White Chrysanthemum

White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht          Audio Book:  10 hrs,, 39 mins    Hardback Book   320 pages                   

Excellent Book set during WWII and the Japanese invasion and capture of Korean women held as prisoners and forced into prostitution even as children.   The author  researched  the topic thoroughly and created a magnificent story of fortitude, courage and strength under extreme duress of Korean women, young girls and children captured and brutalized by Japanese soldiers.during WWII.   It starts off innocent and lovely as a mother and her two daughters who were or became in the youngest sister's case, haenyeo - female divers of the sea who could hold their breath for long periods of time in order to make deep dives in order to collect fish, octupus, crabs, clams, oysters, conch shells and whatever looked appealing that they found on the sea floor to sell to provide food for their families.    The mother always told the older daughter to protect her younger sister and when the older girl saw Japanese soldiers coming down the beach she told her sister to stay quiet and hide all the time praying her mother would continue diving and not come out of the water.   She went to meet the soldiers to avoid their seeing her sister or mother and when forced to go with them, she did so knowing she was saving her family from such a fate.   The story is a sad and brutal one as the poor girl, Hana, is raped and forced into prostitiution though she was a young teenager.   Known as "comfort women,"  the Japanese soldiers used the women to satisfy themselves not caring the pain, shame and cruelty they committed.   Some of the children were raped to death.   It is a gripping, haunting novel that the reader will carry images away from that can't be unseen even if they are the creation of the writer's words.   These atrocities did happen and these women are vindicated today as the story later tells of Hana' s younger sister going to protests against the Japanese and asking for apologies, and charges to be brought against the Japanese regime in honor of these women who suffered unmercifully at the hands of Japanese soldiers who treated them less than human as things to be used then discarded or dealt sharply with to appease their own stress, anxiety and hatred of peoples other than themselves.    An excellent story, I highly recommend it.

Shirley J

Sacre Bleu

Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore             AudioBook: 11hrs, 30 mins     Paperback Book:  432 pages                   

Christopher Moore shows his chops as a historical author with this tour de force detailing how things “could’ have happened in the Café Society of artists, poets, satirists (but predominantly artists) in this really well written book on the likes of Van Gogh, Toulouse La Trec, Monet, and various greater and lesser known in the art world all captivated by the same woman in different guises and who produce a prolific amount of art with no recollection as to when nor how so much could have been achieved in so little time.    The connection is the aqua marine of a special blend of sacre bleu or sacred  blue paint known as such because of the strong association with it being the color most often used when depicting the robes of Mary, the mother of Jesus.     There is a freaky little man with a humongeous body part, a mysterious woman who mesmerizes artistic painters loving them and leaving them syphilitic.     There is such a commaraderie between the artistic community (as in all parts of life  there are jealousies) but for the most part there is such a richness to the friendships and comedic goings on that the story though longer than Moore’s other works, keeps the reader amused to the end.     Props where props are due, Christopher Moore really shines in his writing ability, attention to detail and development of his characters and the storyline.         More serious than comedic though certainly it has its humorous moments, this book was a surprise to me in its seriousness and really well developed and appealingly told tale.    Well done, Christopher Moore.   I would recommend this and all of Moore’s titles, especially, Noir and Fool.   A little in depth in the sexual exploits of the artists but all is described with a tongue in cheek satirical delivery.    Kudos once again to Christopher Moore, who is a far more serious writer than he leads his fans to believe.  

 - Shirley J.

Goldenhand

Goldenhand by Garth Nix, 344 pages

“Lirael lost one of her hands in the binding of Orannis, but now she has a new hand, one of gilded steel and Charter Magic. On a dangerous journey, Lirael returns to her childhood home, the Clayr's Glacier, where she was once a Second Assistant Librarian. There, a young woman from the distant North brings her a message from her long-dead mother, Arielle. It is a warning about the Witch with No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning? Lirael must use her new powers to save the Old Kingdom from this great danger--and it must be forestalled not only in the living world but also in the cold, remorseless river of Death.” The more I read Nix the more I love him. This is a must read for Young Adult fantasy lovers.

