Bad Doings and Big Ideas

Bad Doings and Big Ideas by Bill Willingham, 511 pages

For those that don't know, Bill Willingham is the author of the Fables series that has gotten very good reviews, both on here and elsewhere. This is a collection of his short works that never really went anywhere, and some of his early concept writing and character for the Fables series.

Despite most of these being one shots, together they form quite the collection and are well worth the read. I would caution people to not get too into any of the stories as they tend to end rather abruptly. I am looking at you Proposition Player, tell me what happens next!!!

Obviously if you like the Fables series, or short story collections, I would say give this a try. Though I think this might be a little darker overall than Fables.

Mort and Sourcery

Mort and Sourcery by Terry Pratchett, 243 and 260 pages

Mort and Sourcery have nothing in common except that they both take place in the Discworld. For that very reason I am going to talk about both of them together. Of course if you have read much of Pratchett, that makes perfect sense, or at least semi blemished sense.

Mort is about a guy named Mort. Mort is a scraggly kid who does not seem to be good at anything except reading. Unfortunately reading won't land him an apprenticeship or a future job. Or so everyone thought. Death thought otherwise. By that I don't mean that he died, but that the personification that is Death accepted him as his apprentice. While learning a new trade is rough, most jobs don't result in the destruction of reality if done wrong, as Mort is about to learn. This is the start of the Death story line.

Sourcery is about a type of magic that only crops up every couple thousand years. Every time it does rear its destructive head people get turned into weird things, wizards start battling wizards, and the world almost gets destroyed. In Sourcery we do see the reemergence of Rincewind. You might remember as the failed wizzard(as his hat says) from the start of the series.

I quite like reading Pratchett. It seems that everything he writes comes out hilariously good and these are no exception. I eagerly look forward to reading more of the Discworld series. Though I am not sure how many more times the world can survive almost being destroyed.

Saga Volumes 1-4

Saga Volumes 1-4 by Brian Vaughan(writer) and Fiona Staples(artist), 160, 144, 144 and 152 pages (600 total)

For some reason everyone else knew about this series before I found it miss shelved and decided to read it. At least three times while reading I was interrupted by people that recognized the art, or saw the title. I don't know if you three are all on the same mailing list or something, but I wish I would have come across this sooner.

Saga in its most basic form is about two soldiers fighting in an intergalactic war who fall in love and run away to be together. This and the fact that they have a kid together, angers people on both sides who try to kill them.

This story has a lot of unusual quirks that only add to uniqueness of the story. The first is that the infant, though I am assuming grown up, is the one narrating the story. The second is the ghost babysitter, well half a ghost babysitter. And finally are the bounty hunters who seem to be going through midlife crises while trying to kill them.

I really enjoyed how well this was both written and illustrated. I look forward to continuing the Saga series as new issues come out.

Prudence

Prudence by Gail Carriger, 357 pages

Having read everything else by Carriger, I was really looking forward to reading this book. Despite the discouraging reviews by both Ed and Krista, I still decided to read this. Unfortunately I also found it to be somewhat lacking. Despite knowing most of the characters in the series, I still found myself confused with the rapid introduction of whos who. That confusion only built as the story quickly launched off into its multi-plot story of tea, a long dirigible trip, a civil war, and some new supernatural creatures.

I was quite disappointed with this book and can only hope that the next one will be better.

Orgy of George

Three Times Carlin: An Orgy of George by George Carlin, 890 pages

This is a collection of Carlin's first three books with some bonus material thrown in. If you don't know who George Carlin is consider yourself lucky. He is a crude, rough around the edges, through at times quite funny comedian. With plenty of profanity and gutter humor, you never know what the next page will have on it.

When I first glanced at this book, before I considered reading it, I had a peek inside and managed to land in what would go on to become my favorite sections. These were his one liners. They are simple at times, but seemed to be more grounded. If the book had been nothing but these, I would have enjoyed it. But as it is I can only say read at your own risk.

To a certain multi-novel author who I work with, I think I saw some of your jokes in here, and if you have never read any of George's work, you should.

The first Formic Wars series

Earth Unaware, Earth Afire, and Earth Awakens by Orson Scott Card, 368, 399, and 395 pages (1162 total)

When I finished reading Enders Game so long ago and decided to continue reading this series, I decided to start at the very beginning. According to numerous sites this is it. This is when humanity first discovers that there is life beyond the stars. And that life does not like them.

I found this series to be quite excellent, though maybe a little heavy on the machoness, especially the final attack on the ship. But that does not detract from how well written the series is. Card is able to not only capture human nature all to clearly but also is able to reflect how politics always seem to come first, no matter what is at stake.

If you have read anything else by Card, I would recommend this to you, and everyone else that is looking for a good science fiction series.

There are still a lot of books to go before I finish with this story arc and Card is not helping. He has another section of the series coming out this fall.

Note: I am on a laptop with no mouse, so I will add pictures and links to everything tomorrow.

