lizard of oz

Sir Francis Bacon

This is a re-read. I was looking for something quick, and this handwritten, illustrated novella was just what I needed. I borrowed this from my childhood library after my older sister had read it and laughed through most of it as I recall. Its a trippy, early 1970's essay on how to get back or renew your spirit after its been suppressed by the machine. Its amazing how much the machine has grown in the 50 years or so since this was written, which means its even more relevant today than it was then, and perhaps even more important as a message. The message is dated however.

By you know what isn't dated? Puns. said no one

I won't repeat everything I wrote about this one when I found an old copy and re-read this about 5 years ago, you can check that out here. That post had links to what the author, Richard Seltzer, was up to at the time, and even an illustrated online version of the book, but those links don't work anymore. 

I think its a good bet that this Christin Couture is the book's illustrator, which she did while she was a student at UMass Amherst. Given the era, and the fact that she was a college student, I think these psychedelic images were pretty fun for Couture to come up with. 

The puns are prevalent throughout, along with some other pun-related word-play. The story follows an elementary school class on a field trip to rediscover the magic that is being washed out of the world by the aforementioned machine, personified by the humbug, which can be seen flitting about on insect wings, slowing beating his humdrum. The kids pile into their teacher's VW Bug along with the class fishbowl and its two inhabitants, to go find the secret fire again, in the unworld of Ome.

There's love, there's laughter, danger, giant potholes, and other fractured fairy tales. No not those Fractured Fairy Tales. The Lizard of Oz is a fun one, and it reads different as you get older.

book that held her heart

The third and final book of the Library Trilogy by Mark Lawrence is called The Book that Held her Heart. I was hopeful, as I mentioned in my review of book 2, that Lawrence would fill in some more details about the mechanics of the library, and put a little more flesh on the bones of the title book, and why it poses such a threat, and more importantly, hope it actually does that.

I didn't get that.

What I did get, didn't, in some cases, make sense to me. Are they plot holes, or is the author taking an easy way out. I'm not sure, but it can't just be me. This book was shorter than the others, and included a whole subplot that I'm not sure was originally even intended to be part of the story. Maybe I'm wrong, but it this was a television series, some of that stuff was filler episodes. Did it ask important questions? Sure. Did it help tie the fantasy of the first two books more firmly to our own shared reality? You betcha. Did it need to do those things, especially if they were done in lieu of resolving some other things that seem to have slipped by? Nope.

The ending of this one, reminded my of the end of The Firm, by John Grisham. Link has spoilers, but you know... it was written in the 90s. Not my favorite, and a little bit of a disappointment given the time Lawrence and his readers put into this. I would go as far as putting on my 'myeh' list, but it could have been better.

 

book that broke the world

The Book that Broke the World is book 2 in the Library Trilogy by Mark Lawrence. I mentioned that I was reading this in my review of the first book, but then forgot to write about it. That was a month or so ago,* but I actually purchased this book at a used book sale so I have it, and could give it a flip through to remind myself about it.

This books helps to explain what exactly is up with this book that is so dangerous has done, and how its doing it. Maybe I read over that part too quickly, but I'm not sure I got the explanation in the kind of detail I was looking for. I understand that this universe Lawrence has created is different, and has different rules, but as a reader, I don't understand those rules unless you explain them to me, and I'm not sure I left this one completely satisfied. 

I also think (if I remember correctly) that I was hopeful that the third installment would provide that clarification I was looking for. Now that I've read book 3 as well, I can confirm that this book was Lawrence's opportunity to explain it to me, and I don't think I got it.

This was a fin book in any case, and I certainly didn't give up on the series because of my confusion. Would I have if I'd known that the third book wouldn't provide the full answer to my niggling question? I don't think so. Maybe I'm not the only one?

 

* Okay, its more than a month ago now, I just found this when I opened this to get caught up. I've also finished the 3rd book in this series, as well. 

 

 

dark mirror

I may have cried about this before, but I normally like to wait until all the books are out in a series before digging into it. I've been burned a few times yeah, George R. R. Martin, I'm looking at you When I started to read the Bone Season, I was under the impression it was a 3 book series. It wasn't until a few books in did I realize there were 7, and then only recently, did I learn that the other two books out there in this series were NOT part of the series, but addenda, and short stories--outtakes that were cut from the main books is my guess--and that I need to wait for tow more to come! Yeah, that's right, altho started back in 2013 or something, the sixth book is due out next year and then the seventh... at some point after that. Assuming there isn't an eighth, or whatever.

She even took a break to crack out another series, which was pretty good!

