What I’m Reading Today

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I started Among Others by Jo Walton the other day. It took me a few pages to get into but I’m really enjoying it now. At first, I had trouble with the tone and the fact that I have no history on the characters with the exception of what Mori, the narrator and main character, offers up, which isn’t much. Somewhere in those first few chapters, more accurately dairy entries, I started to admire her for her reading choices — J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula La Guin— and her love of the library. For a story I wasn’t sure I was going to finish, this book is ending stronger than it started for me.

Have you read this book? Thoughts?

Review – The Reckoning

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The Reckoning is the second book in The Taker trilogy. My review of The Taker is here.

The Reckoning picks up where the first book in The Taker trilogy left off — with Lanny running away from Adair, the man who bestowed eternal life upon her. After escaping the small cell Lanny imprisoned him in, Adair is now free and looking to exact revenge on Lanny, the woman he supposedly loves and has convinced himself he cannot live without.

Lanny is on the run with her new love Luke trying not only to avoid criminal charges for murder back in Maine but also any last vestige of her previous life. The last 200 years, while memorable for numerous reasons and punctuated with the odd famous individual or well-known events, have also been filled with terror for her. She knows that the prison holding her former lover, and tormentor, Adair, may break at any time and he will come looking for her. When the day Lanny most dreaded arrives and Adair is freed, she tried to impress on everyone in her life, current and past acquaintances, that Adair being free is more than a simple matter of hiding. She knows he will find her and she doesn’t want to let that happen knowing only years of pain, fear, and humiliation will be hers to endure. Thanks to her immortality, death will never be a release from the nightmare she knows awaits her.

Luke doesn’t understand her fear, and not having ever known Adair or anyone else from Lanny’s past, he believes her fear to be irrational. Knowing she can’t have Luke found by Adair, Lanny leaves him to search out the others and hopefully find answers and some solace in their company. What Lanny finds is not at all what she expected.

As in the first book in this series, The Taker, a good deal of the story is told through flashbacks of Lanny and Adair’s lives. They spend days thinking over their pasts and wondering where it got them. This is especially true in the case of Adair, who after 200 years of imprisonment is now part of a world that doesn’t conform to his style of living. For a man with freedom, he seems oddly intimidated by it —- he can’t frighten the world and its people into submission. Even the ones he has bestowed eternity upon aren’t as he remembered.

While Adair is trying to form some sense of identity (and search out Lanny to exact vengeance for locking him behind stone) Lanny is looking for some sort of forgiveness. I have to admit that I felt some of the characters, Adair in particular, changed too much and too little all at the same time. Adair is a monster, to be certain, a man obsessed with a woman he’s tortured physically and mentally, and, yet, he can’t understand why she wants him buried behind a stone wall. Of course, any time he becomes soft hearted, you’re immediately reminded of his past actions. Katsu doesn’t let you forget you aren’t supposed to like Adair.

At the end of The Taker, I was wondering where Katsu would take this story and now at the end of The Reckoning, I’m feeling much the same curiosity. I think Katsu has a skill for building characters with extensive pasts that continue to fascinate. In many ways, I was left guessing as to what the truth was and what was told to impress or scare. The characters all walk fine lines. They may be immortal but they’re all part of a mortal world that most likely wouldn’t understand or accept them. Most find ways to blend in and survive but I still can’t get past their actions. It’s a character driven story with incredibly interesting and sometimes hateful characters and that’s keeping me firmly attached to the story.

If you’re interested in The Reckoning, start with The Taker. This is a story best read from the beginning. It’s a tale of obsession, love, and fear among immortals who can’t be harmed by the trials of life but who manage to do a number on each other. You’ll need all the gory details to understand why waiting on the final book in this series will feel like an eternity.

In addition to this blog, I also do reviews for The Book Reporter website. The above review was done for the Book Reporter which can be found here. The book was provided to me by the publisher.

The Reckoning

By Alma Katsu

Gallery Books

ISBN: 9781451651805

4 stars

Review – The Watchers

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Lausanne, Switzerland, gothic cathedrals, talk of angels, a man in the belfry calling the hour, a hooker, and a man with no memory. The Watchers is a book full of strange people and places but somehow they all work beautifully together.

