tbr – INGRID E FABER

GoodReads Monday: “The Resisters”

Posted on March 2, 2020March 1, 2020 by iefaber

Goodreads Monday is a great way to talk about a book from your TBR list. Originally started by Lauren’s Page Turners, most people do these weekly, (such as Confessions of a YA Reader who partakes in several fun blog themes) I prefer to do mine monthly and this month I chose something a little different from my norm.

Gis Jen’s “The Resisters” is a science fiction dystopian novel that weaves in baseball as a part of its theme. I’ve only recently heard about this book

while driving and listening to NPR’s Fresh Air on the radio. Maureen Corrigan gave a compelling review and synopsis of Jen’s book and I decided I’d like to give it a try. You can read her review here if you’d like, otherwise, here’s the blurb from the Goodreads website:

The Resisters by Gish Jen

An audacious marvel of a novel about baseball and a future America, from the always inventive and exciting author of The Love Wife and Who’s Irish

The time: a not-so-distant future. The place: AutoAmerica. The land: half under water. The Internet—the new face of government—is “Aunt Nettie”: a mix of artificial intelligence, surveillance technology, and pesky maxims. The people have been divided, and no one is happy. The angel-fair “Netted” still have jobs and literally occupy the high ground, while the mostly coppertoned “Surplus” live on swampland if they’re lucky, on the water if they’re not.
The story: To a Surplus couple—he was a professor, she’s still a lawyer—is born a Blasian girl with a golden arm. At two, Gwen is hurling her stuffed animals from the crib; by ten she can hit whatever target she likes with a baseball; her teens find her playing happily in an underground Surplus league. When AutoAmerica re-enters the Olympics—with a special eye on beating ChinRussia—Gwen attracts interest. Soon she’s at Net U, falling in love with her coach and considering “crossing over,” even as her mother is challenging the AutoAmerican Way with lawsuits that will prove very dangerous.
An astonishing story of an America that seems only too possible, and of a family struggling to maintain its humanity in circumstances that threaten their every value—even their very existence.

Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday: My Jasper June

Posted on February 3, 2020February 3, 2020 by iefaber

“My Jasper June” caught my attention with its summer magic theme which of course was my favorite time of the year when I was younger. Also, the theme of dealing with loss is one I am keen on reading especially from a middle-grade book.

Here is it’s Goodreads blurb:

My Jasper June by Laurel Snyder

The school year is over, and it is summer in Atlanta. The sky is blue, the sun is blazing, and the days brim with possibility. But Leah feels. . . lost. She has been this way since one terrible afternoon a year ago, when everything changed. Since that day, her parents have become distant, her friends have fallen away, and Leah’s been adrift and alone.

Then she meets Jasper, a girl unlike anyone she has ever known. There’s something mysterious about Jasper, almost magical. And Jasper, Leah discovers, is also lost.

Together, the two girls carve out a place for themselves, a hideaway in the overgrown spaces of Atlanta, away from their parents and their hardships, somewhere only they can find.

But as the days of this magical June start to draw to a close, and the darker realities of their lives intrude once more, Leah and Jasper have to decide how real their friendship is, and whether it can be enough to save them both.

Goodreads Monday

GoodReads Monday (November)

Posted on November 4, 2019December 30, 2019 by iefaber

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. It’s a great way to talk about a book from your TBR list and just kind of show it off. Instead of weekly, I do them monthly. Today I choose a picture book because I haven’t talked about one in a while even though that’s what I am currently writing! I read through them so fast I don’t always get to talk about them. This book, however, has been on my list for a while and I have yet to pick it up and it’s too new to be in a library. So here it is, my Goodreads pick of the month.

The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

“At a time when over 65 million people are forcibly displaced around the world, this beautifully illustrated and wise, gentle tale of tolerance and kindness for fellow humans resonates deeply. I hope all parents share The Suitcase with their children.” – Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner

“A simple, powerful way to introduce the idea of kindness to strangers to young children” – Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo

Have you read this yet? What did you think about it? And what other new Picture Books are you looking forward to reading? I’d love to know.

Goodreads Monday, TBR list

Goodreads Monday (October)

Posted on October 7, 2019December 30, 2019 by iefaber

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. It’s a great way to talk about a book from your TBR list and just kind of show it off. Instead of weekly, I do them monthly. This month is a YA novel that’s been on my TBR list for some time. I am currently reading “Kidnapped” by Robert Louis Stevenson and although they are only on a ship for the beggining of the story, I’m feeling the seafaring vibes. This book I’m featuring for my October Goodreads Monday is not only a pirate type story, but I also hear it features an almost all female cast. It’s also a series that could be fun (or time sucking) if I end up enjoying it once I get my hands on it.

So here it is, my October Goodread pick from my TBR list.

Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric’s armed and armored fleet.

But when Caledonia’s best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all . . . or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?

Goodreads Monday, TBR list, true story

Goodreads Monday (august)

Posted on August 12, 2019December 30, 2019 by iefaber

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. It’s a great way to talk about a book from your TBR list and just kind of show it off. It’s supposed to be every Monday but I tend to do this post just once a month. My last Goodreads Monday was a picture book I still haven’t read and in fact, most have been children’s books of some kind, however, today is different. Today I am talking about an adult book, historical fiction to be exact.

Back in 2015, I began reading War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy. As expected it’s a tough read and it was easy to put down. I began taking breaks and reading other books. This caused me to really slow down my progress. About two years in I decided to stick with only children’s books between Tolstoy’s “chapters” and this way I wouldn’t get stuck on anything too long. Hence, it has been a long while since I have read a book not for children and not Russian Literature. I am excited to move on.

Not only is this on my TBR list, but it’s actually at my library right now, on hold waiting for me to pick it up. I choose historical fiction because that seems to be one of my favorite genres. Probably why I was able to enjoy more than half of War & Peace; I’m a history nerd and love learning while reading stories.

Without further ado, here is this month’s Goodreads selection:

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly.

Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this debut novel reveals a story of love, redemption, and secrets that were hidden for decades.

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.

An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.

For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.

The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

I have heard mixed reviews about this book but I am very excited to get my hands on it and start a new adventure.