STREAMLINED LIBRARY PROGRAMMING: HOW TO IMPROVE SERVICES AND CUT COSTS

by Daisy Porter-Reynolds

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1438503116

128 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

Porter-Reynolds just joined SLPL, so, of course, I had to read her book- even though I do not work in youth services! (I do read a lot of business books though, and anything with the words "cut costs" interests me!) 

Much of the book centers on Porter-Reynolds experience streamlining storytime programming, and it is very thorough. This book could easily serve as a template and step by step guide for any multi-branch library. 

I enjoyed her assessments of staff, especially her "green, yellow, and red" characterizations, based on traffic light colors. Greens are mostly younger librarians, eager to try new things, that haven't become entrenched in possibly outdated patterns and modes of doing things. The Yellows will sometimes be with you, and sometimes not, depending on the project. Yellows can turn green, or turn red. Reds are against you. They want things to remain the same, or view any change as challenging or competition. Likely they have a history of resisting changes, and viewing change pessimistically. 

I also enjoyed reading all of her illustrative vignettes, especially stories of streamlining storytime while San Jose was going through bankruptcy and the library system was challenged. 

Porter-Reynolds is a true leader, and I think she will be an invigorating burst of new energy to St. Louis, while also being observant and respectful of treasured traditions and elders. 

It's a fast read, and not academically dense. Very practical manual. Highly recommend to anyone working in a library!

FREDERICK DOUGLASS IN BROOKLYN

Edited by Theodore Hamm  222 pages

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1387932116

Reviewed by Rae C.


I try to read anything that Douglass has written or texts of speeches he has given and this book is fantastic!  Douglass at his best, with a lot of Brooklyn history as well.  This is an imprint of Akashic, a truly unique publisher.  All fans of Douglass should read this.  Some of the material will be familiar, but much won't.  Not to be missed is Douglass' speech on John Brown, including his esteem for Brown as a family man (apparently the men and the women cleared the dinner dishes).

And his speeches on Lincoln, while a little bit of blind hero-worship, also illustrate the contrast between how Lincoln related to Douglass, compared to other powerful men, i n particular one abolitionist:

On one occasion a well-known abolitionist said to me. “Come, Douglass, let’s walk down Broadway together.  I’m never ashamed to walk with a Negro.”  It never occurred to him that I might be ashamed to walk with him. 

Sources of Danger to the Republic is as relevant today as it was then.  And What Shall Be Done with The Negro? is still all to frighteningly relevant.

…Inferior race! It is an old argument. All nations have been compelled to meet in in some form or the other since mankind have been divided into strong and week, oppressors and oppressed.  Whenever and wherever men have been oppressed and enslaved, their oppressors and enslavers have in every instance found a warrant for such oppression and enslavement in the alleged character of their victims.  The very vices and crimes which slavery generates are usually charged in the peculiar characteristic of the race enslaved.  When the Normans conquered the Saxons, the Saxons were a coarse, unrefined, inferior race.  When the United States wants to possess herself of Mexican territory, the Mexicans are an inferior race.  When Russia wants a share of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks are an inferior race, the sick man of Europe.  So, too, when England wishes to impose some new burden on Ireland, or excuse herself for refusing to remove some old one, the Irish are denounced as an inferior race.  But this is a monstrous argument.

                Now, suppose it were true that the Negro is inferior instead of being an apology for oppression and proscription, it is an appeal to all that is noble and magnanimous in the human soul against both.  When used in the service of oppression, it is as if one should say, “That man is weak; I am strong, there I will knock him down, and as far as I can I will keep him down.  Yonder is an ignorant man. I am instructed, there I will do what I can to prevent his being instructed and to withhold from him the means of education.  There is another who is low in his associations, rude in his manners, coarse and brutal in his appetites, therefore I will see to it that his degradation shall be permanent, and that society shall hold out to him no motives or incitements to a more elevated character.”  I will not stop here to denounce this monstrous excuse for oppression.  That men can resort to it shows that when the human mind is once completely under the dominion of pride and selfishness, the reasoning faculties are inverted if not subverted.