Versailles

Versailles: A Biography of a Palace by Tony Spawforth, 254 pages

Centered on a chateau used as a hunting lodge by his father, Louis XIV raised a palace that was not only the monument of a man to himself, but also an expression of the political and aesthetic philosophies of the Enlightenment.  Adapted by his successors, Versailles stood as a symbol of the greatness of France, but also as a symbol of the distance between the monarch and his subjects.

While informative, Spawforth's "biography of a palace" is also unfocused and disjointed.  The story jumps rapidly between subjects and time periods, without a central narrative to give a sense of unity.  There's quite a bit of good material, it simply is not organized very well.  The book also has a disappointing scarcity of illustrations for a book on such a visually appealing subject.

Saga, Volume 4

Saga Volume 4, by Brian K. Vaughan (Fiona Staples, art), 144 pages

In this latest collection of the Saga comics, Marko is getting lonely in what feels like a job as a single dad, Alana is finding the darker, more addictive side of acting, and Hazel is learning to dance. We also learn a little more about the Robot kingdom. It's a compelling work, but I am really losing track of what's going on when I have to wait in between volumes.  Also, this really doesn't sound like a lot, but I think it's really laying some groundwork for the next work. 

Reservations for Two

Reservations for Two by Hillary Manton Lodge     305 pages

Reservations for Two is the second book in the “Two Blue Doors” trilogy. I wasn’t able to get my hands on the first volume, A Table by the Window, before I started reading this installment. When I first started reading, I wondered if I should wait to get a copy of the first novel. However, Juliette and Neil pulled my quickly into their story.

Juliette is a food-writer turned restaurateur, soon to open her own place with her brother Nico in Portland.  Neil is a scientist living in Memphis. The only thing they are sure about is that they love each other. Neither is in a position to pull up roots and move across the county. Not only is the new restaurant keeping Juliette in Oregon, but her mother is rapidly deteriorating from ovarian cancer. I never did get how they met, and I think that’s probably in the first book.

They are headed to France and Italy where Juliette is not only spending time with her extended family, learning more about cuisine and her relatives. One of the things that has sent her on this trip is the knowledge that the man she called Grandfather was not her biological ancestor. She’s hoping that some of the family, especially a grand-aunt suffering from dementia, can provide some information.

None of the family seems to have the answers. Yet Juliette finds a treasure-trove of letters between her grandmother, her great-aunt, and even the man who may be her ancestor that were written in the late 1930s and through the 1940s. She photographs the letters into her laptop so handling them doesn’t make them crumble.

Juliette doesn’t have much time to read them with all the things that are on her plate. But beginning about halfway through the book, she starts to dive into her grandmother’s past.

I was pulled quickly into the story. Before I reached page 20, I felt as if what happened in Book One no longer mattered. Reservations for Two is a great read until the end. Then the story just ends; it just stops. I went to turn the page and was greeted by a Reader’s Guide. I was so irritated that I wanted to throw my paperback copy across the room. There’s not conclusion to what’s happening now. There are a few clues as to what Book Three will bring, but I have to wait until May 2016 before it will be published.

I have mixed emotions about whether I would recommend this book to my friends. I LOVED the plot and characters, but that abrupt ending did me in. I hate to inflict that on any reader.

 I received this book for free from Blogging for Books.

The Terminals

The Terminals by Royce Scott Buckingham, 278 pages

Cam has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and has less than a year to live.  When a mysterious man shows up at his bedside and offers him the chance to have his body enhanced, to travel, and to have everything he could want for that remaining year, Cam thinks it sounds too good to be true.  Of course, there is the small caveat that the travel and the year could be extremely dangerous, since he will be trying to help other people in the process, such as, rescuing people who have been kidnapped.  However, since Cam is dying anyway, what’s a little danger?  However, after he arrives, and the missions begin, Cam begins to suspect that there may be more going on than he’s been told.  Unsure of who the bad guys and good guys actually are, Cam isn’t sure he wants to continue but isn’t sure he’ll be allowed to quit.  This was a good teen thriller that I would highly recommend.

The Fire Artist

The Fire Artist by Daisy Whitney, 275 pages

Aria is a fire artist.  She creates fire and is able to weave beautiful designs with it and is even able to create the most difficult trick of all, the fire twin.  She hopes to be drafted by the ME Leagues, the most coveted position.  The only problem is, her ability is not her own.  Her fire is stolen and if anyone finds out, she will be banned from the League and probably put in jail.  Aria needs to protect her secret because it’s the only way for her to escape her father’s control, and to help her sister and her mother also escape.  When she is recruited it seems like her dreams have come true.  Until she finds out that her friend and partner in crime has also been drafted by another group and will be going to see.  She won’t be available to help Aria renew her powers.  Aria’s only hope is to find a Granter who can give her fire but she can be banned from the League for that also if they find out.  This was a fun story with great main characters.  Although the story was a little too pat, it was enjoyable and one that teens who like fantasy and romance will want to read.

