Books 24-34
Reading continues apace. I am at the halfway point in the year. I am well on track to read 50 books this year, likely more than that. I can thank my forced, brief convalescence back in April for that, since there were few things I could do easily in the days after getting stuff done to my ear. These are presented in no particular order:
24. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Set in a volatile area in India in the 80s, this is the story of a community of people living at the foot of the Himalayas. There's the retired, Cambridge-educated judge, his beloved Irish Setter, his orphaned granddaughter, her math tutor (who is also her lover), their cook, his son living as an illegal in NYC, and a host of others. These people are very conscious of their place in things, until revolution comes to their small town. This is a fairly complicated book. To be honest, I really didn't like many of the characters, but I still enjoyed the book a great deal. It shows a very different world, a very different set of problems than what most Western readers will be familiar with. But it's not about the exoticism of the setting, it's about the heart of the people, a heart that will be familiar to anyone. It's about the loves and losses we all have in life. If you are interested in a sad, frustrating, challenging book, I recommend this one.
25. Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations by Alexander McCall Smith. A collection of short stories set around the world, with the central theme of love and courtship, although several of them really are about unhappy love. My favorite story of the collection was "Bulawayo" set in 1950s Rhodesia, about an unhappy woman married to a high school teacher, and her affair with one of his students. I also really liked the title story "Heavenly Date" about a young girl just out of high school living on her own in her family's Italian vacation home before starting college. She has a brief liaison with an angel, and ultimately bears his angelic child. This book should be judged on its own merits, and not compared to the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, although I think some people will do just that, and not be happy. These are wonderful little stories, although they aren't happily ever after.
26. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding by Alexander McCall Smith. Okay, this is a No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency book! The latest in the lives of Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's first lady detective, her husband Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, her assistant Grace Makutsi, the ever-present apprentices in the motor shop, Grace's arch nemesis Violet Sephotho, and assorted others. Precious and Grace are tasked to find out who is killing a rancher's cattle, and discover the rancher is quite as beloved as he would have everyone think. Then there's a pair of shoes that Grace wants to have for her wedding, and of course, the question of when Grace and Phuti Radiphuti will actually get married. If you've like the first 9 books in this series, you won't be disappointed with this one! The only problem with these charming little books is they're so easy to read in a single setting, then I have to wait a year for the next one.
27. and 28. Socery and the Single Girl and Magic and the Modern Girl by Mindy Klasky. Thanks to my friend John Douglas, who surprised me with Sorcery and the Single Girl, I was able to finish this charming series about Jane Madison, modern day librarian living in DC, trying to find her way through the perilous DC dating world, trying to find her way in the local coven, trying to negotiate a complicated relationship with her mother, acting as intermediary between her gay familiar and her best friend (who have at one time fallen for the same guy) and all this while also trying to learn what it means to be a modern day witch. These are fun, easy books, and I've enjoyed this series. If you like some light, easy, but nicely-written chick lit, you'll like these.
29. Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton. Written and set in 1940s South Africa, just before Apartheid became law. This is the story of Stephen Kumalo, a Zulu pastor living in a small rural community. He goes to Johannesburg to help his sister and her son, find his own son, and his brother and nephew. He discovers his family has forgotten their old ways, and tries to help them as best he can. But things go quite wrong when a young white man (the son of Mr. Jarvis, who lives near Kumalo) is murdered, and Kumalo's son confesses to the crime. A friendship begins at that time between Jarvis and Kumalo. Jarvis is uneasy with race relations as they stand, and his friends lean in the direction of being pro-apartheid. His son, Arthur, is a staunch liberal who writes extensively and speaks extensively about the poor treatment of natives in South Africa, and through his son's writings and his relationship with Kumalo, Jarvis starts to see that apartheid may not be the best direction. The book is really beautifully written. It's a small book, but clearly full of love for a country and a people. Paton himself was a liberal who fought against apartheid, and it seems there are passages in the book that really foreshadow the misery that was just about to come to South Africa. I also found perspective interesting in this book. For example, at the very beginning, a young child brings Kumalo a letter from Johannesburg. She is nervous being in the pastor's grand house, which has real doors and walls. Later, when Jarvis is looking down on Kumalo's house, he remarks on what a sad, humble home it is. There is a lot of this focus on things from different views in the book. I loved the lyrical writing, enough that I want to seek out other books of Paton's. I know many people have probably read this book, but if you haven't, highly recommended.
30. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris. I picked up this book at a Half Price sale. Historical fiction, about a young girl and her mother, sister and brother, living in a small French village during the Nazi occupation. Boise is only 9, and becomes enamored of a young German soldier, Tomas Leibniz, who befriends her and her siblings, and in exchange for information (which he may or may not actually be acting upon) he gives them luxuries. To Boise, the greatest luxury, in addition to the fishing rod Tomas gives her, is oranges, which her mother despises, because they trigger devastating migraines. Years later, as an eldery woman, Boise returns to the village, as a widow, buys her old family farm, and opens a restaurant. No one knows the Widow Simon is really the daughter of the town's most hated woman, and during the course of the novel, a mystery unfolds about this young soldier, 10 martyed village members, and Boise and her family. This was a really good read. I love historical fiction, esp WW II stuff. I liked that the characters were not caricatures (it would be easy to make Tomas hateful, but we learn about him, and see he's really being swept up in something he may not like, but doesn't have many choices with). And the relationship between Boise and her mother is especially complicated. Her mother often comes off as cold and not very likeable, but she's struggling as a widow (her husband was killed by the Germans early in the war), trying to keep her family safe, and also dealing with a debilitating, chronic illness. As Boise reads the scrapbook her mother left her, part recipe book, part memoir, we learn from her mother's perspective things that 9 year old Boise could have known.
31. The Greyfriar by Clay and Susan Griffith. First of a trilogy. Steampunk vampire, and these are very different vampires. Vampires cannot tolerate hot weather, so they have relegated humans to the equatorial regions. Adele, Princess of Equtoria, is about to be married to Senator Clark, the US's most notorious vampire killer. Before her marriage, she goes on a tour of the northern lands, and is immediately kidnapped by the most notorious vampire, Cesar. She is initially rescued by a figure she thinks is only legend, The Greyfriar. We learn pretty early on a very interesting secret about the Greyfriar (Adele learns the secret much later). War is coming between the humans and vampires, and the Greyfriar, Adele, and Senator Clark are all right in the middle of it. I enjoyed this book, and will for sure read the next one in the series, which comes out in September. Near the end, I got a little tired of how much Adele was being used as a pawn, but there are hints that she has some hidden strengths that will become important in later books. I did not like Senator Clark, he's very much a bombastic egotist. I'm sure I'm not really supposed to like him, which makes me wish he were fleshed out a little more. But I did like the dynamic between Adele and the Greyfriar, and the dark and very twisted vampire world the authors have drawn in this book.
32. Soulless by Gail Carriger. Another steampunk paranormal, this one set in Victorian England. Carriger is the GoH for this year's Fencon. Alexia Tarabotti is 25, and a confirmed spinster (she has unfortunate coloring because of her Italian father, and her nose is just a little too big). She's also soulless, something unusual in a Victorian England that accepts vampires, werewolves and ghosts. Alexia accidentally kills a vampire at a party with her parasol, and Lord Maccon, the local werewolf alpha and government bureaucrat teams up with Alexia to help solve the mystery surrounding the dead, unregistered vampire. Maccon, considered quite the catch despite being a werewolf, and Alexia take an immediate dislike to each other, so of course we know what that means for their future. The book was an easy read, at times really silly and funny, at times a little dangerous. I have the next 2 books in the series, and the 4th one comes out I think in August. I'm looking forward to following Alexia and Maccon's further adventures.
33. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. A YA book about Clary Fray who accidentally witnesses a murder, and is able to suddenly see creatures others around her cannot see, including the Shadowhunters, a mysterious group of demon hunters who are very curious to know why she can suddenly interact with them. Things get complicated when Clary's mother suddenly and violently disappears, and she has to find her mother and a missing cup with the help of the Shadowhunters. This is the first of a trilogy, and I know they have sold very well, but to be honest, I didn't connect with this book. I found Clary to be a bit too Mary Sue for my taste. Also, some of the writing at times just bugged me. One example is where one character is described as laughing soundlessly. Really, who does that? I know it's a small point, but there were a number of little things like this in the book that bothered me. Add in that I guess a major plot point very early on in the book, and Clary being too precocious for me to really buy, I just don't see that I'll get the next books in this series. There was one interesting little twist I didn't see coming (the love triangle is resolved in a very Star Wars kind of way), and that made for a few interesting pages at the end, but that's just too little, too late for me.
34. Red Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells. I got this at the recommendation of a bookseller friend who knows my taste. I have gotten a little jaded with urban fantasy with super tough girls who kick butt. But I liked this one. Sabina Kane is the granddaughter of the vampire queen, and their hired gun. She has mixed vampire/mage blood, of which she is constantly reminded by her grandmother. She's given an assignment to infiltrate a secret organization that is threatening to bring all the supernatural races together, something Sabina's grandmother sees as a way to strike against vampires. During her underground work, Sabina discovers something about her past that turns her world upside down. It's not a hard book to read, Sabina is pretty snarky at times, an easy book to read. For some reason, I liked this one, and have already bought the next two in this series. I want to see where this story is going, esp for Sabina, because she's dealing with some big time betrayal of trust issues when she learns that her grandmother has lied to her about her past.
24. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Set in a volatile area in India in the 80s, this is the story of a community of people living at the foot of the Himalayas. There's the retired, Cambridge-educated judge, his beloved Irish Setter, his orphaned granddaughter, her math tutor (who is also her lover), their cook, his son living as an illegal in NYC, and a host of others. These people are very conscious of their place in things, until revolution comes to their small town. This is a fairly complicated book. To be honest, I really didn't like many of the characters, but I still enjoyed the book a great deal. It shows a very different world, a very different set of problems than what most Western readers will be familiar with. But it's not about the exoticism of the setting, it's about the heart of the people, a heart that will be familiar to anyone. It's about the loves and losses we all have in life. If you are interested in a sad, frustrating, challenging book, I recommend this one.
25. Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations by Alexander McCall Smith. A collection of short stories set around the world, with the central theme of love and courtship, although several of them really are about unhappy love. My favorite story of the collection was "Bulawayo" set in 1950s Rhodesia, about an unhappy woman married to a high school teacher, and her affair with one of his students. I also really liked the title story "Heavenly Date" about a young girl just out of high school living on her own in her family's Italian vacation home before starting college. She has a brief liaison with an angel, and ultimately bears his angelic child. This book should be judged on its own merits, and not compared to the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, although I think some people will do just that, and not be happy. These are wonderful little stories, although they aren't happily ever after.
26. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding by Alexander McCall Smith. Okay, this is a No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency book! The latest in the lives of Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's first lady detective, her husband Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, her assistant Grace Makutsi, the ever-present apprentices in the motor shop, Grace's arch nemesis Violet Sephotho, and assorted others. Precious and Grace are tasked to find out who is killing a rancher's cattle, and discover the rancher is quite as beloved as he would have everyone think. Then there's a pair of shoes that Grace wants to have for her wedding, and of course, the question of when Grace and Phuti Radiphuti will actually get married. If you've like the first 9 books in this series, you won't be disappointed with this one! The only problem with these charming little books is they're so easy to read in a single setting, then I have to wait a year for the next one.
27. and 28. Socery and the Single Girl and Magic and the Modern Girl by Mindy Klasky. Thanks to my friend John Douglas, who surprised me with Sorcery and the Single Girl, I was able to finish this charming series about Jane Madison, modern day librarian living in DC, trying to find her way through the perilous DC dating world, trying to find her way in the local coven, trying to negotiate a complicated relationship with her mother, acting as intermediary between her gay familiar and her best friend (who have at one time fallen for the same guy) and all this while also trying to learn what it means to be a modern day witch. These are fun, easy books, and I've enjoyed this series. If you like some light, easy, but nicely-written chick lit, you'll like these.
29. Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton. Written and set in 1940s South Africa, just before Apartheid became law. This is the story of Stephen Kumalo, a Zulu pastor living in a small rural community. He goes to Johannesburg to help his sister and her son, find his own son, and his brother and nephew. He discovers his family has forgotten their old ways, and tries to help them as best he can. But things go quite wrong when a young white man (the son of Mr. Jarvis, who lives near Kumalo) is murdered, and Kumalo's son confesses to the crime. A friendship begins at that time between Jarvis and Kumalo. Jarvis is uneasy with race relations as they stand, and his friends lean in the direction of being pro-apartheid. His son, Arthur, is a staunch liberal who writes extensively and speaks extensively about the poor treatment of natives in South Africa, and through his son's writings and his relationship with Kumalo, Jarvis starts to see that apartheid may not be the best direction. The book is really beautifully written. It's a small book, but clearly full of love for a country and a people. Paton himself was a liberal who fought against apartheid, and it seems there are passages in the book that really foreshadow the misery that was just about to come to South Africa. I also found perspective interesting in this book. For example, at the very beginning, a young child brings Kumalo a letter from Johannesburg. She is nervous being in the pastor's grand house, which has real doors and walls. Later, when Jarvis is looking down on Kumalo's house, he remarks on what a sad, humble home it is. There is a lot of this focus on things from different views in the book. I loved the lyrical writing, enough that I want to seek out other books of Paton's. I know many people have probably read this book, but if you haven't, highly recommended.
30. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris. I picked up this book at a Half Price sale. Historical fiction, about a young girl and her mother, sister and brother, living in a small French village during the Nazi occupation. Boise is only 9, and becomes enamored of a young German soldier, Tomas Leibniz, who befriends her and her siblings, and in exchange for information (which he may or may not actually be acting upon) he gives them luxuries. To Boise, the greatest luxury, in addition to the fishing rod Tomas gives her, is oranges, which her mother despises, because they trigger devastating migraines. Years later, as an eldery woman, Boise returns to the village, as a widow, buys her old family farm, and opens a restaurant. No one knows the Widow Simon is really the daughter of the town's most hated woman, and during the course of the novel, a mystery unfolds about this young soldier, 10 martyed village members, and Boise and her family. This was a really good read. I love historical fiction, esp WW II stuff. I liked that the characters were not caricatures (it would be easy to make Tomas hateful, but we learn about him, and see he's really being swept up in something he may not like, but doesn't have many choices with). And the relationship between Boise and her mother is especially complicated. Her mother often comes off as cold and not very likeable, but she's struggling as a widow (her husband was killed by the Germans early in the war), trying to keep her family safe, and also dealing with a debilitating, chronic illness. As Boise reads the scrapbook her mother left her, part recipe book, part memoir, we learn from her mother's perspective things that 9 year old Boise could have known.
31. The Greyfriar by Clay and Susan Griffith. First of a trilogy. Steampunk vampire, and these are very different vampires. Vampires cannot tolerate hot weather, so they have relegated humans to the equatorial regions. Adele, Princess of Equtoria, is about to be married to Senator Clark, the US's most notorious vampire killer. Before her marriage, she goes on a tour of the northern lands, and is immediately kidnapped by the most notorious vampire, Cesar. She is initially rescued by a figure she thinks is only legend, The Greyfriar. We learn pretty early on a very interesting secret about the Greyfriar (Adele learns the secret much later). War is coming between the humans and vampires, and the Greyfriar, Adele, and Senator Clark are all right in the middle of it. I enjoyed this book, and will for sure read the next one in the series, which comes out in September. Near the end, I got a little tired of how much Adele was being used as a pawn, but there are hints that she has some hidden strengths that will become important in later books. I did not like Senator Clark, he's very much a bombastic egotist. I'm sure I'm not really supposed to like him, which makes me wish he were fleshed out a little more. But I did like the dynamic between Adele and the Greyfriar, and the dark and very twisted vampire world the authors have drawn in this book.
32. Soulless by Gail Carriger. Another steampunk paranormal, this one set in Victorian England. Carriger is the GoH for this year's Fencon. Alexia Tarabotti is 25, and a confirmed spinster (she has unfortunate coloring because of her Italian father, and her nose is just a little too big). She's also soulless, something unusual in a Victorian England that accepts vampires, werewolves and ghosts. Alexia accidentally kills a vampire at a party with her parasol, and Lord Maccon, the local werewolf alpha and government bureaucrat teams up with Alexia to help solve the mystery surrounding the dead, unregistered vampire. Maccon, considered quite the catch despite being a werewolf, and Alexia take an immediate dislike to each other, so of course we know what that means for their future. The book was an easy read, at times really silly and funny, at times a little dangerous. I have the next 2 books in the series, and the 4th one comes out I think in August. I'm looking forward to following Alexia and Maccon's further adventures.
33. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. A YA book about Clary Fray who accidentally witnesses a murder, and is able to suddenly see creatures others around her cannot see, including the Shadowhunters, a mysterious group of demon hunters who are very curious to know why she can suddenly interact with them. Things get complicated when Clary's mother suddenly and violently disappears, and she has to find her mother and a missing cup with the help of the Shadowhunters. This is the first of a trilogy, and I know they have sold very well, but to be honest, I didn't connect with this book. I found Clary to be a bit too Mary Sue for my taste. Also, some of the writing at times just bugged me. One example is where one character is described as laughing soundlessly. Really, who does that? I know it's a small point, but there were a number of little things like this in the book that bothered me. Add in that I guess a major plot point very early on in the book, and Clary being too precocious for me to really buy, I just don't see that I'll get the next books in this series. There was one interesting little twist I didn't see coming (the love triangle is resolved in a very Star Wars kind of way), and that made for a few interesting pages at the end, but that's just too little, too late for me.
34. Red Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells. I got this at the recommendation of a bookseller friend who knows my taste. I have gotten a little jaded with urban fantasy with super tough girls who kick butt. But I liked this one. Sabina Kane is the granddaughter of the vampire queen, and their hired gun. She has mixed vampire/mage blood, of which she is constantly reminded by her grandmother. She's given an assignment to infiltrate a secret organization that is threatening to bring all the supernatural races together, something Sabina's grandmother sees as a way to strike against vampires. During her underground work, Sabina discovers something about her past that turns her world upside down. It's not a hard book to read, Sabina is pretty snarky at times, an easy book to read. For some reason, I liked this one, and have already bought the next two in this series. I want to see where this story is going, esp for Sabina, because she's dealing with some big time betrayal of trust issues when she learns that her grandmother has lied to her about her past.