Book Chatter

suburbia-my-neighborhood

Last week my What Not post included a piece on suburbia and how it fascinates me. I told you all about the cul-de-sac at the end of my street and how they opened it up to gain access to the main road. The photo above was taken at the end of my street where the cul-de-sac was. There is now a long road heading down to that main road there. Look at all of the homes they built! Sadly, there are many developments like this one all over our city.

In other news, my reading continues on but the changes with WordPress have caused me to stumble a little when scheduling my posts. I am going to take some time today to figure it all out. I spent a long, long time editing my Sunday post last weekend because the new WP editor turned all my images into giant sized ones regardless of their original size. Fun! Totally not.

As you saw from my previous post, my daughter made her college decision. Still waiting on my son’s decision. Acceptances have been coming in but the offers aren’t quite what’s needed. Still so many decisions to be made all around.

My daughter went back to school on Monday. She will be there two days a week for classes, one day for rehearsal and then the rest online. Next week is spring break for her so the timing is interesting. I suppose they wanted to test things out. If anyone travels out of California for break they have been asked to quarantine but it won’t happen. Everything appears to be open here at full capacity which is not how it’s supposed to be. I won’t lie, it feels good to see these businesses open and making up for lost time but I sure don’t want to slide backward again.

What are your plans for Easter? I will cook a meal for Sunday but we will probably hit Saturday’s Easter service. It’s not the same as going on Easter but the crowds will be huge for Easter. No one is coming over, obviously but tomorrow my husband gets his first shot so that’s a step in the right direction.

I will end with this question. The weather is showing signs of summer here. Does your reading tastes change with the weather? If so, what are you moving towards now? Mine don’t really but I didn’t read at all this past weekend and I think it’s because it was just so nice out and I spent a lot of time outside. However, I am reading a really good book right now, We Begin At The End by Chris Whitaker. I hope to finish it today so I can get the review posted next week.

Outlawed
By Anna North
Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781635575422, January 2021, 272pp.

The Short of It:

A rollicking adventure unlike anything I’ve read.

The Rest of It:

In 1894, young Ada is seventeen and newly married to a man she loves but after a year of not getting pregnant, his family wants to know what’s wrong with her. Ada’s mother is a midwife for the town and her advice is to sleep with another man to get the job done. When that proves fruitless and women in town begin to lose their own babies, the finger is pointed towards Ada. Only a witch like Ada would cause such bad luck to fall upon the town.

Ada is heartbroken. She loves her family but also knows from her mother’s wisdom that the town is out for blood and with a young girl killed at the gallows recently, Ada is sent to live at a convent. But at this convent, she learns of a group of people who might be able to help her. The Hole in the Wall gang are a bunch of outlaws who go through their lives thieving but their freedom and sense of community appeals to Ada so she sets out to find them.

This is a Western but not the kind you’ve grown-up with. This band of rebels is headed up by The Kid. The Kid has vowed to protect outcast women but this proves more and more challenging as their supplies dwindle and the Sheriff from Ada’s hometown takes to the hills to look for her.

There are a few surprises which I won’t giveaway here but this was a completely unique story which I enjoyed very much. I will say, that about halfway through it seemed to drag a little. The group gets comfortable and the action ceases but it quickly picks up again. I blew through this story in just a few hours. What a fun, adventurous read.

Content Note:

The story touches on some sensitive topics and at times discusses the baby Jesus. Just so you know, the two don’t always jive with one another. I wanted to mention this for anyone who might be sensitive to it. Think feminism, women’s rights, gender roles, etc.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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