February's books
Here are my February books and mini-reviews.
The History of Money by Jack Weatherford
I've really enjoyed the other books I've read by Weatherford, and have been very slowly reading books about financial matters so thought I'd tackle this one. I find his writing easy to follow and and it seems to keep me interested.
This one follows currency, as you'd guess, and the various problems that affect it (inflation, coin to paper, leaving of gold/silver standards, etc..). It goes in chronological order, which I find helpful. It was first published in 1997 though, and while perhaps there was some additional information added for the 1998 paperback, it's a shame there hasn't been a revised edition since Paypal and the huge variety of similar services have risen to such prominence.
Last year I read Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber, which was an exceptional read. It would be interesting to read those two together, since I think they're quite complimentary.
Recommended to the non-fiction enthusiast, rather than those who only read NF occasionally (for the occasional reader I'd say definitely read Debt, which was quite amusing and incredibly interesting).
Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
This is a neat little book, which I'm sure I would have absolutely adored as a kid. As an adult I was a little confused that it was this alternative world where the only difference from Victorian England is that there are a lot of starving wolves around. I wish it had been a little longer, so the pacing was better and there was more character development of the baddies.
All in all, very fun read, and on the list for my nieces and nephews.
The King and the Cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt and Edward the Seventh, Secret Partners by David Fromkin
So, the subtitle and description of this book...TOTAL LIES. As in, you could summarize their partnership in two pages. Also, the reversal of billing in the title versus subtitle annoys me.
The book was largely background on Edward VII, then background on Roosevelt, then background on Wilhelm and the various Entente Cordiale agreements. It was interesting stuff, and a period I have an ongoing interest it, but it should have had a different title and the descriptions which largely talk about the relationship between Roosevelt and Edward VII should be changed.
Not really recommended, as I think there are a better books that cover this subject in more detail. This one wasn't badly written or really boring or anything, but it's short and most of it is just background on the various figures.
Best American Comics 2011 edited by Alison Bechdel
I've decided to buy all of these, in part because they're great references for finding graphic novels and memoirs and it's just neat to have a little record of alternative comics. It is really a bit elitist to call them Best American Comics when you're only looking at alternative stuff, no mainstream superhero comics, no strip comics barring rare exceptions like Kate Beaton, no kids' comics.
I only have three of the volumes right now - 2010, 2011, and 2012. They're always a mixed bag, but I loved the 2010, half-loved the 2011, and enjoyed maybe a quarter of 2012. I'm eager to see what 2013's volume was like, and the previous ones. It would be interesting if, as comics get more and more press, I like the Best American series less and less.
Women of the Weird: Eerie Stories by the Gentle Sex edited by Seon Manley and Gogo Lewis
This was part of a series of anthologies (some larger than others) focusing on female writers of mystery, crime, fantasy, supernatural, etc... stories. My dad brought this home when the library he worked at discarded it, probably in 1986. He never read it. I kept it in my collection because of the title and the Edward Gorey cover.
This is a really mixed bunch of stories, two of which I don't feel fit with the theme at all. The last story didn't have any eerie or odd element in the least and the preface reference Freud and "Oh it's hard to write about mothers and daughters and they're competitive with each other" really turned me off.
The stories I liked best were rather Thurber-esque tales by Shirley Jackson and Sheila Burnford. There's a terrible one in here by E. Nesbit, which is just a kids' camp fire story in my opinion and more attempting to be horror rather than just eerie.
It includes a literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy. It also includes a somewhat silly story by Elizabeth Gaskell and a bit of an odd one by Edna St. Vincent Millay
A quick read, with a few highlights, but not a well thought-out collection by any means. I think perhaps the editors had a few stories they really liked which they were unable to fit into the other collections. So they whipped up another title and padded it out with whatever they could find (at least one third were in the public domain).
The Rescuers by Margery Sharp
So sad that the automatic touchstone for this title is some Disney illustrated book of the movie... Only recently realized that the movie was based on a book, though it's actually based on the second in the series Miss Bianca, which I'm just starting now.
I'd say this book is among the rank of perfect children's books, that few children could dislike (unless they read it far too late after they've lost too much childlike-ness, which some of us never lose). It's sweet, funny, and the characters are very well done. Miss Bianca is a pampered pet mouse. Bernard helps build her confidence and willingness to help in the mission, and her character develops in lots of pleasing ways throughout the book but she's still flawed.