Book 5 is called The Dark Mirror, and in the preface, Shannon points out that after working on this series for close on 15 years, starting when she was pretty young, she's found that some of the earlier things she wrote either don't hold up or have become problematic as the story arc, the characters, or maybe both, have evolved, so she has released revised, and updated versions. The preface includes a link to her site where you can go read a summary of the changes, or find links to the updated texts.*

This was an interesting installment, and includes both new things, as well as the return to some older things. Fans of the series will likely enjoy this book, is my prediction, and I thought that it was pretty well put together. When it started up, I wasn't sure where we were going, but Shannon has crafted a way to maintain the tension and the action, and keep it interesting enough to make us look forward to the next volume. Do I think it would have been possible to tell this story in less than 7 volumes? Sure, but Shannon has created some likeable characters and an interesting alternate universe for them to inhabit so I can see hardcore fans looking forward to as many volumes as they can get. I recall hearing that Tolkien said that his only regret about The Lord of the Rings, was that it was too short. I also think that if he had lived longer, we probably would have seen more from him. So on a related note, lets hope George of the familiar R.R. moniker, doesn't kick it before he gets done what he'd like to.

This was a fun one. 

 

* If you haven't read the books, the Revision Guide Shannon has put together, linked above, may have spoilers. 

 

 

the chemist

I've never read Stephenie Meyer before, and I don't think I've seen any of the various movies and television programs (?) made from her earlier, sexy vampire books. I think I have that right, the Twilight phenomenon seemed to have taken over the world for 10 or so years, and weren't they all young and make-outey? Like a bitey 90210 or something?* Whatever. The Chemist is not that.

I picked up a hardcover copy of The Chemist at, you guessed it, a used book sale at the library. I don't remember if it was my library or one of the libraries I visited at work. I think it was the latter. This book, published about 10 years ago, is a spy thriller. The main protagonist, a molecular biologist, referred to as a chemist for short, has had to learn to become self-sufficient in order to protect herself, and in the years she's had to live this way, she's developed a skill set that will really be put to the test when the threat escalates. That's the premise of this one. It does read a lot like a movie script. I'm not sure what it is about some writers, but the it may be something about scene setting, and brevity or efficiency of the prose that keeps the story moving forward? I may have said this about Andy Weir, or at least I was thinking it, but that maybe because he and Meyer have had movies made from their books.

The main protagonist is a great character, who takes advantage of the fact that adversaries will underestimate her, because she's a woman, because of her small stature, and because they don't understand what she can do with her skills. She uses this to maximum advantage, and it always satisfying to see someone laugh her off, and then get beat. It was also fun to watch this character grow outside her comfort zone as the pressures of what she is up against grow, and develop in ways she wasn't anticipating. This was a fun read.

 

* Didn't see that either. 

 

 

song rising

The Song Rising is the third book in the Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon, which I am currently cracking through. However, as I said in my last post--written when I was about halfway thru this book--it looks like there is another volume coming next year. Maybe that's it, or...

I read the American hardcover, from my local library, and it appears that the English versions may have different cover art. Who knows why that happens, but I assume its because the American affiliate of the British publisher thinks that a different cover may do better in the US? Not sure, but I don't think this cover is it, chief. If you click on the image you can get a better look at it. or click on the annotated detail below for even more complainin' It looks to me like they've either assumed that because this series sells so well that they don't need to try all that hard--and if that was the case, why not just go with the UK cover art? Okay maybe there is a rights thing or agreement that obligates the cover art to be different. Or, maybe because sales are good, whoever was in charge gave it to their teen (tween?) who is really, like, talented in art class? I mean, look at the flames... yeah, click right in there and take a look.  They just wiggled the stylus around on their iPad. And the reflections on the crown? A crown that doesn't look anything like any crown described in the books, by the way. What? Is that the only reflective spot on this shinny metal object, and are those little bits of flame skipping across the front of the image too, or are those rust stains on a domed glass cover over the center part? What's that for? Jacket Design David Mann, images from Shutterstock, by the way. yes, i'm looking at you And why, you may ask, have I written an entire, long and rambling paragraph about the cover art? Simple: because it stinks. Its embarrassing. Do better Bloomsbury USA.

This book is shorter than the first two at 363 pages (including the backmatter*) so I worked through it pretty quickly, and just before I sat down to write this review, I checked at the library to see if they had the next volume, The Mask Falling, on the shelf, and they do, so I'll probably pick that up today. The Song Rising was pretty good, but perhaps not as good as the first two. It definitely moved the story forward, and there are a few good moments, but it did feel a bit like a connection between the beginning of the story and the end, if you know what I mean.

It didn't suck, or I wouldn't be going to get get book 4 later today**, but not great either. What did suck?The cover. Did I mention that? Look at it!

