August -- No Rush

**The Child Thief by Brom 8/7 (41)

Pick:
Vine Voice book, chosen because it's by Brom and I never got to read The Plucker.

Amazon Review:
I was in a small town theater's production of Peter Pan when I was young, playing Michael, Wendy's youngest brother, so I know the story pretty well. At least, I thought I did.

Then I opened The Child Thief, by Brom, and I found out that I didn't know Peter Pan's story at all.

That's not entirely true. I knew some of this story. In my Peter Pan, I knew that Peter was a trickster, that he brought children from our world into a magical land, where they joined his band of merry pranksters in fighting off the depredations of Captain Hook and his pirates. I knew that Peter hung out with fairies and never grew up. Those things are mostly true in this book. But I didn't know that the magical place was not Nevernever Land, but the magical Isle of Avalon, or that the captain and his pirates were trapped Puritans who got lost while seeking Jamestown in the 1600's, or that Peter's life was dedicated to protecting the Lady of Avalon, also known as the Lady of the Lake from the Arthurian legends. But that is how it goes in Brom's story.

I also didn't know that it was going to be this bloody, this dark, and this horrifying. Peter and his band of eternal youths are not fun-loving tricksters; they are fierce warriors involved in a fight to the death against an implacable and brutal foe. The reason Peter has to continually seek out new youths is because the ones he brings just keep dying, in horrible and brutal ways. And the children he brings to Avalon are happy to follow him, and happy to fight by his side no matter how nasty, brutish, and short their lives may be, because he rescues them from their lives in our world, which are even worse. These Lost Boys (though that's not the name they use) are victims of abuse and neglect and every other horrible circumstance one can imagine children growing up in. As was Peter himself, in the human life he left behind so long ago.

I did know this book was going to be dark, and I knew it was going to have beautiful illustrations, because I know something about the author, Brom, one of the premier illustrators in the world of fantasy and horror. Now I know that he can write, too, and nearly as well as he can draw and paint. There are some flaws in this book, some weak points -- but for the most part, it is a wonderfully fascinating and gloomy and disturbing and magical story, and I would recommend it highly for those who are not faint of heart -- and for those who don't mind a little savagery in their magic.

But don't look for that kid in the pajamas with a teddy bear. He's not in this one. Good thing, too -- because I don't want to know what would happen to that bear.

Thoughts:
It was good, maybe a little long, but quite well-written. Though it's really not as good as the art. Definitely a good read, though -- honestly disturbing in places, and I'm pretty tough to disturb. It also made me want to go back and read J.M. Barrie's original, which Brom's author's note makes out to be only slightly less bloody and disturbing than this novel was. Sounds interesting.


5. The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt 8/11 (42)

Pick:
Something non-fiction and maybe more sedate after that super-cool imaginative romp through a slaughterhouse. I liked Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil; I also realized, when trying to make this pick, that I have three different books focused on Italy, in different eras, so I thought I should get at least one out of the way. I also admit to wanting to knock hardcovers off of my shelf. Of course, my beloved library book sale is tomorrow, which means I get to buy a whole new stack of cheap hardcovers to put back on my shelf -- because the library book sale is the exception to the non-book-buying rule.

Story:
As with his first book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, this book doesn't have much of a specific story to tell. That one focused on a murder, as I recall; this one centers around a possible case of arson: the destruction by fire of the Fenice Opera House in Venice in 1996. But the fire is little more than a backdrop, a thread to tie the different stories together; the book is really about the city, the history, the culture, the people of Venice.

That is, it's about the people and the history and the culture and the city that John Berendt finds interesting, which basically means: rich white people. Preferably English speaking, since that would make it easier to interview them. Now, Berendt does excellent research, and is apparently a dogged and fearless interviewer, and some of the insights and admissions and candid details he gets are very interesting. In addition, the book is not exclusively about the elite: he does a long chapter on a poor and lonely poet, and another on a family of glassblowers, all of whom are native Venetians. He does a very nice piece on the public prosecutor who tried to investigate the fire at the Fenice, and his attempts to convict those he believes were responsible for the fire -- first for criminal negligence, and then for arson. And there are a lot of details about Venice itself, all of which were fascinating, honestly; makes me very much want to go visit, though I wouldn't really want to be a tourist: I'd like to be a part of the city's actual life, behind the tourist scene, if only for a little while.

