I am a reader. Voracious. Eclectic. I am still proud of my childhood achievement in a Read-A-Thon competition: 86 books in a single month. And not just kids books. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was among the books I read that month. The Hobbit, too. I was among the top readers in that competition in the state of Colorado that year.

Of course, that was a LONG time ago!

I still read a lot, but doubt I could match that childhood attainment. I am most proud of what I have now: an amazing wife who has kept me around for over 30 years, three wonderful sons who are now young adults, and three incredible grandchildren.

I love people. Because of that love, I pursued a career in ministry where I believed I could make a difference in people’s lives. I hope I did, but found my journey taking me away from that path. My wife had the opportunity to pursue graduate studies, and she kindly agreed that the kids and I could accompany her to State College. We are still here, watching our children grow and loving the adults they have become.

Because of my amazing wife, though, I am writing for this website. On it, I will share what I am reading. Some of it will be just for fun. Some will be to highlight the work of authors I like and respect, possibly authors you don’t yet know (but need to get to know). And some will be to share things I believe in. You may agree with me. You may disagree with me. But I hope that you will look at the books, draw your own conclusions, and understand that I am always coming from a place of love for family, a love for learning, and a love for humanity.

I would love to hear from you. Email me at [email protected]

David

About Maria @ Scintilla.info

Books are a big part of my life. I spent the last three decades switching work roles among the fields of early childhood education, family literacy, teacher professional development, and academia — reading books, sharing books, and teaching from books.  

However, my favorite reading community is my family — swapping library books, talking about books over dinner, and now reading to my grandkids. Some of my favorite memories include times we’ve read together and then extended that experience with activities similar in theme or topic to the book we just shared. My current goal is to find a Mary Poppins-style carpet bag for all the books and activities I take with me when I visit my granddaughters and grandson.

My favorite genres are young adult and children’s literature, especially picture books. However, I do have eclectic reading interests and will marathon read through piles of cookbooks, diy crafts, cozy mysteries, fantasy books, historical romances, Christian inspiration books, classics, and the occasional geeky reference books.

Feel free to email me at [email protected]

Maria

We want you to enjoy similar interactive reading experiences with your reading community. We are a bookish lifestyle blog cultivating an idea and imagination inventory.

We want to be your experiential reading resource — that small spark that ignites your interests — connecting your reading to other books, movies, crafts, activities, recipes, and self-reflections.    

You will find our topics are divided into 4 broad categories of

• Books for Growing & Learning — nonfiction & reference
• Books for Nurturing & Sharing — children’s literature & young adult
• Books for Enjoying & Experiencing — fiction & literature
• Resources for Inspiration & Encouragement — celebrations, words, quotes, & resources

In the first category, Books for Growing & Learning, you will find nonfiction and resources in topics such as cooking and crafts as well as science and current events. This section is for readers to feed both the mind and body with ideas and activities for thoughtful contemplation or personal development.

The second category, Books for Nurturing & Sharing, you will find books to engage with your family or children in your care with book recommendations for infants & toddlers through young adults. This section is for cross generational interactive reading with suggestions for before, during, and after the shared reading; this section is great for parents, grandparents, and educators.

The next category, Books for Enjoying & Experiencing, you will find fiction in many genres. This section is for readers with eclectic tastes and large to be read piles; you will find books here to talk about with others, perhaps even discover your next book club read, even if your book club is just a friend over coffee break.

In this category, Resources for Inspiration & Encouragement, you will find memes to make you laugh, words to rescue & use, quotes to share, and links to look-up additional information — maybe a few of our favorite bookish finds. Scroll through these for a quick pick me up or to gather bookish ideas.

We believe that reading can be a positive shared experience and want to be a part of your reading community.

If you wish to contact us for any reason email us at [email protected]

Or message us in the comment box below:

Wolf Six, Alex Shaw

Our thanks to Rachel Gilbey from Rachel’s Random Resources for our copy of this book,
provided so we could give an honest review.

A number of years ago I stumbled across a book that featured an orphan trained as an assassin who had turned his special set of skills toward helping others, often by “removing” the people who were creating problems for them. That was hardly the first thriller of its type, and many

others have been published since.

