The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

I’m a sucker for an intriguing cover and offbeat book description. When I saw the cover of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy on the new shelves at the library, it was like it called to me. Add in one of the review quotes and I was done for: “A uniquely charming mixture of whimsy and the macabre that completely won me over. If you ever wished for an adult romance that felt like Howl’s Moving Castle, THIS IS THAT BOOK.” —Helen Hoang, author of The Kiss QuotientWhimsy AND macabre?! Done. Let’s talk about this utter delight of a book.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy is the first book in the Hart and Mercy series by Megan Bannen. Hart is a marshal who patrols alone in Tanria, on the lookout for bodies gone astray. It’s a lonely job that leaves him with ample time to think. Mercy has been keeping her family’s business, Birdsall & Son Undertakers, alive by herself for years, waiting for the day her younger brother comes home from school to help out.

From the very first time Mercy and Hart met, it was like mixing oil and water. When he drops off bodies, it always seems to be when Mercy is at the end of her rope. The two push each others’ annoyance buttons just right, leaving them both cranky and exasperated after every encounter. After his last drop-off, Hart is so frustrated that he writes an anonymous letter and sends it out in the universe addressed to “A Friend”. Not expecting a reply, he’s surprised when he actually gets a response. The two begin writing back and forth, finding comfort in being able to share their secrets to each other.

The secret? Hart is sharing his secrets with Mercy, the person he hates the most. The two grow closer the longer they write to each other. This tentative friendship can only last for so long. As chaos starts to erupt in Tanria and their small town, their relationship deepens. How will the two react when their identities are revealed?

The only reason why I give this book four stars instead of five is that I wanted more world building. The explanations of the world were there, but they took place in large chunks that were difficult to follow (this might also be due to the fact that I listened to an audiobook version and had to rewind multiple times to make sure I understood). Regardless, I still loved this book. The characters were adorable and cranky, the family dynamics were realistic, and the twists were devastating. It’s full of magic and demigods and culinary masterpieces and small-town drama. I remain hopeful that the next book in the series will be just as good.

Hart and Mercy series

  1. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (2022)
  2. The Undermining of Twyla and Frank (2024)

TV6 Book Club February Read Wrap-Up and Introduction to March Reads!

red cover silhouette of a woman and a man

In February, Morgan and I read The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory to celebrate Wedding Month. Below is a short synopsis and what I thought of the book! 

Alexa is trapped in an elevator with a sexy stranger who charms his way into her purse (by eating her snacks) and into attending a wedding with him that weekend as his fake girlfriend. When the two attend the wedding, they find that there is nothing fake about the way they feel about one another.

Both Alexa and Drew are afraid to admit their true feelings but still try long distance dating and find it hard to juggle work and their complicated pasts.

I really liked this book; it tackled real issues in a respectful way, and I look forward to reading more in the series! 

After loving our February read, I am so excited to get started with our March TV6 Book Club Pick! Below are our 4 options for March including our winning title! Feel free to check them out from Davenport Public Library! 

woman with pearls with a salmon background***TV6 Book Club Winner!
The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict (In Honor of Women’s History Month)
Hedy Kiesler is lucky. Her beauty leads to a starring role in a controversial film and marriage to a powerful Austrian arms dealer, allowing her to evade Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent. At lavish Vienna dinner parties, she overhears the Third Reich’s plans. One night in 1937, desperate to escape her controlling husband and the rise of the Nazis, she disguises herself and flees her husband’s castle.

She lands in Hollywood, where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star. But Hedy is keeping a secret even more shocking than her Jewish heritage: she is a scientist. She has an idea that might help the country and that might ease her guilt for escaping alone—if anyone will listen to her. (Synopsis by Goodreads)

Easy chair with ottoman with a book on it.Sew Deadly by Elizabeth Lynn Casey (In Honor of National Quilting Day on March 16th)
Ever since she moved to Sweet Briar, South Carolina, Yankee librarian Tori Sinclair has been the talk of the tiny town. But she’s been so busy at work, winning over the sewing circle, and trying to forget her cheating ex that she hasn’t even had time to baste together a pillow, let alone mind local gossip. Then she finds the hometown sweetheart dead at her back door…

Everyone believes the police investigator, who’s just fixin’ to link Tori to the murder in a love triangle gone bad. To clear her name, Tori will have to rely on her new sewing sisters and stitch together the truth- or be darned. (Synopsis by Goodreads)

Color block text Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (In Honor of Let’s Laugh Day on March 19th)
A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamily handsome pop star flips the script on all her assumptions. Romantic Comedy is a hilarious, observant and deeply tender novel from New York Times–bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld. (Synopsis by Goodreads)

Two people leaning in with a town in the background.A Proposal They Can’t Refuse by Natalie Caña (In Honor of National Proposal Day on March 20th)
Natalie Caña turns up the heat, humor and heart in this debut rom-com about a Puerto Rican chef and an Irish American whiskey distiller forced into a fake engagement by their scheming octogenarian grandfathers.

