Links I love

 

We made it to the end of another week!  I hope that you've enjoyed your down time.

1. 1. 42 Year Old cold case solved using genetic genealogy.
2. President Obama (finally) releases his summer reading list.
3. Tupac's murder just got some legs.
4. Second Life continent scanned as a 3-D model - pretty cool.
5. RIP Tony Bennett, Sinead O'Connor and Randy Meisner
6. A look at Sicily's fish market. I want to go to Italy so bad.
7. LISK caught?
8. Matcha and cognitive benefits.  I just had Golden Milk for the first time, which is Turmeric and usually cinnamon in a latte and it was so good.  I got it at Crumb Bum in Littleton.
9. Some books are made for summer.
10. THis is reminiscent of Sherri Papini.
11. New app gives free access for banned books.
12. The Women in the narco trade.
13. Kevin Spacey is cleared of sex cases in London
14. Autumn romances for those of you who like them.  Autumn is my fav season.
15. Books set in Scotland.

REVIEW: Summer on Sag Harbor by Sunny Hostin

 

I was about a chapter in when I realized that this was the second book in a series but oh well - I was able to read it as a stand alone, which was reassuring!  I picked it up because I'm very familiar with the area having spent most summers there since I was three (I'm 44 now). It's written by Sunny Hostin, a familiar face for those of you who watch ABC. 

Sag Harbor is an actual place on the East End of Long Island and within that village, there's a enclave known as SANS - Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest and Ninevah - an historically Black community. It was the part of the village where the free Native American and Black people lived in colonial times and in modern times, many Black families have purchased homes in that enclave.  It's very close knit and beautiful. In this book, Olivia inherits a home in SANS. At the same time, developers discovered SANS and are moving to "gentrify" the area (also a very current and important real life event). When Olivia gets there, she's mourning the loss of her Godfather, a man that she loved but who she also realized kept a lot of information about her own family from her (causing her to grieve that relationship as well). As the result, she's motivated to find out what happened to her family, including the death of her father as a police officer and she does it from SANS.  During her time there, she also meets a number of people and reevaluates her purpose in life.

I very much enjoyed this quick read.  I enjoyed being able to see the places that Olivia went to in my head because I knew exactly where she was. I could hear the sounds and smell the smells and see what she was seeing. I read this book in one weekend.  While it's not complex insofar as the messages it was sending regarding preservation of community, relationships and definitions of family it was effective.  Anyone could pick it up and receive the messages.  

I don't know that I would read Ms. Hostin's first book, but this one was definitely enjoyable. 

REVEW: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

 We meet Iris Chase Griffen when she is 82 and she is reflecting on the death of her sister, Laura, which occurred approximately 50 years earlier. Initially, it appears that the novel is a memoir, in which Iris is simply writing down her memory of what happened in the hopes that it might be explained to her granddaughter. However, also merged with Iris' narrative is Laura's fiction - a tale of The Blind Assassin which is a science fiction tale. It is deliberately trashy and pulpy - appropriate given that it was the thirties (and this sort of fiction was popular then) and given the contrast with Iris' tale which is very, very proper. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel - I'm not particularly neutral because Atwood is admittedly one of my most favorite authors but this was good.  The blending of the stories was very smooth - seamless even - and they provide clues about what is going on insofar as the characters in the story. I loved the themes - which relate to a person's desire to be seen and memorialized, what is the truth and who decides what the truth really is? I enjoyed how Atwood used historical events - such as WW1 and WW2 - as well as the seasons and weather as a backdrop.  This allowed me as the reader to fully immerse myself in the lives of the characters and provided me with invaluable context. The layers are complex and interesting.  

Definitely worth a read - or two - I intend to re read it again!

Links I love

Another few weeks done. I'm way behind on reviews - I have at least two to do.  Sorry!  I was away during the week of July 4 - we were hiking in the White Mountains. I took the below picture from partway up Zealand Falls.  It's my new happy spot. 

1.  Five of the best books on social justice and crime. 
2. Five of the best books on Iceland.
3. What we know about the Titanic submersible disaster.
4. Best gifts for book lovers.
5. Female detectives who changed the game.
6.  Blueberry lemonade - yummmm
7. 20 Epistolary novels that are fantastic
8. All of Jaskier's Witcher songs ranked.

 Have a great upcoming week.