 

Maybe its fan art of the One Ring put together with clip art of a crown. Jacket designer is listed, but no artist is named, hmm. Is this an AI image? I can't get over it. They used Shutterstock; just do a search on Shutterstock for 'flaming ring' and you get a hundred images*** that look better than this.

 

* Backmatter includes a glossary and acknowledgments.  The frontmatter includes some maps, a listing of the Mime Order, and a prelude.

** Update: I started this yesterday, on Saturday, and didn't make it to the library. Today is Sunday and by the time I finished what I was doing, the library is closed again, so maybe tomorrow. 

*** My search turned up 47,000+ images, and most of the images on the first page were better that what they did here. 

**** Yes, I know that a double asterisk is as far as you're supposed to go when using typographic symbols for footnotes. Depending on who you ask, you could go to a double asterisk before changing symbols.† Here is the list of what seems like the commonly accepted order:

Asterisk (*) - Shift-8 

Double asterisk (**) - Shift-88 

Dagger (†) - Option-T on Mac

Double dagger (‡) - Option-Shift-7 on Mac

Section mark (§) - Option-6 on Mac

Parallels (||) - Shift-Backslash-Backslash

Octothorpe (#) - Shift-3

Pilcrow (¶) - Option-7 on Mac

 

† The UN actually allows up to fours asterisks, and then they follow with dagger (or Obelisk), double dagger (or Diesis) and Section mark (or Silcrow). That's it. Their standard is no more than seven footnotes using symbols, if you have more than seven footnotes, you should be using numbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mime order

The Mime Order is the second book in what Samantha Shannon refers to as a 7-book series known as the Bone Season series, after the first book. Two of the installments are novellas, which sound like they may or may not be critical to the overall story arc. My guess, based on nothing other than what I know--and that is limited to their titles and the fact that they’re novellas--is that they are based on background material Shannon prepared in the writing of the main books in the series.* Here’s my thought process: The Bone Season is Shannon’s first book, and it sounds like she is self-taught, and has been writing since adolescence. So, her editor gets ahold of The Bone Season draft and says, hey (I speculate, wildly) what’s all this exposé about the main character? Let's cut all this out. Then, said editor runs across all this background material that Shannon has stuffed in between the chapters which is presumably a pamphlet written by a supporting character, and says, hey (again) let's cut all this out.

Those cuttings are the raw material spun up into the two novellas. How’d I do? Maybe Samantha Shannon will read this and respond… that was me waiting.

Book two picks up after the events of the first book, but the end of the first one wasn’t so much of a cliffhanger, as the end of this one is. When I got to end of this one, I logged on to my local library and put a hold on the third book. I mean, come on, it was like, her hair was on fire and 14 people in the room had just pulled knives and started to run and then…

Tune in next week for another excited episode of…

Shannon’s work is fun to read. After reading The Bone Season a while ago, I also read some of her other stuff, so I had a pretty good feeling that going back to this series was going to work out okay. So far so good. As I write this, I’m almost halfway through book three; The Song Rising. Shannon has created an interesting alternate universe in a future London, which connects to another dimension (?) called the aether which is also where spirits of the dead go, and the folks that can connect to the aether are, as you might expect, called clairvoyants. But the aether has inhabitants of its own, and what are they exactly?

Love, anger, oppression, rebellion, friendship, justice, solitary, prejudice, class warfare, and communing with spirits (and other things) is all mixed up in this fast moving, and action-forward series. I get the feeling that when I’m getting close on the one I'm reading now, I’ll be reserving the next one at the library too. If and when I do, I’ll let all six of you know.

 

* So if you looked up the link above on the Main Series of books on Shannon's website, you may find that there is a placeholder for another book called The Moth Reborn, which is due next year. So I guess that makes it 8-books... Nope, wait, there is another novella on her website called The Dawn Chorus, so 9? But wait, the other book** I talked about coming from background material isn't listed on her site, so maybe we're back down to 7, or I guess 8 with the upcoming book? yeah, I'm confused too

** The other 'novella' from background material isn't a novella, its a 50 page pamphlet called On the Merits of Unnaturalness. My thoughts about its origins hold however, and I guess I'll add The Dawn Chorus novella mentioned immediately above to that group of edited out material, altho that novella fits between The Song Rising (reading now) and the next book, The Mask Falling.

 

 

spellbook of katrina van tassel

The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel: A Story of Sleepy Hollow may be the first book by Alyssa Palombo, but I guess I can check that. nope, she wrote a few other things before this  Maybe she’s too young to remember the Tim Burton movie "Sleepy Hollow" from 1999 with Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane and Christina Ricci as Katrina Van Tassel but she is certainly aware of Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" from 1820, and she's a big fan. I don't recall the Tim Burton movie that well, but it came out in 1999, and I'm guessing she was a kid then. "Sleepy Hollow" was more of a murder mystery with spooky ghost tie-ins, a la Scooby Doo.

