Here are the two books I’m currently reading as I write the second book in The Inventors Daughter series.

”The Neddiad: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization by Daniel Pinkwater.
This one is for sheer fun and to glean something from the wonderful Pinkwater’s direct and hilarious style.
Two Years Before the Mast by Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana.
I’m reading this for the perspective of a sailor. Though my story is set 120 years earlier, this is a superb book about the life of a hand on a sailing vessel.  Re-read this if you have the time.