Kate’s 2¢: “Purple Hibiscus: A Novel” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

“Purple Hibiscus: A Novel” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Lizette Lecat did a great job of narrating this tale about a Nigerian family. The liberal sprinkling of Nigerian words, names, and places helped the reader delve deeper into the Igbo culture, as did the wonderful descriptions of the flora  and dwellings.

   I enjoyed learning about some of the foods they ate and how they prepared them. The contrast between the rich family and their poorer relatives was intriguing. It was disheartening to find out that child abuse is found in many cultures.

A few take-aways:

–A love sip of tea, because you shared the little things you love with the people you love.

–Auntie’s experimental Purple Hibiscus was like Jaja’s rebellion.

–The newspaper would be published underground now.

–“Our Lady, Shield of the Nigerian people, pray for us.”

–I watched the Sisters as we sang. Only the Nigerian Sisters sang…the white Reverend Sister stood with arms folded.

–He would slap Jaja’s face and the sound was like a heavy book that fell in school.

–I was supposed to apologize, but I was not sure what for.

–Perhaps we’d all changed after Enugu.

–“When do we speak out?”

–To clothe things in words. Things that have long been naked.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.chimamanda.com

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie[b] (born Grace Ngozi Adichie;[1] 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, poems, and children’s books; she is also a book reviewer and literary critic. Her most famous works include Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Americanah (2013). She is widely recognised as a central figure in postcolonial feminist literature.

Born into an Igbo family in Enugu, Nigeria, Adichie was educated at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, where she studied medicine for a year and half. She left Nigeria at the age of 19 to study in the United States at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and went on to study at a further three universities in the U.S.: Eastern Connecticut State University, Johns Hopkins University, and Yale University.

Many of Adichie’s novels are set in Nsukka, where she grew up. She started writing during her university education. She first wrote Decisions (1997), a poetry collection, followed by a play, For Love of Biafra (1998). She achieved early success with her debut novel, Purple Hibiscus. Adichie has written many works and has cited Chinua Achebe and Buchi Emecheta as inspirations, and Adichie’s writing style juxtaposes Western and African influences, with particular influence from Igbo culture. Most of her works explore the themes of religion, immigration, gender and culture.

Adichie uses fashion as a medium to break down stereotypes, and in 2018 was recognised with a Shorty Award for her “Wear Nigerian Campaign”. She has a successful speaking career: her 2009 TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story” is one of the most viewed TED Talks; her 2012 talk, “We Should All Be Feminists”, was sampled by American singer Beyoncé, as well as being featured on a T-shirt by Dior in 2016. Adichie’s awards and honours include academic and literary prizes, fellowships, grants, honorary degrees, and other high recognition, such as a MacArthur Fellowship in 2008 and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017.

Early life, marriage, and education[edit]

Early life[edit]

Adichie was born with English name Grace[1] on 15 September 1977 as the fifth out of six children. She was raised in Enugu, Nigeria by parents of Igbo origin.[2][3][4] Her father James Nwoye Adichie was from Abba in Anambra State while her mother and namesake Grace Odigwe was born in Umunnachi.[5] James studied mathematics at University College, Ibadan until his graduation in 1957. He married Grace on 15 April 1963,[6] and moved with her to Berkeley, California to complete his PhD degree at the University of California.[7] While in the United States, the couple had two daughters: ljeoma Rosemary and Uchenna.[6] James returned to Nigeria and began working as a professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1966.[8] Grace began her university studies in 1964, at Merritt College in Oakland, California, and then later earned a degree in sociology and anthropology from the University of Nigeria.[5][9]

The Biafran War broke out in 1967 and James started working for the Biafran government[7] at the Biafran Manpower Directorate.[10] Adichie lost her maternal and paternal grandfathers.[11] After Biafra ceased to exist in 1970, her father returned to the University of Nigeria,[8][7] while her mother worked for the government at Enugu until 1973, before becoming an administration officer at the University of Nigeria, and later the first female registrar.[5][9] Adichie stayed at the campus of the University of Nigeria, in a house previously occupied by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe.[12] Her siblings include Ijeoma Rosemary, Uchenna “Uche”, Chukwunweike “Chuks”, Okechukwu “Okey”, and Kenechukwu “Kene”.[13][6] Adichie was raised Catholic,[7] and her family’s home parish was St. Paul’s Parish in Abba.[10] Adichie’s father died of kidney failure in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic,[14] and her mother died in 2021.[5]

Education[edit]

As a child, Adichie read only English-language stories,[7] especially by Enid Blyton. Adichie’s juvenilia included stories with characters who were white and blue-eyed, modeled on British children she had read about.[7][10][15] At the age of 10, she discovered African literature and read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe,[12] The African Child by Camara Laye,[15] Weep Not, Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, and Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta.[10] Adichie began to study her father’s stories about Biafra when she was 13 years old. On visits to Abba, she saw houses that were destroyed and rusty bullets scattered on the ground. She would later incorporate these memories and her father’s accounts into her novels.[10]

At her Catholic confirmation, Adichie changed her English name from Grace to Amanda, under which name her first work was published.[1][3][13]

In her formal education, Adichie was taught in both Igbo and English.[2] Although Igbo was not a popular subject, she continued taking courses in the language throughout high school.[7] She completed her secondary education at the University of Nigeria Campus Secondary School, with top distinction in the West African Examinations Council (WAEC),[13] and academic prizes.[16] She was admitted to the University of Nigeria, where she studied medicine and pharmacy for a year and half.[17] She was also the editor of The Compass, a student-run university magazine.[18] In 1997, at the age of 19, Adichie published Decisions, a collection of poems, and later moved to the United States,[15] to study communications at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[16][18] In 1998, she wrote a play called For Love of Biafra, which was her initial exploration of the theme of war.[15] These early works were written under the name Amanda N. Adichie.[3]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Purple hibiscus: a novel DB58294

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi Reading time: 11 hours, 1 minute.

