cabins, kung fu, things hidden in walls, belonging, family

Cabin Porn Inside by Freda Moon (Adult Nonfiction)

An inspiring and engrossing tour of many beautiful cabins. Each cabin includes a story and the work/history that went into building the cabin, and some of the stories are several pages long! I loved every moment of this book.

I Kick and I Fly by Ruchira Gupta (Teen Fiction)

Heera's battle to fight her legacy of being sold into the sex trade is empowering, terrifying, and sometimes so painful you'll need to set the book down for a moment before resuming it. Unfortunately, Heera can't set the book down, because it's her life. She knows it's almost time for her to follow the family tradition of being sold into the sex trade, and she decides to fight. She finds an ally in Rini Di, who owns a hostel where girls learn kung fu and how to take ownership of their bodies. Heera flourishes under Rini Di's care and mentorship, and the transformation in her life and family's life slowly blooms into an extraordinary life path that brings them closer together. I am not familiar with kung fu or Bruce Lee, but my curiosity is hungry for more. I really appreciated the many small but powerful moments when Heera gets lost in her kung fu practice. The author's note at the end is equally powerful, stating that Heera's story is based on a compilation of true events, one character representing so many.

The Botanist's Daughter by Kayte Nunn (Adult Fiction)

I enjoyed the alternating characters and how the modern-day character, Anna found her way to the character of the past, Elizabeth. Anna's story was more interesting to me. The moment she found the mysterious box of botanical drawings and diary in the wall of the house her Grandma left her, I was hooked. I enjoyed watching her character flourish and make new connections. Though I enjoyed reading Elizabeth's chapters, I didn't love her character as much. I thought some of Elizabeth's choices were rash and immature, which made it tough to connect to her. I did connect with her whenever she lost herself in her passion for drawing flowers, which were moments I couldn't get enough of. I also enjoyed and respected Elizabeth's loyal servant, Daisy, who led an equally fascinating, if not more fascinating life than Elizabeth. Both Anna and Elizabeth were botanists and eerily connected through their love of plants, a connection the author strengthened over the course of the book. Though the book had a satisfying ending, I would have loved reading more about Anna. Because she spent most of the book uncovering the mystery behind the box and diary, I would have loved to hear more about her job as a gardener and the business she created. That's how you know you really enjoyed a character!

Stars in Their Eyes (Teen Graphic Novel)

A lovely story about a teen, Maisie who finds her people at a Fancon. This book takes place in a single day, which always impresses me when it's super well done. 

Maisie's life has not been an easy one. When she was younger she had cancer, which led to losing her leg and living with chronic pain. Her mom is amazing, however, and incredibly supportive, so while Maisie has some bigger issues than most, she has an abundance of love and support. 

But Maisie also needs to know she's not alone, and there are others out there who are like her and who she can connect with. My stomach was all in knots when reading this because it's pretty obvious that even though Maisie discovers a sense of belonging in this book, the person she connects with, Ollie, lives too far away for Maisie to see on a regular basis after Fancon. That was the only tough thing about this book. These feelings of turmoil are really just evidence that the author did such an AMAZING job creating these characters. Dear Jessica Walton, can you please write another book where these characters meet up again SOON and demonstrate that that they had a thriving long-distance relationship? 

Have I mentioned that both Maisie and Ollie shared a moment where they were just reading their separate books together, relishing each other's company? Do you know how happy this makes my heart to have such a beautiful moment in a book, and in a book that's for teens??? 

Oh, and I haven't even said anything about this being a graphic novel. The story is so strong it stands on its on, but here we go adding more beauty to it with the illustrations. There were also plenty of moments where nerdy things were mentioned but spelled differently for anyone who is into that kind of cute. I was ready for the sequel to this yesterday!

Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons (Adult Fiction)

I haven't read anything by Kaye Gibbons for over twenty years. I was a huge fan of her when I was a teenager and able to enjoy books with tougher themes and the intense feelings they sometimes gave me but now prevent me from having a good night's sleep. This is one of those books, and though I had one sleepless night after finishing it, it was worth it. 

The relationships between the three main characters are everything, the heart and soul of this short but rich family story. Margaret lives with her mom, Sophia and grandma, Charlie Kate, a self-taught healer/doctor to her community. Both Margaret and Sophia's worlds revolve around Charlie Kate, who is tough and brash, but also equally magnetic and warm. She saves many lives, says many frank and hilarious things, and inspires self-worth and confidence in Margaret. 

Without any chapters to help me take pauses from the book and long, heavy paragraphs rich in details it sometimes felt like I was lost in a black hole of beauty, only surfacing when I heard my Robert's voice calling to me, sometimes sounding like it was a galaxy away. 

The relationships between the three women are so strong and vibrant, there were times I was nearly overcome with longing for what the women had with each other. Reading this as a teen, I'm sure this made me want to go "haywireflooey" in addition to the myriad of other intense emotions this book inspires. As an adult I better understand these women are fictional and that their relationships with each other are equally fictional and probably pretty darn rare in real life. But man, I still revel in the kind of love shared by these women and completely lose myself in the longing that Kaye Gibbons so masterfully stirs up in me.