	A	B
	Authors/Editors found on scintilla.info
		scintilla.info post name
	A
	Ben Aaronovitch	Book Review: Broken Homes, Rivers of London Book 4, Ben Aaronovitch
		Book Review: Foxglove Summer, Rivers of London Book 5, Ben Aaronovitch
		Book Review: The Hanging Tree, Rivers of London Book 6, Ben Aaronovitch (review pending)
		Book Review: Lies Sleeping, Rivers of London Book 7, Ben Aaronovitch (review pending)
		Book Review: Midnight Riot, Rivers of London Book 1, Ben Aaronovitch
		Book Review: Moon Over Soho, Rivers of London Book 2, Ben Aaronovitch
		Book Review: Whispers Underground, Rivers of London Book 3, Ben Aaronovitch
	Richard Addams	Booklist: If You Like Peter Rabbit… Bunny Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Tomi Adeyemi	Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi
	Roda Ahmed	Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Susan Wittig Albert	Booklist: If You Like Peter Rabbit… Bunny Books for Shared Reading with Children
		Recipe & Review: Teatime with China Bayles, Susan Wittig Albert
		Recipe & Review: Teatime with The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, Susan Wittig Albert
	Charlie Jane Anders	Book Review: The City in the Middle of the Night, Charlie Jane Anders
	Tedd Arnold	Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Margaret Atwood	Book Series Review: MaddAddam Trilogy, Margaret Atwood
	B
	Richard Bach	Author Spotlight: Richard Bach
	Alan Baker	Booklist: If You Like Peter Rabbit… Bunny Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Mishell Baker	Book Series Review: Arcadia Project Series, Mishell Baker
	David Baldacci	Book Review: The Fallen, David Baldacci
		Book Review: Long Road to Mercy, David Baldacci
		Book Review: Redemption, David Baldacci (review pending)
	Josiah Bancroft	Book Review: Senlin Ascends, Josiah Bancroft
	J.D. Barker	Book Review: Dracul, J.D. Barker and Dacre Stoker (review pending)
		Book Review: The Fourth Monkey: J.D. Barker
		Book Review: The Fifth to Die, J.D. Barker
		Book Review: Forsaken: Book One, The Shadow Cove Saga, J.D. Barker
		Book Review: The Sixth Wicked Child, J.D. Barker (review pending)
	Mac Barnett	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
		Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Marion Dane Bauer	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	Paul Beatty	Book Review: The Sellout, Paul Beatty
	Adam Becker
	Jeffrey Bennett	Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
		Book Review: Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett
	Olivia Berrier	Book Review: A Book without Dragons, Olivia Berrier
	Emily Bernard
	Parker Bilal	Book Review: Dogstar Rising Book 2 Makana Mysteries, Parker Bilal
		Book Review: The Golden Scales, Book 1 Makana Mysteries, Parker Bilal
	Kate Bowler	Book Review: Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved, Kate Bowler
	Erin Bowman	Book Review: Contagion, Erin Bowman (review pending)
	Sandra Boynton	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	James Bradley	Book Review: Clade, James Bradley
	Peter Brannen
	Carol Brendler	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Marie Brennan	Book Review: A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan
		Book Review: In the Labyrinth of Drakes, Marie Brennan (review pending)
		Book Review: The Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan
		Book Review: Voyage of the Basilisk, Marie Brennan
	Drew Brockington	Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
	John Brockman
		Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
		Booklist: Books with Poems & Rhymes for Shared Reading with Children
	Steve Brusatte
	Ross Burach	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Sue Burke	Book Review: Semiosis, Sue Burke
	Richard Byrne	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	C
	Marc Cameron	Book Review: Tom Clancy Oath of Office, Marc Cameron
	Alyssa Satin Capucilli	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Eric Carle	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	Stephen L. Carter
	S.A. Chakraborty	Book Review: The City of Brass, S.A. Chakraborty
		Book Review: The Kingdom of Copper, S.A. Chakraborty
	Becky Chambers	Book Review: A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers
		Book Review: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers
		Book Review: Record of a Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers
	Curtis C. Chen	Book Review: Waypoint Kangaroo and Kangaroo Too, Curtis C. Chen
	Eugenia Cheng	Book Review: The Art of Logic in an Illogical World, Eugenia Cheng
	C. J. Cherryh	Book Review: Foreigner Series, C. J. Cherryh
	Lee Child	Book Review: Past Tense: A Jack Reacher Novel, Lee Child
	Amy Chua	Book Review: Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations, Amy Chua
	Tom Clancy	Author Spotlights: If You like Tom Clancy, You will Like Mark Greaney
	Genevieve Cogman	Book Review: The Invisible Library Series, Genevieve Cogman
		Book Review: The Mortal Word, Genevieve Cogman
	Joanna Cole	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Lucy Cooke
	Barbara Cooney	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	D
	Roald Dahl	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Mike Dash
		Book Review: The Lost Gutenberg, Margaret Leslie Davis
	Carmen Agra Deedy	Booklist: Books about Libraries for Shared Reading with Children
	J. L. Delozier	Book Review: Blood Type X, J.L. Delozier
		Book Review: Storm Shelter, J.L. Delozier
		Book Review: Type and Cross, J.L. Delozier
	Natalie Diaz	Book Review: When My Brother Was an Aztec, Natalie Diaz
