The Wandering Season by Aimie K. Runyan (eBOOK)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Thursday, April 3, 2025
REVIEW - The Language of the Birds (eArc, eBook)
The Language of the Birds by K.A. Merson (eArc/eBook)
OVERVIEW
This book is difficult to explain and categorize. It is like the Cotton Malone Series by Steve Berry meets the Robert Langdon Series by Dan Brown on steroids. It is full of clues, ciphers, and puzzles - OH MY!
The premise was fantastic, but the execution was lacking in the puzzle-solving sections. The puzzle-solving and use of different methods including a cipher disk made my head spin and were difficult to follow. This may be the author's method to make us understand what Arizona must endure day after day. Food for thought!
I ultimately enjoyed the book without fully understanding the specifics of puzzle-solving. But, I did figure out a few clues before the protagonist did which was fun!
I especially loved the main character of Arizona. The character is so interesting and unique that I would love to read a series about her.
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.5 stars.
Writing: 4.5 stars
The writing is strong with many creative references to other famous pieces of literature and poetry. That was beautifully done.
Character development: 5.0 stars
The character development was strong. The main characters are: Arizona (a bright and quirky neurodivergent seventeen-year-old), Lily (Arizona's new friend), and Mojo (Arizona's boxer).
The secondary characters are: Arizona's mom and dad, the bad guys, and the good guys. (Being vague to avoid spoilers). Italian soldiers, the other Jewish captives, and the local villagers.
The tertiary character is the confluence of Death Valley, the greater Las Vegas area, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
There were only a handful of throw-away characters.
Storyline: 3.0 stars
The story is about Arizona whose father dies in a motorcycle accident. Arizona and her mother travel to his favorite places to spread part of his ashes. When they visit the ghost town of Bodie, California, Arizona's mother is kidnapped. Arizona is forced to solve a series of complicated ciphers for the kidnappers in exchange for her mother.
The puzzles take Arizona all over California and part of Nevada. She must visit historic sites and remote locations to find clues. Arizona uses the clues from the visits and detailed research to solve the puzzles.
The puzzles were way above my knowledge base so the storyline was sometimes difficult to follow. This was the only part of the book I had issues with. I probably need it explained so simply that a preschooler would understand!
The locations were: California and Nevada
Memorable/Informative: 4.0 stars
I enjoyed how this book of puzzles, ciphers, and clues was wrapped up so beautifully.
I want to visit the California locations mentioned in the book, especially Lone Pine and Bodie. Unfortunately, the locations are somewhat remote, but would be worth a nice road trip. I'm inspired!
Book cover: 4.5 stars
Nicely done!
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfect!
STRONG recommend
NetGalley eARC/eBOOK
The Language of the Birds by K.A. Merson
392 pages
Ballantine Books
FUTURE release date: 5/13/2025
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
TRIGGER WARNING: Death of a parent, violence, gun violence, kidnapping, incarceration, cursing
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
REVIEW - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (audiobook)
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver (audiobook)
OVERVIEW
This is a really hard audiobook to review. I really wanted to love it, but I liked it instead.
Barbara's writing was fantastic, but a bit overbearing and preachy. The asides from her husband, Steven, and daughter, Camille, were even more preachy.
I expected more of a how-to book on how to be a better locavore. It had some of that but also included gardening, canning, animal raising, freezing, and farmer's market forays for a year. They live on a farm in a rural area in SW Virginia - we cannot do the same type of locavore eating. But there were limited suggestions for city dwellers.
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.0 stars
Writing: 4.0 stars
The writing by Barbara was strong, as always, because she is a fantastic author! She was very aware of her wording when discussing animal reproduction or harvesting. I appreciated that!
Her husband and daughter's asides were not written as well as Barbara's and broke up the book's rhythm. Plus, do I really want to know what they ate for dinner with sample menus?
Narration: 4.0 stars
The narration by Barbara was good - I didn't realize what a lovely Kentucky accent she has.
But, the other narrators and chicken noises throughout the book grated on me.
Another issue for me is that the audiobook had no chapters or breaks in the book audio stream. There was no table of contents like other audiobooks. It was hard to find appropriate places to stop; however, the author did highlight the chapter title when narrating. Weird.
Character Arc: 4.0 stars
The audiobook is chronological and aligns with their journey to only eat locally. The book starts in April and ends the following April.
There are no real characters and the book is more of a memoir, per se.
This book is also about eighteen years old so it is a bit dated.
Memorable: 3.5 stars
The book was rather preachy overall. If an individual, who didn't believe in global warming, read this book, they may be put off. It is like anything, you win more bees with honey than vinegar. I wanted suggestions and help to navigate eating more locally rather than telling me how awful it is to buy bananas.
I totally support eating in-season produce to avoid the increased carbon footprint. But what do city folks do? We cannot only buy from expensive farmer's markets even though Barbara's were not costly. We also have limited space to garden as most urban dwellers do.
