June AlphaKIT - B and K

Welcome to the 2023 AlphaKIT.
This is an unofficial challenge for the 2023 Category Challenge Group. Each month has two letters selected for you to use however you choose.

There are no rules. Just have fun and enjoy reading. June Letters are: B and K

and

Please remember to update the wiki with your reading:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2023_AlphKIT#June:_-_Letters:_B_and_K

I have quite a few twofers for this as well as singletons. I'll wait and see what the other challenges are before I make up my mind.

I am planning on reading There's Trouble Brewing by Nicholas Blake and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr.

I'm planning on reading Horse by Geraldine Brooks and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmener which I've been meaning to get to for ages.

In the midst of moving, here's my list!

Am I Guilty? by Karen MacInerney
Berried to the Hilt
✔Blueberry Blunder
✔Board to Death
✔Brew to a Kill
Clause of Death by Lorna Barrett
Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy
Gone But Knot Forgotten
✔Lemon Curd Killer
Mischief Nights Are Murder by Libby Klein
✔Murder in the Book Lover’s Loft
Scandal At Bletchley

Planning to read The Number Ones by Tom Breihan and Observer by Nancy Kress & Robert Lanza.

At this moment I think it will be:

Ashton Hall by Lauren Belfer
The Cat who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun
A Dresser of Sycamore Trees by Garret Keizer

>7 clue: Garret Keizer was one of my high school English teachers. Probably the kindest and most fundamentally decent person I've ever met.

hmmm. Not sure right now, just dropping by so I can find it again.

>8 KeithChaffee: Thanks so much for letting me know he is as fine a person as everything I've read about him says. I haven't read any of his books, just magazine pieces and I look forward to this book and others.

I haven't yet figured out what I'm reading for the other CATs and KITs, so I will hopefully find something there that would also work here. I do have backups for each letter, though

I'm planning on reading The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King to match up both letters at once :)

I finished Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens, an adorable YA fantasy.

COMPLETED Dog Knows by Neil S. Plakcy

Completed The Incredulity of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

The Vanishing Half / Brit Bennett
3.5 stars

Stella and Desiree are twins born in a small town (Mallard, Louisiana) made up of light-skinned black people in Louisiana. They saw their father beat up by a couple of white guys when they were little, and he later died. At 16-years old, they left Mallard. After living in New Orleans for a while, Stella left Desiree on her own and Desiree never heard from her again. A number of years later, Desiree takes her “blueblack” daughter, Jude, and leaves her abusive husband to head back to Mallard, and when there falls for a man, Early – a “hunter” who looks for missing people. Early starts hunting for Stella for Desiree.

This was good. It was told from different points of view (Desiree, Jude, and later on, Stella, and Stella’s daughter Kennedy), and also different years (primarily the 60s through 80s). It as a bit surprising where Stella ended up (ok, maybe not, as I see it’s in the synopsis, though not mine!). The switch of viewpoints and timelines was easy enough to follow. I guess I kept hoping for a twist or something, but that didn’t really come. I guess I also expected a sort of “big reveal” at the end that also didn’t happen, but maybe that’s more true to life? It was nice to see a trans character written into the story.

>16 LibraryCin: I've read that the author was inspired by Passing by Nella Larsen. I've read Passing, which is a great little book, but was wondering how Bennett's book compares.

Just finished my first B book, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily by Lauren Willig.

>17 kac522: I think most people loved "The Vanishing Half". I might be a minority. It is a book club book, so I'll at least find out what others in my book club think in a couple of weeks. But then, I also tend to rate lower compared to most other people, anyway.

>19 LibraryCin: If you haven't read Passing (1929), it's well worth the read. It's a powerful book (especially for its time), and comes in under 200 pages.

I finished Blitz by Daniel O'Malley. IT was great.

>20 kac522: Thanks, I've seen a few people mention it!

I just finished Aetherbound by E. K. Johnston, an enjoyable YA space fantasy.

B: 18 Tiny Deaths, Bruce Goldfarb.

I read Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman which is a short novella supposedly Christmasy.

Tell it to the Trees / Anita Rau Badami
4.25 stars

Varsha is 13-years old (or 12?) when her half brother, Hemant, is born. Varsha’s had a tough life until now: her mother was leaving her father when she was in a car crash and died. Not long after, her father headed to India to bring home a new bride. Varsha is so scared of her new Mama leaving that she hides Suman’s passport so she is unable to.

