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.
The Other Windsor Girl, Georgie Blalock, William Morrow - Georgie Blalock’s novel, The Other Windsor Girl, is a fictional non-literary romance novel based on British royalty research. She focuses on Princess Margaret, daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, second in line to the throne after sister Queen Elizabeth II.
Epoca, The Tree of Ecrof, Kobe Bryant, Ivy Claire, Granity Studios - Creative basketball star Kobe Bryant is back with “Epoca,” yet another insightful and motivating fantasy that offers wisdom to young athletes.
Quantum, Patricia Cornwell, Tomas & Mercer - Patricia Cornwell, author of the popular thriller series, “Scarpetta,” now offers the first edition of her new series, “Quantum.” Her hero-character is Calli Chase, a NASA officer and a quantum physicist.
Followers, Megan Angelo, Graydon House - Megan Angelo’s novel, “Followers,” outlines an ominous future: Society tightly linked to devices, political decisions made via Twitter, people monitored by drones or robots and obliged by sponsors of reality shows to buy mind-numbing drugs.
Lost Hills, Lee Goldberg, Thomas & Mercer - At the end of one’s complex and perhaps trying day, a Lee Goldberg detective story is just the ticket. The prolific author has produced more than 30 novels, mystery series and scores of TV shows, all with the same theme: a hero who saves the day.
Legacy and the Queen by Kobe Bryant, Annie Mathew - If there are any doubts Olympic gold medalist and NBA champion Kobe Bryant can tell a good story, his young reader book, “Legacy and the Queen,” written by Annie Matthew, dispels them.
Recipe for a Perfect Wife, Karma Brown, Penguin Random House - Karma Brown’s novel, “Recipe for a Perfect Wife,” weaves together the unhappy lives of two women, Nellie Murdoch, a 1950s housewife, and Alice, in 2018, who share a powerful bond. The book puts a new spin on the expression that a “women’s place is in the kitchen.”
One for the Black Bird, One for the Crow, Olivia Hawker, Lake Union Publishing - Olivia Hawker’s enchanting historical novel, One for the Black Bird, One for the Crow, takes place in rugged and isolated Wyoming in 1870 where the nearest town, Paintrock, lies miles away, unapproachable in winter except by sleigh.
March Sisters: On life, death, and Little Women, Library of America - Louisa May Alcott’s semi-autobiographical classic novel, Little Women, written a century-and-half ago, continues to resonate, most recently prompting The Library of America’s new book, “March Sisters.” Four women writers comment on how the characters, loosely based on Alcott’s own family, shaped their own lives.
Booth Tarkington, Novels & Stories, edited by Thomas Mallon, Library of America - Few have won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice, but Booth Tarkington did, first with his 1919 novel, “The Magnificent Ambersons,” and then, three years later, for “Alice Adams.”