Lizette Lecat A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Growing Up

Family

Young Adult

Nigeria. Kambili, fifteen, and her brother Jaja live in fear of their wealthy but violent father. They discover a freer world while visiting their aunt and cousins and try to change their lot when they return home. But tensions escalate, and tragedy strikes. For senior high and older readers. 2003.

Download Purple hibiscus: a novel DB58294

Kate’s 2¢: “Frozen Souls (04)” by Rita B. Herron

“Frozen Souls (04)” by Rita B. Herron

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Kristin Allison did a great job reading this novel for NLS.Herron has lived up to her reputation with this fourth Dectective Ellie Reese murder mystery. It amazes me that, although Herron uses a formula for the narrative arc, she manages to find so many novel ways a serial killer operates.

From the web:

USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job!

With over ninety books to her credit, she’s penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA stories, but she especially loves writing dark romantic suspense tales set in southern small towns.

Rita is represented by Jenny Bent with the Bent Agency.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Frozen souls DB109335

Series: Detective Ellie Reeves

Order in Series: 04

Author: Herron, Rita B.

Reading Time: 9 hours, 43 minutes

Read by: Kristin Allison

Subjects: Mystery and Detective Stories, Suspense Fiction

“As a snowstorm wreaks havoc in the mountain town of Crooked Creek, a woman is found buried in ice. Detective Ellie Reeves is first on the scene. Examining the body, she finds frozen blonde hair, pink nail polish and a silver heart necklace engraved with Mine Forever. Ellie has first-hand experience of the monsters that lurk in the mountains––her childhood is testament to that. She vows to catch this one, but she’s up against the brutal weather, with snow covering footprints and making forensics impossible. Frantically trawling through missing-person’s reports, Ellie identifies the victim. Nadine Houser disappeared eleven years ago. Where has she been all this time? Why was she only murdered now? As storm clouds roll in, another girl is reported missing. Ellie retraces the steps of Ginger Weston who was renting a cabin in the mountains. She discovers a gold chain in the snow, spotted with blood. The killer is accelerating, and it’s just a matter of time before more innocent lives are robbed. With the town blaming Ellie for the missing girl on her watch, and everyone fearing for their safety of their daughters, it’s down to Ellie to solve the toughest case of her career. But when the killer comes after her, will she live to save Crooked Creek from its ruthless monster?” — Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language.

London : Bookouture, 2021.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Presumed Innocent” by Scott Turow

“Presumed Innocent” by Scott Turow

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Bob Askey did a great job of narrating this legal tale. Turow has proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a masterly fashion. I never parsed the killer!

A few take-aways:

–All of you have taken on the most sollem obligations of citizenship.

–Having the jury out is the closest thing to suspended animation.

–I understand, that is my gift, but I have no ability to do anything about it.

–Dispite misfortunion, life continues.

–It’s hard to believe that anyone can fully put  put aside those preconceptions.

–We need jurers bright enough to shape the legal standard and strong enough to forthrightly apply it.

–A made up case against a past political opponent.

–She was like a spider caughtin her own web.

–Every prosecutor learns that we live closer than we want to believe to real evil doing.

–What she offered was only the grandest of illustions.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scott Frederick Turow[1] (born April 12, 1949) is an American author and lawyer. Turow worked as a lawyer for a decade before writing full-time, and has written 13 fiction and three nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 30 million copies.[2] Turow’s novels are set primarily among the legal community in the fictional Kindle County. Films have been based on several of his books.

Life and career[edit]

Turow was born in Chicago, to a family of Belarusian Jewish descent.[3] His father was an M.D., but it was his mother Rita whom he credits as serving as his “beacon” and shaping him with her “love, support, and boundless faith in me.”[4] In contrast, his father wanted him to become a medical doctor. After Presumed Innocent became successful, his father told him, “I still think you could have gone to medical school.”[5] He attended New Trier High School and graduated from Amherst College in 1970, as a brother of the Alpha Delta Phi Literary Society.[6] He received an Edith Mirrielees Fellowship to Stanford University’s Creative Writing Center, which he attended from 1970 to 1972.

Turow later became a Jones Lecturer at Stanford, serving until 1975, when he entered Harvard Law School. Turow became interested in law while writing a novel about a rent strike, in part because studying law helped him cope with the emotional abuse he received from his father as a child. In 1977, Turow wrote One L, a book about his first year at law school.[5] After earning his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree cum laude in 1978, Turow became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago, serving in that position until 1986. There, he prosecuted several high-profile corruption cases, including the tax fraud case of state Attorney General William Scott. Turow was also lead counsel in Operation Greylord, the federal prosecution of judicial corruption cases in Illinois.

After leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Turow became a novelist and wrote the legal thrillers Presumed Innocent (1987), The Burden of Proof (1990), Pleading Guilty (1993), and Personal Injuries, which Time magazine named as the Best Fiction Novel of 1999. All four books became bestsellers, and Turow won multiple literary awards, most notably the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers’ Association.

In 1990, Turow was featured on the June 11 cover of Time, which described him as “Bard of the Litigious Age”.[7] In 1995, Canadian author Derek Lundy published a biography of Turow, entitled Scott Turow: Meeting the Enemy (ECW Press, 1995). In the 1990s, a British publisher bracketed Turow’s work with that of Margaret Atwood and John Irving, republished in the series Bloomsbury Modern Library.