In the first part of The Watchers, we get to know the characters, peek in on their lives, and in the second part, we watch all of the characters’ lives collide in some way or another.

Katherine Taylor is a high priced hooker hiding out in Switzerland. She enjoys her life, the money, and has let herself feel safe in all her choices up till now. Even though she’s convinced herself that she’s made the right move, some things about her life do bother her when she looks past the fancy clothes and money but she carries on wanting to get the most out of the situation believing she can go back at any time. Marc Rochat is the last of a dying breed — he calls the hour at the Lausanne Cathedral spending his days talking to the bells, shoeing pigeons out of the way, and unintentionally spying on the city and its inhabitants. One night Marc sees Jay Harper standing on the bridge and in his own innocent way, believes him to be some sort of investigator out looking for clues. He gets into his head that he too should be on watch with all the strange happenings around the city, including several gruesome murders no one seems to be able to explain.

This book has a lot going on but don’t let that deter you. The mix is odd, but the setting, which is dark but familiar, makes it work. I started out thinking this was a thriller and was sure I was going to see every character die a gruesome death and in at least one case that does happen. All the problems the characters face are real even if they might have an extraordinary/paranormal explanation. For instance, Marc Rochat may be a simple man with very little ambition and naïve in the ways of the world but he seems to see and understand more of what’s going on than most of the people in town. Katherine Taylor, hooker extraordinaire, was annoying but sympathetic and other than learning some humility, I’m not sure she learned much of anything but I wasn’t expecting that to happen. Now, Jay Harper. Is he a detective or a paid spy? He’s a man with no memory of his life before a phone call a few weeks back. He remembers nothing before coming to Lausanne and meeting an odd group of people for a job he doesn’t know if he’s qualified to complete or not. You know he’s part of a bigger plan.

I’ll admit that the ending was not what I was expecting but I went with it and found I liked where it led even if I wasn’t so sure about it. It didn’t ruin anything for me and I sometimes like it when an author tests my ability for the realities I expect. There is some graphic violence in this book but I wasn’t particularly bothered by it mostly because it fit with the story and I didn’t feel it was added for show.

Bottom line — The Watchers an interesting book from a new author I’d like to read more of. Steele took the elements of an old city, made them feel even older, darker, sadder, and topped it with characters that made me unable to stop reading. My copy of The Watchers topped out at 574 and felt like a mere 200 pages to me.

The Watchers

By Jon Steele

Blue Rider Press

ISBN: 9780399158742

4 stars

Review – Ender’s Game

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This book falls into the books I’ve always meant to read but never got around to stack. This ended up being the June pick for the online book club I joined, and though I read it earlier this year, I thought it was a good time to finally post my review.

Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is all of six years old when he is recruited to battle school to train as a commander to fight against an alien race that’s threatening to take over Earth. He leaves behind a distant and unhappy family on Earth — a sadistic older brother and parents that are terrified to become attached to a son they know they cannot keep. His sister, Valentine, is the only one in his life that has ever shown him love and in return, he holds onto her memory tightly. At battle school, Ender excels but loses all sense of himself — why he is there and what it might mean for his future. All he knows is that he must defeat the aliens and save Earth and all humanity.

Ender is one sad child. In fact, all the children at battle school are sad. They have no idea what it means to be children and will never be given the chance. They’re training day after relentless day to save the planet, yet, aren’t even allowed to know the planet or the people on it. It’s no wonder he’s an aloof little person suspicious of every adult in his path. And to be honest, they’re all trying to size him up as the next savior and that would make anyone an anxious mess.

I didn’t particularly like Ender. While he’s genetically perfect, a blend of all that’s needed to save Earth, he’s just boring. His situation is what I liked though. The psychological impact of what the children are put through is like watching a little experiment take place and I was generally surprised by the ending. I was reading this on my Nook so I didn’t read ahead so I didn’t know what was going to happen. It’s also creepy in how the children are treated as adults yet are essentially playing games they don’t understand and think they’re training to be fighters and question nothing. Ender does question the commanders but he’s a child trying to understand adult combat and life and death issues. Do the math on that one.

Am I glad I read it? I am. Sometimes when books I’ve ignored finally get read, I feel letdown, especially if they’re books others rave about. If I had read this as a child, I think I would have loved it more but that’s what I get for waiting to read it as an adult. Perspective, hindsight? Who knows.