                I should like to know what constitutes inferiority and the standard of superiority.  Must a man be as wise as Socrates, as learned as Humboldt, as profound as Bacon, or as eloquent as Charles Sumner, before he can be reckoned among superior men?  Alas! if this were so, few even of the most cultivated of the white race could stand the test. 

It is so well put together, the source and footnotes help to really paint a full picture of the world Douglass was living in and the challenges he faced every time he was invited to speak somewhere. For example, Tilton's comments on the 5 directors of Brooklyn Academy of Music who (unsuccessfully) opposed Douglass speaking engagement February 8, 1866:
"We understand the names of the five dissenting directors are to be written on shells and deposited in the Brooklyn Historical Society's collection of Long Island fossils."

THE LITTLE BROOMSTICK

The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart  192 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

From Biblio:
A black cat that needs to rescue its brother from a witch's spell enlists the help of lonely ten-year-old Mary Smith.

This Bibliocommons description is actually somewhat incorrect.  The cat leads Mary to a magical flower that enables her to ride the little broomstick and go to a Hogwarts type magic school.

As a fan of both Mary Stewart's Arthurian trilogy and her thriller romances like "Touch Not The Cat" I was surprised I had not only missed one of her books- but especially a kid's book about witches!  I learned of this book only from watching the movie "Mary and the Witch's Flower."  The movie did change a few things, naturally, but both were excellent, and each is fine as a stand alone or together.  Fans of Ruth Chew will love this!  Great story, great characters, and very satisfying ending!

MAGIC BLEEDS

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

367 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

From SLPL Bibliocommons:

The fourth Kate Daniels novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author who "defines urban fantasy" (Fresh Fiction). 

Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle--especially if they involve Atlanta's shapeshifting community.

When she's called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there's a new player in town. One who's been around for thousands of years--and rode to war at the side of Kate's father.

This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family...

What a great series! Every book just gets better and better!  And this one is really significant because we meet another member of Kate's family, her relationship with Curran becomes serious, she gets a dog- and there is a twist in the dog's story which is hilarious and awesome! (Actually two twists in the dog's story.)  The relationship between her and Curran is especially satisfying because they are both so crazy and stubborn, and there are so many obstacles to overcome.

The only drawbacks are the same as the other books- they really read a lot mythology, but none of it retains any of the original flavour, it's all just filtered into modern comic book superhero identities.  But these are fun books, not meant to be serious.  But if, like me, you read a lot of old cycles and stories, and read a lot about world religions, it does require turning your academic brain off.

If you want to read my reviews of the other three, the links can be found here:
https://slplbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2018/11/magic-strikes.html

THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS

The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford

241 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

This is a great book filled with tidbits about Dickens and how he came to write "A Christmas Carol."  The book points out how this story changed Christmas celebrations.  For example, it was celebrated, and some people did have trees, and a few wealthy people sent out early versions of Christmas card, but this story created the culture of what we now consider to be a traditional Christmas.  And before this story, the goose was the star of the Christmas dinner, not turkey.

This story was also much influenced by Dickens trips to Manchester, an industrial city with a lot of poverty.  This was during the time that Karl Marx and Frederick Engels were writing the Communist Manifesto in Manchester.  A lot of interesting tidbits about Dickens economic and political viewpoints, especially that Dickens was not a socialist/Marxist.

Also there was quite a bit about how influential Dickens was even during his times.  His books sold more in the British Isles than many of our NY Times bestsellers sell today.  Also a lot about how much he had to fight piracy and bad rip offs of his books, and never received a penny for any of his books sold in other countries. And there is an alternate story about how his life ended, quite Dickensian really, at his young lover's house, not his home.  

If you like Dickens, A Christmas Carol, Victorian traditions and history, or just a good read, I recommend this book.  If you love Dickens and/or "A Christmas Carol", this book is a necessity!

THE MOOR

The Moor by Laurie R. King 

10 audio discs (11 hr.) (319 pages)

Reviewed by Rae C.

From SLPL Bibliocommons:
Young Mary Russell (A Monstrous Regiment of Women, St. Martin's, 1995) drops everything to join husband Sherlock Holmes in Devonshire, where the pair investigate an ancient family curse near the scene of The Hound of the Baskervilles published some 20 years earlier. The forbidding moor nearby provides them both danger and inspiration.

This is my favourite in the series so far- not only do we return to the scene of Holmes' most famous case, but Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould is not only a character, he is the reason Sherlock and Mary are there, and King writes Baring-Gould into the original Baskerville case.  I'm sure much of this is because Baring-Gould's real life grandson is a known as Holmes authority and wove his grandfather's legacy into Holmes fictional biography.  I also loved that the Moor itself was a character, or almost a character.  Mary spends a good deal of time reading Baring-Gould's books about the Moor and its inhabitants.  This book is rich in Dartmoor lore, legend, and folk.  And it is a smashing good mystery!  Have some thickly tannic Yorkshire Gold tea with cream and sugar while you read about Mary and Holmes out trudging around the Moor in rain and fog and mud for the perfect enjoyment of this book!  Even if, like me, you are listening on audiobook and drinking tea out of your 21st century travel mug while you speed down an asphalt highway at 70 miles per hour!  You won't notice the miles or the minutes going by.  And I have to mention again how much I love the narrator!  She is perfect, and will forever be Mary Russell to me!

PS- There is a comment on Bibliocommons about this book that says that Baring-Gould was Protestant and therefore would not refer to the Madonna as "mother of God".  This is incorrect and misses the difference between the Anglican church and other Protestant churches.  Baring-Gould most certainly did refer to Mary as "mother of God".  The later Protestant reformation was about whether Priests or God had authority over sin.  The early split between Rome and the Anglican church was about who would have authority over the King: God (meaning the King) or the Priests.  The Anglican church has more in common with Rome than Luther.

The Handbook for Americans

Out of Many, One : A Book to Benefit the People

302 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

This is a great little handbook- perhaps intended for those studying for citizenship; but I think all Americans would benefit from reading this.  It is exactly moderate, middle of the line, the things that anyone would agree are the common story and ideals of this country.  Of course, liberals will probably find it too conservative, and conservatives will find it too liberal.  But it is complete, concise, and has the most important elements, while being mostly inclusive.  One glaring omission is a representation of the Native Americans.  Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth are represented in speeches, but no Native Americans.  This seems like the books one oversight. However, very worth reading and an excellent resource!

COLONIAL ST LOUIS: BUILDING A CREOLE CAPITAL

COLONIAL ST. LOUIS: BUILDING A CREOLE CAPITAL by Charles E. Peterson 
69 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

If you are interested in history generally, or the specifics of land distribution and uses, types of buildings and building materials, this is a great book.  Be sure to read the footnotes, a lot of information is in the footnotes.

If you are interested in just the French roots of St. Louis this is a little too much detail, a lot of inventories -types of nails used, lumber specifications- etc.  But I did enjoy it.  The "Creole Capital" is so called because of the layout of the streets and the use of French measurements and city planning, and much is styled on New Orleans.  A lot of tidbits about Chouteau and what sort of house he lived in.  There is mention of slaves, of early trades, of the original common use pastures.

It's only 69 pages, but it is so dense with information that it took me several months to read, and I often had to go back and re-read portions, especially the footnotes.

YOU ARE A BADASS AT MAKING MONEY

You Are A Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero   269 pages


https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1379216116

Reviewed by Rae C.

This is straight up motivation for pursuing your dream.  It's 269 pages of hilarious, well-written, and concise cheer-leading.

I think women that want to start their own businesses (or write or paint, etc) will love this book, whether they are new to manifestation and prosperity thought, or solidly schooled.  This book is fun to read!  And Sincero has lots of solid advice, outlines, and stories and testimonials from clients.

I enjoyed it so much I am going to read her other two books!

MANIFESTING MADE EASY

Manifesting Made Easy: How to Harness the Law of Attraction to Get What You Really Need by Jen Mazer  223 pages

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1381379116


Reviewed by Rae C.

This is a great book whether you are already familiar with The Law Of Attraction (LOA) or a newby.  It is clear, concise, and handles some of the more challenging aspects of positive thought and manifestation, such as "thinking positively but feeling negative about a situation" and forgiveness as a path to manifestation.

