Books

reading

Think before you speak. Read before you think.  Fran Lebowitz

 

 

A few children’s books for spring (ages 3-8ish)

Bring Me Some Apples, and I’ll Make You a Pie by Edna Lewis

Andrew Henry’s Meadow by Doris Burn 

The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter by Shabazz Larkin

The Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature by Stan and Jan Berenstain 

The Butterfly Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta 

Rain! by Linda Ashman

Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide by Mel Boring 

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown 

The Farmer by Mark Ludy 

Where’s Rodney? by Carmen Bogan

Hank Finds An Egg by Rebecca Dudley 

It Will Be Okay by Lysa TerKeurst 

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey 

Who Likes Rain? by Wong Herbert Yee

Miss Maple’s Seeds by Eliza Wheeler 

My Garden by Kevin Henkes 

Señorita Mariposa by Ben Gundersheimer

Come On, Rain!  by Karen Hesse

Nature Anatomy by Julia Rothman  

Outside Your Window by Nicola Davies  

The Tree in Me by Corinna Luyken

Raindrop, Plop! by Wendy Cheyette Lewison  

Spring: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur 

In a Garden by Tim McCanna

Buzzing With Questions by Janice N. Harrington

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner  

We Are The Gardeners by Joanna Gaines 

Bird by Zetta Elliott

The Year at Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen  

Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots by Sharon Lovejoy

Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney  

Alice’s Farm by Maryrose Wood   

The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem 

Water, Water by Eloise Greenfield

 

 

 

 

Recent books I really liked 

Black in Blues – Imani Perry

Good Dirt – Charmaine Wilkerson

The Look – Michelle Obama

American Soul: The Black History of Food in the United States – Anela Malik and Renae Wilson

Happy Land – Dolen Perkins-Valdez

A Dream Deferred – Abby Phillip

Still We Rise: A Love Letter to the Southern Biscuit with Over 70 Sweet and Savory Recipes – Erika Council

Cursed Daughters –Oyinkan Braithwaite

When No One is Watching – Alyssa Cole 

When Southern Women Cook: History, Lore, and 300 Recipes with Contributions from 70 Women Writers – America’s Test Kitchen

Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks – Crystal Wilkinson

 

 

 

 

A long-time friend reminded me of Barbara Neely’s Blanche White books yesterday. Here they are, in order. I highly recommend them.

1 Blanche on the Lam    1992
2 Blanche Among the Talented Tenth    1994
3 Blanche Cleans Up    1998
4 Blanche Passes Go   2000

Barbara Neely is a highly acclaimed author best known for her mystery and thriller novels. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Anthony Award in 1993, the Agatha Award in 1992, and the Macavity Award in 1993. Neely’s debut novel, “Blanche on the Lam,” which introduced the world to her heroine Blanche White, won three of the four major mystery awards. (more)

 

 

On My February Reading Table (or about to be)

  • The Harvey Girl – Dana Stabenow
  • The Last Mandarin: A Novel – Louise Penny & Melissa Fung
  • Stolen in Death – J D Robb
  • Dog Show: Poems – Billy Collins
  • The Goblin in the Sink Drain – Hailey Edwards
  • When No One is Watching – Alyssa Cole
  • A Glimmer of Death – Laurell K Hamilton
  • Murder in the Trembling Lands – Barbara Hambly

 

 

 

RIP, Claudette Colvin.

 In 2009, Phillip Hoose’s biography, “Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice,” won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER AND NEWBERY HONOR BOOK ● Before Rosa Parks, there was 15-year-old Claudette Colvin. Read the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure in this multi-award-winning, mega-selling biography from the incomparable Phillip Hoose.

“When it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can’t sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, ‘This is not right.’” ―Claudette Colvin

On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation, refused to give her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders. Undaunted, a year later she dared to challenge segregation again as a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the landmark case that struck down the segregation laws of Montgomery and swept away the legal underpinnings of the Jim Crow South.

Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first major biography of a remarkable civil rights hero, skillfully weaving her riveting story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.

Awards and Praise for Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
National Book Award Winner
A Newbery Honor Book
A YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist
A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
Amazon.com 100 Biographies and Memoirs to Read in a Lifetime

(amazon.com)

 

Here are a few series that I enjoy.

