Starry Says – Episode #107 — RUSA ’23 Redux

© Starry Night Elf

Manuscript Word Count (MWC) – 74,963

2024 Reading Goal to Date 5/100

As we began the 2024 Stellar Reading Challenges (SRC), I wanted to take a moment to recognize all the places I visited while participating in the Regional U.S.A. (RUSA) SRC. Click here to read about this SRC from the previous year.

Map of where I read last year followed by a listing of regions and titles:

Starry Night Elf’s Regional U.S.A. Stellar Reading Challenge Spots Read

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Region #1 – West

• Celine by Peter Heller (Wyoming)
• Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner (Oregon)

Region #2 – Southwest

• The Donut Legion by Joe R. Lansdale (Texas)
• Half Broke Horses: A True Life Novel by Jeannette Walls (Arizona)

Region #3 – Midwest

• Class Mom by Laurie Gelman (Kansas)
• The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (Minnesota)

Region #4 – Southeast

• Triptych (Will Trent #1) by Karin Slaughter (Georgia)
• The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America’s Forgotten Capital of Vice by David Hill (Arkansas)

Region #5 – Northeast

• A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline (Maine)
• A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1) by Brittany Cavallaro (Connecticut)

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’m aiming to read different places in the Read the U.S.A. (RTUSA) SRC this year which is dividing into chunks determined by alphabetical order. Check out the details on the RTUSA by clicking here.

So far, I’m reading in Alabama, a place I’ve not visited via literature since 2021. How about you, Gnomies? Where are you reading?

Have a stellar weekend!

Starlight Book Review – Laurie Gelman’s Class Mom – 🇺🇸

Cover of Class Mom (Class Mom #1) by Laurie Gelman on a brick red background |
Image Source: Goodreads

RUSA SRC – Region #3 Midwest – Kansas

3.75/5 I came across Laurie Gelman’s Class Mom on the Book Girls’ Guide. (Check them out by clicking here, Gnomies!) When I read their blurb on this book set mostly in Overland Park, Kansas, a burb on the Kansas side of Kansas City, as opposed to the Missouri side, I knew I wanted to read the book. Let’s just say cities lying in more than one state fascinate me. I also read in the blurb that this book made for an enjoyable read and happened to be written by new to me author Laurie Gelman, wife of television producer Michael Gelman.

Click here to learn about the Regional U.S.A. (RUSA) Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC).

“Jen Dixon is not your typical Kansas City kindergarten class mom–or mom in general. Jen already has two college-age daughters by two different (probably) musicians, and it’s her second time around the class mom block with five-year-old Max–this time with a husband and father by her side. Though her best friend and PTA President sees her as the-wisest-candidate for the job (or oldest), not all of the other parents agree… From recording parents’ response times to her emails about helping in the classroom, to requesting contributions of-special-brownies for curriculum night, not all of Jen’s methods win approval from the other moms. Throw in an old flame from Jen’s past, a hyper-sensitive -allergy mom,-a surprisingly sexy kindergarten teacher, and an impossible-to-please Real Housewife-wannabe, causing problems at every turn, and the job really becomes much more than she signed up for.”

Class Mom made for a quick read. Narrator Jen Dixon made herself known to the reader with relative ease. Some of her adventures… and misadventures reminded me of anecdotes my mom shared with me about serving as who we knew as “room mothers” and on the Parent Teacher Organization (not association) board. I also liked when Jen spoke of “KCK” and what living in Kansas might be like for one person. I docked Class Mom 1.25 stars for a personal pet peeve of books written in the present tense instead of my prefered past tense as well as the somewhat rough start with the email/epistolary fiction. Still, I must place other books in the Class Mom Series on my To Be Read (TBR) Shelf.

For more information on why there is a Kansas City, Kansas and a Kansas City, Missouri, click here.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

RUSA Tour SRC Region 3 & Stop #9 – Midwest/ Kansas 🇺🇸

Badge for RUSA Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC) Region 3 & Stop #9 – Midwest/Kansas
| © Starry Night Elf

Gnomies, we continue our literary travels through the Midwest region in the Regional U.S.A. (RUSA) Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC).

Click here to read more about RUSA Tour SRC.

We travel south to Kansas. While Kansas has been known by a number of different nicknames, most popular is the Sunflower state. The native wild sunflower grows around the state was was named the official flower in 1903. Click here to read more about Kansas nicknames (Kansas Historical Society).

Read a book set in the Sunflower State and earn the badge seen in this post. If you selected a place located in Kansas as your place for the Local Tour SRC, that book can count towards both challenges.

Learn more about the Local Tour SRC by clicking here.

You only need to read two (2) books per RUSA Region but feel free to read more.

You can read any RUSA Region, Gnomies, but discussions in June and July will look at states in Region #3 – Midwest.

What are your favorite books set in the Sunflower State, Gnomies?

Starlight Book Review – Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood

Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge — Spot #37 — Kansas

Trigger Warnings (TW): This book includes mentions of child abuse, substance abuse, racism, pedophilia, suicidality, executions, and murder.

4.1/5 As I “mapped out” my reading for the Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC), friends and bookish peers alike directed me to read Truman Capotes nonfiction novel In Cold Blood for Kansas. Plus, In Cold Blood languished on my To Be Read (TBR) list for nearly a decade. I finally reached the decision when one of my Goodreads Gnomies recommended In Cold Blood for the Sunflower State.

Check out the Goodreads Discussion on Kansas reads by clicking here.

“On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues… As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. At the center of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human. In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative.”

I acknowledge the fact that In Cold Blood took me a long time to finish. Others awaited this book at my library and I often read a number of books at a time. Regardless of these reasons, I happily moved In Cold Blood from my TBR shelf to my “read” one! I completely get why people encouraged me to read Capote’s nonfiction novel. This bleak, gritty read definitely created the cornerstone of True Crime literature. I liked how Capote talked of the Clutter Family’s last day and render them into clear focus for his readers. Also, I felt as though I visited late 1950’s Holcomb and Garden City, Kansas while I read In Cold Blood. I often prefer my Mysteries more cozy than this, and personally, could have done without much of the parts from Smith and Hitchcock’s view but I don’t dispute its presence in the book.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.