My problems with this book are the same that I have with all of the LOA gurus: it would be nice to hear from people who have become wealthy, successful, healthy, and happy, and NOT because they became LOA gurus!

Also, most of these books are written by and for middle class white people, and there is often a real lack of understanding in applying LOA to people that very desperately need to manifest the basics, have difficulties to overcome that are outside the scope of the status quo experience, and/or are in a state of mind where the power of positive thinking is very difficult to access.

LOA has worked for me, but remains a challenge, so I am always glad to find a new resource.  Recommend to anyone with an interest in changing their circumstances by changing their mindset!

THE WRITER'S LITTLE HELPER

The Writer's Little Helper by James V Smith  199 pages

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1200677116

Reviewed by Rae C.

I'm going to have to buy this book.  I've been writing for 30 years, and in that time I have not sold anything to a major publisher or publication.  (Or a screenplay to a studio.)  I've written several novels, about 30 short stories, two screenplays, a comic book script (for a series, not just one issue), a lot of poetry, and numerous articles for small magazines.

I've expressed myself and followed my own path. I've watched many stories similar to mine get published. I want to write something that more than 20 people want to read, so I really needed this book!

This book might seem gimmicky, but it's not.  For example, Flesch Kincaid scores. As a secretary I've used this tool for business documents, but after reading this book I'm going to use it on all my future manuscripts.  Best sellers should be easy to read!  And the author has compiled many helpful checklists and outlines for story structure and plotting.

Recommended to any writer in a slump, that is aiming for a bestseller- or at least a sale with a major publisher.

THE MORTAL WORD

THE MORTAL WORD by Genevieve Cogman

433  pages

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1423249116#

Reviewed by Rae C.

The fifth book in the Invisible Library series, and the best one so far!

There are multiple worlds, and in each there are different levels of technology (order, ruled by Dragons) and magic (chaos, ruled by The Fae).  Each earth has different versions of the same stories, reflecting the different development and history of that particular world. 

The Library exists at the center of all the worlds, and is outside of time.  By collecting the different versions of stories, the Library keeps the worlds bound together.  Also Librarians are able to speak The Language, and therefore in each world have a power different from either Fae or Dragon.  The Language is a pure command, the essence of all earth languages on all the different versions of earth. For example, if a Librarian commands water to boil in The Language, the water will boil.

There is an ongoing conflict between Dragon and Fae, and neither species can tolerate too much of the other. So Fae suffer in the order of Dragon worlds. And Dragons lose strength in chaotic Fae worlds filled with magic and Story.  (The Fae themselves are dominated by Story.  In fact, sometimes they are bound by the rules of the Story and/or their characters.  Both this book and The Masked City display this feature of Fae power.)

In this book there is a peace conference underway between Dragon and Fae, and the Librarians are officiating.  The main protagonist, Irene Winters, is currently Librarian in Residence in a world that is steampunk, and at roughly the 1920's in its timeline. One of her companions is a real life Sherlock Holmes, named Peregrine Vale.  (In some worlds Sherlock Holmes is not just a story.)  Her other companion is a Dragon Prince, Kai Strongrock.

All three of them are summoned to the top secret peace conference after a Dragon is murdered.  The conference and peace in all the worlds is in jeopardy.  Like the other four books, this is a great adventure, with "unguessable" twists and turns.  Cogman always has something up her sleeve!

I especially enjoyed the interim with Vale's POV.  This is the first time there has been a POV other than Irene's.  My understanding is this series grew partly out of the author's love of Sherlock Holmes (as well as Dungeons and Dragons), so to have Vale highlighted was a treat! In fact, Irene's name was chosen from Irene Adler in Conan Doyle's "Silk Stocking." Cogman did a good job of recreating a solid Sherlock Holmes in an unfamiliar world ruled by Fae and Dragons, and powered by ether.

The alternate Paris the story is set in retains all of the history of our worlds' Paris, and includes a very exciting scene in the Grand Guignol.  And the added spectacle of the Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory, running the show.

Kind of sorry I finished it so fast because now it is another long year of waiting for book six!!!