	Julia Donaldson	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Rita Dove	Book Review: Mother Love, Rita Dove
	Benjamin Dreyer	Book Review: Dreyer’s English, Benjamin Dreyer
	E
	Esi Edugyan	Book Review: Washington Black, Esi Edugyan
	Omar El Akkad	Book Review: American War, Omar El Akkad
	Amal El-Mohtar	Book Review: This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (review pending)
	Juan Enriquez
	Jill Esbaum	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	Mary Anna Evans	Book Series Review: Faye Longchamp Series: Artifacts, and Findings, Mary Anna Evans
	F
	Katie Fallon	Book Review: Vulture, Katie Fallon
	Julie Fogliano	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	Jamie Ford	Book Review: Love and Other Consolation Prizes, Jamie Ford (review pending)
		Book Review: Songs of Willow Frost, Jamie Ford (review pending)
	Adam Frank
		Book Review: Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth, Adam Frank
	Vivian French	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Emily Fridlund	Book Review: History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund
	Becky Friedman	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	William H. Frey
	Robert Frost	Booklist: Books with Poems & Rhymes for Shared Reading with Children
	G
	Neil Gaiman	Book Review: Trigger Warning: Short Fiction and Disturbances, Neil Gaiman
		Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
		Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Adam Gamble	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Dan Gardner
	Max Gladstone	Book Review: This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (review pending)
	Theodora Goss	Book Review: European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman, Theodora Goss
	Chris Grabenstein	Booklist: Books about Libraries for Shared Reading with Children
		Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Mira Grant	Book Review: Into the Drowning Deep, Mira Grant
		Book Review: Kingdom of Needle and Bone, Mira Grant
	Elise Gravel	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Mark Greaney	Author Spotlights: If You like Tom Clancy, You will Like Mark Greaney
		Book Review: Agent in Place, Mark Greaney
		Book Review: Red Metal, Mark Greaney and H. Ripley Rawlings, IV (review pending)
	Andrew Sean Greer	Book Review: Less, Andrew Sean Greer
	Daryl Gregory	Book Review: Spoonbenders, Daryl Gregory
	Lauren Groff	Book Review: Florida, Lauren Groff
	William Goldman	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Steve Gullans
	H
	Chris Hadfield	Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Sue Halpern	Book Review: Summer Hours at the Robbers Library, Sue Halpern
	Joy Harjo	Author Spotlight: Joy Harjo
	Chris Harris	Booklist: Books with Poems & Rhymes for Shared Reading with Children
	Robert Hass	Book Review: Praise, Robert Hass
		Book Review: Sun Under Wood, Robert Hass
		Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Rachel Heller	Book Review: Attached, Levine and Heller
	Gabriel Hemery	Book Review: Green Gold, Gabriel Hemery
	Kevin Henkes	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
		Book Review: Egg, Kevin Henkes
	Ryan T. Higgins	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Tad Hill	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Will Hillenbrand	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	Anne Hillerman	Book Review: Cave of Bones, Anne Hillerman
		Book Review: Song of the Lion, Anne Hillerman
		Book Review: The Tale Teller, Anne Hillerman (review pending)
	Eric Hobbs	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Kat Howard	Book Review: Roses and Rot, Kat Howard
		Book Review: An Unkindness of Magicians, Kat Howard
	Gregg Hurwitz	Book Review: Hellbent, Gregg Hurwitz
		Book Review: Out of the Dark, Gregg Hurwitz
	I
	Steve Inskeep	Book Review: Jacksonland, Steve Inskeep (review pending)
	J
	Kathy Jackson	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Oliver Jeffers	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	K
	Michio Kaku	Book Review: The Future of Humanity, Michio Kaku
	Jan Karon	Recipe & Review: Teatime with Mitford Books, Jan Karon
	Karen Katz	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Cooper Kelly	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Mark Kelly	Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Scott Kelly	Book Review: Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery, Scott Kelly
	Ken Kimora	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	Laurie R. King	Recipe & Review: Teatime with Mary Russell, Laurie King
	Michelle Knudsen	Booklist: Books about Libraries for Shared Reading with Children
		Book Review: The Calculating Stars, A Lady Astronaut Novel, Mary Robinette Kowal
		Book Review: The Fated Sky, A Lady Astronaut Novel, Mary Robinette Kowal
	Nickie Krewson	Book Review: The Poet, Nickie Krewson
	R.F. Kuang	Book Review: The Dragon Republic, R.F. Kuang (review pending)
		Book Review: The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang
	Sarah Kuhn	Book Review: Heroine Complex, Sarah Kuhn
		Book Review: Heroine Worship, Sarah Kuhn
		Book Review: Heroine’s Journey, Sarah Kuhn
	Tina Kügler	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Rachel Kushner	Book Review: The Mars Room, Rachel Kushner
	Kevin Kwan	Recipe & Review: Teatime with Rachel Chu & Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
	R.O. Kwon	Book Review: The Incendiaries, R. O. Kwon
	L
	Leo Landry	Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Andrew Larsen	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Victor LaValle	Book Review: The Changeling, Victor LaValle