Why might Suman want to leave? Abuse. It’s why Varsha’s mother tried to leave. When Vikram (Varsha’s father) decides to rent out the little house behind theirs in this tiny rural area in B.C. a former classmate (whom he does not remember), Anu, comes from NYC in hopes of getting some writing done. While there, she befriends Suman and Vikram’s mother, Akka. And slowly figures out something is wrong with the family.

This was told from many different points of view, including Suman, Anu, Varsha, and Hemant, so we got to see almost everyone’s perspective of what was going on. Varsha became very possessive – she was very controlling (reminiscent of her father?); I initially felt badly for her, but came to quite dislike her. And the end? I liked it although many might not due to it being open-ended, so we don’t really know how it continues or what happens, though I suppose we can guess. I think this would make a good book club book with lots to discuss.

I finished another K book, God Save the Queens by Kathy Iandoli.

COMPLETED The Innocent Anthropologist by Nigel Barley

I knocked out both letters with one book: The Lady Knows Best by Susanna Craig.

I've finished a K and a B/K combo:

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, 4*
Andrea Vernon and the Big Axe Acquisition by Alexander C. Kane, 3.5*

I finished a B and a B/K combo:

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Bees and Their Keepers by Lotte Möller

I have read:
The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lilian Jackson Bruan 3.5*

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo 4*

Starting "Caesar's Last Breath" by Sam Kean

B : The Bear's Tears by Craig Thomas

July thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/351504

I just finished The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold. Loved it, but that's par for the course with Bujold!

COMPLETED Caesar's Last Breath by Sam Kean.

Starting "They Came To Baghdad" by Agatha Christie

Finished The Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani.

COMPLETED They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

I have completed both my AlphaKit reads for June. I switched out my planned K book for A Litter of Bones by JD Kirk, and stuck to my B read with There's Trouble Brewing by Nicholas Blake.

The Golden Tresses of the Dead / Alan Bradley
3.25 stars

Flavia’s sister, Feely, is getting married. Unfortunately, she discovers, in her wedding cake, a severed finger! Flavia quickly ports it away with the intention of finding out who it belonged to and how it got into her sister’s wedding cake. When Flavia and Dogger are invited to tea, they come across the dead body of who would have been their host.

I listened to the audio for this, again. I love Jayne as Flavia, but it’s more the characterization that I love. Like many other audios, unfortunately, it doesn’t keep my attention, so I did miss much of the story. I wanted to try at least one ebook in the series, rather than audio, to see if it held my attention, but (at least this time) my library only had the audio, so audio it was! The mysteries do not seem to be front and centre in any of the books in the series. I’d like to rate it higher, but I think I just missed too much of what was going on to do so.

I finished Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates.

K: A Killing in Costumes, Zac Bissonnette.

Out With It: How Stuttering Helped Me Find My Voice / Katherine Preston
3.5 stars

Katherine has stuttered since she was 7-years old. Her mother tried to get her help when she was younger, but at the time, Katherine just didn’t want to deal confront it. Her family and friends were always supportive, but of course, it was hard when meeting someone new or interacting with people she didn’t know. As she got older, she did try various things to stop the stuttering – to become “fluent”. Nothing lasted – some things might work temporarily, but the stutter always came back. Eventually, Katherine travelled to the US (from England where she grew up) to interview researchers and other stutterers. (Many people prefer the phrase “people who stutter”, but Katherine herself is fine with “stutterer”.)

I thought this was good. I learned a few things: many stutterers have trouble with their names; stuttering is more common among boys/men; most children do grow out of their stutters, but of course not everyone. Katherine was originally planning to write her book as an oral history and focus on the people she interviewed, but there actually ended up not being very much of that in the end; it obviously did turn into her own memoir. She probably could still write that oral history!

The Odor of Violets by Baynard Kendrick works for both letters.

Completed The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver for both letters.

Starting Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

I have read several B and K books this month, will try to update the wiki this weekend.

I just finished The Gilded Web by Mary Balogh. I love the author, but this wasn't my favorite of hers.

COMPLETED Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Currently reading William Blake: Selected Poems by William Blake

I finished the Big Sky by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.

Finished Elevation by Stephen King for my 'K' book.

I also read The Body in the Billiard Room by H. R. F. Keating for the K.

