Alex + Ada Volume 2

Alex + Ada Volume 2 by Jonathan Luna, 128 pages

The science fiction graphic novel series that looked at the realm of artificial intelligence and the dilemmas that result from it certainly took a romantic turn with this second volume.

Now that Ada can feel and love she wants to experience life and everything it has to offer. But when Alex questions if things are moving too fast everything starts to fall apart in their lives.

I was really hoping this graphic novel series would continue to look at the developing issue of AI and the social concerns it would raise. But instead nearly the entire issue is the building love story.

The story was still very good and extremely well illustrated. But it was like I went to a restaurant expecting steak and ended up with a cheeseburger. Here I was expecting AI science fiction and a rights discussion and got a romance. It was still good, but I would have preferred my steak.

Shadows Trilogy

Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card, 451, 348 and 371 pages, (1170 pages)

This Shadows trilogy should is likely actually a quartet that includes Ender's Shadow, but since Ender's Shadow and this trilogy have nothing in common except the main character, I am posting this separately.

Like Ender's Shadow this set follows the life of Bean. That same orphan kid we saw growing up is now a battle school grad and back on earth. But like everyone else that was part of Enders group he is destined never to have an ordinary life.

This trilogy follows Bean though the struggles he faces in fitting in back on Earth, the return of an old nemesis, and trying to stop the world from destroying itself.

I found this series to be very well written, to some extent even more so than Enders Game. But where Enders Game leaves you reeling with a shock, this series is very depressing.

Mistborn Trilogy

Mistborn: Final Empire, Well of Ascension, and Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (647, 796 and 760 pages, 2203 total)

I first came across this series while looking for additional "epics" to work my way through as I continue to wait for more Song of Fire and Ice. The Mistborn trilogy came highly recommended on several book recommendation sites, though some cautioned or complained about the length. Being a veteran reader seeing page totals in the 700's did not even faze me.

In the realm built by Sanderson certain people are born with hidden abilities to use or "burn" certain metals to give them powers. This ability, even if they are born with it, has to be activated by extreme stresses at some point in their life. For the noble born, this is a ritual their children are forced though during puberty. While the majority of people can only burn one metal, there are those that can burn all of them, they are known as the Mistborn.

This trilogy follows Vin, a Mistborn who is living on the streets of Luthadel and surviving as a common thief. Her entire life changes when Kelsier, a legendary Mistborn, reappears in Luthadel and recruits her thieving crew for a dangerous job of overthrowing the Lord Ruler. A supposed god who is not only immortal, but who is also protected by men nearly impossible to kill.

On a whole this series was quite good. I would consider it to be a borderline or introductory epic. It did not quite have the massive world building or character scope that some others are known for. But for that same reason it was an easier read.

Sanderson eventually continues this world with another trilogy set a couple hundred years later.

Spirit and Dust

Spirit and Dust by Rosemary Clement-Moore, 387 pages

Daisy can talk to the dead.  She’s a consultant to the FBI, although some people don’t really believe in her powers.  She’s also not even quite eighteen yet, which makes her situation even odder.  She’s been called to help on a case and in the middle of it is kidnapped by the father of the missing girl that the FBI is now trying to find.  Daisy finds herself bound to him magically to find his daughter and is off with one of his operatives, trying to follow the clues to the missing girl.  This was a funny story, with fantasy, mystery, romance, and adventure.  I liked it and I think that a lot of teens would too.

Homegoing

Homegoing by Michelle Markey Butler, 417 pages

Maudlin is a rarity, a woman who knows how to read.  Living in a land where mostly only trained clerks can read, Maudlin not only knows how, but is the only woman in the land who has been trained as a clerk herself.  Now, a letter has come from a land that no one has heard of, demanding that the people in Maudlin’s lands fix an unspecified problem within the year.  Maudlin is perhaps the only person qualified to ferret out who these people are and what their demands really are.  If she can’t, it is probable that her own people will be attacked and conquered.  This is the first book of The Tall Ships of Saradena series.  I don’t know how many books there will be but I can’t wait for the sequel and I would highly recommend this to people who like fantasy type book that don’t actually have magic.

Archie Giant Comics Party

Archie Giant Comics Party by Archie Superstars, 480 pages

This was a huge collection of Archie comics that I checked out to see how the Comics Plus progam worked.  I like Archie so it was cute and fun to read some of the comics again.  I would definitely recommend the program to kids and teens who like graphic novels.

The Secret To Lying

The Secret To Lying by Todd Mitchell, 328 pages

No one ever noticed James until the day he changed schools and went to the American School for Mathematics and Science, a residential school for gifted teens.  James decides to make up stories about his life at home and cultivate an image of a tough guy, always looking for a fight, but reformed now.  Most people believe him since no one knew him from before.  However, James starts getting messages from someone online who clearly knows that James’s stories aren’t true.  James feels comfortable telling this person a lot about who he really is but he doesn’t even know who the person is he’s talking to.  And as close as he feels, he still isn’t ready to open up about who he really is and what is really wrong.  I really liked this story.  It felt completely real to me and since it was set in my high school, it also really took me back to that time.  I wonder if I like it so much because it’s really that good or because it was so easy for me to relate, but I think it’s both, which means that I plan to start pushing this book on a lot of the teens that come to the Library.

