Odd Combo of Flavors

This book starts out with the accidental death of Tam's husband and his cousin. The tragedy unravels a spool of thread which presumably connects them all, and has deep meaning, understandably. Tam and her husband had been in the midst of finalizing their adoption of a Chinese boy at the time of the accident. Many decisions need to be made during the course of Tam's grieving, and international adoption is just the start. Of course there are family secrets, and of course there are family spats. What I found jarring about this story is that the tone is set for this somewhat melancholy backdrop--everyone grieving for someone, and then the book (to me) turned decidedly Hallmarkian in its simplistic, almost rom-com subplot. Furthermore, there was a weird intro to a character that was kind of dwelled on, that just fizzled--so why bother in the first place? I think the writer is good, but maybe better editing would have polished it up a bit more for me.

Kulture of Evil

Sheriff Dorman Crowe, running for re-election in the thick of the bubbling cauldron of early 1960s civil rights turmoil, realized that the times were definitely changing in his rural Louisiana town. Facing serious opposition from a Klan candidate, Crowe vowed to hire Black deputies if he were to be elected again. The Black community came through for him, and he won that contest. True to his word, he hired Oneal Moore and Creed Rogers as his two Black deputies, subsequently standing behind them and the work they did. As it turns out, bullies are often sore losers with long memories, and the two deputies were the victims of the Klan's rage. This book takes you to that place, helps you understand the socio-political climate of the time, and the extraordinary bravery of Deputies Moore, Rogers and Sheriff Crowe amid an investigation into cowardly cruelty.

Brave and Bold

You gotta hand it to Lilia's parents for seemingly having the foresight or wisdom, or whatever it was, to allow this girl to be a free thinker, which she always was. Growing up in a religious cult created by her grandfather, she was a VIP of sorts but not exempt from the punative reactions of her elders when her behavior didn't meet their expectations. This book follows her path from being faithful and community minded to an unthinkable decision for someone raised in such tight constraints.