Turow was elected the President of the Authors Guild in 2010,[8] which he was previously President of from 1997 to 1998.[citation needed] As the President of the Authors Guild, he has been criticized for his copyright maximalist and anti-ebook stance.[9] Turow has often responded that he is not against e-books, and has shared that he, in fact, does the majority of his own reading electronically. According to Turow, he is interested in protecting writing as a livelihood.[10]

From 1997 to 1998, Turow was a member of the U.S. Senate Nominations Commission for the Northern District of Illinois, which recommends federal judicial appointments. In 2011, Turow met with Harvard Law School professor, Lawrence Lessig, to discuss political reform, including a possible Second Constitutional Convention of the United States. According to one source, Turow saw risks with having such a convention, but he believed that it may be the “only alternative”, given his stance that campaign money can undermine the one man, one vote principle of democracy.[11]

Turow is a retired partner of the international law firm Dentons having been a partner of one of its constituents, the Chicago law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. Much of Turow’s caseload work is pro bono, including a 1995 case, in which he won the release of Alejandro Hernandez, a man who spent 11 years on death row for a murder he did not commit. He was also appointed to the commission considering the reform of the Illinois death penalty by former Governor George Ryan. Additionally, Turow was the first Chair of the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission, and he served as one of the 14 members on the Commission, which was appointed in March of 2000, by Illinois Governor George Ryan to consider reform of the capital punishment system.[2] Turow also served as a member of the Illinois State Police Merit Board 2000–2002.

From NLS/BARD/NLS”

Presumed innocent DB26965

Series: Kindle County

Order in Series: 01

Author: Turow, Scott

Reading Time: 15 hours, 18 minutes

Read by: Bob Askey

Subjects: Bestsellers, Legal Fiction, Mystery and Detective Stories

Downloaded: 09/12/2025

A novel of the seamiest aspects of a prosecuting attorney’s office and an intense courtroom drama. Attorney Rusty Sabich is accused of the brutal murder of his colleague, Carolyn, a beautiful but amoral lawyer. The crime occurs during the final week of a fierce election campaign in which Rusty’s boss vies for office with a charismatic former employee. Strong language and explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller.

New York : Farrar, Straus, Giroux, c1987.

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Full Moon Coffee Shop: a novel“ by Mai Mochizuki

“The Full Moon Coffee Shop: a novel“ by Mai Mochizuki

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   The multiple narrators did a good job of sharing this delightful story with us. It was one of seven books on the cartridge the NLS sent me.

   How wise these cats with astrological knowledge are! The wonderful way they shared their expertise with the children who helped a man when he was at his lowest.

   I enjoyed this story once I was able to recognize the various Japanese names and places.

From the web:

Book Review: ‘The Full Moon Coffee Shop’ by Mai Mochizuki …

Mai Mochizuki is a Japanese author, primarily known for her mystery novel series Holmes of Kyoto (also known as Kyoto Teramachi Sanjō no Hōmuzu) and her fantastical novel The Full Moon Coffee Shop. Her work often incorporates philosophical themes with whimsical elements. She was born in Hokkaido and currently lives in Kyoto, is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Unconventional Mystery Writers Club, and has won several awards, including the 4th Kyoto Book Award and the Everystar E-book Grand Prix.  

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The Full Moon Coffee Shop: a novel DB127607

Author: Mochizuki, Mai

Reading Time: 5 hours, 18 minutes

Read by: Ueda, Sadao, Komura, Tomoko, Naka, Yuriri

Subjects: Fantasy Fiction, Animals and Wildlife

“In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and seemingly appears at random to adrift young people at crucial junctions in their lives. It’s also run by talking cats. While customers at the Full Moon Coffee Shop partake in cakes and coffees and teas, the cats also consult them on their star charts, offer cryptic wisdom, and let them know where their lives veered off course. Because every person who visits the shop has been feeling more than a little lost. And for a down-on-her-luck screenwriter, a romantically stuck movie director, a hopeful hairstylist and a technologically challenged website designer, the coffee shop’s feline guides will set them back on their fated paths. For there is a very special reason the shop appeared to each of them.”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

New York : Penguin Random House, 2024.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Presumed guilty” by Scott Turow

“Presumed guilty” by Scott Turow

 NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Grover Gardner did a great job of narrating this legal story. Some of the trial stories I’ve read tend to get boring quickly; however, Turow did a masterful presentation of the facts and the other side of the facts, keeping this trial on its toes and moving right along.

   The ending of who dunnit’ may surprise you, but it is very understandable imho.

A few take-aways:

–The School Policy Review council  (trans bathroom issue)

–You can’t love somebody back to sanity or save them when they don’t want to be saved.

–Her Patience’s are tried from beauracrats to her problem teachers, who are tenaciously problematic, marginal performers, maximum complainers.

–You will never return to the normal you knew when you woke up.

–Don’t lie. You’re not smart enough to get away with it.

–If things are going well in a family, there will be three generations fully here on earth.

–Juries must be unanimous to return a guilty verdict.

–Not all white people are racist in the same way and to the same degree.

–The law is not perfect but it seeks to govern life with reason rather than submitting to the caious of the stupid impulses and passions that might otherwise drive us.

–Learn to live now as I will in the time I have left with gratitude.  

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scott Frederick Turow[1] (born April 12, 1949) is an American author and lawyer. Turow worked as a lawyer for a decade before writing full-time, and has written 13 fiction and three nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 30 million copies.[2] Turow’s novels are set primarily among the legal community in the fictional Kindle County. Films have been based on several of his books.

Life and career[edit]

Turow was born in Chicago, to a family of Belarusian Jewish descent.[3] His father was an M.D., but it was his mother Rita whom he credits as serving as his “beacon” and shaping him with her “love, support, and boundless faith in me.”[4] In contrast, his father wanted him to become a medical doctor. After Presumed Innocent became successful, his father told him, “I still think you could have gone to medical school.”[5] He attended New Trier High School and graduated from Amherst College in 1970, as a brother of the Alpha Delta Phi Literary Society.[6] He received an Edith Mirrielees Fellowship to Stanford University’s Creative Writing Center, which he attended from 1970 to 1972.

Turow later became a Jones Lecturer at Stanford, serving until 1975, when he entered Harvard Law School. Turow became interested in law while writing a novel about a rent strike, in part because studying law helped him cope with the emotional abuse he received from his father as a child. In 1977, Turow wrote One L, a book about his first year at law school.[5] After earning his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree cum laude in 1978, Turow became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago, serving in that position until 1986. There, he prosecuted several high-profile corruption cases, including the tax fraud case of state Attorney General William Scott. Turow was also lead counsel in Operation Greylord, the federal prosecution of judicial corruption cases in Illinois.

After leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Turow became a novelist and wrote the legal thrillers Presumed Innocent (1987), The Burden of Proof (1990), Pleading Guilty (1993), and Personal Injuries, which Time magazine named as the Best Fiction Novel of 1999. All four books became bestsellers, and Turow won multiple literary awards, most notably the Silver Dagger Award of the British Crime Writers’ Association.

In 1990, Turow was featured on the June 11 cover of Time, which described him as “Bard of the Litigious Age”.[7] In 1995, Canadian author Derek Lundy published a biography of Turow, entitled Scott Turow: Meeting the Enemy (ECW Press, 1995). In the 1990s, a British publisher bracketed Turow’s work with that of Margaret Atwood and John Irving, republished in the series Bloomsbury Modern Library.

Turow was elected the President of the Authors Guild in 2010,[8] which he was previously President of from 1997 to 1998.[citation needed] As the President of the Authors Guild, he has been criticized for his copyright maximalist and anti-ebook stance.[9] Turow has often responded that he is not against e-books, and has shared that he, in fact, does the majority of his own reading electronically. According to Turow, he is interested in protecting writing as a livelihood.[10]

From 1997 to 1998, Turow was a member of the U.S. Senate Nominations Commission for the Northern District of Illinois, which recommends federal judicial appointments. In 2011, Turow met with Harvard Law School professor, Lawrence Lessig, to discuss political reform, including a possible Second Constitutional Convention of the United States. According to one source, Turow saw risks with having such a convention, but he believed that it may be the “only alternative”, given his stance that campaign money can undermine the one man, one vote principle of democracy.[11]

Turow is a retired partner of the international law firm Dentons having been a partner of one of its constituents, the Chicago law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. Much of Turow’s caseload work is pro bono, including a 1995 case, in which he won the release of Alejandro Hernandez, a man who spent 11 years on death row for a murder he did not commit. He was also appointed to the commission considering the reform of the Illinois death penalty by former Governor George Ryan. Additionally, Turow was the first Chair of the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission, and he served as one of the 14 members on the Commission, which was appointed in March of 2000, by Illinois Governor George Ryan to consider reform of the capital punishment system.[2] Turow also served as a member of the Illinois State Police Merit Board 2000–2002.

From nls/BARD/LOC:          

resumed guilty DB127092

Series: Presumed innocent

Order in Series: 03

Author: Turow, Scott

Reading Time: 20 hours, 14 minutes

Read by: Gardner, Grover

Subjects: Mystery and Detective Stories, Suspense Fiction, Legal Fiction

Downloaded: 09/12/2025

“Rusty is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea, with whom he shares both a restful home on an idyllic lake in the rural Midwest and a plaintive hope that this marriage will be his best, and his last. But the peace that’s taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea’s young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn’t return soon, he will be sent back to jail. Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn’t returned, suspicion falls on Aaron, and when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first-degree murder. Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness. For Rusty, the question is not whether to defend Aaron, or whether the boy is in fact innocent–it’s whether the system to which he has devoted his life can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

New York : Hachette Book Group, 2025.

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Kate’s 2¢: ”The salvation gambit: a novel” by Emily Skrutskie

”The salvation gambit: a novel” by Emily Skrutskie

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

    Jaclyn Kelso did a good job of narrating this sci-fi story for the NLS.  It was one of seven stories on a cartridge sent to me.

   I enjoyed the surprising interaction of the characters and the suspense of being on a planet far in space. While I don’t condone lgbtq, I suppose if you’re stranded way out in space, any port in a storm will have to do.

From the web:

She was born in Massachusetts, raised in Virginia, and forged in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado. She holds a B.A. in Performing and Media Arts from Cornell University, where she studied an outrageous and demanding combination of film, computer science, and game design.

Emily Skrutskie is six feet tall. She lives and works in Los Angeles. Skrutskie is the author of THE ABYSS SURROUNDS US series, HULLMETAL GIRLS, and the …

Emily Skrutskie (Author of The Abyss Surrounds Us)

Author Bio

Emily Skrutskie was born in Massachusetts, raised in Virginia, and forged in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado. She attended Cornell University and now lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Emily is the author of Hullmetal Girls, The Abyss Surrounds Us, and The Edge of the Abyss.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The salvation gambit: a novel DB125636

Author: Skrutskie, Emily

Reading Time: 10 hours, 3 minutes

Read by: Jaclyn Kelso

Subjects: Science Fiction, LGBTQ+

“A hotheaded hacker must outwit the AI at the heart of a rogue warship-turned-penal colony if she and her crew of con women want to escape with their lives in this electrifying sci-fi thriller from the author of Bonds of Brass”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

New York : Penguin Random House, [2023]

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Burning Girls” by Rita B. Herron

“The Burning Girls” by Rita B. Herron

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   David Hartley-Margolin did his usually great job of narrating this disturbing story. It is not one you’d like to read just before going to bed.

   The decision to find one’s birth mother is fraught with pitfalls. The out-come may not be one you’ll be able to live with.

   A few take-aways:

–One coping skill when faced with grief, was to have something to do to feel useful.

–Maybe the heat wave was God’s way of reminding sinners what it would be like in Hell when they joined the Devil.

From the web:

USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job!

With over ninety books to her credit, she’s penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA stories, but she especially loves writing dark romantic suspense tales set in southern small towns.

Rita is represented by Jenny Bent with the Bent Agency.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The burning girls DB107558

Series: Detective Ellie Reeves; Herron, Rita B. Detective Ellie Reeves

Order in Series: 03

Author: Herron, Rita B.