MAKE YOUR BED

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life... And Maybe The World by Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired)   130 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

I never understood the military's obsession with making the bed.  I've asked a number of veterans and enlisted military personnel about this, and I've gotten the same few answers: "Everything is important in the military.  Everything has to be done right." And "it's the first thing you do and you have to do it right."

But McRaven really made it clear: it's the first thing you do in the morning, and if you do it and do it well, it sets a precedent for accomplishing throughout the day.  (And if you have a bad day, you come home to a nicely made bed at least.)

If you want the motivation, just read the speech at the end of the book.  All of the points are covered.  If you are interested in Navy Seal training and anecdotes about McRaven's life, read the book.  It's a fast (under an hour), easy read, and it is motivating, but there's not much meat to it.  It's mostly just "strong survive, life isn't fair, don't give up."  But I did enjoy reading it.

Here is my favorite quote:

"...we both wanted to be SEALs so badly that nothing in the water that night was going to stop us.  If we had to fight off the sharks, then we were both prepared to do so.  Our goal, which we believed to be honorable and noble, gave us courage, and courage is a remarkable quality.  Nothing and nobody can stand in your way.  Without it, others will define your path forward.  Without it, you are at the mercy of life's temptations.  Without courage, men will be ruled by tyrants and despots.  Without courage, no great society can flourish.  Without courage, the bullies of the world rise up. With it, you can accomplish any goal.  With it, you can defy and defeat evil."

MAGIC STRIKES

Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews 310 pages

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1023714116

Reviewed by Rae C.

This is book three in the Kate Daniels series. 

My review of book one https://slplbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2018/09/magic-burns.html
My review of book two https://slplbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2018/11/magic-burns.html

This is an alternate reality world (or possible future) where technology is often overcome by waves of magic.  Cars and electricity will stop working during a magic wave, and when tech comes back on, magical things will often not work, or won't work in the same way. Kate has magical powers of her own, and she work both in the Mercenary Guild (who you call when the cops can't help you) and The Order of Merciful Aid (the cops). 

A regular character, Saiman, who has the ability to shift his appearance but is not a member of the Pack- half-human and half animal- and also has an extreme amount of intel on the various magical forces, hires Kate to help him at the Midnight Games- a kind of Thunderdome, fight to the death, with various magical and otherworldly creatures and weapons.  Saiman is part owner under a fake name and one of his fake appearances.  Initially Kate is just there to give her opinions on the fights and one team in particular.  Of course, Kate ends up in the ring, kicking *** and taking no names.  We learn more about her parentage and powers, more about Saiman (oooh he has a great secret!), more about Andrea, and Curran... The ending of this book is so enticing!  I cannot wait for book four to get here!  I love this series because the romance isn't overdone, in fact, the first two books were just a tease.  Ironically, I keep wishing for a just a bit more bodice ripping, and this book delivers. 

Highly recommend! But don't read these books out of order! 

MAGIC BURNS

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews  260 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

This is book two of the series.
My review of book one https://slplbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2018/09/magic-burns.html

Kate Daniels lives in an Atlanta besieged by waves of magic so strong that technology is left powerless, and sometimes skyscrapers collapse.  When the magic rolls through the cars stop and the lights go out, so people will ride horses or magic vehicles, and use fey and other magically charged lights. Kate now works for the Order of Merciful Aid as well as the Mercenary Guild.  And in this book there is a magic "flare"- much stronger than usual, in fact, strong enough for Gods and their entourage to enter this realm.  Kate helps a young girl, Julie, whose mother has gone missing, along with the rest of the witches in her coven.

I like this book a lot.  I love the introduction of Julie, and Julie's storyline- especially the romantic interest Julie has for a boy who is just worthless (sorry, that could be considered a spoiler). And I love Andrea's developing character, and I won't give any spoilers on that.  The romance between Curran and Kate begins to sizzle, and we get some very interesting information on Pack relationships, especially alphas. We also learn a lot more about Kate's background and what she is capable of- enough to make accurate guesses about what is going to be revealed in book 3- and we explore a lot more of this alternate Atlanta, and it is spectacular!