The spellbook in the title is just about the only place you'll find a spellbook in this novel. I get the creeping suspicion that someone (editor, publisher ?) suggested the title, or at least that part of it. Van Tassel does keep a diary, and I guess she may have scribbled the ingredients for an herbal tincture that her friend, the healer, gave her, but I'm not sure that makes it a spellbook. Certainly not enough of a spellbook to name a novel after. oooo, maybe this is the spellbook? nope

Otherwise, this book was okay. I thought Palombo may have been a little more detailed during the sex scenes--which showed up a little more frequently--than she needed to, which gives the whole story an little bit an Historical Romance* vibe. Van Tassel is a strong female lead, and does what she needs to do to stick up for herself in a time and place where women aren't typically given the opportunity to stand up for themselves. Palombo set this book in Sleepy Hollow, of course, but at an earlier time period that other interpretations. Washington refuses to run for a second term, and John Adams takes over as the second president during this story arc of this novel.

 

* See my note about 'bodice ripper' romance novels and the associated footnotes and links on this recent post.

 

 

lying game

 

The Lying Game is by Ruth Ware, and English author who brought us The Woman in Cabin 10. I saw this book at my library's book sale and because I thought the Cabin book was good I picked this one up.

The book cover, which is similar to the illustration shown here,* also notes that this book was featured in a book club with Reese Witherspoon's name on it. I'm not sure what that means, I didn't know she had one, and this book is from 2017, although the paperback was probably printed a year or so later, and I'm not sure if Witherspoon still has a book club or not. Looks like she does and it looks like the club features books by women authors, so good on you Reece.

Not only is this book written by a woman, it focuses on the story of four women, that have know each other since their high school days at a boarding school near the coast, not too far from London. The story is about friendship, secrets, and lies, and how they shapes the young women in the story into the adults they become, and what it means when part of their youth, that they may have been hoping would stay in their past, catches up with them.

Its tightly written, with tension, mystery, and an interesting look at the things we share, and the things we don't. Ware did a pretty good job with this one too.

 

* Mine looks like this; the badging is different. 

 

 

dombey and son

Dombey and Son is not a book I’d heard of before. It was written by Charles Dickens beginning in 1846, and published as a serial, with pamphlet size installments issued once per month for 19 months between 1846 and 1848 by Bradbury & Evans, with illustrations Henry Clarence Pitz. Shortly after the last (double-issue) pamphlet was released, the entire book was published in hardback. Serialized books read differently than other books, in my mind anyway, as they can be had in one go without having to wait. And because one had to wait, there could be cliffhangers at the end of a monthly installment; but there also needs to be a way to make sure your readers will remember where they are in the story, and who the characters are. This is why, I believe, the characters are almost caricatures, or archetypes, which makes their personalities so striking, especially when contrasted to other characters in the story. The character names are also a clue, and consequently can be very amusing. One can imagine that a gruff imposing landlady named Mrs. MacStinger, should not be crossed without some consequence.

Reading a serialized novel is similar to spamming a television series that was designed to be broadcast once per week. The regular pacing of a weekly TV show, its alignment with holidays, and the passing of seasons, felt in many ways that you were following these characters along in their lives at the same pace you were living along with them. While Dombey and Son takes place over a longer story arc than the 19 months in which it was originally published, I’m sure that span of time helped with the pacing as the story stretched through the years. Reading it all in one volume is the 1840s equivalent of the spamming.

I picked up this volume at the book sale in my local library. It had no book jacket, although I assume it probably did,* and there was a small leaflet tucked inside the front cover which I thought was a found bookmark. Because I didn’t know about it, and had no book jacket to consult, I read the first line and I was sold. Between that first line, and the handsome binding, it was clearly worth the $2.00 I paid for it. After getting it home, I found that it is a Heritage Club edition. The Heritage Club published books with quality bindings, using their own editing staff, illustrators, and bindery, and made them available at an affordable price to their members. The leaflet tucked into the front is a small newsletter to the club members called  "Sandglass" that discusses the book, the printing, and Dickens himself.

The original title was Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation. yeah, glad they shortened that up It’s a big book but I really enjoyed it. I can’t say that I couldn’t put it down but I did find myself picking it up more often that my usual reading times at breakfast and before bed. Not only that, Dickens had me emotionally tied up with these characters. It may be because of the serial format, or it may just be a literary tool, but the characters had such clear personalities that you could almost guess what they might do, and when wrong, it was either much worse or much better, depending on the character, than you may have guessed.

