Can't Wait Wednesday No. 88: Last of Her Name, by Jessica Khoury

Welcome to "Can't Wait Wednesday"!

This is a weekly event hosted by

Tressa @ Wishful Endings!

This is also where we excited book bloggers showcase future releases we're eagerly anticipating! 
For more information, 
please click HERE.


There's also a Linky widget, so participating blogs can link up!

Here's my choice for this week!

 Last of Her Name

Jessica Khoury

Hardcover,  400 pages

Scholastic Press

   February 26, 2019

Historical Retellings, Science Fiction, 

Young Adult Fiction

Sixteen years ago, rebellion swept the galaxy known as the Belt of Jewels. Every member of the royal family was murdered--down to their youngest child, Princess Anya--and the Union government rose in its place. But Stacia doesn't think much about politics. She spends her days half-wild, rambling her father's vineyard with her closest friends, Clio and Pol.

That all changes the day a Union ship appears in town, carrying the leader of the Belt himself, the Direktor Eminent. The Direktor claims that Princess Anya is alive, and that Stacia's sleepy village is a den of empire loyalists, intent on hiding her. When Stacia is identified as the lost princess, her provincial home explodes into a nightmare.

Pol smuggles her away to a hidden escape ship in the chaos, leaving Clio in the hands of the Union. With everything she knows threading away into stars, Stacia sets her heart on a single mission. She will find and rescue Clio, even with the whole galaxy on her trail.

 Why I can't wait for this one!

OMG!!!! This is DEFINITELY exciting!!! It's a retelling, and a HISTORICAL one, at that! I have always been intrigued and fascinated by the true story of the Romanovs of Russia, and the long-standing legend (which might, after all, be true) that Princess Anastasia survived the massacre of her family. In this novel, Jessica Khoury cleverly tells the tale again, through the medium of science fiction!! I'm snapping this one up the minute it releases!!!! YAAAAAASS!!!!!

For more information on this author, you can check out her

Goodreads profile HERE!

What do you think of my
choice this week? 
Please leave a comment and
let me know!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Observed in the United States

Every year, in the United States, a special day is set aside in January in order to celebrate the birthday of this great man. His memory shall never be erased in the annals of history. 

King was the charismatic leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, and was born on January 15, 1929. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968.   A Baptist minister, he followed the nonviolent example of Mahatma Ghandi, and, like him, ironically died a violent death.

Dr. King's famous speech, "I Have a Dream", which he delivered at the 1963 Washington, D.C. Civil Rights March, rallied every citizen who truly believed in racial equality. His stirring speeches have been gathered into one volume, titled A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The posts I've done for this day in previous years have focused on Dr. King's literary legacy, as he authored some very important books on the movement he led so well.

This year, I'd like to offer a list of books dealing with the topics of racism, slavery, and civil rights. 

To access information about each book, click on each picture. Here they are!

I'm currently doing a buddy read of this book with a blogger friend, Barb @ Booker T's Farm. If you'd like to know more about this, click HERE!

This novel is rather poignant, because the main character, Justyce McAllister, inspired by the writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., actually starts keeping a journal in which he addresses Dr. King directly. 

This book was the first science fiction novel written by an African-American woman, and is a fascinating combination of time travel, slave memoir, and historical fiction.

This novel incorporates the Civil Rights Movement, and is funny and engaging. The film version was not only hailed by the public, but by critics, as well, grossing over $216 million worldwide. It also won four Academy Award nominations. (Source: Wikipedia) The novel has won several literary awards.

This novel is a 2016 selection of Oprah's Book Club. The author has created a REAL Underground Railroad in this novel, with tracks and tunnels  running beneath the ground in the Southern states. This book won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

This one incorporates magical realism, with paranormal elements, and reminds me a bit of Beloved, by Toni Morrison. 

I have not read this novel, but I HAVE seen the film version, and it was truly a HARROWING experience! The stars were Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. The message of the book and film detail the horrors of slavery, and how these affect the characters, especially Sethe (Oprah Winfrey), the female protagonist.

The book won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

These are all books that deal with the unique and painful reality of the Black experience, told by different authors, from different angles. They are important books to read, especially as we honor the legacy of one man who dared to start a revolution -- without violence -- and himself was a victim of violence as a result. 

We must carry this man's message forward, so that one day, that dream he spoke of so beautifully will truly become a reality! 

Famous Dr. King Quotes

 

"I have a dream that my four little children

will one day live in a nation

where they will not be judged by the color

of their skin, but

by the content of their character."

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness;

only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate;

only love can do that."

"The ultimate measure of a man  is not

where he stands in moments

of comfort and convenience, but

where he stands at times of challenge

and controversy."

"Our lives begin to end the day

we become silent about things that matter."

"I have decided to stick with love.

Hate is too great a burden to bear."