My problems were with the use of Celtic mythology.  Bran is obviously modeled on Bran the Blessed, I was okay with that. And the inclusion of the Fomorians led me to think that the authors had done some real research, and then tailored it to fit their story.  (There's scant information available in the old stories on the Formorians, the sea demons that the Celtic tribes had to fight when they arrived in Ireland.) But Bolgor the Shepherd was a little too over the top and obviously pure invention- and invention that is not rooted in any sort of existing mythology that I know of.  Bolgor doesn't behave or have powers in a manner suited to any branch of Celtic mythology.  And this strange Morrigan versus the Great Crow? Well,  just turn your academic brain off if you need to, and let the characters exist solely in the story.  That's what I did.

Couldn't wait to read book 3 when I finished this one!

THE GIRL IN THE LOCKED ROOM

The Girl In The Locked Room by Mary Downing Hahn
193 pages
Reviewed by Rae C.

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1425265116


Jules is tired of moving, and she hates the creepy old houses that they live in while her father renovates. The dad is a total narcissist.  The mom's a writer and really self absorbed. Both parents lack any supernatural gifts. Jules is a psychic and medium, although she doesn't know it.  She's felt things and seen spirits in other houses, but thinks it is her imagination.  But this time, Jules finds more and more evidence that Lily, the girl in the locked room, was real, and that she needs Jules help to cross over.

Really well done supernatural thriller!  It's not super scary, or horror.  Just an old-fashioned ghost story. It's well written and paced, well plotted, and the ending is satisfying in terms of issues with Jules' family, but the ghost story had a somewhat sloppy resolution. (See below if you don't mind spoilers.)  But the complaints I have weren't enough to spoil my enjoyment of this book!






(****SPOILERS**** and complaints: the inclusion of Frozen Charlotte dolls for no reason; relying on Dianna Wynne Jones alternate reality theory but not explaining clearly why Lily's bones weren't in the wardrobe, and thus, how two Lily's would now be inhabiting the alternate world.)

DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM FIELD MANUAL

Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink   199 pages

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1399204116

reviewed by Rae C.

This is a great book if you have been reading motivation and self help books and you just want to start doing!  A lot of caveats though, for the average reader.

He's kind of crazy and goes off on some tangents- for example, in the middle of his (excellent) arguments for getting into Jiu jitsu, he goes off on a rant about firearms.

He uses a lot of battle and war metaphors, which can be tiresome. He recommends working out even when you have the flu. And I'd need a whole blog to get into my arguments about the so-called "paleo" diet (our early hominid ancestors were not eating bacon and butter, and fruits predate vegetables and are still a staple for peoples living in undeveloped areas).

He also says things like "some scientists say discipline declines with use" (or something like that).  I can find no evidence on line of any scientists saying this, but perhaps it was something along the lines of "once you do something to the point that it becomes a habit, it's not discipline anymore" which I did find online.

The thing I loved about this book was it was just so direct and kind of like having a Navy Seal screaming at you "Just Go After It!" And "How do you get up early? Set your alarm and get up when it goes off!" And "How do you work out everyday?  You just work out everyday!"

Basically, you begin to feel like you should put the book down and do some burpees and go to bed early.  He's right that a lot of people spend too much time planning and not enough time just doing. 

Recommended for anyone in a slump that can handle the white typeface on black pages, and the excessively macho and somewhat disturbing imagery.

THE HALLOWEEN TREE

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

145 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

It's Halloween night and the "best boy who ever lived", Pipkin, is sick and can't come trick or treating.  The neighborhood gang has to go on without him, but not before Pipkin points them to the haunted house with the Halloween Tree.  The boys go, and there they meet the mysterious (and annoying) Moundshroud, who takes them on a trip through the ages and around the world to discover (Bradbury's version of) the roots of Halloween.  And to save their friend Pipkin, who is in awful danger.  The book has a somewhat happy ending, but not before the manipulative Moundshroud gets his pound of flesh.

I read this book when I was in my early teens, but among the great Sci Fi writers, Bradbury always disappoints me. There are no girls in the group, the writing is indulgent and very masculine, and the story is too thin and Bradbury's research is superficial.  There is NO god named "Samhain"!  Pure literary fantasy.

