#78 Tomatoes for Neela by Padma Lakshmi, Juana Martinez-Neal (Illustrator)

This is a sweet kids book about missing someone and cooking their recipes to feel closer to them.    Neela misses her Paati and makes her sauce to jar so she can share it with her when she comes to visit.  The book also covers info about farm workers and foods in season. A nice story and great illustrations. 

 

#79 The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry, Ray Porter (Narrator)

This book has Joe dealing with his grief after the end of the previous book.   He is Europe when a London hospital is blown up.  The bombing is part of a plot from a new enemy, the Seven Kings. The Kings are a group that use terror and crime to fill their pockets.  And the Kings have just promoted a new King of Plagues, someone the DMS has fought before. They are planning on releasing ten Plagues to sow terror in the world and now the DMS needs to stop it before lots of people die.   Lots of action as always and the good guys come out ahead in the end.

#80 Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, Rong Fu (Narrator)

Zetian lives in a world that girls are not valued and some are sold off to the military to help pilot the giant mechas that defend the people.  The problem with the mechas is that they need both a male and female pilot, but for some reason the women usually die from it but the men live.  She has agreed to go to the army instead of getting married to avenge the death of her sister after being paired with a highly ranked pilot.  But the tables are turned in the mecha and the ace pilot does and Zetain become ann Iron Widow, something that isn’t talked about and hushed up whenever possible.  So to punish and hopefully kill her they pair her with the best pilot but it seems they are a good match.  But the best pilot is a comdemed criminal that was only spared the death penalty because of his pilot potential.  Now the both of them are trying to change how they are treated and possibly the entire system as well. 

 

This was a great book and the final bit of the book was a great cliffhanger that makes me can’t wait for the next one.