This delightful read surrounds several Charleston women "of a certain age" who are the closest of friends: Bernice, the long-time housekeeper; Toots, (a.k.a. Theresa), who becomes Bernice's caregiver and has married and buried several husbands; Mavis, a former English teacher who suffered from OCD and with the help of her friends lost 100 pounds and regained her confidence; Sophia, a devout Catholic and self-proclaimed psychic who chose not to leave her abusive husband and was instrumental in finding her friend's kidnapped daughter; and Ida, who launches a cosmetics line and allows her friends to try her products and model results. They have an undeniable bond that allows them to be true to who they are. The author’s descriptions allow you to envision the setting and clearly picture the characters, and Michaels delivers a humorous read even during the tensest part of the story, when a kidnapping occurs. And for at least one of the characters, romance is also on the horizon.
This is the fifth book in the Godmothers series. I felt it could stand alone on its own, since enough background information was given along the way to keep me up to date. I would like to go back and read the first four to actually get a better feeling of the characters and their history. It's a light, humorous read that is sometimes compared to shows like Golden Girls. The narrator, Natalie Ross, gave an excellent delivery of the book, so pick up the audiobook if you can.
Binti is the first of the isolated Himba people ever to be accepted into Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.
The world she seeks to enter has been at war with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares, and Binti's stellar travel will being her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University itself, but first she has to make it there alive.
Winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, Binti is full of imagination and fantastic worldbuilding that leaves you wanting more. Luckily it is the first in a trilogy that was completed this year.
Sirantha Jax is part of a vanishingly small subset of people-- those who are genetically able to navigate "grimspace," the interdimensional subspace where ships can jump between distant parts of the galaxy. Unfortunately, the last ship she piloted was in a horrific, fatal crash. Many important people died, including her boyfriend/co-pilot, and she was ruled responsible. After months spent languishing, guilt-ridden in a cell, she is rescued by a tall, handsome stranger who wants her to navigate his ship and its motley crew on their secretive, rebellious mission. Jax decides that things can hardly get any worse, so off they go. They adventure across various planets, interact with alien races, get brainwashed, end a blood feud, accidentally adopt a baby frog-creature, uncover a government conspiracy, and generally have a wild ride across the galaxy.
While fans of old-school sci-fi (Asimov, Heinlein) may roll their eyes at this one, Grimspace is a funny, action-packed romp that would have a lot of appeal to fans of the Wayfarers series, shows like Firefly or Torchwood, or even the urban fantasy genre. Jax is snarky and hilarious, and the crew makes for a great ensemble cast. It's weird and unpredictable in all the best ways, and is well worth the read if you like your sci-fi a little wild.
