Booked4Life

The Bookwoman's Last Fling by John Dunning

2007-07-20T12:33:00.000-05:00

The Bookwoman's Last Fling is another book in the Cliff Janeaway mystery series. In this book, Cliff is trying to solve a decades old mysterious death, as well as track down a possible book thief. Most of the action takes place in and around horse-racing tracks, when Cliff goes undercover to find out more about the mystery from the past. Some interesting characters are introduced and there are interesting discussions of juvenalia and bibliomania, but this is not one of the strongest mysteries in the series.

3 by Julia Spencer Fleming

2007-05-16T10:07:00.000-05:00

A Fountain Filled With Blood is the second mystery in the series about Episcopal Priest Clare Fergusson and police chief Russ Van Alstyne. This time out, Clare gets involved in investigating a series of attacks on closeted (and not so closeted) gays in her small upstate NY town.

Out of the Deep I Cry, the 3rd book in the series, is a bit of a time-shifting mystery. A buried secret from prohibition days is causing mayhem and murder in Millers Kill.

To Darkness and To Death, number 4 in the series, takes place on the day of big party in the new resort in Millers Kill. Greed, eco-warriors, family tensions, and a missing woman add confusion to the mix.

In each of the first 4 books, Clare and Russ have been fighting their growing attraction to each other--book 4 brings things to a head, as Russ decides to leave his wife to follow his heart to Clare.

The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos

2007-05-16T09:50:00.000-05:00

The Night Gardener takes place in D.C., like other Pelecanos books. This time out, two ex-cops and and couple of current cops are trying to make sense of a murder that looks a lot like some long ago serial murders.

If you have watched The Wire, it's hard not to feel like you're reading a story arc from that series. Pelecanos worked on The Wire, and either it sounds like him or he sounds like it.

In any case, this is a fast-paced, gritty, and beautifully observed story. Anyone who has liked previous Pelecanos books will want to read this one. Anyone who likes The Wire, may want to give it a try.

Pelecanos still has a few tricks up his sleeve--watch for him to surprise you in this outing.

Already Dead by Charlie Huston

2007-05-16T09:43:00.000-05:00

Already Dead is a vampire detective novel with zombie interruptions. Joe Pitt is a rogue vampire in a city of vampire "gangs", and he's trying hard to remain independent. The city is New York City, and the vampires and other assorted creatures of the night live just under the surface. Joe keeps his independence by doing favors for the muckety-mucks of the major vamp gangs--favors you might expect from a noirish detective. Joe has a few issues to resolve: he's in love with an HIV+ bartender who doesn't know he's a vamp, he has stumbled across some sort of zombie-making monster, and he's searching for a missing girl who was last seen hanging with a recently zombified murder victim.

This is the freshest of the recent crop of vamp books I've read. It's the kind of book that makes me say, "Hey, what else has this guy written?"

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

2007-05-16T09:27:00.000-05:00

A collection of essays by Nora Ephron, mostly about getting old, but some just generally about being a woman. In her usual wry style, Ephron frets about her neck, her purse, maintenance (hair, skin, nails, etc.), the fact that as a White House intern she didn't have an affair with JFK, living in NYC, etc. A quick, fun read.

Renfield, Slave of Dracula by Barbara Hambly

2007-02-02T13:15:00.000-06:00

Barbara Hambly has previously written two of my favorite vampire books: Those Who Hunt the Night and Travelling With the Dead. Renfield is not as interesting or compelling as either of those books, but it is well-written and worth reading, especially if you are a fan of Hambly. Barbara Hambly also writes the Benjamin January mystery series (January is a free man of color in old New Orleans) and science fiction. She was married to George Alec Effinger and has edited a couple of collections of his writings.

Renfield is the Bram Stoker's Dracula, but told from the viewpoint of Renfield. Hambly succeeds in making Renfield into a fully rounded character, and in providing a new look at some other familiar characters from the "original" vampire novel. Of particular interest are her characterizations of the inhabitants of the Rushbrook Asylum, Lucy Westenra, and Dracula's three wives.

Closing Time by Jim Fusilli

2007-02-02T13:07:00.000-06:00

Closing Time is a mystery, the second in a series. The series protagonist is Terry Orr, who is a writer and aspiring detective. Terry has a motley group of friends and a precocious 12-year-old daughter. His beloved, artist wife was killed in book 1. In this book, Terry is trying to help solve a couple of mysteries. In one case, an elderly cab driver was murdered. In the other, a bomb was set off in an art gallery at an opening. Terry was attending the opening with his daughter, and was friends with he gallery owner, because she had previously represented his wife. Overall, worth reading, but not so compelling that I'll be seeking out other books in the series.

The Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

2007-01-31T11:47:00.000-06:00

This is Pratchett's third book to feature Tiffany Aching and the Feegles. This time around, Tiffany must restore order to the seasons, after her dance with the Wintersmith causes him to bury the Discworld in snow, threatening the spring lambs. As usual, Tiffany has a little help from her friends, who include Granny Weatherwax, Miss Treason (a very old witch with some very odd ways), Nanny Ogg, the Feegles, and Roland (who is called upon to take the role of hero.)

Sprightly, amusing, and delectable as always, King Pratchett!

Against Depression by Peter D. Kramer

2007-01-31T11:43:00.000-06:00

Against Depression is Kramer's followup to his bestselling, Listening to Prozac. Kramer is a psychoanalyst who specializes in treating depression, and is disturbed by the tendency people have to romanticize depression--to the detriment of the depressed. This book is full of information on the recent science relating to research on depression and its effects on the brain. Very useful and informative.

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

2007-01-31T11:36:00.000-06:00

In the Bleak Midwinter introduces Episcopalian priest Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne as a mystery-solving team based in Millers Kill, a small town in upstate New York. Clare is a former Army chopper pilot, taking her first posting after seminary. Russ is police chief, and also a former military man. They are brought together when a baby is left on the steps of the Episcopal church. Within a couple of days, the baby's mother is found dead--murdered by a blow to the head, followed by exposure to the winter cold. As the bodies pile up, the mystery grows, as does the attraction between Clare and Russ.

These are engaging characters, and the mystery is well plotted. In the Bleak Midwinter is a highly enjoyable first mystery, and the start of an interesting series.

You Suck by Christopher Moore

2007-01-31T11:20:00.000-06:00

You Suck is a sequel to the 1996 comic vampire novel, Bloodsucking Fiends and features many of the same protagonists. However, since Jody turned Thomas C. Flood at the end of Bloodsucking Fiends, it is now necessary for them to find a new minion (daylight gofer.)

Abby Normal, the goth-chick teen girl chosen by Tommy (who styles himself The Vampyre Flood to Abby) is a terrifically funny addition to the story. Her diary makes for some side-splitting reading. The Animals (Tommy's grocery-stocking, turkey-bowling pals from the supermarket) have returned from Las Vegas with a blue-dyed hooker who has somehow earned several hundred thousand dollars over the weekend. Add an alcohol-preserved panhandler with an enormous, shaved cat and a sprinkling of European Undead, and you've got another zippy, funny, and undeniably Christopher Moore-ish read.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

2007-01-31T11:07:00.000-06:00

Twilight is a vampire novel about a teenaged girl named Bella Swan. Bella has moved from Phoenix, AZ to the small town of Forks on the Olympic Peninsula of Northwest Washington state. Bella has moved to Forks to live with her father, so that her mother can travel with her new husband, a minor league baseball player. Bella has moved by her own choice, but is miserably unhappy in cold, grey, damp Washington, after years in sunny Phoenix.

Nevertheless, Bella is adjusting to high school in Forks and making friends when her attention is drawn to a group of very unusual and strikingly good looking students--all of whom are the adopted children of , the town doctor. Before long, Bella becomes very much attracted to Edward, one of the adopted sons.

This is a very slowly drawn-out story with lots and lots of description, and not so much action. Rather, there is plenty of action, but it is spread out over about 400 pages, when the pacing would have been much better in about half the space. Twilight is meant to be a teen book, so maybe all the description is meant to mirror the agonies of being a teenager. It was certainly highly recommended and roundly lauded. It was not compelling enough for me to seek out further books in the series.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

2007-01-31T10:37:00.000-06:00

The Amulet of Samarkand is the first book in the trilogy, and it introduces the reader to the djinn Bartimaeus and to Nathaniel, an apprentice wizard. Nathaniel is an appealing human hero, and Bartimaeus is humorous and wise by turns. There are shifting viewpoints, so that sometimes we are hearing the story from Bartimaeus's point of view, and at others, we are reading an omniscient view of Nathaniel's story.

The Amulet of Samarkand is cleverly plotted and engaging. It provides an alternate world, wherein wizards rule the governments of the major countries, and the power of a country rises and falls due to the cleverness and skill of its wizards. The relentless pacing keeps you racing through the pages to the end of the book, and made me very glad to have received the trilogy as a set, so I could jump straight into book 2.

The Golem's Eye takes place a couple of years after the action in The Amulet of Samarkand. Nathaniel has been given a job in the Office of Internal Affairs (part of a magical ministry in the British government) and a new wizard master (this time a woman.) A series of "terrorist attacks" have been taking place, and Nathaniel must find the culprits. While Nathaniel suspects rogue magicians, he's being encouraged to seek out members of the non-magical resistance as the source of the attacks. Once again, Nathaniel calls on Bartimaeus for assistance. A girl we met briefly in book one, Kitty Jones, has become a member of the Resistance. The Golem's Eye uses narrative shifts to show us magical Britain from Kitty's point of view, in addition to the Bartimaeus narration and omniscient view of Nathaniel's life.

Ptolemy's Gate concludes the trilogy. Once again, the protagonists are Kitty (now a young woman), Nathaniel (now Information minister), and Bartimaeus. Nathaniel has been increasingly lured toward the corrupting influences of the magical government, although a trace of the boy Nathaniel remains. Kitty has gone underground, apprenticing herself to an elderly magician. Bartimaeus has become drained of essence in his near constant duties. The three of them are called upon to save England from a plague of power-corrupted magicians. Ptolemy's Gate proves an excellent finish to an exceptional series of books.

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

2006-11-30T15:50:00.000-06:00

Mark Haddon wrote a wonderful first novel, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and he has written a compelling and delightful followup in A Spot of Bother. A Spot of Bother is the story of George, who at 61 is having a sort of breakdown. George's wife Jean is having her own mid-life adjustment, and having an affair. Daughter Katie is about to marry Ray, a man who is not very well-liked by her family. Son Jamie is having problems with his boyfriend, who is demanding more from him than he feels comfortable giving. A Spot of Bother is a comedy of errors, with the emphasis on comedy.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, with highly sympathetic characters, who often behave like complete jerks. Great fun.

Number9Dream by David Mitchell

2006-11-30T15:44:00.000-06:00

Number9Dream tells the story of Eiji Miyake, who goes to Tokyo at age 20 to try and find his father. Eiji has been raised by his grandmother, after being abandoned to her care as a child. Eiji's mother is an alcoholic, and his father is unknown to him. In the course of seeking out his father, Eiji runs afoul of the Yakuza, gets a couple of jobs, makes friends, falls in love, listens to John Lennon on his headset, reminisces about his childhood, and enters into elaborate fantasies and dreams. Sometimes stream-of-consciousness, sometimes drifting in and out of reality, drifting back and forth in time, and always seeking--Eiji is a compelling hero with a wild story to tell.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

2006-11-30T15:32:00.000-06:00

The Kite Runner is a first novel that exhibits astonishing storytelling skill. It is the story of two boys, Amir and Hassan--told by Amir. Amir and Hassan lives in Kabul, Afghanistan. Amir is the son of a wealthy man, whose mother died at his birth. Hassan is the son of the household servant, and is a Hazara. Hazaras are Shi'a, among a largely Sunni population, and they are ethnic minorities, as well. The Hazara are considered low-caste by the majority Afghans.

Amir tells the story of the childhood he shared with Hassan in a more peaceful Afghanistan, before he fled for America with his father as a teen. There is a secret at the heart of Amir's story, and I won't reveal it here, but the secret has plagued Amir's conscience, and the book is his story of how he repaid Hassan for his childhood lapses.

Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier

2006-11-09T11:29:00.000-06:00

Child of the Prophecy is the final book in Juliet Marillier's Seven Waters trilogy. Each book follows the fate of a different person, and this third book follows Fainne, the daughter of the druid Ciaran and Niamh, the sister of Liadan--who was the protagonist of the second book. I read the whole book, before I got around to checking on the internet to find out how to pronounce the lead character's name. Here's a place to find some pronunciations for Gaelic names: http://www.namenerds.com/irish/irisham.html
Fainne is apparently pronounced like Tanya, only starting with an F. Ciarian is pronounced like Kirin. The first two books in the trilogy included a pronunciation guide at the front. This third book, with the most difficult names to pronounce, did not.

Anyway, all that aside, this was a fitting finale. Unlike some multi-part series, it did not fizzle out, but ended in a very satisfying manor, which I won't reveal here. Fainne has been raised by her father, Ciaran, in near isolation. Her father has raised her to understand her Druidic heritage (from him) as well as her sorceress heritage (from her grandmother, the evil sorceress, the Lady Oonagh. When she becomes a young woman, Ciaran sends Fainne to Sevenwaters to stay with her mother's kin. It is while visiting Sevenwaters that Fainne must meet her destiny, for she is involved in the prophecy that has driven the story of all three books. Fainne struggles with her desires to protect those she loves while fighting the powerful charms of the Lady Oonagh. This was a gripping and thought-provoking finale.

Blue Hole by G.D. Gearino

2006-11-09T11:13:00.000-06:00

Blue Hole is a mystery and a coming-of-age novel and a Southern Gothic, all at the same time. Blue Hole tells the story of Charley Selkirk, a high school senior who gets kicked out of school during the last week of his senior year. Charley takes a job with a photographer (Tallasee Tynan) who lives in his town, Barrington, GA. Tallasee is local, in that she lives in Barrington and grew up there, but she is also an outsider, in that she spent several years modeling and working as a photographer outside her small Georgia town.

While working with Tallasee, Charley gets involved in investigating the disappearance of another young man. Tallasee and Charley look for the missing boy in a local hippie commune, and soon they find themselves in danger and that the missing boy is a likely murder victim.

Wrapped around the story of Charley and Tallasee's investigation is the story of Charley's mother, his brother who died accidentally in childhood, the local sheriff, and a scary drifter.
The mysteries are all solved when the threads come together at the end of the book.

Blue Hole is a quick and compelling read. The characters, if not altogether believable, are enjoyable.

Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier

2006-10-27T14:41:00.000-05:00

Son of the Shadows continues from the story told in Daughter of the Forest, but the protagonists shift from Sorcha and her brothers, to Sorcha's daughter, Liadan. Liadan is very like her mother, in that she is a healer and herbalist. She is different, too, in that she has the Sight.

Liadan must cope with many conflicting demands on her conscience, and it is her task to bring the conflicting forces together. Once again, Marillier writes a story of grand sweeping emotions that is at the same time homely and familiar. Up next, Child of the Prophecy.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

2006-10-27T14:31:00.000-05:00

Daughter of the Forest is the first book in a trilogy. It tells the story of Sorcha, who is the daughter of a clan chieftain. The general storyline will be familiar to many people, because Sorcha is the sister to six brothers who have been turned into swans by a wicked stepmother sorceress. Sorcha must keep silence while making each brother a shirt from nettles. This folktale is widely told, with slight variations. You can read more about the folktales here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Six_Swans

Besides being a retelling of that folktale, Daughter of the Forest is also a love story and a story of Druids and Christians and barbarians. It is a story about bravery of many kinds, and about kinship, loyalty, and perceptions.

I found it hard to get interested in Daughter of the Forest, at first, but within a few chapters, I was thoroughly drawn in. I immediately took up book two in the series, on finishing Daughter of the Forest. Son of the Shadows was a worthy successor.

http://www.julietmarillier.com/

Shadow of the Lords by Simon Levack

2006-10-27T14:25:00.000-05:00

Shadow of the Lords is the second book in the Aztec Murder Mysteries. Yaotl the slave is once again the protagonist and detective. This mystery begins the morning after the mystery described in Demon of the Air. Once again, Yaotl is racing against time and hiding out from reprisals from his master, the Chief Minister. This time around, Yaotl has an especially strong motivation to solve the mystery--he is trying to protect the son he discovered in Demon of the Air.

Yaotl does much of his sleuthing among the feather artisans, and considerable information about feathered adornments of the Aztecs is imparted along with the story.

This was a worthy followup to Demon of the Air, and a breakneck read.

The Book of Shadows by James Reese c2002

2006-10-06T09:27:00.000-05:00

Set in 19th century France, The Book of Shadows is the story of Herculine, from the day her mother dies until she becomes a young woman. Herculine's mother directs her to take refuge in a nearby convent in her dying moments. The convent takes her in, but they are not particularly kind, at least most of the nuns are not kind, treating her, rather, as a servant.

The Mother Superior of the convent is a wealthy woman, whose family has used their influence to gain her the position. Mother Marie is kind to Herculine, lending her books and giving her the task of watching over the headstrong Peronette--a niece sent to the convent by her indulgent though absent father and crazed mother.

When a prank of Peronette's goes wildly wrong, Sister Claire (who was envious of Mother Marie, thinking the position was rightly hers) accuses Peronette and Herculine of witchery, bringing down the wrath of the village folk on the convent.

All of this takes place in the opening chapters, and the vast proportion of the book is a description of Herculine's life, after real witchcraft enters in.

There are some interesting ideas and characters in The Book of Shadows, but for me it's descriptive passages are overblown and it never regains the pacing of the early chapters. All of the tension of the story is let out in the early chapters, such that the bulk of the book has little narrative drive. I see on Amazon, that there have been two sequels. I will not be seeking them out.

[1997] The Best American Mystery Stories, edited by Robert B Parker

2006-09-29T13:23:00.000-05:00

20 mystery stories, cozy, hardboiled, and everything between.
Blind Lemon by Doug Allyn is a short story about a guy, a bar, and a blues singer.
Hot Springs is redneck noir by James Crumley.
Additionally, there are stories by Elmore Leonard, Joyce Carol Oates, George Pelecanos, and Elizabeth George.

Recommended for dipping into for pre-bedtime reading.

Demon of the Air by Simon Levack

2006-09-19T11:17:00.000-05:00

Demon of the Air is a debut mystery. It is set in Mexico in 1517, near the end of the Aztec empire. The main character, and detective, is Yaotl, a slave and former priest. Yaotl is slave to Lord Feathered in Black, a chief minister to Montezuma (the emperor.)

The story begins on the day of a great sacrifice to the God of War. Yaotl has been asked to attend the sacrifice as an escort to a special sacrificial victim. When things go wrong, Yaotl expects trouble, possibly even death. Instead, Montezuma tasks him with finding the whereabouts of a group of missing sorcerers.

Despite the grim nature of human sacrifice and slavery, Demon of the Air is anything but grim in its execution. Yaotl and the people with whom he interacts are all portrayed in a way that makes their actions seem reasonable, and the humor in the book helps to overcome the grim premise. Levack has done years of research on the Aztecs, and this book benefits from his knowledge of their beliefs and practices. I enjoyed Demon of the Air; it was fast-paced and entertaining, and the unique setting was a bonus.

Levack has written a followup, The Shadow of the Lords, that came out in September, 2006.

http://www.simonlevack.com/reviews.htm

Italian Fever (c.1999) by Valerie Martin

2006-09-13T12:32:00.000-05:00

Italian Fever begins when hack (but successful) thriller writer DV dies in Italy. DV was in the middle of writing his latest book, and he had rented a farmhouse in Tuscany to live in while he wrote. After his death, DV's assistant Lucy Stark travels to Italy to arrange for DV's burial and to clear up his effects. Arranging for DV's funeral and effects fall to Lucy, because none of DV's three former wives wants anything to do with him--other than collecting his money. The woman DV was living with in Italy had already left him, and she had no further interest in him.

Lucy comes down with a bad case of the flu, shortly after DV's funeral, and is cared for in the farmhouse DV was renting by an agent from DV's Italian publisher, Massimo. During the course of her illness, Lucy becomes enchanted with Massimo, and they begin a love affair.

Interwoven with the story of Lucy's love affair with Massimo are her encounters with the people DV knew--his girlfriend, his landlady, and a man from a noble family who owns the Villa to which the farmhouse is attached. Lucy is a student of art history, so her story also include her encounters with works of art that she sees while in Italy. And, there is a touch of magical realism in the book, so Lucy's encounters with ghostly spirits are also a part of her story.

Beautifully written, drenched with feeling, and thoughtful throughout--this is a novel well worth your time.

The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters

2006-09-13T12:09:00.000-05:00

The Devil's Feather is a mystery told in the first person. The narrator is a woman journalist, Connie Burns, who was raised in Africa and has spent her adult life as a foreign correspondent, covering mostly the Arab and African continents. While covering a war in Sierra Leone, Connie becomes interested in the rape/torture/murders of some local women, and she becomes convinced that the murderer is a mercenary she knows of.

Years later, while covering the Iraq war, Connie deduces that the same man is continuing his crimes, while working as a "security" agent in Iraq. When she begins to investigate the man, she is kidnapped and held for three days, after which she is released.

Connie's parents have repatriated to England, since losing their farm in Africa to the Mugabe regime, so that's where Connie goes to recuperate. Her nerve has been shattered by her experiences, and seeking peace, Connie rents a house in the Dorset countryside where she feels safe. While in Dorset, Connie meets and bonds with another shattered soul, Jess Derbyshire--and the two women work together to meet the challenges that ensue when Connie's tormenter follows her to England.

Devil's feather refers to the term by which Connie's tormenter refers to women. The term is defined on Walters' web site as, "a woman who stirs a man's interest without realising it; the unwitting cause of sexual arousal".

This is another of Walters' gripping psychological mystery/thrillers. While it was not as compelling to me as some of her novels (such as Fox Evil, The Ice House, and The Sculptress) it is well written with beautifully drawn characters. The character of Jess Derbyfield is particularly fascinating. I will remember her long after I've forgotten "whodunnit".

http://www.minettewalters.co.uk/books/devils_feather.htm

Something to Write Home About (c1988) by Rachel Ingalls

2006-09-06T09:18:00.000-05:00

Rachel Ingalls, who is best known for writing Mrs. Caliban, is a writer who taps into unsettling truths. In this book, she has collected several stories related by the theme of travel. In one story, a man remembers a trip that ended in disaster. In another, a man reminisces about his brush with a sociopath. A young man and his new wife stumble through their honeymoon in Greece in the title story. In every case, the stories are saturated with the feel of the places in which they are set. The characters in the stories, unfortunately, don't get much chance to enjoy their "vacations".

This is a book worth reading, but only for people who don't mind bleak. Mrs. Caliban would make a better introduction to this writer.

The Book Thief (c2006) by Markus Zusak

2006-09-01T11:13:00.000-05:00

The Book Thief is being marketed as a YA (young adult) novel, maybe because it features a young protagonist, but it is a universal story that would appeal to people of any age--although I think it may be a little dark for children.

The Book Thief is narrated by Death, who is telling the story of a girl he encounters at intervals throughout her life. Liesel Meminger is a young girl the first time she encounters Death. Liesel is riding on a train with her mother and younger brother, when she sees her brother's death. Liesel and her mother get off the train to bury her younger brother, and it is at his graveside that Liesel first steals a book.

After Liesel's brother is buried, she continues the journey to her new home with her mother. Her new home is as a foster child to Rosa and Hans Hubermann in Molching, Germany, on Himmel Street. The year was 1939. Although her new home is strange to Liesel, and she mourns her brother and the loss of her mother, her foster parents are kind. Soon Liesel develops a bond with her new Mama and Papa, becoming especially attached to her Papa, Hans, a painter and accordion player. Much that goes on in the lives of Liesel, Hans, Rosa, and the other characters in the book is circumscribed by the Nazi Party's rule over their country. Everyone is required to show loyalty to the Party, whether or not they are in agreement with its goals.

Much of the story concerns the years the Hubermann family spend secretly hiding a Jewish man in their basement, and Liesel's growing friendship with and concern for Max. Along the way, Liesel makes friends with a neighborhood boy named Rudy, with a curmudgeonly neighbor lady, and with a grieving mother. Throughout the years of the story, Liesel grows from a scrappy young girl to a teen.

The Book Thief is a novel of growing up, a novel of the redemptive powers of love, a novel about the power of words, and a novel that describes life in Nazi Germany for poor working people. It shows how people were able to overcome their circumstances, and make meaningful lives, despite a situation that was designed to dehumanize them. As Death says, at the end, "I am haunted by humans."

for more on Markus Zusak & The Book Thief, see:

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/

Absolute Convictions by Eyal Press

2006-08-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

Absolute Convictions is sort of the story of Buffalo, New York and the death of a doctor who performed abortions, Barnett Slepian. It is also more generally a report on abortion and abortion law and abortion politics in America. It is a mini-history of Buffalo, New York, and it is a mini-history of Israeli-born Jews who emigrated to America (as did Slepian, and the author's father, Shalom Press).

Eyal Press is the son of the "other" abortion doctor in Buffalo, New York. In many ways, Eyal Press is uniquely situated to tell this story. He's a journalist, he grew up in Buffalo, and his father was friendly with Slepian. In some ways, Press is too close to the story--not in that his book is so slanted as to be unfair, but in that Press is so interested in every aspect that he sometimes includes more information than most readers will be interested to learn. And, I did learn some interesting things reading the book; I learned some history of the abortion legalization movement that answered questions I'd had. For instance, I wondered why abortions take place in abortion clinics, rather than hospitals or doctor's offices, and Press answers that question. I learned some things about the history of Israel that I'd wondered about. I can't say I really wondered about the history of Buffalo, but I learned some things about that, too.

Overall, there is an interesting story here and a flood of information, but it's a bit of a slog. The book would be an excellent resource for someone researching abortion law in the U.S. and the history of the pro-choice and pro-life movements.

You're Wearing That? by Deborah Tannen

2006-08-24T09:58:00.000-05:00

Deborah Tannen has written several books on interpersonal communication--this one is about communication between mothers and their daughters. Mostly, Tannen says that communication problems between mothers and daughters arise from their extremely close relationships, but there are other problems she identifies:

Mothers feel a special privilege to talk about things that are not well received by their daughters (e.g. weight, hair, clothing), because they feel responsible for them and because they are looking out for them.

Daughters are frequently reacting to the "meta" communication, rather than to what is actually said.

Some mothers are really awful.

Many mothers want their daughters to be the same as them.

I didn't find a lot of bolt from the blue insights here, but some ideas Tannen points out are worth considering, particularly if you are a mother or a daughter who is experiencing difficulties in your relationship with your daughter or your mother.

End in Tears by Ruth Rendell

2006-08-23T11:03:00.000-05:00

End in Tears is an Inspector Wexford mystery. If you've been reading Ruth Rendell's mysteries, you'll likely remember Inspector Wexford from previous outings. Wexford is a thoughtful detective and family man. His ruminations often drift back and forth between his concerns for the case at hand and concerns about his family.

In this outing, Wexford and crew are looking for the murderer of an 18 year old girl/woman. Amber (the victim) was returning home from nightclubbing when she was bludgeoned within a block from her home. Amber's death left a desolated father, an indifferent step-mother, and a year-old-child, Brand. Before too long, the murder squad discovers that Amber was the probable intended victim of a previous murder attempt, when someone chucked a cement block over the side of an overpass, striking the car in front of Amber's car--a car of the same make and only slightly different color.

The case is complicated by several parallel plots. One involves some sort of baby scam, and the murder squad is uncertain as to whether the two crimes are linked. In another plotline, two of the squad members, Hannah and Bal are testing the waters of a possible romance. Yet another plotline involves Wexford's daughter Sylvia, who is pregnant, separated/divorced from her husband (and the father of the child), and planning on giving the child to her ex to raise with his new girlfriend/future-wife Naomi. Naomi is infertile and Sylvia is feeling guilty for having left her husband without much of a reason. Sylvia's situation occupies Wexford's thoughts and causes something of a rift between him and his wife.

This is not one of my favorite Ruth Rendell or Wexford mysteries, although I've never liked her Wexford mysteries as well as her standalone mysteries and Barbara Vine books. Nevertheless, the writing is excellent, as always, and the story is involving, even if I did begin to think the detectives would never catch on the fairly obvious (to me anyway) scam. The means by which Wexford was finally illuminated was the only really clumsy bit in the book.

If you haven't read a Wexford mystery before, don't start with this one. It isn't necessary to read them exactly in order, although it couldn't hurt, but it would help to start earlier in the series.

Hit Parade by Lawrence Block

2006-08-21T15:50:00.001-05:00

Stamp collecting hit-man John Keller is back and this time he's trying to save up a million dollars, so he can retire. As in previous books, Keller does most of his talking to Dot, the woman who arranges the hits for him. This time around, the verbal sparring is more central to the book than in previous outings, with a nice chemistry between the characters. At one point, Dot calls Keller a psychopath, and he spends some time thinking about whether he is, in fact, a psychopath.

Not the most important book of the year, but a pleasant enough diversion, and a quick read.

