Fever Dreams and Egyptian Myths
This sweet boy, so sympathetic and comforting.
I’m playing hooky from work. To be fair, I have what I’d like to call the plague. It’s not the plague, but the green crap I’ve been coughing up out of my chest, the high grade fever, and the over all attack on my body has made me contemplate the potential peace of kicking the bucket. Instead, unable to physically kick anything at all, I’m home wrapped in blankets when it’s easily 100 degrees outside.
Briefly, between fever dreams yesterday, I thought it would be amusing to read Chronicles of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and chronicle my own impending doom – but alas, I passed out about two seconds after the thought, slept for a few hours, and arose only to hack more crap out of my lungs, cry a little, and crawl back onto the futon… the bed was too high to climb.
As amusing as a post on Garcia’s work would be while I drink my calories in the form of honeyed tea and chicken broth, I have no desire to spend the energy it takes to walk across the room in search of it. Instead, I reached to my right where I had been cataloguing my ancient literature collection, prior to plague, and plucked up a thin little piece called Egyptian Myths by George Hart. It took me two days to read all 80 pages, because – you see – I’m dying. But I made it. And my laptop, conveniently in arm’s reach to my left, said “Hey, You have been USELESS for days. DO SOMETHING other than sleep and troll Facebook.” Did I actually hear the computer speak to me? It’s possible. After all, fever dreams.
All in all, I am surviving, and this little George Hart piece has helped me feel as though I didn’t entirely fry all my brain cells with my 2 day fever. I learned some things I didn’t know, refreshed some previous mythology tales I hadn’t heard in a while, and found a cool list of suggested further reading. It was a great addition to the Ancient History stuff I’ve been studying with my kiddo over the last many months, and it went hand in hand with the arrival of my Archaeology magazine subscription. If you can get your hands on one, it’s a great addition to any library.
Deadly Dunes
Title: Deadly Dunes
Author: E. Michael Helms
Genre: Mystery
Length: 220 pages
E. Michael Helms has done it again. He’s written a fun, spunky mystery involving Mac McClellan, and I find myself crushing on him much like the overly spirited cop, Dakota. Mac is the token ex-marine turned P.I., equal parts gentleman and appropriate amounts of perve. Cunning, but not too lucky.
I like that in this installment, Helms works in the fact that private investigators don’t have the luxury of only working one case at a time if they want to get paid. Mac has to take time away from the big case everyone is grumbling about to an unseemly one that will cut him a check. As per the norm with Mac McClellan books, it was easy to get into, a breeze to read, and satisfying to finish.
My only lament was due to my over excitement at the possibility of more archaeological tidbits. I love archaeology and was anticipating Mac going a little more Indiana Jones in this book than usual due to the nature of the big case. This is to no fault of Helms, who included what was appropriate for the story and the characters, merely a personal disappointment.
As usual, I look forward to the next Mac McClellan book. He’s a personal favorite of mine and made a great addition to my summer mystery binge reading.
Be sure to follow E. Michael Helms on twitter: https://twitter.com/EMichaelHelms
Such a Cozy Summer…
Cozy mysteries are where I go to find solace when I’m too tired for anything else… when my imagination is too exhausted to fly with dragons… my intellect burned out or otherwise occupied reading homeschool material to my daughter. Cozies are for bubble baths, for “I’m so tired, I can’t sleep” nights (thanks, Sarah). And right now, I’m hooked on a few new ones.
Manor House Mysteries
So far, I’ve read Grace Under Pressure and Grace Interrupted by Julie Hyzy. The series stars Museum Curator (and mansion manager) Grace as she sleuths around a small town, helping the local police solve the murders that keep happening at her new job. Naturally, there’s an unfortunate past relationship that didn’t go well, and a new budding one with the local landscaper to keep us involved in the character’s life as she manages to avoid looking like a serial killer – because in real life, how many people are tied to so many murders? The touch of tourist seasons, southern drawls, and Civil War reenactments remind me of home.