The Marriage Game

The Marriage Game by Alison Weir, 402 pages

This is a fictional account of Elizabeth I and the games she played throughout her life to keep potential suitors interested without actually marrying any of them.  The author took an interesting possible point of view, that Elizabeth was terrified of the idea of childbirth and so refused to marry because of it.  Her court favorite, Lord Robert Dudley, was the man that many people expected she would one day marry, and Weir played up that relationship as much as possible.  She toyed with the idea that Elizabeth would have married Robert if it hadn’t been for her fears.  Most non-fiction accounts imply that Elizabeth never really had any intention of ever marrying anyone, so this was a fun take on the situation.  I can’t say that this was one of my favorite stories about Elizabeth or the time period but it wasn’t bad.  People that are big fans of this time period will probably want to read it but I wouldn’t give it to people who are lukewarm fans.

Renegade

Renegade by Antony John, 294 pages

This is the final book in the Elemental series.  Thomas and his friends have finally been discovering the truth about their powers and the problems between those with and without powers.  The Elders have clearly been lying to them.  With some of their number already infected with plague, they decide to head back to Roanoke and take their chances with the pirates.  Unless they can figure out how Thomas’s brother, Griffin, who apparently is the solution, can stop the plague, they may all be done for, regardless of what happens with pirates.  I liked this book the best out of the series and the whole series was pretty good but I’ve liked some of Antony’s other books better.  Teens who like fantasy will probably like these.

Peeps

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, 284 pages

Cal is a vampire hunter, except he doesn’t call them vampires.  They’re peeps.  He is actually a carrier of the disease that causes some people to want to eat other people and avoid sunlight, but isn’t affected by the negative symptoms.  Luckily, he does have some of the positive symptoms, like being extra strong and able to see in the dark, so he’s ideal in his role.  But the hunters don’t kill; they only capture.  While people can’t be cured, they can be helped.  However, some strange things have been going on, like large packs of rats congregating, and peeps that seem to be sane and working together.  Cal suspects that he’s being lied to, but isn’t sure who’s doing the lying so doesn’t know who to trust.  If he doesn’t figure it out, he’s worried that people could end up dead.  Maybe even him.  I mostly liked this books.  It’s not my favorite by Westerfeld but I thought it was an interesting premise and that it was fairly entertaining throughout.  I can see why teens who like the genre would enjoy it.

Checked Out

Checked Out, by Elaine Viets, 288 pages

Helen Hawthorne is a Private Investigator who has been hired to investigate the loss of a million dollar painting inside a library book by going undercover as a library volunteer.  Once in place, she gets embroiled in a mystery concerning a potential ghost and a very real murder.  Fans of libraries, cozy-ish mysteries, sort of arbitrary endings, characters with little personality, outdated librarian stereotypes, or that thing where the author lists at the end what happened to all of the characters without actually working it into any sort of chapter, may like this book. 

Affinities

The Affinities by Robert Charles Wilson
300 Pages

"In our rapidly-changing world of "social media", everyday people are more and more able to sort themselves into social groups based on finer and finer criteria. In the near future of Robert Charles Wilson's The Affinities , this process is supercharged by new analytic technologies--genetic, brain-mapping, behavioral. To join one of the twenty-two Affinities is to change one's life. It's like family, and more than family. Your fellow members aren't just like you, and they aren't just people who are likely to like you. They're also the people with whom you can best cooperate in all areas of life--creative, interpersonal, even financial. At loose ends both professional and personal, young Adam Fisk takes the suite of tests to see if he qualifies for any of the Affinities, and finds that he's a match for one of the largest, the one called Tau. It's utopian--at first. Problems in all areas of his life begin to simply sort themselves out, as he becomes part of a global network of people dedicated to helping one another--to helping him . But as the differing Affinities put their new powers to the test, they begin to rapidly chip away at the power of governments, of global corporations, of all the institutions of the old world. Then, with dreadful inevitability, the different Affinities begin to go to war--with one another."

An interesting concept that the writer fails to translate into a gripping book, the ending is sort of anticlimatic.

Uprooted

Uprooted by Naomi Novik
438 Pages

"Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood. The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows-- everyone knows--that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn't, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her. But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose."

 An excellent fantasy novel,  I strongly recommend this title. 

Tutor

The Tutor by Andrea Chapin
356 Pages

"The year is 1590, and Queen Elizabeth's Spanish Armada victory has done nothing to quell her brutal persecution of the English Catholics. Katharine de L'Isle is living at Lufanwal Hall, the manor of her uncle, Sir Edward. Taught by her cherished uncle to read when a child, Katharine is now a thirty-one-year-old widow. She has resigned herself to a life of reading and keeping company with her cousins and their children. But all that changes when the family's priest, who had been performing Catholic services in secret, is found murdered. Faced with threats of imprisonment and death, Sir Edward is forced to flee the country, leaving Katharine adrift in a household rife with turmoil. At this time of unrest, a new schoolmaster arrives from Stratford, a man named William Shakespeare. Coarse, quick-witted, and brazenly flirtatious, Shakespeare swiftly disrupts what fragile peace there is left at Lufanwal. Katharine is at first appalled by the boldness of this new tutor, but when she learns he is a poet, and one of talent, things between them begin to shift, and soon Katharine finds herself drawn into Shakespeare's verse, and his life, in ways that will change her forever."