The Minotaur by Barbara Vine

2006-08-07T16:00:00.000-05:00

The Minotaur is a murder mystery of sorts, but more than that it is a character study of a dysfunctional family and the people with whom they interact. The story is told by Kirsten Kvist, a young, Swedish nurse, hired to serve as a nurse to John Cosway, the mentally ill son of the family. Besides John, the family includes his elderly mother and four sisters. The people who interact with the family include an old family doctor (who is also revealed to be the elderly mother's lover), the local vicar ( who is engaged to one of the sisters), and a painter who has taken a local cottage as his home and studio, and who is engaged in love affairs with at least 2 village women. The house the Cosway's live in is also a kind of character in the novel, as is the maze, from which the title is drawn.

Kirsten (pronounced Shashten) tells the story as a memoir, aided by the diary she kept during the year she spent with the Cosways. Throughout her story, Kirsten throws out hints as to what has happened in the intervening years--often mentioning that everything in the book happened 35 years earlier, and that things would be much different if they were happening today.

Barbara Vine is a pseudonym for Ruth Rendell; she uses it to write psychological novels, some of which are very dark. In recent years, the books written under the name Barbara Vine have become much more similar to the ones written under the name Ruth Rendell than was originally the case. Still, it is a kind of "heads up" for the reader, to see the name Barbara Vine on the cover, rather than Ruth Rendell.

This particular Barbara Vine novel is among the more intriguing of the ones I've read. The voice of the narrator, Kirsten, is particularly interesting--the more so because of the use of the diary as a prompt for her memory. Not only does the reader see the Cosway family through Kirsten's eyes, we see Kirsten herself change during the time spent with them. Kirsten is also interesting as a narrator, because she reports as a foreigner, who sees the English countryside from a kind of anthropologic viewpoint.

Well worth reading.

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

2006-08-07T13:52:00.000-05:00

When I first heard about Christopher Moore's latest book, I thought, "shades of Terry Pratchett's DEATH books", but there is only a passing resemblance here. Both writers are humorous, but Moore's book has its own cosmology and, of course, doesn't take place on Discworld.

A Dirty Job is the story of a man (Charlie Asher), who loses his beloved wife when she dies giving birth to daughter Sophie. Charlie sees a death merchant (whom we later come to know as Minty Fresh--a 6'7" black man who always dresses in mint green suits) collecting Rachel's soul, which signals that he is about to become a death merchant. (There is a passing resemblence in the plot to the Showtime series, "Dead Like Me". ) At first, Charlie resists his new role, but he learns to accept it, after he finds out what happens when he doesn't collect souls.

In any case, a battle ensues (over the course of several years) between the various death merchants of San Francisco and the demons of the underworld. A quirky cast of characters makes the journey pleasurable, as does Moore's witty writing.

Recommended.

Thinner Than Thou by Kit Reed

2006-08-07T13:50:00.000-05:00

Kit Reed writes books that straddle the line between science fiction and straight-ahead literature. In Thinner Than Thou, Reed posits a world in which the desire for a perfect body leads to the creation of a religious cult, the "disappearing" of the elderly, and underground "strip" clubs where people go to see "jumbo jigglers".

The concept is amusing, but the book wasn't, for me.

Marley & Me by John Grogan

2006-08-07T13:43:00.000-05:00

I really resisted reading Marley & Me; who needs another book about somebody's beloved pet? Then my daughter said I really should read it, because it's funny and not about a good dog, but about a really bad dog. As the sometimes adoptive parent to a passel of bad dogs, I decided to go ahead and try it.

Marley & Me is about a truly troublesome dog. Marley eats furniture, tears up drywall, and swallows anything that will hold still. He is prone to ear infections and terrified of storms. But Marley & Me is also a memoir hiding behind a dog book. In the 13 years that Marley lived with John Grogan and his wife Jenny, they had 3 children, moved from one house in Florida to another, and then moved to Pennsylvania. So, while reading about Marley--you end up reading the story of a marriage and a family.

I still don't really understand why Marley & Me still perches atop the bestseller list after 41 weeks, but it is easily engaging, and Grogan's years as a newspaper columnist show to good effect in the writing.

Disordered Minds by Minette Walters

2006-07-31T19:09:00.000-05:00

Disordered Minds is a mystery novel told in the form of book excerpts, e-mails, interview transcripts, and narrative. It tells the story of two very dissimilar people who marshall their forces to battle a past injustice--even though the victims of the injustice are all dead.

George Gardiner (short for Georgina) and Jonathan Hughes are investigating a murder from the past. Howard Stamp, a 20-year-old with a cleft palate and a bad case of timidity was found guilty of murdering his grandmother--even though she was the only person he could rely on for kindness, and even though the evidence was less than convincing. Three years later, he hanged himself in prison.

Untangling the story of Howard's injustice brings to light some very nasty coverups that have carried on for 20 years. A week before Howard Stamp's grandmother was found murdered, a 13-year-old girl (Priscilla) went missing. The 13-year-old girls was never found, but there are 4 people still alive who were there the day she was gang-raped--only a couple of days before disappearing. One is Louise, Priscilla's friend at the time, another is Louise's brother, who was 10 years old and drunk at the time of the crime, and the other two are the remaining attackers (one of the three has since died.)

Once the chain of lies has begun to unravel, it's hard to say whether the real truth will ever be known, but and answer emerges by the final page.

Worth reading, but due to the historical nature of the crime, lacking the narrative tension of some of Walters' other books.

Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis

2006-07-30T13:06:00.000-05:00

This was a hard book for me to continue reading. It starts out with a precis of Ellis's life and work, so far, but with fictional details. Then it moves into a fictional now, still with Bret Easton Ellis as the narrator and main character. Finally, it becomes elegiac in the last pages.

Ellis calls this book his Stephen King book, and there is much about the book that fits that description. In some ways, it's as if you shuffled a deck of cards, containing characters from Bret Easton Ellis books with cards containing Stephen King circumstances and plotting. So, we have a disaffected, drinking, drugging Bret and family (he has given himself a movie-star wife and two children in the book) confronted by monsters, slime, and hauntings.

I almost stopped reading about a hundred pages in--I just can't find that much to like about the persona of Bret Easton Ellis, but then I re-read the Meghan O'Rourke review in Slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2124806/) that caused me to pick the book up to begin with. And I clicked around on the web, reading interviews and reviews, and then I decided to push on through. I guess the book was worth reading, but I think the best of the book is quoted in O'Rourke's review. Maybe I had to slog through the horror story to find the loveliness that resides in those final pages. Each reader will have to decide this one alone.

Fortunate Son by Walter Mosely

2006-07-25T13:49:00.000-05:00

Fortunate Son is some sort of allegory, but I'm not sure what Mosely is trying to get across. The story begins in a hospital, where Bronwyn is spending time with her son in the neonatal unit. Bronwyn is a Black woman, and her baby's father left her when she elected to keep her baby rather than aborting him. Her baby, Thomas, is very sickly and spends half a year in the hospital after his birth. One evening, as she is leaving, a surgeon from the hospital offers her a ride home.

The doctor, Minas Fontenot, also has a baby son. His wife died giving birth to Eric, who is as unlike Thomas as any child could be. Eric is strong, vital, handsome, blonde, and forceful, while Thomas (nicknamed Lucky) is Black, sickly, small, and quiet.

Before long, Minas is driving Bronwyn home every evening--sometimes stopping for supper on the way. After a few weeks, their relationship grows into a romance and Minas asks Bronwyn to come live with him. Eric is immediately taken with Bronwyn, and when Bronwyn finally brings baby Thomas home, Eric takes to the baby, too. Everything is going well for the Bronwyn, Minas, Thomas, and Eric, until Bronwyn takes sick after nursing Eric through an illness and dies.

With Bronwyn dead, Thomas's father reclaims him. Thomas's father means well, but he's angry and poorly equipped to raise a child. Thomas's grandmother (Bronwyn's mother) also cares for Thomas/Lucky, but Lucky doesn't like staying with her, because there is no silence in her apartment home. Bronwyn's mother blames Minas for not marrying her daughter, but she doesn't know that Minas asked Bronwyn many times to marry and she always refused.

The story goes back and forth between Lucky and Eric, comparing Lucky's bad fortune to Eric's sunny life. Eventually the two are reunited, after many struggles and misfortunes.

I can't say whether or not I would recommend this book. It is a compelling story, but it left me feeling unsatisfied. Also, Mosely has a tendency in this outing to tell, rather than show. For instance, he says things like, "Maya Timor had gone to the Cape Hotel looking for a job....but she brought Raela along with her. Everybody liked the raven-haired Raela, and Maya felt that the child's presence was something like a blessing." Throughout the book, characters are introduced who have very little further to do in the book, usually with a brief description of their looks and life and a name, then they disappear from the foreground. Even some of the foreground characters are patchily presented. With more thoughtful (or maybe elegant) writing, the weaknesses of the story would probably have gone unnoticed. With a more meaningful or clever story, the weaknesses in the writing might go unnoticed. But, with both problems to overcome, there is not enough here for a ringing endorsement, much as I've enjoyed Mosely's Easy Rawlins books.

Property by Valerie Martin

2006-07-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

Property is Valerie Martin's Orange Prize winning novel about slavery in the American South. The story involves a young woman, Manon Gaudet, who is the wife of a planter. As the novel opens, Manon is observing her husband as he plays at tormenting three young male slaves. Manon hates her husband, but has little choice in remaining with him. Among the things she hates about her husband is his lust for Sarah, a slave woman brought by Manon into the marriage. Sarah has borne two children to Manon's husband: a light-skinned, deaf boy called Walter and a dark-skinned baby girl. Manon has managed to deny her husband her bed for some time, so she cannot be too bothered by his attentions to Sarah.

A few weeks into the narrative, Manon's mother sickens with cholera, and Manon returns to New Orleans to care for her. Within a few days, Manon's mother has died, and Manon inherits her house and income. Still, Manon isn't free of her marriage, since everything she has inherited belongs to her husband. After her mother's affairs are wrapped up, Manon returns to her husband's plantation.

A slave insurrection follows shortly on Manon's return, and the events that take place change her life in some surprising ways.

Throughout the novel, it is not just the events that are of interest, but Manon's feelings about the events and people. The title Property seems to refer not only to the slaves, who are the property of Manon and her husband, but also to Manon, who is the property of her husband, and to the property that could give Manon a life she could enjoy.

Amoz Oz, The Story Begins

2006-07-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

Israeli novelist Amos Oz presents a series of essays on the beginnings of a variety of literary works. Most of the literary works discussed are not widely familiar, though Oz does discuss works by Kafka, Chekhov, and Raymond Carver. His insights are of interest to writers and readers of literary novels and short stories.

Literary works discussed:
Effi Briest by Theodore Fontane
In the Prime of Her Life by S. Y. Agnon
"The Nose" by Gogol
A Country Doctor by Kafka
"Rothschild's Fiddle" by Chekhov
Mikdamot by S. Yizhar
History: A Novel by Elsa Moronte
The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"Nobody Said Anything" by Raymond Carver
"A Private and Very Awesome Leopard" by Yaakov Shabtai

Everyman by Philip Roth

2006-07-24T10:02:00.000-05:00

Everyman is the faux memoir of an un-named man who shares many of the signifiers of previous Roth antagonists. He is Jewish, aging, and has been married 3 times. He grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey with admirable parents--especially his hard-working father--and a much-loved older brother.

This time out, the beloved father is the owner/proprietor of a small jewelry store, called Everyman's. The much-loved older brother is a wealthy broker/trader named Howie. The antagonist is an artist, who spent his working life as an art director for an advertising agency, then began painting as a retirement gift to himself.

The memoir is told from the antagonist's graveside and takes form as a kind of medical outline of his life. Each time he is hospitalized (beginning with a childhood hernia operation), the antagonist describes his experience, digressing to talk about the people he knew at the time of the hospitalization. We also get glimpses of the antagonist's life through the eulogies delivered by his brother, daughter, and two sons at his graveside.

In outline, it doesn't sound like much, but Roth's voice, as ever, is compelling enough to make this brief novel one to be read in a gulp.

Hard Rain by Barry Eisler

2006-07-24T09:47:00.000-05:00

Hard Rain is the second book in the John Rain, hitman, mystery series. In this outing, Rain has gone underground, but he is found by one of his old employers, who wants him to take on a Yakuza killer. Soon, Rain is involved in a chase that brings him into contact with an old love, a new love, and requires all of his skills to survive--and take a little revenge.

John Rain is a hybrid Japanese/American, living in Japan. Rain's descriptions of his hangouts in Tokyo and the neighborhoods he trawls are a big part of the fun in this series.

Cold Streets by P.N. Elrod

2006-07-13T16:41:00.000-05:00

Cold Streets is the 2004 addition to the Jack Fleming/vampire series written by P.N. Elrod. Jack is happily managing his nightclub, Lady Crymsyn in Chicago, when he gets called on to sort out a couple of problems.

First, Jack has a kidnapping case to solve, as a favor to his friend and partner Escott. The mentally-challenged, teenaged daughter of a society matron has been kidnapped, and Escott has been hired to investigate. Jack uses his vampyric powers to help nab the knappers, but that's just the beginning of the trouble.

Second, a New York gangster is in town, trying to take over the territory of Jack's friend Gordy Weems. Jack tries to help out Gordy, and once again, runs into complications.

This outing lands Jack in some hot water in some very cold places. If you've read earlier Jack Fleming books, you'll probably like this one. If not, it's not a good place to start.

Find out more here:
http://www.vampwriter.com/

The Every Boy by Dana Adam Shapiro

2006-07-03T09:13:00.000-05:00

The blurbs on The Every Boy call this first novel Salingeresque, and come from the likes of Tom Perrotta, Amy Sedaris, and J.T. Leroy. I'm not sure I read the same book. The Every Boy is the story of Henry Every, who, we are told, has died at 15. The story is told through the device of his father's reading of Henry's "ledgers".

Henry's father is a retired dermatologist who raises jellyfish. His mother is an absent Scandinavian who loves ant farms. His grandmother, who Henry visits during the course of the ledger reading, is a wacky oldster with money.

Henry also writes about his friend Jorden, a girl with a quirky homelife to match his, and Benna, the "could be dream love" of his short lifetime.

Mostly, The Every Boy is a coming of age novel with strange and estranged parents. I lost steam about 3/4 of the way through, and only finished it to find out how Henry died.

The Unfinished Novel & Other Stories by Valerie Martin

2006-06-27T16:18:00.000-05:00

Valerie Martin wrote the book Mary Reilly, which was a retelling of the Jekyll & Hyde story from the point of view of Dr. Jekyll's maid. Mary Reilly was such a good book that I'm surprised I've not run across any of Martin's later books or pursued reading them. When I recently found a review of her new book of short stories, I decided it was time to reintroduce myself to a writer I'd previously enjoyed.

