10. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente – a twelve-year-old girl named September living in Omaha during World War II is bored with her life and gets whisked off to Fairyland for an adventure – this reminded me of a good animated movie that kids enjoy but that also has references and allusions adults will appreciate – looking forward to reading more in the series
11. Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt – the story of the female “computers” who worked at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California beginning in the 1940s – it follows a few key performers closely, but in general it’s more of a broad sweep than a deep dive – describes some of the science and engineering involved (mostly way over my head) but also describes the social aspects such as the camaraderie among the women as well as family and societal pressures – this was a book club selection, and some of us felt the story jumped around a little too much and could have used a reference timeline of NASA launches to help anchor the narrative – fulfills H of the Litsy A to Z challenge [which I’m still doing]
12. The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang – a wealthy Chinese American family “loses all” during the recession of 2008 and embarks on a road trip from Southern California to upstate New York where the oldest daughter lives – interesting story told from multiple perspectives including a couple chapters from the car (a Mercedes of course) – a lot of “rich people problems” but also skewering commentary on contemporary life and ultimately some redemption for these characters who aren’t always likable
