Kate Padilla has long enjoyed reading, and for the last decade, combined her writing skills and book pleasure to review books for Authorlink.
Kate’s journalism career began in high school with a weekly column in her hometown newspaper, and later, after graduating from the University of Wyoming, she moved into newspapers as a reporter and editor and also as a radio news director. She subsequently worked as a U.S. Senate staffer helping write legislation and then as a public lands manager for the Department of Interior until her retirement. Now, she is an award-winning poet, artist and writer living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her passion is exploring, traveling to places not often frequented by tourists, ranging from Albania in the Balkans to isolated Honduran islands in the Caribbean.
Not surprisingly Kate favors foreign authors because they immerse her in other worlds and cultures, books such as those written by Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz, who writes about the Arab world, or Milan Kundera, from Czechoslovakia. Any book written by women with Latin or Mexican roots is a must, she says, listing authors Isabel Allende and Sandra Cisneros as idols. She never passes up a poetry book sent her way, though they are a challenge to review because the poetry is subjective. She also enjoys a good detective novel, and at times, magical fanaticism. Her review favorites include offerings from the Library of America, a nonprofit that collects and preserves writings from America’s key authors. If she had a genre she doesn’t prefer, it would likely be most Western novels. Her pet peeves are preachy religious or moralizing books, those that demean women or have disregard for the environment.
Kate's book of poetry Apples Rot on the Ground is now available at Finishing Line Press. https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/apples-rot-on-the-ground-by-kate-padilla/
The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, Vintage Books - Editors Ann and Jeff Vandermeer have compiled an extraordinary collection of creepy, scary and intelligent stories by an impressive number of fantasy writers from around the world in their hefty new tome, “The Big Book of Modern Fantasy.”
Hard Rain, Irma Venter-Elsa Silke translator, Amazon Crossing - Translated from Afrikaans, Irma Venter’s thriller,“Hard Rain,” takes the reader on a roller coaster ride.
Red Dress in Black & White, Elliot Ackerman, Alfred A. Knopf - Former Marine Elliot Ackerman, who lived a swath of time in Turkey, offers us his new novel, “Red Dress in Black and White,” which focuses on that country’s political upheaval, in particular the 2013 Gezi Park demonstration that left many protestors dead and thousands imprisoned.
Book Review: Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, Pantheon Books - German novelist Daniel Kehlmann, in his magical fantasy novel, “Tyll”, invents a jester named Tyll as protagonist to guide us through a historical and momentous adventure in Central Europe during the Thirty Years’ War from 1618 to 1648.
Book Review: Scarlet Odyssey, C.T. Rwizi, 47North - This ambitious debut novel, Scarlet Odyssey by C.T. Rwizi, features mystics, sorcerers and warriors who all fight to control plains and rivers in a magical world.
Winter Sisters, Tim Westover, QW Publishers - Author Tim Westover weaves an illuminating tall tale about ancient vs. modern medicine in his novel, “Winter Sisters.” The story begins in the early 1800s with the arrival of Audrey Waycross fresh out of medical school.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue , Fiona Davis, Penguin Random House - Fiona Davis, known for factual research into New York’s landmarks in her historical fiction novels, has again produced a first-class tale. “The Lions of Fifth Avenue” is a suspenseful drama centered on the New York Public Library and its Berg Collection, stocked with American and English rare books and artifacts.
Updike Novels 1968-1975, Christopher Carduff Editor, Library of America - John Updike won two Pulitzer Prizes for his “Rabbit” tetralogy, a series about the disturbing life of an ordinary man, Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, the protagonist whose risky doings are a mirror response to events such as the Cold War, Vietnam, sex, drugs and civil rights protests.
The Other Family, Loretta Nyhan, Lake Union - Author Loretta Nyhan’s novel, “The Other Family,” pivots around new mainstream themes such alternative medicine (mindfulness), DNA testing, social media as a campaign tool, and online dating.
The Keeper, Jessica Moor, Penguin Books - Jessica Moor’s novel, “The Keeper,” needs to be read, despite its painful subject: Why do women stay with their abusive husbands/partners? Moor tackles the physiological and physical fear of women caught in the cycle of violence, and why law enforcement shies away from domestic abuse.