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The Company by K. J. Parker: Book Review

A group of comrades-in-arms have almost all gone back to live in the rural area where they came from. Some are faring better than others but they all seem to be at a loss as to what to do with themselves now that the war is over. Things change when their long-time leader, Kunessin, finally retires from the military and comes back to ask them to form a colony on an island with him, free from all care. They'll hire some indentured servants, find some wives, and they'll all live happily ever after. The company agrees, they set off, new wives and servants in tow, and find that life on the island is not as easy or as simple as they expected it to be. This author was very highly recommended to me by an old friend from high school. I haven't seen her in years but I've seen enough of her on Facebook to trust her recommendations. I chose this book to start with because I could easily download it from the library website rather than waiting a week or so for a physical copy of another work to transfer in to my local library. I felt a little hesitation on her part when I said I had picked this book but she didn't actively dissuade me from reading it. She just warned me to make a list of the character names. Good thing because I couldn't even remember who was whom among the five main characters, much less the wives and servants. It was a losing battle from the get-go. To me, that signals a lack of good characterization. I have read books with much longer lists of characters and never even hesitated as to who they were (A Song of Ice and Fire is the immediate example.…

The Big Beautiful by Pamela Duncan: Book Review

Cassandra Moon, firmly in her 40s, is finally getting married. She's been taking care of others all her life and now she's looking forward to having someone else take care of her for a change. All she has to do is walk down the aisle and say "I do." So why does she find herself in her wedding dress, driving like a bat out of hell in the honeymoon limo and heading for the coast, still a single woman? She must be crazy. She ends up staying with her Aunt May and Uncle Walton in Salter Path, NC. She loved visiting there as a child and she's hoping to get some time to herself to figure out what she really wants. Everyone else is always telling her what she should want and she's tired of it. She just needs some downtime to get things straight in her own heart and mind. I have enjoyed all of Pamela Duncan's books but this one is my favorite. Cassandra first showed up in Moon Women. In my review of that book, I wrote, "Poor Cassandra. I wasn't entirely happy with her story, but there's a glimmer of hope for her. I'll have to dive into The Big Beautiful soon to see how she ends up." I am much happier with her story now. She does a lot of growing up and thinking and gets a stronger backbone. I want to start praising her to the skies but I don't want to spoil anything. Her development and her reactions all felt real and right. She has a great big heart and I think she finally starts to focus on her strengths and blessings rather than her shortcomings. I just love books where women make that journey successfully. The other characters in the book were…

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! by Fannie Flagg

Dena Nordstrom is on the verge of making it big as a female newscaster in 1970s New York, but she’s not dealing well with the stress of the job and some unresolved issues from her past. This was enjoyable enough. My favorite parts featured the extended family living in Elmwood Springs, Missouri. I kept reading Aunt Elner’s speeches out loud to my husband. She just cracked me up! And I loved the little chapters that featured “Neighbor Dorothy’s” radio show. They sound so homey, cheerful and nice. If you find yourself reading this and enjoying these parts the best, pick up Standing in the Rainbow. That book is more about Neighbor Dorothy’s family. There were whole chunks of this book that could have been included in an essay entitled, “What’s Wrong with the News Industry Today.” I agreed with them, but they got preachy and old. The book sort of settled into stereotypes. The big city people were mean and money- and power-hungry. The small town people were friendly, neighborly, gossipy, and not all that bright. The one Southern lady didn’t seem to realize that the Civil War was over and could tell you your family’s history and Civil War genealogy based on your last name alone. The big secret felt a bit anti-climactic at first. Luckily, the author switched the point of view and showed exactly why the big secret was so terrible and so secret. So I did eventually understand. I can’t believe I missed how significant it was in the first place, to be perfectly honest. But I was definitely surprised when I found out what it was. The times, places, and points-of-view did shift pretty frequently, but everything was clearly labeled at the beginning of each chapter, so it was easy to keep up with. There…