Library Lighthouse Mysteries
I’m now in my third installment (Reading Up a Storm) of the Library Lighthouse Mysteries by Eva Gates, which began with By Book or By Crook. This series features a lighthouse that has been renovated into a library. Book Nerds and Jane Austen references abound while the newest librarian and the library cat stumble across – yep, you guessed it – one murder after another. Again, no one would dare think the Nancy Drew wanna-be is indeed a serial killer with no many murders suddenly happening right under her nose, and of course, she’s the heroine with a terrible romantic past and TWO attractive men vying for her attention. Brain candy indeed. Each book in this series have occurred within weeks of the one previously and all during summer tourist months near the beach. Southern drawls, check. Meddling mothers, check. (Booked for Trouble) Food stuffs and baking references, check. Also, weird guy who pretends to be British… this character confuses me, but I got used to him.
Next up, a Miranda James series that begins with a title called Bless Her Dead Little Heart. Seriously, how can I pass that up?
So far in 2016…
- City of Ember – DuPrau (January) *
It took awhile for me to read City of Ember out loud to the kiddo, but she loved it. I loved it. Both of us were enthralled with the city under the ground. The most beautiful aha moments when the story peeled it’s way back and made itself known were written all over my five year old’s face, and I loved watching her discover the patterns of storytelling. I highly recommend this book for children, but I especially recommend it as a family read a-loud.
- Last Child in the Woods – Louv (February)
This book is my motto and mantra for parenting and has been long before I read it or knew about it. It’s truly the only parenting book I’ve read so far that I think is worth a darn. And it’s not just worth a darn, it’s amazing, and should be read by every citizen of the planet Earth, or at least America where we’ve succumbed to too many silly rules. I read this back in February, but now in May I still find myself thinking about it as we now live on a golf course ironically named Walden, where the rolling hills and ponds are not for playing in or experiencing first hand, but for driving by in a cart (walkers are looked at funny).
- One Day in the Woods – Jean Craighead George (February) *
Charlotte Mason curriculum followers look for Jean Craighead George in the bookstore often. Specifically these One Day titles that I rarely see. I snatched this one up the second I came across it and it was a joy to read it with my little girl. We love the woods. We love discovering the woods. And although I don’t follow Charlotte Mason thoroughly, this is definitely a wise educational choice for someone wanting to raise their kid as close to the natural world as they can.
- Pym – Mat Johnson (February) #
Bizarre, and I loved it. Mat Johnson is snarky and clever, and thoroughly well educated. I found myself riveted by the idea of Edgar Allen Poe’s little known novella having a basis of truth. I found the not-so-mythical Pym amusing and the creatures encountered in the depths of the snow a fascinating take on social commentary and dealing with racism. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but worth the time of every student of social customs, genetics, and race relations.
- Power of a Praying Wife & Power of a Praying Parent- Omartian (February)
I was encouraged to read this by a marriage counselor in our area. In some ways it’s great, pray for your spouse, constantly. That’s a good message. Some of the how to’s, however, were a little bit out of not just my comfort zone but my belief system as well. About 3/4 into the book, if I remember currently, Omartian just seems to begin to embrace a lot of fluff Christian mysticism, putting power in anointments and rituals as much as in the prayers themselves. And that is not where power lies. Power lies with God alone, not oils being sprinkled on your family’s belongings.
- The Sterile Cuckoo – John Nichols (February)
I cried pretty early in the book. I still have not seen the movie starring Liza Minelli, but it is on my list of things to watch eventually. Sometimes I feel so much like Pookie in my soul, it’s scary.
- The Gardener’s Year – Karel Capek (February)
I find gardening memoirs exceptionally soothing. This one was no exception.
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Gaiman (February) #
This book was a joint read in a book club with my co-workers at Half Price Book (as was Pym). I had posted a review written by someone else on my blog that Neil Gaiman himself read. I adore this book, and will probably read it again and again for years to come. But I cannot write a review that does it justice, nor one that competes with the review already posted here. Hers was heartfelt and lovely, and mine could not capture that level of personal involvement no matter how hard I try. It would take me years to write something half as eloquent (and I’m speaking of both the book itself and the review).
The nonfiction book we are reading along with this one is The Ocean of Life. Topically, some mythology criticism would be more appropriate, but I was moved by the word ocean and therefore thought I’d read about bodies of water in general.
- The Last Kingdom – Bernard Cornwell (February)
- The Pale Horseman – Bernard Cornwell (March)
- Lords of the North – Bernard Cornwell (March)
- Sword Song – Bernard Cornwell (April)
- The Burning Land – Bernard Cornwell (April)
I am so in love with the Saxon Series by Bernard Cornwell that I have written a novelette as an ode to Uhtred. You’ll just have to download it when the ebook is released. Right now it’s in the hands of my publisher awaiting either a blessing or the axe.