The Unfinished Novel and Other Stories is a collection of short stories about artists. The first story "His Blue Period" is about a painter who cruelly mistreats his live-in lover told by a painter who lived in the same building and had a fantasy love for the woman. "The Bower" tells the story of a woman who directs college drama students and her affair with a talented student. "Beethoven" is the story of an impecunious artist who paints on wallpaper samples and his lover, "The Unfinished Novel" is the story of a writer who runs into a woman he once loved, who has changed both utterly and not at all, "The Open Door" is about two women who are lovers and faculty members on a trip to Italy, and "The Change" is about a writer and a printmaker who are husband and wife--the wife is going through menopause, but she may be changing even more than that.

These are unsettling stories, and make me think I should try to find a few more of Martin's books to read.

Valerie Martin won the 2003 Orange Prize for her book Property.

The Pillow Book of the Lady Wisteria by Laura Joh Rowland

2006-06-27T09:38:00.000-05:00

The Pillow Book of the Lady Wisteria is the 7th book in the Sano Ichiro mystery series. Sano Ichiro is the Shogun's chief investigator, and the action takes place in 17th century Japan. Sano is bedeviled by palace intrigues and helped by his wife Reiko and his faithful lieutenant Hirata.

The mystery involves the murder of the Shogun's heir, Lord Mitsuyoshi, in a pleasure house in Yoshiwara--the quarter of the city where gambling, drinking, and prostitution are allowed. The woman who was with Lord Mitsuyoshi, Lady Wisteria, is missing, as is her pillow book.

Sano must solve the mystery in a hurry, because his political rivals are plotting to implicate Sano for the crime. Meanwhile, Hirata seeks to marry Midori--whose father is against the marriage. And, for some reason, Chamberlain Yanagisawa's wife is plotting to harm Reiko and the son she and Sano cherish.

There are now 11 books in the series. I've read several and have found them all involving and well-written. Read more about Laura Joh Rowland and her books here:

http://www.laurajohrowland.com/

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

2006-06-19T16:01:00.000-05:00

Housekeeping is a very strange and unexpected novel. It tells the story of two little girls who go to live with their grandmother after their mother commits suicide. The years the girls spend with their grandmother are orderly and safe, compared to their years with the mother. After about five years, though, their grandmother dies and they are cared for briefly by her elderly and fairly odd sisters.

The elderly sisters don't feel up to raising a couple of little girls, so they send a letter to the girls' aunt Sylvie, who shows up to care for them. The problem is that Sylvie is a drifter who doesn't really know how to settle down and care for two little girls. For Ruth--the little girl who is the primary narrator of the book--Sylvie is a kindred spirit, but for her more conventional sister Lucille, Sylvie is a disaster.

Housekeeping is a beautifully written novel with a fully realized sense of place. The following quote is a sample of its haunting perfection.

"To crave and to have are as like as a thing and its shadow. For when does a berry break upon the tongue as sweetly as when one longs to taste it, and when is the taste refracted into so many hues and savors of ripeness and earth, and when do our senses know anything so utterly as when we lack it? And here again is foreshadowing--the world will be made whole. For to wish for a hand on one's hair is all but to feel it. So whatever we may lose, very craving gives it back to us again. Though we dream and hardly know it, longing, like an angel, fosters us, smooths our hair, and brings us wild strawberries." pp. 152-153

Housekeeping was published in 1981. Marilynne Robinson wrote a second book, Gilead, that was published in 2005. Here is a website that discusses both books.

http://www.therevealer.org/archives/timeless_001690.php

A movie was made with the book as source--it is also called Housekeeping. I haven't seen it, and it's not out in DVD, but there is information about it on the IMDB.com site.

Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

2006-06-19T15:50:00.000-05:00

Definitely Dead is the latest of the Sookie Stackhouse mystery/paranormal novels. In this outing, Sookie has a new boyfriend Quinn who is a were-tiger. She also has some adventures involving demons, fairies, vampires, and a very funny witch--who seems likely to return in the next book.

Sookie has to go to New Orleans to clean out her cousin's apartment. Her cousin Hadley was a vampire, but she is now definitely dead. Here death took place in a between books short story that appeared in an anthology. You can find out about Sookie books and stories on the Charlaine Harris website, here:
http://www.charlaineharris.com/bibliog.html

While Sookie is cleaning out Hadley's apartment, she gets involved in a feud between vampire clans as well as being stalked by some weres. Her new boyfriend Quinn helps her out of some tough spots, and her new witch friend helps her solve some of the mysteries she faces. Sookie also learns some things about Bill and from Bill (her first boyfriend and a vampire.) And, finally, Sookie also learns some things about herself.

There will be some weddings coming up in Bon Temps, and Sookie is looking forward to attending them. They will be written about in a forthcoming anthology, My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, which unfortunately won't be out till the fall.

I really enjoyed the latest Sookie mystery, and I wish I didn't have to wait a year for another one.

Varjak Paw by SF Said

2006-06-01T11:40:00.000-05:00

Varjak Paw is a children's book, but not intended for really young children. It is about a cat named Varjak Paw who is a Mesopotamian Blue and the member of a family of Mesopotamian Blues cared for by The Contessa. All of his family are descendents of Jalal, who developed a kind of cat martial art called The Way.

Early in the book, The Contessa disappears and is replaced by a frightening man with two fierce black cats. Varjak escapes from The Contessa's villa to seek out a Dog, as directed by his grandfather.

Varjak Paw meets up with two street cats who take him under their paws and help him survive on the streets. In dreams, Varjak learns The Way, which helps him to overcome many obstacles in his quest. Once Varjak has mastered The Way, he returns home to The Contessa's Villa to try and save his family, aided by his new friends.

This was a cute story with a very nice cover illustration (by Dave McKean) and monotone illustrations throughout. A movie deal is in development.

Rain Fall by Barry Eisler

2006-06-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

Rain Fall is a mystery/thriller about a half-American, half-Japanese hitman named John Rain. John is a Vietnam veteran. His Japanese father died when he was a child, so his mother moved him to America to be near her parents. He became a special ops type while serving in Vietnam, and never really got over his experiences during the war.

After the war, John moved to Japan, where he took up a career as a hitman, specializing in making natural-looking hits. This first novel in the John Rain series starts with John (and his assistant Harry) tailing a potential hit. John has three rules about hits: he won't hit women or children, he won't hit secondary targets (e.g. someone whose death will affect the real target), and he won't work on hits unless he's the only hitter hired. When John believes his rules have been broken in the latest hit, he goes underground and starts an investigation of the man who hired him.

In addition to being a hitman, John is a major jazz fan with a particular liking for Bill Evans. Visiting a jazz club, John has a serendipitous meeting with a female jazz pianist (Midori) who is also the victim of his latest hit. While John is enjoying the set, he notices a man who was present at the hit, and determines that Midori is in danger.

The remainder of the book finds John and Midori searching for clues and killers while becoming romantically entangled.

This is an engaging read, and John Rain is an interesting character. At least three additional books have been written in the series. For more information, see:

http://mostlyfiction.com/spy-thriller/eisler.htm

Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall SMith

2006-05-19T13:37:00.000-05:00

Blue Shoes and Happiness is the 7th book in the series of mysteries featuring Mma Romatswe, the proprietress of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana. Mma Romatswe has a number of mysteries to solve in this outing.

There is a blackmailer who has endangered the job of one of her clients (by blackmailing the clients supervisor, who blames her), there is a mysterious fear troubling the village of Mokolodi (which is near a game reserve), and there is a doctor behaving strangely about blood pressure medication. In addition to the mysteries, Mma Romatswe is concerned for her second in command, Mma Makutsi.

Mma Makutsi has recently become engaged to a man who owns a furniture store, Phuti Radiphuti. Unfortunately, she has told him she is a feminist, which she fears has frightened him. In order to reassure Phuti, she takes Mma Romatswe's husband, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni shopping for a new chair at her fiance's furniture store. While they are looking at a chair, Mma Makutsi reassures Phuti that she is not the kind of feminist who thinks men are unimportant.

Many other adventures take place, in the somewhat by-the-way story of the novel. A cobra under Mma Makutsi's desk is dealt with, Mma Romatswe tries dieting, and Mma Romatswe thinks about her wonderful late father, for whom she was truly Precious.

The Lighthouse by P.D. James

2006-05-19T13:05:00.000-05:00

The Lighthouse is an Adam Dalgliesh mystery. It takes place on a fictional island off the coast of Cornwall called Combe. Combe has been set up as a trusteeship, with the purpose of giving famous and/or notable people (such as scientists, authors, and politicians) a peaceful place to spend a week or two in solitude. There are a few provisions: visitors are not supposed to talk about Combe, anyone born on Combe may visit, and members of the Holcombe family (the last owners of Combe) may live on the island. There is only one surviving member of the Holcombe family, an elderly woman named Emily Holcombe. There is only one surviving person born on the island, an eminent novelist named Nathan Oliver. There are a number of staff members on Combe who see to the needs of the guests and run the operation. As the novel opens, there has been a murder on Combe, and Adam Dalgliesh has been called upon to take up the case.

The Lighthouse has several features in common with James's previous works. The writing is elegant, the psychological development is subtle and provides depth, and the mystery is well developed.

Dalgliesh is in love, and his thoughts throughout the novel turn to the woman he loves, Emma, particularly since he was called away just before they were to have had a weekend together. Kate Miskin, A.D.'s second in command, has just begun a relationship with a colleague who left for a promotion, Piers Tarrant. The third officer investigating the case is a new colleague, a man named Francis Benton-Smith.

The suspicious death that brings the detectives to Combe is the death of the novelist, Nathan Oliver. He was on the island with his daughter (who serves as his housekeeper) and his copy editor/secretary. The daughter and copy-editor have been having a secret affair. Nathan Oliver is a highly unpleasant and amoral character. He seems to have no inner life and relies on psychological experimentation to write his books. For instance, to write about a seduction he seduces a young woman and to write about alcholism, he plies a sober alcoholic with wine, inducing a bender. Because of his sheer nastiness, nearly everyone on the island has reason to want him dead.

The other suspects (besides the daughter and copy-editor) include Emily Holcombe (who might want him dead, because he has expressed a desire to move to the island and to live in the house where she is living), her manservant, the island's administrator, the island's doctor and his nurse-and-wife, the island's priest/sub-administrator (who is also the alcoholic Nathan Oliver experimented on), the boatman, the cook, and the laundress. There were also two illustrious guests on the island at the time of the murder--Speidel, a German dignitary and Yelland, an English scientist.

During the course of the investigation, Dalgliesh (as well as Speidel) comes down with the flu, and it turns out to be SARS, so the island is quarantined. Kate Miskin takes the lead on the investigation while Dalgliesh is sequestered in the infirmary. During this time, a second murder takes place, and this time the murdered person is beloved rather than reviled.

All mysteries are neatly wound up by the end of the novel, including the relatively mild question as to whether Dalgliesh and Emma will overcome their mutual reticence enough to tell each other that they want to marry. Overall, this was a highly satisfying mystery and novel.

A Fractured Mind by Robert B. Oxnam

2006-05-16T13:33:00.000-05:00

A Fractured Mind is the memoir of a man with multiple personality disorder. Oxnam, who is a noted Sinologist and the former president of The Asia Society. In late middle age, while visiting a psychiatrist to discuss problems that arose from his alcoholism, he discovered that some of his problems (blackouts, strange behavior) were due to his multiple personalities.

Over several years of therapy, Oxnam was able to inegrate most of his multiples, though in many ways he just learned to live with the three strongest. The book is written from the viewpoints of the multiple personalities, which is interesting, but also makes for some fairly simplistic writing. An afterword from Oxnam's therapist rounds things out.

A Fractured Mind would probably be of interest to therapists, but was only mildly interesting to me. I picked it up thinking it would be of particular interest, because Oxnam had accomplished so much in his life, it seemed likely he'd have a lot to say. Overall, I found the book somewhat disappointing.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

2006-05-16T13:11:00.000-05:00

Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking begins on the evening that her husband, John Gregory Dunne died suddenly of a heart attack while eating supper. Didion describes her reactions to her husband's sudden death, with extensive flashbacks to earlier times in their marriage. She also describes the year she spent grieving, mourning, and sitting with her daughter in hospital critical care facilities.

The Year of Magical Thinking is a brief and moving account. Quintana Roo Dunne Michael died August 26, 2005.

Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson

2006-05-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

Darwinia is a surprising book. Reading descriptions and reviews did not prepare me for the strangeness of this book. The basic concept is described simply enough--one night in 1912 the world changes radically--the European continent is overnight replaced by a strange new continent of roughly the same contours, but with no sentient beings and wholly strange animals.

Wilson tells the story of Darwinia through the eyes of a group of explorers of the "new continent", particularly a young man who is a photographer on the expedition, Guilford Law. Intercut with the story of the expedition are chapters about Guilford Law's wife and child, left waiting for him in the new London, which is a frontier outpost. Also intercutting the expedition chapters are chapters about a man who exhibits medium-like channeling of a "God".

It was hard for me to get involved in the world of Darwinia. At first the concept was so outlandish as to seem ridiculous--I didn't see how Wilson could carry off the concept as a reasonable science fiction novel, instead of an illogical fantasy. But, Wilson does manage the feat, although I won't say this book is nearly so successful as The Spin, in being both involving and fascinating. Still, Wilson creates in Darwinia a compelling group of characters and lays out a challenging and unusual story.

The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson

2006-05-08T13:34:00.000-05:00

The Chronoliths takes place in the near future. Scott Warden, the narrator, is living in Thailand with his wife and young daughter when the first of the Chronoliths "arrives" near where he has been living. Chronoliths are huge and strange monuments of unknown material, that arrive suddenly bearing the likeness of Kuin or a testament to his conquests. Many stories high, they are of some sort of blue glass-like substance that can't be broken (even with atomic weaponry) and that supplants all that is in their place.

Scott Warden follows his wife and daughter to the United States, but too late to save his marriage. He spends the next several years working as a programmer and seeing his daughter Kaitlin on weekends. Eventually, his wife remarriage a prosperous man who seems to be a nice enough guy, if a little pompous.

About five years after Scott's return to the U.S., he is summarily fired from his job, only to be hired by an old college professor Sue Chopra. Sue is a brilliant theoretical mathematician and has been working on the problem of the Chronoliths. She hires Scott to work with her, in part because she believes that a number of coincidences (Scott and a friend being present when the first Chronolith appeared, Scott being a former student of Chopra's, etc.) have meaning, if only the problem could be viewed from additional dimensions.