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/martinluth101472.html#45IfF1MShZVIm7EU

Online Links

Martin Luther King, Jr.:Wikipedia

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

The King Center

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day:Infoplease

Martin Luther King, Jr.: BrainyQuote

Book Blogger Hop No. 159: My Pet Peeves With Authors

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop,

hosted by Billy @

Ramblings of a Coffee-Addicted Writer!

For more information, and 

to find out the topic of next week's question, click HERE.

This Week's Question

Is there anything that drives

you bonkers when you're

reading a book that makes you

want to tell the author

a thing or two?

(Submitted  by C. Lee  @ 

cleemckenziebooks)

My Answer

One of my pet peeves is one I've referred to before in another post, and I noticed that Billy also mentioned it in his own answer to this week's question. Here it is: I just don't understand why an author would kill off a beloved character, one that most readers have overwhelmingly grown to love. This happened with a character in the Harry Potter series, and I don't think I've forgiven -- or will EVER forgive -- J.K. Rowling for this! Because of this tragic event, I have not finished reading the series. I stopped halfway through Book 6....... I would like to finish this book, and then move on to Book 7, but I don't know if I can get past that very sad point.....

I know that writers will often kill off characters because they feel this "literary murder" is necessary to the plot, but it's still hard for a reader who loves said characters to accept this......

Another pet peeve I have is when a writer makes a character act inconsistently. If a writer has already established a character's personality as being a certain way, and then, later on in the novel (or short story) makes this character do or say something that, according to his/her already established personality traits, would be totally inconsistent behavior for this character, I just gnash my teeth.....and don't finish the book.

I had this problem with Sarah J. Maas's series, A Court of Thorns and Roses. I only read, but never finished, the first book. Even though the writing was luscious, and I initially liked the main character, Feyre, I HATED what Maas did with her toward the end of the first book in the series, and then, the second book. I never read the second book, though. I did look up the plot on Wikipedia. Ha, ha!! What I read made my blood boil!! I won't reveal what it is in case whoever reads this post has not read any of the books in this series. It's a very popular series, too -- the first book has nearly 300,000 ratings on Goodreads, and nearly 34,000 reviews! I can't FOR THE LIFE OF ME understand why....

One book I started a couple of years ago, and never finished, either, got me VERY upset at the author, Elyse Douglas (this is actually a husband and wife team of writers using a pen name made up of part of each of their own names). The book is titled The Christmas Bridge. I feel I SHOULD give spoilers for this one.

(WARNING: Spoilers ahead!) 

The story seems very straightforward at first -- a story of second chances, in which a forty-year-old widow is going to reconnect with the college boyfriend she had betrayed and abandoned 20 years before. The problem is that, on the eve of her reunion with the ex-boyfriend, she meets ANOTHER guy, and starts a relationship with HIM. So she actually ends up hurting the poor ex ALL OVER AGAIN. Oh, I was FURIOUS!! I actually donated this book to Goodwill, and gave it ONE star on Goodreads. (Nice, unintentional pun, too -- Goodwill and Goodreads. Lol.)

This book actually should have been split into TWO books -- one would have been the story of the widow reconnecting with her old love, and rekindling their romance, and the other, a story of another widow, still mourning her husband, who meets an exciting new man on a day that she's feeling especially depressed, since the holidays are approaching, and she really misses her husband.

(End of spoilers for this book.)

Once again, I was puzzled by all the five-star reviews of this book on Goodreads, although it doesn't have as many as A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Both of these books -- the Sarah J. Maas books (Numbers 1 and 2) and the one by Elyse Douglas -- also had one thing in common that totally IRRITATED me: I was expecting the plot to go one way, which seemed to be logical and consistent according to what had already been established, only to have the author take it down ANOTHER path that just made NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. 

Yet another pet peeve is when an author lets a villain -- who seems to be a GOOD person -- literally GET AWAY WITH MURDER. 

(WARNING: A LOT of spoilers ahead!) 

This was the problem I had with Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier. One of the main characters, Max De Winter, was a very wealthy man who had married a woman named Rebecca, who was a very manipulative, totally heartless, B---H. She dies in a rather mysterious manner, and he later marries a very young, inexperienced woman who is never named in the novel. Well, it turns out that De Winter actually KILLED Rebecca, whom he loathed. The police are investigating, and are on the verge of discovering the truth. De Winter ends up admitting to the murder. To whom? HIS SECOND WIFE. And guess what? SHE HELPS HIM TO COVER UP THIS MURDER. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Yes, this is a classic. Yes, the prose style is absolutely BRILLIANT. Yes, the suspense is excellently handled. BUT. MAX DE WINTER GOT AWAY WITH MURDER. End of story. End of my interest in this book!!!

(End of spoilers for this book.)