	Fonda Lee	Book Review: Jade City, Fonda Lee
		Book Review: Jade War, Fonda Lee (review pending)
		Book Review: Zeroboxer, Fonda Lee
	Suzy Lee	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Armand Marie Leroi	Book Review: Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body, Armand Marie Leroi
	Frane Lessac	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Amir Levine	Book Review: Attached, Levine and Heller
	Alan Lightman	Book Review: Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine, Alan Lightman
	Leo Lionni	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Liu Cixin	Book Review: Ball Lightning, Liu Cixin (translated by Joel Martinsen)
	Layli Long Soldier	Book Review: Whereas, Layli Long Soldier
	Jonathan B.Losos
	Anita Loughrey	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	M
	Ling Ma	Book Review: Severance, Ling Ma
	Robert MacFarlane	Book Review: Landmarks, Robert MacFarlane
		Book Review: The Lost Words, Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris
		Book Review: Underland, Robert MacFarlane (review pending)
	Juliette MacIver	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Marjorie Maddox	Book Review: Transplant, Transport, Transubstantiation, Marjorie Maddox
	Mike Maden	Book Review: Tom Clancy Line of Sight, Mike Maden
	Terese Marie Mailhot	Book Review: Heart Berries, Terese Marie Mailhot
	Mercer Mayer	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Kevin McCloskey	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Robert McCloskey	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	Seanan McGuire	Book Review: Beneath the Sugar Sky, Wayward Children #3, Seanan McGuire (review pending)
		Book Review: The Brightest Fell, October Daye #11, Seanan McGuire
		Book Review: Down Among the Sticks and Bones, Wayward Children #2, Seanan McGuire
		Book Review: Every Heart a Doorway, Wayward Children #1, Seanan McGuire
		Book Review: The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, Seanan McGuire, Ghost Roads Series Book 2
		Book Review: Middlegame, Seanan McGuire (review pending)
		Book Review: Night and Silence, October Daye #12, Seanan McGuire
		Book Review: Sparrow Hill Road, Seanan McGuire, Ghost Roads Series Book 1
	Anna McQuinn	Booklist: Books about Libraries for Shared Reading with Children
	Brad Meltzer	Book Review: The Escape Artist, Brad Meltzer
		Book Review: The Tenth Justice, Brad Meltzer
	Leland Melvin	Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Kate Messner	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Madeline Miller	Book Review: Circe, Madeline Miller
	Lin-Manuel Miranda	Book Review: Gmorning, Gnight: Little Pep Talks for Me & You, Lin-Manuel Miranda
	Pat Mora	Booklist: Books about Libraries for Shared Reading with Children
	Dan Moren	Book Review: The Bayern Agenda, Dan Moren
		Book Review: The Caledonian Gambit, Dan Moren
	Jackie Morris	Book Review: The Lost Words, Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris
	Lynne Murphy
	N
	Linda Nagata	Book Review: First Light, Linda Nagata, The Red Book 1 (review pending)
		Book Review: Going Dark, Linda Nagata, The Red Book 3 (review pending)
		Book Review: The Trials, Linda Nagata, The Red Book 2 (review pending)
	Kadir Nelson	Booklist: If You Like Peter Rabbit… Bunny Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Celeste Ng	Book Review: Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
	Ryan North
	Naomi Novik	Book Review: Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
		Book Review: Uprooted, Naomi Novik
	Sigrid Nunez	Book Review: The Friend, Sigrid Nunez (review pending)
	Joe Nutt	Book Review: The Point of Poetry, Joe Nutt
	O
	Scott O’Dell	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Nnedi Okorafor	Book Review: Akata Warrior, Nnedi Okorafor
		Book Review: Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor
		Book Series Review: Binti, Nnedi Okorafor
	Lin Oliver	Booklist: Books with Poems & Rhymes for Shared Reading with Children
	Mary Oliver	Book Review: The Leaf and the Cloud, Mary Oliver
		Book Review: A Thousand Mornings, Mary Oliver
	Tommy Orange	Book Review: There There, Tommy Orange
	Susan Orlean	Book Review: The Library Book, Susan Orlean
		Book Review: The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean
		Book List: Astronaut Books for Shared Reading with Children
	P
	Natalie C. Parker	Book Review: Seafire, Natalie C. Parker
	Elise Parsley	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
		Booklist: Books about Libraries for Shared Reading with Children
	James Patterson	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Wendy Pfeffer	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Charles O. and Orrin H. Pilkey	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
		Book Review: Martin Rising, Andrea Davis Pinkney
	Beatrix Potter	Booklist: If You Like Peter Rabbit… Bunny Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Terry Pratchett	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Jack Prelutsky	Booklist: Books with Poems & Rhymes for Shared Reading with Children
	Nick Pyenson
	Q
	David Quammen	Book Review: The Tangled Tree, David Quammen (review pending)
	R
	Vaddey Ratner	Book Review: In the Shadow of the Banyan, Vaddey Ratner
		Book Review: Music of the Ghosts, Vaddey Ratner
	Hunter Ripley Rawlings, IV	Book Review: Red Metal, Mark Greaney and H. Ripley Rawlings, IV (review pending)
	Julia Rawlinson	Booklist: Spring Books for Shared Reading Children
	Adam Rex	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Nathaniel Rich	Book Review: Odds Against Tomorrow, Nathaniel Rich
