The Land of Sidewalks and Curbs

Tracy's CBR3 Review #52 - Vanity Fair

2011-09-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

I had actually read a couple of other books, but I wanted to end the Cannonball Read on a classic. This book has been sitting on my shelf for ages, taunting me with its thickness. Don't get me wrong, long books aren't off-putting to me - I've read The Stand a bajillion times. But there's something daunting about Victorian literature that I've never quite been able to get over.

But here's the thing. It's good. It's entertaining. It's funny. Of course, there were some parts where the story dragged, but I think that was an occupational hazard for the Victorian novelist.

The subtitle of the book is "A Novel Without a Hero." This is true. Our protagonist is Becky Sharp, an orphan who is far too clever and, well, sharp, for her own good. Her only friend is Amelia Sedley, a sweet and none too bright girl who comes from a fairly well-off family. Amelia is promised to George Osborne, a total prick, who for some reason, everyone thinks is fab. George's friend Dobbin loves Amelia, but she sees him pretty much as a neuter. Becky comes home with Amelia after they leave school, before she takes a job as a governess to Sir Pitt Crawley. Becky tries to make Amelia's brother Jos marry her, but things fall apart and Becky has to go off to work.

Sir Pitt has the title, but not much else. Becky teaches his daughters, becomes indispensible to Sir Pitt, and amuses Miss Crawley (Sir Pitt's sister, who has all the family money). Becky also falls in love with Sir Pitt's younger son Rawdon, and he with her. Unfortunately, because Becky is penniless, the family frowns upon their union and they are disinherited. They make their way in the world by keeping one step ahead of their creditors.

There is so much more to this story: the Napoleonic Wars, moves to Belgium and back, death, betrayal, bankruptcy, affairs, lying, cheating, stealing. All of the things that hinder the pilgrims in their progress (the name comes from a place in The Pilgrim's Progress). Thackeray does what he can to make the reader sympathetic to Becky in the beginning, until it suits his purpose that she becomes a villan. I could tell you the exact point in the book where Becky lost my support, but I'll leave you to find your own breaking point with Miss Sharp.

So, some observations from my Cannonball Read: I really don't sleep enough, but I'm glad there are books and itty bitty booklights to get me through. Reading 52 books is much easier than reviewing even one. I'm proud that I've done this, and I look forward to CBR4. Maybe I'll try a theme. Any suggestions?

Tracy's CBR3 Review #51 - The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

2011-09-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Katherine Howe's novel opens in 1681 in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Peter Petford, a widower, has a sick daughter. Nothing he does helps her, so he has called on Deliverance Dane, the local cunning woman. Unfortunately, the girl dies, and Peter blames Deliverance. Meanwhile, in the early 90s (for some reason, this book published in 2009 takes place in 1991 - maybe the author just wanted it to be pre-cell phone?), Connie (Constance) Goodwin is passing her orals and getting ready to start working on her dissertation in Colonial History at Harvard (if all the people in books that went to Harvard actually went to Harvard, there would be no room to move on that campus. Why aren't there any non-Ivy League people in stories?).
At any rate, Connie aces the question about the history of witchcraft in America, impressing her advisor, a Boston Brahmin with an interest in alchemy, who may have a separate (and possibly unhealthy) interest in witchcraft. Then Connie hears from her mother, an Earth-mother type living out west cleansing auras and stuff like that, that she's about to lose the family home in Marblehead (hmmmm) because of back taxes. Could Connie head out there and clean up the abandoned house to get it ready to sell? Well, sure. Of course the house is at the end of the road, covered in vines, and has no phone or electricity. It's clearly several hundred years old, and there's a bunch of odd stuff in it. Connie finds an old family bible, and a key falls out. Inside the key (however that works) is a piece of paper with a name on it: Deliverance Dane.

The rest of the book goes back and forth between Connie trying to track down Deliverance's story and a book that may contain witchy information, and the story of Deliverance and how she was tried as a witch. Connie meets a steeplejack and they begin to fall in love, and her faculty advisor begins acting oddly. He seems to believe that the book Connie is seeking is a real book of witchcraft, and seems to believe that there were real witches. Connie experiences a few odd things (did that dead plant really come back to life?), and begins to figure some things about herself and her family.

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, but by the end the plot was just silly. The story was well-written, I zipped through the book pretty quickly, but spent way too much time rolling my eyes. I'd rather Howe had spent more time with Deliverance's story, it was way more interesting than Connie. Would I recommend it? Sure, but don't expect much.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #50 - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

2011-08-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

Poor Anne Bronte. Everyone remembers her sisters very well, and studies them in Lit class. I don't think I had even heard of Anne until I saw this book in the bargain bin at the bookstore (this was a few years ago, when there were bookstores). Even the introduction to the book describes her as "the literary Cinderella" of her family. I have a confession to make. I have never read Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights (I promise I will, and will review them for next year's Cannonball). So The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was my first experience with the Brontes.

Helen Graham comes to Wildfell Hall with her young son and a maid. It causes a scandal in the town. She's presumably a widow, renting the old dilapidated mansion from the local squire. She draws everyone's attention, despite all of her efforts to keep to herself. A local farmer, Gilbert Markham, is quite taken with her, and they become friends. This causes some jealousy with the girl he's been courting, and rumors spring up regarding Mrs. Graham. Gilbert also has a fit of jealousy because he thinks Helen is too close to the squire. They have a falling out, until Helen gives Gilbert her diary, so he can learn who she was before they met.

It turns out that she's in hiding. The diary takes us back to when Helen was 18, just out into society. She meets and falls in love with the roguish Arthur Huntingdon; they marry despite the warnings of Helen's aunt. Helen learns quickly that Arthur is not the romantic soul she believed, but rather is a drunken philanderer. Helen is supposed to put up with all of this and be a good wife and mother, but she goes against convention and runs away with their child.

Helen is not like other heroines of her time. She's independent, intelligent, and speaks her mind. She can take care of herself, supports her family with her painting, and is generally quite modern (to a certain extent). The story flows fairly well, although the time shifts are a bit jarring. I will be interested to finally read the other Bronte sisters' books, mainly to compare the heroines to Helen. We'll see how Catherine and Jane measure up.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #49 - Charlotte

2011-08-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

This book is by "Julia Barrett," who is claiming to have completed the fragment of Jane Austen's last novel, Sanditon. Austen started writing the novel in January 1817 and abandoned it not long before she died in July 1817. She originally called the book "The Brothers," and after her death, her family renamed it Sanditon. The original manuscript includes only the first eleven chapters of the story. Ms. Barrett attempts to complete the novel in a fashion that Austen would have. But I know Jane Austen, and Julia Barrett is no Jane Austen.

According to Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge?), "Austen explored her interest in the verbal construction of a society by means of a town – and a set of families – that is still in the process of being formed." From what I can tell, what that means is that people in Sanditon want their little seaside Sussex burg to become the next cool watering spot. So they talk about it a lot. One of the people mainly interested in the rise of Sanditon is Thomas Parker, who has been trying to find a doctor or apothecary to come to the town to help people taking the cure. On his way back, he gets lost and gets hurt, and he and his wife are taken in by the Heywood family until he is healthy enough to travel. When he and his wife get back on the road, they bring the eldest Heywood, Charlotte, with them. Charlotte is a bit like Lizzie Bennett (with the wit), but is a bit more introverted. She also meets Mr. Parker's brother Sidney, as well as his other siblings - sickly (yet officious) sisters and a fat, lazy brother.

Our cast of characters also includes Lady Denham, her poor cousin Clara, and the Denham siblings. Lord Edward Denham has the title, but no money, so he's counting on his aunt's money. He also fancies himself to be dangerous, mostly because he reads a lot of Byron.

The trouble with this book is that Austen didn't get far enough into it to give the story any real direction. Barrett's "completion" of the story doesn't make much sense, and rushes to a conclusion that I'm sure Austen wouldn't touch. What began as a study in human nature and the changing English countryside crashed into gambling, horses, wrongful arrests, rescue, and (of course) love. There were too many characters and too many subplots, and the book is taken so far out of Austen territory that it became annoying. This isn't the only attempt at completing Sanditon, but I'm not certain that I'll be attempting any of the others.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #48 - Presumption, An Entertainment

2011-08-20T19:14:00.003-07:00

Ok, so I go through big Jane Austen phases on a pretty much regular basis. I love Jane Austen to distraction. Anything to do with her, her stories, her life, I'm obsessed. So it was only natural that I would eventually read Presumption, an Entertainment, an alleged "sequel to Pride and Prejudice." It's written by a pair of women writing under the pseudonym Julia Barrett. While the authors try their hardest, they're not Jane Austen.

So. . . . we pick up at Pemberley with Georgiana Darcy, as well as Lizzie and Darcy. The new sisters are getting along just fine, and Georgiana is recovering nicely from her recent encounter with George Wickham, who is now (sadly) kind of her brother in law. Lizzie's not exactly fitting in with the new neighbors, and Lady Catherine is still very much against the marriage. Anne de Bourgh is no better, and both ladies are now in the neighborhood staying with Mr. Darcy's mentor Sir Geoffrey Portland. They brought along the handsome and gallant Captain Thomas Heywood, some sort of cousin. Darcy has also invited James Leigh-Cooper, an architect he has hired to improve Pemberley. Both gentlemen seem to be paying extra attention to Georgiana. Mary and Kitty Bennet are visiting, staying with Jane and Bingley about 10 miles off.

To add to Lizzie's difficulties, her Aunt Phillips has been arrested for stealing some lace from a store in Meryton. The Bennet parents show up and of course big mouth Mrs. B broadcasts the bad news to exactly the wrong people. Darcy decides to head to London to help out Uncle Gardiner, so he and Lizzie are apart for most of the book. Georgiana spends a little time at Rosings as well, meeting with the Collinses and spending more time with Captain Heywood.

The story follows a typical Austenian path, and George Wickham is still a nasty piece of work. Everything is resolved in the best way possible, of course. The book is an entertaininbg little diversion, although it's definitely not Austen.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #47 - The Rembrandt Affair

2011-08-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

I started reading Daniel Silva's books a few years ago. They're good for mindless entertainment. Just shut off your brain and go. I'm not sure how many books there are in this series, but it's a lot.

Our hero is Gabriel Allon: Israeli spy, assassin, and art restorer; working for the fictional version of the Mossad. Normally, all of these things would be interesting, but the thing that interests me the most is the art restoration part of Allon's character. Regardless of the incongruity with the whole killing people thing, I'm just really jealous. I would love to be an art restorer, especially one of Allon's caliber. Sadly, I couldn't even pass Painting I.

In this novel, a newly-discovered Rembrandt has just been stolen from the man who was restoring it (not Allon), who was murdered during the theft. Allon gets involved because his friend the art dealer was the one selling it, and he didn't have insurance on the multi-million dollar painting. Allon is currently resting and semi-retired due to the events of the previous book, but agrees to help his friend. He begins tracing the origins of the painting, and (true to pretty much every Silva book I've read), it turns out to have been taken from a Jewish family in Amsterdam during the Holocaust.

The story travels around the world, and involves the son of a Nazi trying to atone for his father's sins, a South American journalist, a British journalist and a Swiss philanthropist. I won't spoil which ones are the good guys and which are the bad guys. As ever, Allon gets his man, and some people get hurt along the way. Silva's books tend to follow the same pattern, some a bit more political than others. They're good summer reading, and he seems to keep cranking them out on a fairly regular basis, so there will likely be another one next year too.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #46 - The Dante Club

2011-08-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Matthew Pearl is a Harvard grad (Yale Law, natch), who won some kind of Dante Prize from the Dante Society of America. I know this from the "About the Author" portion of the book, but I'm not surprised. I've only read the Inferno portion of the Divine Comedy, but I found it intriguing, and I probably should get on my butt and read the rest of it. Pearl mines the fertile ground of Dante, along with post-Civil War America and the changes that the war brought on our society.

After the Civil War, the murder rate in the U.S. increased, which makes a kind of sense. The soldiers who survived had seen incredible violence, and people in general had become inured to bloodshed and death. In Boston (Ok, Cambridge), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is in the process of translating Dante's Divine Comedy into English. This work is not popular with the Harvard elite, who think Italian is a vulgar language and that Longfellow is polluting their pristine institution. Of course, he is also America's most beloved poet, so they can't do much to stop him. He is being helped by Oliver Wendell Holmes (Senior) and James Russell Lowell, along with their publisher, J.T. Fields.

While the translating is going on, a local judge is brutally murdered, and the police are baffled as to why, and even how the murder happened. Then a local reverend is killed in an equally horrible (yet different) way, and Holmes happens to be around when the body is brought for examination. He realizes that the second murder echoes the fate of the Simoniacs in the Inferno.

The rest of the novel is a race between the police, the poets, and the killer. Why is the killer using Dante? Does he want to stop the poets and is trying to cast suspicion on them? Or is he trying to support them? How is he committing brutal murders and disappearing? And how is he learning about the details of Dante when hardly anyone has read or understood the story?

The solution to the mystery is a bit pat, but I can't imagine it is terribly easy to write a murder mystery. Regardless, The Dante Club is entertaining, and I will definitely be returning to Dante himself very soon.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #45 - The Hippopotamus

2011-08-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

The cover of this book has a blurb from Christopher Buckley: "Tootingly and trenchantly funny." I'm not sure what tootingly funny means, but the book definitely gave me a few chuckles. It was written in the early 90s, and it is very much of its time. No cell phones, people actually fax each other when they need to communicate quickly, and very primative computers.

The Hippo in question is aging poet, and failed theater critic, Ted Wallace. He runs into his estranged god-daughter Jane who was dying of lukemia, but belives she has been miraculously cured. She sends Ted to visit his other god-child, Davey, who lives in the country. Ted heads to Swafford Hall under the pretext of writing the biography of Davey's millionaire father, Ted's school friend Michael Logan. Ted is supposed to keep his eyes and ears open and report back to Jane about anything unusual or mysterious.

A number of others come to visit too, all of whom seem to have some sort of malady, either physical or spiritual. And they all want to see Davey. No one seems to care about Davey's older brother Simon, a more salt-of-the-earth type. Everyone seems to think Davey has a healing gift, and everyone receives his healing touch. Whether it is successful remains to be seen, and this is what Ted is trying to find out.

The book is partially epistolary, and told from the point of view of several of the characters, each of whom has an opinion about Davey. Stephen Fry is clever, and he can of course turn a phrase. Davey's story works out in interesting (and kind of icky), but always entertaining ways.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #44 - The Monsters of Templeton

2011-08-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

My college roommate recommended this book, and I'm glad she did. The novel by Lauren Groff is a combination of a number of things I enjoy: a mystery, an historical novel, and a little bit of a ghost story. This is all mixed in with a modern tale of a young (well, not so young, she's 28, but she's definitely young in her actions and reactions) woman trying to figure out what's important.

Wilhemina (Willie) Upton was born and raised in Templeton, New York, which stands in for the author's home town of Cooperstown. You've probably heard of that place, it has a bit to do with baseball, and some more to do with James Fenimore Cooper (he of the Leatherstocking Tales and Last of the Mohicans, which also come into play in this novel). Willie is descended from the town's founder on her mother's side, and for most of her life thought she was fathered by some random in San Francisco during her mom's hippie years. Willie comes home unexpectedly after spending the summer in Alaska with her anthropology dissertation advisor, pregnant with his child, and fresh off a half hearted attempt on the prof's wife's life. An inauspicious return at best.