The Lost

The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst, 350 pages

Lauren, not ready to face her mother and what is probably very bad news about her health, starts driving one morning and ends up in a town called Lost.  Unable to find her way out of town, Lauren is stuck there, worrying about her mother, and learning how to survive in a town where everyone has lost something and can’t leave until it’s been found.  Lauren has even more troubles, when the one person who everyone says can help her, refuses to even speak to her.  With the help of only a couple of allies, Lauren must figure out what she needs to do to leave Lost and return home, even as she finds herself falling in love.  I really liked this book.  It’s creepy and intriguing and just a really good story.

The Cinderella Murders

The Cinderella Murders by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke, 303 pages

Laurie Moran is a television producer.  After her initial success with a pilot special called, Under Suspicion, she’s ready to do another episode.  She wants to tell the story of a cold case about a college girl, Susan, who was murdered twenty years ago.  The murder, of course, was never solved and Laurie hopes that the program will, as the last one did, help uncover who committed this crime.  It could be the boyfriend, one of the roommates, or the film producer she was auditioning with, or it could be someone else entirely.  However, Laurie doesn’t dream that the program could make her or anyone she cares about a target.  I really enjoyed this mystery.  The solution wasn’t obvious and there are enough red herrings to keep everything rolling.

Seveneves

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, 867 pages

I’m betting that a lot of people will read this book and most will probably like it.  I found that some parts of it were a little slow but overall, it wasn’t bad.  The basic story is an end of the world scenario that comes from the moon breaking apart.  There are several parts to this story that focus on different people at different times but it’s basically about how the world can ensure that the human race will survive.  Some are sent into space, some go underground, and some go underwater.  The story is focused on the group in space but by the end, the other two groups also factor in.  It’s an interesting idea and a good story but I would have expected more action than I got.

Middle Passage

Middle Passage by Charles Richard Johnson, 209 pages

Rutherford Calhoun is a free African American from Illinois living in New Orleans.  He’s a thief and con who gets in trouble with bill collectors and a schoolteacher who wants to marry him.  Desperate to escape, he stows away on a ship that ends up being a slaver.  He gets a lot more than he bargains for, but despite the horror of the trip, he learns a little bit more about himself.  Although this was a hard book to read, I liked it.  People who are not afraid of a little horror and like historical fiction might want to read this.

City Love

City Love by Susane Colasanti, 325 pages

Three girls who are roommates for the summer before their freshman year of college in New York City all have secrets and are all looking for love.  Sadie is a New York girl, born and bred.  She's still living in the same neighborhood as her parents but was so eager to move out that she didn't even do her laundry before she left.  She has an internship and has met the most amazing man there.  He seems just as into her and she's sure he's her soul mate.  Darcy is a rich California girl who took a year off before starting school.  She's taking classes during the summer to try to make up for some of the previous year.  She was also just dumped by the boy that she was convinced was her soul mate.  Now she's determined to just have fun and not start any serious relationships, until she meets a cute street performer who seems to be perfect for her.  Rosanna is from Chicago.  She's working at a day camp for the summer and wants to become a social worker and change the world, a little at a time.  When she meets a wealthy man at a party for the counselors, she can't believe that he's interested in her or that she's interested in him.  His values are completely different from hers, but she's falling for him anyway.  This book was a completely light, fun story, even with the small, but real, problems presented.  And I loved it, probably way more than I should.

Preface to Religion

Preface to Religion by Ven Fulton Sheen, 228 pages

Preface to Religion is a relatively short, but solid, apologetical work by Sheen, distilled from his popular radio program The Catholic Hour, the predecessor of his even more popular, Emmy award-winning television show Life Is Worth Living.  Sheen was, above all, an extremely talented popularizer of Catholic theology, able to take seemingly abstract ideas and Latin terminology and explain how they relate to everyday life.  Likewise, his own considerable intelligence and learning made him able to explicate broader currents in thought and culture in Christian terms.  All these gifts are put to good use here.

For the reader from the twenty-first century, it is refreshing that Sheen considers religion, not as therapy, but as participation in Truth.  The only path to self-help he offers is "he that shall lose his life for Me, will find it" - it is not an accident that the first chapter is titled "Are You Happy?" and the last "Charity".  For Sheen, the search for happiness is only fulfilled in the self-surrender of love.

Indexing

Indexing by Seanan McGuire, 404 pages

I had this book for nearly a month before I actually got around to reading it and I don't know why I was so hesitant to start it. But finally at the start of a boring bus ride to work I did, and promptly kicked myself for waiting so long.

The premise behind this book, and possible series, is that fairy tales are real and at times they try to get themselves relived in the modern world. On the surface this seems fine, but when you consider some of the horrible things that happen in fairy tales, especially Grimm's it can get ugly pretty fast. An entire city falling asleep, overgrown thorny vines, and murder of various step mothers and family.