Supposedly Katharine is the dark lady of Shakespeare's sonnets, his muse... however you would never expect it from this book.  A snore of a historical fiction novel I didn't feel any chemistry between the fictional Shakespeare and Katharine de L'Isle.

Dark Rooms

Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik
323 Pages

"Death sets the plot in motion: the murder of Nica Baker, beautiful, wild, enigmatic, and only sixteen. The crime is solved, and quickly--a lonely classmate, unrequited love, a suicide note confession--but memory and instinct won't allow Nica's older sister, Grace, to accept the case as closed. Dropping out of college and living at home, working at the moneyed and progressive private high school in Hartford, Connecticut, from which she recently graduated, Grace becomes increasingly obsessed with identifying and punishing the real killer"

This book should be very popular with new adults since it has a young adult vibe with some adult themes.  Not a bad book, 3 stars out of 5.

Richard John Neuhaus

Richard John Neuhaus: A Life in the Public Square by Randy Boyagoda, 399 pages

Boyagoda opens his book with two vignettes.  In 1960s New York, young men approach an altar and throw their draft cards into a bowl to be sent to the Pentagon while a Lutheran priest sings "America the Beautiful".  In 1990s Washington, at a Christian Coalition convention, a Catholic priest warns his audience to avoid confusing politics with the Gospel.  The two priests were both Richard John Neuhaus, and the continuity behind the change is as much the subject of this new biography as the changes themselves.

Throughout a long public career, Neuhaus marched with Martin Luther King Jr, was arrested at the 1968 Democratic National Convention for protesting against US involvement in Vietnam, advised Ronald Reagan and George W Bush, and was listed by Time magazine as one of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals" despite not being an Evangelical.  For over four decades he was a persistent voice for the inclusion of religious values in the public square.

In Boyagoda's sympathetic but not fawning account, what was of first and final importance to Neuhaus throughout his eventful life was his vocation as a pastor of souls and evangelist of the Gospel, whether reminding leftist radicals of the virtue of patriotism or Christian conservatives that voting Republican does not wash away sins. 

The Edge of the World

The Edge of the World by Kevin J Anderson, 578 pages

The two nations of Tierra and Uraba are connected by thin piece of land on which rests the holy city of Ishalem, a place of worship and pilgrimage for both. When the holy city is burned to ground it sparks a war between the two great nations. In the years after the fire both nations both set out to fill the blank parts of the map, each seeking allies and knowledge to use against each other in what is destined to be a long war full of atrocities by both sides.
While this book is just under six hundred pages it is actually a fairly quick read with fast paced plot and characters that we actually grow to care about. It also helps that he switches view points between characters so that we get to see why and how events are misinterpreted and how one persons actions cause something terrible to happen. What I enjoyed most about this book though is the depth that Anderson gives his characters as well as the attention he pays to creating their different cultures and beliefs as well as the overall theme of exploration and expanding ones knowledge

OCD Love Story

OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu, 341 pages

There are a lot of reasons that you could be scared away from this book: from the bright yellow and pink cover with a not-great, somewhat out-of-context quote on the back, to the disappointingly generic start (you know the drill: go to school, argue with parents, talk about cute boys, etc.). Assuming you get past those initial hurdles, you could also be turned away by main character Bea's slow descent into increasingly troubling behavior.

The longer that you can stick with it, though, the more you'll be rewarded. This is a novel that's both informative and touching, heartbreaking and full of hope. The ending may be a bit clean, given everything that happens before it, but it's also necessary, like letting out a breath.

This is the kind of novel that is difficult to recommend broadly, but will be irreplaceable for those that struggle through.

Lies We Tell Ourselves

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley, 368 pages

Sarah is one of ten African American students integrating at Jefferson High School.  Nearly the entire white population at school is upset and horrified at this prospect.  The governor shut down the schools and was able to keep them closed until February, so no one started school until the spring.  Sarah and the other students are faced with bullying and harassment every single day.  Of course, Sarah believes in what they’re doing but it’s very hard to go back and face it every day.  To further complicate life for Sarah, there is one white girl, Linda, who is vehemently against desegregation.  Sarah and Linda are forced to work together on a project and the two girls constantly battle about the subject but also come to realize that in another situation, they might actually be able to be friends, or even more.  This was an excellent story that I would highly recommend to any teens interested in books about issues or history and civil rights.

Light

Light by Michael Grant, 413 pages

This is the final book in the Gone series, which should definitely be read in order.  Everyone is still stuck inside the FAYZ.  Now that Diana has given birth to Gaia, who was taken over by the gaiaphage that caused all of the evil that has been happening, no one is safe.  Gaia’s plan is to kill everyone so that Little Pete’s spirit will have nowhere to go, he will die, and the FAYZ will end so that Gaia can take over the world.  Sam and Caine have decided to work together, for once, to try to stop Gaia, but even with the help of the other kids, Gaia may be too powerful for them all.  This wasn’t a bad series but I was glad it finally ended.  It had a level of horror and gore that I normally associate with adult books but definitely read like a teen book.  When all of the deaths are about young people, it’s hard to read.  However, teens that like horror will probably like the series.

Reality Check

Reality Check by Peter Abrahams, 330 pages

Cody’s life is pretty great.  He’s passing all of his classes, is quarterback of the football team with a good chance of a college scholarship, and a great girlfriend, Clea.  Then Clea’s dad decides to send her to a boarding school across the country and then Cody tears his ACL in the first game of the season.  The only reason to keep his grades up was to play football and this is the year scouts will be watching so, not seeing the point anymore, Cody drops out of school and starts work.  Until he finds out that Clea has gone missing from her school.  Even though they broke up before she left, Cody still loves her.  He sets out to help in the search and finds out that there may be a lot more going on than simply a missing girl.  This was a captivating suspense story.  I’m not sure why I liked it so much because it wasn’t really in depth but the characters were relatable and the story really kept moving and made me want to keep reading.  Teens that like suspense and thrillers will almost certainly want to read this book.

No Name

No Name by Tim Tingle, 160 pages

Bobby’s dad is really hard to live with.  He drinks too much and when he drinks he gets mean.  He beats Bobby and sometimes he really hurts him.  When Bobby’s mom leaves on a vacation from work, she doesn’t come back for a long time.  Bobby decides to dig a hole in his backyard and live in it.  He covers it with a door that he hides with leaves and stays there for a week, coming back to the house for food and things while his dad is out.  Bobby loves his dad but he doesn’t feel safe and he doesn’t know if his dad can change.  This was a good book for reluctant teen readers.  It was pretty simplistic and the resolution came about too easily but it was a decent story and an easy read.

Zac & Mia

Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts, 292 pages

Zac is stuck in a room, isolated after his bone marrow transplant.   He hopes that this will put his cancer into remission and he can get out into the real word and see people other than his mom.  Then another young person ends up on the ward, a girl, Mia.  Mia’s type of cancer should be easy to cure but Mia is angry all of the time.  She and Zac start sending notes to each other and end up friends on Facebook but when Zac is released he and Mia lose touch.  Then they meet again, in a really unexpected way.  This was an unusual but really good teen realistic romance story.  

Stones of Florence

The Stones of Florence by Mary McCarthy, 119 pages

Florence.  The home of Dante and Giotto, Donatello and Brunelleschi, Fra Angelico and Leonardo, Boccacio and Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo.  The city where Savonarola preached and the first opera was performed.  The center of European culture for two hundred years.

Novelist and cultural commentator Mary McCarthy wrote The Stones of Florence in the mid-'50s.  She attempts to capture the spirit of the city, of the ways it remained the same and the ways it changed down through its history, from its Roman origins to its Italian present, with an understandable emphasis on its Renaissance golden age.  Although very different from The Stones of Venice, the author justifies her Ruskinian title with the book's central reflection, that "a terrible mistake was committed here, at some point between Giotto and Michelangelo, a mistake that had to do with power and megalomania or gigantism of the human ego."

The 1959 edition is lavishly illustrated, with a full page photograph facing nearly every page of text (it is my understanding that later editions did not include these photos).

The Way You Die Tonight

 

The Way You Die Tonight (A Rat Pack Mystery) by Robert J. Randisi    196 pages

Number 9 in the series.

As always, I look forward to the publication of a new “Rat Pack” mystery. They are fun and easy-going

.

In this episode, Edward G. Robinson needs to learn more about playing poker and try out his character for an upcoming movie, The Cincinnati Kid, with Steve McQueen. 

The Sands Casino owner, Jack Entratter, turns EGR over to Eddie Gianelli, pit boss, friend to the Rat Pack, and fixer of whatever needs to be fixed.  And here, Eddie needs to get EGR into some high stakes poker games, a feat not as easy as it might seem. And of course, this is also a personal favor to Rat Pack Chairman Frank Sinatra.

In the meantime, billionaire Howard Hughes is in Vegas and wants to see Eddie. This makes Eddie a little nervous. What could Hughes want from him?

As Eddie starts to juggle those two balls, Entratter’s secretary has disappeared, only to be found strung up in the Ladies Room down the hall. Eddie calls in his pals, private dick Danny and bruise Jerry from Brooklyn. And with the gang all there, bullets and fists start to fly, plus the guys’ investigations takes them to the seedier side of Vegas.

Another easy read mystery from Randisi. I read The Way You Die Tonight on a 7-hour road trip and loved every minute of it.  I give it five out of five stars.

Saint Mazie

Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg     336 pages

Mazie Phillips’ story opens in 1907 when she receives a diary for her 10^th birthday. 

