After weeks of near-zero (Fahrenheit) temperatures and so much snow (more than we have ever received in years), we are now in the 50s and it's looking that way for all of next week, woo hoo! Life We seem to have settled into a routine around here. Work has calmed down a bit as well, so you'd think that all this means I should be reading more or dabble in things that sound fun. Sadly no. While I still much relish being able to work from home and having kids safe in school, it would be nice to be able to socialize more with no worry of the virus. Yesterday, we all went for a long walk out in the beautiful weather. On our way, we passed by the park we spent so much time in last year but didn't venture inside because there were so many people in there. I look forward to the day we don't need to do that. Spring break is coming soon and we are seriously considering safe vacation options. We don't have any grand ideas at the moment but we'll be thinking about it more.

There have been a lot of good books floating around lately. Well, they are there always - but I did find some great ones this week.

I came across this book first last year, but didn't find it interesting enough to add it. But when one of my online book clubs chose this book to read, I had to add it. It's interesting how your tastes change. One moment you are sure a book is not for you, and the next day, it goes to the top of your TBR. It's a good thing, else we would be very boring people with predictable reading tastes. Incidentally, I was reminded of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series when I read this synopsis.
In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them. Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.
The Red Umbrella by Christina Gonzalez
This title has all the promise of being either a jovial or a thought-provoking book. This one's the latter. Books and movies about culture change always interest me, probably because I've been through that thrice already and it's interesting to see how someone copes. There's also the element of migrating to a new country because your current one is besieged.
The Red Umbrella is the moving tale of a 14-year-old girl's journey from Cuba to America as part of Operation Pedro Pan—an organized exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied children, whose parents sent them away to escape Fidel Castro's revolution.
In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. Her friends feel like strangers. And her family is being watched. As the revolution's impact becomes more oppressive, Lucía's parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States—on their own. Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what of her old life? Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl?

I was looking through Akashic Books' catalog where I saw this one.
Anna, who has a successful publishing career in the United States, is the daughter of an upper-class Caribbean family. While on vacation in the island home of her birth she discovers that her mother, Beatrice, has breast cancer. Beatrice categorically rejects all efforts to persuade her to go to the United States for treatment, even though it is, perhaps, her only chance of survival. Anna and her father, who tries to remain respectful of his wife’s wishes, must convince her to change her mind.

Comments
Here is my Friday Find!
Unwind sounds really cool... I love the concept. And I've only been hearing great things about The Red Umbrella. I'd love to read them all!
Have a cool weekend! :)
Thanks,
TicToc
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Ellie @ Musings of a Bookshop Girl