There are some familiar themes here that Dickens is examining. Themes that we’ve seen him mull over before in books like A Christmas Carol, and David Copperfield. Paul Dombey could be compared to Ebenezer Scrooge, and James Carker would give Uriah Heep a run for his money. What I especially liked is how Dickens examined insidiousness in his evil characters. They aren’t as smarmy or blatantly vile as they are in more modern stories; Dickens’ baddies use the very etiquette of a polite and civil society, especially the higher class norms, as the pool in which he has these creatures wriggle about like eels or prowl like sharks, outwardly smiling and nodding as they watch their prey twist in agony. By contrast, Dickens’ good characters are personifications of the divine upon the earthly plane. It doesn’t matter what happens to them, how terrible their misfortunes, how bleak their outlook may be, they smile or simply tighten their belts, and push on, with endless reservoirs of love, kindness, understanding, and forgiveness. Maybe that’s putting too fine a point on it, and perhaps it’s a bit of a spoiler, but if you’ve read Dickens, I don’t think this will come as a surprise.

I really enjoyed this one, and I can imagine reading it again at some point to see if it still holds up, like I’ve done with similar books, like The Count of Monte Cristo. After a quick look online, it seems as though Dombey and Son is not unknown in the UK; I found many different adaptations of the novel in British movies and television programs. 

Read this book. Maybe twice!

 

 

 

* After writing this, I discovered the Heritage Club edition came in a red slipcase as shown in the photo. This wasn't there at the library box sale, where I got mine.

 

 

 

 

 

empire of gold

The last book of the Daevabad Trilogy is The Empire of Gold. I can always tell when a book, or in this case a trilogy, has me; I spend extra time reading. S.A. Chakraborty did a great job with this as a first time author. Since this trilogy was released, she's done some newer things--under her full name Shannon Chakraborty--and it was one of those newer books that turned me on to her writing.

Empire was a little longer (784 pages) than the first two books, and if I have any notes on this book its that it could have probably been edited down a little. Perhaps we could have had a little less of the travelogue. One of the things I liked about this book was the restraint in the romantic engagements. If you're looking for the bodice riper version of the Arabian Nights, you're in the wrong place.* The romance is more demure in this trilogy; think Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. There is fair amount of wrist touching and shivers.**

I was impressed with Chakraborty's world building, and she has the politics and history nailed down, as well as how the existence of the djinn is folded into our own world in ways that you and i just can't see, which gives the existence of the djinn their mythical quality. Chakraborty has taken a cue from Tolkien's writing when writing about the djinn. Instead of them being the wispy figments we see in other tales, the djinn of Daevabad are real, like the elves of Middle Earth.

If you're a fan of fantasy, swords and sorcery, and similar types of speculative fiction, you'll really enjoy this one. 

Read this book. Read all three! 

 

* If you're a fan of Shahrazad, however, you won't be disappointed about the heroine in this story. 

** If, on the other hand, you ARE interested in bodice ripping,*** rumor has it that Netflix has acquired the rights to do a series, and I'm assuming it will be a little sexier, if that series actually happens.

*** For those of you offended by the use of the term bodice ripper, I'm using it here to refer to that more modern, scandalous type of romance novel where (consensual) sexy time takes center stage, and can get pretty graphic. The term does have some harder meanings when referring to older stories which seemed to celebrate more violent scenes, ravishment, or other code words for taking advantage of women. No means no. See what I'm talking about in this one minute read here.

 

 

 

kingdom of copper

This is book 2 of the Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty. I had taken this book out a few weeks ago by mistake, not knowing it was book 2, so I returned it and got the first one. By the time I read that one and returned it, this book was lent out, but through the magic of the inter-library loan program, I got an email a day later that this book had arrived from one of the other libraries in the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) network. if you haven't been to the library, then go--a few times--and see what they can do

Sometimes the second book in a trilogy feels like filler, or just a bridge between the intro in book 1 and the climax in book 3, but this one didn't feel like that, and I think that is especially nice given that this is the first work of this author, who now goes by her given name Shannon Chakraborty. 

Any great adventure story has something difficult for the protagonist(s) to overcome; the big baddie, the evil plot, the end of the world, and this one is no different. The Kingdom of Copper fleshes out the personalities of the main characters, tests their resolve, and uncovers parts of their personalities that didn't come to light, or at least not so clearly, in the first book. This volume also introduces the big problem. And its much bigger than we were lead to believe in the first book. 

