How We Were Before by Jonathan Kravetz; Anatomy of a Murder, Origins, and Aftereffects

 How We Were Before by Jonathan Kravetz; Anatomy of a Murder, Origins, and Aftereffects 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: In my review of Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, I referred to it as a “whatdunnit,” as compared to a “whodunnit.” Instead of figuring out who committed a murder, the emphasis is on the murder and its aftereffects. We may already know who did the murder. Instead the real question is “something violent happened so what are you going to do about it?” 

Jonathan Kravetz’s anthologized novel, How We Were Before is another great example of a “whatdunnit.” It is a Crime Novel with a murder at the beginning and deals with how it impacted multiple characters. 

Elderly couple, Pete and Tara  Blythe, are murdered by Billy Lawson who is arrested, tried, and found guilty. The aftereffects are felt by multiple characters in different chapters. 

The present situations involving the characters alternate with flashbacks that focus on the pair’s lives from their meeting to their deaths at Billy’s hands. 

The narrative challenges the Reader with its complex and intricate storytelling and characterization. It is a testament to Kravetz’s writing skills that he gathers such a large cast and makes each character rich and complete. In each chapter, he recalls the murder and its effect in ways that are fresh and unique every time instead of becoming tedious and repetitive. To accomplish this, he pulls some interesting narrative techniques to engage the Reader in the character’s conflicts stemming from the murder and within their own lives. 

A perfect example of the complexities in this book can be found within the chapters that involve Police Chief Tim Pearson. His dereliction of duty and inactivity towards Billy Lawson’s escalating behavior ended up becoming key factors in the eventual murder. He is later revealed to have had a more personal involvement in the Blythe’s lives and later did and said the wrong thing to the wrong person.The fallout is seen through the eyes of his young son, Louis as Pearson engages in alcoholism and abuse to cope with his own failings and remorse. Louis’ home life becomes more tempestuous to the point that he steals a gun for protection. It takes several chapters and other characters’ points of view before Pearson’s story ends in a violent but inevitable conclusion. 

The aftermath of the murder and public trial are effectively felt by those most prominently affected by it: The Blythe’s daughters, Shelby and Samantha and Billy’s mother, Peggy. Shelby tries to overcome her aching loneliness and grief by finding romantic partners and trying to escape into romantic fantasies. She also begins writing to Billy to understand her own feelings towards him and maybe potentially find a path to forgiveness. Samantha’s journey is much more aggressive and upfront. She tries to maintain a public facade while her marriage is crumbling. She and her husband Carlton are filled with buried rage and simmering resentment that threatens to explode into more violence. 

Peggy Lawson’s story is no less tragic. As the mother of the perpetrator, she has to not only contend with knowing about and fearing her son’s behavior but also being painted as the villain in the story. She withdraws into alcoholism and seclusion only to find that seclusion broken in the worst way by someone who takes advantage of her fragile state. 

The book alternates the present with the past by showing important moments in Pete and Tara’s lives. We see their idyllic meeting and early courtship. We see their troubled marriage and complicated relationship with their daughters and of course we see their inevitable demise. Kravetz writes them as complicated multilayered people filled with many flaws and virtues whose loss becomes even more felt the more that the Reader gets to know them. 

Similarly we also peer into Billy’s character. The book does not absolve him of the murders and he certainly deserves punishment but he is also written as multilayered and thought provoking as the rest of the cast. He is seen as a very troubled young man with very few advantages and an addiction that he can’t control. The moments where he shows his vulnerabilities and self-awareness reveal him as someone who knows what he did and accepts that he will spend the rest of his life paying for it. 

This book doesn’t just feature the people who are immediately involved in either the Blythe’s or Billy’s lives. There are many characters who have a peripheral involvement in the murder but still have their lives greatly affected and altered by it. Vice Principal Zachary Rivers desperately tries to save the life of Barry, one of Billy’s high school friends. Ballet instructor Wendy Watson’s relationships with her students, particularly Shelby Blythe, propel her into a troubled romance. Janey, a homeless woman, develops an unhealthy obsession with Samantha Blythe. Adam Liu, Louis Pearson’s best friend has a front row seat to the implosion of his friend’s family. Matt Foster and Emilia Stone, two reporters covering the murder and trial, get up close and personal to some of the participants and so on.

How We Were Before shows that two lives weren’t the only ones destroyed that night. The murder carried a ripple effect that impacted the lives of many others and will continue to do so for a long time to come.