	Matt Ridley	Book Review: The Evolution of Everything, Matt Ridley
	James Riley	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Faith Ringgold	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Rebecca Roanhorse	Book Review: Storm of Locusts, Rebecca Roanhorse
		Book Review: Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse
	Jedda Robaard	Booklist: If You Like Peter Rabbit… Bunny Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Nikki Slade Robinson	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Thomas Rockwell	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Hans Rosling with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund
	Sarah Russell	Book Review: I lost summer somewhere, Sarah Russell
		Book Review: Border Crossings, Thaddeus Rutkowski
		Book Review: Haywire, Thaddeus Rutkowski (review pending)
		Book Review: Violent Outbursts, Thaddeus Rutkowski
	S
	Amanda Saint	Book Review: Remember Tomorrow, Amanda Saint
	George Saunders	Book Review: Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders
	John Scalzi	Book Review: The Android’s Dream, John Scalzi
		Book Review: The Collapsing Empire, John Scalzi
		Book Review: The Consuming Fire, John Scalzi
		Book Review: The Dispatcher, John Scalzi
		Book Review: Head On, John Scalzi
		Book Review: Lock In, John Scalzi
		Book Review: Metatropolis, Edited by John Scalzi
		Book Review: Redshirts, John Scalzi
	Liz Garton Scanlon	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Richard Scarry	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Jon Scieszka	Booklist: Books with Poems & Rhymes for Shared Reading with Children
	Somini Sengupta	Book Review: The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among India’s Young, Somini Sengupta
	Jodie Shepherd	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Margot Lee Shetterly	Book Review: Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly
	Shel Silverstein	Booklist: Books with Poems & Rhymes for Shared Reading with Children
	Kristen Simmons	Book Review: The Deceivers, Kristen Simmons
	Vandana Singh	Book Review: Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories, Vandana Singh
	Amy Slansky	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Sherri L. Smith	Book Review: Orleans, Sherri L. Smith
	Tracy K. Smith	Book Review: Life on Mars, Tracy K. Smith
		Book Review: Wade in the Water, Tracy K. Smith
	Richard Sobol	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Rivers Solomon	Book Review: An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon
	Chris Stringer	Book Review: Lone Survivors: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth, Chris Stringer
	Matthew Sullivan	Book Review: Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, Matthew Sullivan
	Cass R. Sunstein	Book Review: Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
	Robert Wald Sussman	Book Review: The Myth of Race, Robert Wald Sussman
	T
	Jean Taft	Booklist: Worms on the Sidewalk, Books for Shared Reading
	Shaun Tan	Book Review: Tales from the Inner City, Shaun Tan
	Jake Tapper	Book Review: The Hellfire Club, Jake Tapper
	Philip E. Tetlock
	Richard H. Thaler
	Jan Thomas	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
		Book Review: Heads of the Colored People, Nafissa Thompson-Spires
	Helene Tursten	Book Review: An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good, Helene Tursten (review pending)
	Harry Turtledove	Book Series Review: Supervolcano, Harry Turtledove (review pending)
	U
	V
		Book Review: Space Opera, Catherynne M. Valente
	Katrina Van Grouw	Book Review: Unnatural Selection, Katrina van Grouw
	Vivian Vande Velde	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Jeff Vandermeer	Book Series Review: The Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance), Jeff Vandermeer
	Carrie Vaughn	Book Review: Bannerless, Carrie Vaughn
		Book Review: The Wild Dead, Carrie Vaughn
	Audrey Vernick	Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	W
	Jesmyn Ward	Book Review: Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward
		Book Review: Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward
		Book Review: No One Is Coming to Save Us, Stephanie Powell Watts
	Martha Wells	Book Series Review: The Murderbot Diaries Series, Martha Wells
	Rosemary Wells	Booklist: If You Like Peter Rabbit… Bunny Books for Shared Reading with Children
	David Wiesner	Booklist: Beach Reads for Kids, Books for Shared Reading
	Lauren Wilkinson	Book Review: American Spy, Lauren Wilkinson
	Mo Willems	Booklist: If You Like Peter Rabbit… Bunny Books for Shared Reading with Children
		Booklist: LOL Books to Laugh Out Loud with Your Children
	Paige Williams
	Roger L. Williams	Book Review: Evan Pugh’s Penn State: America’s Model Agricultural College, Roger L. Williams
	Edward Wilson-Lee	Book Review: The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books, Edward Wilson-Lee
	Kay Winters	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Britt Wray	Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics, and Risks of De-Extinction, Britt Wray
	X
	Y
	Dan Yaccarino	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children
	hülya n. yilmaz	Book Review: this and that: a hodge podge of hülya’s…poetry, hülya n. yilmaz
	Damon Young	Book Review: The Art of Reading, Damon Young
	Z
	Joakim Zander	Book Review: The Swimmer, Joakim Zander
	Charlotte Zolotow	Booklist: If You Like Peter Rabbit… Bunny Books for Shared Reading with Children
	Marus Zusak	Booklist about Books for Shared Reading with Children