(Whenever someone mentions Samhain as a deity, I know it is from this book alone.  Samhain is the greatest Feast day of the Celtic Druids, their New Year, and based on the position of the Pleiadaes.  At the time the Catholic Church appropriated the holiday, it probably did fall on Halloween, but not anymore.  It's generally around the 5th of November these days. Samhain is a time when the veil between the worlds is thin, and the dead come back to visit.  The Druids divided the year in half, and the flip side of Samhain is Bealtaine, when the veil is again thin- but this time with the spirits of fertility and new life.  The 1960's movie The Wicker Man is an exploitation of Beltaine that is inaccurate like the Halloween Tree, but much more satisfying.)

If an editor had been a little more rigorous about the indulgent prose, and Bradbury had been more thorough in his research and made the plot work with history instead of changing history to fit his plot, I might have liked it more. At least as an adult.  As a kid I never cared much for books where there were no girls at all.  And I hated Moundshroud's trickery.  I felt like I'd been robbed at the end.

Read it if you want to see the Dickens influence (Pipkin, the Marley knocker, the story itself), and to see how this influenced Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas (mostly the illustrations of Moundshroud).  Or maybe you will like it.  Many men I know consider this a Halloween classic that has to be read every year.

A LETTER OF MARY

A LETTER OF MARY by Laurie R. King  (276 pages)

Audio book 10 audio discs (10 hr.)

Reviewed by Rae C.

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1403776116

The third installment of the Mary Russell series.  She's been Mrs. Sherlock Holmes for two years now, and reminisces at one point that she has "known my husband for one third of my years."  (I think she is mid-twenties in this book.)  The Holmes get a visit from a woman that they met in Palestine, Dorothy Ruskin, and she has a document that will rock the foundations of the Church. Of course, Miss Ruskin dies under mysterious circumstances shortly after visiting the Holmes, and then the Holmes' house is ransacked.  And off they go solving another mystery!

I really enjoyed this more than the previous two!  It wasn't as fast paced, but having read Holy Blood, Holy Grail ages before Dan Brown's Davinci Code showed up, the title fascinated me. The case was filled with many Doyle-esque plot twists and suspects, with a very satisfying ending. And King's knowledge of theological history and archeology and the Ancient world is on full display.

Mary and Sherlock have become a very settled couple at this point, but there is still excitement between them. It also had so many tantalizing tidbits, for example: Mary bumping into a young student at Leeds that enjoys reading Anglo Saxon literature named Tolkien.  

I am so glad I started this as an audio book!  I love this narrator!  I actually prefer her voice in my head to my imagination, which is rare.  Recommended to anyone who enjoys Sherlock Holmes, Victorian and WW1 era fiction, and strong female characters.

THE WIZARD IN THE TREE

The Wizard In The Tree by Lloyd Alexander  137 pages 

Reviewed by Rae C.

https://slpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/123687116

An orphaned girl made to live as a servant frees a Wizard who has been trapped in a tree for thousands of years.  His powers are all wonky from disuse, and he has aged so much while he was stuck in the tree, that he must leave the mortal world quickly or die.  But how can he travel to Vale Innis, the magical land, without his powers? And how can he escape the other villagers with various evil plots against him? Mallory, the orphan girl, loves fairy tales, and Arbican, the Wizard, spends a lot of time disavowing and disapproving of her mostly incorrect ideas about magic and magicians.  But she is determined to help him, despite the difficulties and dangers both to him and to herself.

I was given this book as a birthday present when it first came out in 1975.  I didn't appreciate it then, because I was too much like Mallory and wanted magical enchanters that granted wishes. I was a big fan of Ruth Chew, whose witches were also often wanting or awkward with their powers. But Arbican insisted too much on mortals being greedy for magic, and not relying on human powers to solve problems. I've been re-reading Alexander’s Prydain chronicles and decided to re-visit this.

When I was a child I didn't appreciate how strong the female character Mallory is, and how clever. She’s a true heroine! It's a clever and well-crafted story, with great plotting, and a very satisfying ending. The villain is a formidable opponent, and Arbican is a lovable curmudgeon.  I’m glad I re-read it!