The Cold Kid Case (A Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery Book 1) by Rosalind Barden; Bet Your Bottom Dollar That This Mystery is Such Fun

 The Cold Kid Case (A Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery Book 1) by Rosalind Barden; Bet Your Bottom Dollar That This Mystery is Such Fun

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Rosalind Barden’s YA Historical Mystery, The Cold Kid Case, is what you get when you give Little Orphan Annie Nancy Drew’s detective skills. You get a charming scrappy kid protagonist and a fun engaging mystery.

Sparky is an 11 year old street smart orphan living in Depression Era Bunker Hill, California. Her life of running errands for a local bookie, picking pockets, stealing food scraps, and hiding in out of the way places is interrupted when she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young girl since Sparky was the one who found the body. Sparky hides out in Creepy House, a mansion owned by Tootsie, an eccentric but kind silent movie actress. Sparky, Tootsie, Tootsie's loyal butler Gilbert, and Sparky’s protective friend Bobby are on the case to investigate the girl’s death and clear Sparky’s name. 

The Cold Kid Case is reminiscent of one of those old Kid Adventure films starring the likes of Shirley Temple, The Little Rascals, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Hayley Mills, Tatum O’Neil, Jodie Foster, Gary Coleman, Aileen Quinn, Sean Astin, Coreys Haim and Feldman, Ke Huy Quan, Macaulay Culkin, The Olsen Twins, Mara Wilson, Dakota and Elle Fanning, or the many kids who front Nickelodeon or Disney shows. They starred precocious kids who have either busy, distracted, neglectful parents, or no parents at all. They are born with smart mouths, plenty of attitude, uncanny survival instincts, and a penchant for finding adventure wherever they turn. Adults are usually clueless or evil. Though there are occasionally good kind adults who help the kids, mentor them, and if orphaned might adopt them. The kid's lives might be in danger but they usually come out on top and often end up in a better situation than when they started. 

Sparky is that type of kid and Borden has fun with her character. Her first person narration is a delight to read with its 1930s slang and tough kid attitude. (“Once (Bobby) tried kissing me. That’s when I socked him good and down he went….Didn’t faze him. He kept on proposing, and telling other kids that I was his ‘girl’ which made me think he warranted another whammo.”) Her savviness in sneaking into and hiding in various spots around Bunker Hill come in handy when she has to run from police officers, violent gangsters, or potential murderers. Even small touches like how we barely learn about Sparky's past, don’t even know her real name or if she even has a real name add to her characterization as a kid who had to survive on her own and harbors no illusions about how the world works. 

In fact, there is an edge to this book that is often found in some of the best Kid Adventures: an awareness of the darker real world that is around these kids. Sure, they have fantastic adventures and more often than not succeed in them but they aren’t without serious conflicts. These kids are often faced with deaths of parents or other family members, poverty, divorce, addiction, family arguments, criminal activity, abuse, and adults who want to kill them and don’t care that they are kids. Often these conflicts surround the adventures, maybe as an instigating factor or exist to make the kids even more vulnerable and unable to rely on the adult world around them. Sure Annie might have sung that “the sun’ll come out tomorrow” but she certainly knew that most of the time it didn't. 

That is at play within young Sparky. It’s hard to avoid the reality of the Great Depression when it’s all around her. She isn’t the only orphaned or abandoned kid and she sees adults unable to survive and fighting for last scraps of a meal or employment at a demeaning dead end job that can only admit five people. If her elders have a hard time surviving in these circumstances, then what chances do kids like her have? In fact, the dead girl’s backstory is such an example. The identity of the murderer and the motive are pretty appalling and become more terrifying the longer one thinks about it. This might be a YA Novel, a Kid’s Adventure, even some form of a Kid’s Wish Fulfillment in many ways but don’t under any circumstances think that it avoids the real world around it. In fact it plunges headlong into it. There is a strong sense of reality and a savage bite within the fantastic proceedings. Sparky knows how the world works. She just chooses to fight against it in her own way. 

Some of the bite of reality gets lost once Tootsie enters the scene but in her own way, she also plays into the Adventure subgenre. Supporting characters in these types of stories, particularly adults, are often broad and larger than life with very little subtlety and Tootsie definitely plays that trope to the hilt. Of course her being a former actress definitely adds to that. If this was a movie instead of a book,  the actress playing Tootsie would reject the catered lunch and craft services and prefer instead to gnaw on the scenery.

She is very melodramatic, vain about her appearance, and often waxes nostalgic about her former roles and stardom days. There is an almost youthful playful innocence like she has the childlike nature that Sparky lacks. Sparky directly faces the reality of the Great Depression while Tootsie prefers instead to get away from it and live in an idyllic fantasy. 