I've finished Small Things Like These by Clair Keegan for my "K" book

Final Assignment / Linwood Barclay
4 stars

Chandler wrote an essay for school that he was suspended for. It was violent and when the story seems to come true, he is, of course, suspected of the crime. Cal, a private investigator, was originally called by Chandler’s mother to help fight the school suspension, but ends up helping solve the crime instead.

This is a short novella as part of Barclay’s “Promise Falls” series and I thought it was really good. I don’t always enjoy short stories, and although (like many other short stories), I would have liked this to be longer (in this case, to draw out the suspense a bit), the mystery was still done really well, though it was much sped up. Barclay continues to be one of my favourite thriller writers.

I just finished The Traitor's Kiss by Erin Beaty, a decent YA fantasy read that works for both letters.

The Library Book by Kate Mosse (Charity) for B.

This was an inadvertent BB from mstrust who initially used the wrong touchstone. It caught my eye because I spotted Alan Bennett’s name in the drop down description. However, there were many favourite authors in this anthology created in support of libraries: Ann Cleeves, Caitlin Moran, Val McDermid, Zadie Smith, and more. The story from Kate Mosse was a hair-raising ghost story. And Alan Bennett’s essay was so typically personal that I could hear his voice. Both interesting and inspirational, this was a very enjoyable read and just imagine, without mstrust’s mistaken touchstone, I may never have found it.

>57 VivienneR: and that's an advertent BB from you to me

COMPLETED Cerita-cerita Bahagia, Hampir Seluruhnya by Norman Erikson Pasaribu

Starting "Ball Lightning" by Cixin Liu

Finished A Short History of Coffee by Gordon Kerr for K.

I finished Battle Mage which was the best sword and sorcery book I've read in forever.

>62 majkia: High praise! *goes off to read the cover blurb*

I finished another K book, Again by Kathleen Gilles Seidel. Really enjoyed the setting, which is behind the scenes at a soap opera set in the Regency era!

For K, I read Killers of the King: the men who dared to execute Charles I by Charles, Earl Spencer
I borrowed this from the library, not to read cover to cover, but so that I might compare Robert Harris's fictional account in Act of Oblivion that I read in May, with the facts as presented by Spencer.

As much as I respect Harris, one of my favourite authors, I preferred Spencer's straightforward and undemanding account, that offered so much more detail, especially of the trial.

Only one B book this month, but it took me half the month to read:

The Betrothed, Alessandro Manzoni (1840)

I finished Birdgirl by Mya-Rose Craig for another B.

The Shining / Stephen King
4 stars

Danny is only 6-years old. His dad, Jack, is out of work, but gets a job at the Outlook Hotel in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado over the winter. It’s a time when the hotel is closed to guests and he will be the caretaker. He, his wife Wendy, and Danny will be the only people there. Unfortunately, Jack is an alcoholic and has – in the past – been abusive toward his wife and son. Little Danny “knows” and hears things – he knows things that will happen, he can hear others like him as they talk to each other in their heads. Dick Halloran, the cook at the Outlook (whom the family meets at the end of the season before the hotel is closed up), is like Danny this way, and calls it “the shining”. Unfortunately, there are ghosts in the Outlook, and the hotel itself has an agenda.

This was a reread. I read it as a teenager in the ‘80s. I have, of course, seen the Jack Nicholson movie, as well as the more recent rendition of the movie. This time, though, I listened to the audio. I really liked it, but I do suspect it would have been creepier (and I would have been less likely to lose focus – though that didn’t happen often, it did happen occasionally) if I’d read the print. But, having already read the print (though it’s been decades!), I wanted to try the audio. And there were still creepy parts, but it’s pretty much impossible to get Jack Nicholson out of my head… or Shelley Duval or the actor who played Danny in the original movie.

Managed to read books by two B authors this month:

Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, by Gyles Brandreth
The Emotional Brain: Lost and Found in the Science of Emotion, by Dean Burnett

I managed to squeeze in one more B book this month, A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Myers. I thought it was just OK, but if you love gothic historical mysteries, you might enjoy it!

I read Once We Were Brothers by Richard H. Balson for B.

I read The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold, for B.

I finished Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley for another B.

Victory In The Kitchen for K.

I finished Here comes the sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn for a B book

I'm running behind posting, AGAIN!

A Dresser of Trees by Garret Keizer
The Year I Stopped to Notice by Miranda Keeling
The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennet