Weekly Mews: Disneyland Vacation & My Bookish Mewsings on Parable of the Sower & The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

I am linking up Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently.  

This past week went by too fast. It always does when I am on vacation. My family and I spent a couple of days at Disneyland and California Adventure, with a day in between to rest our feet and recover from the heat and crowds. We had a fun time, and I am glad we got a chance to go. I was not sure it would happen with the bee situation and having to paint the house this summer, but we were able to work it into our budget. Anjin and I had decided our anniversary gift to each other this year would be a painting of Disney art, and we picked one out while at Off the Page art store in California Adventure. Now to find a place for it . . . Disneyland holds a special place in our hearts because Anjin and I got married in the rose garden at the Disneyland Hotel many years ago. 

View of the train station upon entering the Disneyland Park (photo taken by Anjin)

Entrance to the Rise of the Resistance Rise Ride at Disneyland (photo taken by Anjin)

View from inside the Rise to the Resistance ride at Disneyland (photo taken by Anjin)

View of Rivers of America at Disneyland (photo taken by Anjin)

View from inside the Little Mermaid ride at California Adventure (photo taken by Anjin)

View of hearse carriage (all ready for Halloween and Christmas!) outside 

the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland (photo taken by me)

A sign from inside Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway ride 

at Disneyland (photo taken my Anjin)

We picked up Mouse's school schedule for this coming school year this past Thursday. She isn't too happy to see her summer come to an end--and who would be? She seems satisfied with the order of her classes, so that's at least something. Her first day back is this coming Monday. I still have a few more days off of work before I go back on Thursday. 

What have you been up to?

I have my bookmark in Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston, the second book in his middle grade fantasy Special Investigations series. The third book is coming out later this month, and I have it on pre-order. It is such a fun series. 

What are you reading right now?

My TBR List is hosted by Michelle at Because Reading. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books from my TBR pile I am considering reading and let you vote for my next read during that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise).  

Thank you to everyone who voted in August's TBR poll. I am excited about all three of these books and was on pins and needles to see which book you would select for me this month. 

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse received five (5) votes and The Sentence by Louise Erdrich came in with six (6) votes. Winning with nine (9) votes, is The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava! Thanks again to everyone who voted! I plan to start The Truth According to Ember tonight. 

This past week I finished reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (while waiting in line at Disneyland--which seems like a strange juxtaposition) and The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron. 

Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia Butler 
Grand Central Publishing, 2023 (originally published in 1993)
Fiction/Dystopian/Modern Classic; 356 pgs

This acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from an award-winning author "pairs well with 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale" and includes a foreword by N. K. Jemisin (John Green, New York Times).

When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others' emotions.

Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny. [Goodreads Summary]

Parable of the Sower opens on July 20, 2024, and spans over the next few years. Butler's novel shares  similarities to other dystopian novels I have read (Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel particularly comes to mind), while at the same time standing out as the modern classic it has become. I found the first half of the novel slower in pace than the second half, but appreciated those earlier chapters as they helped create a real feel for the world Lauren and her neighbors were living in and the dangers outside their gates. When she is forced to leave everything she knows behind, her situation becomes even more harrowing, and it became harder to tear myself away from the book because I needed to know that Lauren and her companions would be okay. 

A nudge from several people on the social media site Threads was all the encouragement I needed to read Parable of Sower, but I was hesitant at first. With climate change concerns, fires all over the state, recent earthquakes (however small), ever threatening drought conditions, and political/economic and racial tensions being a part of our current reality, I worried this book would hit too close to home. Octavia E. Butler wrote this book with reality in mind--a future she could see if certain problems and issues weren't addressed and continued on as they were. It was easy to imagine how Lauren's world could be our own. Butler's writing deserves credit for that as well. Her descriptions of the poverty and crime--the dangers the characters faced and their desperation and fear, the lengths people went to in order to survive--it was all very visceral. And with the novel being set in current times, with references to an actual reality we actually live in, it made this novel all the more effective.

Lauren is such an interesting character. Only 15 at the start of the novel, she has already lived a lifetime in some respects, taken on responsibilities that most 15 year olds today wouldn't have to. She is extremely resourceful which is one of her biggest strengths. I was curious to see how her hyperempathy would come into play in the novel--would it be more of a strength or a hindrance? I had a better appreciation of Butler's inclusion of it later in the novel. 

One aspect of the novel I have mixed feelings about is the religious one. I applaud Butler for including a character who questions the faith she was raised in, especially at a time when life is so dire and so little hope exists. I think it is only natural. Lauren's father was a preacher and so Christianity was a big part of her life; she comes to the conclusion that her father's faith is not her own, and she forms her own belief system called Earthseed. The novel is written like a diary, capturing Lauren's experiences and also documenting the beliefs that make up Earthseed. It was interesting, but I admit I was more interested in the other aspects of the novel and less about Lauren's religious insights. Perhaps because I am not religious myself. It did spark some interesting discussions with my husband at least.  

Parable of the Sower is my second Octavia E. Butler novel. I read Kindred earlier this year and was greatly moved by it. This one was just as poignant in its own way. I do want to read Parable of the Talents, the second in the Earthseed series, but will probably put it off for a little while. 

Source: Purchased copy for my own reading pleasure.

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron
Atria, 2024

Historical Fiction; 368 pgs

This epic, dazzling tale based on true events illuminates a woman of color’s rise to power as one of the few purported female pirate captains to sail the Caribbean, and the forbidden love story that will shape the course of history.

In the tumultuous town of Yáquimo, Santo Domingo, Jacquotte Delahaye is an unknown but up-and-coming shipwright. Her dreams are bold but her ambitions are bound by the confines of her life with her self-seeking French father. When her way of life and the delicate balance of power in the town are threatened, she is forced to flee her home and become a woman on the run along with a motley crew of refugees, including a mysterious young woman named Teresa.

Jacquotte and her band become indentured servants to the infamous Blackhand, a ruthless pirate captain who rules his ship with an iron fist. As they struggle to survive his brutality, Jacquotte finds herself unable to resist Teresa despite their differences. When Blackhand hatches a dangerous scheme to steal a Portuguese shipment of jewels, Jacquotte must rely on her wits, resourcefulness, and friends to survive. But she discovers there is a grander, darker scheme of treachery at play, and she ultimately must decide what price she is willing to pay to secure a better future for them all.

An unforgettable tale told in three parts, The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is a thrilling, buccaneering escapade filled with siege and battle, and is also a tender exploration of friendship, love, and the search for freedom and home. [Goodreads Summary]

I fell in love with the cover of The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye, but it was the description that sold me on it. A historical novel about a female pirate and forbidden love? Yes, please! 

Jacquotte Delahaye is the daughter of a Haitian woman and a exiled French nobleman. She and her younger brother were raised by her father after her mother died in childbirth. Jacquotte is content with her life in Yáquimo where she works as a shipwright, although that quickly changes when Jacquotte unwittingly finds herself in the middle of a power struggle that forces her, her brother, and  her closest friends to flee. This is the story of how Jacquotte came to be a pirate, from the time she first took to the sea, was indentured to the infamous pirate Captain Blackhand, and came to be a pirate captain herself. If Jacquotte Delahaye is real or legend, no one really knows. Author Briony Cameron was inspired by the idea though and crafted an action packed, heartfelt and entertaining tale about "Back to the Dead Red", as Jacquotte Delahaye came to be called because of her red hair and her many feats. 

Jacquotte faced a lot of challenges, not the least of which were the color of her skin and the fact that she was a woman. She knew how to survive, however, and was not afraid to fight hard for what she believed in. She was smart and tenacious. Jacquotte has the advantage of being well-educated and being able to speak and understand many languages, which comes in quite handy in her life as a pirate. She is also very loyal and protective of her friends.

This novel was brutal at times, violent and cruel. Author Briony Cameron does not shy away from including the realities of colonialism, slavery, racism, and the poor treatment of women during the 17th century setting. Jacquotte may not have hesitated to kill and steal, but she did not abide by slavery or the abuse of women. Her moral code won her allies when she needed them the most. 

Woven into this swashbuckling tale of pirates, high seas adventure, and revenge was a thread or two of romance, just the right amount that never distracted from the rest of the novel and only strengthened the narrative. It took a while for Teresa, Jacquotte's love interest, to grow on me, but she proved to be a force of nature in her own right. 

Is this book historically accurate? Probably not. But I found The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye to be such a compelling and entertaining read, that it doesn't matter. Whether Jacquotte is real or not, she is a character I enjoyed getting to know and wish I could go on more adventures with. 

Source: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Have you read either of these books? If so, what did you think?

New to my shelves (recent book purchases):

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? 

I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!

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