Have you read it? Thoughts on this one? If you’re interested, here’s what the BHA Book Club thought about it.

Ender’s Game

By Orson Scott Card

Doherty, Tom Associates LLC/St. Martin’s

ISBN-13: 9781429963930

3.75 stars

 

The Sunday Salon – Lazy

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I’ve been pretty lazy the last few weeks, months even, about writing. The blog’s been relatively quiet — our vacation which was highly beneficial in other areas of life, wrecked havoc on blogging — and my personal writing has become almost non-existent. Butt in chair has been a tough thing to overcome now that summer is here and there are millions of fun exhibits opening at museums, art events to attend, jazz to listen to in the park, friends to catch up with. You get the point; I’m easily distracted.

While updating my list of read books yesterday, I took a look at my challenges page and found I’m sadly behind on almost every challenge I joined. This doesn’t surprise me at all since I’ve been picking books at random and reading what feels like the right book at the right time the last few months instead of following any sort of list or schedule. It’s made me happy. I’ve read some good books, some really fun books, and some great books and enjoyed reading like I haven’t in a while. I’ve also been reading much slower than usual and that’s mostly been due to my crazy schedule the last two months but I’m starting to feel like I’m appreciating my limited reading time more.

I usually don’t join challenges at random; I look for ones that fit my reading style and feature books or the type of books, I want to read. I think of the challenges as a sort of reading map. This year, that map is now coffee stained, ripped beyond repair, shoved between the seats, and forgotten. So, done with challenges? No, not really. I’m still interested in some of the challenges but what I’ve done is take a look at the books I have listed, picked out what I really want to read and ditched the rest. While it would be nice to complete every one, I know it’s not going to happen and I don’t want to do it to the detriment of my reading. Why mess up something that makes me happy? I don’t like looking at reading as a chore so I’m not going to.

So, what have I been reading that’s been so good?

I finished the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger this week and this is a series I’m really sad to see end. The books are short, funny, entertaining, and great reads when I need a little something fun. I plan to read these again. I reviewed the first two here and here but I haven’t posted my review of the third yet and haven’t even written reviews for the last two. I’m planning on writing those reviews, or not, this week.

I’ve discovered Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind and am planning to get the second book in this series very soon. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this at first but then it sucked me in and I didn’t want to put it down. It’s a world to get lost in. This is another review I need to get to also.

China Mieville is on my short list of favorite authors and his newest book, Railsea, is another great read. He creates an amazing world, fills it with wonderful characters, and takes you on a journey. And for this one, I do have a review.

What am I reading now? The Master of Heathcrest Hall by Galen Beckett. It’s the third book in The Mrs. Quent trilogy and while it’s moving a little slow for me, I do like the world building so I plan to see it to the end. I also found The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley on my shelf yesterday. I think this is my next book. I loved this book when I read it so many years ago and it’s a book listed in a challenge and a book I want to re-read. It also feels like it should be my next book.

With that, I wish you all a happy Sunday and some happy reading to go with it. Enjoy.

Review – The Seventh Gate

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Sophie Riedesel is a teenager in Berlin in 1932. Other than being too smart for her own good with a biting sense of humor and always ready with a sarcastic remark, she’s a fairly normal young woman of the time. When Hitler begins his rise to power, her life takes a drastic turn. Her father, a scientist and a member of the Communist party with strong beliefs, suddenly switches to the Nazi party and espouses views she never thought he had. Sophie wants to believe he did it to save his job and family, but she isn’t entirely sure that’s the case. She has trouble understanding her father now, and it becomes even worse when her boyfriend, who she’s known since they were small children, also joins the party telling her things she doesn’t want to hear.

With all the men in her once-stable life now on the wrong side of her belief system, she takes comfort in her growing friendship with an older Jewish neighbor, Isaac Zarco, and his eclectic and — according to the Nazi party — socially unacceptable group of friends, which includes Jews, social activists, and some former circus performers.

As Germany changes, so does Sophie. Her relationship with her father, once open and loving, becomes halting and difficult. Her already strained and distant relationship with her mother, who outwardly doesn’t seem to care for her, turns nasty. Her younger brother, Hansi, a boy who hasn’t spoken in years, is a silent comfort and burden to her at the same time. She shares things with him she doesn’t tell anyone else, secretly wishes he would go away, and deeply wants to understand what goes on in his head.