The problem is that I don't believe Berendt actually made it into the backstage Venice, the Venice of the Venetians. He gets in at times, with certain people, but they're usually the fringe element, or again, the American and Anglo people who have relocated to Venice and been accepted themselves to some extent. But never all the way. This book never gets all the way in. It is interesting for as far as it goes, full of neat stories and beautiful descriptions and some very interesting characters -- I particularly liked the Rat Man of Treviso, who ran the most successful rat poison company in the Western world, because he alters the formula of his rat poison to match the predominant flavors of the area where he sells it. So the rat poison in Italy has olive oil, pasta, almonds, and several other flavors in it; in America, it's vanilla, granola, popcorn, and a little margarine, because Americans eat very little butter -- butter's in the French poison. He was great, as was the larger-than-life artist who kept trying to get arrested making his political and artistic statements. But I don't care enough about the fifth-generation American millionaires who were selling their family palazzo because two of the three siblings had moved away (though the one brother was completely nuts, and that was hilarious), nor do I care enough about the scummy American couple who took advantage of the senile 93-year-old former mistress of Ezra Pound. But both of those were very long chapters in the book. The only one longer was the chapter dedicated to the infighting between Larry Lovett and Bob Guthrie over who should be allowed to run the New York-based charity Save Venice, and who should get the credit for its success. Yeah. That's real Venetian.

It is a fascinating and wonderful place, and I hope to go there. I would like to see it for myself, and look at the things that John Berendt skipped over. But I won't have to wangle my way into English-speaking high society parties in Venice, because I've already heard all I need to know about those.

Thoughts:
Not bad, but not the parts of Venice I would have really liked to hear about, not for the most part. Some of it was great, and the writing was lovely. Much more fun to read than I thought it would be after the first chapter or two. Biggest problem was he didn't really make me care about the Fenice, but it is such a large part of the actual Venetian parts of the book, because it is a vital piece of the landscape to the Venetians. He really should have done a better job with that.


6. Blaze by Richard Bachman 8/14 (43)

Pick:
After the long slow non-fiction comes the fast fiction. I'm planning on reading White Witch, Black Curse, which is the one I've been working up to for months now, but I thought I would squeeze in one more shorty before that.

Story:
Well, this one is credited to Richard Bachman, which I always thought was kind of a running joke for Stephen King at this point -- because who doesn't know? But honestly, that was the right way to credit this novel. It doesn't really feel like a Stephen King novel, but it did remind me a lot of Thinner and Rage and The Running Man. The Bachman books tend to be faster, more brutal in some ways, because they have less description and far less soul-searching and character exploration. They have some, of course, because even if Bachman is a different side of King, he's still attached to the same brain, and description and character exploration are what King really does; the violence and horror are just ways to focus on the characters, to examine what people are really like in the harsh spotlight of a crisis, when they are fully out of their comfort zones.

Ironically, though, this would have been a better book if Stephen King had written it. It wasn't bad: I liked Blaze, the title character -- a 6'7" hulk with a very slow mind, thanks to the time his father threw him down the stairs. Three times. I liked the flashbacks to Blaze's youth, the stories of his life in the foster care system; I liked that Blaze was basically a good guy even if he did become a criminal. I liked that Blaze's life, other than the horrible story of his abuse at his father's hands, was basically happy and successful.

But I didn't like the way it ended, not for the last fifty pages. Still well-written, but I didn't like it. I think the imagination of Stephen King would have been able to pull out a better finish for a good character like Clayton Blaisdell, Jr.

Thoughts:
Pretty good, but probably not worth reading twice. On the other hand, I loved the short story that was in there right after it, and so now I want to read Duma Key -- the novel that came from that short story.


*Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines by Richard A. Muller 8/17 (44)


Pick:
This one doesn't count, because it came in the mail. That's right, my dad sent me a book, which I had to add to my TBR pile, a pile that I have barely made a dent in because I've been writing and working on the house and playing lots of video games. I already have new books coming in from Amazon twice a month -- now I have to read books from my dad?? About physics?!? Sheesh!

Story:
The book is a collection of explanatory articles about topics related to recent headlines and hot topics in the United States. The author, a physicist and professor at UC Berkeley, tries to explain everything in simple yet precise scientific terms, with the intention that any reader be able to understand the real facts behind these topics, rather than be forced to wade through the misinformation and exaggerations that abound.

Pardon me: his intention is actually to educate the future president, whom he addresses quite specifically as often as possible. Not that he gives a name of who will be our next president, being a scientist rather than a pundit or prognosticator, but it is clear that he considers this work to be nothing short of indispensable to any future leader of the United States. Each segment is concluded with a one- to two-page summary for the President; the sort of easy reference guide that all politicians should carry in their pockets to glance at whenever possible.

Pardon me again: his actual intention seems to be to prove to all readers that his erudition and insight make him the logical choice for the post of indispensable advisor to any future president. Not merely an authority on scientific matters, a claim that I would hardly dispute: he seems to see himself as the source of all logic, as the font of common sense, the one-eyed man in the kingdom of the scientifically blind. Despite claims that he has no particular ability to make political choices, and claims that he would never want to appear partisan on any political issue, still he does both of those things again and again. He makes it clear right in the introduction when he compliments the reader on finding the solution to the problem of figuring out the truth behind such diverse topics as global warming, nuclear power, and the next potential terrorist threat: the reader has picked up his book. The book is apparently based on his renowned course for non-physics students -- the wording comes from the book jacket, not from me -- that he has taught for years.

The science in the book is interesting. The pedantic posturing and weak attempts at humor, followed by even weaker attempts at intellectual camaraderie -- which invariably come off as mere elitism -- are less interesting, verging on annoying. I would have really enjoyed this book if someone else had written it.

Thoughts:
Thanks, Pop. At least it didn't take me too long to read. And I can stop worrying about dirty bombs. But the fact that this guy considers Yucca Mountain a solution to the problem of nuclear waste, based on his mathematical analysis of the acceptable risk of leakage, shows me that he is not, in fact, qualified to make political decisions, and he shouldn't have tried. The book should focus on current issues related to science, but the gimmick of advising the president was a mistake, made seemingly just to feed the dude's ego. NEXT!


7. White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison 8/24 (45)

Pick:
I've been waiting to read this since I first tried, back in, Jeez, freakin' March when we got the book from Amazon. I think I've waited long enough.

Story:
Rachel Morgan is a witch, living with a vampire (who, fortunately, hasn't died yet) and a family of pixies (who, unfortunately, are about to die quite soon, of old age -- at least the parents will, though not the four dozen children), beholden and apprenticed to a demon, with an uneasy alliance to the last few elves alive in the world; she has dated a dishonest human thief who endangered her and stole from her, a noble living vampire who died protecting her, and, it turns out in this novel, an embodied ghost who died almost two hundred years before, who has now come back to -- well, maybe he has good intentions. And in this novel, Rachel decides the time has come to take on a whole new species: the banshee, the apex predator of this world of the Hollows and the Turn, the nastiest, deadliest, most powerful race in the world -- rivaled only by undead vampires and demons, but matched by neither.

Because the largest issue any of these races seems to have is -- issue. The elves are willing to do almost anything to repair the damage done to their genetic code by their ancient enemies, the demons; the demons are willing to do almost anything to seduce their one surviving female, and protect their one potential new female, a certain genetically altered (or perhaps re-altered) witch. The vampires have allowed Rachel to stay alive and unharmed, despite her vulnerability to vampire powers, because their master, Rynn Cormel, believes that the witch may have the ability to save the soul of all future vampires, starting with her roommate and best friend, Ivy Tamwood. If Rachel succeeds in saving Ivy's soul, then the vampires will be able to last into their undeath in greater numbers -- which will help to balance the growing power of the vampires' top supernatural rivals, the Weres, now that the Weres have the ability to make new Weres with bites, rather than the simple reproduction that has been the only source of new Weres for centuries. So naturally, the banshees have a very difficult time reproducing: the banshee subsists on the emotions, the auras, of other living creatures, which it can drain with a thought. Newborn banshees have the power, but not the control to turn it off -- which means that they are fatal to any living thing that touches them, other than their mothers. Not a good baby to have in Italy.