We would love to hear from you.

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Fiction: Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward won the National Book Award in 2011. It is a powerful story of a poor family near the Mississippi coast. Esch is fifteen, living with her father and three brothers. She has just learned she is pregnant. Her father drinks heavily, but even in his condition he knows that a hurricane is coming. What he does not know is that preparing for that hurricane will become the least of his family’s concerns.

Ward writes vivid descriptions of people, events, and scenery. You can almost feel the humidity in the Mississippi forests where her characters live. Her words bring the scenes to life: teenagers gathered to fight their dogs, the lust and hunger of a young girl giving herself to the boy she adores, the fear and exhilaration of kids breaking into a neighbor’s barn, the terror of cowering in a house that is losing its battle with a category 5 hurricane. You can smell the iron in the blood from fighting dogs and fleeing children, you can smell the rot of the wood, you can hear the roar of the wind and the metronome of a bouncing ball, you can see the debris left by wind and water.

Ward’s prose is song and story. Poetry and primal scream. She writes about forgotten people: poor, African American, rural, southern. She writes with ferocity and tenderness. Poverty and racism have taken their swings at these folks. Childbirth killed their mother, alcohol has ensnared their father, the hurricane is poised to cleanse the land as though they had never lived there, but this family will endure. They may be knocked down, but they will not give up.