Despite its name, Creepy House is anything but. It is a study in fantastic imagination of what a movie star’s home would look like with its ornate furniture, room sized bathtub, and particularly Tootsie's two stuffed leopards which were once real leopards that she had stuffed (and Sparky loves so much that Tootsie allows her to keep them in her new bedroom). Tootsie’s butler, Gilbert, also plays into this fantastic setting. He is the straight man to his mistress’ comic antics and encourages her while occasionally keeping her grounded and providing some direction to Sparky. He is stern but willingly indulges the schemes of the two women in his life. He provides shelter and alibis when authorities come looking for Sparky and plays along with Tootsie’s elaborate ruse to extract information from a rival actress to help the girl. 

Like Sparky, Tootsie is also never referred to by her real name, though in her case it’s probably for artistic reasons and adds to her eccentricities. While she is clearly concerned about her new young charge, Tootsie indulges Sparky’s investigations even furnishing disguises and at one time appearing incognito to assist her. Tootsie is a maternal figure who is loving but acts like a big kid herself. She offers enough of a safe harbor for Sparky to find shelter and freedom for the girl to be herself and learn from her mistakes. 

It is not too much to assume that some legal papers, a court visit, a new last name and a change of address for Sparky, and a new title that begins with “mo-” for Tootsie are in the duo’s future. Not since Din Djarin and Grogu in The Mandalorian have I wanted to see a surrogate parent/child relationship become an adopted reality more. 

The Cold Kid Case is a fun, bright, sassy mystery that plays into the genre with a lot of wit, bite, and heart. 

The Boy From Two Worlds (The Girl in the Corn Book 2) by Jason Offutt; Contemporary Fantasy Brings Magic and Macabre to Missouri

 The Boy From Two Worlds (The Girl in the Corn Book 2) by Jason Offutt; Contemporary Fantasy Brings Magic and Macabre to Missouri

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I love Contemporary Fantasies and I am always interested in books set in my home state of Missouri, so I feel like Jason Offut’s The Boy From Two Worlds was written specifically for me to read and review. It definitely delivers the magic of a Contemporary Fantasy and the macabre of a Supernatural Horror to the Show Me State.

In 2016, Bobby Garrett rigged a chain of explosives which resulted in the deaths of 462 people in St. Joseph, Missouri. Found at the center of the attack were a couple, Thomas Cavannaugh and Jillian Robertson, and Marguerite Jenkins, who was pregnant with Bobby’s child. One year later, Marguerite gives birth to a boy, Jacob AKA Jakey and Thomas and Jillian move in together. 

Over the next four years some strange things start happening. There are cattle mutilations. Some people are mysteriously murdered in a very horrible and graphic manner. A transient mumbles about some dark force coming. Jillian is acting very distant from Thomas and has a very bizarre conversation with his mother. There are parts of Thomas’ past that he doesn’t remember such as something traumatic that he blocked out, but has to do with his girlfriend. 

Then there’s Jakey. Ever since he was born, there has been something off about him. He has dark eyes with no irises and very sharp teeth, some of which he had at birth. Marguerite laughed when he came out and the boy was born with no umbilical cord and navel already intact. As if his physical abnormalities weren’t odd enough, there’s his weird precocious behavior. He is quite knowledgeable in mature subjects and has a taste for violence. He has a sadistic sense of humor that frightens many around him. It’s no wonder that Marguerite is afraid of and withdraws from her own son. Eventually, all of this creepy weird stuff culminates with the discovery that there is ancient magic afoot and fairies that will use it. But these fairies are far from the pleasant wish granting Disney fairies. Not even close. 

This book is a Grimm Fairy Tale combined with a Stephen King novel and I couldn't be happier that it's set in Missouri. It cannot be overstated how perfect the setting is for a book like this. Not just because Offutt lives in Maryville so knows the territory. Not just because it's my home state which is a huge draw for me. It's because of how much Missouri’s basic averageness plays into the thematic elements of dark sinister supernatural things happening to ordinary average people and scaring the living Hell out of them.

Don't get me wrong. Missouri has its charms with lovely natural settings and interesting tourist spots, and definitely has a complicated and fascinating history. Not many cities like St. Louis boasts a zoo, an art museum, a history museum, and a science center with free general admission and an outdoor amphitheater that hosts musicals during the summer and has free seating. I'm proud to live in the St. Louis area even when I don't agree with much of the right wing politics. But I will also admit there is no better state that emphasizes the “mid” in the Midwest and the “over” in flyover state. 