Willie's home to rest, gestate, and figure out what to do with herself. Then her mother, newly born again, confesses to Willie that her real father is a local Templetonian and may be related to the founder as well, although as a result of illegitimacy. Mom won't give Willie the answer, she has to use her anthropological skills to figure it out. So Willie goes to the local library and historical society, and learns a great deal about her hometown, and maybe just who the Monsters of the title are. She also finds her real father.

Willie tells the bulk of the story, but we also hear from other locals both contemporary and historical in other chapters. There are a number of sub-plots, difficulties, illegitimate babies, and surprises in this book. Maybe a few too many, but Groff tells everyone's stories in a very entertaining way. This isn't a heavy read, but definitely a fun one for the dog days.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #43 - Hell at the Breach

2011-08-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this book after a friend recommended something different, but I couldn't find that one. This was right near where the recommended book would have been on the library shelf, and the jacket copy sounded interesting. Tom Franklin's novel is based very loosely on the Mitcham War that took place in Alabama in the 1890s, and is named after the gang that terrorized people for around a year back then.

In this novel, a series of deadly events is triggered by a stupid accident - Arch Bedsole is shot by Mack, a boy trying to steal enough money to pay the dollar whore. Arch is a leading citizen, and people in Mitcham Beat seem to think he was murdered by people from the town trying to prevent his rising political career. Arch's cousin Tooch, who has conveniently inherited his store, calls together a group of men to exact retribution for the murder. They sign in blood, and thus Hell at the Breach is born. And if they happen to rob or murder a few people along the way, more's the better. They chase down and force every man in the area to join.

Mack ends up working for Tooch in a kind of indentured servitude, and sees much of what the gang perpetrates, even burying a number of the bodies. The local sheriff knows Mack and his brother well, and gets involved in the investigation when the gang starts going too far. Eventually a posse is formed after a number of murders, and both the innocent and the guilty pay with their lives.

Tom Franklin is blunt in his language, and he clearly evokes the time in the deep south just following the Civil War. It is somewhat hard to believe that there were that many soulless serial killers at work in one place, but things were pretty lawless back then. It reminded me a little of Killing Mr. Watson, which also involves southern neighbors banding together for their own sort of rough justice. There is a great deal of senseless violence, which I'm sure is fairly accurate. It's hard to say if I enjoyed the novel, but I can say that I finished it in less than two days (and I work full time).

Tracy's CBR3 Review #42 - One of Our Thursdays is Missing

2011-07-28T18:36:00.001-07:00

So one of our Thursdays is missing. Which one? Turns out it's original recipe Thursday, just before she is supposed to attend peace talks that could save the Bookworld. This has happened just after the Bookworld has been re-made into more of an island covered by a half-dome. No more nothingness between books and genres for us, now there are fields, meadows, lakes and rivers.

The fictional Thursday (the nice hippie one, not the leather-clad lunatic) is having trouble with the characters in her series, and is in the process of trying to find a decent understudy. Even though she flunked out of Jurisfiction, Thursday is recruited to investigate the crash of a remaindered book. On the way to investigate, she meets a very mysterious man who gives her clues that something larger may be going on. She also rescues a mechanical butler, Sprockett, who joins her in her quest.

Once again Jasper Fforde takes us inside the Bookworld to give us Outlanders a look at what's really going on behind the pages. Our (fictional) Thursday has to not only save herself, but her real world (sort of) counterpart as well. She makes trips into Fan Fiction, and down the Metaphoric River, all the while pursued by the Men in Plaid (although it's really tartan).

This was a bit of a departure from the usual Thursday Next books, if for no other reason than the main character isn't the Thursday we're used to. This Thursday isn't nearly as sure of herself, and makes a great deal more mistakes. But, as always, Thursday (whichever one) saves the day. And herself.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #41 - First Among Sequels

2011-07-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

Since Blogger ate my review of Vanity Fair, I've decided to turn to some lighter fare: the rest of the Thursday Next series, courtesy of Jasper Fforde. We rejoin Thursday 14 years after Something Rotten. She's still happily married to Landen, with three (?) kids at home. Friday is now 16, and then there are the girls, Tuesday and Jenny.

SpecOps has undergone a major change, and now Thursday works for Acme Carpets. Which is actually a front for her continued SpecOps work (although they do occasionally sell floor coverings too). Which is also a front for her Jurisfiction work. She's not the Bellman anymore, but now she's stuck training a couple of apprentices who look quite a bit like her (since they're the fictional Thursday, from a couple of very different novels). Oh, and Aornis Hades is still around, messing with our Thursday's head.

Don't get me wrong, I love Jasper Fforde. But I think with this book he was running out of gas with the Thursday Next series. Or that might just be me. It gets a little tiring. Thursday gets into trouble, Thursday says clever things, Thursday thinks &/or brazens her way out of trouble. In this book she gets to be a little vulnerable, but only to a point. It must be exhausting to be her.

Of course Thursday comes out on top, and of course the book is a fun read. I'll keep reading then as long Fforde keeps writing them. But hopefully he'll focus on other series.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #40 - The Wide Window

2011-07-19T15:33:00.001-07:00

Book 3 in the Series of Unfortunate Events takes place mainly on the shores of Lake Lachrymose, where the orphans are going to live with their Aunt Josephine, who lives in a house that looks like it's about to fall into the lake at any second. Aunt Josephine is terrified of everything. Everything. Like the phone, the radiator, the stove. . . . The house is freezing, and everything they eat is cold. About the only thing Aunt Josephine isn't afraid of is grammar. She's a bit of a stickler.

The kids begin to adapt to their situation, and they're happy that at least Count Olaf is nowhere around. Or is he? Just after the kids tell Aunt Josephine how awful and evil Count Olaf is, they run into a man who seems familiar. Maybe it's the evil gleam in his eye, but Violet recognizes him immediately. Maybe his name, Captain Sham should have been some kind of clue too. Of course the adults don't believe the kids when they try to alert everyone to the danger.

Not long after, Aunt Josephine goes missing. She leaves a note which is replete with bad grammar and poor spelling. The kids realize that their aunt is trying to tell them something. But what? Of course Count Olaf is involved and is after the kids' money.

Once again (how many books are there?) the kids have to save themselves, and once again they lose a guardian thanks to jerkface Count Olaf and all the other incompetent adults in their lives. But, they still have each other, and for that they are thankful.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #39 - The Reptile Room

2011-07-18T19:11:00.000-07:00

The second book in the Lemony Snicket Series of Unfortunate Events finds the Baudelaire orphans having just escaped the clutches of Count Olaf, thanks to their superior intellects and skills. Mr. Poe, useless loser banker extraordinaire is taking them to their next guardian, Montgomery Montgomery. He prefers Uncle Monty.

Uncle Monty could possibly be the perfect guardian. He's rich, jolly, nice, and makes cakes. He's also a herpetologist, and has a whole room full of snakes and other things most of us wouldn't want in our houses. This includes the Incredibly Deadly Viper, which is actually a pretty cuddly creature.

Uncle Monty's usual assistant has gone missing, and the replacement shows up when the kids are home alone. He seems familiar, and although he calls himself Stephano, Sunny notices a tattoo that reveals the interloper to be none other than Count Olaf, bent on stealing the children, or at least their money.

As ever, bad things start to happen, the adults are bungling idiots who don't believe the kids, and the Baudelaires need to save themselves once again. The book goes by quickly, and even though the outcome is pretty obvious, it's still enjoyable to see how the kids get themselves out of the latest jam.

Tracy's CBR3 Review # 38 - The Bad Beginning

2011-07-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

I felt like I had to double-check the rules on the Cannonball Read to make sure that the Lemony Snicket books were allowed, since they're kind of kids' books, and a bit short, but from what I can tell, they're all right. Regardless, I am the proud owner of the first six books of the series, and I'm at a time in my life where I need something simple and amusing, so here they are.

The Bad Beginning opens the series. The Baudelaire family is happy, and one day the kids hit the beach. Unfortunately, while they are there, they receive some awful news: their house has burned to the ground and their parents were killed in the fire. Heartbroken, they are dumped with Count Olaf, some distant relative who lives locally.

Count Olaf is a right bastard. He's ugly, gross, nasty, and fancies himself an actor. The kids are interesting, and of course very clever: Violet, the inventor; Klaus, the bookish brother; and Sunny, the infant with very sharp teeth. Olaf makes them sleep on the floor in a room in his dilapadated mansion, makes them do chores and cook for his acting troupe, and of course tries to steal the Baudelaire fortune by any means necessary.

The kids rely on their special talents to outwit Olaf and escape from his clutches. The book is a fun read, and "Lemony Snicket" keeps telling us that the story doesn't have a happy ending at all, so we pretty much know what to expect. The orphans spend plenty of time in the frying pan and the fire, but they rely on their brains and their talents to ensure they come out safe and together.

These books (the ones I've read) are entertaining and not entirely aimed at a childish audience, but they are great fun. Stay tuned for reviews of books 2 through 6.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #37 - Food Matters

2011-07-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

I have owned Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything for years. I can't tell you the last time I used it, because I married a chef, so I haven't done much cooking over the past decade or so. Since then, I've read his columns in Runners World and Parents magazines, as well as the New York Times. I like his style, and I like his ideas about food.

Food Matters is short, and somewhat repetitive in the non-recipe section. Basically, Bittman tells us over and over again that factory farming is bad for people and the planet, Americans eat too much crap, high-fructose corn syrup is nasty crap, and the USDA is in the pocket of Big Ag. He takes us through the history of consumption, from when people lived on what they could grow (and kill) to now, when most of us don't know where the hell our food is coming from.

Bittman preaches that food should matter, and that we should eat like it does. During most of the book I kept repeating to myself, "sure, Mark, but HOW?" We're all conditioned to eat the easiest and most convenient foods, which are generally the ones that are bad for us. Although, it doesn't get much simpler than picking up a piece of fruit or a veggie and eating it, does it?

The good news is that Bittman gives us a sample month of meal plans and over 75 recipes to help. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but I do have some red beans soaking as I type this. Bittman says that he's on a mission to ensure every house in America has a pot of home-cooked beans, so I figured I might as well oblige him.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #36 - Very Good, Jeeves

2011-07-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

Yet another Wodehouse compilation, of which I have many. I find reading his books soothing, and I often turn to Wodehouse in times of great stress to take my mind off the usual crap that's floating around. The books, especially the Jeeves and Wooster stories, take me out of current times and deposit me smack between the wars with people whose main occupations were drinking and visiting country houses.

I could say that this collection involves Bertie Wooster getting himself into muddles and Jeeves getting him out, but that doesn't exactly narrow it down, does it? Of course, it's not just Bertie getting into muddles, it's all of his friends. They all come to Bertie for help, but not for his help. They all come for Jeeves, because they desperately need his big brain.

For instance, in Jeeves and the Song of Songs, Tuppy Glossop has fallen in love with a largish opera singer, and wants to impress her. So of course he brings his lady love to Bertie's apartment for lunch. To prove that he's serious and not a practical joker (an assertion with which Bertie fully disagrees, considering what happened one night at the Drones Club), Tuppy has volunteered to be part of the entertainment one night at the Oddfellows Hall. All of this sounds fine, except that Bertie's cousin is in love with Tuppy, and Aunt Dahlia enlists Jeeves' help in breaking up Tuppy's current amour. Jeeves comes up with a brilliant scheme, involving a very popular song, and quite a bit of vegetable matter.

One of the things I love is that Jeeves has no problem with getting Bertie into trouble if it serves his plan. Bertie spends plenty of time escaping out of windows and back doors, and scooting off to London or Monte Carlo while things cool down. But, of course, if it's part of Jeeves' plan, it must be right.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #35 - Amsterdam

2011-07-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

I had read Ian McEwan's Atonement a few years ago, and loved it. I think I bought this book not long after, and it got packed away when I was trying to sell my house. I have finally begun to unpack the books, and it's a bit like Christmas, with all kinds of new things to read.

Side note: when I was younger, I had an ambition. I wanted to win the Booker Prize. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen, so I stopped reading Booker Prize novels. I made an exception for this one, though, because it's McEwan, and I adore the way he writes. I wish I could do what he does. His prose seems so effortless, even though I'm sure he agonizes over every word.

In this book, Clive Linley, a composer, and Vernon Halliday, a newspaper editor, meet at the funeral of their former lover Molly Lane. Molly's former lover Julian Garmony is there, as is her husband George. Clive and Vernon start to contemplate their mortality after this. They are also both in crisis in their careers and their lives, and they make a pact that proves to be disastrous for each of them.

This book is fairly short, and takes place over a very short period of time. But in that time Julian's political career takes an unexpected turn, Clive attempts (and fails?) to write a piece for the new milennium, and Vernon makes a decision that may either save or end his career. I won't tell you why the book is called Amsterdam, because I didn't get it until the very end, so why shouldn't you? Regardless, it is yet another exceptional work by Ian McEwan, and it's a safe bet that anything he does will be intelligent and entertaining.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #34 - What Matters Most

2011-07-05T18:32:00.000-07:00

I'm almost embarassed to post that I've read this book. It's not what I normally read, but I was travelling, and just grabbed something for the sake of having something to read. It passed the time, but I'm not certain I was entertained in any way.

This book is apparently a sequel to Luanne Rice's novel Sandcastles, which I have not read, and do not intend to read. The general plot goes back and forth between Sister Bernadette Ignatius and Tom Kelly, who have returned to Dublin to find their son; and Seamus and Kathleen, a couple of orphans who love each other but are separated when they are young teens. See if you can guess who Bernadette & Tom's son is. . . .

This book is supposed to be somewhat contemporary, which I had a hard time believing. Sister Bernadette had a Marian vision before she got pregnant, and then figured out that Mary wanted her to give up the baby and become a nun. But then, maybe Mary wanted her to become a good mother? As a non-religious person who was nontheless raised Catholic, I have a hard time believing that any modern person would be so blinded by a religious vision that she would just unthinkingly follow the dictates of a specter and a really cranky nun, and hand over her child. But maybe that's just me.

If you like crap, then this is the book for you. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #33 - Shades of Grey

2011-06-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

So Jasper Fforde is branching out into another series, set in yet another alternate reality/slightly dystopian future. This time we're in Chromatacia, ruled and governed by a Colortocracy. Certain people can only see certain colors, and some colors are better (more equal?) than others. There are more rules than can possibly be comprehended, including how to dress, how ties should be knotted, and who can marry whom.

Our hero Eddie Russett can see red very well, better than he lets on. His father is a swatchman, kind of like a doctor. They travel to East Carmine, where dad is filling in for their swatchman, who has died. It was either a self-misdiagnosis, or perhaps someone did "the murder" on him. Eddie meets Jane, a Grey with a bad attitude and a delightfully retrousse nose. She may have been involved in the swatchman's death, and she may be involved in some other shady dealings as well. Eddie is of course smitten, notwithstanding the fact that he's semi-promised to an Oxblood back home. It would help his family if he marries up-color, but there's just something about Jane.