Reading Time: 9 hours, 46 minutes

Read by: David Hartley-Margolin

Subjects: Mystery and Detective Stories, Suspense Fiction

Downloaded: 09/12/2025

Detective Ellie Reeves has been called to a river where a body has been found. The remains are surrounded by a circle of stones, leading Ellie to wonder if something more sinister is at play. When another body is found in a circle of stones, Ellie knows she is chasing a serial killer. Violence and strong language. 2021.

London : Bookouture, 2021.

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones

“The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   The multiple readers did a great job of narrating this really macabre story. In his acknowledgement  section at the end of the book, the author mentioned his sources of many of the cultural, horror myths, and historic twists. I’d like to follow-up on some of these sources.

A few take-aways:

–You had a documentarian’s eye and a play-writes ear, and a pen’s nib sharp enough to cut to the center of the day.

–A man of God meant to instill faith, but arguing reason and rationality whenever it suits my needs.  When it palliates my fears.

–I listen with a good heart.

–The Indian who can’t die. I’m the worst dream America ever had.

–Even when I extended the sermon by a full half hour, testing both my congregation’s patience and their bladders.

–It was but a little sin and my soul shall live on.

–I have but one life to use a recompense.

–Beaucarne translates to: beautiful meat.

–for me to believe in them, they have to make sense.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stephen Graham Jones (born January 22, 1972) is a Blackfeet Native American author of experimental fiction, horror fiction,[1] crime fiction, and science fiction.[2][3][4] His works include the horror novels The Only Good Indians, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and Night of the Mannequins.

Jones is the Ineva Baldwin Professor of English at the University of Colorado where he has been a faculty member since 2008.[5][6]

Background[edit]

Stephen Graham Jones was born in Midland, Texas, on January 22, 1972, to Dennis Jones and Rebecca Graham.[7] He is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana.[8]

Jones’s enthusiasm for reading began at the early age of 11; however, as a boy he had aspirations to be a farmer, never a teacher or a writer. After completing a semester of college, Jones decided to continue to pursue his degree while still having the intention to return to a manual labor job post-grad.[9]

Jones received his Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy from Texas Tech University in 1994, a Master of Arts in English from the University of North Texas in 1996, and his Ph.D. in 1998 from Florida State University.[10]

After graduating with his Ph.D. in 1998, Jones worked in a warehouse in Texas until a back injury sentenced him to a desk job. Jones worked at the Texas Tech Library until going on to teach at Texas Tech University and the University of West Texas.[11]

While he was attending Florida State University, Jones’s dissertation director introduced him to Houghton-Mifflin editor Jane Silver at the Writers’ Harvest conference. Jones pitched her a novel which he had not yet written, and Silver liked the idea. Jones then wrote the book, The Fast Red Road, as his dissertation. It was published as his debut novel in 2000.[12] It was followed by All the Beautiful Sinners in 2003.

In 2002, Jones won a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in fiction.[13] In 2006, he won the Jesse Jones Award for Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters for his 2005 short story collection Bleed into Me.[14] He won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction for Mapping the Interior in 2017.[15]

The Only Good Indians, a horror novel, was published on July 14, 2020, through Saga Press and Titan Books. It won the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction in 2020.[16] Jones won two 2020 Bram Stoker Awards for Night of the Mannequins and The Only Good Indians.[17]

Jones contributed an X-Men story to Marvel Comics’ Marvel’s Voices: Indigenous Voices #1 anthology, release in November 2020. Joining him was artist David Cutler.[18]

Themes and style[edit]

Jones has acknowledged a debt to Native American Renaissance writers, especially Gerald Vizenor.[19] Scholar Cathy Covell Waegner describes Jones’s work as containing elements of “dark playfulness, narrative inventiveness, and genre mixture.”[19] Jones also cites the novels of Louis L’Amour as an influence on his development as a writer, stating that “For better or worse, those pulp westerns are now part of my DNA as a writer.”[20]

Joseph Gaudet cited Jones’ writing as “post-ironic” or representative of David Foster Wallace’s “New Sincerity”, a literary approach “emerging in response to the cynicism, detachment, and alienation that many saw as defining the postmodern canon,” seeking instead “to more patently embrace morality, sincerity, and an ‘ethos of belief’.[21] His eighth novel, Ledfeather, which Jones stated was the most widely taught of his books,[22] is used as Gaudet’s primary example.

Jones has a natural inclination towards the sentimental and speculates that the dark and chilling nature of his writing is an overcorrection on his part. Jones enjoys the constant escalation of the bizarre but uses humor to release building pressure in order to build anticipation once more for the reader. Jones’ novels can be described as Native American Gothic, or Rez Gothic: a niche publishing genre characterized as using fantasy, science fiction, and horror to shed light on racial inequalities such as the one referenced through Jones’ novel title The Only Good Indians.[23]

Personal life[edit]

Jones and his wife Nancy married on May 20, 1995. They have two children together.

Jones resides in Boulder, Colorado with his wife, son, and daughter. He teaches at the University of Colorado as the Ineva Reilly Baldwin Endowed Chair. Jones enjoys returning to northern Montana in July to attend the Blackfeet Nation Pow Wow and in November for the annual Montana Blackfeet elk hunt. This annual elk hunt inspired Jones’ novel The Only Good Indians.[24]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The buffalo hunter hunter DB128581

Jones, Stephen Graham. Reading time: 15 hours, 32 minutes.

Read by Ghostkeeper, Shane; Ireland, Marin; Teale, Owen.

Occult and Horror Fiction

Historical Fiction

“A chilling historical horror novel set in the American west in 1912 following a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice. A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits.”– Provided by publisher. Violence and strong language. Commercial audiobook.

Downloaded: September 1, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “Half of a yellow sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

“Half of a yellow sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Jill Fox did a good job of narrating this Nigerian story for NLS. There were numerous native words that I think I would have mispronounced. Keeping people straight in the beginning was confusing, but after listening for a while, the characters separated out from the names of the towns and regions.