Missouri is a very thoroughly Midwestern state. Middle of the country. Middle of the road. Very average. I mean a more traditional setting for a Fantasy or Horror Novel would be possible. Take Louisiana which must have "a belief in the supernatural" written in their state constitution. California is certainly off beat enough.  Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft   made quite use of the dark fantastic natures of their states of Maine and Massachusetts respectively. But Missouri is noted for not being very noteworthy.

 State residents may have favorite spots but non residents don't go out of their way to come here. They drive through on their way to other more interesting states. Michael Che summed it up in an SNL Weekend Update monologue: “Missouri is the Show-Me State as in Show-Me-the-Way-to-Chicago.” It is probably only surpassed by Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, and Idaho in overall average normalcy and blandness. Missouri is probably the last place that you would expect something weird, spooky, or particularly magical to happen which means it's perfect.

The clever selection of Missouri as the state setting is only augmented by Offutt choosing St. Joseph for the city. St. Joseph is the home of one of Missouri's most infamous residents, Westerns outlaw, Jesse James and St. Joe is not a town that will let you forget it. The house in which he lived and died is now a Museum dedicated to the outlaw's life and career. Visitors can see his grave, whose epitaph is quite colorful in describing James's death at the hands of Robert Ford. They can even see the bullet hole in the wall that came from Ford's gun and killed James. There are Jesse James Festivals nearby. It is not an understatement that St. Joseph has a huge crush on the man.

The point is not so much outlaw fascination (though come to think of it, that might be a factor) but the idea of locals turning anything into a tourist trap. In my review of Somewhere East of Me by Sean Vincent O'Keefe, I wrote about those strange tourist traps that are found in out of the way locations in flyover average states. They are like these off the wall eccentric bright spots in what would otherwise be an endless sea of boring roads and rural farmland. Not only that but there is something bizarre, off putting, even macabre about them. When you stop to think about it, it is weird that a town pays such tribute to a man who was known for robbing and killing people. 

That's what The Boy From Two Worlds explores: the weird, macabre, and ultimately scary in a very average ordinary basic location. It explores how the people are unprepared for this weirdness. They would be content to work, go to the grocery store to shop and catch up on local gossip, binge watch their favorite show, have a drink or two, and spend quality time with their family or friends before going to bed. 

They are unprepared for a very human tragedy in which a psychopath with skewered views takes multiple lives. They are even less prepared for the otherworldly events that happen afterwards. They are plunged into a nightmare which subverts everything that they ever thought and believed. No wonder that the human characters suffer from alcoholism, addiction, PTSD, Depression, parental withdrawal, paranoia, Schizophrenia and other issues. Even Jakey’s earlier sociopathic tendencies which cause his mother to withdraw from him could be symptomatic of the bizarre otherworldliness which manifested itself before he was born.

The Boy From Two Worlds excels at using its creepy images and storytelling to subvert our expectations. When we first learn about the Garrett Murders, the book has shades of a Psychological Thriller. We also see Supernatural Horror with the strange potentially not human child and the brutal cult-like murders. There are even traces of Science Fiction with the appearance of cattle mutilations and abductions where the victim recalls bright lights, painful surgical experiments, and lost time. Like the characters, the Reader thinks they know where the plot is going based on information from other genres. Then we are left surprised by what approaches.

However, the Horror elements don't end once we learn that Fairies are involved. If anything, it makes things worse

The book has plenty of magic and magical creatures, but it reminds us that these creatures are powerful, menacing, and extremely dangerous. These Fairies have sharp teeth, shape shifting abilities, duplicitous ethics, and a hunger for human flesh. They are less animated family friendly Fairy Tale Faire Folk and more graphic nightmarish early Celtic and Teutonic legend creatures. They are powerful, immortal, hungry, deadly, obsessive and have a whole town of delicious mortals to play with and feast upon. 

The Boy From Two Worlds is a Dark Fantasy that knows exactly how to scare its Readers and offers the right setting in which to do the scaring.

But One Life: The Story of Nathan Hale by Samantha Wilcoxson; Interesting Historical Fiction Novel About Nathan Hale Goes Beyond His Final Words

 

But One Life: The Story of Nathan Hale by Samantha Wilcoxson; Interesting Historical Fiction Novel About Nathan Hale Goes Beyond His Final Words

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Probably if it wasn't for Nathan Hale’s final words, we probably wouldn't know much about him at all. Nathan Hale (1755-1776) was a school teacher who took up arms during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence gathering mission in New York City but was caught, exposed, and eventually executed. His final words were, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” These words proved to be an inspiration to many of the Patriots fighting for American independence and are still remembered as one of the most important quotes in American history.