As you can all see (if you read the spoilers), I have some rather strong feelings regarding things that authors have done with their novels. Interestingly, these pet peeves all have something to do with the way characters are portrayed. They also have a lot to do with the way a plot is developed. 

What I find pretty funny, as well as fascinating, and yet, altogether appropriate, is that I've gotten SO MAD at these authors, given the fact that these characters and plots are FICTIONAL. These are not real people, nor real events. Yet, I've been passionately involved with them! This goes to show just how POWERFUL the written word is. Not only do novels and short stories have the power to transport us to different worlds and time periods, they also have the IMMENSE power to move us, to provoke us to actual disappointment and anger, which are really feelings of......yes, I have to say it: BETRAYAL. I have felt betrayed by these authors. 

So these things that "drive me bonkers" tell me that I am totally invested in reading, that books and reading are a PASSION for me, and that, when an author's work clicks with me, I will feel a glorious bliss, whereas, when it doesn't, I will feel.....well, everything I've already described. 

As the saying goes, "A reader lives a thousand lives....." And when one of them just doesn't work for said reader, the book is history! Lol.

There. I'm off my soapbox now!!  :)  

What are your thoughts on

this topic?

Please leave a comment! 

If you're participating in this meme,

I'll go comment on your 

own BBH post.

If not, I will then comment on one 

of your blog posts!

Thanks for visiting!!! 

Buddy Read Update No. 1: The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

Hardcover, 444 pages

Balzer + Bray

February 28, 2017

African-American Fiction,Coming-of-Age, Contemporary Fiction, Diverse Reads,

Social Justice, Young Adult Fiction

A three-time winner of Goodreads Choice Awards

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

********************

This buddy read is presented by 
Maria @ A Night's Dream of Books
and
Barb @ Booker T's Farm!!

For this week's post, 
we both read Chapters 1 to 7.

Be sure to visit Barb's blog to read
her half of our "chat"! 
You can access her post HERE!!


Warning!!
This post, as well as that of my fellow
buddy reader, may contain spoilers!
Read at your own risk!!

I am once again teaming up with fellow book blogger Barb!! This time, we're reading a book that has received high acclaim from readers and critics alike, and has been made into a movie that has already grossed over $32 million at the box office.  (Source: Wikipedia) The movie is now available on Amazon, in DVD, Blue-ray, and 4K.

For our buddy read, Barb and I have decided to read certain chapters each week. We'll be posing questions to each other, which we will then be answering in each other's weekly update posts.  Our last post will be a review of the book. Please refer to our Launch Post for the weekly schedule. You can find that post HERE.

So now I'm going to answer this first week's questions from Barb. She, too, will be answering my own questions. The link to her post is above.

Barb: There is a scene where Starr and her friends are playing basketball in the gym and one of her friends makes a comment which Starr interpreted as a racial one. Do you think that was the case or do you think her friend was just being ignorant?

Maria: Well, to be quite honest, I had no idea there was such a thing as a fried chicken stereotype, in reference to African-Americans. I really didn't. 

This is the actual comment made by one of Starr's friends, Hailey, right in the middle of a basketball game in which some girls are playing against a group of boys: "Hustle! Pretend the ball is some fried chicken. Bet you'll stay on it then." 

Hailey could have been just as ignorant as me, except for the fact that this definitely sounds like an intentional, sarcastic dig at Starr. Oh, and I almost forgot -- Hailey unfollowed Starr's Tumblr shortly before this incident, and Starr has been obsessing about that. WHY would Hailey unfollow her friend's Tumblr? Hmmm.... I SMELL A RAT. A BIG ONE, TOO.

The fact that Hailey directed her "joke" specifically at Starr makes me think that she was very much aware of the existence of this stereotype. Heck, Starr is one of only three black people at Williamson, the elite prep school her parents have enrolled her in.

According to Wikipedia, "It is a commonly held stereotype that African-Americans love fried chicken, which race and folklore professor Claire Schmidt attributes both to its popularity in Southern cuisine and to a scene from the film Birth of a Nation, in which a rowdy African-American man is seen eating fried chicken in a legislative hall. The stereotype is occasionally portrayed as "chicken and waffles". Source: Wikipedia)

The intention behind this stereotype was to portray African-Americans as animals. Here's another quote from the Internet article, "How Can Fried Chicken and Watermelon Be Racist? This Might Surprise You", by Franchesca Ramsey. (You can access this article HERE.) Check out this quote: "Fried chicken became the go-to way to make black people look like animals. But the savage, chicken-loving black person wasn’t just a stereotype of the distant past. Until the late 1950s, there was a successful restaurant chain literally called The Coon Chicken Inn. No, that’s not cool."

I suspected that the word "coon", which I previously knew only as the short form of "raccoon" probably had racist connotations, as well. So I googled it. Sure enough, it's a derogatory slang term for a black person. 

