Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing--#10 finished

This is a series of essays by author about herself.  A really interesting read--the author's early life was within a cult with her older sisters and then a younger brother.  Her mom was able to escape the cult with Lauren the youngest sister & author and her younger brother.  Her older sisters stayed with their dad in the cult at that time.  Her mom and then step dad went back into the cult for a few years but again she got out.  This screwed up her childhood and as you read also screwed up a lot of her outlook on life.  Lauren is also a lesbian and in the late 1990s to early 2000s the don't ask, don't tell policy in the military was the case.  Well she joined the Air Force as a way to get away from family and try to set off on her own life.  Obviously struggles here as well.  Struggles with jobs and relationships as well but seems like she is now in a much better place--at least hope so with this book she has written.  A really strong read and interesting perspectives.

 There are 11 WL for this book in PBS but right now holding onto it and loaning out to others to read.

Dune--#9 finished

 I finally got around to reading Dune and it is enjoyable.  I did see the recent movie--part 1 that came out & surprised at how much it followed the book.  Long ago I had seen parts of the 1980s movie--was it Sting as the star(?), not sure but really don't remember much of that.  A good story and characters.  I know that several more books in series were published but I doubt I will continue, not as much a sci-fi fan and would rather read other things.  I do include this book as part of my "classic" books I want to make sure reading more this year too.  The 2nd part of the new movie on Dune is coming out within weeks so will make sure to watch that as well.

There are 4 WL for this book but this is a nice hard copy edition that was given to me as a gift so I am keeping this copy.

Beyond the Shadow of the Senators--#8 finished

 The rest of the title:  The Untold Story of the Homestead Grays and the Integration of Baseball.  A good read with a lot of interesting history of the Negro Leagues.  It is focused on Washington DC and the relationship with the owner of the Senators Griffith and the Negro Leagues, especially the Homestead Grays.  The Grays were started and had home games in Pittsburgh but the owner was able to lease open dates in DC where there was a large African American population and they were able to get more fans into these games--making money for both the Grays and the Griffiths.  This success actually caused both of these owners to not push for integration into MLB because they would lose out.  I am not sure Cum Posey--owner of Grays and Griffith--owner of Senators really influenced integration that much.  I think MLB commissioner Landis and a handful of owners were the bigger issue but this book brought out a lot of the inside issues going on at the time.  A really good read about an interesting time in baseball.

There were no copies in system so I posted it right away and it has already been requested so I will get it mailed off later this week.

Take the Mic--#7 finished

The rest of the title: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance.  This is another short story book and a few poems thrown in as well of modern people and problems.  It is a book marked Teen--I didn't see this until after I had started it but could tell by focus on younger people.  People maybe on the fringes of their schools--Native Americans, African Americans, LGBTQ+, Jewish and others I am sure I am missing.  Good quick and interesting reads.  Geared for people younger than me but still a good read to remind me of what younger people are going through today.

There are 2 WL for this book so will probably post and mail off pretty soon.

Great Russian Short Stories--#6 finished

 A good selection of short stories by Russian authors--Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev, Saltykov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Kuprin, Gorky, and Andreyev.  Some are really good and memorable, others well not so much but still entertaining when reading.  Not a quick read for sure, this like most Russian novels I have read, you get a sense of accomplishment once you are done.  

This is a keeper for me so will be staying on my bookshelf.

Casting Lots--#5 finished

 The rest of the title is:  Changing a Family in a Beautiful Broken World.  The author says she was raised by atheists and she is now a Rabbi.  An interesting story of her life but then also throw in once married she wanted to adopt as well.  Her husband and her already had 2 very young girls when they adopted a baby by from Ethiopia.  They then had another girl and then adopted another young boy from Ethiopia.  She is open about talking about the struggles in her life and family with this but how she was really interested in adopting and wanting to help children in tough circumstances to have a better life opportunity.  A really inspiring read and glad to have read it.  Adopting children is a great thing and takes special people to do this and glad her family committed to this.  FYI she is also the older sister to Laura Silverman--an actor and writer, just read a short story by her in another book just finished and their youngest sister Sarah Silverman comedienne and seeing her on a bunch of commercials about a new show she has coming out.  I didn't figure out Sarah Silverman and author were sisters until halfway or more through the book--kind of funny.

There is 1 WL for this book so will try to post & mail off pretty soon.

Sierra Six--#4 finished

 This is the next in the Gray Man series.  A really good series about a sort of spy that falls in favor & out of favor with the US.  This time he is out of favor and his hired as mercenary type for a smaller job but on it he finds a person he thought long dead, an evil person that he now needs to track down & kill.  Tracking takes him to India and eventually he stops a dirty bomb from going off and saves the day.  The book is written that every chapter or so jumps back in time to show what Court was doing then and also why this was such a bad guy.  Good read that fills in some backstory on Court as well.  Good read and good series.

I have the next one in series already too so will probably read it before posting this one and the prior one--maybe can send all 3 off at same time.  There are 10 WL for this book.

Ballots and Bullets--#3 finished

 The rest of the title is: Black Power Politics and Urban Guerrilla Warfare in 1968 Cleveland.  A really well researched and put together book about what was going on in Cleveland especially in the black neighborhoods.  This seems like a good mirror for the rest of the country as well--Martin Luther King Jr was leading non-violent protests in northern cities and not having as much impact as his work earlier in the south.  There was also the Nation of Islam and Malcom X that were growing in stature and influence.  Also Cleveland was in process of electing their first African American Mayor but for many this progress was too slow.  Black nationalists started to fight back against the many racists in government and in the police force.  Throw in the poverty of area, a hot summer and some J Edgar Hoover FBI guys and it was an explosive situation.  I had not heard about this before but I guess at that time uprisings and shootings were happening in too many places.

There are no copies in PBS system but might look to lend off to friends first before posting.

Biloxi--#2 finished

 A man is at a sort of crossroads in his life.  Recently divorced and retired.  He is waiting on a settlement of his dad's estate and doesn't seem to know what to do with himself.  He has a daughter that lives driving distance away with a granddaughter but doesn't really seem connected to them either.  On a whim makes a turn away from the store he was headed and sees a sign for a free dog and stops.  He gets the dog and suddenly it seems as at least that is something in his life.  A couple women also come through in the story with differing results.  It just sort of ends without really knowing if he will be better or not--might just sort of ease along again but with a dog.  A sort of depressing read.  Still not really sure about this book, was funny in places but characters make them hard to like.

There are 3 WL for this book on PBS so I will probably post & mail off at some point.

Runner--#1 finished

 First book finished in 2024.  I have the day off work and since stayed up late on New Year's Eve, I read a bunch then and then read a bunch more this morning & into early afternoon finishing the book.  A good addition to the Jane Whitefield series by Thomas Perry, Jane helps people disappear.  This time a young girl that is pregnant finds Jane and a group of people chasing her was right on her tail.  This book leaps 5 years from the last book so more internet stuff than before but not much.  Jane does say this makes everything she does harder because computers can now be used to track people more so than her earlier people/books.  I have the next two books in this series--might be the last two also, not sure.  I was tired of waiting for this to come in from PBS so I got it from the local library, which worked well--will have to see about doing more of that even though have a ton of books I already have that I want to read.

As I just stated above this is a library book so will be returning it later today.  Still have a bunch of PBS credits too but do have a couple books to get mailed off this week to add to those credits.