“Legendborn – Book 1 of 2: The Legendborn Cycle” by Tracy Deonn

Genre – YA contemporary fantasy

A few weeks ago, I left on a road trip without arranging one important item – something to listen to! My companion cheerfully provided this (suitably long) book to keep us entertained. She had already read it, but scrupulously avoided spoilers. 

Several factors contributed to the book’s appeal. It takes place in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on the UNC campus. I am well acquainted with the town and university, so I could picture everything. Additionally, the book is based on the legend of King Arthur, grounding it in a tale that is both familiar and psychologically profound. 

Legendborn tackles the issue of race in American head on. The protagonist, 16 year old African American Bree Matthews is dealing with her mother’s terrible, sudden death when she enters an “early college” program for bright teens at UNC. She discovers that she has magical powers which she cannot understand or control, and she gets into fights, flights, danger and mayhem.

Taking a step back, isn’t this how growing up and leaving home FEELS to all of us? It may not be so visible and dramatic, but I remember the sense of confusion and unreality that marked my first weeks in college.

I wish this book could have been more concise.

In the future, I won’t be “apologizing” for reading YA fiction. I like the excitement, and it broadens my horizons. 

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Ash Carter, Secretary of Defense (2015-2017) RIP

I wrote TWICE about Ash Carter’s book Inside the Five-Sided Box. Now I have lost the chance to ask him the question I raised in my second post, an acknowledged RANT. I haven’t changed my mind. 

Carter died of a sudden heart attack at age 68. 

Carter represents an extremely valuable type of intellectual – a scientist who directs his attention to public policy. His undergraduate program at Yale was a double major in physics and medieval history. He was a critic of the “Star Wars” antiballistic weapons program advocated by Ronald Reagan, and other futuristic weapons. I recommend both his book and the New York Times obituary.

“The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri

This book is the story of an immigrant child, born in the United States to Indian parents of Bengali ethnicity. I just realized Bengal is divided between two nations, India and Bangladesh, which just emphasizes the elements of uncertainty and confusion that surround the protagonist Gogol, also known by several other names – Nikhil, Nick and even Goggles. 

Gogol grows into an intelligent, handsome architect. Lahiri tells the story of his heart – who he loves, and why. 

This book is richly detailed, and I recommend it highly.

“The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway Mysteries #14)” by Elly Griffiths

I didn’t MEAN to read this book! I had work to do! Obligations! Even a deadline… But I’m totally hooked on this mystery series. Why would I want to read a book set early in the Covid pandemic, see my favorite characters face lock-down? I read it anyway…

A few years have passed, and Ruth Galloway’s daughter Kate is growing up fast. Ruth and Kate discover a family secret that astonishes and then delights them. Cathbad (everybody’s favorite Druid) gets a severe case of Covid. Kate’s father Nelson gets knocked unconscious, and the two meet on the astral plain (or something like that) and save each other’s lives. 

Elly Griffiths has announced there will be only one more Ruth Galloway mystery, to be released in Spring of 2023. Too bad! But I can’t wait to find out what Griffiths decides to write in the future.