Rescued from her abusive parents and poverty in Boston by her sister, Rosie, she is now a New Yorker. Mazie LOVES New York. She loves it streets, the men and women who live there, the air, everything. The diary entries are typical of a developing young lady. As the Jazz Age blossoms, Maize blossoms. The entries are spasmodic until about 1916.

Rosie had married a wealthy man who owns the Venice movie theater. Now Rosie is sick, and Mazie needs to help at the theater. Her brother-in-law, Louis, needs someone who is honest and good with money. Therefore she is put in the ticket cage. She feels like a caged animal.

Mazie knows everyone in the neighborhood---from the bums to the upper lower class. That’s who lives in the Bowery. Then the Great Depression hits. Poverty and homelessness become more widespread. By this time, Mazie owns the Venice and throws it open to those most in need. Oh, she’s still showing the movies, but those who need a warm/cool place to stay for awhile are welcome.

The diary entries continue to be spasmodic and include a chorus of voices that help fill in Mazie’s story. While Attenberg’s story ends in 1939, the “Queen of the Bowery,” as she was known, died in 1961.

I was attracted to this story for two reasons: 1) Supposedly more than 90 years after Mazie began writing in her diary, it’s discovered by a documentarian in search of a good story. However, readers never hear from the movie-maker until the last third of the book.  It didn’t work for me. 2) Maize was a real person living; she was profiled in Joseph Mitchell’s Up in The Old Hotel, a collection of short stories based on real people.

I was never able to get into the plot or the characters. In my opinion, Attenberg wasn’t able to pull off the story. That’s why I’m giving Saint Mazie two out of five stars.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
282 Pages

 Gawande examines how the medical system handles geriatric and hospice care in the United States and ways it could do so better.  A though provoking book that makes you look at how families can approach the end of life decisions for their loved ones.

American Made Why making things will return us to Greatness

American Made Why: Making Things will Return Us to Greatness / Dan Dimicco
246 Pages

This non-fiction book takes the premise that the reason the United States is not recovering from the last recession is that we no longer have a solid manufacturing based due to a mistaken attachment to the notion of free trade.  The author surmises that as long as the government doesn't respond to the unfair trade tactics practiced by China  and others our manufacturing companies will continue to try to move manufacturing overseas although it is not logical to do so in the long run.  An interesting book but also depressing since it states we need strong leadership to turn things around and there doesn't seem to be any leadership in the offing with our current government.

The Devil in Her Way

The Devil in Her Way by Bill Loehfelm
276 Pages

"Kicking off her final week of field training, Maureen takes a punch from a panicked suspect bursting out of an apartment. Her training officer laughs it off, and the incident even yields a small victory: the cops recover a stash of pot and guns. But out on the street, on the fringes of the action, Maureen sees something sinister transpire between two neighborhood boys that leaves her shaken, and she knows there’s more to the story than she’s seen. As we follow Maureen’s dangerous hunt for answers, Loehfelm leads us around New Orleans’s most hidden corners and into its darkest outposts."

The middle book of the three books surrounding this character I found it to be the best.  We get to know Maureen a little better and  learn as she tries to fit into her new career.  Overall the series is uneven though and I would hesitate to recommend it to a mystery lover. 

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell She's Sorry

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
352 Pages

"Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other."

A good story with a series of complex and engaging characters and one Wurg.

Monday's Lie

Monday's Lie by Jamie, Mason
287 Pages

"Dee Aldrich rebelled against her off-center upbringing when she married the most conventional man she could imagine: Patrick, her college sweetheart. But now, years later, her marriage is falling apart and she's starting to believe that her husband has his eye on a new life...a life without her, one way or another. Haunted by memories of her late mother Annette, a former covert operations asset, Dee reaches back into her childhood to resurrect her mother's lessons and the "spy games" they played together, in which Dee learned memory tricks and, most importantly, how and when to lie. But just as she begins determining the course of the future, she makes a discovery that will change her life: her mother left her a lot of money and her own husband seems to know more about it than Dee does. Now, before it's too late, she must investigate her suspicions and untangle conspiracy from coincidence, using her mother's advice to steer her through the blind spots. The trick, in the end, will be in deciding if a "normal life" is really what she wants at all."

I enjoyed reading about the relationship between Dee and her mother and felt that the book could have subsisted just on this level but the author also added a mystery to the plot which races to a climatic end. 

The Alchemist

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho          208 Pages

This short novel was recommended to me by a friend. I’d had it on my shelf for many years, but had never gotten around to reading it.  But based on my friend’s endorsement, I grabbed it and started reading. It was nothing like I expected. I imagined a traditional novel, not a fable.

The Alchemist is the story of Santiago, a young Andalusian shepherd boy. He travels from his home in Spain to Morocco and across the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried at the Pyramids. Along the way he meets many spiritual advisors who are represented in such forms as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. It’s in one of the Englishman’s books that Santiago learns the definition of an alchemist---one who believes that if metal is heated for many years, it frees itself of all individual properties.