There are a lot of references to the past, and to the "Something that Happened," but the government also enacts regular "DeFactings" where some more of the past and information is destroyed each time. Also, spoons are very important, and very hard to come by.

Eddie is always in trouble for being inquisitive, and he learns more than he should in his time in East Carmine; like what really happens when people are sent to Reboot (people who are nonconformist are sent there for re-education), and why no one ever comes back from High Saffron. Unfortunately for Eddie, curiosity is frowned upon in his world. At the end of this book, Eddie has to make a choice. If he wants to change the system, can he do it from within or without? Innocent people will suffer so that the truth can be known. I, for one, am looking forward to the next books to see what really did happen to us, and why the color left our world. Or at least why we stopped being able to see it.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #32 - Something Rotten

2011-06-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next has decided to return to Swindon after spending over two years in the BookWorld, spending most of that time serving as Bellman for Jurisfiction. She's been trying to track the Minotaur (a.k.a. Norman Johnson) ever since he escaped and ate Agent Perkins. He's been tagged with a dose of slapstick, so Jurisfiction is on the lookout for out of place pies in the face. After a gun battle in an obscure corner of Western Fiction, Thursday has had enough. She packs up her son Friday, Pickwick and Pickwick's son Alan, and heads home. Hamlet comes along too, because he was concerned about how he was perceived in the Outland.

Everyone moves in with Thursday's mom, who is also currently sheltering several historical figures, and is very busy with her Eradications Anonymous meetings. Thursday's husband Landen is still eradicated, but thanks to Goliath's new program of apologizing and righting their wrongs in an effort to become a religion (like corporations aren't alraedy religions), he starts flickering in and out of existence.

On top of all the regular stuff she has to deal with, including finding reliable child care, Thursday's nemesis Yorrick Kaine is back in power, and may end up ending the world. Oh, and she has to help Swindon win the world croquet championships, which will fulfill the prediction of a 13th century saint. And of course, prevent the end of the world. Seems like Thursday's always trying to prevent the end of the world.

I adore Jasper Fforde, I really do. But he's kind of exhausting sometimes. I'll read a character's name, and I'm sure it's a joke that I'm not getting, and then I have to think about whether I want to look it up or not. And, seriously, how mahy times can Thursday avert the end of the world with the help and advice of her time travelling father? Of course I'll keep reading his books, but I'm glad he's been branching out a bit with the nursery crime series and now Shades of Grey (see my next review). He's got to be a bit tired of Thursday as well, one would think.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #31 - The Well of Lost Plots

2011-06-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

When we last saw Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next, she was escaping into the BookWorld because she was being pursued by the police and by the Goliath Corporation, and she needed to be where no one could find her. Thursday takes up residence in an unpublished detective novel, Caversham Heights, taking the place of Mary Jones, and working with Jack Spratt. The book is so poorly written, it's in danger of being scrapped and sold for parts. Thursday is living in Mary's house/boat/plane thing. A couple of generics are billeted with her, too. They start out as complete blanks, but develop personalities along the way (which may or may not be a good thing).

Thursday's supposed to be resting and gestating (she's pregnant with her eradicated husband's child), but of course that's not how her life works. She's continuing her apprenticeship with Miss Havisham, and learning the ins and outs of Jurisfiction. She's also trying to save Cavisham Heights from the scrap heap, and fighting Aornis Hades in her mind. Thursday gets some help from her Gran with Aornis, and not forgetting Landen.

The bulk of this book takes place in the BookWorld, so we're missing some of our favorites from the earlier books, but we get to know Miss Havisham and some of the other Jurisfiction agents much better. Fforde brings the BookWorld to life, and gives some insight into how books are really written (hint: authors don't really makek this stuff up).

Thursday has to save the BookWorld (and the Outland as well) from UltraWord. It's supposed to be an improvement in the way books are read, but really it will devastate fiction. Of course, Yorrick Kaine is somehow involved. That damn pagerunner just won't go away. Of course Thursday saves the day, with a little help from her fictional friends. She also saves Cavisham Heights, settles a strike by nursery characters, and takes over as Bellman. The poor woman must be exhausted.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #30 - A Year in the Merde

2011-05-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

When I got this book I thought it was a memoir along the lines of Peter Mayle's Provence stories. Mostly because I saw that it was about France and saw Mayle's name in one of the cover blurbs. Turns out it's a novel about a British guy in Paris. So I'm thinking there was a lot more sex than whatever happened in real life.

Paul West has been hired by a French meat conglomerate that wants to open British-style tearooms in Paris. Paul has to learn to navigate the language, waiters, mass transit, housing, and amour, while trying to wrangle a set of employees who are worse than useless. He also isn't sure whether his boss is trying to help or hinder him in his work.

As I said, there's sex. Plenty of sex, with (of course) beautiful and willing French lasses. And for some reason, they all let him move in with them. I didn't get that, but maybe things are different in Paris because the rents are so high? As the year goes on, Paul learns how to order coffee, deal with waiters, buy (or not buy) French real estate, and how to outsmart his nasty boss. All with pidgin French and a good sense of humor.

The book is an entertaining trifle, and it really made me miss Paris. Paul spends part of his year living in the Marais, which is my favorite neighborhood. I couldn't help but be jealous.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #29 - MAS*H

2011-05-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was younger, this book was on my parents' bookshelf in hardcover. I wanted to read it so badly, and they wouldn't let me until I was "old enough." So I did what any normal kid would do - I waited until they went to bed, snuck it off the shelf, and read it by flashlight. What? You didn't do that when you were younger? Turns out they were right. It went right the hell over my head.

Inerestingly, I now own that same copy that I snuck when I was a kid. My parents were nice enough to give me all their hardcover books when we moved. So now I get to lug them around, but it's worth it to me.

Most people are familiar with the story here: Hawkeye goes to Korea to be a doctor in a mobile surgical unit. On the way, he meets up with Duke Forrest (seen in the movie, but not the TV show). Trapper John comes in because they need a chest cutter (thoracic surgeon, very useful in meatball surgery). Hijinks ensue. Drinking, debauchery, golf, drinking, football, and drinking. They also saved as many lives as they could.

My dad was a police detective for over 20 years, and he always said that the most accurate depiction of the life was "Barney Miller." I think that this book is probably a fairly accurate, if exaggerated, depiction of life in war. Crazy, confusing, boring, harrowing, bloody, sad, and often funny.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #28 - Then We Came to the End

2011-05-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

I grabbed Joshua Ferris' Then We Came to the End the last time I was at the library because I kind of remembered reading some good reviews about it when it was published. It took me a little while to get into it. I even put it down in favor of reading Lost in a Good Book (see Review #27). But in the spirit of perserverance, I picked it up again. I'm still not certain if I enjoyed it.

The book takes place at an advertising agency around 2000-2001. Remember then? The dot-com bubble had pretty much just burst. The company has started layoffs, and it doesn't look like there's any new work coming in. There's only one assignment happening, a pro-bono piece from a possibly non-existent breast cancer group, which wants something that will make people with breast cancer laugh. The office supervisor may have breast cancer herself, and people are wondering if she just made up the assigment to keep everyone busy.

The people that work at the ad agency are an agglomeration of serious jerks and assholes, from what I can tell. Gossiping about each other behind their backs, playing nasty and useless pranks on people, and generally being lazy fuckers with little to do. Ferris writes for all of them, using "we" to narrate almost the entire book, except for a brief excursion into third-person for one chapter.

Like I said, I'm not sure if I enjoyed this book. Perhaps it's because I've worked places like that. Perhaps it's because I got caught in the downturn and lost my job. Perhaps it's because there weren't many likeable people in the book; and the ones that were likeable were bullied by the other assholes. It's hard to say. But, I may recommend it to my mom. She just got notice she's being laid off. Misery loves company.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #27 - Lost in a Good Book

2011-05-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm back to Jasper Fforde, working my way back through the Thursday Next books. I had to get the large print version in my local library, because I still can't find my copy. It's a bit annoying, because my copies of the first four Thursday books have been signed by Fforde, and I'll be pissed if they're missing.

Lost in a Good Book picks up with Thursday and Landen not long after they were married. Thursday is dealing with the fallout from what happened in (and to) Jane Eyre, not to mention what happened with Hades and Jack Schitt. Goliath wants her to go back in to The Raven to get Jack out, ostensibly to prosecute him. To force her into helping them, they have Landen eradicated (with some help from the ChronoGuard). Thursday is also in trouble (in the bookworld) for mucking with Jane Eyre, and is being recruited by Jurisfiction, the in-book SpecOps. She's also pregnant, but with Landen eradicated, who's baby is it?

There are two characters in this book that I absolutely adore: Miss Havisham, a Jurisfiction operative in charge of Thursday's training, and an all-around badass; and Stig, a neanderthal SpecOps officer. The neanderthals are another extinct species that has been re-engineered back into existence, but they're sterile and not happy about it. Any scenes with neanderthals are among my favorites in the series.

Also introduced is Granny Next, Thursday's grandma (maybe), who seems to know a lot of things not typical of grannies, not to mention the fact that she has a ton in common with Thursday. Thursday also has to deal with Hades' sister who is bent on revenge, not to mention the soon-to-be end of the world via Dream Topping.

Of course, Thursday gets out of most of the scrapes, but she's a wanted woman in the real world, by Goliath and SpecOps. The best place for her to go is back into BookWorld, where she hides out in an unpublished book.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #26 - The Mill on the Floss

2011-05-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

So, yeah. I read this. Why? Good question. Sometimes I like to challenge myself. And apparently, sometimes I like to torture myself.

This book could very easily have been subtitled: There's Something About Maggie. That's Maggie Tulliver, a head strong, contrary, too clever for her own good young lass. Dad's the miller (on the Floss), mom's none too bright, and dull brother Tom loves her, but is awfully mean to her at the same time. Maggie does and says everything wrong, but everyone still loves her (except for a couple of bitchy aunts).

As Maggie grows up, she becomes friends with Philip, the hump-backed son of the lawyer her father hates. And of course he loves her and would give his life for her. She has to give up the friendship when her brother finds out. She then goes away for two years to work as a teacher. She comes home for a visit with her cousin Lucy, and meets Lucy's almost-betrothed Stephen. Of course he falls in love with Maggie, and for some reason (which I didn't get at all) she falls in love with him too. They fight their baser impulses because of Lucy and Philip, until a mishap puts them alone in a boat (on the Floss) and it looks like they've run away together.

But, of course, Maggie leaves him and returns home a "fallen woman." She tries to go back to brother Tom, but he shuns her. Mom takes her part, and they take a room with a family friend. On the river. There are some more tribulations, and then the Floss floods. See if you can guess how it ends. I won't spoil it for you because I know that after reading this review you're running to the library to get this book.

Oof. This book was brutal. I did some research, and apparently this is semi-autobiographical, because George Eliot (can't remember her real name) had a falling-out with her brother over some less than conventional life choices. So I'm assuming all of the talk about how stupid and useless women are is social commentary. But there were so many times I wanted to reach into the book and slap the shit out of Maggie. Every decision was based on loving or wanting to be loved by a man. And whether its the 1800s or the 2000s, that's rarely one's best option.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #25 - Summer Lightning

2011-05-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

When I'm looking for something light and funny, I often turn to P.G. Wodehouse. I came to Wodehouse a bit late in life, after reading Adams and Fforde. I read somewhere that if I liked them, then why the hell hadn't I read any Wodehouse? Indeed, I asked myself that same question, and now he's one of my go-to authors.

Summer Lightning takes place at Blandings Castle, home of Lord Clarence Emsworth, his brother Galahad Threepwood, and the Empress of Blandings (the biggest pig ever, anywhere). The Honorable Galahad is in the process of writing his memoirs, which promise to scandalize the landed gentry of England. There are a number of people who will go to great lengths to prevent their publication.

Also hanging around at Blandings is Hugo Carmody, Lord Emsworth's personal secretary. Hugo is in love with Lord Emsworth's niece Millicent. He's pretty penniless, especially since the nightclub that he owned with Lord Emsworth's nephew Ronnie Fish just tanked. And speaking of Ronnie, he's in love with Sue Brown, a chorus girl. There's no way the family will allow Millicent or Ronnie marry the ones they love. At least not without any number of goofy plot contrivances.

The thing I love about Wodehouse and all of his twists and turns is that (like the Cheshire Cat told Alice), everyone there is mad. They're all a bit loopy, buy some are loopier than others. By the end of the book, the Empress has been pignapped and recovered, various nutty detectives and ex-secretaries shimmy up pipes and fall out of windows, and true love reigns. And that's exactly as it should be.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #24 - Potty Training Sucks

2011-05-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I got this book at the library for a very specific reason. You get three guesses to figure out what it is.

My kid is going to be 3 next month, and it seems like all his little friends are already trained. At least that's what all the other mommies are saying. My kid? Not interested. In the slightest. Won't even take a bribe to sit on the potty. He's really smart, does math, makes jokes, and is about as sweet as a little boy can be. Just don't ask him to use the toilet.

I've already studied up on all the various training methods, so there was no need for one of those books. The good thing with this book is that it's got nothing to do with potty training methods. It's more about helping us moms to get our heads out of our collective asses and relax about the whole shitty thing.

It's not the best written book ever, and the potty jokes are legion (if not all that funny), but I found it very helpful nonetheless. If the kid doesn't want to sit on the pot, then that's Ok. He'll get trained when it's right for him. And it's not a competition. And those other mommies who say their kids are fully trained are probably lying.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #23 - Grimms' Fairy Tales

2011-05-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, I had a copy of Grimms' Fairy Tales. Now that I'm an adult, I thought I'd give them a re-read and see if I remembered them clearly. Now my big question is: what the hell were my parents thinking letting me read these things?! Morbid and awful. Stories that go nowhere, and make very little sense. Terrible parenting. Witches, curses, deaths, transmogrification, talking animals . . . .

Of course, there are the classics, but they contain some tidbits that I had forgotten - like in Cinderella, her father was complicit in the abuse by her stepmother. And the stepsisters cut of parts of their feet to try to fit into the slipper, and were blinded by birds.

The stories fit into pretty standard patterns - in fact, some of the stories in the book are almost identical to each other. There are a couple of stories where a maiden has to take a vow of silence for years to save people she loves, only to be tortured or burned at the stake just to make her talk (could no one write?), then to be freed at the last minute by the expiration of the curse/vow. There are also tales of brothers who venture out into the world, mainly kicked out by their fathers, who either fall in with the wrong sort, or learn valuable lessons.

The stories end the same way, too. The lovers who come together stay together happily - until they die. Or the bad person dies. Unhappily, of course. But every story ends with a death. I want to give this book to my mom, and see what she has to say for herself. As for my kid, he'll get to read these stories maybe in high school. Maybe.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #22 - The Fourth Bear

2011-05-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

So we have clearly entered the Jasper Fforde portion of the Cannonball, at least for me. Except I can't seem to find the rest of my Thursday Next books, so we'll finish with the second of the Nursery Crime series. We're back with Jack Spratt and Mary Mary, investigating the escape of the Gingerbread Man, a super-evil murdering cookie (or is he a cake?).

While the manhunt is going on, Goldilocks (a.k.a. Henrietta Hatchett) is investigating some odd goings-on in the world of competitive cucumber growing. The world's best cucumber growers are being vaporized, and then mysterious men are cleaning up the debris.