   I enjoyed this well researched story about a country I knew only a little about.

A few take-aways:

–Greatness depends on where you are coming from.

–They don’t seem to realize how much of a joke socialism really is

–May another person do for them, what they have done for me.

–The real tragedy about the post-Colonial world is not that the majority of people had no say win whether or not they wanted this new world, rather, it is that the majority haven’t been given the tools to negotiate this new world.

–Pollititions are not like real people.

–Biafran flag: swads of red, black and green, and at the center a luminous half of a yellow sun. red is the blood of the siblings masacured in the North, black is for mourning them, green for the prosperity Biafra would have, half of the glorious sun is for the future.

–A single act can reverberate through time and space.

–Memories were inside her where strangers could not barge in and steal them.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.chimamanda.com

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie[b] (born Grace Ngozi Adichie;[1] 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, poems, and children’s books; she is also a book reviewer and literary critic. Her most famous works include Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Americanah (2013). She is widely recognised as a central figure in postcolonial feminist literature.

Born into an Igbo family in Enugu, Nigeria, Adichie was educated at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, where she studied medicine for a year and half. She left Nigeria at the age of 19 to study in the United States at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and went on to study at a further three universities in the U.S.: Eastern Connecticut State University, Johns Hopkins University, and Yale University.

Many of Adichie’s novels are set in Nsukka, where she grew up. She started writing during her university education. She first wrote Decisions (1997), a poetry collection, followed by a play, For Love of Biafra (1998). She achieved early success with her debut novel, Purple Hibiscus. Adichie has written many works and has cited Chinua Achebe and Buchi Emecheta as inspirations, and Adichie’s writing style juxtaposes Western and African influences, with particular influence from Igbo culture. Most of her works explore the themes of religion, immigration, gender and culture.

Adichie uses fashion as a medium to break down stereotypes, and in 2018 was recognised with a Shorty Award for her “Wear Nigerian Campaign”. She has a successful speaking career: her 2009 TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story” is one of the most viewed TED Talks; her 2012 talk, “We Should All Be Feminists”, was sampled by American singer Beyoncé, as well as being featured on a T-shirt by Dior in 2016. Adichie’s awards and honours include academic and literary prizes, fellowships, grants, honorary degrees, and other high recognition, such as a MacArthur Fellowship in 2008 and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017.

Early life, marriage, and education[edit]

Early life[edit]

Adichie was born with English name Grace[1] on 15 September 1977 as the fifth out of six children. She was raised in Enugu, Nigeria by parents of Igbo origin.[2][3][4] Her father James Nwoye Adichie was from Abba in Anambra State while her mother and namesake Grace Odigwe was born in Umunnachi.[5] James studied mathematics at University College, Ibadan until his graduation in 1957. He married Grace on 15 April 1963,[6] and moved with her to Berkeley, California to complete his PhD degree at the University of California.[7] While in the United States, the couple had two daughters: ljeoma Rosemary and Uchenna.[6] James returned to Nigeria and began working as a professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1966.[8] Grace began her university studies in 1964, at Merritt College in Oakland, California, and then later earned a degree in sociology and anthropology from the University of Nigeria.[5][9]

The Biafran War broke out in 1967 and James started working for the Biafran government[7] at the Biafran Manpower Directorate.[10] Adichie lost her maternal and paternal grandfathers.[11] After Biafra ceased to exist in 1970, her father returned to the University of Nigeria,[8][7] while her mother worked for the government at Enugu until 1973, before becoming an administration officer at the University of Nigeria, and later the first female registrar.[5][9] Adichie stayed at the campus of the University of Nigeria, in a house previously occupied by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe.[12] Her siblings include Ijeoma Rosemary, Uchenna “Uche”, Chukwunweike “Chuks”, Okechukwu “Okey”, and Kenechukwu “Kene”.[13][6] Adichie was raised Catholic,[7] and her family’s home parish was St. Paul’s Parish in Abba.[10] Adichie’s father died of kidney failure in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic,[14] and her mother died in 2021.[5]

Education[edit]

As a child, Adichie read only English-language stories,[7] especially by Enid Blyton. Adichie’s juvenilia included stories with characters who were white and blue-eyed, modeled on British children she had read about.[7][10][15] At the age of 10, she discovered African literature and read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe,[12] The African Child by Camara Laye,[15] Weep Not, Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, and Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta.[10] Adichie began to study her father’s stories about Biafra when she was 13 years old. On visits to Abba, she saw houses that were destroyed and rusty bullets scattered on the ground. She would later incorporate these memories and her father’s accounts into her novels.[10]

At her Catholic confirmation, Adichie changed her English name from Grace to Amanda, under which name her first work was published.[1][3][13]

In her formal education, Adichie was taught in both Igbo and English.[2] Although Igbo was not a popular subject, she continued taking courses in the language throughout high school.[7] She completed her secondary education at the University of Nigeria Campus Secondary School, with top distinction in the West African Examinations Council (WAEC),[13] and academic prizes.[16] She was admitted to the University of Nigeria, where she studied medicine and pharmacy for a year and half.[17] She was also the editor of The Compass, a student-run university magazine.[18] In 1997, at the age of 19, Adichie published Decisions, a collection of poems, and later moved to the United States,[15] to study communications at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[16][18] In 1998, she wrote a play called For Love of Biafra, which was her initial exploration of the theme of war.[15] These early works were written under the name Amanda N. Adichie.[3]

Two years after moving to the United States, she transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Connecticut, living with her sister Ijeoma, who was a medical doctor there.[2] In 2000, Adichie published her short story “My Mother, the Crazy African”,[19] which discusses the problems that arise when a person is facing two cultures that are complete opposites from each other.[20] After finishing her undergraduate degree, she continued studying and simultaneously pursuing a writing career.[15] While a senior at Eastern Connecticut, she wrote articles for the university paper Campus Lantern.[18] She received her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude with a major in political science and a minor in communications in 2001.[2][18] She earned a master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University in 2003,[18][21] and for the next two years was a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, where she taught introductory fiction.[15][16] She began studying at Yale University, and completed a second master’s degree in African studies in 2008.[2][15] Adichie received a MacArthur Fellowship that same year,[22] plus other academic prizes, including the 2011–2012 Fellowship of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.[23]

