A winner and a pretty good

Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon
by Melissa L Sevigny

I listened to the audiobook and was entertained from start to finish. And from Navajo Bridge to Boulder Dam.   And I especially appreciate the author's including the names and scientific names of some of the significant species they collected.

She appeared to be working from the "vibrant letters and diaries" of the women, plus newspaper accounts and other historical records. And she did a fantastic job of piecing it all together into a great narrative. Loved it!

 

 

Dogged Pursuit
by Tracy Carter

Apologies for losing the review I wrote while this was fresh in my memory. I had to look at the synopsis to immediately remember some of the stuff I disliked, but I don't remember what I did like.  I think the ending, the pursuit through the woods and the final takedown, was great. Suspenseful; somewhat believable; just plain good stuff. I'll leave it at that--it ends well.

But before all that, I have a vivid memory of a sugary sweet story--she rescues a dog from an unrealistic team of teenage pursuers. She's helped by a young guy who has just aged out of the foster care system, and despite having no decent upbringing or family connections, turns out to be an angel in the raw. He's just way too perfect for any teenager, and he magically turns out to be the helper she needs.

Her father is another unbelievably perfect character. He's very flat and seems to consist of superhuman smarts overlaid on a motherlike love and concern that goes all the way from fixing her meals to cleaning her kennels. (I'm exaggerating a little--but only a little).

And her dog, of course, is freakishly perfect. I think the only time she comes close to committing an infraction is a very brief pause if a search to check out a wild deer or some such trail. But I don't remember if that actually happened or if the author just alluded to it having happened "once."

So, I liked the book and might try a second one in the series, if it happens. But I just need to be in the kind of mood with a high tolerance for frosted sugar cookies.