Esch is the protagonist, and she is as complex a character as I have seen. Fifteen, she loves sex and she loves Manny. The descriptions of her feelings for him are powerful, vivid, shameless and blunt. The descriptions of their intercourse are hard to read. Manny is selfish and does not love Esch. He is, in fact, living with another woman. But he is happy to take advantage of Esch’s feelings, and the result is basic biology. Esch becomes pregnant. How she deals with this impending hurricane within her own body at the same time as her family deals with the pending arrival of Katrina gives the book an extraordinary power. The tension rises as the storm draws nearer–and as the baby grows within her body.

The descriptions of poor, rural, African American life in southern Mississippi are jarring and difficult. For me, that is a reason to be glad I read them. It is easy to take my middle-class privilege for granted. I have known nothing else. I have never lived in a house that needed to be boarded up for a hurricane. I have never lived in a situation where we had to steal food to survive–or steal a pregnancy test to confirm what my body was saying. I have never watched my father drink himself to forgetfulness. I have never had my hopes set on performing well in a basketball tournament–or had them crushed when my brother got into a fight with my sister’s baby’s father during the game. I have never had my house shifted off its foundation by a storm, nor had to cut a hole in the roof to escape through the attic. I have never had to watch my dog ripped away by the current of floodwaters during a storm. These are not experiences I would ever want to have. Through the power of her prose, Ward shares these experiences in ways that break through the differences in race and economics and geography and identity and speak to our common humanity.

Salvage the Bones is an amazing story about an amazing girl. It is also the story of people who have nothing to lose but each other–yet when it looks like they will lose everything, they somehow find out just how strong they are and how strong the bonds of family, friendship, and survival are. A truly extraordinary novel.

See our — Book Review: Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward

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Nonfiction: Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find – and Keep – Love, by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller

Despite its subtitle, Attached is in many ways a book about the “old art” of love rather than the “new science” of adult attachment. It is an easy to read self-help book, but that is not to make light of nor diminish its value. On the contrary, its approachable style and encouraging message should make it very useful for people looking for a relationship and for people who want to improve their relationships.

Attached divides people into three broad categories based on their “attachment styles.” “Secure” people comprise roughly one-half the population. They are people who generally enjoy intimacy and are not afraid of it. They communicate their needs effectively and care deeply about meeting the needs of those they love. “Anxious” people crave intimacy but struggle to effectively communicate or advocate for their own needs. They tend to blame themselves for any problems in their relationships. “Avoidant” people are just the opposite: they fear intimacy. They may also struggle to effectively communicate or advocate for their own needs, but unlike anxious people they will blame the other party for any problems in the relationship. One very helpful (if sobering) point the book repeatedly makes is that anxious and avoidant people are often drawn to each other, usually in ways that are mutually unhealthy. The avoidant person tends to give mixed messages about their desires, which anxious people will misinterpret as an invitation to try a little harder–something they are hardwired to do. This is a challenging pattern that is hard for both sides to break.

Throughout the book are quizzes designed to help you determine which attachment style describes you. The book is non-judgmental. All three attachment styles are evolutionary responses to environmental stimuli. In regions of great danger, where life is short and violent, an avoidant attachment style is invaluable. If one cannot emotionally move on from a relationship that ends prematurely, the species is threatened. That gift in those troubling circumstances can be a burden in a less traumatic civilization. Other dangers are perhaps less life-threatening, but require a tightly connected family unit in order to successfully navigate them. The anxious style forges that tight unit and promotes looking out for unseen dangers facing our loved ones. That, too, can be a burden in safer environments. Most human societies are more stable and interdependent, where a secure attachment style reinforces that stability. But we all carry the DNA that can express itself in any of the three styles.

Attached makes the point that successful relationships can occur no matter what your attachment style is. A major contributor to success is effective communication. This can be a challenge for anyone, but the book’s examples and tips are designed to encourage even the most timid to take this essential step.

I think that many authors have addressed similar relationship issues over the years. Several have written about the “Five Love Languages,” which at its heart is Attached but with additional subdivisions. Attached, though, does bring some fresh scientific (and non-religious) perspective to the conversation. It may not be quite as personal as “Dear Abby” or “Dear Anne,” but it does give specific tools and goals for improving your current relationship or for improving your chance at long-term love.

Book Review: Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find – and Keep – Love, Levine & Heller