Reading is my go-to thing, more than ever. Although I’m painting on Thursdays again I’m keeping up my close relationship with books. Here I’m continuing to tell you about the books I’ve read for the reading challenges. Perhaps you have read some of them.

Title: The Tale of Despereaux

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Published: September 9, 2008

This is the four-part sweet story of a teeny, tiny mouse – Despereaux – who fell in love with a human princess. Because of that, and not repenting of it, he was condemned to the castle dungeon where rats lived and mice died. Despereaux proved to be clever and brave, not only for himself but for the princess who was in danger. Enjoyable black and white illustrations.
In the 52books challenge, I used it for prompt “author with a 9-letter last name,” but it could also fit four other prompts.

Title: Someone To Watch Over Me

Author: Jill Churchill

Published: September 3, 2002

I read this book for an extra challenge prompt (author or character with a floral name) for 52booksclub, and found it to be quite enjoyable. A brother and sister – Robert and Lily Brewster – who were once wealthy, now lived in their uncle’s mansion after the Crash of 1929. Robert finds a man’s mummified body in the old icehouse, and soon after that another man’s body was found in the woods. New to the community, the Brewsters tried to help the police chief solve the mysteries.

Title: The Pursuit of Happyness

Author: Chris Gardner

Published: October 24, 2006

Having seen the movie starring Will Smith, I was pleased to have found the book. I used it for the 52BooksClub reading challenge, prompt #31 – Book that shares a similar title to another book. (The Pursuit of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy)
Chris Gardner lived through an unenviable childhood of poverty and abuse, shuttled from one family to another. His mother was the person he most loved, but who was not always able to be there for or with him. It was she who planted in him the desire to succeed in life, and the belief that he could succeed in a big way. This is his story of how that transpired, and it is told in an open, honest, raw way, foul language and questionable behaviour included. It is a true rags-to-riches story, and the promise of a boy-to-man to always be there for his future children.

**Title**: **White Fragility: Why it’s so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism**

Author: Robin DiAngelo

Published: June 26, 2018

This is a difficult book for me to review as it is told from the viewpoint of someone who teaches others how to define and expose racism that seems to be in everyone, and how to recognize it. She then explains ways to deal with it in oneself and when noticing it in others. It is rather like a textbook in content and presentation, but still is interesting, educational, and helpful.

I chose this book for the Indigo reading challenge for prompt “A book to build your antiracist reading list.”

So… have you? Read any of these, I mean? Or maybe they are on your TBR list? What are your thoughts?

Thanks for stopping in, and … Happy Reading! 🙂