Another ten years pass and more Chronoliths have appeared throughout the world. People in many regions have become Kuinists, adding to the instability of governments around the world. Young people in Kuinist groups are prone to going on "Haj", by which they mean setting up camp where a Chronolith is expected to appear (by this time scientists can predict the appearance of a Chronolith by preceding radiation.) Scott's daughter Kaitlin has joined a Kuinist youth group, in part because her stepfather belongs to a group for business reasons, and has disappeared.

Scott gathers information about the youth group Kaitlin has become involved in, and goes looking for her in Mexico. In the course of seeking out Kaitlin, he takes up with a woman whose son is also on the Haj, Ashlee. In Portillo, Scott is able to find and rescue Kaitlin, but Ashlee's son is apparently lost.

More years pass, the world grows ever more unstable, and Sue Chopra believes she has found a way to destabilize a Chronolith. It is during the outcome of this attempt that the penultimate action of the novel takes place, with only a few final pages to round things up.

This was an interesting book with an intriguing premise. The characters are mostly believably human, although not so well grounded as the characters in Spin, by contrast. Overall, worth reading.

How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life

2006-05-08T13:25:00.000-05:00

by Mameve Medwed

This book is a kind of romance with novelistic intentions. The novel's protagonist, Abby Randolph is a small-time antiques dealer (she deals out of a stall in an antiques "mall"). Her mother has left her a few things and a knack for antiques. Her father has moved to California with his much younger wife. Her boyfriend and fellow antique dealer has recently left her for a better-connected and financed woman. This is the state of affairs as the novel opens.

Then, Abby, at the urging of her kindly antique stall neighbor, takes a chamber pot to the Antiques Road Show, and her life is turned upside down. The chamber pot turns out to be worth a lot of money, her-ex-best-friend and ex-fiancee (a brother and sister) sue her for half of the money, and she takes up with a rakish reporter.

All is neatly sorted out by the end of the story, with Abby happily settled down with the right man and a future that fits.

Pleasant but inconsequential.

Perseids and other stories by Robert Charles Wilson

2006-04-27T16:07:00.000-05:00

This collection of stories (published in 2000) has a science fiction/horror blend that makes it a discomfiting read. Nevertheless, there is much to enjoy here, and Wilson's grasp on my attention didn't flag. The stories included are:

The Fields of Abraham
The Perseids
The inner inner city
The observer
Protocols of consumption
Ulysses sees the moon in the bedroom window
Plato's mirror
Divided by infinity
Pearl baby

There is some interconnection between the stories. Characters in one story may show up in another. Several characters work or visit a used bookstore called Finders. Most of the stories take place in Toronto.

I particularly enjoyed the Fields of Abraham, the story of a young man who earns his living (just after the turn of the 19th century) teaching English and playing the occasional game of chess. He has a sister who seems to be descending into madness for whom he serves as caretaker. There is an old man in a book store (Finders) who gives him books in exchange for chess games.

The Observer is an alien abduction story with a difference, and a pleasant 12-year-old girl for a heroine.

Divided by Infinity is another story connected to Finders bookstore. This one tells of a man who so terribly misses his dead wife that he seeks to join her in death, only to find his death increasingly unlikely.

Overall, this books is worth finding, and I liked Wilson's comments at the end.

http://www.geocities.com/canadian_SF/wilson/

Lillith's Brood by Octavia Butler

2006-04-23T13:41:00.000-05:00

Lillith's Brood (c. 1990 (compilation) c. 1987, 1988, 1989 for individual books) is a compilation volume containing three novels in the Xenogenesis series: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago. Although I knew I was reading a volume containing three novels while reading Lillith's Brood, the novels are so interconnected and the layout is so consistent that I really don't know which book made up which sections of the compilation.

With the book in hand, I can see that Dawn is the section that makes up the story of Lillith's awakening on the Oankali ship. The Oankali are an alien species that lives to "trade" with new species on new worlds. What makes them unusual (in science fiction that is--in the real world everything about them would be unusual) is that they trade genetic material. The Oankali have come to Earth after a major, worldwide disaster of manmade origin has left nearly everyone on the planet dead and the planet a smoking ruin. The Oankali salvage the living humans and seed the Earth with regenerative plants and animals.

Lillith Iyapo was a widow who had lost her husband and child to a car accident a year or two before the war that destroyed the Earth. In Dawn, Lillith awakes in an alien place and undergoes many unpleasant experiences before she is brought into contact with one of the Oankali. The Oankali are so frighteningly strange that Lillith can barely stand to be in the same room with her Oankali contact, and yet Lillith has been selected from among the salvaged humans as the most likely to be able to accept the Oankali. Lillith learns that she has been living on an Oankali spaceship since being salvaged. She also learns that the spaceship is alive, and that it is one of the many Oankali genetic creations.

Eventually, Lillith does come to accept the Oankali and is selected to be the human responsible for "awakening" 40 humans who will reseed the Earth. The catch is that they will be allowed to reseed the Earth only if they accept Oankali mates. The Oankali mate differently from humans. They mate for life and in groups of at least three--one male, one female, and one ooloi. Ooloi are neither male nor female, but they are the sex responsible for the genetic mixing between the males and females. They are capable of healing and of other forms of genetic manipulation, all of which is beneficial, according to Oankali understanding. The humans don't like the idea of Oankali genetic manipulation, even though some of them come to accept Oankali mates. Many humans reject Oankali manipulation of the human gene pool. They learn to hate Lillith, believing her to be a kind of Judas goat.

Adulthood Rites takes up Lillith's story and the story of the humans and the Oankali on Earth a few years after the end of Dawn. Lillith has joined with a group of Oankali and human families in a village called Lo. In fact, Lo is a village and also an immature space ship. The Oankali live in close connection to Lo, sharing genetic material with Lo and taking shelter and nutrition from Lo.

In Adulthood Rites, we see how Lillith and her human counterparts have come to live with and in opposition to the Oankali. The Oankali have made all of their salvaged human foundlings sterile, unless they mate with the help of an ooloi. Many groups of humans have left the shelter and assistance of Oankali family groups to make their own communities of resistors. The resistors can build homes and communities, but they cannot have children, so they have taken to raiding Human-Oankali villages and stealing children. Even though the children they steel are partly Oankali, they still look like children and are very valuable to the Resistors.

Akin is a male-looking child of Lillith and her mates Tino and Nikanj. Although Akin looks male, he is in fact a sub-adult, Human-Oankali construct, and as such won't become either sex until he reaches metamorphosis. Akin is, in fact, a male construct. The Oankali have been very careful to construct almost no male-leaning children to be born of Human females, because they consider the Human males to be too dangerously violent and hierarchical. What they come to learn, however, is that Akin was the hybrid they needed to fully understand the Humans. Akin convinces the Oankali to allow the Humans a place to develop a society where they can remain human and have human children. With his help, the Oankali come to understand that this outlet is necessary to the success of their plans. Akin starts a human outpost on Mars, with Oankali assistance, so that Resistors can have a place of their own and a hope for the future of the human race.

What neither the humans nor the Oankali and constructs realized was that the outlet of Mars allowed even the Oankali-mated humans, like Lillith, to let go of their anger towards the Oankali.

Imago takes up the story many years after the end of Adulthood Rites. Imago is the story of another of Lillith's children, Jodahs. Jodahs is the first ooloi born as a Human-Oankali construct. Imago is the story of what happens to Jodahs as he reaches metamorphosis and takes Human mates. Jodahs has 5 parents, a male and female Human, a male and female Oankali, and an ooloi, as is standard for Constructs. He also has a sibling Aaor, who has not yet reached metamorphosis.

As with Adulthood Rites, Imago is the story of how the Construct ooloi was necessary to bring the Human and Oankali species into peaceful coexistence.

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

2006-04-23T12:35:00.000-05:00

Wild Seed (c. 1980) is one of Octavia Butler's Patternist novels. It tells the story of Anyanwu, the wild seed of the title. Wild seed is the name Doro has given to people with the sort of mental powers he has been seeding among his human descendents. Doro calls them wild seed, because they have the powers without having Doro as a progenitor.

Doro is a character in some of the other Patternist novels, particularly Mind of My Mind. He is an immortal spirit/being, who lives in the bodies of his conquests. He has other strong mental powers, but his greatest power is the ability to kill people by mentally consuming them. Their bodies don't die; Doro moves into their bodies.

Anyanwu was the first wild seed that Doro encountered who was a challenge to him. She had already been living for about 300 years when Doro found her. She was living as a village elder and witch among her descendents in an African village. Doro convinced Anyanwu to leave her village as his wife.

Anyanwu traveled with Doro to the coast of Africa, where Doro had a slave trader working to collect interesting humans for his gene pool. Doro would take the humans he collected to the New World, where he was building a community of his descendents.

Anyanwu struggled against Doro as she learned more of his nature, and she eventually escaped his control, while in the shape of an animal. After many years of estrangement, Doro and Anyanwu were finally reconciled to each other's existence. As the novel ends, Anyanwu has adopted the name Emma (which means grandmother) and moved with her extended family to California.

Some time after the establishment of Emma's family in California, the story is continued in Mind of My Mind.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

2006-04-13T15:54:00.000-05:00

Bel Canto is a multi-award-winning novel set in an un-named South American country. The characters in the novel are the people attending a party held in honor of the Japanese owner of an electronics company, Mr. Hosokowa. Mr. Hosokowa was lured to attend the party by promised presence (and performance by) the presence of opera diva Roxane Coss. In addition to Mr. Hosokowa and Roxane Coss, the characters in the novel include the un-named country's Vice President, a multi-national group of party guests, Mr. Hosokowa's multi-lingual translator and assistant, and a group of terrorists who have entered the Vice-President's house stealthily to take the President of the un-named country hostage.

Unfortunately, the President skipped out on the party (because his favorite soap opera was at a climactic point on the evening of the party), so the terrorists decide to take the guests hostage instead. On the second day of the hostage-taking, all of the female guests are released, except Roxane Coss. Some men are allowed to leave as well (the laborers among the household and party staff, and the infirm and the priests among the guests.)

The remainder of the novel tells the story of the relationships that develop among the guests and hostages for the more than two months that the hostage situation endures. The characters are well-evoked, and the situations described are both outrageous and natural. The denouement is both inevitable and somewhat of a let-down--and also pretty much perfect.

Survivor by Octavia Butler -- book review

2006-04-13T14:28:00.000-05:00

Survivor (c. 1978) is only the third novel published by Butler, and it has not been reprinted (by Butler's choice--apparently she wasn't satisfied with it.) It is listed as a book in the Patternist series, but has little in common with the other books in the series. Survivor is not about Patternists or Clayarks; it is about a the interactions among the residents of an off-world planet and a group of humans who are Missionaries, and who live apart from the Patternists and Clayarks.

Survivor begins a little confusingly, but once underway, it tells a compelling story. As the book opens, Alanna is returning to the Missionaries after two years as a prisoner of the Tehkohn. Alanna is half-Asian, half-Black and had been surviving alone among the wild humans inhabiting the Earth during the years of the Clayark plague. Alanna is a "wild human" who was adopted as a young teen by Missionaries. The Missionaries who adopted Alanna were waiting to emigrate from Earth to carry humanity to the stars, and to escape the Clayark disease. The Missionaries are humans with strong religious beliefs (similar to fundamentalist Christians). They lived in a kind of compound, where they defended themselves against Clayarks and wild humans. Their emigration off-world was funded by Patternists, anxious to keep the human gene pool alive.

The Missionaries have traveled to a world with two "species" of sentient beings. The Tehkohn and the Garkohn. It is not clear that these are really two separate species. They may in fact be two races of the same species or two tribes of the same species. They have many things in common, but one major difference. The Garkohn are addicted to a kind of fruit--meklah--that grows in the valley where the Missionaries settled after their ship landed there. The Tehkohn consider meklah addiction both a weakness and a kind of weapon (used by Garkohn against Tehkohn prisoners of war.) Both the Tehkohn and the Garkohn are covered in fur that can change colors, much like a salamander. Additionally, the color changes are used in communication and to "classify" members of the tribes. The more blue there is in the base color of a Tehkohn or Garkohn, the higher their status. The rarest and highest status of all is the pure blue Hao, considered by both groups to be natural leaders and bringers of good luck.

When Alanna was taken prisoner, the Missionaries still believed the Garkohn to be their friends, but during her absence the Missionary leader (Verrick, Alanna's adoptive father) discovered the problems inherent to meklah addiction and became suspicious of the Garkohn. Alanna, meanwhile, had become a member of the Tehkohn tribe since her capture, and seeks to set the Missionaries free from their Garkohn/meklah thrall. She also wants to return to the Tehkohn tribe and her husband, Diut, the Tehkohn Hao. The story is told in alternating (Alanna, Diut, & Verrick) voices and through flashbacks.

I'm not sure what Octavia Butler had against this book, but I think it's well worth reading, and one of her more compelling narratives. Survivor is out of print, and it's difficult/expensive to find a copy to purchase, but hundreds of public libraries own copies, so it is relatively easy to borrow a copy by interlibrary loan, if none are available at your local library.

Clay's Ark by Octavia Butler

2006-04-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

Clay's Ark (c. 1984) is one of Butler's Patternist novels. Like Mind of My Mind, it is chronologically one of the first of the Patternist novels, though written later sequentially. Clay's Ark tells the story of the origin of the Clayarks (mutant humans who are enemies of the Patternists in Patternmaster.)

Clay's Ark is a spaceship that has crash-landed on earth. All of the astronauts from the ship are killed on impact or have died from a virus/micro-organism picked up off-world, except one. One astronaut, Eli, has survived. The micro-organisms he picked up off-world are controlling his behavior in several ways: he is compelled to pass on the disease, his dietary needs have changed, he is compelled to mate with ovulating females, and his offspring will be mutants.

Eli crash-landed in a remote, desert area where he stumbled onto a farm and infected the people living there. They are trying to remain self-sufficient and avoid contaminating others, but they occasionally go on "raids" to find mates for the remaining residents of the farm. In one such raid, they encounter a father (Blake Maslin) and his two daughters (Keira and Rane.) Blake is a doctor, Keira is dying of untreatable leukemia, and the Rane is a healthy and nubile female.

Clay's Ark tells the story of the struggle between the farm family and the Maslin family. The farm family believes that they must contain the Maslins, who have surely been infected. The Maslins believe they must escape--especially Blake, who wants to notify the authorities about the virus/micro-organism, before it becomes a pandemic. Meanwhile, life in America has degenerated such that driving on the highway is unsafe. People with money live in walled compounds. People on the road are likely to be either roving bands of criminals or their victims.