Currently, I’m reading Death of Kings. Also, if anyone knows of a great biography on Alfred the Great or any of his children, I’d love to check it out, especially come this fall as our homeschooling ventures move into the Middle Ages.
- The Castle in the Attic – Elizabeth Winthrop (March) *
The Castle in the Attic was a childhood favorite of mine, I was so excited to read it to the kiddo. We enjoyed our time fighting evil magicians and venturing on a quest together, and I look forward to reading her the sequel.
- The Opposite of Loneliness – Marina Keegan (March)
Marina Keegan was a writer of significant merit before she died far too young. I find her series of essays, published by her teachers and family after her death, inspiring. She was diligent. She had a goal to develop her craft and be a better writer every day than the day before. I admire that and if there is any stamp she left on the world, it is absolutely that diligence is something to respect and aspire to. She was also, apparently, Harold Bloom’s research assistant. I officially want to be someone’s research assistant, I hope at the age of 32 it’s not too late for me to add that to my bucket list. Anyone willing to show me the ropes?
- Corruption – Camille Norton (March)
When I was in my twenties, I found most poetry pretentious. It annoyed me to read a lot of it. Sure, there’s beauty in it, but I did not have the true respect for it that I have now. The older I get, the more I enjoy the concise manner of poetry. How someone can have the fortitude to dwindle their words down to only the most beautiful elements and retain meaning. Maybe it is social media and the realization on twitter that saying something truly profound and lovely in few words is indeed hard. So, the older I get, the more often I find myself plucking up poetry books. Edna St. Vincent Millay and Housman are my favorites, but Camille Norton has great talent and is worth keeping an eye on. I look forward to discovering more of her work. (Currently, I’m falling in love with Pablo Neruda, I know, I’m so very late to this party.)
- Warm Bodies – Isaac Marion (April)
Still my favorite zombie movie, so fun! But it was an even better book. Marion is funny and brilliant. The Gray’s Anatomy excerpts at the beginning of each chapter were an especially nice touch. I read this on my lunch breaks at work, and it was just the thing I needed to enjoy a rest between a lot of hard work. People think bookstore jobs are leisurely, and they can be, but I work my tail off. Seriously, I used to have a sizable ass, now I can’t find it anymore…
- Endurance – Lansing (March) #
I like to read nonfiction books alongside my fiction books. I alternate and pair up topics and bounce around genres like a rabid animal hungry for words, words, more words. Nonfiction always, naturally, takes me longer to read than the fiction counterparts. This was paired with Pym, for its arctic scenery and lost on a journey scenario. It’s fascinating, until its not. I tore through a good chunk of the book and then couldn’t force myself to finish to save my life, until I did one day. Like the members of the crew, I found myself in a state of listless drudgery. Being lost isn’t fun. The play by play was accurate and thorough, and a little bit painful. Glad I read it though. Wouldn’t necessarily encourage anyone else to.
- Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore – Robin Sloan (April)
A bookstore, a secret society, and data. My heart went pitter patter. And the cover glows in the dark. Seriously, how could a book be any more awesome?
- His Majesty’s Dragon – Novik (May) #
Napoleonic Wars with DRAGONS. THAT TALK. This pleased me to no end. Also, it’s a series, so expect to hear more from me on the subject. It’s also one of the co-worker read a-alongs with a nonfiction pairing book club picks, so later this year expect me to happily share a (hopefully) good history title.
- The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern (May) #
This book started out good, and slowly became AMAZING. So lovely and beautiful. Despite the present tense that I hate, Morgenster’s writing voice is wonderful. It’s unique, but grounded. She gives you all the detail without overselling any of it, just a taste so that your imagination may run wild. There’s a teaser toward the end regarding a museum… I’m curious if she’ll ever elaborate on that. In the meantime, I think I’ll be picking up The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. It seems like an appropriate book to follow the mood… Also, I’ll be reading Under the Big Top by Bruce Feiler, as this is another pairing selection that I’m reading along with others. I’m also eyeing Topsy by Michael Daly and a biography of Barnum. I might just run away with a circus this year…
Mr. Emperor Should Be Serialized
Title: What Was It Like, Mr. Emperor?