There to prevent these fairy tales from taking hold is the ATI Management Bureau. While some of the agents are normal humans, most are comprised of reformed story characters who, with ATI's involvement never went full story. Even though their story has been stopped, or at least paused, they keep the characteristics the story needed. So the main Snow White agent still had the blood red lips, skin the color of snow and raven black hair. She also has animals attracted to her and flowers that grow on the floors in her house. Combined with a somewhat reformed wicked stepsister, a show making elf, and a normal human, her team is one of many trying to preserve New York.

This book starts off well. It presents the chapters as various cases, with the story advancing in the case files. About midway through it does stall out a bit, plus I was getting tired of reading about cases that do not continue the main storyline in any meaningful way. But the ending made up for it, in a very Grimm story kind of way.

I think if you have read the Fables series, and enjoy some of the darker aspects of it, you should give this book a try. 

White Trash Zombie tetralogy

My Life as a White Trash Zombie, Even White Trash Zombies get the Blues, White Trash Zombie Apocalypse, and How the White Trash Zombie got her Groove back by Diana Rowland, 320, 312, 311 and 328 pages (1271 pages)

I had to Google what a four part series is called and websites insisted that tetralogy was the proper term. I guess if it is not people will certainly let me know in the comments.

I am not quite sure how I came across this series. I think that it was a recommendation based on what I had read and again I think that Alice in Zombieland is what triggered the recommendation. I could link my review of that here, but you can find it I am sure.

Basically Angel Crawford is a zombie. Not the kind that is shuffling around aimlessly trying to hunt down someone and eat their brains but the kind the looks just like you and me. Well as long as she has had some brains in the past week or so, otherwise she will start to rot. Luckily she lands a job working at the coroners office and has access to all the brains she needs.

But things start going horribly wrong when other suspected zombies start showing up beheaded. Then there is the zombie mafia, boyfriends, and trying to hold down a job while trying not to rot away.

I like the direction this series takes with the classic zombie idea. In White Trash Zombie world it is a parasite that makes you a zombie. Since this parasite lives in its human host it give that host speed, strength and regeneration abilities simply to protect itself. The downside is it needs brains to survive. This scenario seems a lot more plausible than other zombie fiction and helps make it more believable.

On the whole this series is pretty good. I was not a fan of the titles and I think I got some weird looks reading these books on the bus, but it was worth the read.

Despite the fact that I have caught up with the author, I don't think this series is quite done yet, and certainly has many more possibilities to explore if it wants to.

Dark Hunter Manga series

Dark Hunter Volumes 1-4 by Sherrilyn Kenyon 832 total pages

I mainly read this series to see how well the somewhat overly romantic books by Kenyon were adapted into manga. Going into this series I was expecting long romantic sections cleverly illustrated to imply sexual relations, but obviously not show anything. I was somewhat shocked to see that they tried to just skim over and hint at romance instead of beating us over the head with it. Granted I thought the romance in the original books was overdone to begin with, but it should not be ignored.

The other thing that bothered me about this manga was the detail lacking explanations on who everyone was and what the shadow hunters were trying to accomplish. Sure there was the customary couple sentences that give you the briefest of overviews but nothing well defined. If I had not already read the books, I would have been lost within the first few chapters.

On the plus side I thought that these were very nicely illustrated. Luckily the illustrated characters matched closely to what I had imaged or it might have been harder to read. Nothing takes you out of a movie or adaptation faster than the characters not matching what you thought you would see.

If you have read Kenyon's first couple Dark Hunter novels and would like to see what the characters could look like, I would give this a try. 

Wars of the Roses

Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones, 340 pages

For thirty years in the late fifteenth century, a series a civil wars were waged in England, wars that ultimately led to the extinction of the Plantagenet house which had occupied the throne since the time of Henry II, and the establishment of a new dynasty, the Tudors.  One of the major factions in these wars, the Yorkists, used a white rose as an emblem, but it was only upon the triumph of the Tudors that the white rose merging with a red rose symbolizing the Lancastrian faction to form a blended Tudor rose gave the conflicts their popular name of the Wars of the Roses, and the Tudors their reputation as the great unifiers.

In partial contrast to this popular view of a primarily dynastic conflict beginning with the usurpation of the throne by Henry IV, Jones situates the power struggle as primarily a consequence arising from the Plantagenet defeat in the Hundred Years War and the inability of Henry VI to govern effectively.  The fissioning of the victorious party at every stage produced a continuous supply of disaffected nobles, while encouraging incorrigible schemers in their gambles.  Woodvilles, Percys, Staffords, and Nevilles were every bit as involved in the perpetuation of the wars as the rival branches of the Plantagenets.

Jones' previous work, The Plantagenets, was an excellent account of the rise of the house.  Wars of the Roses is an equally excellent account of its demise.

