The Brilliant Calculator by Jan Lower

 I am sad to say I was not familiar with Edith Clarke before coming across this book. She is a brilliant mathematician who was interested in electricity and ultimately designed (on paper!) the first functional graphing calculator! (Literally, the calculator was on a piece of graph paper… and it worked!)

 This book is presented in a biographical format, informing readers how she grew up, how she was educated, and how she plowed through the wall of men in her way to become the first female electrical engineer in the United States. Her work was instrumental in bringing telephones and lights across our nation.

I love discovering brilliant women in STEM fields. This book is a must in any school library or classroom.

 Available 14 March 2023.

Thank you @netgalley and @astrahousebooks for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Young Katherine Johnson by William Augel

 This book is awesome! It is a unique look at the genius mathematician Katherine Johnson. The book is presented as a graphic novel depicting Johnson as a young child and each page is all about numbers and how she saw the world through the lens of mathematics. Some pages even have challenges for the reader to solve math problems discussed on the page (solutions are included in the back of the book). There are fun activities at the end of the book also.

 Katherine Johnson is one of my heroes (first black woman to work at NASA) and I’ve reviewed books about her before. If you or your children aren’t familiar with her, I highly recommend this book. Everyone should know about Katherine Johnson.

 This book is available 7 March 2023.

Thank you @netgalley and @HumanoidsInc for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

#katherinejohnson #emilyclarke #youngkatherinejohnson #Thebrilliantcalculator #graphingcalculator #electricalengineer #stem #stembooks

Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams ★★★★☆ #bookreview #bookblog

★★★★☆

⚠️ Boy does this author like to write crazy stories involving women and cars!

⚠️ I will start by noting that this book has some issues in my opinion. There are some confusing storylines (too many unreliable narrators), some extremely convenient situations, and more than a few ridiculous occurrences. Do I care? No! Because this was an explosive read with a bad*ss heroine who took care of business!

⚠️ Once the action started it didn’t stop! I read this in one sitting!

⚠️ If this book doesn’t end up on the big screen, I’ll be shocked.

⚠️ Not all enjoyable reads have to be great literature or have an epic plot. Sometimes it is simply fun to race through an exciting/claustrophobic/tense situation, well beyond anything I’d ever experience in real life (hopefully), and get through it to a satisfying conclusion. This author does that well… at least for me. I will continue reading his books!

Thank you @NetGalley and Joffe Books for an eARC of this book, which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews ★★★★★ #bookreview #bookblog

Primary Genre(s): Women’s Fiction, Holiday Fiction
Published: 28 Sep 2021 by St. Martin’s Press
Page count: 224 (print)
My Format: ebook   
Cover: Cute
Pacing: Great
Ending: Sweet 
Do I Recommend: Yes
Commission Link (U.S.): Buy The Santa Suit

My rating: ★★★★★