This is one of the first paragraphs in the book, which immediately made me love the book:
Everyone knows that the mice are the prisoner's friends -- sharing his dry bread crumbs even when they are not hungry, allowing themselves to be taught all manner of foolish tricks, such as no self-respecting mouse would otherwise contemplate, in order to cheer his lonely hours; what is less well known is how splendidly they are organized.
It's an incredibly good book and I highly recommend it. Reminds me a little of Walter R. Brooks' Freddy the Pig books in tone, and in the characters being very good at heart but still flawed and very human.
The Rise of Rome: The Making of the World's Greatest Empire by Anthony Everitt
This is a nice overview of Rome's early history, up to Caesar crossing the Rubicon, including the mythical and rather fanciful stuff. Great for the beginner who's interested in ancient Rome. I like Everitt's writing, and I think he's mindful of pointing out when something is obviously a story, when a story might be motivated by bad will, when deeds are assigned to one person but were probably carried out by numerous people, etc...
The emphasis does usually seem to be on the fall of Rome, or anything post Julius Caesar, so this is a good refresher for previous events. Most of this was refresher for me, but it's nice to see it laid out together and with a lot of context.
Recommended to anyone with an interest, even a tiny budding one. Rome is amazing to study (and never boring).
Miss Bianca by Margery Sharp
The second book in the Rescuers! There's a reason why on the movie it just says "suggested by" this and the first book...
This one features a little orphan girl kidnapped, a cunning plan by the Prisoner's Aid Society Ladies Guild which goes awry, and twelve clockwork ladies in waiting. Also a diamond palace, a wicked duchess, two amusing bloodhounds, much bravery on the part of Miss Bianca, and a weird mouse disguise.
In this one Sharp has thrown the rules out the window and has the mice talk to all sorts of people. I like children's authors just adapt things. It's like the Freddy books (by Walter R. Brooks), initially the animals can't talk to people, then just the animals on that farm can, but then all animals can talk to everyone. It made the books more amusing and gave them more scope, so why worry about what you've set up before when the kids won't mind the change. Though I find it a bit odd that apparently Miss Bianca never speaks to her boy owner...
It was lots of fun, and again, I like the characters of mice. They are brave and good but they get scared and they doubt themselves and are flawed.
Earth: A Visitor's Guide by Jon Stewart
Whoops, forgot to post about this one. A short, humorous look at our planet and the human race, written as a guide to aliens visiting after we've destroyed ourselves.
Randomly amusing, but not enough. Definitely not something I need to own.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Read this for my online book group. Probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise, because while I think Gaiman is a fine writer, I'm really not big on fantasy and especially not urban fantasy. It's about a very young child whose family is murdered. He escapes and goes into a graveyard, where the dead give him 'the freedom of the graveyard' and raise him, teaching him their tricks and skills along the way.
It was good, though I found the ending annoying, and there's really not a huge amount of plot. The best parts of the book are the random little stories and adventures. I kept imagining it as a picture book series or kids' comic series (definitely not enough good children's comics around).
I'm sure this is shelved in YA but it's just as suitable younger children. I wouldn't hesitate to give it to a nine year old that I knew well enough to know how they'd handle the darker bits.
Arabian Nights and Days by Naguib Mahfouz
These stories begin the day after the thousand and one nights when Scheherazade has saved her life. It was a nice book to duck in and out of.
If there's a focus it is the aspect of good and evil and how easily people can slip between the two. Plus the aspect of evil Djinns and their control of people. I imagine the djinns in modern human terms, alcoholism and the like.
I always enjoy Mahfouz's writing, though this is certainly not my favorite book of his.
How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon
The first thing that drew me to this book was the title. I asked my library to order it and they did (best feeling ever), but before it came I saw some negative reviews.
I'm glad I didn't listen to those to the extent of not reading the book. I can't review this book of personal essays in literary terms. Any book that lets me into an experience that is removed from my own is a good book. Any book that is honest about life in the US is a good book. Any book that reminds me of my privilege and reminds me of the aspects of US life that many of us would rather forget (or pretend ended 50 years ago) is a good book.