Along his journey, Santiago does meet an alchemist who helps him find the true meaning of finding the treasure. It’s a story of becoming self-empowered and believing in your dreams.

I found this book very similar to Joan Brady’s God on a Harley. I didn’t relate to it as much, but it was still a wonderful read.  I give it four out of five stars.

Shark Skin Suite

Shark Skin Suite by Tim Dorsey, 322 pages

The Sunshine State's favorite  killer and Florida history fanatic, Serge Storms, has found a new calling or at least a new temporary obsession. Serge wants to become a lawyer. Given the fact that he is a wanted criminal going to an actual law school and getting a degree is out of the question, Serge becomes a freelance "fixer" whose job is to handle some of the more legally dubious problems that come with trials and lawyers. Meanwhile thanks to her determination and expertise Brook Campanella is offered a position at a prestigious law firm and offered whats supposed to be an easy win as her first case. Since this is a Tim Dorsey novel nothing is exactly as it seems as lawyers go missing, banks are foreclosed on, and new evidence is constantly being stolen to be introduced in typical Hollywood fashion.

Another good Tim Dorsey novel with all of the twists and craziness that I've come to expect from his work. The only thing that I felt this book was lacking compared to previous books was the creative deaths and high body count, although given the beginning that is easily excused. 

The Campbell Quest: A Saga of Family and Fortune

The Campbell Quest: A Saga of Family and Fortune by Patrick Campbell MacCulloch   352 pages

The Campbell House Museum and the St. Louis Public Library are teaming up for an exhibit called The Grand Tour. It will run from June 11-August 22, 2015. The exhibit features the 11-month Grand Tour the Campbell’s and their three sons to Europe and Africa.

In anticipation of this joint venture, I decided to read a book I bought several years ago when the author was visiting St. Louis.

The book gives an overall history of the Campbell family from the time Robert and his older brother Hugh left Ireland bound for America in 1822.  Hugh stayed behind in Philadelphia, but Robert went west. Using St. Louis as his home base, he went further west and became a “mountain man,” a fur trader. Robert was skillful in the art of negotiation and soon, with his partner William Sublette, established a trading company and eventually built the Fort Laramie (yes, that one).

After his trapper days were over, Robert returned to St. Louis where he married Virginia Kyle. He became an increasing influence in the St. Louis financial and political world. Among the frequent dinner guests at the couple’s home were Chief Red Cloud and President U. S. Grant.

The Campbell Quest: A Saga of Family and Fortune is filled with letter from Robert and Hugh to each, to their family back in Ireland, and between Robert and Sublette. They provide a window into that world.

However, one thing that I was particularly interested in was Robert’s estate. When he died in 1879, he left (in 2009 terms) $69 million dollars. At that time, it seemed simple to settle. Virginia was still alive as were three of their thirteen children. The youngest son died young in 1890; the oldest son died in 1931, and the middle son died in 1938. However, none of the sons had produced off-spring, legitimate or otherwise. So began a massive undertaking of locating direct heirs with whom the remaining $21 million estate (in 1937 dollars) should be divided. However, the middle son had made a bequest to Yale University. There ensued a fight a fight to determine how much of the remaining fortune should go to Yale and to the heirs, if and when they could be determined and found. The law was quite complicated on how heirs were determined.

The Campbell story is quiet interesting. I was annoyed by the author’s remarks with the family letters. That why I give The Campbell Quest: A Saga of Family and Fortune three out of five stars.

Gate of Angels

The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald, 167 pages

This short novel tells the story of Cambridge physics professor Fred Fairly, who unexpectedly wakes up in bed next to poor nursing student Daisy Saunders after a serendipitous bicycle accident knocks them both unconscious.  Fred's fellowship at the College of St Angelicus requires celibacy.  Daisy's past holds secrets that, in 1912, might make her unmarriageable.  As developments in atomic theory seem to suggest, however, there may be forces that are unobservable, which can overcome any resistance.

Fitzgerald moves the story along briskly, giving tastes of scholarly eccentricity, faculty politics, ghost stories, and mystery without letting them dominate the novel.  Some might find this endearing, others exasperating.  This is the kind of novel where the end comes suddenly, though it does not feel hurried.  Not a great book, but enjoyable enough.

Shadow Scale

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
596 Pages

The sequel to Seraphina has the main character traveling throughout the land trying to enlist other like her who are half dragon, half human or ityasaari.  However her efforts are being stymied by Jannoula, another half-breed who is able to control the minds of the ityasaari.  Seraphina must find a way to defeat Jannoula and save her Uncle Orma from being brainwiped. 

A satisfying sequel but you aren't sure it is going to wrap up until the last 50 pages.