Benjamin January Series by Barbara Hambly

  1. A Free Man of Color (1997)
  2. Fever Season (1998)
  3. Graveyard Dust (1999)
  4. Sold Down the River (2000)
  5. Die Upon a Kiss (2001)
  6. Wet Grave (2002)
  7. Days of the Dead (2003)
  8. Dead Water (2004)
  9. Dead and Buried (2010)
  10. The Shirt on His Back (2011)
  11. Ran Away (2011)
  12. Good Man Friday (2013)
  13. Crimson Angel (2014)
  14. Drinking Gourd (2016)
  15. Murder in July (2017)
  16. Cold Bayou (2018)
  17. Lady of Perdition (2020)
  18. House of the Patriarch (2021)
  19. Death and Hard Cider (2022)
  20. The Nubian’s Curse (2024)
  21. Murder in the Trembling Lands (2025)

 

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series by Alexander McCall Smith

  1. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (1998)
  2. Tears of the Giraffe (2000)
  3. Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001)
  4. The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)
  5. The Full Cupboard of Life (2003)
  6. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004)
  7. Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)
  8. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007)
  9. The Miracle at Speedy Motors (2008)
  10. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009)
  11. The Double Comfort Safari Club (2010)
  12. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party (2011)
  13. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (2012)
  14. The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (2013)
  15. The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Cafe (2014)
  16. The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine (2015)
  17. Precious and Grace (2016)
  18. The House of Unexpected Sisters (2017)
  19. The Colours of All the Cattle (2018)
  20. To the Land of Long Lost Friends (2019)
  21. How to Raise an Elephant (2020)
  22. The Joy and Light Bus Company (2021)
  23. A Song of Comfortable Chairs (2022)
  24. From a Far and Lovely Country (2023)
  25. The Great Hippopotamus Hotel (2024)
  26. In the Time of Five Pumpkins (2025)

 

Easy Rawlins Series by Walter Mosley

  1. Devil in a Blue Dress (1990)
  2. A Red Death (1991)
  3. White Butterfly (1992)
  4. Black Betty (1994)
  5. A Little Yellow Dog (1996)
  6. Gone Fishin’ (1997)
  7. Bad Boy Brawly Brown (2002)
  8. Six Easy Pieces (2003)
  9. Little Scarlet (2004)
  10. Cinnamon Kiss (2005)
  11. Blonde Faith (2007)
  12. Little Green (2013)
  13. Rose Gold (2014)
  14. Charcoal Joe (2016)
  15. Blood Grove (2021)
  16. Farewell, Amethystine (2024)
  17. Gray Dawn (2025)

       

      Books for kids starting pre-school

      • I’m Smart! by Kate McMullan; illustrated by Jim McMullan
      • Daniel Goes to School (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) by Becky Friedman (Adapter), illustrated by Jason Fruchter
      • Alphabet Mystery by Audrey Wood; illustrated by Bruce Wood
      • Build! Written and illustrated by Red Nose Studio
      • Maisy Goes to Preschool: A Maisy First Experiences Book written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins
      • Scarecited on the First Day of School by Alliah L. Agostini; illustrated by Lala Watkins
      • What to Do When You’re Not Sure What to Do by Davina Bell; illustrated by Hilary Jean Tapper
      • Preschool, Here I Come! by D.J. Steinberg; illustrated by John Joven
      • Pete the Kitty’s First Day of Preschool (Pete the Cat) by Kimberly Dean & James Dean; illustrated by James Dean

      Looking for something interesting to read? Here are some authors I enjoy, along with the names of their primary (detective/police/spy) characters and the titles of the first books in their series. Happy reading!

      AUTHOR CHARACTER/ 1st BOOK IN SERIES
      Tracy Clark Detective Harriet Foster; Hide  
      Lindsey Davis Flavia Albia; The Ides of April
      Kellye Garrett Dayna Anderson; Hollywood Homicide
      Barbara Hambly Benjamin January; A Free Man of Color
      Rachel Howzell Hall Detective Elouise Norton; Land of Shadows
      Attica Locke Darren Mathews; Bluebird, Bluebird
      Walter Mosley Easy Rawlins: Devil in a Blue Dress
      Barbara Neely Blanch White;  Blanche on the Lam
      Richard Osman Thursday Murder Club; The Thursday Murder Club
      Sara Paretsky V I Warshawski; Indemnity Only
      Louise Penny Chief Inspector Gamache; Still Life
      Delia Pitts Ross Agency Mysteries: Lost and Found in Harlem
      Daniel Silva Gabriel Allon; The Kill Artist
      Dana Stabenow Kate Shugak; A Cold Day for Murder
      Valerie Wilson Wesley Tamara Hayle; When Death Comes Stealing
       

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