Jack's got some trouble on the home front, too. Punch and Judy have moved in next door, and they're making it hard for Jack to hide his PDR (Person of Dubious Reality) status. Plus, there might be something going on between DS Mary and the alien Constable Ashley.

And how do the bears figure into this? The last people (sort of) to see Goldilocks were the bear family, who moved to the forest after the passing of the Animal Equality Bill. They might be mixed up with some nasty porridge traffickers, among other things.

I always enjoy Fforde's novels, and I'm interested to see if he decides to continue with this series.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #21 - The Eyre Affair

2011-05-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

I first read The Eyre Affair because I saw a teeny review in the New Yorker (you know the ones) that name-checked Douglas Adams. I figured I'd check him out, and fell in love. How much? My dog's name is Thursday. Hardly anyone gets it.

Anyway, I've been having a long affair (heh, sorry about that - pun very much not intended) with Fforde and his alternate reality. This book starts in the early 1980s, but not the 80s we know. England had been occupied during WWII, but was saved by the Goliath Corporation, which now pretty much runs the country. Literature is cooler than anything, to the point where there are riots between factions who disagree about who wrote Shakespeare's plays. The Crimean War never ended, air travel is done by zeppelin, and pets are often cloned extinct animals. Our heroine, Thursday, has a dodo named Pickwick (side note: until this particular dog, all my other pets had been named after Dickens characters).

Thursday has a run-in with the most evil criminal, Acheron Hades, who used to be her college professor before he went awful. He is supernaturally evil, can change his appearance, and has no conscience at all. Hades gets his hands on a device that is a way for real people to go into books. The Goliath Corporation wants to use it to prolong the war. Hades wants to use it for financial gain. To that end, he demonstrates his power by taking a minor character out of the original manuscript of Martin Chuzzlewit, and killing him. He disappeared from every copy of the book.

But that's not enough for Hades. He wants more, so he goes into Jane Eyre and kidnaps her. If his demands are not met, she's dead, and so is one of the great classics of literature. Interestingly, Thursday has been into the book before, on her own. And Edward Rochester may have saved her life in London. Thursday goes back into the book, tracks down Hades, saves Jane, and changes the ending forever.

I've been lucky to hit a couple of readings with Fforde for the Thursday Next books. He's just as charming and clever in person as you'd expect him to be. He's the sort of writer I aspire to be, but I'm fairly certain I never will. But it's good to know that there are still some out there, carrying on where Wodehouse and Adams left off.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #20 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2011-05-07T18:17:00.001-07:00

I'm writing this with a sense of relief. It's not like I hadn't read through the series before, but I haven't done it recently, and certainly never did any book reports after each book. So I'm pretty glad to be done with these books, I think I won't be reading them again for quite some time. I enjoy the Harry Potter books, but reading one right after the other brought home the fact that while Rowling definitely had the whole thing planned (and planned well) from the beginning, there is a definite pattern to each book that started to wear on me after a while.

At any rate, Rowling wraps up the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione with the quest for the Horcruxes, which develops into the quest for the Deathly Hallows. The Hallows may be a myth, or a fairy story, but there are those who believe in their power. Dumbledore may have been one of those people, and Luna's dad is definitely one of those people. The question becomes, Horcruxes or Hallows? Which will truly defeat death? Which will allow good to triumph over evil?

After the Ministry falls and the Death Eaters attack the Burrow during Bill and Fleur's wedding, Harry and friends are on the run. Harry is Public Enemy Number One, muggle-borns are being rounded up, and the Ministry is being run by someone under the Imperius curse. The goal is for wizard-kind to take their rightful place above everyone, and squash everyone who isn't magic. Our good friend Delores Umbridge is in charge of torturing people (her favorite thing).

The gang runs from London, all over England, getting captured, escaping, finding and destroying Horcruxes, and learning about the Hallows. All roads lead back to Hogwarts, where there is an actual battle between good and evil. If you have to ask who wins, you've never read any of these books. Like all the others, it's a ripping yarn, with a mostly satisfying ending. I'm mostly satisfied that I can move on to some other books.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #19 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2011-05-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ah, the penultimate Harry Potter book. This book has what may be my favorite chapter in any of the books: The Other Minister. I just love the idea of the regular Prime Minister hanging out in his office when some oddball pops out of his fireplace talking about magic and whatnot. And I like the idea that it has to happen each time there is a new PM, but no one tells, because it's too insane.

Regardless, now that it's out that Voldemort's back, not only the magical world, but Great Britain is going to hell. Disasters, murders, bad weather and general depression. Voldemort hasn't come out into the open yet, but he is building power and gathering followers. People are panicking.

The gang heads back to school, and Harry and Dumbledore begin exploring Voldemort's past to figure out what he's got planned. We learn about Voldemort's parents, his semi-Squib mom, who was abused by her totally nuts pure-blood father and brother, and his Muggle father who was hoodwinked into marrying and impregnating (I'm assuming that's the order in which it happened) Merope. We learn about how Voldemort survived the rebounding killing curse by splitting his soul into pieces by committing murders and stashing soul bits in various objects.

And Harry becomes proficient at Potions, thanks to an old textbook that's been annotated by a genius. A genius with a dark side. Plus, bad things keep happening to people at Hogwarts. By the end of the book, Harry knows what he has to do, although he's not entirely sure how to do it.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #18 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2011-05-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

This book frustrates me the most out of all the Harry Potter series. I think it's because Harry's kind of a prick for a big part of it, and because of the Delores Umbridge character. Sometimes I get too into books and characters, and when they act in ways of which I disapprove, it annoys me.

In this book, Harry drives me nuts. He picks fights with everyone, mouths off, gets detention after detention, ugh. He acts just like a typical teenage boy. I didn't much care for them when I was a teenage girl, and I really can't stand them now I'm an adult (with a 2 year old son - I am not looking forward to the teen years). But then again, he's under quite a bit of strain. He saw someone die, witnessed Voldemort's resurrection, he's suspected of being a lying lunatic, and his best friends were made prefects instead of him.

And to top it off, the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts. I've been wondering: how many people hate Delores Umbridge more than Voldemort? She's just a loathsome character. Calling her Umbridge is a bit obvious, but I guess Rowling can do what she wants - she's the millionaire (billionaire?),not me. I think she's worse (to me) because Voldemort has damaged his soul (which, in this book, we don't exactly know yet), whereas she's just a nasty awful person. A real person, not some supernatural snake-dude. Her love of pink and kittens is just more evidence of the banality of evil. But, the less said about her, the better. Ugh.

As with all the Potter books, even though they are very long, there is still a lot crammed in. One of the best things about this book is Luna Lovegood, and the beginning of the rise of Neville Longbottom. You've got to love the misfits who turn out to be way cooler than the cool kids. And I'm including Harry, Ron and Hermione in that.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #17 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2011-04-26T18:30:00.000-07:00

The fourth Harry Potter book opens a bit differently from the first three: instead of checking in with Harry having a miserable time with the Dursleys, we start with Voldemort hiding out in his (late) father's home, biding his time before something big happens. Wormtail is with him, and they are discovered by the family's old caretaker, who had been suspected in the murders of the Riddle family some 50 years earlier. Harry wakes up from what he thinks is a dream about this very thing. We come to learn that it wasn't actually a dream, but instead Harry is linked to Voldemort and can sometimes experience what he's feeling, or see what he's seeing. That becomes important, especially in the 5th book, which we'll get to.

Harry joins the Weasleys at the Quiddich Cup, where we encounter Victor Krum and a bunch of Death Eaters who torture some Muggles for shits and giggles. Until they're scared off by someone setting off Voldemort's mark - it may have been a Ministry official's house elf. Or was it? Back at school, the Triwizard Tournament introduces us to new wizarding schools and the school year brings yet another new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

J.K. Rowling packs a ton into this book, including another Azkaban breakout, teenage dating woes, people still loyal to Voldemort, resurrection, and death. The books are maturing, and getting scarier.

Here's my quibble with this book. Ok, so Harry sees Cedric Diggory die - it's why he can see the thestrals in book 5. BUT - when he was 1, Harry saw his mom die. So why couldn't he see the "invisible horses" who pulled the carriages, at least in book 3? AND - at the end of this book, the "horseless carriages" take the kids to the trains to go home. Why couldn't he see the thestrals then? Huh? Why?

Yeah, re-reading these back to back to back (to back. . . ) is making me a little crazy. But it'll all be over soon.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #16 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

2011-04-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

So this is the one where Harry blows up his aunt (not really his aunt, right? I never knew what to call my uncles' siblings), and we're introduced to Harry's godfather, dementors, Remus Lupin, Sybil Trelawny, patronuses, the Marauder's Map, time turners and Wormtail. This is often listed as peoples' favorite (or among their favorites) HP book, and marks the turning point where the books stop being kid stuff and start getting real (sorry about that). Rowling jams a lot of stuff in this book that carries us through the remainder of the series, and she sets up the events of the remaining books while still giving us a ripping yarn.

We start with Harry's usual troubles at home with the Dursleys, with the added fun of nasty old Aunt Marge. She sets him off, so he runs away, and sees a scary black dog before he gets picked up by the Knight Bus, a sort of Greyhound for the wizarding world (only with slightly better drivers). He ends up in London, and spends the rest of the summer in Diagon Alley, hanging out and eating ice cream, all with the indulgence of the Minister of Magic. Everyone is being oversolicitous of Harry, but he can't figure why.

Everyone knows that Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban, which was considered an impossible feat. Black was supposed to be a follower of Voldemort, and a murderer of wizards and muggles. People think he's going after Harry to kill him, because he was the one who betrayed the Potters to Voldemort. Or was he?

It's interesting to start learning about the Potters, and their time at Hogwarts. However, this leads me to more questions. Like - was James Potter an only child? Were there no aunts and uncles on that side of the family? I find it hard to believe that James Potter grew up in a vacuum. But I guess in the universe of these books, he did. But, given that, Harry does pick up a new family member of sorts, and learns a bit more about who he is and where he is inevitably headed.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #15 - Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets

2011-04-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, we all know this is everyone's least favorite Harry Potter book, and let's don't even mention the movie (bleaurgh). But I suppose this book is necessary in the evolution of Harry. It's all part of J.K. Rowling's plan, and as I'm re-reading the series, the more I'd like to see her notebooks. I can only hope that one day she makes them available to the public.

In the beginning, we meet Dobby the house elf, servant of the Malfoys and very big HP fan. He knows what the Malfoys are up to, and tries to prevent it - within the confines of the rules (laws?) that govern house elves (who are basically slaves, but that comes up more in later books). Gilderoy Lockhart comes in as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (since the last one was killed by Voldemort), who everyone thinks is brilliant (but is he?). We also meet Moaning Myrtle, who never much interested me in the books, but who I love in the movies (because I adore the actress).

Anyway, we see Voldemort as a younger man, and find out his real name. One thing I never really understood - why do people have such a hard time saying his name? And why the hell does Hermione have a hard time saying it? She was raised by Muggles - what the hell does she care/know about Voldemort? But, the myth continues and builds, which I guess is the point.

It's pointless for me to say whether I recommend or not recommend this book - people have either already read it, refuse to read it, or are too young for it. I'm looking forward to when my son gets old enough to read these - I'd like to see them through a kid's eyes. Should be an interesting experience.

Tracy's CBR3 #14 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2011-03-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

Clearly there's not much new to be said about the Harry Potter books. I'm sure there are those who haven't read the books, but whoever hasn't at this point probably never will (at least out of those who would be reading this blog). It's been a while since I read this book but I figured I'd start at the beginning and read all the way through (and watch the movies too) in anticipation of it all being over soon.

The first HP book is certainly more of a childrens' book than the others, but it makes sense. Harry is 11, and the book is written for kids that age. The books mature as their subjects do. I'd give this book to a kid, but I'd start to hesitate after book 2.

So instead of the usual review, instead I have a few questions that this book raised for me. First of all, if magic folk are doing everything they can to hide from Muggles, what exactly does Hogwarts say in the letters to the kids of Muggles? I mean, really - you spend your whole life thinking magic's not real, and then you get some random letter dropped off by an owl that says your kid's a wizard, and please don't tell anyone? And if Nicholas Flamel is famous enough to get on Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog card, why isn't he famous enough to be in any of the books in the library?

But while there are things that bother me, it is also interesting to see the seeds that Rowling planted here that grew into what I'm guessing is the most successful series of books of all time. If she really planned all this from the beginning, she's very impressive indeed.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #13 - The Most of P.G. Wodehouse

2011-03-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

Like I said, I came to Wodehouse late, but I've definitely made up for lost time. This omnibus edition has some Jeeves & Wooster stories, along with stories from The Drones Club, Mr. Mulliner, Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, Lord Emsworth, Golf Stories, and Quick Service (a "complete novel").

The Jeeves and Wooster stories contain some of the best Wodehouse ever wrote, including "The Great Sermon Handicap," which is one of my favorites. It's summer, and Bertie heads to the country because London is just too hot. He lands at Twing Hall, where some of his friends are spending the summer betting on everything possible, including the length of sermons (complete with handicaps). It's vintage Wodehouse, and vintage Bertie Wooster.

The Drones Club is full of Eggs, Beans and Crumpets, each dimmer than the other (I'm thinking Bertie Wooster is one of the smarter members), telling stories about their members and their escapades. Mr. Mulliner is a teller of tall tales and brother of the inventor of Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo. "The Coming of Gowf" tells the story of how golf came to the kingdom of Oom, and is accurate about how addicting the damn sport can be.

This is a great collection for either seasoned Wodehouse fans or those new to his writing. It's been one of my fallbacks for a long time. My copy is so worn, the pages are falling out. Time for a new one.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #12 - The Code of the Woosters

2011-03-28T19:16:00.001-07:00

I have to admit to a habit: British humor writing. It started with Douglas Adams back in high school, and snowballed from there. I came to P.G. Wodehouse fairly late in life, and for that I am heartily ashamed. I should have started here, but missed out on it. I plan to spend the rest of my life atoning by reading everything the man ever wrote.

The Code of the Woosters is of course a tale of Bertie Wooster, and his man Jeeves. A hung-over Bertie is recruited by his Aunt Agatha to first sneer at, then steal, a silver cow creamer. This quest takes Bertie and Jeeves out to the country to Totleigh Towers, seat of the judge that fined Bertie five quid for trying to steal a policeman's helmet. By coincidence (although there probably are no coincidences in Wodehouse's world), Bertie's friend Gussie Fink-Nottle is in love with the judge's daughter, Madeline.

Also in residence is Stephanie (Stiffy) Byng, one crazy chick; as well as Roderick Spode, who dreams of becoming a dictator. Bertie (through Jeeves' genius, of course) has to outwit everyone, steal the creamer, help Gussie and Madeline get married, help Stiffy marry the Reverend (Stinker) Pinker, and somehow keep a book full of nasty things away from the judge and the dictator. Oh, and there's a dog that has taken a strong dislike to Bertie (and everyone else) too.

In the end, the good Bertie and Jeeves triumph (as they often do, after a few setbacks), and as Bertie says, "the snail was on the wing and the lark on the thorn - or, rather, the other way round. . . ." Bertie always leaves me smiling.

