Brass by Xhenet Aliu

 

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Brass by Xhenet Aliu narrated by Thérèse Plummer and Lauren Fortgang.

Although Brass was published in 2018, Xhenet Aliu is new to me author this year. I'd recently heard about Brass in the past month or so and decided to pick up this contemporary fiction novel based on its reviews. I wasn't disappointed! This novel is both well written and well narrated. Each chapter is told from either Elsie's point of view or that of her daughter, Luljeta's point of view, which I enjoyed. I loved the characters and the storyline for Brass. At it's heart, Brass is a story of mother/daughter relationships and a relationship with oneself. The ending for Brass is open ended, which I usually dislike, but the ending works well for Brass.

Listening time for Brass by Xhenet Aliu is 9 hours, 30 minutes.

Below is the plot summary for Brass by Xhenet Aliu from Audible:

A waitress at the Betsy Ross Diner, Elsie hopes her nickel-and-dime tips will add up to a new life. Then she meets Bashkim, who is at once both worldly and naïve, a married man who left Albania to chase his dreams - and wound up working as a line cook in Waterbury, Connecticut. Back when the brass mills were still open, this bustling factory town drew one wave of immigrants after another. Now it’s the place they can’t seem to leave. Elsie, herself the granddaughter of Lithuanian immigrants, falls in love quickly, but when she learns that she’s pregnant, Elsie can’t help wondering where Bashkim’s heart really lies, and what he’ll do about the wife he left behind.

Seventeen years later, headstrong and independent Luljeta receives a rejection letter from NYU and her first-ever suspension from school on the same day. Instead of striking out on her own in Manhattan, she’s stuck in Connecticut with her mother, Elsie - a fate she refuses to accept. Wondering if the key to her future is unlocking the secrets of the past, Lulu decides to find out what exactly her mother has been hiding about the father she never knew. As she soon discovers, the truth is closer than she ever imagined.

Told in equally gripping parallel narratives with biting wit and grace, Brass announces a fearless new voice with a timely, tender, and quintessentially American story.

I am giving Brass by Xhenet Aliu a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

 

Chaucer's Bookstore Virtual Author Event with Sara Dykman Discussing Her New Book ~ Bicycling With Butterflies

 On Thursday, May 13, 2021 from 6pm to 7pm PDT, I attended another virtual author event hosted by Chaucer's Bookstore in Santa Barbara, California!!

I love butterflies and learning more about these beautiful creatures, so listening to Sara Dykman talk about her nonfiction book, Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201-Mile Journey Following the Monarch Migration.

I learned so much from watching this virtual author event about the monarch butterflies and their migration path. 

Below is a video of Sara Dykman discussing her 10,201 mile journey following the migration of the eastern monarch butterfly.

Sara Dykman is the founder of beyond­abook.org. 

MonarchWatch.org - "Monarch Watch is a nonprofit educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas that focuses on the monarch butterfly, its habitat, and its spectacular fall migration." (Quote is from the Monarch Watch 'about us' page)

Babar's Yoga For Elephants by Laurent De Brunhoff

 

As a toddler, my mother read Babar books to me and I loved them! To this day, I still love elephants a lot. 

My mother gave me the hardback edition of Babar's Yoga For Elephants by Laurent De Brunhoff, when it was first published for the nostalgic factor... Yes, this book is written for children. I love the artwork, cute story, and mostly, I love the images of Babar doing various yoga poses and how we humans can perform each yoga pose too.

I am giving Babar's Yoga For Elephants by Laurent De Brunhoff a rating of 5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

I enjoy reading mystery novels and I also enjoy reading classics for the most part. I've been wanting to read The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett for a few years now and lucky me, it falls into the hard-boiled mystery genre and is a classic novel too.

I listened to the unabridged audio version of the The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and narrated by William Dufris. Too be very honest, I was disappointed with The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. I didn't care much for the story, the characters, or the writing. I'm glad I finally got around to listening to this novel, but would not recommend it. I won't bother reading another novel by Dashiell Hammett in the future.

As far as narrators go, William Dufris wasn't the greatest. He was a bit over the top in performing the various voices for each character.

Listening time for The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett is 7 hours, 5 minutes. 

Below is a the plot summary for The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett from Audible:

Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade is hired to locate a client's sister by tailing the sister's companion. Spade's partner Miles Archer takes on the assignment, and quickly both Archer and the man he was shadowing are murdered. As Spade pursues the mystery of his partner's death, he is drawn into a circle of colorful characters, and they are all after a legendary statuette of a falcon that had long ago been made for King Charles of Spain. Encrusted with jewels, it is worth a fortune. Missing for centuries, it resurfaced in 1921, when it was covered in black enamel to disguise its true value.

The Maltese Falcon is the definitive masterpiece of the hard-boiled detective genre. Humphrey Bogart immortalized tough-guy Sam Spade in the classic 1941 film.

