by Beth Woolsey -

March Book Selection for It’s A Likely Story Book Club

ALikelyStory

My friend, Korie, a librarian here in my little Oregon town, has been reading books for months now with one theme in mind — not a white protagonist. Children’s books. YA. Fiction. Nonfiction. She realized a while back how very white her reading list was and made a commitment to change that, both for her personal reading pleasure and also so she can better recommend books that feature people of color to our library patrons and customers. Korie’s the one who recommended An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir in January, my favorite book club book so far — and she recommended the book we selected for March, below, which I’m VERY excited to read. If you’re interested in following Korie while she curates books with leading characters of color, you can look at the hashtag #notawhiteprotagonist on Facebook which has a few of her selections listed or, even better if you’re looking for her comprehensive Not A White Protagonist list, follow her on Litsy where her handle is BookInMyHands. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

January Book Selection for It’s a Likely Story Book Club

Waving in the dark, friends. And in the light. It’s 12:52am at home and 9:47am where I’m typing this from the Brussels airport, ready to board my flight to Uganda in a few minutes. Light and dark, chasing each other across the world, and I feel like I have a foot in both at the moment.

I’ll try … try, try, try … to write periodically while there. We’ll see how the internet holds up. I’m eager to meet our refugee momrades and to sit with them in the dark, in the name of all of us, and in the name of Love. To hold hands. To live in the mud. To see magic there. Stay tuned, friends. I’m holding you close in my heart while I’m there. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

December Book Selection for A Likely Story Book Club

Hi All!

It’s time to reveal the December book club selection for A Likely Story Book Club, the book club for escapist fiction fans.

Now, yes, I know we technically haven’t reviewed November’s book — or October’s book — but we’re going to forgive me for that because I’m still figuring out how this whole book club thing works, and also, I’m unreliable, which, if you’ve read anything here EVER, you already knew, so it’s kind of your fault if you had other expectations. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

A Likely Story Book Club: October 2016 Book Selection

ALikelyStory

Announcing: October’s Book Selection!

I’m excited about this one!

leviathan

Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld

Described as a young adult, steampunk, alternative history adventure, Leviathan reimagines WWII from the perspective of teenage Prince Aleksandar Ferdinand of Prussia.

It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

A Likely Story Book Club Review: The Golem and The Jinni

 Likely Story Book Club Review:
The Golem and the Jinni
by Helene Wecker

ALikelyStory

Last month, we started our very own book club. A Likely Story is for those of us who revel in escapist fiction and long for more stories built in brilliant worlds with strong and flawed heroes and heroines; Young Adult, Fantasy, Dystopian, Fairy Tale, Magical Realism, Legends, Mythologies, and Tall Tales of every type.

Our debut pick for A Likely Story was The Golem and The Jinni by Helene Wecker. ...  read more

by Beth Woolsey -

Announcing: A Likely Story – The Book Club for Escapist Fiction Fans

Announcing: A Likely Story
The Book Club for Escapist Fiction Fans

ALikelyStory

Friends, sometimes the Real World sucks, and right now is a Particularly Sucky time in U.S. and world history. I mean, seriously. I read the news. I see the stories. I do what I can, and then I feel helpless and tired when I can’t do more. This is something I need to work on; understanding there are Hard Things and then releasing the Hard Things so I can still Embrace Joy. Both/And, friends. I need to learn — probably a lesson I’ll be learning forever — that Light and Dark chase each other constantly across the sky and in our hearts, and we live much of our lives in the Dusk and the Dawn when we can’t separate them from each other. ...  read more