Author: Chiu Kwong-chiu & Eileen Ng
Illustrations: Design and Cultural Studies Workshop
Translation: Ben Wang
We received this awhile back in exchange for an honest review and it took us awhile to get through it – not because it isn’t brilliant, but because it is long, especially for a kids’ picture book.
The information is fantastic, the pictures fun. But What Was It Like, Mr. Emperor? should have been serialized.
It wouldn’t be hard to do as there are already mini chapter-like breaks. Kids like my own five year old would respond better to it being shorter titles that they could collect like a series as opposed to reading bits of the same book each night. Ultimately, it’s the same amount of reading for the same amount of time, but kids see it differently for some reason, and they tend to like to collect things anyway.
We loved all the tidbits about Life in China’s Forbidden City, but as a customer, reader, mother, author, bookseller, reviewer, and someone who possesses a BBA in Marketing, I think there could be a lot more money into turning this title into a series of smaller books.
Storied Lives
Title: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Books about books and bookstores… it’s my achilles heel. It’s the thing I cannot live without. It’s absurd how these things find me.
A.J. Fikry soothed my soul when I was too tired to appreciate much in the world of anything involving humans or words or life… yet, the book is all about humans living with words. It’s lovely. After a depressive hiatus that resulted in me binge watching The Flash, A.J. Fiery got me reading again.
The romance of reading is simply one of my all time favorite topics. I suppose because it’s the only romance I truly trust. The books will not abandon you. Books are sturdy. And more than anything, they are one sided and require little from you to continue to exist and offer you their best. A book does not cease giving you all it has to offer just because you are in a bad mood – or emotionally unavailable. A book loves you back no matter what. A book won’t surprise you when it ends, you can feel it coming as it becomes more weighted in your left than your right. You know on the last page that it will not speak to you again unless you start over. And you always have the option to start over.
A.J. Fikry’s island bookstore is just what the emotional doctor ordered, I plan to repeat the experience often.
Everything I Never Told You
Title: Everything I Never Told You
Author: Celeste Ng
Genre: Fiction
Length: 297 pages
Leave it to me to take an 80 degree Christmas day to snuggle under the softest blanket to ever touch my skin and read the most beautifully depressing book. The blanket, a gift I received this morning, is the same color scheme as the Penguin trade paperback edition cover of Ng’s work. And as I sank into a cloud of a blanket, I also became lost within the pages of a story that begins: “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know that yet.”
Ng’s book is a beautiful representation of a family trying to come to terms with their differences and contradictions – within society, among themselves, and in the depths of their own souls. A mixed marriage in a time when it was not only uncommon, but in some states still illegal, James and Marilyn are more different than their skin tone. James, desperately trying to blend in and fade into the crowd, while Marilyn is ever the opposite – wanting to be unique and important in a generation of women who are still encouraged only to please their husbands.
“[…] her mother promised to teach them everything a young lady needed to keep a house. As if, Marilyn thought, it might run away when you weren’t looking.”
Nath is the oldest of James and Marilyn’s children, the big brother who does his best to be his little sister’s only emotional support in a family dynamic that is oppressive, codependent, and full of too much subtlety and things left unspoken. Lydia, the people pleaser, is dead; and Hannah, the youngest of the children, is unnoticed.
Despite being a celebrated bestseller, I was surprised to find a number of poor reviews. People unhappy with the layers of the storytelling, of being spoon-fed too many sides of a story. People annoyed by how over the top and unrealistic the characters are, calling them allegorical or fairytale-like in their melancholy and their lack of cohesive expression. I find myself at odds with these reviews. I disagree completely, having loved the way Ng tells the story like a tide coming in… in three different tenses, the tale splashing over your toes, receding so you could see it from a distance, then rushing toward you to engulf not just your toes but the tops of your feet as well. Again. Again. And again. Until your whole body is submerged. Until the entire story has saturated you, body, mind, and soul.
People who do not recognize these characters have the blessing of never living in a dysfunctional family. People who cannot see how very real these portraits are, how they sting in their accuracy, have – perhaps – not lived long enough to see how someone’s childhood shapes them in a way that easily distorts the lives of their children in a slightly different way, and can keep going for generations until something tragic occurs to shed the tiniest bit of light on what has never been spoken aloud. People who don’t understand this novel, have never seen loss and grief played out… have never sat wondering how well they knew the person who has just left them forever. Have never sat and realized that when someone is gone, there are pieces of them no one will ever know, because no one can completely know another’s mind.