The banshee of Cincinnati -- there is only one, who has lived in the same area for 300 years and allowed no rivals to stay -- has found a way to have a child with the man she loves, and still keep that man alive despite her daughter's fatal touch. She has not found a way to spare innocent bystanders from being eaten by her adorable little bundle of evil, because she does not care to try. When the family puts one of Rachel's friends in the hospital, Rachel goes after them. This, in combination with Rachel's ongoing dealings with demons -- which have brought up a whole new storm of consequences -- and her and Ivy's continuing attempt to discover the identity of the vampire who murdered Rachel's lover Kisten, make up the bulk of the plot. But because these books are complex and genuine in their attempts to depict all of Rachel's life, there is also the issue of Rachel's mother and brother and their comings and goings; the debate between continued friendship with Marshall, the attractive but comfortable companion she has spent the last two months having platonic fun with, and the possibility of romance with a man who could, for the first time, be good for Rachel; the sad prospect of losing their pixy friend Matalina, and the slightly more distant prospect of losing Jenks, the best character in these books; and at least a little time spent with Trent and Rachel's past health issues. Oh yeah: and then there's the ghost that has been in love with Rachel for ten years. Or maybe it's that she's in love with him. Maybe both. Or neither. When it comes to Rachel's love life, none of us really know -- least of all Rachel.

The book is a little slow at first, even a little confusing, simply because there are so many plotlines to keep juggling. But some of these are resolved in this book, and perhaps resolved permanently; the banshee issue certainly is, along with the murderous vampire's identity. And once the book is settled into its groove, it chugs right along, as readable and entertaining and engrossing as all the rest in the series. Great twists, a better pace than some of the other books have had -- and an excellent ending. This one's a good'un.

Thoughts:
It was worth the wait, and mostly worth the re-read. I don't think these books are my favorite supernatural series, and I don't know if I'll be re-reading them all again -- but on first read, all of these have been a lot of fun, and this was no exception.



** Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran 8/27 (46)

Pick:
Amazon Vine book. I like historical fiction, especially ancient Rome and Egypt, and it sounded intriguing.

Vine Review:
Cleopatra's Daughter is many things: an adult historical novel, and a young adult novel split between coming of age and romance (as much as those two things can be separated in the teenage years). It's hard to tell in the end which aspect of this novel is the best; but all of them are good, and none of them are overwhelmed or watered down by the others. This balancing act earns the author high praise, and the book a recommendation for several different audiences.

The adult historical novel gives a nice view of the rise of the Roman empire; the book begins with Octavian Caesar, the heir and successor of Julius Caesar, defeating his last serious rival for power: Mark Antony and his wife, Kleopatra of Egypt (It was interesting to read of how Kleopatra's daughter was annoyed when an unfriendly Roman misspelled Kleopatra's name, using a C instead of a K, considering the book's title. But what are you going to do?). Octavian forces the couple to take their own lives, and then he takes their three children prisoner, bringing them to Rome for his Triumph. The book covers the next four years, culminating with Octavian's promotion to Emperor, and adoption of the name Augustus; Moran gives the reader an interesting perspective of Rome at the time, since the narrator is an observant young woman who moves in the highest circles of society, but who is nonetheless an outsider, a virtual prisoner who lives by the continued sufferance of a man renowned for his mercilessness and even cruelty. So we see some of the politics of the time, but more of the daily life; all of it is presented genuinely, with no lengthy discussions of Rome's cultural or historical significance and no textbookese; it was both fun and informative to read.