Tracy's CBR3 Review #11 - The Nasty Bits

2011-03-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

I used to live around the corner from the downtown outpost of Tony Bourdain's restaurant Les Halles. I'd heard his name before, and had heard of Kitchen Confidential, but didn't know much about the man. It's not like Bourdain was cooking at either restaurant at the time, but his moules frites were so tasty, I was at the place at least once a week. I've been watching his shows for a while too, so it's a little odd to me that this is the first book of his I've ever read. (Side note: I'm watching "No Reservations - the Ozarks" as I write this).

The Nasty Bits is a collection of Bourdain's writings for various publications, and is divided into the five tastes: Salty, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, and Umami, and ends with a short story: "A Chef's Christmas." While I was reading the stories, I could hear his voice, narrating as he does on his show, with that same sardonic tone that I love. And considering this is a collection done after the publication of these writings, Bourdain has gone the extra mile and given end notes with his thoughts now about what he wrote then.

He has a lot to say about the celebrity chef phenomenon, and about who exactly is a celebrity chef. He takes great issue with those Food Network people who have never owned (or even worked in) a restaurant, and I have to agree with him. Bourdain might be famous now for everything but cooking, but he paid his dues for decades, and has earned at least some of his venom.

There are stories about memorable meals both humble and posh, digestive issues, private cruise ships, cliff diving in Sicily, and the old New York City. If you like Anthony Bourdain's television show, you will definitely enjoy this book. And I'm off to try to find my copy of Kitchen Confidential. I know it's around here somewhere.

Tracy's CBR 3 Review #10 - World Without End

2011-03-16T18:06:00.001-07:00

World Without End is Ken Follett's sequel to The Pillars of the Earth. It takes place 200 years after the original, in the same towns of Kingsbridge and Shiring, where Tom Builder, Jack Jackson and the rest of the Pillars gang made their homes. I'd been wanting to read this book since it came out in hardcover, but at over 1000 pages, I just don't have that kind of money. The good news is that it's in paperback now, and it was on sale at one of the Borders in my town that's closing (I'm of two minds about that, but that's a discussion for another time).

The book opens in 1327, on All Hallows Eve at the Kingsbridge cathedral. Events conspire to bring four children together: Gwenda, the daughter of a landless laborer; Caris, the daughter of the town wool merchant; and Merthin and Ralph, the sons of Sir Gerald. The kids end up in the woods, and witness a knight being tracked down by two armed men looking for something he's not willing to turn over. By the end of the encounter, the knight is wounded, the armed men are dead, and Merthin has to help the knight bury a package. The knight makes Merthin promise to dig up the package and give it to a priest if he ever hears that the knight is dead. All that we know at this point is that it may have something to do with the monarchy.

In the real world, this is the time that Edward II may have been murdered by his wife's lover. Edward III ascended the throne, but England was run for a time by his mother, Queen Isabella. There are people who are willing to kill for the information the knight has. He takes refuge in the Kingsbridge monastery and spends the rest of his life there.

After the incident, the children go on to live their lives, some better than others. Gwenda's father sells her to a man for a cow, the man then turns around and gives her to a group of outlaws bent on rape and pillage. Gwenda manages to escape with her life, and returns to Kingsbridge only to arrive when the bridge into town collapses, killing hundreds. Sir Gerald loses his land (partially due to something else Gwenda did), so Merthin is apprenticed to a carpenter and Ralph becomes a squire. Caris continues in Kingsbridge, learning the wool trade and acting a little too independent for her own good.

As ever, Follett's research is impeccable. The feudal system features heavily, and he explains it better than I ever got in history class. The earls and tradesmen, the serfs and those even lower, the monks and the nuns. One of the things that interests me about historical fiction, at least the somewhat accurate stuff, is how women were treated. Women were denigrated, used, beaten, and raped, and it was just part of normal every day life. Smart women who challenged the status quo were generally killed, accused of heresy or witchcraft.

There's too much in this book to even scratch the surface. It's as sweeping as the original, and I'm curious to see if Follett intends to continue the saga of Kingsbridge and the cathedral that Tom and Jack built.

Tracy's CBR 3 Review #9 - The Big Over Easy

2011-03-09T19:35:00.000-08:00

I love Jasper Fforde. I've met him a few times (at readings), and he's smart and charming and funny and I wish I was him. I'm not kidding about that, I honestly wish I was Jasper Fforde. He's clever (although at times he might be clever clever) and he seems to be doing what he loves every day.

At some point (once I find my copies of the books) I'll be reviewing the Thursday Next books (after whom my dog is named), but for now we'll start with the Nursery Crime series (such as it is).

The first book in the Nursery Crime series is The Big Over Easy. We meet DI Jack Spratt (yes, of the "could eat no fat" fame), who heads the Nursery Crime division of the Reading Police Department. (Again, for those who are familiar with the Thursday Next books, this is where she hid out, taking the place of Mary Mary, who in this book is just joining the force as Jack's second in command. The Nursery Crime division has been shunted off to the sidelines because they're not nearly as flashy nor are they as good reading (!) in Amazing Crime Stories. Solving crimes is more about the readership than about actually catching the guy that did it.

In this book Humpty Dumpty does indeed have a great fall, and he's found in pieces in the back yard of a downmarket neighborhood. There are plenty of people who had a motive to kill him, and Jack and Mary work their way through all of them in the quest to find whodunit. Also involved are Jack's unfortunate tendency to kill giants, Titan lodgers, random blue aliens, and other persons of dubious reality. After numerous setbacks, the killer is caught and the Nursery Crimers save the day.

Like I said, I love Jasper Fforde. I always find something new in what he writes, and he challenges me to use my brain while I'm escaping reality at the same time.

Tracy's CBR 3 Review #8 - The Vintage Caper

2011-03-09T15:23:00.000-08:00

I've read a couple of Peter Mayle's memoirs, and I really enjoyed French Lessons, which was a series of stories about Mayle's travels across France eating and drinking as he went along. The Vintage Caper is the first fiction work of Mayle's that I've attempted. He writes in very much the same way as he does in his non-fiction. While his quirky, funny style works well when he's talking about himself, it's not quite as good when he's making people up.

The Vintage Caper is, of course, about wine theft. Which in my opinion should be a hanging offense (just kidding). The characters are straight out of central casting: Danny Roth, the high powered LA lawyer with a short temper and a kick-ass cellar; Sam Levitt, the former lawyer-slash-criminal turned wine connoisseur and free-lance insurance investigator (oh, and he lives at the Chateau Marmont); and Elena Morales, the clever latina insurance adjuster who has a past with Sam.

Roth's wine gets stolen (only the high-end Bordeaux, natch), and Elena hires Sam to track it down so she doesn't have to pay the claim. The search takes Sam to Paris and Marseille, and the clues are pretty easy to find and follow.

Unlike most mysteries, there is no element of danger here. No violence, not even a threat of violence. Everyone's a good guy, even the bad guy. In fact, the only bad guy is the "victim." It's typical of good-natured Mayle, and a very quick and somewhat entertaining read.

Tracy's CBR 3 Review #7 - Jane and the Wandering Eye

2011-03-06T05:03:00.000-08:00

Jane and the Wandering Eye, Being the Third Jane Austen Mystery, takes place a few months after the Austens have returned to Bath from Lyme Regis. It's Christmas time, and Jane and her brother Henry and his wife Eliza (the Comtesse de Feuillide, she kept her French title even after her husband was killed by anti-royalists, she escaped to England and she married Henry Austen) are attending a rout thrown by the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough. Normally the not-so-posh Austens would not have been invited to such a high society 'do, but Jane received her invitation from the Dowager's son, Lord Harold Trowbridge. He wants her to make friends with (and keep an eye on) his niece Desdemona, who has just fled to Bath to avoid the courtship of the Earl of Swithin.

The party is packed full of costumed people. Jane dances with pleasant knight, who turns out to be Desdemona's brother Simon, Marquis of Kinsfell. During the party, the famous actor Hugh Coyningham gives a performance. During the show, there is a scream, and Simon is found holding a knife over the dead body of a man dressed in a Harelquin costume.

Lord Harold comes to Bath. Jane first met him at Scargrave Manor, where she intially thought he was the most evil man she had ever met. She has since learned the truth about him, or at least some of it. She saw him again briefly at Lyme, and now the two of them work together to unravel the mystery and save Lord Harold's nephew from the gallows.

Stephanie Barron again uses times and places from Jane Austen's life to make the fantasy as real as possible. Jane meets with Thomas Lawrence, an artist who painted actors and royalty of the time, and who has a number of works in the National Portrait Gallery (that's what it's called, right?). The real-world Siddons family of actors are mentioned, and tied to the Coyninghams and the mystery. Barron even uses the real-life accidental death of Austen's friend Anne Lefroy and links it to the murders.

Jane and Lord Harold of course figure out who did it and why, just in time. There are a few more books in this series. I'll be reading and reviewing them soon, after I take a little break from Jane and her adventures.

Tracy's CBR 3 Review #6 - Jane and the Man of the Cloth

2011-03-06T04:38:00.000-08:00

In Stephanie Barron's second Jane Austen mystery, Jane and the Man of the Cloth, we find our intrepid Jane Austen (spinster detective) on her way to Lyme Regis about a year and a half after her adventures at Scargrave Manor. I assume in the interim she hasn't solved any mysteries, otherwise there would be another book. At any rate, Jane, her parents, and her sister are being driven by a post chaise to Lyme. It's pouring rain, and Mrs. Austen is fearful that the coach will be overturned. She is (for once) right, the coach flips over, causing Cassandra Austen to suffer a grave head injury. They're in the middle of nowhere, and the horses have run off. Jane sees a light in the distance, and she and the coach driver trudge to High Down Grange to ask for help. They encounter the mysterious and oddly brusque (yet still compelling and gentlemanly) Geoffrey Sidmouth. Also resident is a lovely French refugee (of the aristocratic sort), and various other potentially unsavory characters.

After spending a few nights at the Grange, the Austens remove to their cottage in Lyme, and begin to attempt to enjoy their little vacation. Jane meets some of the locals, including Captain Percy Fielding (also called Le Chevalier - but why?), a navy man who lost his leg fighting Napoleon's forces, and Mr. Cholmondoley Crawford. Mr. Crawford was a fossil hunter - apparently in real life, that part of the Dorset coast was famous for its fossil finds.

Since this is a mystery novel, there of course has to be a murder. The first to die is a drunkard who may have crossed Geoffrey Sidmouth by saying vulgar things to Seraphine, his French refugee cousin. Or was there another reason the man was found hanging from a gibbet on the Cobb one morning with a white lily pinned to his shirt? And why is Mr. Sidmouth so well acquainted with the ins and outs of the smuggling trade? And who is this mysterious "Reverend" who everyone seems to fear, but also respect, since he keeps them in brandy and silk?

The big question is why Captain Fielding and Mr. Sidmouth hate each other so much. When Captain Fielding meets with a mishap, Mr. Sidmouth is the obvious suspect (for spoilery reasons I won't divulge). But once again, it's up to Jane to discover the culprit in the murders (could it be Mr. Sidmouth, for whom she has complicated feelings? And is he the Reverend as well?). Again at great personal risk, and probably very much against the conventions of her time, Jane runs about Lyme getting information from people in every social stratus, and piecing together the clues in her own inimitable way.

Barron sprinkles more real-life facts in the story, and also throws a few Austen quotes (or near-quotes) in for good measure. She also tries to tie some of the characters in the book (both real and created) to Austen's novels. Her parents are made to look a bit like the Bennets, and her sister (in law) Eliza (who makes an appearance in several of the Jane mysteries) is a more benign Lady Susan. And of course, Lyme makes a guest-starring appearance in Persuasion. Like I said in the first review, these books are great for when you want to shut your brain off and just enjoy a fun little cozy.

Tracy's CBR 3 Review #5 - Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor

2011-03-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

Stephanie Barron started the Jane Austen mystery series with a funny little conceit: friends of hers inherited a property that was being renovated. In the basement were boxes of old family records that contained manuscripts that were believed to have been written by Jane Austen, a distant relative. And, because Ms. Barron was such a huge Austen fan, her friends asked her to "edit" the writings.

The manuscripts were journal entries, starting around December 1802, just after Jane accepted and then rejected the proposal of Harris Bigg-Wither. She escapes from the pain and embarassment to the home of her newly-married friend Isobel Payne, the new Countess of Scargrave. Isobel married a man much older than her - maybe because she loved him, maybe because she needed his money. After the ball thrown at Scargrave Manor to celebrate their marriage, Lord Scargrave dies violently - but is it apoplexy, or poison? If it was apoplexy, there wouldn't be much more to the book, would there?

Of course Isobel is a suspect, as well as the heir to the title Lord Fitzroy Payne. And is there something going on between those two? The poison pen letters sent to various people seem to say yes. Or was it George Hearst, who was overheard arguing with Lord Scargrave mere hours before he died? Or Lieutenant Tom Hearst, a soldier with an eye for the ladies and a habit of getting into debts of honor? Or Isobel's aunt and cousin, who may have something to gain from the death? Or the dashing, yet sinister Lord Harold Trowbridge, who just happens to show up demanding things from Isobel the night of the murder?

It's up to our clever yet penniless Jane to navigate the web of deceit and find out who (indeed) done it, before her good friend is sent to the gallows. The tale is told through Jane's letters and journal entries, and Barron has done a decent job of emulating Austen's tone. She also sprinkles little tidbits of actual information from Jane's life by way of footnotes. She tries to be historically accurate as much as possible when one is creating an entirely new life for a real person. The books are quick and entertaining reads. When I read this one, it took me a while to figure out who the real culprit was, but Barron sprinkles enough clues throughout the book to allow the reader to try to figure it out alongside Jane. There's no real "literature" here, but the Jane Austen mysteries are a fun escape after a long tough day, and it's entertaining for Austen fans (at least this one) to imagine what she was like in real life.

Tracy's CBR 3 Review #4 - Decline and Fall

2011-02-22T17:29:00.000-08:00

Like most people, I was introduced to Evelyn Waugh via Brideshead Revisited. I read the book in high school, and didn't think much about it for a long time. Then, when I grew up, I learned that Waugh had written quite a few other books, and that some people had even read them.

Decline and Fall was Waugh's first book, written in 1928 about Paul Pennyfeather, sent down from Oxford for indecent behavior (mistakenly, but that's another story). He takes a job at a third-rate school in Wales. He manages to survive the boys, a sporting day, and spending time with the headmaster and his fellow teachers (some of whom have quite suspect pasts), only to fall in love with the mother of one of the students.

He visits with the boy and his mother at their post-modern country home, and sees how the British uppercrust lives. Eventually Paul and Margot get engaged, and he gets caught up in her shady life, ending with him being arrested and sent to jail (for human trafficking) on his wedding day.

Paul Pennyfeather is fairly true to his name, He is blown from place to place and does not do much to change his course. Most of the humor is very much of the book's time, but there are still giggles to be had.

Tracy's CBR 3 Review #1 - My Life in France

2011-01-17T18:57:00.000-08:00

I've wanted to read this book for a while, and not just because of "Julie and Julia," although that helped. When the movie came out, I heard an interview with Julia Child on NPR, and she was just delightful. Clever, funny, and delightful. I wasn't ever planning on reading "Julie & Julia," because the Julie portion annoys me, but I wanted to know more about Julia Child. She just sounded like someone that I would have enjoyed spending time with. We liked the same things: good food and good wine. And lots of them.