Heartless by Gail Carriger: Book Review

**SPOILERS FOR SOULLESS, CHANGELESS, AND BLAMELESS** Alexia Maccon, nee Tarrabotti, is back in residence at Woolsey Castle. She's gloriously pregnant, not very happy with the way the infant-inconvenience is trying to slow her down, and firmly resolved to keep on with her daily business as usual. When a ghost appears to her and manages to gasp out a warning about a plot on the Queen's life, Alexia starts trying to stop events before they get out of hand. Alexia is back and how I do love her! I haven't reviewed Blameless because I was a little disappointed in it. Not that it wasn't good--it was--it just didn't live up to the incredibly high expectations I have for this series. With Heartless, I feel that we're back on track. What I really love about this series is the characters. They are all just so memorable! We're getting up to a pretty big cast now and I have no trouble keeping track of them. Of course soulless, pragmatic Alexia is far and away my favorite, but Lord Maccon, Lord Akeldama, Madame Lefoux, Floote, Biffy, Ivy--I just love them all. I sit reading, grinning like an idiot, with the occasional giggle (Zombie porcupines? Really?) and laughter (There's a new character at the end whom I just can't wait to see more of). This being a book about Alexia Maccon, the action is of course practically nonstop, if leaning a bit more toward waddling than striding. I would snatch it up every chance I got just to read a few more lines. The climax has to last 50 pages but it never flagged; it just kept getting better and better. By the time things wrapped up, I was delighted with how thoroughly Ms. Carriger had managed to shake up London's supernatural scene. Read this…

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill: Book Review

Victoria McQueen, known at different times as Vic or The Brat, inadvertently discovers she has a special gift when she's about ten years old. If she wants to find something badly enough, she can ride her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike across a rickety wooden covered bridge and find whatever she's looking for on the other side. The problem? The physical bridge was torn down; she's creating a new one with her mind. After finding a kidnapper and helping to put him behind bars in her teens, Vic's life spirals out of control. She thinks she's crazy so she starts drinking and doing drugs, with stints in mental hospitals and rehab. But she gets her act together quickly when she finds out that Charlie Manx, the kidnapper, is no longer in prison. I thought I would probably get to this point after reading his other work but with NOS4A2, it's official: I love Joe Hill. He is a helluva writer. I'll be reading his books as they come out. Well, I've been doing that since Horns, but I'll continue doing it. I was hooked from very early on. I wouldn't even say that the pacing is all that fast, but it is a very steady burn. There's a lot of back story and filling in the blanks but it's all just so intriguing that I kept plowing through. I haven't been reading particularly fast recently but I still managed to tear through all 680+ pages in about ten days. And that's including a long, busy weekend out of town. What really kept me turning the pages was the big heart at the center of the story. Vic's tough but she had a rough childhood and she's had a rougher adulthood. She pushes everyone around her away but that's because she loves…

Drawing Down the Moon: Book Review

Charles Vess's fantasy artwork has been collected in a beautiful volume. I love just about every piece of art in this book. The few that I don't like are probably the few that are science fiction. I am not at all knowledgeable about art so I can't write in any kind of meaningful way about it. I do know what I like and I most definitely like this. I tried hard to take my time poring over this book. I can flip way too fast through illustrated books, focusing too much on the words. I knew that Vess hides a lot of details in his work and it would be worth the time to look carefully at every page. It was. The vibrant colors, the classic fantasy elements with the occasional modern twist thrown in, this collection was all that I expected it to be and more. The problem is that now I want to add all of the books he's worked on to my wishlist! He's been a busy man! I already own quite a few of them because he tends to collaborate with authors I love in their own right, such as Charles de Lint and Neil Gaiman. I did not realize that Vess had worked on an illustrated edition of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series but now that I do, I feel the burning need to own it. Unfortunately, it was apparently a limited edition and is now pretty much unavailable or way beyond my means. Here's hoping for a wider release. Fans of fantasy art and/or writing will love this collection. It will be displayed proudly in my home. Find author Charles Vess on his website and Facebook. Buy Drawing Down the Moon at Malaprop’s | Better World Books I…

Apologies to My Censor by Mitch Moxley: Book Review

Mitch Moxley hits a personal low in his mid-twenties. His career is pretty much nonexistent and he's tired of the cold, gray Toronto winters. He starts looking for jobs overseas and stumbles on a job working for a state newspaper in China, the China Daily. He applies and lands himself a one year contract. He heads on over, knowing that he isn't really prepared for life in Communist China but not really understanding what that means. He has issues with censorship at the paper almost from the beginning and quickly gives up trying to change anything or doing any actual reporting. He makes some friends, offends some people, drinks a lot, and starts heading down that tired old expat path. Luckily, he does change directions. He finally goes into life in China with a bit of a Yes Man attitude and finds himself in some unbelievable situations. He watches all the buildup for the Olympics. He starts doing some serious reporting. Through it all, he slowly slides closer to the Chinese side on the Foreigner/Chinese scale. I like reading books about people who are brave enough to pack up and move away from everything they know, not just to another city, but to a whole different country. I can't even begin to imagine the culture shock, especially going from Canada to China. I have been disappointed a couple of times in other books when the author chooses to write about his or her experiences partying and drinking. That is not even remotely what I'm looking for when I pick up this kind of memoir. Mitch started down that path and I got worried but then he turned himself around and started writing about life in China, not life in bars. He started getting out and experiencing things that I can't…