The young adult novel that runs through the historical setting is also well done, though the coming-of-age aspect was better than the romance. Selene is a good character: an educated, talented young woman in a time when women were little more than property; a beautiful and personable girl forced to live among strangers, conquerors, perhaps even enemies. Her life is turbulent, as should be expected, and though there are many tragedies, it does end quite well -- with perhaps just a taste of Hollywood happiness in terms of her love life. Though to be honest, that ending comes from history, and not from the author's imagination -- so perhaps it should be inspiring, rather than dubious.

All in all, Cleopatra's Daughter is well-written and quite outstanding in its mix of genres, and thus its appeal. A very good book.


Thoughts:
It was a touch hard to get into, a little difficult to read in terms of the effort spent, but it was definitely worth it -- a good payoff, and it made me want to read up on my history, which I think is always a good sign.


8. Clan Daughter by Morgan Howell (Queen of the Orcs, Book II) 8/28 (47)

Pick:
I was feeling like fantasy. Seems like it's been a while since I read something with swords and sorcery, omens and orcs, and I thought it was time to get back into it. I also want to finish this trilogy up before I start forgetting everything that happened in the first book and I have to re-read it. Like all the others. I have enough to read, thank you.

Story:
It turns out -- and I doubt this is a big secret -- that these books were written by a man, using an androgynous pseudonym presumably because the main character, and thus part of the audience, is female. Well, I'm assuming the William Hubbell who owns the copyright is the author. At any rate, the first book in the series, King's Property, is a good book and Dar is a good character (albeit with a bad name -- kept making me think of frustrated pirates), so the author's gender really hasn't made any difference to me. But I think it made a difference in this book.

This book picks up exactly where the first book left off: Dar and the five remaining orcs of the troop she served in King Kregant's army have left the battlefield that claimed the lives of all of their companions, and they are heading back to the orcs' homeland, the mountains far to the north. The orcs have accepted Dar as their leader, as their society is strongly matriarchal, and Dar has managed to impress them with her wisdom; they see her more as a woman and less as a human, and are therefore willing to accept her guidance. All but one: Zna-yat still hates and distrusts her for her humanity, and plots her death once again -- a goal he tried and failed to accomplish in the first book.

Unfortunately, Dar has no idea where she is going, apart from "thataway," and so the first third of the book describes the orcs' very difficult journey through human lands, trying to reach their home. Over the course of the trip, Dar uses a combination of wit and wisdom, luck and magic to guide them the right way, and they do win through to the orc lands. But that's when the trouble begins. On the trip, a new complication has arisen: Dar has fallen in love with one of her orcish companions, a love that is returned, but one that is also doomed, because no orc male would marry when his mother forbids the relationship -- and no orc mother would allow her son to marry a human, no matter how dearly the two love one another.

This is the only place where the author's gender, I think, has an impact on the story: this romance seems depicted as a man would think about it, not as a woman would. Once Dar has some physical contact with her lover (Have no fear, there are no nasty bits), it is all she can think about; her longing for him is described as a physical need like hunger and thirst, and whenever the two are together, all she thinks about is getting snuggly. The romance isn't bad, it just seemed a little off for a young woman's first love.

The plot takes a whole new turn once the group reaches the orc lands; some of the plotlines from the first book return, and are wrapped up, and the story also heads off in a whole new direction. The ending felt a wee bit rushed, though I'm sure the third book -- already out and waiting on my shelf to be read -- will expand and explain everything that comes in a rush at the end of this book. Overall, this was a fun, easy read; the best parts remain the depiction of the orc culture as different from, and superior to, the human culture; you definitely come out of this book wishing you were an orc, instead of some stinking washavoki.

Thoughts:
Good book. Romance should have been done differently, and the ending should have been expanded. I didn't like how the human suitor is given so much leeway to pursue Dar even though she loves Kovok-mah; if you want to do love triangle stuff, then you need to establish the other guy better, and he wasn't. Dar and Kovok-mah have been through far too much for Sevren to get any time with her, and while she doesn't flirt with him or lead him on, neither does she shut him down, and she should have. He could still respect her and be her friend and ally without loving her and thinking she might love him. But I'm hopeful the third book will make it all better. Those orcs better not turn out to be evil, or I'm going to be pissed.