Tub of Spiders

Tub of Spiders by Jennifer Patterson and David Rowell Workman   237 pages

Heavy sigh. I was really looking forward to this reading this book; the back cover makes it sound scary and the cover lends itself to nightmares. I haven’t come across a really scary book I quite sometime.

From the back cover: “What do you feat most? That is the question Sara Doyle is asked when she wakes up chained to a dirty toilet after a night out with her girlfriend. But what is her sociopathic captor, Russ St. Cloud really after and can she make it out alive?”

So, I turned on all the lights and opened the cover.  It was a horror alright. The illustration of a spider web---on. every. page.—was annoying and got in the way of the story. It even crossed over the text, making it sometimes hard to read. It should have been ghosted. The spider at the beginning of every chapter was fine and worked. However, the funky font used at the top of each page for the title was also way overboard. I realize that the authors are desperately trying to set themselves apart, but their desperation is too obvious.

Then I tried to read the story. It’s all tell and no show---the basic---and first---rule of fiction writing. Rules are made to break, but not that one. It makes the story stilted.  Sara’s diary also presents a problem. Who keeps a diary with full, complete sentences?  It was also stilted and felt contrived.

I have to give Tub of Spiders one out of five stars.

Hotel de Dream

 

Hotel de Dream by Edmund White  228 pages

I picked up Hotel de Dream because I’d read that it was a great read and that it was a forerunner to the popular woman-behind-the-man novels that are so popular right now (think The Paris

Wife by Paula McClain or The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin). Plus it had an extra bonus of having a novel-within-a-novel (Margaret Atwood’s The Assassins). I just love those types of books. 

Hotel de Dream’s featured couple is Stephen and Cora Crane. Stephen is twenty-eight years-old and is dying of tuberculosis. Cora want to go back to England, but fears Stephen is too weak to make the trip. In part, they are trying to escape the gossip mill that swirls around Cora…after all, she is the former owner of a bordello in Florida.

The book jacket says that the Cranes “live riotously, running up bills they ca never pay.” Maybe it 

was because I read only to page 50, but they didn’t seem to be living the high life by any means.

Crane was often visited by his esteemed contemporaries, Henry James and Joseph Conrad. Author White makes a huge mistake when he brings a people like James and Conrad by only using their last names. I had a hard time following when the characters first showed up, trying to figure out who they were.  By the time I reached page 50, I had the style figured out, but it still annoyed me.

Then there is the problem of the novel-within-the-novel. It seems that the Cranes are desperate for money, Stephen, in a rather delirious state, begins to dictate a novel to Cora.

And this is where White really lost me. I read the first excerpt, then the second, but by the time I finished, I was just grossed out. The “new” novel is about a very young male prostitute and his homosexuality. The graphic descriptions are what turned me off.

As a reader, I give Hotel de Dream, one star. The early pages of the story are confusing. As a writer, I give the novel four stars (out of five). Aside from the previously mentioned confusion, once I got past it, the book is well written; it’s just not kind of story though. White’s book has an audience, I’m sure, it’s just not me.

St Philip Neri

St Philip Neri: An Informal Biography by Marcel Jouhandeau, translated by George Lamb, 129 pages

St Philip Neri was born in Florence in the early sixteenth century, but he moved to Rome at the age of 18 and remained there until his death 62 years later.  Renowned in equal measures for his deep piety and joyful spontaneity, he attracted a circle of admirers who would gather for music, prayers, lectures, and discussions.  In time, this was formalized as the Congregation of the Oratory.  Neri's humility and humor made him equally at home with common laborers and princes of the Church, while his mystic ecstasies he kept hidden from the world.

Jouhandeau's unconventional biography is roughly divided into two halves - a personality sketch and a personal history.  This matches the saint's own unconventional, prankish behavior, such as shaving only one side of his face or dancing during audiences with Cardinals.  The author writes less like a biographer than an admiring contemporary, painting a vivid, attractive portrait of the man but being somewhat unjust towards some of those around him - Oratorian and historian Caesar Baronius and Pope St Pius V in particular.

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey, by Andrew Shaffer, 217 pages

Look, I'm not proud to have read the 50 Shades trilogy- but it gives me the authority to say that this is a fairly amazing and spot-on parody of the works of E.L. James.  Imagine, if you will, a young Anna Steal, who is so beyond naive that she is just outright dumb; and a constantly smirking Earl Grey, who is a young billionaire with dark secrets that turn out to really not be that dark this side of the 1950s.  There are some pretty hilarious pieces of writing in here- including an in-depth description of how elevators work, helicopter escapades, characterizations of Anna's friends that are much more interesting than those in the original, everything that happens in the Dorm Room of Doom, a guitarist almost killed with a 16-sided die, and repeated uses of the phrase "they gazed gazingly at each others gazes."  

Sweet

Sweet, by Emmy Laybourne, 272 pages

Laurel is a little overweight, but pretty comfortable with her body and happy with her life.  But since her friend, Viv, who constantly obsesses over her weight, got her a free ticket to accompany her on the Solu Cruise to Lose, she can hardly refuse.  Solu is a new sweetener that guarantees rapid weight loss results, and while Laurel is too seasick to eat, she observes that the people around her are losing weight.  But they're also acting pretty strangely- almost like addicts.  And then... then it gets scary.