Smile Beach Murder by Alicia Bessette

In this cozy mystery series kick off, author Alicia Bessette introduces us to the colorful cast of characters living on Cattail Island off the coast of North Carolina in Smile Beach Murder, the first book in the Outer Banks Bookshop Mystery series.  Callie Padget grew up on the island and has now returned from Charlotte after her job writing for a newspaper was eliminated.  As glad as she is to reconnect with her uncle and see long lost friends, the island holds bittersweet memories for her.  Years earlier, her mother fell off the lighthouse deck on Smile Beach and was killed.  It has never been clear to Callie what exactly happened the night her mother fell.  Was it an accident, murder or suicide?

Callie soon finds a job at the local bookstore where she spent many hours after her mother’s death reading everything she could get her hands on.  She also runs into long lost friend Eva Meeks, who runs Meeks Hardware, along with her sister.   Eva shares with Callie that she may have discovered a long lost secret of the island and is on the hunt for a buried treasure. During a late night phone call, Eva begs Callie to meet her at the lighthouse at Smile Beach to find out more about the treasure.  When Callie arrives, she discovers the worst possible scenario – Eva has fallen from the top of the light house in exactly the same way as her mother did 10 years ago!

As Callie begins her amateur investigation, she makes some of the residents angry along the way.  From the remaining family members who run Meeks Hardware to the richest family in town, Callie has a tendency to stir the pot when she uncovers clues that may indicate that Eva did not jump off the lighthouse and was pushed.

Simultaneously investigating her mother’s mysterious fall and the most recent event at the lighthouse, Callie learns the hard way how sticking her nose into the investigation can be risky as she is attacked by a masked perpetrator who she believes was trying to throw her off the trail.  Soon thereafter, she befriends the new martial arts teacher in town, Tony Dodge, and a budding romance ensues after he offers to give her private self defense courses.

As Callie gets nearer to uncovering what truly happened to her mother and to Eva years later, another victim is discovered.  Callie wonders if she will uncover the truth before she becomes the next victim.  Bessette not only has written an engaging mystery, she has also made the setting of the Outer Banks come alive to the reader.  The sand, breeze and salty air are vivid in this debut mystery.  If you are looking for a cozy mystery that has a spectacular setting and memorable characters, pick up Smile Beach Murder, the series launch of the Outer Banks Bookshop Mystery series.

Books to help you Write Your Story

March 14 is National Write Your Story Day. At the Davenport Public we have a variety of books to help you polish a piece of writing. Whether working toward a better grade in school or preparing for publication, here are a few items from our Literacy & Learning Collection to get you started in your journey to Write Your Story. (Descriptions provided by publisher.)

The student’s guide to writing : spelling, punctuation and grammar by John Peck. Aimed at college and university students wishing to improve their writing skills, this guide deals with the key basics of grammar, punctuation and spelling. Any writer can benefit from a solid review of how to construct a sentence, how to build a paragraph and how to structure an essay.

 

Understanding show, don’t tell (and really getting it) by Janice Hardy – The common writing advice “Show, don’t tell” is explored in-depth. This book will help you understand what “show, don’t tell” means. You’ll learn how to find the right balance in your writing between description, narrative, and internalization for the strongest impact. It gives examples of before and after text and demonstrates how telling words change the prose of your story. There is also advice on the best practices for adding backstory to your characters.

501 writing prompts – Writers will gain the necessary writing skills they need to ace college placement exams and civil service exams. This book gives sample writing prompts that simulate actual test questions. The categories target: persuasive, narrative, response to literature, and expository writing skills. In each section, sample essays give a clear picture of what it takes to compose the kind of writing needed to get a top score.

The Joy of Costco by David & Susan Schwartz, illustrations by Martin Hargreaves

Borne of a love of all things Costco, a husband and wife duo created their own press and were given backstage access to Costco for this casual read.    In all, they visited 200 of Costco’s 850 worldwide locations.

