Beautifully Different Autism: viewing the world through a different lens by Makiko

This is a beautiful and different book about children with high functioning autism. It contains information about autism along with photographs and writings about and by some autistic children. It provides a unique look at the way these children see and interact with the world. The photographs of the children are lovely and the stories about them and told by them are fascinating. I like that this book shows that while these children are different, they are also very beautiful. I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I received this "book" free to review from Netgalley. It is a transcript of a Ted Talk that the author gave. It is very short to be called a "book". That being said, it is a wonderful speech, thought provoking and intelligent. I totally agree with Adichie that we should all be feminists. Her definition of feminist is "a man or a woman who says, yes, there's a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it, we must do better." I enjoyed reading this and I highly recommend it.

Color Song (Passion Blue #2) by Victoria Strauss

I liked this book even better than the first one!  Giulia, now 18 years old is pressured by the convent as well as by Humilita's father to give them the recipe for the paint color passion blue that Humilita had given to her on her deathbed and asked her to keep secret.  Realizing that she will be enslaved in the convent no matter what she does, Guilia disguises herself as a boy and heads out to Venice to apprentice herself to her former master's friend.  Although she has some bad luck, she is befriended by a kind and wealthy woman who pledges to help her any time she needs help.  There is danger and romance, secrets and lies, passion and hope in this lovely story about a woman painter in the Italian Renaissance. I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.

Whole in the Clouds by Kristine Kibbee

I received this book free to review from Netgalley. It is written for children, in grades 3 to 12, but I do not recommend it for children because I think that it projects the wrong message. In this book, Cora is an overweight 12 year old who has been bullied about her weight all of her life. Her mother tries to get her to eat healthy but her father sneaks junk food to her. On her way to school one day she detours through the woods and meets an odd little man who tells her that her real parents (she is adopted) live in a city in the clouds and that they only sent her away for her own safety and that they want her to return. When she finally does go to Clouden, the city in the clouds, she becomes thin and beautiful because in Clouden, you look like your inner self and her inner self is a thin beautiful person. In Clouden, she can eat whatever she wants, which is things like hot fudge sundaes and she never gains weight. There are fantasy creatures and a love interest, but to me, this short book - almost a short story rather than a novel, promotes some very unhealthy concepts. Mothers in the book are all rather evil and junk food is glorified. Fat is ugly and thin is beautiful and it seems that the author has issues with food and with her mother. The book is edited well and the writing is not bad, but the entire concept behind it is just very unhealthy and I do not recommend it.

Remember Me (Collective, #2) by Stacey Nash

In this second book in the series, Mae and Jax are kidnapped by the Collective and have their memories wiped so that they do not remember being part of the resistance. Anamae does not remember any of her past at all and is told that she is a member of the Collective and was injured in a training accident. She makes friends with a girl named Cynnie and feels a sense of deja vu about a boy named Jason (who is Jax). Will, in the meantime feels that Beau is not trying hard enough to rescue Mae and he takes things into his own hands. I enjoyed the story and look forward to reading the next one.

Passion Blue by Victoria Strauss

This is an intriguing YA historical novel. After 17 year old Giulia's father passed away, his wife, who has always hated that Giulia's mother had been his favorite mistress, sends Giulia away to a convent. Determined not to repeat her mother's mistakes, Giulia is convinced that the only way she can live a life free to do what she wants, which includes art, is to find a man to marry. Having seen her horoscope, which predicted that she would not marry, Giulia is determined to change her predicted future and she goes to a sorcerer to do so. After that, she is convinced that she will meet and marry a man even though she is in a convent so she determines to make that happen. In the meantime, a nun at the convent discovers one of Giulia's drawings and brings her into the artist's workshop in the convent where she learns to paint. Giulia is torn between a young man who she meets who romances her and the painting education that she is receiving in the convent. I totally enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next one.

Unmade (The Lynburn Legacy, #3) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Excellent ending to the series. Since the town is terrified of Rob Lynburn and his evil cohorts, it is up to Kami and her friends to stop him. I enjoyed how Kami's father interacted with Lillian and I think that this book carried on the fun sense of humor among Kami and her friends that is found in the first two books as they laugh their way through tragedy after tragedy. There is romance and danger and witchcraft in this thrilling conclusion to the series.