Forgotten Girls

The Forgotten Girls by Sara Blaedel
312 Pages


 "The body of an unidentified woman was discovered in a local forest. A large, unique scar on one side of her face should have made the identification easy, but nobody has reported her missing. As the new commander of the Missing Persons Department, Louise risks involving the media by releasing a photo of the victim, hoping to find someone who knew her. Louise's gamble pays off: an older woman phones to say that she recognizes the woman as Lisemette, a child she once cared for in the state mental institution many years ago. Lisemette, like the other children in the institution, was abandoned by her family and branded a "forgotten girl." But Louise soon discovers something more disturbing: Lisemette had a twin, and both girls were issued death certificates more than thirty years ago. Aided by her friend journalist Camilla Lind, Louise finds that the investigation takes a surprising and unsettling turn when it brings her closer to her childhood home. And as she uncovers more crimes that were committed--and hidden--in the forest, she is forced to confront a terrible link to her own past that has been carefully concealed. "

This book felt flat to me and I didn't really engage with the main character.  The plot line was interesting albeit readily apparent as to who the culprit is in the end.

Voyage of the Basilik

Voyageof the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
348 Pages

"Six years after her perilous exploits in Eriga, Isabella embarks on her most ambitious expedition yet: a two-year trip around the world to study all manner of dragons in every place they might be found. From feathered serpents sunning themselves in the ruins of a fallen civilization to the mighty sea serpents of the tropics, these creatures are a source of both endless fascination and frequent peril. Accompanying her is not only her young son, Jake, but a chivalrous foreign archaeologist whose interests converge with Isabella's in ways both professional and personal. Science is, of course, the primary objective of the voyage, but Isabella's life is rarely so simple. She must cope with storms, shipwrecks, intrigue, and warfare, even as she makes a discovery that offers a revolutionary new insight into the ancient history of dragons."


This is the third book of the Lady Trent series and Brennan has create a world that is like between 19th Century England with dragons.  Interspersed in the book are some illustrations drawn by Brennan as well.  Overall a very imaginative series.

Mademoiselle Chanel

Mademoiselle Chanel by C. W. Gortner
406 Pages


A historical fiction account of Coco Chanel's life  is interesting and I found myself looking up the characters as they were mentioned to find out what happened to them in life.  Sure to be popular with readers of historical fiction and francophiles.

Silex Scintillans

Silex Scintillans, or Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations by Henry Vaughan, from Poetry and Selected Prose of Henry Vaughan, 164 pages

One of the greatest of the Metaphysical poets of 17th century Britain, Vaughan was little known during his lifetime.  The first volume of Silex Scintillans - "The Sparkling Flint" - was followed years later by a second after a nearly fatal illness led to a renewed interest in life and religion.  This shows - while the first volume is fine poetry, the second has an added energy and depth that elevates it to the rank of classic.

Both volumes are solidly grounded in Scripture, with Vaughan making more use of explicit Biblical subjects and models than his Metaphysical peers.  The second volume is also deeply personal, with an interesting combination of reflectiveness and urgency.

Tiger Shrimp Tango

Tiger Shrimp Tango by Tim Dorsey, 306 pages

Florida has become plagued with an epidemic of scam artists, and only one man can set things right in The Sunshine State... Serge Storms. Aided by his perpetually addled sidekick and noir private eye Mahoney, Serge must stop the scam artists and save the girl all while being tracked by the same assassin that killed the woman he loved two years before.

Another successful book by Dorsey, especially for the wide array of scams thought up. I was also glad to see that Serge still hadn't forgotten about the death of a certain character two books ago. Its also good to see Coleman continuing to become more than just extra weight, even figuring out one Serge's murder methods without it having to be explained.  

Beyond Smells and Bells

Beyond Smells and Bells: The Wonder and Power of Christian Liturgy by Mark Galli, 132 pages

In a culture addicted to novelty and devoted to the principle of individual expression, why would anyone want to take part in a prescribed, standardized liturgy?  According to Mark Galli, precisely because it is the cure for what ails us.  Liturgy, if it is really liturgy, is something received, not invented.  It brings participants into a time outside normal time, a foretaste of eternity.  It involves a community - a gathering together in communion - and includes the dead as well as the living.  Ultimately, it is the work of God, not ourselves, and is radically oriented to Him.

Galli is carefully ecumenical, appealing to Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, and Orthodox liturgical practices.  While not as insightful as Cardinal Ratzinger's The Spirit of the Liturgy, Beyond Smells and Bells is likely to appeal to a considerably wider audience - those looking for an introduction to liturgy as well as those looking to deepen their appreciation.

Station Eleven

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel, 336 pages

I remember hearing a lot of buzz about this book- and then, nothing.  But I finally got around to reading it, and I enjoyed it.  The plot is this: a super flu happens and most of the world dies; this is the interlocking stories of a few of the survivors and a few of the non-survivors.  The stories span a wide range of years and include a number of voices, so it's up to the reader to keep them all straight.  One of the voices is that of Kirsten, a young woman who was just a girl when the flu hit, and years later, she is a member of a traveling theater troupe, who offer Shakespeare to the post-apocalyptic communities.  I love the idea of art being essential- the troupe use a Star Trek line as their motto, which really sums up the whole book: "Because survival is insufficient."