Just as she did with her previous work, Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl, Samantha Wilcoxson's But One Life: The Store of Nathan Hale, brings to life a historical figure who lived during important times. They are written as regular normal people that are caught in dramatic and tragic events that are beyond their scope. They heed the call, rise to the occasion, and make their mark during their time and for the future.

Wilcoxson never loses sight of Hale’s ordinariness. In fact, that is a key part of this book. Most of the plot focuses on his university years and his teaching career. The Revolutionary War does not even kick off until halfway through the book. His time as a spy only features in the last two or three chapters (more on that later). In fact during University, Hale is seen as a tag along kid brother following his elder sibling Enoch around. This earns him the nickname “Secondus” (Second) to Enoch’s “Primus.” 

Hale is someone who stumbles upon the world at large rather than charging headlong into it. At Yale, he and his classmates which include future spymaster, Benjamin Tallmadge are aware of events like the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party but are not involved in them. Mostly they study and debate whether taxation without representation is unjust and whether they are really considered British or American citizens. Like many college students before and since, Hale and his friends become aware of a larger world around them and discover their political and social identities, emphasizing and sometimes annoying everyone else with them. Their early contributions to  American independence consist of knowing that such a thing is possible and identifying as Americans. They probably never thought that the road to independence would become so bloody and violent. 

Hale’s post-University but pre-Revolution career is a series of ups and downs, some of it affected by the changing world and some of it from his own difficulties. His first teaching job in Haddan Landing is such a disaster that he resigns before Christmas and accepts a much better position in New London. His courtship with Betsey Adams is troubled by contrasting ideals and differing future plans. He even becomes more involved with the concepts of liberty and independence instead of just talking about it. He has the radical notion of educating girls as well as boys so they can embrace the enlightened values of freedom and education. He speaks out in support of the Suffolk Resolves, a declaration that rejected the Massachusetts Government Act  and resulted in the boycott of imported goods because of the Intolerable Acts. When the shot is heard around the world at the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Hale officially enlists. This decision becomes a deal breaker for Betsey who ends their relationship but it leads Hale directly towards his inevitable destiny. 

Hale’s military service is rich in details about the hardships that soldiers and civilians endured during war time. From the freezing conditions, to frequent illnesses, changing orders, disgruntled enlistees, and of course the threat of violence and death in battle, this approach takes out the mindless propaganda and leaves the realism that is involved in warfare. Hale’s hopes boil down to staying alive and hoping that this fight will be worth it in the end. Maybe his country will have its independence and  Hale might gain some significance. It’s only towards the end that both goals come to fruition but not without Hale making the ultimate sacrifice.

While the book does a great job of humanizing Hale’s journey and making him a real person, it also confused me at first. I read most of it wondering when we were going to read about Hale becoming a spy. Why was the most important historical fact about Hale pushed so far towards the back of the book? After all other books like 355: The Women of Washington’s Spy Ring by Kit Sergeant put espionage front and center and Wilcoxson only devotes the final third to Hale’s missions. I was curious until I  read the chapters that covered Hale’s spying. It turns out that he wasn’t really that good at it. 

In Wilcoxson’s laudable effort to humanize Hale and the other early American patriots, she makes the Reader aware of their flaws. While Hale was a dedicated Patriot, an excellent soldier, and probably a terrific forward thinking teacher, he was not so adept at the spy game. In his first and only assignment, he manages to gather some intelligence but his cover is easily blown and he is very quickly discovered. It’s kind of humorous especially compared to Sergeant’s work where Meg Moncrieff Coughlin, Elizabeth Burgin, and Sally Townsend have much more successful multiple missions as members of the Culper Spy Ring and one may have even been the notorious “Agent 355,” one of Washington’s most successful female spies and who still to this day has remained unidentified. I was disappointed when I came upon Hale’s chapters and preferred the rest of the book, but after much thought I realized that was the point. 

Nathan Hale was not some super spy secret agent. He was just an ordinary guy thrust into an extraordinary situation. One that in some ways he was unprepared for, but rose to the occasion anyway. He was someone who was proud to be one of the many who fought and died for his country and ultimately summarized those feelings with the right words. 