“The things that go unsaid are often the things that eat at you–whether because you didn’t get to have your say, or because the other person never got to hear you and really wanted to.”
This book is gorgeous, and a little bit awful. It will strike a chord and leave you questioning how your own actions will be perceived. I will keep my copy and I anticipate reading it again in the future.
“Before that she hadn’t realized how fragile happiness was, how if you were careless, you could knock it over and shatter it.”
Ross Poldark
Title: Ross Poldark (Poldark Series Book #1)
Author: Winston Graham
Genre: Historical Fiction
In 1945 Graham Winston released the novel Ross Poldark, the first of what would later become a twelve volume saga of regarding the Poldark family.
The series was infinitely popular during its time, and went on to become a classic, taken to the screen by many, including my favorite: Masterpiece Theatre.
Graham’s work outside the Poldark series is even more extensive – his career as a novelist resulted in over forty titles being published in his lifetime.
I’ve run the fiction department of a bookstore for years. On and off since 2007, to be exact. I know the fiction/literature department of most bookstores like the back of my hand. Yet, I’ve never read any of Graham’s work until now – and I vaguely recall only seeing one of his books grace my fingertips ever. His books have never made a sizable appearance on the shelves where I work. Had we seen more copies of his work over the years, I certainly would have read his work by now as he’s right up my alley.
Poldark is for the Jane Austen and Bernard Cornwell lovers, a historical fiction piece too wonderful to ignore. Set in the late 1700’s (just a few decades after Outlander), Ross Poldark chronicles the return of the title’s namesake from America, where he’s fought in the revolution and been rumored dead. He arrives to find the woman he loves has not waited so patiently after all and is engaged to his cousin.
I love the full cast of this novel, and I assume the rest of the series. Not only does it follow the eventful lives of Ross and his cousins, Francis and Verity, the ex-lover Elizabeth, servants including a scullery maid Demelza, and an entire town of miners living on Poldark land. Graham does a little bit of third person head hopping, but never leaves you confused and maintains a streamlined storyline.
I am eager to read the second installment, Demelza, and am equally eager for the second season of the PBS series, Poldark.
Spelling V
Title: Spelling V
Author: Meb Bryant
Format: Kindle
I finally found a cover for my kindle – one that fits, one that I like. It’s a little brown leather ditty with quotes embossed in ink-black cursive. Finally, it has the feel of a book rather than a device; something I can set down and not tuck away in the box it was shipped to me from Amazon.
I bought the cover at Half Price Books last night. First thing this morning I charged my kindle and chose what book to tackle first.
Then I remembered Meb Bryant.
“She had an orange belt in karate… he had a leather belt in the loops of his jeans.” I read that and snickered. Good one, Meb.
Bryant is clever and has a way of writing something shocking with prose that urges you to continue to read something horrific and not be shocked. Think Nabakov writing Lolita – except with stories Bentley Little would be proud of. The only way Spelling V could be more disturbing is if Bryant had lingered over the story for a few hundred pages.
Bryant artfully maps out the lifetime of a control freak, a codependent, and psychopath, and it’s pretty darn riveting. I especially love that one of the characters reads Bryant’s novel Harbinger of Evil. I’m a huge sucker for when authors do this. I like the idea of one interconnected world within an authors fantasies.
Give the best holiday gift this season: buy yourself a short story to read in between holiday meals and excitement and leave a review. You deserve a break and indie authors thrive on reviews.
The Good Neighbor
Title: The Good Neighbor
Author: A. J. Banner
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Women’s Fiction/ Suspense
Length: 196 pages
It was the perfect weather for a book like The Good Neighbor, rainy, eerie, and a too cold for my Texas bones. So, naturally, I enjoyed it immensely.
It may be Banner’s first (official) suspense novel, but this debut definitely shows obvious signs of Anjali Banerjee’s skill and efficiency when it comes to weaving a winning storyline. She artfully introduces you to all the relevant characters without confusion and quickly drops you into the midst of the dilemma.
It’s a little predictable and not a terribly riveting thriller, but it’s paced quickly and therefore makes for a great day off leisure read while hiding from the rain.
The novel reads nearly like a screenplay and could be easily adapted for an HBO or Lifetime special. I’m looking forward to more of her work and will happily drop a few bucks on another one of Banner’s novels (and a coffee ) to curl up with.
Anakalian Whims 