Adichie uses both Igbo and English in her works,[50] with Igbo phrases shown in italics, followed by the English translation.[51] She uses metaphors to trigger sensory experiences,[52] for example, the arrival of a king to challenge colonial and religious leaders in Purple Hibiscus symbolises Palm Sunday.[53] Her use of language referencing Achebe’s Things Fall Apart invokes the memories of his work to her readers.[54] Similarly, the name of Kambili, a character in Purple Hibiscus, evokes “i biri ka m biri” (“Live and Let Live”), the title of a song by Igbo musician Oliver De Coque.[55] To describe pre- and post-war conditions, she moves from good to worse as seen in Half of a Yellow Sun, in which one of her characters begins by opening the refrigerator and sees oranges, beer, and a “roasted shimmering chicken”. These contrast to later in the novel where one of her characters dies of starvation, and others are forced to eat powdered eggs and lizards.[56] Adichie usually uses real places and historic figures to draw readers into her stories.[57]

In developing characters, Adichie often exaggerates attitudes to contrast the differences between traditional and western cultures.[58] Her stories often point out failed cultures, particularly those which leave her characters in a limbo between bad options.[59] At times, she creates a character as an oversimplified archetype of a particular aspect of cultural behavior to create a foil for a more complex character.[60]

Igbo tradition[edit]

Adichie gives her characters recognisable common names for an intended ethnicity, such as Mohammed for a Muslim character.[61] For Igbo characters, she invents names that convey Igbo naming traditions and depict the character’s traits, personality, and social connections.[62] For example, in Half of a Yellow Sun, the character’s name Ọlanna literally means “God’s Gold”, but Nwankwọ points out that ọla means precious and nna means father (which can be understood as either God the father or a parent).[63] By shunning popular Igbo names, Adichie intentionally imbues her characters with multi-ethnic, gender-plural, global personas.[64] She typically does not use English names for African characters but, when she does, it is a device to represent negative traits or behaviours.[65]

Adichie draws on figures from Igbo oral tradition to present facts in the style of historical fiction.[66] She breaks with tradition in a way that contrasts with traditional African literature, given that women writers were often absent from the Nigerian literary canon,[67] and female characters were often overlooked or served as supporting material for male characters who were engaged in the socio-political and economic life of the community.[68] Her style often focuses on strong women and adds a gendered perspective to topics previously explored by other authors, such as colonialism, religion, and power relationships.[69][70]

Adichie often separates characters into social classes to illustrate social ambiguities and traditional hierarchies.[71][72] By using narratives from characters of different segments of society, as she reiterates in her TED talk, “The Danger of a Single Story”, she conveys the message that there is no single truth about the past.[73] Adichie is encouraging her readers to recognise their own responsibility to one another, and the injustice that exists in the world.[74] Nigerian scholar Stanley Ordu classifies Adichie’s feminism as womanist because her analysis of patriarchal systems goes beyond sexist treatment of women and anti-male bias, looking instead at socio-economic, political and racial struggles women face to survive and cooperate with men.[75] For example, in Purple Hibiscus, the character Auntie Ifeoma embodies a womanist view through making all family members to work as a team and with consensus, so that each person’s talents are utilised to their highest potential.[76]

In both her written works and public speaking, Adichie incorporates humour, and uses anecdotes, irony and satire to underscore a particular point of view.[77][78] Adichie has increasingly developed a contemporary Pan-Africanist view of gender issues, becoming less interested in the way the West sees Africa and more interested in how Africa sees itself.[79]

Themes[edit]

Adichie, in a 2011 conversation with Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, stated that the overriding theme of her works was love.[80] Using the feminist argument “The personal is political”, love in her works is typically expressed through cultural identity, personal identity and the human condition, and how social and political conflict impact all three.[81] Adichie frequently explores the intersections of class, culture, gender, (post-)imperialism, power, race and religion.[82] Struggle is a predominant theme throughout African literature,[83] and her works follow that tradition by examining families, communities, and relationships.[84] Her explorations go beyond political strife and the struggle for rights, and typically examine what it is to be human.[85] Many of her writings deal with the way her characters reconcile themselves with trauma in their lives[86] and how they move from being silenced and voiceless to self-empowered and able to tell their own stories.[87]

Adichie’s works, beginning with Purple Hibiscus, generally examine cultural identity.[58] Igbo identity is typically at the forefront of her works, which celebrate Igbo language and culture, and African patriotism, in general.[88] Her writing is an intentional dialogue with the West, intent on reclaiming African dignity and humanity.[80] A recurring theme in Adichie’s works is the Biafran War. The civil war was a “defining moment” in the post-colonial history of Nigeria, and examining the conflict dramatises the way in which the country’s identity was shaped. Half of a Yellow Sun, her major work on the war, highlights how policies, corruption, religious dogmatism and strife played into the expulsion of the Igbo population and then forced their reintegration into the nation.[89][90] Both actions had consequences, and Adichie presents the war as an unhealed wound because of political leaders’ reluctance to address the issues that sparked it.[91]

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka reappears in Adichie’s novels to illustrate the transformative nature of education in developing political consciousness, and symbolises the stimulation of Pan-African consciousness and a desire for independence in Half of a Yellow Sun. It appeared in both Purple Hibiscus and Americanah as the site of resistance to authoritarian rule through civil disobedience and dissent by students.[92] The university teaches the colonial accounts of history and develops the means to contest its distortions through indigenous knowledge,[93] by recognising that colonial literature tells only part of the story and minimises African contributions.[94] Adichie illustrates this in Half of a Yellow Sun, when mathematics instructor Odenigbo, explains to his houseboy, Ugwu, that he will learn in school that the Niger River was discovered by a white man named Mungo Park, although the indigenous people had fished the river for generations. However, Odenigbo cautions Ugwu that, even though the story of Park’s discovery is false, he must use the wrong answer or he will fail his exam.[93]

Adichie’s works about African diaspora consistently examine themes of belonging, adaptation and discrimination.[52] This is often shown as an obsession to assimilate and is demonstrated by characters changing their names,[60] a common theme in Adiche’s short fiction, which serves to point out hypocrisy.[95] By using the theme of immigration, she is able to develop dialogue on how her characters’ perceptions and identity are changed by living abroad and encountering different cultural norms.[96] Initially alienated by the customs and traditions of a new place, the characters, such as Ifemelu in Americanah, eventually discover ways to connect with new communities.