Skim for a couple hours, you’ll be able to amaze your friends with tidbits such as:

  • Costco parking spots are 2ft wider
  • They sell 11 million eggs per day
  • Starbucks roasts all the Kirkland brand coffee
  • Costco sells 7x as many hotdogs as all MLB ballparks combined — at $1.50 of course, a doff of the cap to the same high prevailing price from 1985.
  • The record for hotdogs, incidentally, FAR from middle America…Shin Masato Japan with 64,512 hotdog combos in one month.

Speaking of baseball, one of the coolest features of this book is the inside baseball of their internal processes and terminology, i.e. “the cage” and “deathstar”.  Costco employees are incentivized to find  ways to reduce costs, internally known as a “Save Story”.  Mere tweaks to packaging and pallets, for example, result in seismic shifts to reduce CO2 emissions and landfill waste.

Due to Costco’s sheer size, they have incredible negotiating power as an entity.  Enter CWI, (Costco Wholesale Industries), a manufacturing subsidiary solely to reduce costs on products such as glasses, hotdogs, and ground beef.  Ostensibly, this benefit is exercised to pass the value on to members.  You don’t have to have a Gold Star membership to check The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z out of our collection, either.   Heck, we won’t even check for your card at the door.

 

March’s Celebrity Book Club Picks

It’s a new month which means that Jenna Bush Hager and Reese Witherspoon have picked new books for their book clubs(Oprah has picked a new title as well)! Reminder that if you join Simply Held, you can choose to have their selections automatically put on hold for you.

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Jenna Bush Hager has selected two titles for March: The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

Curious what The Great Divide and The House on Mango Street are about? Check out the following description provided by the publishers.

The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez

A powerful novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there

It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built. For Francisco, a local fisherman who resents the foreign powers clamoring for a slice of his country, nothing is more upsetting than the decision of his son, Omar, to work as a digger in the excavation zone. But for Omar, whose upbringing was quiet and lonely, this job offers a chance to finally find connection.

Ada Bunting is a bold sixteen-year-old from Barbados who arrives in Panama as a stowaway alongside thousands of other West Indians seeking work. Alone and with no resources, she is determined to find a job that will earn enough money for her ailing sister’s surgery. When she sees a young man—Omar—who has collapsed after a grueling shift, she is the only one who rushes to his aid.

John Oswald has dedicated his life to scientific research and has journeyed to Panama in single-minded pursuit of one goal: eliminating malaria. But now, his wife, Marian, has fallen ill herself, and when he witnesses Ada’s bravery and compassion, he hires her on the spot as a caregiver. This fateful decision sets in motion a sweeping tale of ambition, loyalty, and sacrifice.

Searing and empathetic,The Great Divide explores the intersecting lives of activists, fishmongers, laborers, journalists, neighbors, doctors, and soothsayers—those rarely acknowledged by history even as they carved out its course. – Ecco

This title is also available in large print.

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The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

In her acclaimed debut work, Cisneros tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, a young girl growing up in the Latino section of Chicago. Esperanza’s thoughts and emotions are expressed in her fable-like poems and stories, which portray the alternating beauty and desolation of her life and its realities. Esperanza doesn’t want to belong—not to her rundown neighborhood, and not to the low expectations the world has for her. Esperanza’s story is that of a young girl coming into her power, and inventing for herself what she will become. – Penguin Random House

This title is also available in Spanish.

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Reese Witherspoon has selected Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez for her March pick.

Curious what Anita de Monte Laughs Last is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn’t. By 1998 Anita’s name has been all but forgotten—certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by privileged students whose futures are already paved out for them, Raquel feels like an outsider. Students of color, like her, are the minority there, and the pressure to work twice as hard for the same opportunities is no secret.

But when Raquel becomes romantically involved with a well-connected older art student, she finds herself unexpectedly rising up the social ranks. As she attempts to straddle both worlds, she stumbles upon Anita’s story, raising questions about the dynamics of her own relationship, which eerily mirrors that of the forgotten artist.

Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite. – Flatiron Books

This title is also available in large print.

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Oprah has selected The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin for her March pick.

Curious what The Many Lives of Mama Love is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

No one expects the police to knock on the door of the million-dollar two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady secret: she is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors’ credit cards.

Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She finds that jail is a class system with a power structure that is somewhere between an adolescent sleepover party and Lord of the Flies. Furniture is made from tampon boxes, and Snickers bars are currency. But Lara quickly learns the rules and brings love and healing to her fellow inmates as she climbs the social ladder and acquires the nickname “Mama Love,” showing that jailhouse politics aren’t that different from the PTA meetings she used to attend.