Essential Air Fryer Cookbook by Mateja Grigic; The Country Living Bible by Jake L. Bryan; The Complete Beginner's Instant Pot Cookbook by Earl M. Levitt; The Flavorful Plant Based Cookbook for Beginners by Richard S. Stone

 The Essential Air Fryer Cookbook for Beginners 2024: 1900 Days Easy Delicious Budget-Friendly Air Fryer Recipe Book, 15-Minute Homemade Meals for Busy People/Incl. Fry, Bake, Grill Etc. by Mateja Grigic; The Country Living Bible 5-in-1: The Definitive Homesteading for Peppers to Live and Thrive Off the Grid|Including Survival Skills to Stay Independent, Safe, and Healthy by Jake L. Bryan; The Complete Beginner’s Instant Pot Cookbook 2024: A Comprehensive Collection of Easy and Delicious Recipes for Novice Cooks, Designed to Enhance Your Kitchen Experience by Earl M. Levitt; The Flavorful Plant Based Cookbook for Beginners: 1000+ Days of Exciting and Mouth Watering Recipes to Spice Up Your Plant-Based Meals and Create a Healthier Lifestyle by Richard S. Stone

The Essential Air Fryer Cookbook for Beginners 2024: 1900 Days Easy Delicious Budget-Friendly Air Fryer Recipe Book, 15-Minute Homemade Meals for Busy People/Incl. Fry, Bake, Grill Etc. by Mateja Grigic 

If you have an air fryer and are looking for meals to cook on it, then The Essential Air Fryer Cookbook for Beginners 2024 offers some interesting ideas.

The introduction offers some of the  benefits that cooking with an air fryer can bring. Such benefits include “Healthier Cooking,” and “Reduced Calories” both by using less oil. They are also described as “Time Efficient” and “Energy Efficient” by cooking faster and reducing energy consumption.

As with many cookbooks, this book provides plenty of varied recipes for "Breakfast, Family Favorite, Fast and Everyday Favorites, Fish, Seafood, Beef, Pork, Lamb, Poultry, Snacks and Appetizers, Vegetables and Sides, Vegetarian Mains, and Desserts." 

The recipes offer some potentially delicious ideas for various meals. They include “Greek Bagels,” “Chinese-Inspired Spareribs,” “Easy Devils on Horseback,” “Moroccan Spiced Halibut with Chickpea Salad,” “Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Pork Chops,” “Honey-Glazed Chicken Thighs,” “Mozzarella Arancini,” “Garlic Cauliflower with Tahini,” “Stuffed Portobellos,” and “Tortilla Fried Pies.”

An air fryer is a useful cooking appliance and this book is a great companion for it.

The Country Living Bible 5-in-1: The Definitive Homesteading for Peppers to Live and Thrive Off the Grid|Including Survival Skills to Stay Independent, Safe, and Healthy by Jake L. Bryan

Some people dream of living a simple life off the grid. Whether they are concerned about the destruction of the environment, are distrustful of government overreach, have religious or cultural reasons, are nostalgic for the past, or just simply crave a slower pace, living off the grid is a sought for dream. Jake L. Bryan’s The Country Living Bible is an ultimate guide for those who long for a simpler life in a complicated world. 

The book is actually five books in one that takes Readers through the various facets on rural living. It includes chapters on selecting and building a homestead, growing, preparing, and storing food, emergency preparedness, survival skills, energy and water solutions, home maintenance and repairs, safety and security strategies, and holistic, alternative, and natural medicines and remedies. This is a book that caters to one’s physical, mental, and emotional well being while undertaking such a monumental task. 

Many of the chapters stress simplicity and living off of the land. High prices at the grocery store? Grow your own food. Concerned about increased carbon footprints? Use solar, hydro, and wind energy. Concerned about the constant stream of technology and misinformation? Use public WiFi services like the library or pay for a limited basic connection.This book gives clear directions and step-by-step processes on how to do such things. 

Some of the more interesting parts include sections that talk about security and health services. The security chapters cover such things as monitoring and using surveillance around the properties. Above all, an important factor is to trust the neighboring community to assist in protection. People assume living off the grid means living completely separately and away from everyone else, but Bryan shows that the strongest off the gridders actually have thriving communities where people communicate and work together. 

The health section includes various plants and herbs for remedies, fitness routines for exercise, and stress management techniques to improve mental health. While it offers advice on how to apply first aid and treatments for simple illnesses and injuries, it doesn’t dismiss medical treatment offhand. By all means, it says if there is a complex injury or a serious illness, contact emergency services immediately. It’s nice to know that even though one desires to live outside of modern society, the modern society is still there in case help is needed.

Off the grid living is not recommended for everyone. But for those that are interested and are willing to pursue it, this book is a strategic helpful guide on how to get started.

The Complete Beginner’s Instant Pot Cookbook 2024: A Comprehensive Collection of Easy and Delicious Recipes for Novice Cooks, Designed to Enhance Your Kitchen Experience by Earl M. Levitt

For cooks who are just learning or who are looking for a healthy easy meal, Readers may want to check out Earl M. Levitt’s The Complete Beginner's Instant Pot Cookbook 2024. 

