to the world we live in today. It was frankly startling to see Octavia’s science fiction books relate to our times, so clearly in the risks of climate change and the rising fascism in America. A pivotal year for Octavia was 1976 when America was celebrating its bicentennial anniversary and she grew up with the backdrop of wars, racial tensions, queer rights, and gender equality shaping her. All of those things made her the writer she became. It’s scary how much those times resemble the times of present day. In 1980 Butler calls out Reagan’s “Let’s Make America Great Again” for what it is, going back to a time that was great for white Americans and state rights were a way to bring back anti-black race laws. It was super interesting to hear how she wrote books, especially how she chose the genders for her characters in Kindred. Octavia seemed like a really cool woman, an amazing historian, a dedicated writer, a trailblazer, a feminist, and a lonely person that died way too soon. I am blown away by her predictions, she definitely had her pulse on patterns and history, I wonder what she would think and write about these days? While I really enjoyed getting to know Octavia through this biography, I found the writing style to be jumbled, not chronological, and repetitive.

The Overstory by Richard Powers Marathon Reader. This is a long review of a long and thoughtful book. I did not know the history of the chestnut tree, but I got a compact history within the first 20 pages of this book. Although this is a long book, Part 1 is separated into small stories (the Roots) based on different people. That’s too simple of an explanation though, each of the stories are also about, trees. Or that the trees that the people plant have similar personality traits, and that trees themselves have personalities. The first story while called Nicholas Hoel is about a chestnut tree. A strong, stubborn, majestic American chestnut tree that survives everything in a new land and continues to grow just like the Hoel family. The first American Hoel plants the tree in the late 18th century and the story is told by his family over the next 125 years. There are a lot of happy times for the whole family under the chestnut tree, but more often than not, tragedy and heartbreak. The tree, watches it all but the family endures and watches it back. Ma is a Chinese immigrant to America in the late 1940’s who, after years of engineering school settles in Illinois and plants a Mulberry tree. A tree full of meaning that becomes weak and diseased. His daughter Mimi is the trunk of the family, the future after the disease. In 1968, Adam is 5 when he realizes that the tree you plant needs to resemble you. His Dad has planted a tree for him and each of his siblings. The elm goes first of course, doomed to the already growing Dutch Elm disease. In the 1970’s Ray and Dorothy meet, have a rollercoaster courtship and then agree to plant a yard of trees and plants to represent their relationship and the growth in each of them to be separate but together. Douglas is a lost orphan when he joins a scientific study that ultimately pushes him into the War. When certain death is finally upon him, he is saved by a banyan tree. He then changes his life direction & starts tree planting to make up for what he didn’t do in that experimental prison. Neelay lives in California in the mid 70’s with his parents, new immigrants to America and sees his computer like a fig tree. So much can fit into one little seed. Later in life trees break him and then trees and plants once again, inspire him to grow. Patty falls in love with trees as a child in the 50’s as they become her friends and more easy to understand than people. She can read trees, like the beech tree, like a book and studies them as a community. In this chapter we get a glimpse of how past characters lives turned out. And then Olivia. Olivia can’t see the forest through the trees. Until she can.

Part 2 is the Trunk, the meat of each of the characters and their stories unravel as they are all pulled by a mysterious force. My two favourite characters were Olivia and Adam from the beginning. Their discussion at the top of the redwood tree blew my mind. I feel like this is such an important message. People have become complacent because they feel like there’s guardrails to protect them. If the people smarter than you aren’t worried, why should you be? The people screaming for things we can see right in front of our eyes, but don’t want to acknowledge are the society disturbers while everybody else continues to march in line.

The third part, The Crown, is when everything comes to a head. There are a few storylines that stay on the edge of the main group of characters. But as I read the last part, I got it. Every single character read Patricia‘s book, The Secret Forest. I want to read The Secret Forest! Lol I loved where Patricia‘s journey led her and through her words, how she brought all these people together. I’m not going to lie. I did not understand the gaming aspect of this book until Neelay realized the problem, too much satisfaction. Ray and Dorothy’s story seemed like an ending so many times but in fact, they were like Maidenhair, never ending.

The last part is called Seeds and although this is the end of the book the title of this part foretells something different. I completely understand how this book won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction! It was an enlightening, beautiful, engaging book, but it was also a slog lol. It’s long and drawn out and there’s a lot of characters. But just like the topic the book is written about, it’s worth it.