My husband actually met Julia Child once, not long before she died. He was in culinary school in New York. She was visiting, and happened to drop in while he was up to his elbows in leeks. She stood right beside him, and her exact words were: "Keep soldiering on!" There isn't anyone who has ever met my husband who hasn't heard that story. Although, if it had been me, I'd do the same thing.

The book was written by Julia Child and her grand-nephew, and is an amalgamation of her memories, correspondence and diaries from the time she arrived in France to just about the end of her life. She arrives in France as a fairly newly-wed, married to a man ten years older than herself. Paul Child was a world-traveller, fluent in French, artistic and sophisticated. They had met during WWII when they worked for the OSS and fell deeply in love. That is one of the things that I love about this book: just how much Paul and Julia enjoyed each other. There are photographs of some of the Valentine's Day cards they sent out (because they could never get Christmas cards done in time) that show how exactly how adorable they are.

Julia Child loved to tell the story of her first meal in France: sole meuniere. According to her, it was a revelation, and set her on her path for the rest of her life. She was stunned to see that people drank wine with lunch, and had never seen a shallot. If you know anything about Julia Child, you've heard about this meal. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. After lunch, Julia and Paul make their way to Paris, where she begins to learn how to cook, and graduates from the Cordon Bleu. She learns French, and the French way of life. She shops at the markets, meets great chefs and restaurateurs, and eventually meets the ladies with whom she begins writing "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." She is honest and unsentimental about how much hard work she put into writing the book.

Julia tells the story of her education and culinary awakening in exactly the same tone and language she used in her television shows and interviews. As I said, delightful. She takes us through the writing of "Mastering" volumes 1 and 2, and the genesis of her television show. Throughout, she gives us pictures of life in post-war Paris, the ins and outs of publishing and American government service, travelling and living in Provence, and la belle vie in general. I would recommend this book to everyone I know, and to everyone I don't know. Honestly, read this book.

Tracy's CBR 3 Review #2 - Captive Queen

2010-11-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

I spotted this one in the library when I was randomly wandering the stacks looking for something fun to read. When I saw it was about Eleanor of Aquitaine, I had to pick it up. I've always been kind of obsessed with her for some odd reason. I think it might be because of Katherine Hepburn and The Lion in Winter, which makes some sense, except that I really haven't seen that movie all the way through.

Anyway, side trip for a second: when the hub and I were in France a few years ago, the plan was to hit a bunch of chateaux in the Loire (and drink lots of wine). I made him make a side trip to the abbey at Fontevrault, just so I could see Eleanor. I took some great pictures of the resting Plantagenets. Very cool. If I knew where they were on my old hard drive, I'd post one.

At any rate, this book was written by Alison Weir, who writes historical novels as well as biographies. This book covers the time from just before Eleanor and Henry II marry, while she is still married to the king of France. They had two daughters, that Eleanor had to give up in order to leave Louis VII. After that, Eleanor vowed to never be separated from her children like that again. She married Henry, who was 11 years younger than her. He wasn't the king of England yet, but his father (with whom Eleanor may have had an affair before she met Henry) died fairly soon. Henry and Eleanor ruled over most of Great Britain and a good part of France, gaining and losing bits of their realm over time. Eleanor believes that she is ruler of Aquitaine, while Henry begs to differ.

The book covers a huge span of time, as well as a lot of the power struggles between Eleanor and Henry, and tries to make sense of the time she was locked away. There is (of course) a great deal of historical license taken, and a lot of very modern ideas about sex and sexuality, but it makes for an interesting and informative read.

My plan after this is to get Weir's actual biography of Eleanor and read that as well. I love those Plantagenets.

Maigret and the Spinster - Georges Simenon

2010-08-31T19:15:00.000-07:00

A young woman, a spinster, keeps coming to police headquarters wanting to see Maigret. She is made to wait in the aquarium, the nickname the inspectors have for the glassed-in waiting room. Maigret tries to sneak past without being seen. This woman is persistent, though. He says he'll see her, but then makes her wait while he tackles menial tasks to avoid talking to her. The inspectors tease Maigret. The cross-eyed spinster is in love with the famous detective.

Sometimes she waits for hours with no success. One day, she leaves a note:

I must see you urgently. Something terrible happened last night.

The terrible thing was, of course, a murder. Of the spinster's aunt, with whom she lives. And who isn't just the typical cranky old biddy, but she's also part owner of a number of brothels. They have some pretty interesting and creepy neighbors as well. And then the spinster is also murdered, right in police headquarters, during one of the times she is waiting for Maigret.

For Maigret, this time it's personal. He, of course, solves the mystery in between trips to bistros and numerous glasses of wine and calvados, catches several bad guys, and saves the spinster's family while he's at it.

Maigret Sets a Trap - Georges Simenon

2010-08-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

This was the first Maigret book I read, although I'm not sure if it is the earliest written of the books I have. Regardless, it was my introduction to the Maigret novels, and a very entertaining introduction it was. The series of books were written by a Belgian (like Hercule Poirot!), who apparently wrote over 200 novels. I'm not sure how many Maigret mysteries there are, but I read somewhere online that not all of them are currently available in English. The books take place in post-war Paris, often in Montmartre, but really all over the city.

Maigret is a Chief Superintendent with the Paris police, working at the Criminal Police Headquarters on the Quai des Orfevres. He is well-known for being a brilliant detective, and he has the respect of the inspectors who work under him. Well, fear and respect. In this episode, it's summer, so everyone is taking off their jackets and planning their vacations.

There's also a serial killer stalking the streets of Montmartre, killing one woman a month starting in February. It's early June, and he has not struck yet. Maigret and his team are trying to stop the killer before he strikes again. They are struggling to find some commonality between the victims and the dates of the murders, and they're stumped. Then Maigret begins to see what the women who are killed might have in common, and formulates a plan.

The team sets up a possible trap (hence the title) to try to catch the killer. It works, after a fashion, and gives the team a valuable clue that leads to several strong suspects. Does Maigret get his man? I'm not saying. This blog is a spoiler-free zone.

Madame Maigret's Own Case - Georges Simenon

2010-08-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Madame Maigret is often featured in the mystery novels starring her detective husband. She's always at home, waiting for him with a meal or a drink ready; or she's asking him to take her out to a movie or away for the weekend.

However, in this book (as you can see from the title) Mrs. Maigret is involved. In fact, the book starts with her. Madame Maigret has a dental appointment. She leaves home, with the chicken on the stove, along with a fine red carrot, a big onion and a bunch of parsley. The gas was as low as possible, and the windows were closed. She had to go to the dentist, and took a quicker route, so she could be sure to meet with the nice lady on the bench in the park across the way from the dentist's office.

Madame Maigret has spoken to this nice lady on several occasions. She has a little boy with her, which interests Madame Maigret because she and the Inspector are childless. Normally they have a nice coversation and Madame Maigret goes to the dentist, without incident. Except for this day.

During their conversation, the nice lady says to Madame Maigret, "will you watch him for a minute, I'll be right back." Hours later, the woman returns, in a cab, calls out to the child, and disappears. The chicken is burnt, and dinner is ruined. And somehow this odd incident is tied into a case Maigret is working, involving two human teeth found in the furnace of a Flemish bookbinder.

This mystery takes many turns, but somehow Georges Simenon manages to tie everything together.

There's a scene at the end of "Murder by Death" when Lionel Twain lays out the complaints against all of the big mystery novel stars. It's funny, because it's true. I can't quite pinpoint the annoyance with the Maigret novels, but hopefully by the time I'm done with my stack, I'll be able to tell you.

The Red Pavilion - Robert Van Gulik

2010-08-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law loaned me this book - it's part of a series subtitled "The Judge Dee Mysteries." The books were written in the 1950s and 1960s by a by a Dutch diplomat who was an expert on Chinese history. He borrowed some plots from Chinese literature, especially 17th century detective novels. Judge Dee was a real person, he lived from 630 to 700 CE. He was famous as a real-life detective during the Tang Dynasty.

In this episode (which is fictional), Judge Dee is on his way home through the aptly named Paradise Island. He's traveling with his assistant Ma Joong. Judge Dee checks into a hostel (or whatever they were called then) and given the Red Pavilion, a private chamber in the middle of a garden. He encounters the Queen Flower (#1 prostitute) of the island, who's an exhibitionist and a mean girl. He also encounters a leper lurking in the garden. At this point, he's been on Paradise Island for about a half hour.

Judge Dee meets a friend of his, Magistrate Lo, who asks Dee to finish up the investigation of an alleged suicide. A "routine" investigation. Of course, since this is in the first 20 pages of a mystery book, you know there's nothing routine about this suicide. In fact, Dee ends up investigating a series of deaths, all of which ahve taken place in the Red Pavilion. OK, now if it was me, I sure as hell wouldn't be sleeping in that room, but then again I'm not a super cool Chinese judge-slash-detective.

The investigation leads Judge Dee and his assistant through the underground of gambling and prostitution, and also leads them to investigate crimes that took place decades before their arrival on the island. Dee untangles the mystery, tidies up all of the messes, and heads home until his next adventure.

The Gentle Axe - R.N. Morris

2010-07-23T20:02:00.002-07:00

I bought this book for my father in law, because he's a great reader. I was buying him nonfiction for years, but he has switched to fiction, because it doesn't require quite as much concentration. Which makes sense to me. Not concentrating is one of the big reasons I read, and one of the main reasons I have to read myself to sleep each night - to shut off my spinning brain. Anyway, I saw an ad for this book in the New Yorker, and immediately thought of Doc, and how he'd definitely enjoy it. And lend it to me.

The main character in this book is Porfiry Petrovich, a detective in St. Petersburg, Russia in the late 1800s. You may recognize his name. He's the guy that caught Raskolnikov in that book you were forced to read in high school, and didn't get; but maybe read again as an adult and really liked. At least that's how it happened for me.

The good news about this book is that it's not written by Dostoyevsky. It's a pretty typical murder mystery, with a Russian twist. An old woman finds a man hanging from a tree with a bloody axe in his belt. There's a suitcase nearby, which she decides to check out. She's poor after all, and the man is dead. He won't be needing what's in there. Unfortunately, what's in there is a dead dwarf. Around the same time, Porfiry Petrovich encounters a lovely young prostitute who, coincidentally lives with the old woman. Porfiry Petrovich begins to investigate the murders, which leads him through the slums and gentrified areas of St. Petersburg.

I hate to say too much about what happens, because this book really is a gripping mystery, with an excellent sense of time and place. The book's debt to Dostoyevsky is obvious, but it stands on its own as a modern work that doesn't require all the mental strain as its inspiration.

Tracy's CBR Review #3 - Persuasion - Jane Austen

2010-07-23T19:50:00.001-07:00

This has always been my favorite Jane Austen novel. While I do love the others, there is just something about the story of Anne Eliot and Frederick Wentworth that speaks to me. It's not that I identify with her. I'm not the unloved middle daughter, I never jilted anyone because my family or friends disapproved of him, and I certainly never pined for anyone for eight years. I don't have the patience for that.

Austen gives us a very clear picture of Anne Eliot's life: overlooked by a vain and foolish father, discounted by almost everyone else around her, verging on spinsterhood and mourning the loss of the great love of her life. Her mother was the only one who understood her, and has been gone for years. At this point, her only true friend is her mother's best friend, but she's almost as blinded by the consequence of rank as everyone else. Anne alone is kind and patient. But for some reason, she's not an annoying paragon, she's just doing the best she can in unfortunate circumstances.

After her family has to give up the ancestral home, they rent it to a couple who is connected to the man Anne jilted years before. She stays around and visits with her married younger sister, and meets back up with Captain Wentworth. He has improved his standing and his fortunes since they last met. He is back on shore and ready to fall in love with anyone who will have him. He says he barely recognizes Anne, because she is so worn down by what has happened in the interim.

Anne and Captain Wentworth gradually see more and more of each other. Anne realizes that she still loves him, and has to watch him flirt with other women. But Captain Wentworth also gradually comes to see that no woman can ever match Anne.

Considering that this is a classic, I don't think it's spoiling anything to say that at the end of the book Anne and Captain Wentworth find their way back to each other. There are so many interesting (and some irksome and loathsome) characters in this novel, it would be impossible to describe them all. If you haven't read this book yet, please do.

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen

2010-07-23T19:48:00.001-07:00

I know this is a lot of people's favorite Austen. and it's pretty difficult to review something that everyone's read at least a dozen times, myself included. When I don't know what to read, I turn to Austen. And oddly, I find something new every time I read her novels. Or maybe I'm just that forgetful.

I won't bore you with the plot synopsis. If you don't know it, then you're not reading this entry.

It's hard not to fall in love with Lizzie Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Even when Darcy's being an insufferable prick, he's still pretty clever. And even when Lizzie is being a snippy little bitch, she's still pretty clever too.

Most of the Bennetts are fine, I don't even mind Mrs. Bennett most of the time. But I just can't stand Lydia. I'd love to see what happened to her and Wickham after the book ended. I'm sure there are fan-fics about it, but what I would like to see is Austen's take on it. Do they have a happy marriage? Did they have children? Where do they live? I know they visit with the Bingleys on occasion, but what do they do the rest of the time? Is he still a gambler? Do they cheat on each other? So many questions.

Anyway, it's coming up on my time to re-read this book yet again, maybe I'll come back & edit this post to add some of the new things I find.

Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen

2010-05-04T18:34:00.001-07:00

What can one say about Jane Austen? More to the point, what can I say about Jane Austen? I don't remember when I started loving her. I don't remember when she became my go-to writer for when I don't know what to read, it's just always been that way.

While this isn't my favorite of her works, it is the first one in my omnibus edition, so why not start at the front, right? Anyway, the Dashwoods are a lovely family. Well, some of them are. We don't know much about the father, because (spoiler!) he dies at the beginning. Mr. Dashwood was married twice, he had a son from his first marriage, and three daughters in his second. As is standard in all Austen novels, the estate is entailed on the male line, so it is left to John Dashwood and thence his son. The girls all got a little money, but Mr. Dashwood was concerned, and asked John to take care of his sisters. John has some plans, but lets his nasty greedy wife talk him out of doing anything for his sisters and stepmother. After John and Mrs. Greedy move into the Dashwood home, the oldest daughter falls in love with Mrs. Greedy's brother Edward. Mrs. Greedy is not pleased, since the Dashwood girls are peniless. We find out later that Edward has a secret, which would complicate his relationship with Elinor regardless of his sister's objections.

Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters are forced to leave their home, and depend on the kindness of a distant relative, Sir John Middleton. They rent a cottage from him, and while living there, meet the dashing John Willoughby, who has rescued the middle daughter Marianne after she hurts her leg in a fall. Willoughby and Marianne fall in love, and everyone thinks they're going to get married, but then he abruptly leaves for London. Meanwhile, Sir John's friend Colonel Brandon has fallen in love with Marianne, who thinks he's old and lame. Brandon and Willoughby share something, but nobody seems to know what.

The girls go to London with Mrs. Jennings, Sir John's mother in law. Also in London are John Dashwood, and the Steele sisters, who know Edward from his time studying with their uncle. The sisters' relationships with Willoughby and Edward end poorly, for various reasons, including the fact that Willoughby is a cad. Everyone leaves London, Marianne has a terrible health scare and learns a valuable lesson, everyone goes home, and they all (for the most part) live happily ever after.