I am giving The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

 

The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens

 

Last year, I learned about author Allen Eskens from another book blogger I follow (Dorothy @ The Nature of Things) and am grateful to have found another great writer I enjoy!! So thanks to great bloggers like Dorothy who share great book reviews with avid readers.

So with the above said, I listened to the unabridged audio version of The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens and narrated by R. C. Bray last month. The Deep Dark Descending is the 3rd novel in the Max Rupert series and I loved this novel from start to finish! If you enjoy tightly written thrillers that you can't put down, then this is the thriller for you! 

As a side note, I have not listened to/read the 1st two novels in the Max Rupert series by Allen Eskens, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not starting with the 1st novel in the series. In other words, The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens reads pretty much like a stand alone novel.

Listening time for The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens is 8 hours, 35 minutes. My only complaint with this audiobook was that I wasn't a huge fan of R. C. Bray as a narrator... He's good, but not great.

Below is a summary for The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens from Audible:

Homicide Detective Max Rupert never fully accepted his wife's death, even when he believed that a reckless hit and run driver was the cause. But when he learns that in fact she was murdered, he devotes himself to hunting down her killers. Most of his life he had thought of himself as a decent man. But now he's so consumed with thoughts of retribution that he questions whether he will take that last step and enact the vengeance he longs for.

On a frozen lake near the US-Canadian border, he wrestles with a decision that could change his life forever, as his hatred threatens to turn him into the kind of person he has spent a career bringing to justice.

I am giving The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens a rating of 5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

Virtual Author Event with Molly Ball, author of Pelosi & Hosted by BookShop West Portal Bookstore

 

There are quite a few Nancy Pelosi biographies on the market currently... And it just so happens that journalist, Molly Ball, wrote one of these biographies titled, Pelosi, last year. Molly Ball spoke with KQED's Marisa Lagos in a virtual author event hosted by Bookshop West Portal on Thursday, May 6, 2021 from 6pm to 7pm.

I enjoyed this lively discussion between Molly Ball and Marisa Lagos about Nancy Pelosi. Molly Ball had a lot to share about Nancy Pelosi including her personal life and what a life force Pelosi's mother was, which I found fascinating.

Have you attended any interesting virtual events lately?

Heather McGhee ~ Virtual Author Event Hosted By UCSB Arts & Lectures

 

I love attending author events and with the ongoing pandemic, it's been fabulous attending live virtual author events!!

I enjoyed hearing Heather McGhee speak virtually through UCSB Art & Lecture's Race to Justice series on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 from 5 to 6pm. Ms. McGhee is the author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together and she is also an advocate and public policy expert.

Heather McGhee conversed with UCSB professor and director of the Center for Black Studies Research, Dr. Sharon Tettegah. I enjoyed hearing how racism effects us all and why we need to work together for the greater good of the nation as a whole to end racism. 

Learning more about Heather McGhee's background and life was also very fascinating and enlightening. I am thankful to have attended such an important and timely topic.

Top Ten Tuesday - My Ten Most Recent Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Top Ten Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Check out my recent reads below! Links are for 8 of the 10 books I've reviewed so far. Enjoy and happy reading!

1. Babar's Yoga for Elephants by Laurent de Brunhoff - As a toddler, my mom tells me that I loved the Babar books and would have her read them to me frequently at bedtime. I don't remember much about the storyline for the Babar books now, but should reread them for posterity sake. However, I did recently read Babar's Yoga for Elephants by Laurent de Brunhoff, which was published in 2006. Cute illustrated children's book on how to do various yoga poses.

2. The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens - I discovered Allen Eskens last year from another book blogger. His writing is fabulous and The Deep Dark Descending is an excellent thriller. I loved it!

3. Splintered by A. G. Howard - Love this young adult novel, which is a Alice In Wonderland retelling. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

4. Such A Quiet Place by Megan Miranda - Contemporary fiction ARC. I didn't like the author's writing. I felt like Megan Miranda was too busy trying to manipulate the reader by trying to get them to feel a certain way or creating a certain atmosphere that felt forced to me. This feeling left me wanting to ditch the novel several times, but I carried onward hoping for a satisfying ending that didn't come.

5. 35 Tips For Writing A Brilliant Flash Story by Kaye Linden - Tips on writing flash fiction and flash nonfiction.

6. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne - Love this classic novel, which felt like both a travelogue and a scientific exploration. I enjoyed the main characters of Otto Lidenbrock and his nephew, Axel. I loved the fantastic things they discover while traveling to the center of the Earth too.

7. Monsoon Mansion by Cinelle Barnes - Coming of age memoir set in the Philippines.

8. The Spirit Is Willing by Max McCoy - Cozy mystery novel set in the 1800s with paranormal elements.

9. Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey -Western pulp fiction/LBGTQ novella. Excellent read!

10. You Are the Guru by Gabrielle Bernstein - Nonfiction self-help book. I love the 6 different messages and exercises to use in order to help one through difficult times.

My reading tastes as you can see are varied!

Sounds Like A Reader's Survival Kit to Me!!