The Great Gatsby by K. Woodsman-Maynard adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald A graphic novel adaptation I have read a lot of the classics, but somehow the great Gatsby slipped through the cracks and not only have I never read it, I only have a vague idea of what it is about. So I thought I would try reading it. Imagine my surprise when our library didn’t have it lol but they did have the graphic novel version. This adaptation was seen through Nick‘s eyes and Nick is not a reliable narrator. I think we can learn a lot from Nick, a working class man that has an idealized version of what the rich life is only to find out that the people he looks up to have no morals and no loyalties. Because this is done in a graphic novel, the imagery gives you another layer of context and the water painting is beautiful. This is a quick read that took me through F Scott Fitzgerald‘s classic novel, giving me all the carelessness, glitz and murder of the novel without having to deal with the unlikeable characters.

Clementine Crane Prefers Not To by Kristin Bair A book with a person’s name in the title If you are the overstimulated CEO of your family, this is the book for you! Clementine Crane is a 44 librarian that has just had her first hot flash. At the same time she is realizing that the life that she is leading as the linchpin in her family of 5, 3 teenagers and a husband who isn’t an equal partner, is unsustainable. This book is funny and relatable and perhaps a bit over the top but I think our whole generation is finding that we really don’t know anything about what perimenopause entails. I loved her take on her Dr’s blatant dismissal and frustration at his being unable to do anything for her, including taking the time to just talk with her. Inspired by her favourite Herman Melville character, Clem decides to standup for herself and instead of capitulating to every demand that her family makes, she says “I prefer not to”. This book deals with loss and grief in an honest way that resonated with me. This book has a wonderful message, about the female spirit and being seen. I really liked this book, liked Clem and laughed out loud multiple times during this book. I also reflected on how it is baked into society, and expected, that women will sacrifice for others, especially their families. Cute book with a serious message.

The Secret Book of Flora Lee by Patti Callahan Henry Two Books with Similar Titles (1) Every time I read a Patti Callahan Henry novel I feel like I’m in a magical tale of mystery and wonder. She has a way of evoking emotion in her tales. This one is about 2 sisters from London that are part of the Pied Piper operation that took place in 1939. The sisters, Flora who is 6 and her older sister Hazel who is 15 get chosen by a lady named Bridie and her son Harry. To keep her younger sisters’s fear from rising, Hazel makes up a story of a magical land, their land, called Whisperwoods. During their time in Oxford, Flora goes missing and is thought to have drowned in the Thames. 20 years later Hazel is working at a rare books shop and finds a fairytale book written by an American all about Whisperwoods. This revelation sends Hazel on a journey to find out how her secret stories ended up across the Atlantic Ocean 20 years after she thought they had drowned with her little sister. This is a beautiful story of hope and love that left me sad but satisfied at the end.

The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin Two Books with Similar Titles (2) Lady Duxbury is a young widowed countess in Victorian London 1895 who invites 4 women into her parlour for tea one afternoon every week. Only 3 show up but they bond over their shared limitations and their love of literature. This book talks about abuse and how women were easily manipulated into believing emotions and thought led to madness and the insane asylum. This is a story about oppression and the patriarchy during a time when it was thought that reading made women feel too much, think too much and books and ideas were kept from women. It’s also a time with great social inequality which is also touched on. The women gain strength in their friendship and maternal strength to do whatever is needed to protect their children. I was fully satisfied with the ending.

The Restoration Garden by Sara Blaydes A book featuring a garden. 🇨🇦 This book is told from different perspectives and in different time periods but about the same place, Havenworth. A grand estate in Cambridge that had beautiful gardens before war came to Britain in 1940. Now, years later Margaret wants to restore the grounds back to their original glory in a promise to her step sister. Yes this book is about a garden, but there’s a lot of layers in there. Irene is Margaret’s 17 year old stepsister and her story begins in 1940. Irene sees the war differently and her observations are eerily similar to what we see today. Irene is an artist and sketched her family’s gardens in detail and also cared about the language of the followers she drew. When her beau gets arrested as a Nazi spy, she doesn’t believe it, runs away with him and by all accounts becomes a Nazi traitor that flees to Germany and is never heard from again. Julia is the historical garden architect hired to make the garden come back to life. She is accompanied by her nephew who recently became her ward after her sister died. Both Margaret and Julia have regrets regarding their sisters. Also helping with the restoration is Margaret’s godson and his sister. This had a good mystery, a little romance and although I wasn’t fully satisfied with the ending I quite enjoyed Irene and Julia’s storylines.