I liked this- I especially thought it had a really good ending.  As I closed the book, I prayed a little pray: "Dear Emmy Laybourne, please don't do that thing that so many YA novelists do where you can't leave a book alone and you feel like you have to turn it into a trilogy when it's perfectly fine just as it is. Amen."  But just now, looking it up on Goodreads, it has "Sweet #1" in parentheses after the title, which is disheartening.  But if you're looking for a good creepy or sort-of-horror-y YA read and you don't mind some kind of gross scene descriptions, try this one.

Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, 184 pages

Charlotte is a terribly intelligent spider- she can read and spell words into her web.  Which, for some reason, she takes upon herself to do in order to save the life of young Wilbur, a very cute little pig who really wants a friend.  By spelling such phrases as "Some Pig" into her web, the farmers and the whole town come to appreciate the young pig.  And at its heart, this is a story about coming to terms with death as being a part of life, and as such, it's a rare and welcome work in the juvenile canon.

But... you guys.  You guys!! I know this is not a popular thing to say, but I found this book problematic.  Like... what's Wilbur's deal?  He spends the entire book being adorable, but absolutely helpless- the only way he makes it past page 1 is by being saved by young Fern, and the rest of the book is a series of saves by other strong females relegated to the background, culminating in being saved by a smart, well-educated spider who WRITES HUMAN ENGLISH WORDS INTO A WEB.  But the PIG is the one who is seen as spectacular! There is a total of one character who notes that the spider is the extraordinary one- Mrs. Zuckerman- and she is promptly ignored.  And I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone else who made it a lifetime without reading this, but Charlotte dies happily because she has saved Wilbur and got to have a bunch of baby spiders.  Also, take my advice and don't make that last point loudly at a baby shower because everyone there will give you a death glare or cough awkwardly and it will get really quiet and you will feel like a terrible person.

Counting by 7s

Counting by 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan, 380 pages

Willow Chance is a twelve-year old outsider- she doesn't have friends, she has "weird" interests, and she's basically a genius, which makes life difficult at any age.  But when tragedy strikes, she finds friendship in unexpected places, and all those who cross her path seem to be changed for the better, also.

I will be honest- this is one of those books that I checked out because someone recommended it, and then I started it and thought it wasn't really for me.  But since this particular book was lost in the great Vinegar Explosion in Molly's Car of 2015, I felt obligated to at least finish it to justify the fact that I had to pay for its replacement. <Sigh. The shame!>  It wasn't bad- any young outsiders might actually be into this.

The Invisible Ones

The Invisible Ones, by Stef Penney, 399 pages

Ray Lovell is a private investigator.  He is also half-Romany, which makes him the only option for investigating the disappearance of a young Gypsy woman who hasn't been seen in years.  The travelling community is a tight-lipped one that doesn't take to strangers of any kind, making Ray's investigation harder than it should be.  But as Ray gets closer to the truth, he realizes that young Rose Janko's disappearance is the least of the mysteries he must uncover.  This was an acceptable mystery, with an ending that wasn't obvious.  There are also some interesting insights into the British travelling community.

The Hummingbird's Daughter

The Hummingbird's Daughter, by Luis Alberto Urrea, 528 pages

This is one of those books that has a really interesting backstory to its very writing.  Urrea grew up hearing of a nineteenth-century relative of his who was a Mexican saint and was exiled to America for being a danger to the Mexican government.  (My family definitely doesn't have any characters like that in the archives.)  Over the course of twenty years or so, Urrea worked on this fairly giant book that combines Mexican folklore and history with family history and legend.  It's a beautifully written story- with tons of descriptive language and untranslated Spanish curses, as well as a healthy dose of seldom-taught Mexican history.   Long story short: Don Tomas Urrea is a rancher in Mexico, who also happens to love the ladies.  One of his illegitimate children is Teresita, a young lady who has a gift that grows over the course of the book and leads to her death.  Well, sort of... no spoilers here.  This book has a couple of really great characters and relationships and was just a sensory experience that deserved more time spent with it.

Dead to the World (iZombie #1)

Dead to the World (iZombie #1), by Chris Roberson (ill Mike Allred), 144 pages

Gwen is a gravedigger, and also a high-functioning zombie who has to eat a brain once a month in order to avoid becoming a stereotypical "braaaaains" sort of zombie.  I think it will make more sense in future issues.  Anyway.  When she eats a brain, she gains the memories of the dead person- and when the brain she eats appears to have been the victim of a weird culty murder, she sets out to investigate.  She has a couple of friends- a weredog who is unrequitedly smitten with her, as well as a 1960's ghost.  This could be a cute little series, if you're into mysteries, zombies, and/or strong female characters.