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink: Book Review

When Michael Berg is 15, he has an affair with Hanna Schmitz, who is over twice his age. The affair does eventually come to an end, but their lives are intertwined afterwards. This book should have been passionate, challenging, and emotionally wrenching. But I just felt too distanced from everything. I’m trying to decide if this is because it’s told from Michael’s point of view and he’s a detached kind of guy, but mostly I don’t care. I see what it could have been versus what it is and I’m frustrated. I think the big conflict at the heart of the novel was supposed to be condemnation versus understanding and how hard it is, or even impossible, to feel both at the same time. I think I was supposed to question what I would have done in each character’s place, but I was too aggravated with Michael to have room for introspection. I was too busy wondering if the jackass was ever going to grow some balls and help Hanna out. (Sorry, Mama. But it’s true.) I wanted to smack him. He let her down in so many ways and somehow always found a way to make it her fault. Hanna wasn’t perfect either. In fact, they destroyed each other in round about ways, when they really could have been each other’s salvation. That may have been part of the point of the book also, but that’s not my kind of thing. I’m a die hard fan of the happy ending. Readers not requiring too much of an emotional attachment to their books will like this one. I think if I were that kind of reader I would definitely have enjoyed it more and been willing to think more about the conflicts it contains. But I’m not and so I’m…

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly: Book Review

It's been two years since the events of The Lincoln Lawyer and Mickey Haller is not on his game. His...medical problems... at the end of the first book have left him addicted to painkillers. He's done a stint in rehab, he's taken time off work to get himself together, and he's starting to think about taking on a case or two. He wakes up one day to find that 30+ have landed in his lap. Haller and a colleague, Jerry Vincent, have backed each other up a few times in court. Now that Vincent's been murdered, Mickey finds out that he's inherited the man's law practice. In the mix of all these new cases is another franchise case, L.A.'s "Murder of the Decade." Movie studio mogul Walter Elliot is accused of shooting his wife and her lover in a fit of rage. Everyone agrees that he probably did it; isn't it usually the husband? But it's still Mickey's job to get him off, while protecting attorney/client privileges and helping the cops, including Harry Bosch, solve Vincent's murder. So much for easing back into things. It's not The Lincoln Lawyer, I'll just say it up front. It is still good though. I kept hoping for that twist that made me sit up and say, "Holy shit!" but it never came. There were twists alright, but nothing like what I hoped for. I haven't read any of the Harry Bosch novels and if that left me in the dark a little here, I wasn't aware of it. I've actually been putting off reading this for that very reason, but I don't think it matters. This is Mickey Haller's story, not Bosch's. If you've been hesitating like me, stop waiting and go for it. Now that that's all out of the way, let's…

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister: Book Review

One Monday night a month, a group of students gather in a quiet restaurant kitchen to attend The School of Essential Ingredients. Owner Lillian tells them from the beginning that she does not have a list of these "essential ingredients," nor does she offer them recipes. "All I can say is that you will learn what you need to." As the focus shifts around each of the students and Lillian, it is obvious that the essential ingredients are essential to life as well--time, patience, savoring the moment, starting fresh, doing what's good for yourself, and learning from your mistakes. I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I am a world-class picky eater so a book centered around food should not have done anything for me. But it was written so beautifully that I was even ready to admire the redness of a tomato or the honesty of killing your own crab for dinner. I'm looking for a quote to offer up, but really, just read the book. It's all gorgeous and it's impossible to choose a little bit to quote. I loved the way that the students grew during the class and took away exactly what they needed. The harried mother losing her identity, the grieving widower, the girl barely out of high school who needs a serious self-esteem boost, the aging woman losing her memories...they all come out of the class better able to live their lives. There was just one little aspect of the ending that I was not happy with. It tied things up a little too neatly and didn't ring exactly true for me. I can't say more without giving things away. When you have the time to sit down and savor a book about food and life, give this one a try.…