Midnight Blue: Sonja Blue Collection

Midnight Blue: Sonja Blue Collection by Nancy Collins  560 pages

This is a collection of three books (in one collection) from Nancy Collins about vampire Sonja Blue. Starting with Sunglasses After Dark, we meet Sonja in a madhouse. After her escape, you learn more about her and how she was created and how unusual she is: she is a vampire who hunts vampires and other Pretenders (succubi, vargr, etc.).  In this first story, Sonja is determined to confront Catherine Wheele, an evangelist with an unusual ability who was the one to put Sonja in the madhouse.  In the second book, Sonja meets Palmer, a private investigator who becomes her partner in searching for Morgan, the powerful vampire who created Sonja.  The second and third books are tied together, as the storyline continues from the second into the third.

I re-read this book about every year or so because I really enjoy revisiting the stories, characters and settings.  Sonja is a fascinating character, as she is one person with a second personality, The Other, inside.  The Other is a much more powerful entity, but it takes both of them to battle Sonja's enemies. I appreciate how Collins makes Sonja a sympathetic character, but also gives you interesting supporting characters. There's lore here that you may recognize from other vampire stories, but a lot of things that are completely new because Sonja is a hybrid creature. 

Black Betty

Black Betty by Walter Mosley       Audio Book:  8 hrs., 35 mins   Paperback Book:  368 pages          

Good book.   I pictured Samuel L. Jackson as the lead character, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins.   The story is told from Easy Rawlin’s perspective.   About a lady named Betty he had a mad crush on when he was a young boy.  He didn’t understand a lot of the goings on but many of Betty’s beaus would give him a nickel or a quarter to watch out to see that they were not disturbed while they went into dark alleys.  Lots of years have passed since those days of Easy’s youth and now someone has come to his door hired by a rich family to find her (Betty).   He was told the Easy Rawlin’s could find anybody and knew everybody.    Seems the rich Beverly Hills family that Betty has been working for for years has reported her missing and they want her back,    Seems there are a lot of whys since this is 1961 L.A. and Rawlins can’t imagine why this rich white family is so hot to find their maid who just didn’t show up to work one day.   Naturally there is way morfe here than meets the eye, and more than once in the story the Easy Rawlins’ is running for his life from white cops, business and property owners from Compton to Ojai, even some of his longtime friends are looking at him and treating him funny like they have it in for him, too.    Trying to take care of his non-blood children he took in from their abusive backgrounds and keep them safe from all the mayhem he is dealing with and stay alive himself from all the people who are now tracking him for his interest in Betty, it is an entertaining, edge of your seat nail biter.    Bodies are piling up and sometimes he just has to allow what will be to be and walk away letting the chips fall where they must (“You know somebody is gonna die, Easy, now is it gonna be you or you gonna tell me the name of who I’m looking for?”)    I didn’t realize this book was part of a series, but, it stands alone just fine, although you suspect there is lots of history between many of the characters.   I am going to have to start at the beginning and check out the Easy Rawlins series.  Mr. Mosley presents the underbelly of life for all to see and tells some fine tales about the goings on there and introduces some of the most well-rounded folks in all their glory and/or infamy as suits.   Good story.   If you like gritty private eye stories you will like this one for sure.     I did.   Highly recommend this to adult readers as there are adult themes involved.   Good book.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor   422 pages

Karou is an enigma. She fills her sketchbooks with fantastical monsters who she says are real (but they can't be, can they?) and she speaks many languages, not all of them human. Who is she? That's the question that has haunted her . . and she's about to find out. Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched into their surfaces by winged strangers. When Karou first sees Akiva, the end result is blood ---- but there's more to their encounter than they first realize.

I have read this book before and thoroughly enjoyed my re-read.  My original review on Goodreads is below, and I don't think I would change anything. I had forgotten how beautifully written this book is and it was a treat to sit down with it again.
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Fantastical and disturbing.  Wonderful and awful.  Heart-breaking.   Stunning.  Beautiful.

