Lost Birds: A Leaphorn, Chee, & Manuelito Novel by Anne Hillerman ****

 Lost Birds by Anne Hillerman is a continuation of the series originated by her father Tony Hillerman, set in Navajo Country and featuring the Navajo Nation Police. As with the other books, southwestern geography and the Navajo culture are featured. In this book, (a) Stella Brown, adopted by a white family, is looking for her Navajo roots, (2) an explosion at the Eagle Roost School ties into a murder, loan sharks, and a missing person, and (3) Kory has his mental health challenges exacerbated by a terminal cancer diagnosis. An excellent addition to this series.

The mystery of Stella Brown’s ancestry hinges on a single photo and a Navajo blanket with a storm pattern. Retired Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, with his understanding of Navajo geography and culture, follows these clues to solve the convoluted mystery to a satisfying resolution.

The explosion at Eagle Roost School is a mystery worthy of Agatha Christy, with multiple suspects and motives. The mystery includes the gambling debts of the school janitor Cecil Bowlegs, Bethany Bowlegs, his missing wife and school music teacher/accountant, Big Rex, the band leader of the Hop Toads where Bethany is the lead singer, and Principal Morgan with a shady past.

The most excitement is generated by the unstable Kory who is off his meds, struggling with his relationship with his mother Louisa Bourbonette, and adjusting to his wife, Erlinda’s pregnancy. Leaphorn needs all his experience and knowledge to prevent Kory from doing something that all will regret.

This is not a mystery simply dropped into Navajo Country. Navajo issues like drinking and The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978 are important to the plot. The size of the Navajo Nation (25,000 square miles, predominantly in Arizona and New Mexico) is also integral.

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The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood *****

 Gilead. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Offred is the Commander’s (Fred’s) Handmaid. She wears red. The women who work in the house (Cora and Rita) are Martha’s. They wear green. The Commander’s wife is Serena Joy. She wears blue. The male workers are Guardians. Offred’s purpose is to get pregnant. Serena Joy oversees the monthly ritual for this purpose. Many suspect that the Commander is sterile. “I almost gasp: he’s said a forbidden word. Sterile. There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that’s the law.” A classic novel of a patriarchal dystopia. Read it.

Before Gilead, Offred had a name and a husband and a daughter. All that is gone, but life as a Handmaid is superior to being sent to the to being hung from a hook on the Wall, or “He could fake the tests, report me for cancer, for infertility, have me shipped off to the Colonies, with the Unwomen.”

Much of this book reminds me of 1984 where there is an opposition, but you can never be sure if the opposition is real or a trap. Much of the terror is not knowing who is a friend and who is a foe. Every transgressive act comes with a heightened risk since you can never be sure of your coconspirators.

Econowives (from Google)

In The Handmaid's Tale, Econowives are fertile women who are married to lower- and middle-class men, or Economen. They are expected to: Have children, Take care of their households, Cook meals, Clean their husbands' houses, and Support their husbands' careers.

Econowives are not assigned Marthas to help them, unlike Wives, who have many servants. Econowives are expected to fulfill the duties of a Handmaid, Wife, and Martha to their husbands. They wear red, blue, and green to symbolize this.

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The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young ****

Curl up in your favorite reading chair with your grandma’s quilt and your daughter’s cat. You’ll need all the support you can summon for The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young, a fantasy/sci-fi time-travel murder mystery. June Farrow comes from a long line of cursed women in the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, who, succumb to madness at some point in their lives. Her mother, Susanna, simply disappeared. June was found as a baby wearing a strange locket. Early in the story, her grandmother, who raised her, dies having first lost her mind, leaving June with her best friend Birdie. June can sense the curse coming for her, the attraction of a mysterious red door that only she can see. That’s how it starts. Do you dare follow?

The Farrows (in 2023) “The Farrow women had a touch. When … everyone else in North Carolina was planting tobacco, the Farrows were growing flowers. It had kept the farm working for the last 118 years, … a peculiar little farm that was growing flower varieties even the richest growers in New England hadn’t been able to get their hands on. The mystery had made the farm something of a legend, even if the women who ran it weren’t exactly considered polite company.”

This is a story of time travel and, as with all time-travel stories, there are rules: (1) You can only travel to another time three times, (2) You can not travel to a time where you already exist, (3) The standard: “No talking about what happens in the future to any of us. No warning us of danger or opportunity or anything else. There are too many risks. Too many things that could be affected.”

This is also a love story.

Stranger vocabulary: Tedder- A tedder is a machine used in haymaking to spread and stir hay to help it dry and cure faster. It's also known as a hay tedder.

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Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah *****

 Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah is the story of two sisters and their mother. Meredith married her childhood sweetheart, had two daughters, and took over the family apple orchard. She was the responsible and organized one. Nina was a conflict photographer, taking pictures of war zones and refugees. She was a fearless adventurer. Their mother, Anya, suffered from PTSD. The daughters didn’t know their mother’s history, only that she was cold and distant. These three strangers were held together by the father. They all loved him, so much so, that when his dying wish was for them to hear Anya’s story, all three overcame their differences to honor his wish. Much of this book is about the Siege of Leningrad. A strong, emotional book about mothers and daughters.

While the book centers on the relationship between Anya and her two daughters, most of the pages are dedicated to the Siege of Leningrad. The focus is on the women (“Every man between fourteen and sixty has gone to fight.”) who remained in Leningrad facing Stalinism, starvation, and cold. While many histories of the Battle/Siege of Leningrad report the military maneuvers with any mention of women being those who fought. This book gives life to the survivors, their children and their grandparents. Warning: some of the experiences of these women are difficult to read.

Kristin Hannah uses her god-like author powers to finish the book on an upbeat note.

Nina is a conflict photographer and chases crises around the world, with her boyfriend Danny. Her passion is to publish a book on strong women (and sex with Danny).

The book includes Russian dishes (and even recipes at the end), as well as lots of vodka shots and tea from the samovar.

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Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey *****

And the winner for the worst movie adaptation is Cheaper by the Dozen (2003). Aside from the number of children, nothing of this 1948 (set in the 1920s) classic was included in the film. Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey features a husband-and-wife engineering team who traveled the world giving lectures and improving factory efficiency. This short book, lovingly written by two of the children, includes many vignettes such as how they earned money by bidding on household chores (“The lowest bidder got the contract.”) and how they satirized their father’s lectures (“For the purpose of convenience,” [the child satirist] began pompously, “I have divided my talk tonight into thirty main headings and one hundred and seventeen subheadings. I will commence with the first main heading. …”). Highly recommended. An efficient use of your time.

The oldest girls were teens during the 1920s and the book includes many teen fashions of the era: Oxford bags (trousers), cootie garages (hairstyle), silk stockings, raccoon coats, and exhaust whistles for Model Ts.

Several of those girls went to Smith College.

The mother and the father were a team that would make any feminist proud 100 years later. The father “died on June 14, 1924, three days before he was to sail for Europe for the two conferences,” where he was booked to deliver lectures. The mother took his tickets and delivered the lectures.

 From the Foreword: MOTHER AND DAD, Lillian Moller Gilbreth and Frank Bunker Gilbreth, were industrial engineers. They were among the first in the scientific management field and the very first in motion study. From 1910 to 1924, their firm of Gilbreth, Inc., was employed as “efficiency expert” by many of the major industrial plants in the United States, Britain, and Germany. Dad died in 1924. After that, Mother carried the load by herself and became perhaps the foremost 

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