Along with Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark provides the backstory for Patternmaster. The mutant offspring of people infected with the off-world virus/micro-organism are the Clayarks.

Fledgling by Octavia Butler

2006-04-10T10:35:00.000-05:00

Fledgling is Octavia Butler's last published novel. Butler died shortly after its publication. Fledgling is a vampire novel, though it shares themes with Butler's other fiction.

Fledgling opens as a horribly wounded vampire is awakening in a cave. The vampire is so badly wounded that she has lost her memory in addition to being badly burned and beaten. The vampire is apparently a young black girl, and she begins trying to piece together her life, once she has overcome the worst of her injuries. She is picked up while walking along the road by a young man who finds her requests strangely irresistible. The young man's name is Wright, and he soon gives the young vampire the name Renee, which he tells her means reborn.

Renee asks Wright to help her find out what happened to her, so they begin their investigations by searching the area near the cave where Renee awakened. From their investigations, Renee learns that she is a genetically altered member of a matriarchal society called the Ina. The Ina are not vampires like Dracula; they are a separate species from humans. Renee also learns her real name, which is Shori. Each Ina gathers around themselves a group of human symbionts, which Shori had unwittingly been doing when she joined with Wright and then sought out other "blood donors" from among his neighbors.

The Ina and their human symbionts live in family compounds, usually in somewhat remote areas. They live in groups, segregated by Ina gender, because Ina females and males can't live together peacefully. Shori seeks out an Ina family group, so that she can work with them to find out what happened to her family.

The last half of Fledgling is a kind of detective story, in which Shori tries to find out who has been trying to destroy her (she determines that she was the real focus of the attacks) and seeks justice through an Ina "Council." A council is a kind of judicial proceeding, used by the Ina to prevent internecine feuds that includes both a trial and punishment.

Fledgling is an interesting vampire novel that is somewhat reminiscent of Whitley Streiber's The Hunger (and it's sequels.) It is also somewhat similar to Butler's Patternist novels, although the themes are worked out differently. Overall, it is a compelling book to read that has the strong characterization typical of Butler's work.

Mind of My Mind by Octavia Butler

2006-04-10T10:16:00.000-05:00

Mind of My Mind is one of Butler's Patternist novels. Though not the first of the Patternist novels to be written, it is chronologically the first in the series.

Mind of My Mind is the story of Doro, an immortal being who is working on creating a race of telepaths. He is creating his race through selectively breeding with human women, then breeding with their more telepathic offspring.

Doro's children don't live well among humans, and although they are compelled to live near their families, they can't really live with their families. This problem has caused Doro to foster his offspring with non-telepathic families. Some of his stronger telepathic offspring have been able to control humans and create human families. They also sometimes use their telepathic abilities to control humans who work for them (as servants but also to make money.)

Doro's children go through a period of transition when they are coming into their telepathic power, during which time they need help and support, because they will suddenly begin receiving unfiltered thoughts from everyone around them. Mary is an important child to Doro, because he believes she will be a particularly strong telepath. Doro takes Mary to Karl, another strong telepath, for help during her transition.

Mary turns out to be the first "Patternmaster", and her struggles to build the Pattern and to survive Doro's manipulations make up the story of Mind of My Mind.

Blood Child & Other Stories by Octavia Butler

2006-04-10T09:48:00.000-05:00

Blood Child & Other Stories (2nd edition) by Octavia Butler was published in 2005, and includes two stories not in the original edition along with comments on the stories by Butler. The first story in the collection is "Bloodchild".

"Bloodchild" is the story of a young boy who is a member of a family of humans living on a kind of reservation for humans. The humans live on a planet largely populated by more powerful beings, who have formed a symbiotic relationship with their human wards. Gan (the boy telling the story) is writing about his last night of childhood--the last night before he will become linked to his symbiont/protector. There are some interesting echoes of this story in Butler's vampire novel, Fledgeling.

"The Evening and the Morning and the Night" is the story of two college-aged people who are latent inheritors of a genetic disease and their visit to a retreat/asylum for people who have developed the full-blown disease.

In "Near of Kin" a young woman is sorting through the belongings of her recently deceased mother, from whom she was estranged, in the company of a beloved uncle.

"Speech Sounds" is a post-apocalyptic story that begins with a woman riding on a bus.

"Crossover" tells the story of a woman whose unfortunate appearance colors her perception of the world.

"Positive Obsession" is an essay on writing, as is "Furor Scribendi."

"Amnesty" is a story about learning to understand aliens.

"Martha" is a what-if story about a woman allowed the power of God.

The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

2006-03-28T14:59:00.000-06:00

The Parable of the Sower is the first book in what will now be only a two book series. Before her untimely death, Octavia Butler had planned to write additional Parable books.

The Parable of the Sower begins the story of Lauren Oya Olamina, from her early adolescence until her expulsion from her family's compound (along with everyone else in the compound) when it was overrun by drug-addled, pyromaniac, killers.

Lauren is the prophet of a new religion, Earthseed. The story of her expulsion from the protection of her family and neighborhood is also the story of how she began to develop and promulgate Earthseed.

This is a powerful and beautifully written book.

Patternmaster by Octavia Butler -- book review

2006-03-28T14:40:00.000-06:00

Patternmaster is a novel about telekinetic telepaths who live on a planet with "mutes" and clayarks. Patternmaster is the first of several books Butler wrote about the Patternists.

Patternmaster tells the story of the struggle between two patternists. One of them (Coransee) is seeking to take over as Patternmaster. The other (Teray) seeks only to remain free of Coransee's control and live freely with his chosen mate. Both men are the sons of Rayal, the current Patternmaster.

Patternmaster is a quick read and an involving adventure story. Butler uses the book's themes to discuss ideas about subjugation and power and morality. I will read further books in the series to see where she went with the ideas. Patternmaster was Butler's first book to be published.

I've been reading and blogging about other books by Octavia Butler, see:

http://booked4life.blogspot.com/2006/03/parable-of-talents-by-octavia-butler_13.html

http://booked4life.blogspot.com/2006/03/kindred-by-octavia-e-butler-book.html

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson -- book review

2006-03-28T13:53:00.000-06:00

Spin is a science fiction novel that is both high concept and highly literate. It is a novel of galactic breadth, but the story is told through the intersecting lives of three people, who are about 12 years old as the novel begins.

The three kids are Tyler Dupree, the son of a housekeeper at "the big house" and the twin children of E.D. Lawton--Diane and Jason. Diane and Jason are bright, well-educated, and well-off. Tyler is bright, but not as bright as Jason--who is being groomed to inherit his father's position and wealth. Tyler is a little in love with Diane, even when they are 12, when the first big event of the novel takes place.

One night, while the adults are enjoying a party in the big house, Tyler, Diane, and Jason are having a kids party in the basement rec room. Jason has a new pair of astronomical binoculars he wants to try out, so all three kids go out into the yard to have a look. Suddenly, while they are looking at the sky, the stars go out. Thus begins the "spin". Which is the name the scientists and media have given to the phenomenon. Not only have the stars gone out, but satellites no longer work, and the astronauts on the space station have lost touch with the Earth.

Spin is told in chapters that alternate between "the present" when Tyler and Diane are adults and are hiding from authorities (while Tyler undergoes some sort of illness/physical transformation) and the past--chapters which chronologically bring the story up to the present, telling us what has happened to each of the main characters along the way.

And what a lot of things do happen. Jason works for a quasi-governmental agency that does Spin research; Diane has joined a millenarian religious cult; Tyler has become a medical doctor. The ways their lives are impacted by the Spin are emblematic of the effects the Spin has had on the worlds' population. Everywhere people are questioning their purpose, the future, and the meaning of life on Earth--and they are wondering who did this and why. They come to call the creators of the Spin Hypotheticals. They wonder if their actions will interest or enrage the Hypotheticals. They even wonder if the Hypotheticals really know or care about their existence.

The plotting is ingenious, but the characterization and development of narrative tension are more than a match. Spin is a terrifically involving work of science fiction. I'll be reading more books by Robert Charles Wilson, just as soon as I can get my hands on them.

http://www.geocities.com/canadian_SF/wilson/

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler -- book review

2006-03-28T13:27:00.000-06:00

Kindred is probably Octavia Butler's best known book. Butler found her categorization as a science fiction writer "boring", and classified Kindred as a kind of fantasy/horror novel. Kindred is often used in literature classes--maybe because it's a kind of literary twofer--a fantasy with a Black author and a woman author. In any case, Kindred is un-put-downable.

In short, Kindred is the story of a woman who gets sucked into the past each time one of her progenitors is in mortal danger. The kicker is that the progenitor is a white, Southern, slaveowner and the woman is a modern-day (1976) Black woman. Warning--If you haven't read Kindred, yet, and you want to, spoilers follow.

Dana, the Black woman from 1976 is 26 years old, married, and a writer the first time she gets pulled into the past to save the life of Rufus Weylin, who is about to drown in a river. Rufus is only about 3 or 4 years old, and he has "stepped in a hole" while wading. His useless mother is standing on shore, when Dana pops into the picture, jumps into the water, and pulls Rufus out. As Dana is giving Rufus mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, his father arrives with a rifle and aims it at Dana, thinking she is killing Rufus. Mercifully, Dana is propelled back into her present. When she returns, her husband tells her she's only been gone for a few seconds. Although he can't explain her dripping, muddy return, Dana's husband Kevin finds it hard to believe the story she tells him about where she's been.

Again and again throughout Rufus's life, Dana is pulled into his presence when he faces death. Sometimes her visits last a few hours or days, and sometimes they last months. One time, Kevin grabs Dana as she is about to vanish and is carried along with her. He is forced to remain in the past for 5 years without Dana, when she is sent back to the present while not in his presence.

In Dana's visits to the past, she experiences slavery first-hand. She also learns to like and pity Rufus, even while she reviles him. Dana knows she will only be freed from her unwelcome "disappearances" when Rufus is dead, but she also knows that if he dies before begetting their ancestral link, she will never exist.

Octavia Butler said she wrote Kindred in order to try and make people "feel" slavery. I think she was pretty successful in her goal, even though Kindred is not my favorite among her novels. There is a plethora of information about Kindred on the web. Here are some sample links:

http://www.wab.org/events/allofrochester/2003/interview.shtml

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/butler.html

http://www.freebooknotes.com/book.php3?id=1223

Molly Ivins, the FBI, and Librarians

2006-03-16T16:43:00.000-06:00

I was just sitting at the reference desk, reading American Libraries, when I ran across this quote from Molly Ivins, "Another reason to worry about a huge domestic spy operation is it will inevitably be manned by nincompoops. Take this 2003 memo from an FBI agent railing at what he perceived as dreadful restraints by John Ashcroft's Justice Department: 'While radical militant librarians kick us around, true terrorists benefit from [Justice's] failure to let us use the tools given to us.' Yep, time after time, it's those radical militant librarians impeding those pitiful, helpless agents at the FBI."*

I had to look up the whole column it came from, and post a link--it's priceless.

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/1/2006/1290

*American Libraries, March 2006, p.32

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier -- a book review

2006-03-15T15:07:00.000-06:00

The Brief History of the Dead is the story of a city inhabited by the dead, but not all of the dead. The people inhabiting the city are the dead who are remembered by the living. To add to the peculiarity of their situation, the dead have recently been decimated by a pandemic plague among the living. It seems there may be only one person left alive on the Earth, a young woman named Laura Byrd.

At one point during the novel, a character among the dead sits down to figure out how many people each person remembers, and comes up with a figure somewhere around 40-50,000. If that sounds high, try thinking about everyone you've ever known or met up with often enough to have a memory imprint. Think of the person you see on the corner every day while you wait for a bus, or the child you were "best friends" with for a few weeks in the third grade, or the mailmen you've come to greet as familiar over a period of years.

Life among the dead is not what you'd expect, or at least not what I'd expect. People continue to go to work, run restaurants, and even panhandle. One man goes to a great deal of trouble to destroy some evidence there will soon be no one left to find. A recovered alcoholic continues to eschew beer with his lunch. An old married couple rekindles lost love. A man seeks out the library and old phone books from the city of the dead, looking for his long-dead brother.

Meanwhile, Laura Byrd is having a pretty tough time of things. She's alone in the Antarctic in a research station owned by the Coca-Cola company. She's been sent to the Antarctic on a research trip in the company of two other staff members, but the two men have gone off to see whether they can find out what has happened to their communications--no messages have come in for weeks, and the team was expecting to be retrieved.

The story is intriguing on its own, but additionally, the interior thoughts of the characters and the actions and thoughts of the people living in the city of the dead are beautifully realized.

Brockmeier has previously written a short-story collection, a novel, and a children's book. For more information about him and his work, see the following:

http://www.listeninglib.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=3313

http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/brockmeier/

The Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler -- book review

2006-03-13T11:15:00.001-06:00

The Parable of the Talents is a book written in the form of journals and commentaries. The journal portions are written by a woman known as Olamina (except for a couple written by her husband Bankole). The commentary sections are written by Olamina's daughter.

Olamina's story is of an amazing life. She was forced from her home as a teenager. While on the road she met a much older man, Bankole. Bankole was a medical doctor and owned some family land in an area safer than the post-apocalyptic Los Angeles where Olamina had lived. Olamina, Bankole and people they met on the road formed the nexus of a new community called Acorn. Acorn was a community modeled on the philosophical system or religion that Olamina had conceived--Earthseed.

Olamina is a prophet, but this is the story of a very human woman and the ways in which she worked to make her dreams real. It is also the story of her vision, Earthseed, and of her daughter, Lauren, and of a world nearly destroyed by its leaders and the more unfortunate of humanity's proclivities. Reading The Parable of the Talents in 2006, it is hard to believe it was written before the presidency of George W. Bush and the attendant ill-considered military adventures. This is an engaging and shattering book.

Quote:

From EARTHSEED: THE BOOKS OF THE LIVING

Choose your leaders
------------with wisdom and forethought
To be led by a coward
------------is to be controlled
------------by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool
------------is to be led
------------by the opportunists
------------who control the fool.
To be led by a thief
------------is to offer up
------------your most precious treasures
------------to be stolen.
To be led by a liar
------------is to ask
------------to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant
------------is to sell yourself
------------and those you love
------------into slavery.

Octavia Butler died recently (Feb. 24, 2006) as the result of head injuries brought on by a fall on a cobbled walkway. Some reports speculate that the fall may have been the result of a stroke.

You can learn more about Octavia Butler and The Parable of the Talents in the following web sites:

http://cyberhaven.com/books/sciencefiction/butler.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler

http://authors.aalbc.com/octavia.htm

Arthur & George by Julian Barnes -- Book Review

2006-03-06T10:02:00.000-06:00

Arthur & George is the story of two men and how their lives intersected. Arthur is Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. George is George Edalji, a half-Indian, half-Scottish solicitor. The story is told in chapters that alternate between the two protagonists (each chapter has a heading Arthur or George) until their lives intersect (at which point the chapter headings change to Arthur & George.)