Laymon is honest about philosophizing, honest about doubting insights, honest about the core truths of his experiences. The concept behind the title, struck me hard with immediate truth.
It was a good and important book for me to read.
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
This can't be a proper review, as I was too busy paying attention to the differences between the book and the TV show based on this series - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. It is basically the perfect TV show for me and I need MORE of it!
So yes, too busy nothing differences to really pay attention to how well the plot hung together, but I think it's a pretty good book. Not the greatest mystery ever but Phryne is a great character. They've changed a fair bit for the TV show, but they were all smart changes and the main character's personality is very much intact.
I think I'll be able to judge the literary quality a bit better with the second (and I do want to read the second, so the first can't have been too dreadful).
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott
Why on earth this was titled a "Romance of Many Dimensions" I'll never know. It was mostly a fun little read, other than the descriptions of women. I'm not ignorant of how society treated women at the end of the 19th century, and I think Abbott was too extreme in those scenes for his "I'm just parroting society, geeze louise ladies." defense to hold water.
Anyone saying he wasn't a misogynist needs to look at people today, where almost all of us, including women, have latent misogyny issues just from living in our culture and being exposed to any media/most religious institutions/etc...
Glad I read it, really enjoyed parts of it, probably never going to read it again.
1941: The Year That Keeps Returning by Slavko Goldstein
This book is about Croatia, past and present. The author was 13 in 1941, the year the Ustasha regime came to power and separated Croatia from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In that year his father was jailed and killed, his mother was jailed then released, and they joined the Partisans.
The format is interesting, as most chapters begin with events in 1941, but the author carries through to the implications on later events in Croatia. He always follows up on pretty much everyone involved in the 1941 events. Then the next chapter starts with the next event of 1941. Generally I dislike when books aren't written in pretty strict chronological order, but it works really well with this book and with the author's intent (in showing how the events of 1941 impacted the later big events in the region).
One thing I wished this book had was a map of Croatia's borders in 1941 overlaid over the current country borders in the area.
Highly recommended to anyone with a WWII interest (or interest in the more recent conflicts in that area).
The History of Money by Jack Weatherford
I've really enjoyed the other books I've read by Weatherford, and have been very slowly reading books about financial matters so thought I'd tackle this one. I find his writing easy to follow and and it seems to keep me interested.
This one follows currency, as you'd guess, and the various problems that affect it (inflation, coin to paper, leaving of gold/silver standards, etc..). It goes in chronological order, which I find helpful. It was first published in 1997 though, and while perhaps there was some additional information added for the 1998 paperback, it's a shame there hasn't been a revised edition since Paypal and the huge variety of similar services have risen to such prominence.
Last year I read Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber, which was an exceptional read. It would be interesting to read those two together, since I think they're quite complimentary.
Recommended to the non-fiction enthusiast, rather than those who only read NF occasionally (for the occasional reader I'd say definitely read Debt, which was quite amusing and incredibly interesting).
Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
This is a neat little book, which I'm sure I would have absolutely adored as a kid. As an adult I was a little confused that it was this alternative world where the only difference from Victorian England is that there are a lot of starving wolves around. I wish it had been a little longer, so the pacing was better and there was more character development of the baddies.
All in all, very fun read, and on the list for my nieces and nephews.
The King and the Cowboy: Theodore Roosevelt and Edward the Seventh, Secret Partners by David Fromkin
So, the subtitle and description of this book...TOTAL LIES. As in, you could summarize their partnership in two pages. Also, the reversal of billing in the title versus subtitle annoys me.
The book was largely background on Edward VII, then background on Roosevelt, then background on Wilhelm and the various Entente Cordiale agreements. It was interesting stuff, and a period I have an ongoing interest it, but it should have had a different title and the descriptions which largely talk about the relationship between Roosevelt and Edward VII should be changed.
Not really recommended, as I think there are a better books that cover this subject in more detail. This one wasn't badly written or really boring or anything, but it's short and most of it is just background on the various figures.
Best American Comics 2011 edited by Alison Bechdel
I've decided to buy all of these, in part because they're great references for finding graphic novels and memoirs and it's just neat to have a little record of alternative comics. It is really a bit elitist to call them Best American Comics when you're only looking at alternative stuff, no mainstream superhero comics, no strip comics barring rare exceptions like Kate Beaton, no kids' comics.