This one ends in an almost literal cliffhanger, so while the idea is that each book in a trilogy can or could be read independent of the others, this one does leave you hanging. But I was also left looking forward to the last book in the trilogy (which I took out from the library at the same time, and I am currently reading!) 

unwanted guest

I picked up the paperback version of An Unwanted Guest at my library's book sale. I'll admit that I was in a hurry, but I'm not sure that a few more minutes with this book before taking it home would have helped. I'm not a big reader of mystery stories, but I've read a few. I'm thinking of The Best of Dr. Thorndyke Detective Stories, by R. Austin Freeman--which you can see in the column on the right of this page under the 'good' books heading--and of course, Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, which I've written about in 4 separate reviews here on the blog. You won't find a bunch of Dame Agatha Christie books on this blog for instance, and if you use the word cloud on the right hand column to sort for 'mystery' you'd find a few, but most of those are detective stories or police procedurals, or more likely, have some mysterious happenings that aren't revealed until the end. An Unwanted Guest, by contrast, is more of a traditional whodunit, more like the Freeman, Conan-Doyle, or Christie examples I've given.

Shari Lapena* has written her mystery using a classic whodunit scenario, or trope, if you prefer: Bunch of people thrown together in an isolated place, with no contact with the world beyond. When the crap hits the fan, everyone starts to wonder whodunit, quickly followed by, am I next? Whats different here, is that Lapena tells a complex, woven story, with lots of different viewpoints from the various character, and in many cases describes both what they are doing, as well as what they are feeling and thinking, when they are together, but also when they are alone. 

By the time we're getting toward then end, we know quite a bit about each of them, from both their personal thoughts as well as their conversations, and I was pretty impressed that I hadn't yet figured out who, in fact, dunit. 

The reason for that was a surprise! And yes, I guess you could say that this is a spoiler, which I don't normally do, but I'm not sure I could spoil this book any worse. The reason is because Lapena never tells us how or why the guilty person did what they did. Or, in fact, gave us any clues at all, until the final chapters where the guilty party graces us with a complete exposé of their history, their motives, and how they did it. Again, ALL invisible to us as readers until this very point. AND no one figured that out, or was ever privy to the guilty person's thoughts, just us readers. They got nabbed based on one piece of evidence found two pages before, which may or may not be enough to get them convicted. Its circumstantial, at best.

So I'm left feeling like: why did you make me read all this if there was nothing in there that would help me understand or solve any of it, and you were just going to tell me about it in 4 pages at the end. did she just mansplain that to me? i feel kind of dirty It was like watching Dateline. That show is aggravating: They already know who did it, they're just making me watch this drama play out for an hour before they tell me who did it. The only benefit Dateline has over this book, is that at least they share some of the evidence with you as they go along.

Don't bother. 

 

* When looking up the link to Lapena's website, I went there and another of her books is featured on the front page, with the title: She Didn't See It Coming, which is followed by the tagline; "and neither will you..." Hilarious! If its anything like this one, I can guarantee you won't see it coming, because Lapena won't show you!**

** That title and tagline--from a completely different book!--is almost enough to get me to add this title to my 'stinks' list on the right hand column. don't act when you're aggravated, phil

 

 

 

eisenhorn: the omnibus

This book is not one I would have picked out for myself--this was a Christmas gift this year (thanks Jacob!)--but I ended up enjoying it even more that I expected. I don't know anything about Warhammer or how its different from warcraft but I assume Gregor Eisenhorn is a character from the video game,* and Dan Abnett has written these stories about him under contract with the Warhammer folks. The frontmatter and backmatter in this paperback talk about a bunch of other stories in the 'Black Library', which is a series of stories from different writers about characters and storylines from Warhammer.

Because the Warhammer universe is so far into the future, mankind has moved out into the galaxy (maybe beyond? don't know, nerds) so that men now live on thousands of planets, and have done for thousands of years. This, I think, makes for a ripe backdrop for story telling given that these worlds now all have their own histories, cultures, flora and fauna, that influence the people that live there. While some planets are more centralized, and their cultures more homogeneous, more distance or isolated planets diverge more from the centralized culture and norms of the empire.

The stories in this book are all that have been written by Dan Abnett about this character, and they are arranged chronologically and so we can follow Eisenhorn's character development, along with those of his team members, throughout their long (and sometimes short) careers. I do love SciFi, but again, this isn't something I would have chosen for myself, however, I did find myself stealing extra moments to read a little longer, or forgoing other things in order to read another chapter. The stories range from novels (there are a few novel length stories) and some short stories of varying lengths (magazine article length, to novellas). Its a big boy; Eisenhorn: The Omnibus is nearly a thousand pages, but it didn't take too long for me to read. 