Arthur leads a life of genteel poverty as a child, due to his father's weakness and alcoholism. Still, his extended family has enough money and connections that he is very well educated. He is also the beneficiary of his mother's strength of will and character, along with her storytelling ability.

George is raised in a village vicarage by loving and highly moral parents. His mother is Scottish; his father a Parsee who converted to the Church of England and became a clergyman. While George has two parents of strong character and convictions, he is hindered by the racial prejudice of the village population. Nevertheless, his intelligence and ability allow him to become a solicitor, and he is on his way to achieving the stability and good fortune he seeks when calamity in the form of grave injustice overcomes him.

It is this grave injustice that brings Arthur and George together. The narrative is so skillfully woven, that as a reader I could see exactly why each of the characters could have behaved in no way other than they did. While the central story is drawn from a set of historical incidents, Barnes has truly brought the story to life in this book.

Julian Barnes has written numerous books and essays, and you can read more about him here:
http://www.julianbarnes.com/

The Battle of Evernight--The Bitterbynde--Book III by Cecilia Dart-Thornton -- Book review

2006-02-27T14:03:00.000-06:00

The Battle of Evernight is the third and final book in the Bitterbynde series. In this final book of the series, we find the heroine once again traveling on a quest, having remembered who she was and why she was lost. She is battling langothe (the longing for Faere) and her longing for her betrothed lover, while searching for a way to complete her quest.

After many trials and strange adventures, the heroine of many names (Rohain, Tahquil, Golden Hair, Imrhein, Ashalind, Ash) is ready at last to be wed to her beloved. A final twist and and an unwelcome seer leave her fate in question till the last page.

For links and summaries of books 1 & 2, see:

http://booked4life.blogspot.com/2006/02/ill-made-mute-by-Cecilia-dart-thornton.html

http://booked4life.blogspot.com/2006/02/lady-of-sorrows-book-2-of-bitterbynde.html

The Guards by Ken Bruen -- Book Review

2006-02-27T13:20:00.000-06:00

The Guards isn't exactly a mystery, and it's not exactly a thriller either. It's a sort of noir, stream-of-conscious, faux memoir in Ireland with crime. Bruen is evidently a reader of some breadth, since every chapter is headed with a quote, and the quotes are varied enough to include George Pelecanos and Francis Bacon. Purveyors of popular music are also cited frequently.

The Guards is narrated by Jack Taylor, a former member of the Garda (Irish police.) Between bouts of drinking and rehab, Jack is trying to help a woman who believes her daughter's suicide was really a murder. Jack doesn't so much solve the mystery/crime as stumble into answers while drinking and brawling with his "friend" Sutton.

The Guards is a quick read (largely because there is lots of white space and the chapters are very short, such that the 291 page book could have easily been printed on 125 pages full-up.) There are moments of charm and insight, but overall it was rather a slight entertainment. I've got a couple more Bruen books to read, so I'll see whether he wears well. I read this one, because I read a glowing review in PW of Bruen's latest.

More information about Ken Bruen is here:
http://www.brandonbooks.com/ken_bruen.html

Dear Departed, A Bill Slider Mystery by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles -- book review

2006-02-22T15:27:00.000-06:00

Dear Departed is the 10th mystery in the Bill Slider series written by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. In this outing, Slider and his crew are looking for a killer who has killed an extremely pretty and pleasant young woman who seemingly had no enemies.

Chattie Cornfield was a PR representative with her own small firm, and she represented creative people, especially in the music industry. Her body was found in the Park early one morning by a dog walker. At first glance, she appeared to be the victim of a serial killer, but on closer examination it turned out that she was probably killed by someone who knew her and that someone had staged the murder scene to look like a killing by the "park killer".

As a consequence, Slider, Atherton, and the members of their unit must investigate the people Chattie had recently been working for as well as her family and friends. As with other Bill Slider mysteries, the character development is a big part of the pleasure of reading this installment, though the mystery is certainly well constructed and enjoyable. Slider and Joanna continue in their amble towards marriage, while Atherton tries to resume his free-roving bachelor ways after being dumped by Sue (a musician friend to Joanna, and Atherton's first serious try at settling down.)

Overall, this is a comfortable addition to the Slider series. Series newcomers really should start with the first book in the series: Orchestrated Death.

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles has written more than sixty books, with two major series. You can learn more about her and her books at her web site:
http://www.cynthiaharrodeagles.com/

The Lady of the Sorrows, book 2 of the Bitterbynde, by Cecilia Dart Thornton -- book Review

2006-02-15T16:31:00.000-06:00

The Lady of the Sorrows follows the tale of the maiden Rohain as she seeks to regain her memory and meet her obligations. Like the first book in the series, there is much of the picaresqe about this volume. There is also Court life for Rohain to learn about, and she is up against some devious and clever antagonists. Towards the end of the book, Rohain stumbles across an artifact that sends her into a reverie of memory and sets the scene for book 3.

Remembering Denny by Calvin Trillin -- book review

2006-02-15T13:21:00.000-06:00

Remembering Denny is a memoir and meditation. Calivin Trillin (journalist, doggeralist, New Yorker essayist, syndicated columnits of Uncivil Liberties, and other accomplishments too numerous to mention) was a Yale classmate of Denny (Roger D. Hansen.) In Remembering Denny, Trillin writes of his memories of Denny Hansen. He also writes about the era in which they studied at Yale, what Yale students were like then and later (in the 70's and 90's), what sort of expectations men met who grew up in the fifties, and what happened in Denny's life to cause him to commit suicide.

Denny Hansen at Yale was known as a popular, handsome and athletic student with a future of great potential. He left Yale to become a Rhodes scholar. After his years at Oxford, he returned to the U.S. where he held several jobs--mostly in the field of international relations--until his final job as a professor of international relations at the Johns Hopkins University's Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

In Remembering Denny, Trillin wrestles with the idea that sometime between Denny's time at Yale and the time of his death something happened to change him from golden youth to embittered man. In the course of his investigations and meditations, Trillin hits on some larger truths. He considers the problems of being a homosexual who came of age in the fifties. Hansen had unresolved sexual identity issues, that eventually he recognized as homosexsuality. Trillin also considers the problems for a man of early promise who fails to meet society's and his own expectations. And, Trillin considers the possible implications of personality and genetics in Denny Hansen's late life misery.

Remembering Denny is a warm reminiscence of a time and a person as well as an exceptionally well-thought-out and beautifully written consideration of a place and time.

Remembering Denny by Calvin Trillin, c. 1994, Warner Books, 1994.

You can find out more about Calvin Trillin here:

Bio page from The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/calvin_trillin

Interview from Salon
http://www.salon.com/weekly/interview960624.html

Interview on The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec98/trillin_10-14.html

Goodman Speaker's Bureau bio
http://www.goodmanspeakersbureau.com/biography/bio-trillinC.htm

Teacher Man by Frank McCourt -- book review

2006-02-14T16:24:00.000-06:00

Teacher Man is Frank McCourt's third book, a follow-up to his memoirs Angela's Ashes & 'Tis. Teacher Man is a sort of patchwork memoir. There are many charming stories of McCourt's experiences while teaching, but it lacks the cohesive and narrative drive of his previous efforts. Fans of Angela's Ashes will probably enjoy reading Teacher Man, and it is selling well among educators, but I can't really recommend it highly.

Angela's Ashes was such a gripping and beautifully wrought book that many readers, myself among them, grew attached to the Frank McCourt we met through reading the book. I couldn't wait for 'Tis to come out, and I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it nearly as much as Angela's Ashes. In thinking about why this might be so, I've come to a couple of conclusions. Angela's Ashes was written after the death of McCourt's mother, who was a major character in his memoir. It seems to me that McCourt wrote more honestly and intimately in Angela's Ashes, possibly because he needn't fear that what he wrote would hurt the people he loved. I think, too, that its possible that the distance between the time of writing and the time of the experience might have helped McCourt to write Angela's Ashes. The immediacy of the writing in Angela's Ashes is one of its great strength, but it is an immediacy filtered through memory, and memory tinged with the wisdom of age.

Both 'Tis and Teacher Man suffer by comparison to Angela's Ashes for me. The are interesting and readable books, and they benefit from McCourt's narrative voice, but they are more like collections of anecdotes than memoirs.

A biographical interview with Frank McCourt can be found here:
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/mcc1bio-1

The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton -- Book Review

2006-02-08T13:08:00.000-06:00

The Ill-Made Mute is book one in a three-part series called The Bitterbynde. There is little that can be said about the book without spoiling some of the surprises that make its reading so delightful. It is a fantasy, and takes place on a world called Erith. Erith is a world with a social class system that is reminiscent of feudal Earth. It is also a world where humans dwell in not-so-peaceful coexistence with the seelie and unseelie folk of the forest and alterna-realms.

Cecilia Dart-Thornton has researched Scottish folktales, and uses the legends therein as the source for the magical creatures that inhabit Erith. Songs and tales are intrinsic to the narrative and woven smoothly into the story.

The book's protagonist is skillfully drawn as are even the incidental characters. The story, upon examination, is neither particularly original nor particularly clever, but the way it is told is entirely captivating.

The two remaining books in the series are:

The Lady of Sorrows

&

The Battle of Evernight

Cecilia Dart-Thornton has a web page, where you can find out more about her books:

http://www.ceciliadartthornton.com/homepage.html

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See -- Book Review

2006-02-07T13:38:00.000-06:00

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a novel about the lives of women in nineteenth century China. The novel is in the form of a fictional memoir, written by Lily. Lily is the second daughter of a farming family. Her family is not very prosperous, but they are prosperous enough that Lily and her sisters have their feet bound and spend their time in the women's quarters of the house.

Lily is set to begin having her feet bound at age six, when her fortunes change. The Diviner who has been hired to determine the proper date to begin the binding sees something special in Lily, and calls in Madame Wang--a matchmaker. Madame Wang suggests that Lily's family should wait a year to begin the footbinding, and that in the interim, Lily should be "mated" with a laotong (lifelong, contracted, female friend) or "old same". A girl whose horoscope and prospects are propitious is found; her name is Snow Flower. Snow Flower begins their relationship by sending Lily a fan, on which she has composed a message in nu shu (women's writing.)

Through the lens of Lily's memoir of her friendship with Snow Flower, the reader is taken on a journey to a time and place distinctly "other". Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is interesting on many levels. The explorations of women's writing, footbinding, and everyday life in nineteenth century China are seamlessly woven into the story of the friendship between Lily and Snow Flower. I have read other novels set in historical China, but this one gives a more intimate glimpse into the lives of the women who lived at Lily & Snow Flower's level of social standing. Other novels I've read dealt with footbinding, but this one does much more explain how footbinding affected the lives of those who engaged in the practice. Other novels also include women's secret writing as a theme, but this one is much more detailed and descriptive of its use and development. Finally, the growth of Lily in wisdom throughout the novel is a powerfully eloquent piece of writing.

Lisa See has written four other books that I will certainly be looking for. Here's a link to her website:
http://www.lisasee.com/

Oh the Glory of it All by Sean Wilsey -- book review

2006-01-30T15:54:00.000-06:00

Oh the Glory of it All is a memoir written by Sean Wilsey, an editor for McSweeney's. Wilsey grew up in San Francisco, the son of a society columnist mother and a self-made millionaire father. This book got tons of great press, and it does have some very interesting bits and some excellent writing along with lots and lots of detail and self-analysis.

Wilsey says that memoirs are essentially an exploration with the purpose of finding the self, and that seems to be true here, but will probably not be the main reason people buy and read this book. Because Wilsey's mother was well-known in San Francisco and his parents' divorce was apparently a lengthy gossip-fest, there are probably a lot of people who will enjoy reading it for an inside glimpse of two very public people. Because Wilsey's stepmother Dede Wilsey has graced the pages of W and other chronicles of fashion and jewels, there are probably a lot of people who will enjoy reading the book for an insider's guide to greed, glamour, and sheer malevolence all wrapped up in a small, blonde, designer-clad woman.

Because I am not congnoscenti of San Francisco society or the machination of the rich, I found the memoir about 200 pages too long. It was a little like The Devil Wears Prada with an insecure child for a victim, instead of a glam intern with an incipient book contract.

Clearly, lots of other people liked it better than me. Maybe they're right. I'd take the ShrinkLit version, if I had it to do over.

Links to Sean Wilsey stuff:

Stepmother ponders lawsuit
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/05/12/DDGULCN5G31.DTL&type=books

Sean writes to McSweeney's from book tour
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/wilsey/

Interview with Sean Wilsey & Francine du Plessix Gray
http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/books/12035/

Nation review
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050829/siegel

Dying for Redemption by Chris Freeburn -- book review

2006-01-25T13:15:00.000-06:00

Dying for Redemption is a mystery with a twist. The detective, Callous Demar, is dead. He runs a detective agency in Limbo. Here's the deal. The people in Limbo are there because they need to resolve a problem related to their deaths, or because they are unsure of their faith in God. The good people without problems to resolve go straight to Heaven. The truly wicked go straight to Hell. The people in Limbo could go either way. If they resolve their problem in a positive way, they can move on to Heaven. If they fail to resolve their problems, the stay in Limbo. If they cause harm while trying to resolve their problems, they could end up in Hell.

Callous helps people who were murdered, and who are stuck in Limbo because they can't accept their deaths or need to find out who murdered them and why to accept their deaths. In the course of Dying for Redemption, Callous helps a wealthy business woman, Willow, who is stuck in Limbo after her murder. While he's working on Willow's case, his great-niece Abigail is murdered, and she becomes both a client and a colleague. Since Abigail was murdered while trying to solve the mystery of her great-uncle's death, Callous ends up trying to solve his own murder while trying to help Abigail.

The premise is intriguing and the characters are mostly pretty well drawn. There are a lot of editing problems in the book--enough to be a distraction. There are also some clunky bits in the writing. Overall an interesting mystery with an unusual miss-en-scene.

Dying for Redemption was published in trade paperback by Quiet Storm Books. There is an author website here:

http://www.chrisfreeburn.com/

Gatherer of Clouds by Sean Russell -- book review

2006-01-19T09:51:00.000-06:00

Gatherer of Clouds takes up the story of the Shonto clan, the Botahists, and the empire of Wa where The Initiate Brother left off. In this book Shonto and his allies depart from Seh, followed by the Barbarian hoard. It is Shonto's plan to lead his forces to the place where the emperor's forces are gathering, then turn to face the Barbarian army.