Since so much produce is grown in the San Joaquin Valley or Oxnard Plain about 100 miles from me, we attempt to buy local produce.
So what is the solution? What else can we do?
Entertaining: 4.0 stars
The book was funny at times, but it was more educational.
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Perfect.
Book title: 5.0 stars
On point!
DEFINITE recommend
STATISTICS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow: audiobook
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver
Harper Audio
14 hours, 35 minutes
Release date of 5/1/2007
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
TRIGGER WARNINGS
Animal mating, animal death
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
The Storygraph March 2025 Monthly Recap
Hi, booksbydorothea friends!
If I didn't LOVE The Storygraph enough, look at this beautiful graphic! It was automatically generated for me and is easy to download. The analysis closely mirrors my personal Excel spreadsheet tracking, unlike other sites. Love, love, love!💜
Here is the link to my March 2025 Wrap-up HERE.
Please check out The Storygraph! You can even upload your data from Goodreads! What's not to love?💜
Happy reading,
Dorothea💜
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
booksbydorothea - March 2025 - Monthly Wrap-up
Hi, booksbydorothea friends!
March was wet here in Southern California! We needed the rain and hope for more in April! My car is dirty, but my books are safe and dry.
I continue to read and
listen to books to avoid the news and social media. This was another good
reading month with TWELVE books (audiobooks, ebooks, and physical books).
In March 2025, there were four five-star books: three eBOOKS, zero audiobooks, and one physical book.
BEST BOOKS FOR MARCH 2025
ebooks
JANUARY
The Love Elixir of Augusta
Stern by Lynda Cohen
Loigman
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
What Happened to the
McCrays? by Tracey Lange
More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova
Paris Undercover by Matthew Goodman
The Bookstore Keepers by Alice Hoffman
Come Fly with Me by Camille Di Maio
The Memory of Cotton by Ann K. Howley
The Secret History of
Audrey Jones by Heather Marshall
Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall
FEBRUARY
The Sirens by Emilia Hart
Swimming to Lundy by Amanda Prowse
The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez
The Dressmakers of London by Julia Kelly
MARCH
Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner
Isola by Allegra
Goodman
The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick
Audiobooks
JANUARY
Me by Elton John
Let’s Call Her Barbie by Renée Rosen
FEBRUARY
Never by Rick Astley
Unlovable by Darren Hayes
Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't
Want to Come by Jessica Pan
MARCH
-NONE-
Physical books
JANUARY
-NONE-
FEBRUARY
-NONE-
MARCH
This One Life by Amanda Prowse
2025 READING GOAL
My goal is to read 101
books in 2025. As of March 31st, I have read 43 books, or 43.0% of
my goal.
MARCH 2025 STATISTICS
12 total books
5 ebooks; 5 audiobooks; 2
physical books
5 books - ARC (Advance
Reader Copy)
6 books - Library
0 book – Purchased
0 book - Amazon First
Reads
0 books - Book Club Girl
1 book – author gifted
1 book – friend gifted
Audio listening time in March
2025: 65 hours, 11 minutes
Pages read in March 2025: 2,319
pages
Average review rating: 4.25
stars
MARCH 2025 BOOK RATINGS with BOOK COVERS
ebooks
5.0-star ebooks
Austen at Sea by Natalie Jenner REVIEW LINK
Isola by Allegra Goodman REVIEW LINK
The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick REVIEW LINK
3.5-star ebook
My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende REVIEW LINK
3.0-star ebook
The Red House by Mary
Morris REVIEW LINK
NOTE: There were no 4.5-star or 4.0-star ebooks this month.
Audiobooks
4.5-star audiobooks
A Kid from Marlboro Road
by Edward Burns REVIEW LINK
4.0-star audiobooks
Fearless and Free by Josephine Baker REVIEW LINK
Open by Andre Agassi REVIEW LINK
Say Everything by Ione
Skye REVIEW LINK
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne
Collins REVIEW LINK
NOTE: There were no 5.0-star, 3.5-star, or 3.0-star audiobooks this month
Physical books 2025
5.0-star physical books
This One Life by Amanda Prowse REVIEW LINK
4.0-star physical books
A Woman of Firsts by Kimberly Heckler REVIEW LINK
NOTE: There were no 4.5-star, 4.0-star, 3.5-star, or 3.0-star physical books this month
If you want to read my full review of any of these books, there are individual review links for each ebook or audiobook next to the book title and author (under MARCH 2025 BOOK RATINGS with BOOK COVERS just above). Click on the specific book link to get to that book review.
I hope you read lots of great books in March! Please share your highly recommended reads as I looking for great books!
Happy reading!
Dorothea 💜
P.S. For additional book-related helpful tools on booksbydorothea, check out:
BOOK RATING LEGEND HERE
GLOSSARY HERE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)