9. The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (Edited by Edward Seidensticker) (Unfinished) 8/31

Pick:
Another book I picked up at a library book sale because I had heard of this and was curious. The Tale of Genji is supposed to be the first novel ever written; it's a very long (many volumes in the original, apparently) romance about a nobleman in feudal Japan, written sometime around 1000 AD.

Thoughts:
I almost fell asleep three times in the first chapter. I was also disappointed to find out that this edition is abridged -- because if I were to read the thing, I'd want to read the whole thing. I'm in it for curiosity's sake, not for a rollicking good read -- sheesh! But I had to give up after that. This is just another book that I feel like I should read, somehow, but really don't want to -- and I have too many books to waste my time with that.

Another one off the shelf.


** Come Back, Como by Steven Winn 9/4/09 (48)

Pick:
Vine Voice book. Cute dog on the cover, story about winning the love of a reluctant pup, what could go wrong?

Vine Review:
Well-written and engaging, with a sweet ending, but this book has the wrong sub-title. It isn't about winning the heart of a reluctant dog, it is about winning the heart of a reluctant owner. This book was tough for me to read because of that, since I am the farthest thing from a reluctant dog owner: I am one of those people who always wanted a dog, a dog that I now count among my family members and love completely and irrationally. I am also one of those people who read books of dog advice and watch the dog whisperer, and so I knew right from the start what was wrong with the story of the Winns and Como: it was Steven Winn himself.

I don't have much criticism for the book itself; Winn is a good writer, excellent descriptions and some very nice insights towards the end of the story. But Mr. Winn and his wife never wanted a dog; they only get Como because their daughter Phoebe is desperate for a canine friend. I couldn't relate to that, and so I found myself disliking Winn for the tone of the narration, for his reluctance and anxiety about the dog. Both of these things are understandable, of course, and Como does turn out to be a challenging animal -- but I kept muttering under my breath, "You're doing it wrong, that's never going to work." I felt more sorry for the dog than the owner, and that wasn't the aim of the book. There are some parts that made me chuckle or smile, even laugh, but there were also some frowns and maybe even a little name-calling.

I would say that people who were unsure about their pets at first, or who are ambivalent in some way about their furry friends -- you love 'em, but they just keep eating your fershlugginer slippers! -- would enjoy this story. But if you, like me, consider your dog to be as wonderful as any human child -- maybe even a little better -- then this probably isn't the right book for you.

Thoughts:
The guy kept his daughter from having a dog until she was almost thirteen. I mean, my parents wouldn't let me have a dog either, but there were some differences: both my mother and my brother are allergic, and I myself was never completely obsessed with dogs, as the daughter is in this story. She wants nothing more than a dog -- and they have no good reason not to get her one. It pissed me off that they were so unwilling to do a good thing -- please their daughter, bring more life and love into their home, save a rescued animal's life. Why wouldn't you do that right away? This was only exacerbated as they got several lesser pets -- fish, a bird, that kind of thing -- for their daughter, who turns out to be responsible and reliable in caring for the pet, thus eliminating that argument about who will end up caring for the dog. When they get Como, the whole family has to care for him, of course, but he is fed, walked, and watched regularly and consistently by their daughter. Just makes me think they should have gotten her a dog sooner.

Then they get the dog, and the only thing the guy thinks about is how long they have left until they can return him to the shelter for a full refund. He jumps all over it when the shelter folks bring it up, and he keeps throwing meaningful glances at his wife when the dog misbehaves; his wife then whispers, "Twenty-eight." Which is how many days they have left until they can't return him. First of all: if you're still thinking about returning the dog, you shouldn't have gotten one in the first place; secondly, it's a shelter dog that cost you all of a hundred bucks. Do you really need the refund? And then he wonders why the dog doesn't love him as much as it loves his wife and daughter. Yeah: that would be because you're plotting to get rid of him, dude.

I held the owner responsible for pretty much all of Como's problems, so I liked the dog a lot more than the man on the other end of the leash (and behind the typewriter). I suppose that isn't a big surprise.