Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase ****

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Epstein files. 1984. Handmaiden’s Tale. Minority Report. Test tube babies. Reincarnation. Immortality. Surveillance state. Microchips. Conspiracy. Matricide. Patricide. Feminism. LGBTQIA. All set in Botswana. A dystopian novel with a happy ending.

Nelah is married to Elifasi, the assistant commissioner of the Gaborone police force. He is abusive and controlling. She has an affair with Jan, the son of Botswana's wealthiest man. One night, Nelah hits Moremi with her car on a dark road. Rather than reporting the accident, they kill Moremi and bury her. Moremi becomes a furious, disfigured spirit who stalks Nelah and begins systematically killing off Nelah’s family members as revenge.

Between Nelah’s struggle to save her parents (Loeto & Masego Bogasi), her brother Lambani, Elifasi, Jan, and her unborn daughter in the Wombcubator, and Moremi’s compulsion to murder all those people, several conspiracies are uncovered.

A person from Botswana is called a Motswana. People from Botswana are called Batswana. The language of Botswana is Setswana.

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A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn ****

A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn

20 years ago, the Seven Sinners, rich Cambridge students, took a Grand Tour. Lorenzo died. Now, two Sinners have been murdered to avenge his death. Can Veronica & Stoker unmask the killer before more die? A Victorian mystery with many twists & turns.

A Sinister Revenge is the 8^th book in this 10-book series. Veronica Speedwell is the series protagonist, an unconventional Victorian lepidopterist, scientist, and lady adventurer. Her love interest is Revelstoke "Stoker" Templeton-Vane, a natural historian, scientist, and taxidermist. In this book, the butterflies play a minor role, but Stoker restores a Megalosaurus. Throughout the book, Stoker is estranged from Veronica, while she attempts to seduce him.

The mystery begins when Tiberius Templeton-Vane is threatened because of the twenty-year-old death of Lorenzo d'Ambrogio. Twenty years ago, seven Cambridge University gentlemen (The Seven Sinners) went on a Grand Tour that culminated at Cherboys, Tiberius’s ancestral home. Lorenzo’s death was declared an accident, but now two of the group have been murdered to avenge his death. Tiberius stages a reunion at Cherboys to uncover the murderer.

Veronica and Stoker assist in the investigation. Tiberius invited the two remaining survivors, along with their wives. Sir James MacIver and Augusta, his philanthropist wife. Pietro Salviati and his young American wife, Beatrice.

Beatrice has a weak heart and is murdered with strychnine at the reunion dinner. There are many twists and turns before the murder is revealed, and Veronica is reunited with Stoker.

Fossils play a major part in the mystery, and reference is made to the real-life 19th-century fossil collector, Mary Anning.

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The Guest Cottage (Firefly Summer Book 1) by Lori Foster *****

The Guest Cottage by Lori Foster

Marlow resigns from her corporate role in Chicago, moves to Bramble, KY, population 401, to restart her life after a messy divorce. She meets former Marine Cort, but her past follows her… her in-laws, her dead husband’s lover, and their child. A romance.

Marlow Heddings is confident and capable, moving from an executive position to a server at The Dry Frog Tavern. Is there nothing that she can’t excel at? Absolutely nothing. Cort Easton is also capable and confident. His past includes a traumatic childhood and “Twelve Marines died, including my best friend.” The town folk love these two newcomers. They are a matched set and instantly attracted, but romance takes time to develop. The third (and fourth) newcomers to Bramble are Pixie and Andy. Pixie is the lover of Marlow’s dead husband, Dylan. Andy is the child of this affair. A romance.

Pixie was a nineteen-year-old Heddings factory worker when Dylan Heddings, the spoiled scion of Heddings Holdings, found her. Eventually, with Marlow’s help, Pixie found her strength. Pixie didn’t waver. She didn’t shout or cry. She said simply [to Dylan’s parents], “Since you’re not interested in meeting Andy, and you’re only being rude, you should go.”

Cort had three buildings on his lakefront property: his home, the guest cottage, and the lake house. He lived in the big house, Marlow lived in the guest cottage, and Pixie (with her infant, Andy) lived in the small lake house.

Marlow regretted her marriage beyond her husband’s affair. Somehow during the ten years of her marriage, she’d completely lost herself. Gone was the happy, relaxed young woman she’d once been, replaced by a staid, conservative-dressing, matronly businesswoman whom, honestly, Marlow didn’t even like. Regardless, she was independent. She had her own accounts, in her name only. She neither needed nor wanted the Heddings’ money. There were many things she’d let slide over the years, but she’d always protected herself financially.

Fireflies: As [Marlow and Cort] rose to leave the restaurant, she realized that the sky had darkened all around them. Candles glowed from all the tables. Everywhere she looked, she saw the twinkling of fireflies. In that moment, after eating scrumptious food and sharing her news with Cort, the fireflies were positively magical. A perfect accompaniment to a wonderful day. She didn’t want it to end.

