Diane was a forty three year old eight month pregnant judge. She felt huge and it was hard for her to get comfortable. Diane is looking out a atypical scene in her courtroom.  As usual a team of federal prosecutors to her left. Two of whom she had before in her past. But at the defense table s a bevy of lawyers and Juan Manuel Escalante who is a known drug cartel leader who was lured to Florida through a DEA scheme and then arrested by the Feds. There is no jury before Diane. The decision on this case was hers alone. Juan brought up Diane’s and her unborn child’s health.  Diane was not sure if it was a threat or not. The obstetrician said the only way he would let Diane keep working if she avoided undue stress. She needed to relax. Then she is going to a cafe for lunch and is pulled into a van. Diane is married to a lawyer , Billy who hires his close friend and former police officer -Max- turned private detective to find out what he could by any means necessary. Diane is determined to get away from her kidnappers and the baby be fine in her stomach. Diane has been a judge for several years and she has dealt with every criminal imaginable so being a hostage she is more aware.

I didn’t really care for this book. I just didn’t connect with it. That wasn’t the books fault it just didn’t catch or keep my interest. I had action right from the start. I don’t really know why but this just wasn’t for me. But I am sure someone will really enjoy it.

First, I must say that this month is the month of beautiful covers. There's only a couple in this line up that don't scream, "Buy me!" Super thrilled for all the historical fiction from Bethany House Publishing. Y'all know how much I love my historical fiction. I'm revisiting some authors and enthusiastically picking up some reads by authors that are new to me. The two books that I'm eager to get into are Forbidden Fruit by Stanley Gazemba and A Fierce Love by Shauna Shanks. Both have awesome covers.

I'm a sucker for covers. I've been known to rebuy books with better covers. Most often I actually prefer UK covers to US. If you didn't know I prefer paperbacks to hardcovers. The aesthetic of hardcovers on the shelves are better, but hardcovers are heavy and cumbersome. Paperbacks feel better in my hands and are easier to transport. Okay, I've gone on tangent.

Are any of these awesome titles on your tbr? 

1. What I Tell You In the Dark: Found this on the new book display at work and it had me at a description about a disgraced angel. I haven't read much of it, though, because I've been distracted by other things.

2. In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe (audiobook edition via Hoopla Digital): I've seen this book at work many times and have actually taken it home, but never actually read it. I'm currently still in the introduction, but very much looking forward to listening to the stories in this anthology.

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I've decided to drop my challenge of reading 50 YA horror books this year. No updates to my Read Harder Challenge participation just yet.

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This is my first Top Ten Tuesday! 

I've always been a bit of a history nerd, but as I became comfortable with calling myself a feminist, I realized I didn't know nearly enough about women in history. Or women's accomplishments in general. Or about people who don't identify as women or men. Or that people even existed that didn't identify as women or men. Or how bad the struggle still is all around the world. 

As I delved into feminist ideology, I also found the herstory genre. Here are my top ten herstory books for new (or any) feminists!

1. The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued their Bosses and Changed the Workplace - Lynn Povich  This was a great one for me becaue I have always thought of myself as a good girl too. I don't want anything special, just not to be held back by someone else's antiquated ideas about what I'm capable of. These girls loved their jobs and where they were working, they just wanted to be treated fairly and they were willing to go after that together. Loved it!
2. At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power - Danielle L. McGuire  I had learned a lot of the things covered in this book in Black History Month specials in middle and elementary school, but history just wasn't real to me back then. Of course, all these stories also get sanitized for children in schools so it's never as poignant as it should be. By the time we get to high school, we can recite the key points but it almost feels too late to actually digest and understand it. Then I read this book and it was like I heard it for the first time. More than the key points, this is a peak behind the curtain. It all finally made sense in a way that I never thought it could. 
3. The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution - Jonathan Eig I'd had no idea how bad it was before the mighty pill. I took it for granted. That'll never happen again. There are just too many things that we don't have to deal with or worry about or can take a stand against now that I can't even begin to explain the impact that little pill has made. Reading about it coming to fruition was fascinating. 
4. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban - Christina Lamb,Malala Yousafzai I have been in awe of Malala since I first heard her story. She is an amazing young woman who has already done more with her life than most. What do you do after being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize? I can't wait to find out.
5. Narrative of Sojourner Truth (Dover Thrift Editions) - Sojourner Truth,Olive Gilbert  I had heard the name of Sojourner Truth countless times. I knew it from those same February showcases mentioned above. I just never knew much about her. It wasn't until I listened to one of the many famous actresses recite her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech that I realized I had to read her narrative. I love that speech. You can find it here, read by my favorite of the actresses who has done so. 
6. Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots - Deborah Feldman I never knew much about Hasidic Jews but this had sounded interesting when I first saw it and it was. I know it isn't the picture of modern Jewish life and probably doesn't paint the kindest of pictures about being a Hasidic Jew, but it was still interesting to read about a world that was so foreign and yet not so far from where I am. 
7. Fragments Of Gender - Lisa Lees This is a collection of essays that explore life along the gender spectrum, rather than stuck on one side of it or the other. I knew relatively little about transgender and non-binary gendered people, so this was a revelation at just the right time. Don't get me wrong, I still don't have all the answers and make faux pas around people about this sort of thing, but I know more than the average cisgendered person, I think. I hope. I'm still learning, but as I said at the beginning, this was a great place to start. It gave me that first idea about what people went through and that was invaluable. 
8. Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War - Leymah Gbowee  Another Nobel Laureate, Gbowee has accomplished great feats by what seems like sheer will. She is amazing beyond belief and hearing her story was remarkable. She just understands so much about everything, especially healing. If you have ever doubted what women could be capable of if we just stuck together, pick up this book! 
9. Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World - Rachel Swaby I LOVE a good anthology! I've even talked about it a few Femme Fridays ago. The thing about these anthologies is that they prove that while we may not have been prevalent, we have always been present in STEM and war and other places some say we don't belong. This book has one woman for every week to learn about that did great things in science. I tore through it much faster than that, though. It's one of my favorites. 

Ok, I only had nine of my herstory books that I could honestly put on this list. The others that are on my shelf are good, but I don't feel like they exemplify parts of the experience quite the same way these do. While I strive for diversity in my reading, I also realized that I don't reach all groups. 

I had hoped to read Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women by the time of this post, but it wasn't meant to be. I connected it anyway because what I saw in the table of contents led me to believe that I'll wish I had when I do get to read it. 

For more Top Ten Tuesday posts, check out the originator The Broke and the Bookish!