I only have three of the volumes right now - 2010, 2011, and 2012. They're always a mixed bag, but I loved the 2010, half-loved the 2011, and enjoyed maybe a quarter of 2012. I'm eager to see what 2013's volume was like, and the previous ones. It would be interesting if, as comics get more and more press, I like the Best American series less and less.
Women of the Weird: Eerie Stories by the Gentle Sex edited by Seon Manley and Gogo Lewis
This was part of a series of anthologies (some larger than others) focusing on female writers of mystery, crime, fantasy, supernatural, etc... stories. My dad brought this home when the library he worked at discarded it, probably in 1986. He never read it. I kept it in my collection because of the title and the Edward Gorey cover.
This is a really mixed bunch of stories, two of which I don't feel fit with the theme at all. The last story didn't have any eerie or odd element in the least and the preface reference Freud and "Oh it's hard to write about mothers and daughters and they're competitive with each other" really turned me off.
The stories I liked best were rather Thurber-esque tales by Shirley Jackson and Sheila Burnford. There's a terrible one in here by E. Nesbit, which is just a kids' camp fire story in my opinion and more attempting to be horror rather than just eerie.
It includes a literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy. It also includes a somewhat silly story by Elizabeth Gaskell and a bit of an odd one by Edna St. Vincent Millay
A quick read, with a few highlights, but not a well thought-out collection by any means. I think perhaps the editors had a few stories they really liked which they were unable to fit into the other collections. So they whipped up another title and padded it out with whatever they could find (at least one third were in the public domain).
The Rescuers by Margery Sharp
So sad that the automatic touchstone for this title is some Disney illustrated book of the movie... Only recently realized that the movie was based on a book, though it's actually based on the second in the series Miss Bianca, which I'm just starting now.
I'd say this book is among the rank of perfect children's books, that few children could dislike (unless they read it far too late after they've lost too much childlike-ness, which some of us never lose). It's sweet, funny, and the characters are very well done. Miss Bianca is a pampered pet mouse. Bernard helps build her confidence and willingness to help in the mission, and her character develops in lots of pleasing ways throughout the book but she's still flawed.
This is one of the first paragraphs in the book, which immediately made me love the book:
Everyone knows that the mice are the prisoner's friends -- sharing his dry bread crumbs even when they are not hungry, allowing themselves to be taught all manner of foolish tricks, such as no self-respecting mouse would otherwise contemplate, in order to cheer his lonely hours; what is less well known is how splendidly they are organized.
It's an incredibly good book and I highly recommend it. Reminds me a little of Walter R. Brooks' Freddy the Pig books in tone, and in the characters being very good at heart but still flawed and very human.
The Rise of Rome: The Making of the World's Greatest Empire by Anthony Everitt
This is a nice overview of Rome's early history, up to Caesar crossing the Rubicon, including the mythical and rather fanciful stuff. Great for the beginner who's interested in ancient Rome. I like Everitt's writing, and I think he's mindful of pointing out when something is obviously a story, when a story might be motivated by bad will, when deeds are assigned to one person but were probably carried out by numerous people, etc...
The emphasis does usually seem to be on the fall of Rome, or anything post Julius Caesar, so this is a good refresher for previous events. Most of this was refresher for me, but it's nice to see it laid out together and with a lot of context.
Recommended to anyone with an interest, even a tiny budding one. Rome is amazing to study (and never boring).
Miss Bianca by Margery Sharp
The second book in the Rescuers! There's a reason why on the movie it just says "suggested by" this and the first book...
This one features a little orphan girl kidnapped, a cunning plan by the Prisoner's Aid Society Ladies Guild which goes awry, and twelve clockwork ladies in waiting. Also a diamond palace, a wicked duchess, two amusing bloodhounds, much bravery on the part of Miss Bianca, and a weird mouse disguise.
In this one Sharp has thrown the rules out the window and has the mice talk to all sorts of people. I like children's authors just adapt things. It's like the Freddy books (by Walter R. Brooks), initially the animals can't talk to people, then just the animals on that farm can, but then all animals can talk to everyone. It made the books more amusing and gave them more scope, so why worry about what you've set up before when the kids won't mind the change. Though I find it a bit odd that apparently Miss Bianca never speaks to her boy owner...