I've left a lot out of the story, including a bunch of very interesting characters, but reviewing Austen is quite a bit harder than I realized. Many of her characters are standard "types," but considering the fact that when Austen was writing, the novel was just coming into being as a literary form, it's not as if she was being derivative. To the contrary, much of what is written today (as is evidenced by all the copycat works) derives from Austen.

The Lambs of London - Peter Ackroyd

2010-05-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

I picked this book up because I had read one of Ackroyd's books once before: Milton in America. I vaguely remembered enjoying it, but really I just recognized the author's name and thought this might be interesting. The copy cover said that it was about a missing Shakespeare manuscript, which is always interesting. I'm embarrassed to show my ignorance, but I didn't realize this was based on a true incident until I started poking around on Wikipedia about the characters and figured it out. So much for being a smarty pants.

Anyway, the story begins with Mary and Charles Lamb (yes, those Lambs) and their parents. Mom's overbearing, Dad's lost his mind. It's the 1890s, so Mary's pretty much stuck at home, with not much hope of escape. She had smallpox when she was younger, and bore the marks. She doesn't go out much because of it. Her brother works, and also writes the occasional article. Mary is as smart as her brother, but is trapped by her time and her circumstances.

Charles meets William Ireland, the son of a bookseller, who sells Charles a book that he claims was owned by Shakespeare. William then works his way into a semi-friendship with Charles and his coworkers from the East India Company; he also becomes friends with Mary. William claims to have a benefactress who has inherited piles of papers from her late husband who was a collector. William sorts through everything and finds a number of documents written by Shakespeare. He gives some of the documents to his father, who releases them to the public and sets up a shrine in the bookshop.

I spent most of the book wondering if anything was going to happen - it's one of those books. It's a good story, but not exactly a barn burner. However, once I learned about the real history of William Ireland and his hoax(?), as well as the history of the Lamb family, that made things a bit more interesting. It's one of those books that I could very easily put down, and it certainly didn't keep me from sleeping.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

2010-04-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

I picked this up at the airport before a long trip to New York for a trial that went about a week and a half longer than I thought it would be. I've been dying to read it, based on what everyone has told me, and based on some of the Cannonball reviews. As just about everyone knows, the original (Swedish) title of this book is "Men Who Hate Women," which is particularly apt; I have no idea why it was changed, other than to make the title more palatable for the average reader.

At any rate, at the beginning of each section, there is a statistic regarding violence against women in Sweden. And violence is visited on most of the women in the book; even those who aren't physically harmed have anger and invective directed against them merely because of their gender. But most of them are physically harmed.

The main story is about a Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who has been convicted of libel and is facing some jail time. He's hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of Vanger's niece Harriet decades before. It's a "locked room" mystery, but in this case the room is an island with only one way on and off which was blocked at the time of Harriet's disappearance. The Vangers have the standard Euro background, with Nazis and crazies and everything else.

Part of the reason Blomkvist is hired is the background check done on him for Vanger by Lisbeth Salander, the titular girl. She's got an interesting (and shadowy, at least in this first book) past, as well as a very interesting way of thinking and living her life. She feels an affinity for Blomkvist, even before they meet. They do eventually come together and work on solving the mystery of Harriet's disappearance. And, as ever, find quite a bit more than they bargained for.

I need to get to the library to get the second book - my main curiosity is to find out if Larsson will ever tell us what happened to Lisbeth Salander to put her in the position she is in at the beginning of this book. I hope so.

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

2010-04-24T18:57:00.001-07:00

I can't tell you how embarrassed I am to be writing this. Please don't read this book. It's awful, and the purchase or use of it just feeds the crap machine that is modern pop culture. I try not to be a huge snob, but just because something is popular doesn't mean it's good. And just because something is smart doesn't mean it's out of reach of the average person. Or it shouldn't mean that.

Anyway, Tom Hanks is some Harvard dude who can solve mysteries by blinking a few times, furrowing his brow, and making shit up. Instead of being in Paris, London or Rome, this time he's in Washington, DC. Of course there's a cabal of some sort, or so it seems. The Masons, which may or may not be related to the Illuminati, the Rosicrucians, or the Knights Templar. But it turns out they're the good guys, and this time we have a lone gunman.

I won't spoil who the Big Bad is, but if you have two brain cells and have read a book, you'll figure it out. But please don't, since I already asked you not to read this book. But if you insist on reading it, and once you do figure it out, the whole thing just gets stupider and stupider as the people who are supposed to be such geniuses make worse and worse decisions, and are so freaking blind to the obvious, run around DC. Meanwhile, Brown keeps telling us how brilliant they are. I guess we're supposed to believe him, but just because he writes something doesn't make it so.

And please don't get me started about the ending, and all the religious crap that he throws in there. It's as if he was trying to massage the religious folk who were offended by his first two popular books (nevermind the other two crapfests that are non-Tom Hanks books). Frankly, if I were religious, I'd be offended by the mere fact that something I believed in was included in one of his books.

Again, please don't read this book. I won't tell you how it came to be in my house, but please believe me when I say it wasn't my choice. But I still read it. Don't judge me!

The Cranford Chronicles - Elizabeth Gaskell

2010-04-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

I had never heard of these books (this book?) until the Masterpiece Theater miniseries, and I admittedly only watched it because of Judi Dench. Because who doesn't love her? My friend Lauren (I believe I've mentioned her before - she feeds my book habit, and I, hers. It's great to have a friend like her).

There is no good way to encapsulate the three novellas, so I'm not going to even try. Cranford is a very small place in England, mainly populated by women; mostly single (or widowed), and all busybodies, from what I can tell. As it says in Cranford, "Cranford is in the possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses, above a certain rent, are women. If a married couple come to settle in the town, somehow the gentleman disappears; he is either fairly frightened to death by being the only man in the Cranford evening parties. . . ." The ladies of Cranford (quite rightly) believe that a man is so in the way in the house.

The first book is Mr. Harrison's Confessions. It is the tale of Mr. Harrison, a young doctor, who comes to basically apprentice himself to the local doctor, who is a family friend. He makes both a bad and a good impression on everyone, through his use of newfangled medical techniques, and his youth and good looks. He falls for a local lass, and the rest of them fall for him. Hijinks naturally ensue, but it all works out in the end.

Booklet two is Cranford - this is where we meet the Jenkyns sisters, Captain Brown and Jessie Brown, and the rest of the ladies of Cranford. It seems like very little happens in this book, but at the end, you know these people intimately, and care for them. Miss Mattie Jenkyns (the Judi Dench character) is the heart and soul of the town; and the ladies around her and the social conventions they follow are both amusing and touching.

The third book is My Lady Ludlow, and is told by a young woman who goes to live with Lady Ludlow. It chronicles a dying way of life (as does all of the Cranford Chronicles), and how those living through such a huge social change deal with it. Lady Ludlow herself appears to not be willing to change at all, but through the people she knows and loves, she learns to at least accept the world she lives in.

Overall, and I'm sure you've heard this before, if you like Jane Austen, you will probably enjoy these books as well. Which is true, but honestly, if you like humorous, well-told stories, regardless of time period, then you should give these a try.

Captain Wentworth's Diary - Amanda Grange

2010-02-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

Ok, we're back to more Jane Austen annex books. I just can't help myself. I was particularly excited to read this one, because Persuasion is my absolute favorite Austen book, and Captain Wentworth is one of my favorite characters.

As in the other "diary" books, this takes the story of Persuasion from Captain Wentworth's point of view, from before he meets Anne Elliot to (spoiler alert) their wedding day. He starts as a callow Commander, newly back on land after a successful time at sea, flush with prize money and ready for some fun. He heads to Somerset to visit his brother, a country curate. Along the way, he manages to flirt with any number of lovely ladies, and intends to do the same while on land. When he first meets Anne Elliot, he mistakes her for her sister's companion; but because he's contrary, he asks her to dance. She's fun and smart, and he enjoys his time with her. Of course, he finds out afterward who she is. They see each other socially over the next few weeks, and begin to care for each other. They realize they are falling in love.

Even though they are in different social strata, Frederick asks Anne to marry him, and she consents. He even gets her father to give his blessing, this is mostly because her father doesn't give a crap about her. After they are engaged, Anne is persuaded (duh) to break the engagement because he is (at that time) just a poor sailor.

The book then skips ahead a few years, to when Captain Wentworth returns to England after a very successful naval career. He re-encounters Anne Eliot, who has (as we know) spent the time pining for him and being generally stepped on by her family. She also turned down another marriage proposal in the interim. When Frederick discovers this, he wonders if she did it for his sake.

The remainder of the book covers the territory in Persuasion; Frederick decides he likes someone else, but really doesn't. The more time he spends with Anne, the more he realizes that he has loved only her. It ends the way you expect (no spoilers here). It's another light, easy read, which never goes amiss at the end of a long and ridiculous day.

French Lessons - Peter Mayle

2010-02-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

Peter Mayle makes me jealous. I would give up the life I have and live the way he does, if it weren't so far away from my mommy. This book is a travelogue of culinary experiences, from his first French meal (which is as revelatory to him as Julia Child's was to her) to a festival celebrating frogs' legs. Mayle sought out oddball food happenings all over France, and spent a year driving all over the place and eating himself silly.

One of my favorite chapters is called "Among Flying Corks in Burgundy." I spent a little time in Burgundy a few years ago (Ok, it was 5 days about 5 years ago), and I fell in love with the place. We stayed in a hotel in Beaune right on the main square, with our room overlooking the square. On Saturday morning we were awakened by the smell of chickens on a rotisserie, which was on a truck parked next to a truck selling berets of many colors. The fruits and veggies were all grown within a few miles of the town, as was most of the meat and almost all of the wine. Every November in Burgundy the Hospices de Beaune is held, after the harvest is in and the grapes are pressed. It's a wine weekend of epic proportions, including an auction that raises money for the Hospices (a charity hospital that has been in existence for centuries) and Mayle got to go there and was invited to some tough-ticket events. Of course it all involves sampling (you're supposed to spit out a lot of it, so you don't get too blotto, but please) some of the best wine ever made and eating the most delicious food. (Please pardon me a moment while I wipe the drool off the keyboard).

Another great chapter is "A Connoisseur's Marathon," about the Marathon du Medoc, which is run through the beautiful and historic vineyards of Bordeaux. I've only run one marathon in my life, but if I were to ever do another one, this is the one I'd try. People wear all kinds of goofy costumes, and there's wine at the drink stations. I wonder if they have a half marathon option. I think I could do 13.1 with a small snootful.

There's another thing about Mayle that makes me jealous, aside from his life. The way he writes - he's honest and funny, he always finds the mot juste, and is just plain entertaining.

Wine & War - Don & Petie Kladstrup

2010-01-24T19:15:00.000-08:00

This book's subtitle is: The French, the Nazis & the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure. I've read it a few times now, the first time when I was just getting into wine and before I had been to France. I understand the book and the people in it a lot more now that I have a little education.

France fell to the Nazis in 1940, and regardless of whether one thinks of them as cheese eating surrender monkeys or hard-fighting partisans, the fact remains that the country was occupied and divided, and the French who remained lived through exceptionally difficult times. The Germans pillaged French museums and farms, and especially their wine cellars. Winemakers joined the Resistance to oppose the Germans, and came up with some pretty sneaky ways to save their wine and their lives.

The book does not follow a time line so much as it jumps around telling the stories of winemakers from the various regions around France: Alsace, Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Loire Valley. . . . Some were sent to fight for the Axis, some went to prisoner of war camps, some stayed home, and some went underground. When they knew that the Germans were coming, a lot of wine makers hid their best vintages in secret areas in their cellars, buried it, or hid it in lakes. They did whatever they had to do to save the wine. A number of vintners bottled plonk and slapped the labels of the good stuff on it. They didn't have much respect for the German palate, and rightly so. Interestingly, Hitler didn't care for wine. A number of his officers did, though.

One thing that interested me is the "weinfuhrers," the German men appointed to oversee wine production and export. Most of them had been in the wine business for decades, and were friends with most of the people they were now forced to rule over. The weinfuhrers did as much as they could to protect their friends, often putting their own freedom (and possibly lives) in jeopardy.

For anyone who is interested in France, WWII, wine, or any combination of those, Wine & War is an entertaining and informative book. I think it might be, even if you're not interested in any of those things. It's a ripping yarn, that maybe someone should try to "novelize." Maybe someone has, but I haven't seen it. Hmmm. . . .

Paths of Glory - Jeffrey Archer

2010-01-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

I went through a huge Everest obsession about ten years ago, and it has never really subsided. At the time, I was convinced that at one point in my life I was going to get there, and attempt to summit. After reading a bunch of books about Everest, and learning that (I think) the death rate was 1/8 for those who summit, I had a change of heart. Then I decided that I'd just go to base camp and look at the summit, or something like that. Of course that was back when I was young, single and childless. It's all a lot more of a fantasy now, although I would still like to see Nepal and the Himalayas, but that's pretty remote.

Anyway, when I was at Costco a few weeks ago, I was looking at the book table (my husband decided to buy that pre/sequel to DaVinci Code, which he's still reading), and saw Paths of Glory, by Jeffrey Archer, who's kind of a fun writer. I had read a few of his earlier works and found him to be an easy, entertaining read. If that wasn't enough to get my attention, the jacket copy said that it was about George Mallory, the man who said he wanted to climb Everest "because it was there." For those who aren't Everest nuts, Mallory attempted to summit Everest three times, the third time in 1924. On this last attempt, he was last seen about 600 feet from the top, and then disappeared. His body was found in 1999. No one knows if he ever reached the summit. Which is why Sir Edmund HIllary and Tenzing Norgay are considered to be the first people to actually top the top of the world. There are those who believe that Mallory did it, and one of the reasons they think so is that when his body was found, the picture that he always carried of his wife was not in his pocket. He had apparently vowed to leave that picture on the top of Everest, so this makes people think he made it there. Regardless, he did die on the mountain, leaving his wife and young children.

Archer writes this book as if it were nonfiction, describing Mallory from childhood to the last disastrous summit attempt. It was very easy for me to forget that the whole thing was made up (not entirely of course). He gives us Mallory and his obsession with climbing and exploring, his inability to be on time (which almost prevents him from going to college), his love for his wife, and makes it all seem so real, as if one is reading a biography rather than a novel. The descriptions of the various summit attempts, avalanches, and a disastrous lecture tour of the United States are almost ridiculously plausible.

The book still leaves the question open as to whether Mallory made it to the top or not. As for me, I like to think that he did. It would be awful if he left his family for all of that time (and forever) only to fall short by a few hundred feet.

A Flaw in the Blood - Stephanie Barron

2010-01-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

My friend Lauren loaned me this book, along with a huge stack of others. I don't know how she manages to read as much as she does with a full time job and three kids, but I'm glad she does since I get all her castoffs. This book was written by the same author who writes the Jane Austen mysteries (yes, I read a ton of the Austen peripheral stuff - I'm an addict). This is not an Austen mystery, but look for reviews of those somewhere down the line during the Cannonball time.