I especially liked how Abnett describes the dress, food, drink, or technology of a scene in detail (sometimes including the ingredients of a dish, for example) and then names off the bits that make up whatever he is describing using series of made-up words and phrases that can only be understood by their context, and gives no further definitions or descriptions. I think this needs to be done carefully so as not to overwhelm the reader with SciFi speak, and Abnett does a good job threading that needle.

 

* Sorry nerds, Warhammer is apparently not a video game (maybe Warcraft is?) Apparently its a fantasy combat board game played with miniatures and its been around since the early 80s. 

 

 

 

the thirst

Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø has penned another Harry Hole novel in the series, called The Thirst. Harry Hole (pronounced HO-leh, apparently; and Harry is pretty much pronounced like Harry) is a detective working for the police department in Oslo, and this is number 11 in the Harry Hole series. I've read a few others, but only one is listed here on the blog. When I wrote about that one, I commented that I was sure I read another but didn't write about it here. This one, like the other I've linked above, was translated into English by Neil Smith.

Hole is a murder detective, and at this point in his life he's actually retired from the police department and is teaching at the police college, but he is called back to work a case that appears to be perpetrated by a serial killer that got away from Hole years ago, and seems to gone to ground, at least until now. Hole reluctantly returns to police work to catch this deranged killer as the victims fall by the day.

Nesbø writes a good story, and the differences between Norwegian crime fiction and American crime fiction is not all that is different, altho that is a treat. Nesbø weaves a complex tale, and when you think the twists and turns are all uncovered, there are more to come. This was a good one, and I'll keep my eye out for more of Nesbø's writing, whether its a Harry Hole story or something else Nesbø has written.

reality is not what it seems

Carlo Rovelli picked a great title when he chose Reality is Not What it Seems for this follow up to his Seven Brief Lessons on Physics,* which started out a pamphlet and became an international best seller. Rovelli talks a little bit about this in the introduction; how this book came to be; how people had been asking him to explain the theories of quantum gravity in layman's terms, which he was reluctant to try and do. He did try when pressed, and the result was a small book, but because of its popularity, he was pressed further to expand on that work and the result, he explains, is this book.

I will go ahead and tell you now, that I was quoting phrases, and reading passages out loud to anyone who would listen. my apologies to my family When I finished, I gave the book to my wife and recommended that she read it.

In the first few chapters, Rovelli traces the history of where we are in physics, and our understanding of how the universe works. How scientists and philosophers built upon the work of their predecessors to unlock the secrets of the universe as we know it. Because I am interested in this kind of thing, I had a pretty good idea about where we are and how we got there, but the story that Rovelli tells both provided missing links in the trail of information, extended what I understood and how different theories relate to one another, and in a way that was both succinct, and mesmerizing. Two chapters in and I was hooked.

Rovelli then goes on to describe quantum physics, and what we know about it, building upon what we've learned in the past, until he gets to the point where the theories aren't proven yet, and its still conjecture and competing theses. He points out that there are two main branches of theories, the one he is working on and believes in, and the other, which is string theory. You got me about which is correct, or more correct, but he makes a passionate argument.

Read this Book--I enjoyed it thoroughly--but maybe only if you are interested in this kind of stuff. Its good, but I'm not sure how much general appeal it will have for the less geekily inclined.

* You can download a copy of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by clicking here.

 

 

the overstory

The Overstory by Richard Powers is organized unlike any other book I can recall. Its like a series of short stories, that kind of grow together, around and among the trees. Its a series of related fables? Ovid's Metamorphoses is mentioned in here somewhere, and its at least part of the inspiration for this story, as much as global warming and deforestation is the implied warning or moral.

I don't recall reading anything by Richard Powers before, so I took a quick look, and this book apparently won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, so go figure. I enjoyed this book, but I'm not going to put it in my 'read this book'* category only because it was a little slow and disjointed for me. Its my guess that this won the Pulitzer because it is so different from other things I've read, and the structure of this book's story arc is like nothing else I've read. For me personally, being different as not the same as being entertaining, and that's why I read fiction. 

Lets be clear, was entertained, and I did enjoy this book, I'm just not weeping because I finished it, rapt with longing for more, and kicking down doors to find the next book by this author. Now, also to be clear, I don't feel that way about every book that makes it to the 'read this...' group, that's a high bar indeed, I just reserve that for books I'm recommending without reservation.

Powers writes fiction about science and technology, and it seems as though he is pretty well known for it. I'll keep my eye out and if I run into another that looks good I'll probably pick it up.

 

* The link to my 'read this book' tagged books can be found anytime by clicking on the appropriate tag on the tag cloud on the right-hand column on this page. Its under the heading: 'what i'm talking about'. You can use any of the other tags in the same way. They also show up at the bottom of every post, so if you're looking for something similar, I may have labeled it that way

 

started but...