This book has a nice variety of foods. Everything is present from Breakfast, to Poultry, Beef, Pork, Lamb, Fish, Seafood, Snacks, Appetizers, Vegetables, Sides, Desserts, Stews, and Soups.

The recipes are plentiful and delicious. They include diverse meals such as “Breakfast Millet with Nuts and Strawberries,” “Cajun Chicken,” “Rosemary Lamb Chops,” “Poached Salmon,” “Bok Choy Salad Boats with Shrimp,” “Indian Okra,” “Traditional Cheesecake,” and “Chicken Enchilada Soup.” 

The Complete Beginner's Instant Pot Cookbook is a great book for those who want a fun, delicious, and easy meal

The Flavorful Plant Based Cookbook for Beginners: 1000+ Days of Exciting and Mouth Watering Recipes to Spice Up Your Plant-Based Meals and Create a Healthier Lifestyle by Richard S. Stone

If you are interested in a vegan diet, then you may want to try Richard S. Stone’s The Flavorful Plant Based Cookbook for Beginners. It’s a nice variety of recipes as well as providing tips and benefits of a plant based diet. 

The first chapter is detailed even before the recipes begin. Benefits such as lower risk of chronic diseases, better weight management, environmental sustainability, and ethical considerations are explored. This chapter also includes ingredients and seasonings, tips for maintaining a healthy diet, cooking techniques, tools, and ways to prepare and plan meals. There are also tips for travel and dining out like trying ethnic cuisines, don’t be afraid to ask for a plant based menu, and don’t stress if there aren’t any plant based options. 

The recipes take Readers through Breakfast, Basics, Beans, Grains, Desserts, Vegetables, Sides, Snacks, Appetizers, Salads, Stews, Soups, Staples, Sauces, Dips, and Dressings. They include interesting menu options like “Banana, Date, and Coconut Muesli,” “Mama Mia Marinara Sauce,” “Hearty Veggie Hoagies,” “Cherry Chocolate Bark,” “Garlic Mashed Potatoes,” “Sunshine Everything Crackers,” “Greek Salad in a Jar,” “‘’Don’t Waste the Good Stuff’ Squash Soup,” and “Dreamy Lemon Curd.” The variety of meals show that there are many ways to prepare vegetables. 

This book gives a variety of recipes that not only offer tasty meals but encourage healthy eating, 

June's Schedule

 

This is the kind of month that I like! I may have had a late start but not only did I finished the reviews right on time, but I posted the most articles in 2024 so far this month!

Devil Cries Stones: A Memoir Book 2 by Tina Scotoy 

But One Life by Samantha Wilcoxson

Virtuous Women by Anna Goltz

The Boy From Two Worlds by Jacob Offut

Freeze Frame by Rob Santana 

Soul of a Shoemaker by Susan Cork 

The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls by Emilie Autumn

The Unholy Trinity A Collection of 99 Stories by L. Marie Wood

The Word Thieves by Carol Riggs 

How We Were Before by Jonathan Kravitz

Conduit to Murder: An Inspector Sheehan Mystery Book 6 by Brian O'Hare

The Counterfeit Zombies of Noc (Guts and Glory Freedom Fighters of Nil Book 2) by Jessica Crichton

The Essential Air Fryer Cookbook for Beginners 2024: 1900 Days Easy Delicious & Budget-Friendly Air Fryer Recipe Book, 15-Minute Homemade Meals for Busy People/Incl. Fry, Bake, Grill, etc. By Mateja Grigic

The Country Living Bible 5-in-1: The Definitive Homesteading for Peppers to Live and Thrive Off the Grid|Including Survival Skills to Stay Independent, Safe, & Healthy in Uncertain Times by Jake L. Bryan 

The Complete Beginner’s Instant Pot Cookbook 2024: A Comprehensive Collection of Easy and Delicious Recipes for Novice Cooks, Designed to Enhance Your Kitchen Experience by Earl M. Levitt

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Well that's it. Thanks and as always, Happy Reading.

Tipani Walker and The Nightmare Knot by Jessica Crichton; A Dream Come True for Fantasy YA Lovers

 

Tipani Walker and The Nightmare Knot by Jessica Crichton; A Dream Come True for Fantasy YA Lovers  

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Now, we come to the second Jessica Crichton novel, Tipani Walker and the Nightmare Knot. If possible, it is actually better than Dr. Fixit’s Malicious Machine, particularly in terms of setting. character, most notably with its protagonist, Tipani Walker, and themes about the difference between living in fantasy or accepting reality. 