In Dear Ijeawele or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions she evaluates themes of identity that recur in Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, and The Thing Around Your Neck such as stereotypical perceptions of Black women’s physical appearance, their hair and their objectification.[97] Dear Ijeawele stresses the political importance of using African names,[98] rejecting colorism,[99] exercising freedom of expression in how they wear their hair (including rejecting patronising curiosity about it)[100] and avoiding commodification, such as marriageability tests, which reduce a woman’s worth to that of a prize, seeing only her value as a man’s wife.[101] Her women characters repeatedly resist being defined by stereotypes and embody a quest for women’s empowerment.[102]

Adichie’s works often deal with inter-generational explorations of family units, allowing her to examine differing experiences of oppression and liberation. In both Purple Hibiscus and “The Headstrong Historian”—one of the stories included in The Thing Around Your Neck—Adichie examined these themes using the family as a miniature representation of violence.[103] Female sexuality, both within patriarchal marriage relationships and outside of marriage, is a theme that Adichie typically uses to explore romantic complexities and boundaries. Her work discusses homosexuality in the context of marital affairs in stories such as “Transition to Glory”, and taboo topics such as romantic feelings for clergy in Purple Hibiscus, as well as the seduction of a friend’s boyfriend in “Light Skin”. Miscarriage,[104] motherhood and the struggles of womanhood are recurring themes in Adichie’s works, and are often examined in relation to Christianity, patriarchy, and social expectation.[69][105][106] For example, in the short story “Zikora”, she deals with the interlocking biological, cultural and political aspects of becoming a mother and expectations placed upon women.[105] The story examines the failure of contraception and an unexpected pregnancy, abandonment by her partner, single motherhood, social pressure and Zikora’s identity crisis, and the various emotions she experiences about becoming a mother.[107]

Adichie’s works show a deep interest in the complexities of the human condition. Recurrent themes are forgiveness and betrayal, as in Half of a Yellow Sun, when Olanna forgives her lover’s infidelity, or Ifemelu’s decision to separate from her boyfriend in Americanah.[81] Adichie’s examination of war shines a light on how both sides of any conflict commit atrocities and neither side is blameless for the unfolding violence. Her narrative demonstrates that knowledge and understanding of diverse classes and ethnic groups is necessary to create harmonious multi-ethnic communities.[90] Other forms of violence—including sexual abuse, rape, domestic abuse, and rage—are repeated themes in Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun and the stories collected in The Thing Around Your Neck,[90][84] these themes symbolise the universality of power, or the impact and manifestation in society of its misuse.[74]

Views[edit]

Feminist fashion[edit]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Half of a yellow sun DB63931

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Reading time: 16 hours, 20 minutes.

Read by Jill Fox.

Historical Fiction

As the Biafran war erupts in 1960s Nigeria, three people are caught up in the turbulence: a thirteen-year-old houseboy, Ugwu; his master’s mistress, Olanna; and Richard, a shy young Englishman. Their ideals and loyalties are tested while they flee from advancing Nigerian troops. Some descriptions of sex. 2006.

Downloaded: September 1, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Wildflower Graves” by Rita B. Herron                   

“The Wildflower Graves” by Rita B. Herron                        

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   David Hartley-Margolin is one of my all-time favorite narrators and he didn’t disappoint with his reading of this second book in the series.

   The author’s use of a nursery rhyme heightens the tension for Ellie to solve who is murdering the young women before he comes to get her.

A few take-aways:

–Monday’s child is fair of face;

Tuesday’s child is full of Grace;

Wednesday’s child is full of woe;

Thursday’s child has far to go;

Friday’s child is loving and giving;

Saturday’s child works hard for a living;

And the child that is born on the Sabboth Day, is bonny and blithe, good, and gay.

–You’d think we’d become immune to this stuff, but the depravity still gets to me.

–When the cruelty of what one human could inflict on another, stops bothering them, it would be time to quit.

–Ellie did not back down from a challenge.

–If people took it into their own hands, there would be no safe place for anyone to go.

–Those people lost their loved ones, because a crazed phsysco has murdered them.  The blame is on him.

From the web:

USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author Rita Herron fell in love with books at the ripe age of eight when she read her first Trixie Belden mystery. But she didn’t think real people grew up to be writers, so she became a teacher instead. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job!

With over ninety books to her credit, she’s penned romantic suspense, romantic comedy, and YA stories, but she especially loves writing dark romantic suspense tales set in southern small towns.

Rita is represented by Jenny Bent with the Bent Agency.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Wildflower graves DB107372

Series: Detective Ellie Reeves

Order in Series: 02

Author: Herron, Rita B.

Reading Time: 9 hours, 39 minutes

Read by: David Hartley-Margolin

Subjects: Mystery and Detective Stories, Suspense Fiction

While hiking in the Appalachian Mountains, Detective Ellie Reeves discovers the body of a beautiful young woman left on a bed of daffodils. When another body is found in a similar manner, mimicking a nursery rhyme, Ellie knows she faces a serial killer. She races to uncover the killer’s identity, even as he targets her. Violence and strong language. 2020.

London : Bookouture, [2020]

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