I started these two books a few months ago, and just couldn't get through them. 

One of the reasons I keep this blog is because I pick up used books so often that its always a mixed bag; the books I find can be current or 50 years old, or whatever. Prior to keeping this blog I have found myself sitting down to read a newly acquired book only to discover that I've read it at some point in the past. The blog helps me with that in two ways: I can just look them up on my phone when I'm out and about, 'The Books' tab at the top of this page is a summary by author and title, and its really there for me, altho it is a handy way to find things, and there are links that take you to the reviews, if you need them. Second, I've found that writing about them helps me to remember them better. maybe that's why we had to do book reports in school... hmm

Recording books here that I didn't finish, is therefore especially important. I do NOT want to find myself re-purchasing and re-reading something I put down. 

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara seemed like it was going to be similar to some other time malleable stories I've read recently, such as The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells, or Sea of Tranquility. It sort of was, but it just didn't measure up. Yanagihara has created an alternative universe for our world in which the history of the United States took a very different turn more than 100 years ago, and things that we still now argue about as too liberal became widely accepted in some placed, making the lives of those that have lived on the edged for society for so long, more welcome. Utopia, right! Nope. 

The story does take place over a number of.. generations? Eras? And we follow some of the same people? Generations? its not really clear, so... Any who, the past that could have been liberating and free, wasn't. The recent past, which could have been amazing, and non-stop party, wasn't so the future, right? That must be bright and sunny; a warm glow at the end of a long, hard slog.

Nope. Maybe it ended great, I'll never know. Too depressing, to inward looking, too caught up in itself. It almost seems that the author asked themselves, what if I had a chance to do it all over, in a world where thinsg were different, and then just convinced themselves that things will never get better, because no matter where you run, you always bring yourself with you. 

Welp. Go on ahead without me.

 

I've got a couple of Bill Bryson books in my list of recommendations on the right side of this page. These are the books that folks tell me about, and I put them here so I can find them if I'm out book hunting somewheres. Made in America is not one of the two Bryson titles in my list, but I figured it was worth a shot. I've read some similar books like Damp Squid, and some by Richard Lederer. 

Made in America reminded me of those works, and other books, but after I got about halfway through, it was just more of the same. This wasn't so much a story about the American breed of English, as it was an annotated list of words and phrases and how they differ from the English spoken in other countries. It was like Bryson just had his notes typed up, gave them the once over, and went to print. 

I want you to tell me a story, and if you think I just wasn't looking hard enough, I read half of it! You had your chance bro.

 

Q: Where are the links Phil? 

A: Why?

 

book of illusions

The Book of Illusions is a novel Paul Auster, published in 2002, and was apparently pretty well received at the time. I don't really follow things like that, but they show up when I do a little searching to put together my review, and lots of book descriptions say it was nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2004. His work is generally lauded, I've come to understand. Go Paul Auster.

I picked this one up at the book sale at the Moses Greeley Parker Memorial Library in Dracut, Massachusetts. Library books sales are one of my favorite ways to find books. Lost of times the library will stock up on new books that are very popular so they can meet the demand. Often times it is the Friends of the Library group, who helps to funds these additional copies so that patrons aren't disappointed by not being able to secure a copy of the latest popular book by being put on a wait list. Once the rush is over, the library may begin to sell off additional copies to make room for the new popular title.

I enjoyed this false history* story very much. David Zimmer is a professor who stumbles upon some thought to be lost silent movies by a less than well known actor from the 1920s, and contemporary of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Zimmer takes advantage of the discovery to create a project to help help cope with recent tragedy that has also left him with more time on his hands than he wants, and extra spending money to follow this pursuit. He takes it upon himself to find out all he can, and write the definitive book on this unknown champion of the silent film genre.

What he eventually finds changes his life more than he expected, and some of those experiences tilt into the surreal. I have read anything by Auster in the past that I recall, but I really like his writing style. Its direct, pared down, clean and easy to read. Like all the best writers, Auster is invisible, and the story just feels like its being absorbed rather than read and interpreted. Auster's first person story telling seamless slipped between Zimmer's story, the silent movies plots he was watching, and the book he was writing. All of which seem to inform, reflect, and in some cases foreshadow one another. Art evincing art, evincing art.

I'll keep my eye out for Paul Auster. Auster died last April at 77. Read this book. 

 

*In 2010, Duke Special recorded an album in tribute to the 12 fictional lost movies of the fictional silent film star, Hector Mann, in Auster's book. The 12 tracks on the album have the same names as the 12 silent films described in The Book of Illusions. Wild.