I fell in love with this book as soon as I started the first page, right before the real first page, which reads "Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.  It did not end well."     Laini Taylor weaves us into a world filled with wonderful things and awful things, sometimes all in the same place.   Karou is a beguiling character; we learn bits about her as she learns about herself, so we're taken through the story as she is.   I found myself wandering wide-eyed through this book, savoring all the imaginative detail (and wanting to re-read it as soon as I had finished it).   I also found I wanted to book a trip to Prague (but that might not be the reaction everyone has).   The fact that this book contains one of my favorite words, and things: chimarae; so extra, extra bonus points there.   Teeth and tattoos get more points.

I See Life Through Rose' Colored Glasses

I See Life Through Rose' Colored Glasses by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Saratella     Audio Book:: 6 hours, 1 min.      Hardback Book:  352 pages         

This is a hilarious book.   Lisa Scottoline and her daughter Francesa Saratella are so funny!   They share true stories from their lives about the foibles we all go through and can relate whole heartedly to, it is just that we keep our screw ups to ourselves and these gals share them and tell them with such hilarity the reader will laugh all the way through this book.   I recommend the audio book because you will actually hear them telling the stories they share.   They are a riot!   Treat yourself to this read you will be glad you did.   I definetly recommend these gals be put on everyone's MUST READ list.    No mater how your day is going you will laugh out loud.

Bitter Orange

Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller   320 pages

This beautifully written book takes place (mostly) in an English mansion that's slowly falling apart. Frances Jellico has been sent to research the architecture in the surrounding gardens, a welcome change after years spent caring for her mother. Encountering Cara and Peter, she's enchanted by this couple and how easily they seem to embrace her into friendship. However, as the summer continues, Frances can sense things aren't quite rosy between Cara and Peter. Stories that Cara tells her don't quite add up, either. As Frances becomes more and more entangled in their lives, the boundaries between truth and lies start to waver and blur and a small crime leads to another so terrible that it will change all their lives forever.

Fuller tells this story through Frances' perspective, both in the present where Frances is much older, and then in the past, when it's the hedonistic summer of Cara and Peter. Is Frances a reliable narrator? It's hard to say, which means that no, she may not be a reliable narrator at all. Fuller brings the lush setting to life, so you feel immersed in the summer that the three people shared at this dilapidated place. I found Frances to be a sly storyteller at times, where you can't tell if she's quite giving you the real story or not. Her own perspectives on people and relationships are warped, to be sure.  I'd put this in the category of dark mystery, although it's much more than that, as it's a definite exploration of the human soul.

Vision in Silver and Marked in Flesh

Vision in Silver (The Others #3) by Anne Bishop     400 pages
Marked in Flesh (The Others #4) by Anne Bishop  399 pages  (total of 799 between both books)

Books #3 and #4 in this series continue the ongoing story of the struggle between the two groups who inhabit this version of our world: the terra indigene, who are shifters, and the Others (a/k/a humans).  The two books take the story through the anticipated war between these two groups, and it really ramps up when you get to the fourth book.

  I have been enjoying these books, especially how the story picks up in each book where the previous book left off, and how the character development continues, as well. By the time you get into the fourth book, you feel like you really know some of the characters and truly care about what's going to happen to them.  I like that Bishop makes the humans the awful Others in this world --- I can definitely see where she's coming from, since humans in our own world have been responsible for so much destruction.

I see there are more books in this series, which I plan to read since I've been enjoying these books so far.

Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army’s Victory That Shaped World War II

Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army’s Victory That Shaped World War II by Stuart D. Goldman            Hardcover: 185 pgs.             Genre: History, World War II, Mongolia, China, Japan, Soviet Union

     Nomonhan is a Mongolian village straddling the boundary between Mongolia and Manchuria.  Today, Mongolia is an independent country and Manchuria is part of China, but in 1939, on the eve of World War II, the former was a client state of the Soviet Union, while the latter region was controlled by Japan.  The border between them was hotly disputed at the time— so hotly disputed, in fact, that an undeclared war erupted between the Japanese and the Soviets near the small village.  In this book, author Stuart Goldman makes the case that this forgotten border war significantly influenced World War II.  As a result of being soundly defeated by the Russians in the conflict, Goldman contends, Japan turned its attention toward expansion into Southeast Asia, putting it on a collision course with America and resulting in the Pearl Harbor attack.  Hence, the so-called “Nomonhan Incident” (also known as the Battles of Khalkhyn Gol) had a major influence on America’s entry into the war.  Another effect of the decisive Soviet victory, according to the author, was enabling Russia to survive the German invasion of 1941 and ultimately drive the Germans out of their country and all of Eastern Europe, helping to win the war for the Allies.  Goldman gives us a look at the diplomatic strategies of Britain, France, Nazi Germany and Russia leading up to the Second World War, allowing this reader, at least, to better understand the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis agreement.  The author paints Stalin, especially, as a very shrewd leader.  I found these passages fascinating, but they make up less than half of the book.  Most of the book, understandably, talks about the conflict itself (the movement of armies on both sides), but in a very detailed, academic way that I found boring and hard to slog through.  I’m sure military historians and military personnel would find this part fascinating, but I think the average reader would agree with my assessment.  My opinion about the book, then, is divided: one “thumb up” for the diplomatic history and descriptions of grand strategy, but the other “thumb down” for an overly-detailed narrative of the conflict itself.

Written in Red

Written in Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop  433 pages 

"As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others. 

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow."

That's the summary from Goodreads --- I tried twice to write a summary that made sense, but it just wasn't working.  In this world created by Anne Bishop, humans are in the minority and the Others are the majority, keeping the destructive humans from wreaking their havoc on the world (yes, it's easy to see humans as annoying and troublesome once you start reading this story). As you can see from the summary, there are shapeshifters, but they aren't the only Others in this story --- there are vampires and Elementals, as well.

I had enjoyed Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy and when this series was recommended, I gave it a try --- and then after I started the book, was kicking myself for taking this long to pick up these books!  Luckily, I had already picked up the second book in the series (and now will check out the rest). I enjoy Bishop's worldbuilding and character development and the pacing here felt just right. 

Orchid & the Wasp

Orchid & the Wasp  by Caoilinn Hughes   345 pages

It is clear from the writing style that the author is a poet, and the language and focus on the “art” aspect of writing often detracts from the story, as does the protagonist in the is coming-of-age novel. Gael Foess is an intelligent, articulate, opinionated and dislikeable child, and not much better as an adult. She operates alongside beautiful inspiring art while also stealing, manipulating and conning people and situations around her. The novel, narrated by Gael, spans about nine years: a politically turbulent decade that opens with Iraq War protests and closes with the Occupy movement in New York City. The financial crisis temporarily jolts Gael and Guthrie’s father, Jarleth, a high-flying Barclay’s banker who leaves the family in 2008. The biblical parable of the talents, which he recounted to Gael when she was a little girl, comes back to resonate: It’s a potent reminder that money and skills don’t get distributed fairly in this life. When Gael gets to New York in 2011, she plans to redress the balance in two paradoxical ways: living in the Occupy camp and taking part in protests; and secretly earning her brother a fortune on his modern art. 

Written in heart-stoppingly vivid prose, Orchid & the Wasp examines how we inevitably fail our families despite our best intentions; what we are owed and what we must earn; and how our lives can turn us into people we would never have imagined. While this publisher’s précis lured me in, I so disliked Gael’s character, that I struggled through the story, cringing at absolutely everything she did (with the exception of her 11 year-old self trying to set up a business of persuading school girls to break their hymens and then buy supplies of blood “virginity” capsules). While the author tries to tackle a range of societal issues, ultimately her writing style and lack of focus make this rambling story difficult to enjoy.

Posted by:   Regina C.