It was lots of fun, and again, I like the characters of mice. They are brave and good but they get scared and they doubt themselves and are flawed.
Earth: A Visitor's Guide by Jon Stewart
Whoops, forgot to post about this one. A short, humorous look at our planet and the human race, written as a guide to aliens visiting after we've destroyed ourselves.
Randomly amusing, but not enough. Definitely not something I need to own.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Read this for my online book group. Probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise, because while I think Gaiman is a fine writer, I'm really not big on fantasy and especially not urban fantasy. It's about a very young child whose family is murdered. He escapes and goes into a graveyard, where the dead give him 'the freedom of the graveyard' and raise him, teaching him their tricks and skills along the way.
It was good, though I found the ending annoying, and there's really not a huge amount of plot. The best parts of the book are the random little stories and adventures. I kept imagining it as a picture book series or kids' comic series (definitely not enough good children's comics around).
I'm sure this is shelved in YA but it's just as suitable younger children. I wouldn't hesitate to give it to a nine year old that I knew well enough to know how they'd handle the darker bits.
Arabian Nights and Days by Naguib Mahfouz
These stories begin the day after the thousand and one nights when Scheherazade has saved her life. It was a nice book to duck in and out of.
If there's a focus it is the aspect of good and evil and how easily people can slip between the two. Plus the aspect of evil Djinns and their control of people. I imagine the djinns in modern human terms, alcoholism and the like.
I always enjoy Mahfouz's writing, though this is certainly not my favorite book of his.
How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon
The first thing that drew me to this book was the title. I asked my library to order it and they did (best feeling ever), but before it came I saw some negative reviews.
I'm glad I didn't listen to those to the extent of not reading the book. I can't review this book of personal essays in literary terms. Any book that lets me into an experience that is removed from my own is a good book. Any book that is honest about life in the US is a good book. Any book that reminds me of my privilege and reminds me of the aspects of US life that many of us would rather forget (or pretend ended 50 years ago) is a good book.
Laymon is honest about philosophizing, honest about doubting insights, honest about the core truths of his experiences. The concept behind the title, struck me hard with immediate truth.
It was a good and important book for me to read.
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood
This can't be a proper review, as I was too busy paying attention to the differences between the book and the TV show based on this series - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. It is basically the perfect TV show for me and I need MORE of it!
So yes, too busy nothing differences to really pay attention to how well the plot hung together, but I think it's a pretty good book. Not the greatest mystery ever but Phryne is a great character. They've changed a fair bit for the TV show, but they were all smart changes and the main character's personality is very much intact.
I think I'll be able to judge the literary quality a bit better with the second (and I do want to read the second, so the first can't have been too dreadful).
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott
Why on earth this was titled a "Romance of Many Dimensions" I'll never know. It was mostly a fun little read, other than the descriptions of women. I'm not ignorant of how society treated women at the end of the 19th century, and I think Abbott was too extreme in those scenes for his "I'm just parroting society, geeze louise ladies." defense to hold water.
Anyone saying he wasn't a misogynist needs to look at people today, where almost all of us, including women, have latent misogyny issues just from living in our culture and being exposed to any media/most religious institutions/etc...
Glad I read it, really enjoyed parts of it, probably never going to read it again.
1941: The Year That Keeps Returning by Slavko Goldstein
This book is about Croatia, past and present. The author was 13 in 1941, the year the Ustasha regime came to power and separated Croatia from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In that year his father was jailed and killed, his mother was jailed then released, and they joined the Partisans.
The format is interesting, as most chapters begin with events in 1941, but the author carries through to the implications on later events in Croatia. He always follows up on pretty much everyone involved in the 1941 events. Then the next chapter starts with the next event of 1941. Generally I dislike when books aren't written in pretty strict chronological order, but it works really well with this book and with the author's intent (in showing how the events of 1941 impacted the later big events in the region).
One thing I wished this book had was a map of Croatia's borders in 1941 overlaid over the current country borders in the area.
Highly recommended to anyone with a WWII interest (or interest in the more recent conflicts in that area).