The first kiss came a third of the way into the book. “Kiss me.” In the next second, his mouth settled on hers. No timid kiss from this Marine, no sir. He took her order seriously and completely dismantled her understanding of a kiss. This was more. This was amazing. It was the type of kiss that could sweep a levelheaded woman completely away. Happily. When he eased up, she said, “Whew. Way to excel.”

Sex was at the halfway point. Pushing back his chair, Cort said, “I have one stipulation.” He got to his feet and held his hand out to her. “We enjoy that shower together.” “You’re a tough negotiator.” Grinning, Marlow placed her hand in his. “But I’ll agree to your terms.”

Surprisingly, the book has at least two typos. Cort didn’t ask a single question about the conversation he’d surely overhead. She gave Colt a big squeeze.

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Mother of Invention by Katrine Marçal ****

Mother of Invention by Katrine Marçal

10 essays on progress & why it is so slow. It opens with suitcase wheels & ultimately addresses Artificial Intelligence. The author says that when AI transforms the economy, thinking will no longer be on top. The top role will go to caring. Read chapters 7-9.

Why did it take so long to get wheels on suitcases? “At this time, there was this macho feeling. Men used to carry luggage for their wives. It was . . . the natural thing to do.” “In sum, the suitcase began to roll when we changed our perspective on gender: that men must carry, and that women’s mobility must be limited. Gender answers the riddle of why it took some five thousand years for us to put wheels on our bags.”

Was the first tool a spear invented by male warriors or a digging stick invented by female farmers? This comes back to our gross misunderstanding of our own technological history. If that which women engage in cannot be deemed technology, while men are increasingly forced to specialize in war, then our understanding of the history of technology will place all too great a weight on violence and death. Our ability to make and use tools dates back millions of years. Even our relatives, the chimpanzees, create tools. This has made scholars believe that the first tools were probably not made of stone, but instead fashioned from branches, twigs, and other highly perishable materials. “Highly perishable” in this context means unlikely to survive more than, say, 350,000 years.

What happened to Alan Turing? We know what happened to Alan Turing, that brilliant, pollen-fearing mathematician who was so key to the development of the modern computer. He was convicted of “gross indecency” (i.e., homosexuality) and chemically castrated. On June 23, 1954, he was found dead in his bed, a half-eaten apple beside him. He is thought to have poisoned himself with cyanide.

And so we got machines that could defeat Garry Kasparov. But not Serena Williams.

Polanyi’s paradox. It simply means that you can do more than you can explain. The second area in which the machines are lacking is human creativity. Who knows what technology will be capable of in decades to come, but humans are currently much better than robots at jobs that require a good dose of creative thought. If you have a hard time explaining in simple terms what exactly it is you do at work every day, your job is probably not in the danger zone for automation.

The first industrial revolution replaced physical strength as the economic engine with intellectual strength. In the AI revolution, intellectual power will be replaced by caring and creativity. AI will replace engineers, accountants, lawyers, doctors, and architects, but not creatives or carers.

This book was written in Swedish and translated into English under the supervision of the Swedish author, who speaks fluent English. The Swedish title is Att uppfinna världen: hur historiens största feltänk satte käppar i hjulet or Inventing the World: How History’s Greatest Misconception Held Progress Back. Note that the Swedish title does not lead with sexism and gender inequality.

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Three Days in June: A Novel by Anne Tyler *****

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Gail Baines attends her daughter’s wedding with her ex-husband, an old boyfriend, memories of the affair that led to her divorce, and the groom’s hyper-organized mother. The day before, Gail was dismissed from her job. A novella of many emotions.

Gail’s ex-husband, Max, shows up unexpectedly.  “He came to the house. I just happened to be home because…and he showed up with his cat, wanting to stay in my guest room.” Said Gail. “Great! Because no way can he stay with me. Kenneth’s allergic to cats.” Said Debbie. “But I don’t want him!” “It’ll only be for one night. Or two at the most, depending on how late things run tomorrow.” “Two! He was planning to stay at your place on your actual wedding night?” “It won’t be so bad.” “But you know how he always takes a place over. Little messes everywhere he goes.”

When the Headmistress at Gail’s school, Marilee Burton, announces her retirement, Gail expected to be promoted from Assistant Headmistress. Instead, Marilee is going to hire from outside, and the new headmistress is bringing her own assistant. No promotion. No job. The reason given is that Gail doesn’t have people skills.

Gail’s anxieties include wedding etiquette questions. Reverend Gregory asks, “Who is it who blesses this couple’s choice?” Gail and Max reply, “We do.” Gail worries that people will think that they are married. She worries about what to wear and makes Max buy a suit. She goes to a hair salon. “It had been years since I’d been to a beauty parlor.” After getting her hair done, she wants it to revert to her old style. She’s worried that Debbie will join the groom’s family, and she won’t see her again. “Kenneth was going to expect Debbie to spend the holidays with his family.”

Aside from Gail’s insecurities, we learn that others see her as competent. A while back, when the nurse at my school was going through a divorce, she told me, “What I’m aiming for is that Steve and I should have a civilized friendship with each other, the way you and your ex do.” “We do?”

In three days, Gail survives the wedding weekend and learns much about herself.

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