12 year old Tipani Walker has a difficult home life. Her father is in a coma. Her mother falls into a drug addiction which is provided by a man that Tipani calls The Spoon Man. She is frequently bullied and made the victim of a cruel prank at her school Science Fair. She stops inside an antique store and meets its eccentric owner, Piper, who gets her interest by appealing to her talents of making complex knots. After experiencing vivid dreams and some strange encounters with mysterious creatures, Piper reveals that Tipani is a Weaver able to travel through Time and Space into what Piper calls the Day Knot (memories) and the Night Knot (dreams). As a Weaver, her job is to protect people’s dreams. During her dream travels, Tipani encounters various characters both friendly and unfriendly, most notably Cassie, a girl who may or may not be part of a dream or a real person, may be in a lot of trouble, and might need Tipani’s help. 

This book is a veritable feast for the imagination. While Dr. Fixit’s Malicious Machine subverts Children’s Book expectations by giving us a very grim dark parallel universe, Crichton puts us right into those expectations of a magical fantasy world and weaves an excellent challenging story around it. I am someone who is fascinated by dreams, dream psychology, dream interpretation, and astral travel so this book definitely appeals to those interests. 

The Dream Worlds that Tipani visits alternates between whimsical and terrifying, beautiful and horrible, fantasy and horror. They’re mutable and constantly change landscapes, characters, and situations depending on what either she or the Dreamer is going through. The longer Tipani stays in a dream, the scarier and weirder it becomes. This is symptomatic of when a Dreamer enters different levels of REM sleep, they have less control over their dreams and their subconscious thoughts and fears manifest themselves. 

There are many chapters that show this. In one trip, Tipani and her guide, a doll named Chicken, encounter the Spoon Man who is transformed into a monster. He is terrifying by playing into Tipani’s fears and insecurities about abandonment and loneliness. Then upon escaping, Tipani and Chicken meet Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, the characters from the eponymous poem by Eugene Field. The poetic trio are charming, kind, and helpful. Their wooden shoe boat sailing among the stars is the stuff of childhood nostalgia while the Spoon Man is the stuff of childhood fears. Exploring the dreams is a trip into Tipani’s mind and discovering what comforts and frightens her, what she hopes for and what she wants to run away from. This book is a fascinating psychological study wrapped inside an engaging YA novel. 

Crichton’s characters are as rich as the setting. There is the kind and helpful Piper who is a wise teacher and a potential father figure. Chicken gives plenty of assistance with a touch of sardonic humor. Cassie is in a quandary of her own, forced into playing a role in which she is unhappy to play and only able to truly be herself within her own mind and through her friendship with Tipani. The Spoon Man is a monster who knows what those around him fear and worry about and doesn’t mind using it against them. 

Tipani by far is the most intriguing character and is a brilliant protagonist. Since she is 12 years old, she is certainly an angst filled adolescent who at times cops a bad attitude but with her difficult home life, it’s easy to understand why. After all, if you are facing some of the most difficult years of your life, your father is ill, mother stopped caring, and you are surrounded by classmates who want to fight you if they so much as look at your direction, you would probably not be in the best of moods either. 

Tipani is also a very intelligent and persistent girl. Once she is introduced to the concept of being a Weaver, she is curious and willing to participate. She recognizes the responsibilities that she has in helping people through their dreams and fighting their inner fears. In fact, when she befriends Cassie through her dreams, she wants to find her in the real world to see if she needs help in her waking life as she does in her dreams. 

Tipani's intelligence is already realized even before she becomes a Weaver. Her interests lie in creating complex knots like the Not Knot (unable to be untied except by the one who tied it) and learning to undo other knots like the Rapunzel Knot (long and wrapped in braids). This gives her the ability to analyze and recognize patterns, a talent that is helpful when she recognizes patterns within the dreams. This knowledge comes in handy when she has to stand up to the monsters that torture Cassie and herself. 

For all of its monsters, fears, magic, and whimsy, Tipani Walker and the Nightmare Knot is a very powerful story with some very strong things to say about the nature of dreams and reality. Sometimes our lives are terrible and we want to live inside our dreams. There we live the way we want and if things don’t work out, we can always wake up. But it’s not enough to live inside of dreams and memories. Tipani realizes that she has to take action to find and rescue Cassie, to encourage her to live her truth, and for herself to fight her own battles. Once dreaming is over, it’s time to start doing. 

With a memorable setting, commendable characters, and brilliant themes, Tipani Walker and the Nightmare Knot is a definite dream of a YA novel.