Little House in the Big Woods

Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, 238 pages

I remember watching "Little House on the Prairie" on tv- but I don't think I ever read the books.  So I decided to read the first book, just to get a feel for what it was like and whether it stands up.  Like, when kids check it out, is it because they like it or because their moms think they should like it?  But I was surprised to find that it really did hold up- I can see why this is one of those classics that kids keep checking out. Laura is one of three girls- she has an older sister, Mary, and a younger sister, usually called baby Carrie.  They live with their Ma and Pa in the titular big woods.  The book really feels more like little stories strung together over the course of a year rather than one big story arc- which is good for breaking the book up for a young reader.  And the stories are interesting- the reader hears about how butter was made, how Pa fought a bear that turned out to be a bush and how Ma smacked a cow who turned out to be a bear, and how maple syrup is made.  The appeal is that readers get to hear the little details of a lifestyle long gone.  It's simple and "wholesome," but without being purposefully so.  I'm not going to finish out the series, but I'm glad to have revisited it and gained the perspective.

Jupiter's Legacy

Jupiter's Legacy, by Mark Millar, 120 pages

This is one of those comics where I heard the plot and thought, "That sounds interesting"; then the copy arrived and I saw the cover and thought, "This does not look promising"; then I read it and thought, "Meh. It was... alright." Here's the general idea: a group of people discover a mysterious island and then become the world's first superheroes, with superpowers and all.  Then they have children who also have superpowers but are basically entitled and resentful of their parents.  Infighting happens, the families kind of break apart, and then there's a dramatic conclusion that paves the way for the second book that I will not be reading.  It wasn't bad- just not for me.  I was hoping more for an Astro City sort of non-canon superhero comic.

The Rib and Thigh Bones of Desire

 

 The Ribs and Thigh Bones of Desire by Sandra Hutchison   405 pages

I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention to the title of this book when I entered the Shelf Awareness newsletter contest; I was more captivated with the story and the cover. I kinda cringed when it arrived in the mail; seemed a little too much erotica for me. But, luckily, the story lived up to, and exceeded, my expectations.

The story opens with David Asken and his family returning from their family vacation at Walt Disney World. David hates to fly, that's obvious with the first sentence: “What was the point of being married, David wondered, if he couldn’t at least have a little company while he was pretending not to be terrified?” They are flying through a thunderstorm. Suddenly the “engines roared and the plane lifted steeply up again…the plane suddenly lurched left.” I was hooked and settled into my chair for a wonderful read.

Chapter Two starts with David’s family’s---wife, Elaine, and daughter, Emily---memorial service. How he escaped, he has no idea. All he knows is that he will never be the same, physically, emotionally, and mentally.

David has been relying on his sister while he was in the hospital. Now that he’s out, he depends a lot on Emily’s babysitter, sixteen-year-old Molly. She has become, basically, his housekeeper.

Molly has her own horrors to survive. Her mother, a celebrated artist, created a work to memorialize Molly’s puberty. It’s a statue made of tampons, logically called Tampon Girl. The mocking is so bad, she’s forced to change schools. Plus her mother is known to have a different man at the house every weekend when Molly goes to her father’s. As the two try to cope with what life has thrown at them, it’s not easy for either. 

The Ribs and Thigh Bones of Desire is an honest look at grief and coming to grips with their new normal. At first Molly is David’s caretaker and lifeline. But as the story progresses, David becomes Molly’s caretaker and lifeline. In the coming-of-age novel, both protagonists must learn life’s lessons the hard way.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, Hutchison’s second novel. While the premise of the novel does become sexual, it’s not gratuitous. The plot never disappointed. I give The Rib and Thigh Bones of Desire five out of five stars…Hutchison is my new favorite author.  

The rest of the Meg Langslow mystery series

Owls Well that Ends well, No Nest for the Wicket, Penguin who knew too Much, Cockatiels at Seven, Six Geese A-slaying, Swan for the Money, Stork Raving Mad, Real Macaw, Some Like it Hawk, Hen of the Baskervilles, Duck the Halls, The Good, the Bad, and the Emus, Nightingale Before Christmas, and Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews, 4231 pages

In my earlier review of Andrew's first five books I compared her to Jasper Fforde and his Thursday Next series. While I have still enjoyed reading these books, the over the top silliness has certainly faded, and so has the likeness to Fforde.

All of these books are cozy mysteries. Since I did not know what cozy mysteries were while reading this series, allow me to explain. Cozy mysteries seem to be mysteries where the crime and the investigation of said crime takes place in a small community. They seem to require a nosey character who is not content to let the police solve the murder and investigate by asking around. Since the murderer is normally from the same community, the motive are more commonly revenge, greed or jealousy rather than drugs or violence. They also seem to have some sort of comedic element to them, and commonly have puny titles.

Since these are all part of the Meg Langslow mystery series, they obviously continue to follow her. My earlier suspicions that way to many murders happen around Meg still holds true, though the mysteries seem to be much better spaced in the later books with half a dozen months between them ex. Nightingale Before Christmas takes place at Christmas while the next book Lord of the Wings is the following Halloween.