When she’s released, she reinvents herself as a ghostwriter. Now, she’s legally co-opting other people’s identities and getting to meet Oprah, meditate with the Dalai Lama, and have dinner with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. But the shadow of her past follows her. Shame is a poison worse than heroin—there is no way to detox. Lara must learn how to forgive herself and others, navigate life as a felon on probation, and prove to herself that she is more good than bad, among other essential lessons.

The Many Lives of Mama Love is a heartbreaking and tender journey from shame to redemption, despite a system that makes it almost impossible for us to move beyond the worst thing we have ever done. – Simon & Schuster

Join Simply Held to have Oprah, Jenna, and Reese’s adult selections automatically put on hold for you!

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp is the first book in the Agnes Sharp Murder Mysteries series written by Leonie Swann. This book is dark, but also funny and full of twists and turns. If you’re looking for a cozy mystery series featuring a group of senior citizens trying to solve a murder, this is for you!

Agnes Sharp has always wanted to be able to control her own life. Wanting to be surrounded by like-minded people, she created Sunset Hall, a house share for the elderly in the sleepy English countryside. At Sunset Hall, they all can control how they live and how they choose to spend their time. They may have mobility issues, misplaced reading glasses, different dietary tastes, and many other problems, but the most important fact is that the residents of Sunset Hall are all there for each other.

When a police officer knocks on their door one morning, nothing could prepare them for what he says: a dead body has been discovered at a house close to them. Quickly taking in this news, the group is relieved that the officer is there to tell them about their neighbor’s dead body and not the body that they are currently hiding in their shed out back. Confused about what to do with the dead body in their shed, the discovery of their dead neighbor couldn’t have come at a better time. They just have to find out who murdered their neighbor and then pin that murder on them (after all, said person has already murdered their neighbor, there’s nothing to say that they wouldn’t have murdered again, given the chance). Easy, right? With a plan in place, Agnes and her cohorts start looking for clues, venturing outside their comfortable norms and head to the village where they will have to interview locals and steer clear of the authorities to find the killer.

This book follows an eccentric group of seniors who are attempting to solve one murder while covering up another. The author mixes multiple sub-plots amongst the different points-of-view, which I enjoyed. The residents of Sunset Hall, alongside their pets, Hettie the tortoise and Brexit the dog, are delightful. The author portrayed the characters from their own point of view, which I appreciate in cozy mysteries. Readers are then allowed to see why these senior citizens choose to live on their own terms, alongside the challenges of aging and all the associated needs that come along with it. The twist at the end was also unexpected! I am intrigued enough to read more of their work.

Women’s History Month Reading Challenge 2024

Celebrate Women’s History Month! Log your reading and complete activities to earn badges throughout the challenge. Earn an entry into a drawing for one of our grand prizes for every badge earned.

This reading challenge is live on Beanstack from March 1, 2024 to March 31, 2024. Curious what you need to do? Sign up on Beanstack today either online or on the app!

Needs ideas about what to read? Try any of these women’s history books.

Juvenile Nonfiction

Cut!: how Lotte Reiniger and a pair of scissors revolutionized animation by C.E. Winters

Jovita wore pants: the story of a Mexican freedom fighter by Aida Salazar

Little Rosetta and the talking guitar: the musical story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the woman who invented rock and roll by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

Love is loud: how Diane Nash led the Civil Rights Movement by Sandra Neil Wallace

To boldy go: how Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek helped advance civil rights by Angela Dalton

The Van Buren Sisters vs. the pants police by Jennifer Fox

The woman in the moon: how Margaret Hamilton helped fly the first astronauts to the moon by Richard Maurer

Adult Nonfiction

Brooding over Bloody Revenge: enslaved women’s lethal resistance by Nikki Marie Taylor

The exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the fight for women in science by Kate Zernike

Looking through the speculum: examining the women’s health movement by Judith A. Houck

The Lost Princess: women writers and the history of classic fairy tales by Anne E. Duggan

Madame Restell: the life, death, and resurrection of old New York’s most fabulous, fearless, and infamous abortionist by Jennifer Wright

Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History by Philippa Gregory

Proving Ground: the untold story of the six women who programmed the world’s first modern computer by Kathy Kleiman

A Rome of one’s own: the forgotten women of the Roman Empire by Emma Southon

The six: the untold story of America’s first women astronauts by Loren Grush

Undaunted: How Women Changed American Journalism by Brooke Kroeger

Young queens: three Renaissance women and the price of power by Leah L. Chang

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, illustrations by Rovina Cai

