dckathleen's reviews
263 reviews

I read the illustrated version with amazing illustration by Nora Krug, but really the text is so on point for our current moment, so read it either way.  The rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930s is mirrored in the rose of maga flavored fascism now. 

This one is about understanding how otherwise nice, good, smart, people fall for Qanon, even if it costs them their families. It works well for the general rabbit hole of Fox news conspiracy theories etc too.

This was really good and weird and although I suspected what was coming it was still well done. Lots of great observations on race and privilege and community and safety. 

I love her writing about animals. This is an overview of her experiences with birds ranging from cassowaries (basically dinosaurs) to hummingbirds. We learn a bit about each bird's life, their skills, their relationships with humans etc. 

A story about two kids that go missing some years apart, but really a story about intertwined families, patriarchy, privilege, and loss. Really great. 

This was really tragic. On it's surface, this book is about Elvis' only child and her family and relationships. Really this is a book about at least four generations of a family struggling with addiction and depression. I found it sad that endless money didn't get them the help or the sense of purpose that they all sought. 

This was good, it had a great creepy build up. There were things that I wanted to have resolved in a different way, but that's the way it goes sometimes. If you like a bit of house centered Gothic horror, this is for you. 

I read this with my 11 year old. It was great. Loved having a Black main character!

 It's like Harry Potter, but with a young Black girl as protagonist. Talks about a lot of real issues that kids face but in the setting of a magic school. I really liked it and so did my son. (Finished this a while ago, but logged as read in November). 

loosely based on the life of Margaret Meade, this is the story of three anthropologists in 1930s New Guinea. 

Several children have gone missing in medieval Cambridge and the townfolk have decided to blame their Jewish neighbors. The king is mad because keeping the Jewish community locked away in the castle is cutting into his income, so he hires a doctor through his cousin, the King of Sicily. The person who shows up is a female doctor, something that's basically considered witchcraft in England, and she is accompanied by a Muslim companion and a Jewish companion. Mind blowing. She's brilliant and is immediately leaping into action, while pretending she's not the doctor. She investigates and in the process we learn about the community and the politics. This was really good...with the slight caveat regarding the identity of the killer. 

CW: antisemitism and child death