Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is my number one all time WTF? book. It is the true story of an alleged rape of a white woman by black men in Florida in the 1940s. Four men were arrested. The police knew that at least two of them weren’t involved. What happened after that was totally unbelievable. I listened to this on audio and at one point I was driving and just remember yelling sputtering curses and staring at the iPod in disbelief. I’m surprised I didn’t wreck.
Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I picked this historical fiction book about Madame Tussaud because I learned a lot about her life and it made me understand the mindset behind and horror of the French Revolution more than I had before.
The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An Iranian immigrant woman to England flees back to Iran after an accident involving her adult daughter. The daughter goes to try to find her and find out what is going on. She uncovers her mother’s horrifying past that she has been keeping secret.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book imagines Noah’s Wife as an autistic woman who is obsessed with livestock and wants to be a shepherd. When a series of earthquakes leads to flooding, her family tries to survive.
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is high fantasy set in a world based on ancient China.
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I hadn’t heard of the Grimke sisters before I read this book. They were daughters of Southern slave owners who became abolitionists.
The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva Stachniak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wonderful historical fiction about Catherine the Great that starts when she comes as a bride from Poland to Russia.
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love this book. It is set in a future Sudan where the ruling class uses rape as weapon against other classes. The children of these rapes are feared because they look different but several are very powerful and now they have decided to fight back. This book is great fantasy and also powerful in its look at systemic violence and hatred towards women.
And two series that I’ve been reading and love:
Skin Game by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Dresden Files just keeps getting better and that’s quite a feat after 15 books. I can’t wait for the next one.
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I just started reading this series this year and it is wonderful.
Other than the last 2 books, I haven’t heard of most of these but your reaction to Devil in the Grove is really intriguing!
I don’t recognize any of these, but they all look really good! More books to add to the TBR pile! Er, mountain!
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Denise @ Life With No Plot.
All your titles sound amazing! I haven’t read any of them, but will be adding some of them to my ever growing reading wishlist! Here’s a link to my TTT post for this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2015/03/top-ten-books-you-would-classify-as-all.html
Oh goodness Jim Butcher and Patricia Briggs!!!!!! I love them!!!! Especially the Dresden Files. I’ve been reading them the last few months and they’re SO GOOD!
If you like audiobooks, the audio of the Dresden Files books are great! Now that I’m caught up I listen to them so I can savor them.
I’ve been checking them out from the library and they don’t have the audiobooks 🙁 but nice heard they’re fantastic!
I haven’t read any of these, but I really want to read Who Fears Death someday. Really interesting list!
Bruna @ Bruna Writes
I’ve not read any of these! I do like Michelle Moran though – I didn’t realize she’d done a French Revolution book though! I’ll have to look it up!
Ooh wait I just saw the Jim Butcher! Yay for The Dresden Files!! Of course as a Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams fan you’d be reading The Dresen Files haha!
So Devil in the Grove put me off at first with the classic black-men-are-violent stereotype but as you continue, I find myself somewhat interested at the possible subversion. Will check it out. And oh my goodness a China book! Under Heaven has a fascinating cover too, so on the TBR it goes. And Catherine the Great is one of my fav historical figures so that’s another one. How the TBR grows.
(Psst, I’d love it if you could check out my Top Ten Tuesday post!)
Without giving too much away, let’s just say that in Devil in the Grove the black men are not the people you need to be scared of.