Meanwhile, Brother Shuyun is growing closer to the Lady Nishima at the same time he is questioning the teachings of his Botahist brothers. Shonto's son is making a dangerous trip through treacherous mountain passes in winter, when he meets the mountain people (from whose language Shuyun's name was drawn.) In fact, many threads are drawn together in this second book, such that each of the characters we have come to know has changed or grown or met his or her destiny by the final page.

The conclusion to The Initiate Brother is compelling, beautifully written, and satisfying. For me, it was not quite as enjoyable as the first book, probably because so much of it is focused on the war between the Barbarians and the empire of Wa. The surprising conclusion (to the war and to the book) is both clever and seemingly inevitable.

For more information on the series and for links to similar books, see the previous post on The Initiate Brother.

http://booked4life.blogspot.com/2006/01/initiate-brother-by-sean-russell.html

Fox Evil by Minette Walters -- a book review

2006-01-13T16:17:00.000-06:00

Fox Evil is the ninth book written by Minette Walters. Walters is a British mystery writer who writes standalone rather than series mysteries. Although her books share some stylistic similarities (e.g. most include breakaways from the narrative in the form of news articles and/or letters), they can be read in any order.

Fox Evil is about an old man, Col. James Lockyer-Fox. The Colonel's wife (Ailsa) has recently died in somewhat suspicious circumstances. Some of the village gossips have taken to making nasty, anonymous phone calls to the Colonel, accusing him of killing his wife and other horrors. The Colonel is aided by his lawyer Mark Ankerton.

James and Ailsa had two children, Leo and Lizzie. Both children have been a disappointment to their parents and a continual financial drain. Lizzie bore an out of wedlock child (Nancy) who was given up for adoption at birth. Nancy has since become a soldier and stands to inherit the farm of her adoptive parent.

A short distance from Colonol Lockyer-Fox's home, a group of Traveller's has set up camp, squatting on land they hope to claim due to lack of ownership. The Traveller's include a frightening but charismatic man called Fox Evil, a warm and energetic woman named Bella, and Wolfie, a child who misses his mother and fears his father.

In Walters' capable hands, these disparate elements are woven into an intriguing mystery with the pacing of a thriller. The reader is led down one false path after another until the surprising finish. Many of Walters' books include surprisingly strong female characters, as is the case here.

To find out more about Minette Walters and her books, visit her web site:

http://www.minettewalters.co.uk/

13 Steps Down by Ruth Rendell

2006-01-12T13:38:00.000-06:00

Ruth Rendell is among the top British mistresses of mystery, ranking alongside P.D. James, and serving as an exemplar to a younger group of British women mystery writers who include Minette Walters and Frances Fyfield. Ruth Rendell writes under her own name and also under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Her Barbara Vine books are usually psychological thrillers, while her Ruth Rendell books alternate between Inspector Wexford mysteries and standalone mysteries.

13 Steps Down is a standalone mystery, and it is as psychological as any Barbara Vine novel. It tells the stories of three interconnected people. Gwendolyn Chawcer is an elderly spinster who lives in a large, old, and neglected house in London that she inherited from her father. Mix Cellini is a 30ish man who repairs exercise equipment and has a fascination for a long-dead serial killer. Nerissa Nash is a mixed-race fashion model whose grandmother is a friend to Gwendolyn Chawcer. Nerissa Nash is also the object of Mix Cellini's unrequited affections.

13 Steps Down is more of a thriller than a mystery, since we are never in any doubt as to "whodunnit", but there is definitely more to it than is initially evident. Both Gwendolyn Chawcer and Mix Cellini harbor delusions about their love objects and more generally about their lives and stations. Nerissa Nash also harbors delusions about a love object, but she is much more of a realist than either Gwendolyn or Mix.

And then there are the others involved: the ghost of Reg Christie (a real serial killer--John Reginald Christie--on whom Mix is fixated), the charlatan fortuneteller who "accidentally" tells the truth, and the friends and acquaintances of Mix, Gwendolyn, and Nerissa.

This is a quick-to-read and very enjoyable book. If you like it, you may well like other books by Ruth Rendell:

http://www.gusworld.com.au/books/rendell/default.htm

P.D. James

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pdjames/

Minette Walters

http://www.minettewalters.co.uk/

and Frances Fyfield

http://www.twbooks.co.uk/authors/francesfyfield.html

The Initiate Brother by Sean Russell

2006-01-02T15:50:00.000-06:00

The Initiate Brother is the first book in a two-part series. It is a big, sprawling saga about a pseudo-China (with some Japanese characteristics) during a period in history when battles were fought using swords and on horseback.

The novel centers on the conflicts between the Emperor and one of the most powerful lords in his domain, Shonto. The Emperor is only the second in his line, and rules through fear and misdirection. Shonto is a popular and highly respected general from an old and important family. In addition to the Shonto family's importance, Shonto's adopted daughter is beautiful, accomplished, and of royal blood (from a previous dynasty.) Shonto is a Botahist and retains a Botahist spiritual advisor (Shuyun--the initiate brother.) The Emperor's head of security wants to move up in rank and is plotting the downfall of Shonto.

The action of the novel takes place in a fairly short period of time, during which Shonto is sent North to put down a possible Barbarian uprising on the desert border. The major characters: Shonto, his adopted daughter, his spiritual advisor Brother Shuyun, and the Emperor's chief guard Jakko are well-realized, as is the world in which they live. Much of this book could be straight-ahead historical fiction, but for the mystical element provided by Brother Shuyun and the Botahists.

I am looking forward to reading the sequel, Gatherer of Clouds.

More information about Sean Russell and his books is available on the web, at:

http://www.sfsite.com/seanrussell/theinitiatebrother.htm

Other books that might interest you, if you like The Initiate Brother are:

Lian Hearn's Tales of the Otori series.

Barry Hughart's Master Li and Number 10 Ox series: The Story of the Stone, Eight Skilled gentlemenn, and Bridge of Birds. http://www.barryhughart.org/

L.G. Bass's The Outlaws of Moonshadow Marsh (Sign of the Qin.)
http://www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com/bass_interview.html

The Laughing Sutra by Mark Salzman.
http://www.rambles.net/salzman_sutra.html

Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro mysteries.
http://www.laurajohrowland.com/

The Tokaido Road by Lucia St Clair Robson.
http://www.luciastclairrobson.com/TokaidoRoad.htm

The Silk Road by Jeanne Larsen.
http://dannyreviews.com/h/Silk_Road.html

Cinnamon Kiss by Walter Mosley

2005-12-13T16:38:00.000-06:00

Cinnamon Kiss is Mosley's 10th Easy Rawlins mystery. It has many of the same elements that were great in earlier entries in the series, but somehow this one felt flat for me. Once again, Easy is looking for a woman involved in a mystery (Cinnamon), and once again he's battling racial discrimination as he works his way through the puzzle.

Cinnamon Kiss offers us glimpses of hippie era San Francisco and post-Watts riots Los Angeles, along with some asides about the Vietnam war. I'm not sure if this is really a weaker book in the series, or if I've just hit the "too many books in the series" slump, but I can't really recommend this as one of Mosley's best.

To read more about the Easy Rawlins books and find out about Walter Mosley, check out his web site, at:

http://www.twbookmark.com/features/waltermosley/

Thud by Terry Pratchett

2005-12-13T15:56:00.000-06:00

Thud is the latest of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (#30). The Discworld novels come in several flavors: there are wizard books, witch books, DEATH books, "the guard" books, and there are one-offs (like The Truth and Moving Pictures.) The books all take place on the Discworld, but the different "flavors" are the story settings/characters. Some of the books include more than one flavor--witches and wizards, witches and Wee Free Men, wizards and luggage made of sapient pearwood, guards and vampires, etc. Anyway, Thud is a book about The Guard, and the lead character is Commander Vimes.

Commander Vimes has come a long way since the earlier Guard books. He has a wife, a small son Sam, and a lifetime of policing to help him along. In Thud, Vimes has the job of trying to prevent an all out war between the dwarves and the trolls.

Since there are dwarves and trolls among the guard, Vimes is in a good position to know how the two interact. While Vimes is investigating a murder, he is distracted by a new officer (a female vampire--albeit one who has "taken the pledge" to eschew blood drinking) and an efficiency expert sent by Lord Vetinari. There also seems to be some sort of demon lurking about, there's a big painting missing from the museum, and the anniversary of the battle of Koom Valley (a battle between dwarves and trolls) is fast approaching.

As is often the case with Discworld novels--there are echoes of our world in the goings on in the Discworld. There are "deep" dwarves (fundamentalists) telling the city dwarves they need to return to their traditional ways. There is scripture (of a sort) and scriptural interpretation on which an outbreak of war may hinge. And then there is the watch, and politics, and budgets, and equal employment opportunity (for vampires.)

As is always the casein a Discworld novel, there is lots of fun to be had and plenty of silliness to consider along the way to the neat wrapping up of the plot.

Thud is neither the funniest nor the most inventive of the Discworld novels, but it is must reading for Pratchett fans, and good fun for those new to the series. If you're really new to the series, though--I'd recommend you start with one of the earlier books to get some background on the Discworld. Two of my favorite recent entries in the series are Hat Full of Sky and The Wee Free Men. The Color of Magic is the first book in the series (and features the hilarious sapient pearwood "Luggage". You can find a full list of the Discworld novels and lots more Pratchett info on the web. Here are a couple of useful sites:

The L Space Web--a Terry Pratchett/Discworld Web Site
http://www.ie.lspace.org/

Terry Pratchett Books

http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/

Discworld Monthly

http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk/index.php

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

2005-12-01T11:38:00.000-06:00

Anansi Boys is a novel about the two sons of Anansi: Fat Charlie Nancy and Spider. Fat Charlie, who takes after his mother, has no magic, while Spider is his father's son through and through.

Fat Charlie has been living in London, where he moved with his mother, after she and his father split up. He has a job, a fiancee, and a pretty normal life, until his father's death. As the story opens, Fat Charlie doesn't know that his father is the magical, mythical Anansi, and he doesn't know that he has a brother.

Spider has been meaning to visit his brother for years, but never got around to actually doing it. When Fat Charlie attends his father's funeral, he learns about his brother and how to contact him.

The rest of the book is the story of what happens when Spider visits Fat Charlie. This is an engaging story with some very funny bits sprinkled throughout. I particularly enjoyed the bits about the lime.

Neil Gaiman is the author of the Sandman graphic novels, as well as several other novels--graphic and not.

A list of his books is available on his website:
http://www.neilgaiman.com/

A Postcard from the Garden Spot of the Universe

2005-10-20T14:34:00.000-05:00

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

2005-10-20T11:59:00.000-05:00

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris' latest book is the first in a new series starring Harper Connelly and her brother/business partner Tolliver. Harper has a most unusual business. She hires herself out as a consultant to police departments and other interested parties in finding the bodies of missing people. Harper has had a talent for finding dead people, having developed a kind of sixth sense when she was struck by lightning, since she was a teenager.

Harper can find bodies, and she can also feel how they died. She has to have a pretty clear idea of where to look for the bodies--her sense only works in fairly close proximity. As you might expect, Harper's services are pretty valuable, and since she has no other "skills" finding bodies is how she makes her living. Harper's brother Tolliver travels with her and acts as her business manager, colleague, and minder. Harper needs a minder, because she sometime closes her eyes to "feel" the presence of bodies and she is weak after she makes contact.

Grave Sight is similar to other books by Charlaine Harris in its attention to character development. Harper and Tolliver have an interesting backstory. The characters they meet in the novel are written with an attention to detail and human nature that makes them come alive.

The mystery is engaging, and the pace is well done, but it was pretty easy to figure out whodunnit for a veteran mystery reader.

If you read and like Grave Sight, you might like to read some of the other mysteries written by Charlaine Harris. She has two paranormal series, two mainstream mystery series, and a couple of standalone mysteries. Here's a list:

Standalone Mysteries
Sweet & Deadly
A Secret Rage

Roe Teagarden Mysteries (Roe is a librarian)
Real Murders
A Bone to Pick
Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
The Julius House
Dead Over Heels
A Fool and His Honey
Last Scene Alive
Poppy Done to Death

Lily Bard Mysteries (Lily is a housecleaner, marshall arts enthusiast, and the surviver of a violent crime)
Shakespeare's Landlord
Shakespeare's Champion
Shakespeare's Christmas
Shakespeare's Trollop
Shakespeare's Counselor

Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries (Sookie is a clairvoyant and has a vampire boyfriend)
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail

Charlaine Harris writes short stories, too, and you can find out where some of them have been published on her website, where you can read more about her.

http://www.charlaineharris.com/

Books On Deck

2005-10-20T11:56:00.000-05:00

Thud by Terry Pratchett
Light Years at my Feet by Alan Dean Foster
Cinnamon Skin by Walter Mosley
Poppy Done to Death by Charlaine Harris
Bite, edited by Laurell K. Hamilton

A Loyal Character Dancer by Qui Xiaolong

2005-10-20T10:43:00.000-05:00

A Loyal Character Dancer is the second mystery in a series about Shanghai Detective Chen Cao. Detective Chen studied literature in college, but was assigned to the Shanghai police department to work after graduating. He is a loyal party member who frequently experiences problems in maintaining balance between his desire to do a good job (solving crimes) and his need to stay in the good graces of local party bosses. Chen has a group of colleagues and friends he works with in solving his cases.

This case involves a pregnant, missing woman (Wen Liping) who was a talented dancer as a young girl. She was a young girl during the Cultural Revolution, when the only form of public dancing allowed was to dance waving a banner with the symbol for Loyalty on it, in praise of the Red Guard. She was sent to the countryside to live and work as an "educated youth", another program of the cultural revolution. Many former educated youths (including Chen's loyal subordinate Yu and his wife) have since returned to city living and taken on work more suited to their educations, but Wen was stuck in the country, due to her marriage to a brutal man who seems likely to be involved in a Triad crime syndicate.

Wen Liping's husband is important to the story, because he is a potential witness in a human smuggling operation. An American woman (a member of the Marshall service) named Catherine Rohn has been sent to Shanghai to liaise with Chen and escort Wen Liping to America. Wen Liping's husband won't testify until she is with him.

So--Chen is working missing woman case while he acts as a buffer between the American woman and his Party Secretary boss, Li. He is also coordinating the efforts between the two jurisdictions investigating the case. He is also trying to investigate another case--that of a body found in the Bund park. The body is a man who seems to have been killed in a Triad-style execution, so Chen considers the cases to be possibly related.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through this book, so I'll update when I finish.

Here's a link to an interview with Qui Xiaolong
http://books.missouri.org/eviews/may.html
10/20/05