All of the characters are fairly likeable and even some of the murders have not been all that evil. Something to watch out for though, the more people that dislike you, the more likely you will be murdered. It not only helps you not feel sorry about the murderee (Yes this is a real word according to Merriam-Webster) but also makes for a huge suspect list. Unlike most mysteries I have read in the past, I have only rarely guessed who the killer was before the reveal. Though having learned Donna's style I have gotten better.

Sadly, with my completion of Lord of the Wings, which came out this year, I have caught up to the series and must start the long and cruel wait for more books. Though with a little luck Donna will be writing a little more frequently than George R.R. Martin.

Legion

Legion by William Peter Blatty, 269 pages

Legion is Blatty's sequel to his best-known work, The Exorcist (Legion was eventually adapted into The Exorcist III, which Blatty directed himself, although the studio insisted on adding elements to justify the Exorcist title).  Detective Kinderman returns, investigating a series of murders that seem to be the work of a serial killer known to have been killed decades ago.  Father Dyer, Father Damien's best friend and fellow Jesuit, also returns, having forged a bond with the surly detective in the years since Damien's death.

Where The Exorcist held out the hope that the existence of supernatural evil implies the existence of supernatural good, Legion asks why natural evil seems to pervade the human world and whether there is any hope against it.

Unfortunately, the novel's problems run deep.  Kinderman, while initially charming in his endless, garrulous, rambling monologues, eventually becomes tiresome.  The Gemini killer is a silly Hollywood caricature of a serial killer.  The ending is absurdly anti-climactic, although it is thematically appropriate.  This is one of those instances where, against stereotypes, the movie is better than the book.

Poems of St John of the Cross

The Poems of St John of the Cross by St John of the Cross, translated by Roy Campbell, 48 pages

The sixteenth century Spaniard St John of the Cross was a unique genius as a poet and as a mystic.  One of the leaders of the Discalced reformers of the Carmelites, St John wrote many of his poems while he was imprisoned by his unreformed brethren - some of them were composed without pen or paper.  His poetry is self-consciously in the tradition of the Song of Songs - achingly beautiful love poems about absolute Love.  In Roy Campbell the saint found a translator with both the talent and the sensibility his works require.

On Friendship

De Amicitia by Marcus Tullius Cicero, translated by WA Falconer, 52 pages

Tully's De Amicitia ("On Friendship") takes the form of a dialogue between Gaius Laelius, a distinguished Roman statesman, and his two sons-in-law, one of whom is Quintus Mucius Scaevola, Cicero's own mentor and his supposed source.  Throughout, Laelius refers to his own recently deceased friend, Scipio Africanus, as the foremost model of friendship and virtue. 

For Cicero, friendship is a vital, necessary component of human life.  He follows Aristotle in declaring that the highest, most enduring form of friendship is that which is rooted in virtue.  The sharing of virtue not only grounds friendship on a foundation which can withstand the challenges of life, but reveals true friendship as a commingling of personalities, a communion of persons.

Apologia Pro Vita Sua

Apologia pro Vita Sua: Being a History of His Religious Opinions by Bl John Henry Newman, edited by Martin Svaglic, 253 pages

For decades after his conversion to Catholicism, Bl John Henry Newman's reputation was shadowed by the suspicion that he had, in fact, converted secretly long before he converted openly, but remained an Anglican as a sort of secret agent so as to lead pious Anglicans to Rome.  These nebulous suspicions were impossible to dispel, until a passing comment in a book review brought them into the open.  Newman's ultimate response was the Apologia pro Vita Sua ("Argument for My Life"), which stands alongside St Augustine's Confessions and St Teresa of Avila's Life as one of the great spiritual autobiographies.

The edition of Newman's "History of His Religious Opinions" edited by Martin Svaglic includes an extensive index, notes, and the original documents from the war of pamphlets waged between Newman and his critic.  The supplemental materials are so voluminous - half again as long as the text itself - that they may seem intimidating.  Indeed, Newman's memoir presumes some acquaintance with personalities and movements within nineteenth century Anglicanism, making notes essential for most readers.  Yet the development of the central theme of the work, an honest man seeking truth even if it means abandoning all he has, has a convincing vitality that shines through obscurities of time and space.

Turning Season

Turning Season by Sharon Shinn, 341 pages

Karadel is a shapeshifter who is trying to figure out a way to control her shifting.  Using the blood of other shapeshifters, she injects herself in hopes that she can control what she changes into and how often.  She's a pretty solitary person but has a few good friends and one night when she goes out with one of them she meets a guy who is clearly not a shapeshifter and knows nothing about her world.  But Joe is a really nice guy and Karadel finds herself falling for him. When other problems start to surface, Karadel is glad to have someone to turn to, but isn't sure how or if she can tell Joe her secret.  This book is part of the Shifting Circle series and I really liked it.  People who like fantasy that have some romance in it will enjoy this book.