Sophie becomes more and more involved with Isaac and the work he and his friends are doing to try and stop the growing power of the Nazi party. Isaac and his friends have formed a group called the Ring, which is working to get the word out and possibly stop the atrocities taking place in Germany. When a member of the group is murdered, Sophie, having grown close to Isaac, begins investigating the murder and asking questions in places she shouldn’t. She eventually becomes so involved in Isaac’s life that he begins making plans to send her away before any harm can come to her.

I don’t read much about World War II because I find it such a sad time in human history, but to me this book is an exception. What drew me to it was the mystery thrown in and mixed with the idea of kabbalist mysticism. Sophie is growing up fast in a city hampered with new rules every day, and it was particularly interesting seeing it all happening through her eyes. She takes risks, false steps, and makes mistakes, but sticks to her beliefs even when she knows what she’s doing could bring harm to those she loves. Her life, which once revolved around her boyfriend and obsession with Hollywood movies, is now made up of a group of people she realizes she can’t live without.

Isaac, who is a scholar of Jewish mysticism, begins teaching Sophie what he knows, and her love for Isaac and understanding of what drives him becomes a force in her life she will fight for in ways she never thought possible. Seeing Sophie change from a young girl fascinated by her own growing sexuality into a woman concerned with the political implications of her country’s governmental policies was an interesting metamorphosis in the way it affected her life in a most singular way — her family and the family she made. It’s Sophie’s ties that make this book so moving.

If you love historical fiction with characters that make no apologies for who they are and what they do, The Seventh Gate is a book you should read.

In addition to this blog, I also do reviews for The Book Reporter website. The above review was done for the Book Reporter which can be found here. The book was provided to me by the publisher.

The Seventh Gate

By Richard Zimler

Overlook Press

ISBN: 9781590207130

4 stars

 

Review – All the Flowers in Shanghai

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Feng is a young woman who is mostly ignored by everyone in her family with the exception of her grandfather who dotes on her. Her older sister is the one everyone’s hopes and dreams ride on but she’s cruel to Feng and the two have never had any sort of relationship. When her sister dies unexpectedly, Feng is forced to marry her fiancé to hold up the arrangements her parents made and Feng finds herself a wife to a son of a well-known and rich family in Shanghai with no idea how to fend for herself or any understanding of what’s expected of her.

All the Flowers in Shanghai interested me because this is a timeframe I’m unfamiliar with — Shanghai in the 1930s — and I don’t read much historical fiction set in China which was very appealing. While the setting was interesting, I didn’t care for any of the characters. Feng goes from being exceptionally naïve to bitter in an amazingly short time frame. Her mother, the social climber, is not even worth mentioning as she wasn’t much of a mother so much as person bartering away her daughters for social acceptance. In the end, this book is a letter to a daughter Feng doesn’t know but why she would write such awful things to her daughter I just don’t understand. Yes, she was looking for forgiveness in the end, but throwing every hateful thing she’s ever done out into the world — both to the daughter and to her husband — doesn’t portray her in a good way.

Oddly, Feng gave her daughter away so that she wouldn’t have to face the life she did but the entire time I was reading, I kept wondering why she couldn’t leave any of her bitterness especially for her children. No, her life wasn’t an easy one but she didn’t want to see any happiness in her life and drove all of it away from her which meant she drove every family member away that she could. In the end of her life, she does begin to understand her hatred and deal with it but the letter feels like a poor apology and nothing more. She spent her whole life looking to get back at people and never sought to understand anyone’s motivation but her own and I couldn’t accept her mea culpa.

Like I said, the setting is really appealing and I wish there had been more about the revolution and the changes China went through. Because the story is told through Feng’s perspective, it’s hard to see the impact of the changes and what little of the revolution Feng does come in contact with she doesn’t understand because of the secluded life she led.

While I had trouble with the characters in this book, the writing is solid and has given me a new timeframe for historical fiction to explore.

I won this book through the LIbrayThing Early Reviewers program. An ARC was sent to me by the publisher for review.

All the Flowers in Shanghai

By Duncan Jepson

William Morrow

ISBN: 9780062106971

2.5 stars