So to conclude, it seemed to me that the white students at Williamson tended to be insulated from everything REAL connected to the African-American community. The only black person they knew was Starr. They never set foot in Garden Heights, for example, which is where Starr lives. Therefore, they had no clue as to what the real lives of African-Americans were like. All they probably knew about blacks was the stereotypes. 

Barb:  It seems that the book is trying to make a point (which I figure we'll learn more about as we continue reading). However, do you find it surprising that the author herself kind of used some typical stereotypes for her portrayal of Starr (good athlete, use of slang, etc).

Maria: Well, I think that the author, Angie Thomas, was trying to portray Starr, as well as her family and friends, realistically. However, it would seem that she did engage in some stereotyping herself, not only in her depiction of Starr, but of her family and friends (the ones who lived in Garden Heights). 

I have stated "it would seem" because I happen to work in a high school (although I teach adults in the evening program, and not teens). When I go in to work every afternoon, there are still day school kids hanging around. So, as I'm heading toward the school entrance, I catch snatches of conversations. I hear "the F bomb" quite often, and unfortunately, also "Hey, mah n____r", plus " 'Sup?", and other stuff. I hear this both from white and black kids. This is a public school, too, so I don't know if prep school kids also talk this way. The author of this novel seems to think that they don't, as she contrasts the Starr who lives in Garden Heights (which Starr herself labels "the ghetto") with the Starr who attends Williamson. When she's at her school, Starr makes every attempt to NOT sound like "a ghetto girl". She doesn't use slang, nor typical expressions used by the kids who live in Garden Heights. 

In other words, Starr feels ashamed of her origins. I think Thomas wrote the character this way in order to highlight the cultural differences between African-Americans who grew up in "the hood" and white people, either from the middle class or the upper classes. 

I also think she did this to emphasize -- and I think this is her point, or at least, one of them -- that, when you have a dominant group that has oppressed an "inferior" group for centuries, members of the oppressed group tend to feel ashamed of belonging to this group, and make every effort to distance themselves from it, especially while in the presence of members of the dominant group. It's a psychological defense tactic. 

Barb: Although it's still early, Uncle Carlos is already having to straddle both worlds because, while he loves Starr, he is also in law enforcement and knows "115," the officer that shoots Khalil. I kind of feel badly for him in a way and in a way I don't. What are your feelings about Uncle Carlos?

Maria: So you zeroed in on Uncle Carlos, too! You must have read my mind, because I almost sent you a question about him! 

To be honest, I have VERY mixed feelings about Uncle Carlos. He does seem to love Starr, but, on the other hand, I don't like that he came off as a bit defensive when first speaking to Starr's family about this killing. He seems to be unsure whether to side with his colleagues, who are all cops, or his own niece, Starr.

He definitely appeared to be conflicted. He wanted Starr to clear things up regarding Khalil's death, but..... it REALLY bothered me that he insisted Starr didn't need a lawyer present during her interrogation by the police. Say WHAT?! Isn't it standard procedure for a person to have a lawyer present when the police want to interrogate him/her? At least, this is what I know from watching "Law and Order" on TV. So to me, this was a HUGE red flag. 

You used the right word: "straddle". Uncle Carlos is not quite sure where his loyalties lie. This is bad enough, since he's a black man himself, but the fact that his NIECE is involved makes it even WORSE. He should be protective of her, as well as on her side!

Barb: We're only 7 chapters in and already music is playing an important role in the book. I love music, but have to admit that at times I feel I surprise people with my musical preferences. What about you? Any surprising musical choices? (Most people have trouble reconciling me with my love of Eminem's music.)

Maria: Yes, you're right, music does play an important role in this book. I LOVE that, too!

In answer to your question, I tend to be pretty eclectic. I listen to classical music (my favorite composers are Rachmaninoff and Brahms), jazz, classic rock, New Age music, and electronic music. I also love certain singers, like Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, Janet & Michael Jackson, and Donna Summer. Michael Jackson's music style is also a favorite of mine. Oh, and I also like Cher.

I also LOVE progressive rock. My favorite groups in this category are "Yes", "Led Zeppelin", and "Pink Floyd". 

Some people are surprised when I tell them I enjoy listening to electronic music. This type of music is mostly associated with people in their twenties. I'm not in that age group, lol. But I really enjoy listening to this type of music! I would LOVE to attend an electronic music festival, such as "Ultra", which is held annually in Miami. 

Thanks for the GREAT questions, Barb!!  <3  :)

Blog visitors and regular readers, come on over to each of our blogs every Friday for the next few weeks, as we share our thoughts and insights on this highly-acclaimed novel! Thanks in advance for any comments you might wish to make!  :)

What do you all think?

Have we piqued your curiosity

about this book?

Be sure to let us know!

Don't forget to visit Barb's blog

to get her side of this "chat"!!