Nora Zeale Hurston is the author of the travelogue called Tell My House: Voodoo And Life In Haiti And Jamaica. This book details her travels in two countries. She explores the country side, the food, and the culture. She writes about the folk tales and the saying. She explores religious concepts in both countries. We learn about zombies, poison, and Voodoo ceremonies. I found the book to be interesting in that it is so different than other travel books I have read.
Minnesota Institute of Arts 
Como Conservatory
This week I am pet sitting in Minneapolis. With time on my hands I looked for things to do besides walking around the neighborhood or visiting the library. There is so much available in this area.
Samantha Harvey, a British author, wrote Orbital. This is a literary novel published in 2023 about the International Space Station. The story takes place during 24 hours in space. There are four astronauts and two cosmonauts. The people from space are from Russia, Japan, USA, Italy, and Britain. Two are female. This is to be one of the last missions before the International Space Station is dismantled. Traveling at 1700 miles per hour, they glide over the earth and admire the beauty. They see a huge typhoon over the Pacific. The book talks about their meals and their exercise and their sleeping arrangements. We learn about their assignments. We learn what countries and cities they are passing. Interesting book but the list of countries and cities got to be too long and extensive.
Layne Fargo is the author of the novel called The Favorites. This is a sports/romance story. The sport is ice dancing. Katarina grew up north of Chicago into a poor family. She met a boy and they became friends. Heath grew up in a series of foster homes until Katarina's father took him in. They practiced skating at a neighborhood ice rink. Katarina's goal was to win at the Olympics. Heath went along with her dream. Their story, their success and their failures makes up this novel. I found this turbulent story to be very intriguing.
Coco Mellors is the author of Blue Sisters. The tale is about a family with four daughters. Their last name is Blue. The father of the family is an alcoholic. The mother is a workaholic. Avery, the eldest daughter, raises her younger sisters and feels responsible for their safety. She comes across as a control freak. Once her youngest sister, Lucky, left home at age 15 to be a model, Avery became addicted to heroin. She put herself through treatment and went on to become a lawyer. Bonnie, younger than Avery, started boxing while in high school. Nicky became a teacher. Lucky became a model and traveled the world posing for photographs while overindulging in drugs and alcohol. The story of these four sisters is fascinating, sad, and happy.
Paula McLain is the author of the historical fiction novel called Skylark. This tale takes place in Paris, France during two timelines. Part of it is set in 1664 and part of it is set in the 1940's. The 1664 part was interesting. A girl lives with her father after the mother abandoned the family. Her name is Alouette which translates into skylark. Her father is a dye master. The dye guild is in complete control of the industry. Individual dye masters do not have many rights. The dye factories are poisoning the river that runs into the Seinne. The dye master's daughters knows something about dyes. She learned from her mother before the mother left. But women are not allowed to dye cloth. When the dye guild jails her father the girl tries to find a way to free him. Instead she is jailed as well. In the 1940's a local psychiatrist makes friends with a Jewish family in his apartment building. After the Jewish family is taken away by the French police he joins the French resistance. He helps people escape the Nazi's by using s complex system of tunnels formed by rock quarries. As I read I wondered if the two stories would be connected somehow but they never were.
Nora Zeale Hurston is the author of the travelogue called Tell My House: Voodoo And Life In Haiti And Jamaica . This book details her trave...