Specials

Specials by Scott Westerfeld, 350 pages

This is the third book in the Uglies series.  Tally and most of her friends have been made into Specials.  They can think more clearly than most pretties, although their brand of Specials are called Cutters, because they cut themselves and the pain helps see and think clearly.  They are also enhanced physically and are basically killing machines.  They are charged with finding New Smoke, where people are trying to undermine the whole system of uglies and pretties.  Tally and Shay figure out a way to help Tally's boyfriend, Zane, escape from New Pretty Town.  Tally is sure that Zane will prove that he can be a Special too, if he can get out.  Shay also thinks that they can use Zane to find New Smoke.  The plan works, but New Smoke is not at all what they expect.  I've enjoyed this series.  I can't say that I love it but I also think that it probably has a fairly wide teen appeal, especially those that like science fiction.

Go Set A Watchman

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee, 278 pages

Tiger already reviewed this so I'm not going to spend any time on plot.  I'm just going to say that I liked it.  I read it aloud to someone who loved it.  I thought there were some flaws but I thought that a lot of the flaws could have been fixed by a good editor, so I was a little disappointed that some of that wasn't fixed but I liked the story and I wasn't bothered by the whole "Attiucs is a racist" storyline.  I understand why Lee was concerned about it being published and it probably could have and would have been more polished if she had intended to submit it for publication but overall I still enjoyed it.

The Alex Crow

The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith, 317 pages

As most of Smith's books are, this was a little bizarre, but I really liked it.  Ariel is a refugee who has come to the United States and is living with an American family, including a new brother, Max, who is almost exactly the same age.  Most of the book is Ariel's story, partly before he came to the United States and partly after.  It is interspersed, however, with the journal entries from a failed Arctic expedition several years ago and also with the story of a man who is driving around in a Uhaul truck while losing his mind.  The most fascinating story is Ariel's, but the all of the stories come together in a fascinating conclusion.  This book is mostly for teens who like realistic stories with a touch of science fiction, as long as they are ok with the bizarre aspects.

Visitors

Visitors by Orson Scott Card, 598 pages

Rigg, with his friend Umbo and sister Param, is still trying to devise a plan to save their planet, Garden, from destruction.  Rigg's double, Noxon, plans to travel to Earth to see what he can find out about the motives of the humans there while Rigg travels to the different wallfolds on Garden to try to figure out something from Garden's end that might have provoked the attack.  With their abilities to shape and travel in time, the friends should be able to figure out what is happening, but if they don't make the right decisions, Garden could end up a pile of rubble.  I really liked the last book in the series best of all of them.  I had a harder time getting involved in the first two books but this one was a little better.  I can't say that this is my favorite series by Card but it's pretty good and most teens who like fantasy will enjoy it.

Miracle in the Rain

 

Miracle in the Rain  by Ben Hecht   52 pages

When I was a kid back in the late 1960s-early 1970s, I loved to watch old black-and-white movies on Sunday afternoons. One of those films that stuck with me was Miracle in the Rain, a rather sappy WWII romance. I hadn’t seen it again until recently when it aired on TCM.

The 1956 movie starred Van Johnson and Jane Wyman. Really I only remembered the final scene; it had stuck with me for all those years. 

Watching the credits, I saw that the movie was based on a “novel” by Ben Hecht, who also wrote the screenplay. I was excited to learn that the St. Louis Public Library had a copy.

The “book” turned out to be a short story---or as one is defined in 2015---of only 52 pages. The genre was current fiction when it was written in 1943, but now I would consider it historical fiction.

The film was true to the story. A lonely woman living in New York, caring for her mother, meets a lonely solider about to be sent overseas when she stops to wait out a rainstorm. He, Art Hugenon, inserts himself into her, Ruth Wood, into her life. And lickety-split, they are in love.

The movie had to add scenes to stretch it out but that didn’t take away from the storyline. It’s still a sappy WWII romance, but the plot is strong, the character well-developed, and the perfect amount of details.

I have to admit, I loved watching the old movie again, and reading Hecht’s story. It’s a great way to kill a couple of hours. Sentimentally, I give Miracle in the Rain, five out of five stars.

Arts of the Beautiful

The Arts of the Beautiful by Etienne Gilson, 182 pages

In this brief study, Gilson's approach is that of philosophia ancilla artis - an inversion, but a necessary one, of the values of Truth and Beauty.  Necessary because, in Gilson's view, it is precisely the attempt to evaluate Beauty in terms of Truth that has resulted in a deformation, not only of philosophies of art, but of art itself.  In true peripatetic fashion he concentrates on making distinctions - between knowing and making, between utility and beauty, between the creation of art and the perception of art.  In the process he critiques various theories of art, including those of Plato, Nietzsche, and Valery.  Gilson's own analysis establishes the will to create as rooted in the fundamental fecundity of Being itself.

Perhaps Gilson insists too much on his distinctions - although admitting the ontological unity of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, he holds them as strictly separate on the human level.  Whether perception of the one can transcend the human and embrace the others is an aesthetic question formally separate from the artistic.