libscote's reviews
6271 reviews

A primer on plants.

A basic primer on prairies.

Another fast-paced awesome adventure from April Henry.

I'm not a huge horror person, so you might be surprised that I searched this book out. I am, however, a big "discover woman who was overlooked by history/written out of history by men" person, and this book fits right up my alley. I also can be a bit of a "what was the process of doing this? the process is interesting!" person, which this book also hits. You find out what O'Meara was able to discover about Milicent Patrick and where the questions we'll never be able to answer are. I found this a very enjoyable nonfiction read. 

I don't think I would have read this except it was a book club pick. I'm not sure it's my favorite type of story (I found it started slow) but the themes of great men justifying their lives and then discovering the truth behind it is always interesting. 

Taina's family seems to be falling apart at the seams: her older brother has gone to live with her estranged father after a fight, her mother is working all the time, and her grandmother has dementia. Just before her grandmother's death, she leaves Taina with objects that have been in their family for generations, objects that will help them when their time of need is the greatest. How will Taina know that? What did her grandmother mean? I did appreciate this book's look at the history of the island most of us know as Puerto Rico. I wasn't sure where the title came from in the book, and I thought it took a little while to get up to speed.

I didn't expect to like this book. I'm not much for literary fiction, especially for adults. I even thought the prologue was rough. Once I got past that and into the story, I fell for the people of Dalton. Though I have never lived in northern Maine, it felt right to me. I am excited for the sequel. 

This book is both a biography of Shostakovich and a look at the history of Russian and St. Petersburg, particularly during the 1920s-1950s. For me, I hadn't quite realized how much Stalin's purges put Russia at a disadvantage going into World War II. I hadn't connected the two periods in time in my head the way this book does. Sometimes it feels like the Allies won World War II through luck. I thought I played part of Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony in high school, which is part of why I wanted to read this book. I also love Russian history, so that appeal was there as well. I'm not certain it is the right composer for the piece I played, so if anyone knows any pieces that have two measures of bass clarinet solo with notes that run from below to above the staff, let me know!

If you're curious about what it's like to be a librarian in 2024, read this book.

Mo's life is so sad, yet filled with such love from the family she creates. This book reminds us that some kids get a really unlucky roll of the dice and we may never know that from looking at them. I was glad the author did not let some characters off the hook for their behavior, even though I as an adult sort of emphasized with them.