“To dwell on death, especially a premature and violent end, burdens the soul.”
― Darcie Little Badger, Elatsoe

When I started working on this blog, I found the following starred review quote from Shelf-Awareness describing Elatsoe as “A Lipan Apache Sookie Stackhouse for the teen set.” I couldn’t agree more. If you have ever read the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris or watched the television show True Blood, which was based on said series, this book is for you.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, illustrations by Rovina Cai, tells the story of Elatsoe, Ellie for short, a Texas teen from the Lipan Apache tribe. She lives in an alternate America where magic shapes their past and present. Her family’s connection to their Indigenous traditions also plays a very important role in her day-to-day life. This manifests through magic and supernatural curses. The people in Ellie’s family have gifts: hers is the ability to raise the spirit of dead animals, particularly that of her dead dog, Kirby. Even in death, he serves as her protector and helper. Her gift is both a blessing and a curse.

Ellie’s family comes together in tragedy when they learn of her cousin’s death. After being told he died in an accidental car crash, Ellie is shocked when his ghost comes to her to say that he was murdered AND drops the name of his killer. Wanting to find the truth, Ellie travels to his town and enlists the help of her family, best friend Jay, and the stories of her ancestors. The mysterious killer proves to be more than they all bargained for. Combine the killer’s behavior with that of the townsfolk and Ellie and Jay are left wondering what exactly is happening in this creepy town and what are they hiding.

This book kept me hooked from start to finish. While it jumps from past to present in a startling manner, that feeds into the narrative that history is closely entwined in our present in a way we cannot escape. Indigenous traditions are woven throughout every little bit of this story, sometimes through actions and other times through storytelling. The author talks about racism and colonialism in America in such a way that even younger readers are able to understand. It is a dark read, but the magical realism throughout adds distance from the tragedy and heartbreak.

“People cope with tragedy in different ways. That’s important, Ellie. There’s no one right method of grieving.”
― Darcie Little Badger, Elatsoe

ANTARCTIC ADVENTURES

Antarctica or “Antarktikos” was imagined to exist by Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers who supposed there must be a “counter balance” to the top heavy Northern Hemisphere and the Great Bear constellation of “Arktos” above the North Pole (now known as the Big Dipper). But, Polynesian oral narratives of voyaging suggest that it may have been the Māori people who first set eyes on Antarctic waters, and possibly even the continent, in the 7th century CE. Once Western European explorers began to compete to be “first discoverers” just 200 years ago, official records were kept of the successes and failures of each voyage. While Captain James Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle and circumnavigated the continent twice in the latter half of the 18th century, he was prevented from actually sighting land due to pack ice. It wasn’t until the 1820’s that Antarctica was actually spotted and recognized as a continent by Lt. Charles Wilkes.

Eventually, in 1912, Roald Amundsen and four companions became the first explorers to reach the geographic South Pole by skis and sled dogs. It was a 1,600 mile round trip that took 99 days. Once the Antarctic Treaty was initially signed in 1961, the continent was reserved for peaceful and cooperative scientific research. This has resulted in such discoveries as land mammal fossils (first found in March 1982) and plant life (such as ferns) that prove the continent was in a much more temperate climate zone in eons past.

If you are interested in reading more about true adventures to the Antarctic region, check out these NON-FICTION titles (or view the Frozen Planet DVDs):

Or, if you prefer to be enthralled by a FICTIONAL adventure to Antarctica, take a look at these books:

NON-FICTION LINKS:

The ship beneath the ice : the discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance by Mensun Bound

The Endurance : Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic expedition by Caroline Alexander

Madhouse at the end of the Earth : the Belgica’s journey into the dark Antarctic night by Julian Sancton

The impossible first : from fire to ice–crossing Antarctica alone by Colin O’Brady

Iced in : ten days trapped on the edge of Antarctica by Chris Turney

The stowaway : a young man’s extraordinary adventure to Antarctica by Laurie Gwen Shapiro

Dinosaurs rediscovered : the scientific revolution in paleontology by M. J. (Michael J.) Benton

Frozen Planet I DVD

Frozen Planet II DVD

FICTION LINKS:

Cold people : a novel by Tom Rob Smith

Fast ice : a novel from the Numa files by Clive Cussler

All the white spaces : a novel by Ally Wilkes

Whiteout by Adriana Anders

South Pole Station : a novel by Ashley Shelby

Midnight by Amy McCulloch

Beyond the ice limit : a Gideon Crew novel by Douglas J. Preston

The Split by S. J. Bolton