A Flaw in the Blood takes place in 1861, right around the time of the death of Albert, Queen Victoria's Prince Consort. It is written from several points of view, one of which is Victoria's, wallowing in self pity after she lost the love of her life, and providing a glimpse into her life, background and thought processes. Barron presents Victoria as a selfish bitch and a horrible mother. Not sure if that's accurate, but it's certainly entertaining. The view from the palace is interesting, and forms a part of the mystery- was Albert's death a suicide? Murder? Or typhoid? And if it was typhoid, why didn't anyone else in the palace get sick? There's another mystery involving why Victoria and Albert's youngest son Leopold has hemophilia that involves genetics and questions about parentage.

The rest of the book is written in the third person, narrating what happens to Patrick Fitzgerald, an Irish barrister, and Georgiana Armistead, a woman doctor (which was pretty rare back then). Victoria hates Fitzgerald, because he defended a man who attempted to kill her; yet he and Georgiana are summoned to the palace. After they leave, they are in a deadly carriage accident, and are pursued by Prince Albert's childhood friend Count von Stulhen. Georgiana had spoken to and corresponded with Prince Albert, and had examined Leopold - she may know too much about the royal family.

There are several murders along the way, a chase across England and the south of France, and a fairly pat conclusion. The book is a quick read, and yet another in a series of books that I like to read before bed to quiet my mind and relax. Nothing too intellectually taxing, but a nice escape at the end of the day.

Edmund Bertram's Diary - Amanda Grange

2010-01-16T18:23:00.000-08:00

This is yet another of the many Austen peripheral books, this one based on Mansfield Park. Edmund Bertram is sort of the protagonist of MP, aside from Fanny Price. Reading this book would be useless unless you are familiar with the companion/inspiration Austen work, but I can't imagine that anyone who isn't a complete Austenphile would even be interested in any of these "diary" books.

Anyway, this book is written from Edmund Bertram's point of view, and shows us a little about the relationship between the Bertram siblings before Fanny Price invaded their home. He is the first Bertram who sees Fanny as a person rather than a nuisance, and shows how he takes responsibility for her comfort and happiness when no one else seems to care. He does forget her on occasion, mainly after Mary Crawford enters the picture.

One of the things that bothered me about Mansfield Park was how everyone was so fooled by the Crawfords, when they seemed to be so fake. I mean, if Fanny could see it, why couldn't anyone else? A number of the diary entries are devoted to why Edmund likes Mary, but give no real insight into his motivations. Which, one would think, would be the point of books like this.

The best part of this book, for me, is a deeper exploration of the relationship between Tom and Edmund Bertram. Tom is such a jerk in the original book, and he's kind of a jerk in this one too, but he's a much more good-humored jerk.

There are a series of these "diary" books, including Mr. Knightly and Captain Wentworth, written by this author. They're not great, but they're a fun diversion at the end of a long crappy day.

These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman - Pamela Aidan

2010-01-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

The final book in the trilogy picks up with Darcy and his cousin Fitzwilliam on the way to Rosings Park for the annual visit to Lady Catherine DeBourgh. Darcy has just decided to forget all about Elizabeth Bennet, Unbeknownst to him, Elizabeth is also in Kent visiting her friend Charlotte, who has recently married the embarrassing and awful Mr. Collins, who is Lady Catherine's clergyman and lives within walking distance of Rosings. Darcy and Lizzie have some awkward moments, but Darcy soon comes to think that Lizzie likes him and is welcoming his attention. He starts intentionally running into her on her solitary walks, which he thinks is "courting" her, but is really just annoying. Finally he works up the courage to ask her to marry him, and we all know how that turns out. He writes her the letter explaining everything, and returns to London.

When he gets back to London, he acts like a jerk to everyone, especially Georgiana, which causes him to fight with Dy Brougham (via a fencing bout, natch). To spite everyone, Darcy accepts an invitation to a party thrown by Lady Sylvanie, who married a college friend of Darcy's at the end of the last book. They're hip deep in the "Irish question," which was big during the Regency. Apparently there's a plot to blackmail Darcy, but he's saved by Brougham, who is posing as a servant. After Darcy is rescued, he gets drunk while pining for Elizabeth. Dy has something to share too, but Darcy is too drunk, so it has to wait for the next day. I won't share what it is, just in case anyone reads this review and wants to read the book, but it's pretty cool.

Since this is the last book in the trilogy, Aidan tries to cram a lot of story into a few hundred pages. After the big revelation from Brougham, we still have to get Darcy back to Pemberley, bring Lizzie there, get them together, blah, blah, blah. It's a lot to accomplish, and it often seems rushed. She could have taken some of this book and put it in the second, but she's the author, so I guess it's up to her.

One of the fun parts of this book gives insight into a part of P&P that we don't get to see: Darcy's search for Wickham and Lydia Bennet in London after they run away from Brighton. There's a trip to the seedier side of town, a meeting with a church sexton who coincidentally knows Darcy's valet from way back (and reveals some things about Fletcher's past that make him even more interesting than he already was), and a blossoming relationship between Darcy and Lizzie's Cheapside relatives. Of course, all events conspire to bring Darcy together with Elizabeth Bennet, and to reunite Charles Bingley (remember him?) with Jane Bennet. They all marry and live happily ever after.

As far as I know, Pamela Aidan has not written any additional books. In the author interview at the back of this book she mentioned that she was interested in further exploring what happens to Lord Dy Brougham and Georgiana Darcy. While her writing is a bit overblown, I would still read those books. It's easy enough to skip the silly bits and focus on the story.

Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman - Pamela Aidan

2009-12-26T05:08:00.000-08:00

The second book in the Darcy trilogy covers the time that he is absent from Pride &Prejudice. We open in London, where Darcy is at church, and his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam joins him. Aidan explores the relationship between Darcy and Fitzwilliam by showing their almost brotherly affection for one another. They quibble and joke around, which is not something one would expect from Darcy. This book goes further down the road of humanizing Darcy, so we may understand the great change he undergoes in P&P. The Fitzwilliams will be joining the Darcys at Pemberley for Christmas, the first time it will be celebrated in grand style since the death of Mr. Darcy's father. Before departing, Darcy dines with the Bingleys, where he learns that Bingley is depressed about Jane Bennet. Darcy had planted some doubt about Jane's feelings for Bingley, and since Bingley has become dependent on Darcy for most of his decision-making, he thinks that perhaps he misjudged her feelings (meanwhile, over in P&P, we know that he hasn't).

Darcy spends Christmas at Pemberley with Georgiana and the Fitzwilliams, and finds out that his cousin D'Arcy has gotten engaged to Lady Felicia Lowden, someone whom Darcy (minus the apostrophe) paid court to in the last London season, but he moved away from her because he realized she was a Scarlett O'Hara type. Darcy and Georgiana return to London, along with her companion Mrs. Annesley, who has helped Miss Darcy get over her Wickham induced funk. Georgiana has noticed that Darcy is not all there, and realizes he is pining for Elizabeth. Darcy's friend Brougham visits, and sees that Georgiana has grown up since the boys were in college together. He continues his fribble act, but also begins drawing Georgiana out of her shell. After some London entertainments, Darcy realizes he needs to start finding a wife that isn't Elizabeth Bennett, and accepts an invite to visit some other college friends at their castle in the country.

At the castle, he re-encounters Lady Felicia, who makes it clear she's willing to cheat on her fiance with him; as well as some other interesting characters, including Lady Sylvanie, an Irish temptress to whom Darcy takes a liking, but who has some secrets. Some odd secrets that may involve faked deaths, animal sacrifice, and revolution.

Like I've said, these aren't the best written books, but they're entertaining. This book covers when Darcy disappears from P&P, and it's interesting to think about his home in London, what he's like at Pemberley, who his friends are, and things like that. The book further explores his relationships with his valet Fletcher and Lord Dyfed Brougham and further humanizes Darcy, making it easier to understand the difference between Darcy at the beginning of P&P and at the end. At the end of this book, Darcy is on his way to visit Lady Catherine DeBourgh, and decides to let go of the fantasy he has of Elizabeth Bennett. As far as he knows, he is moving in to the next phase of his life.

An Assembly Such as This: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman - Pamela Aidan

2009-12-26T04:18:00.000-08:00

Pamela Aidan was a huge fan of Pride & Prejudice, both the novel and the 1995 BBC miniseries starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. She decided that Darcy's side of the story needed to be told, and began writing these novels/fanfic to do so. This first installment in the Darcy trilogy begins at the Meryton assembly where most of the folks in P&P encounter Darcy and his friend Charles Bingley, as well as Bingley's relatives. He is predictably sniffy about having to accompany Bingley to this country dance with whom he perceives as the great unwashed. We get to see the events of the first half of P&P through Darcy's eyes, and we also get an explanation of how Darcy and Bingley became friends, for those of us who were wondering. Apparently back in London Darcy found out about some cruel jokes that were about to be played on Bingley, rescued him, and decided to mentor Bingley. They became friends, most likely because Bingley was too nice to notice that Darcy is kind of a bitch.

As we all know, Darcy refuses to dance with Elizabeth Bennet, but he also begins to notice her because of the intelligent light in her eyes, and the fact that he thinks she heard him insult her. He sees her as the assembly breaks up, looking up into the night sky, and his fascination with her begins. They are in company fairly often together, and he finds himself becoming more and more intrigued by Elizabeth.

This book also introduces the behind-the-scenes relationship between Darcy and his sister Georgiana, a sweet teen who has recently been almost seduced by the heartless George Wickham. Darcy rescued her, but since then she has been horribly depressed and shrinking from society. However, Darcy has engaged the services of a new governess for Georgiana, Mrs. Annesley, who is helping Miss Darcy recover emotionally. Mrs. Annesley is one of the new characters introduced by Aidan in this series; another is Darcy's valet Fletcher who takes an immense pride in his work, and quotes Shakespeare like an actor (and with good reason). Fletcher is a lot more savvy than Darcy realizes, and sees his employer's growing interest in Elizabeth Bennet. Fletcher has his own way of helping this along, much to the chagrin of Miss Bingley.

Of course, Darcy notices and does not care for Bingley's attachment to Elizabeth's older sister Jane, due to the total mess that is the Bennet family (especially mom and the younger sisters); he decides to do everything he can to separate them, and is forced to conspire with Caroline Bingley. He whisks Bingley away to London the day after a ball, and Caroline follows shortly, making it clear to the Bennets and everyone else that they do not intend to return any time soon. The scene then shifts to London, where we meet another new character, Lord Dyfed Brougham, Darcy's college friend. He was even smarter than Darcy at Cambridge, but has since become a bit of a fribble, much to Darcy's consternation. (Like Fletcher, there is more to Brougham than meets the eye).

This book, and the others that follow, are a fast and fun read. They aren't particularly well-written, which I had not really noticed until I decided to review them for the Cannonball Read. But the story Aidan tells is brisk and entertaining, and it's easy enough to skip over the overblown prose when Darcy is thinking to himself. She uses the Regency period and some of its more interesting characters as a backdrop, without intruding into Austen's world too much. Look for Beau Brummell and Lord Byron toward the end of the book at a party where some scandalous things happen. This is not an intellectually taxing book at all, but it is a fine read at the end of a tough day when escape is what's called for.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke

2009-12-03T16:45:00.001-08:00

I had put off reading this book for years, and I'm not sure why. It's not like long books are scary to me, and reviews likened the book to Dickens and Austen, who are two of my faves (well, Austen is. Dickens is a bit of a slog). My brother-in-law had read it a few years ago, and kept asking me if I had. It was getting embarrassing, so I figured I'd better get to it, but started reading with trepidation. Once I started, I had to force myself to put it down. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is long and rambling, and the tone and style change throughout the book, but it all works and melds together to form a brilliant story that drew me in and so involved me in the characters' lives that I would welcome a sequel.

Too much happens in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell to even begin to summarize the story. So, in the words of Inigo Montoya, let me sum up. In York, there is a society of gentlemen magicians who study, but do not practice, magic. Then, Mr. Norrell shows up, and rocks some real magic by making all the statues in the York cathedral talk. And, boy, do they have some stories. Mr. Norrell makes the York magicians sign a contract to never practice magic, and he starts buying up all of the magic books in England.

He moves to London, and performs some very special magic to save the life of Lady Pole, but he enlists the help of a faerie gentleman, who exacts a terrible price. Not from Mr. Norrell, but from Lady Pole. Norrell grants the faerie half Lady Pole's life, not realizing that it was going to be the night-time half. Every day. She is whisked off to faerie every night, and spends her days in kind of an exhausted fugue state. And whenever she tries to tell someone about what's happening, she starts speaking nonsense. She despises Mr. Norrell for doing this to her. Lord Pole's valet gets sucked into this as well, because the faerie man takes a liking to him.

Jonathan Strange decides he wants to become a magician, and becomes Mr. Norrell's pupil. They work together to bring magic back to England, but they have differing ideas of what it means to be a magician. After they part ways, Strange goes to the continent to help with the war against France, and begins to publicly question Norrell upon his return.

There is so much more in this novel, including John Uskglass, Strange's wife, Italy, eternal darkness, escapes from faerie, and a new king of faerie. All I can say is that if you have been thinking about reading this book and putting it off, don't do what I did. I'm looking forward to next year, when I can read it again.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Douglas Adams

2009-12-02T16:44:00.001-08:00

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish starts in the same place that the first Hitchhiker's book did: with a young woman on her own in a cafe in Rickmansworth who has just figured it (the big IT) all out. The first book was not her story. The fourth book (in the trilogy) is.

Arthur has returned to Earth (which, yes, was destroyed in book 1) and hitches a ride with the young woman and her brother. She's unconscious in the back seat, but Arthur still manages to fall in love with her. His house (which was also destroyed in book 1) is still standing, although his cat didn't make it. He realizes that he has only been gone for around six months, although he's really been gone eight years. He explains his absence by telling his friends at the pub that he went to California, had his fat turned into gold and had his face dropped for that lived-in look.

Ford, meanwhile, is causing trouble in bars. As the Guide updates, he is astonished to see that the entire entry that he wrote about the Earth during his 15 years there is now in there (replacing the original entry "harmless"); after all, he was there when it was destroyed. Now he's got some unfinished business to attend to, and he sets off to find Arthur.

Arthur has set off to find the young woman in the car, and along the way meets a Rain God (no, seriously), and finds her on the side of a road. It turns out her name is Fenchurch, which must be funnier to British people than it is to me (same goes for Ford Prefect). He gets her phone number, loses it, and then finds her again when he goes looking for the cave he lived in on prehistoric Earth, when it turns out to be in the same place as her apartment. In her apartment, he finds that she has the same fishbowl that had mysteriously turned up at his house when he came back. He also finds that there's something very wrong with her - her feet don't touch the ground.

Back to the whole "what the heck happened to the Earth?" thing. As far as everyone on the planet knew, the huge yellow spaceships and destruction was all a collective hallucination brought about by the CIA dosing the water. One of the only people who know the truth is Fenchurch, which is why she was kept drugged for a while. Oh, and all the dolphins disappeared, and no one knows where they went. Arthur and Fenchurch travel to California to meet with Wonko the Sane, another recipient of a fishbowl, and possibly the only other person who may know what really happened. Wonko shows them the writing on the fishbowl, "So long, and thanks for all the fish." It's a farewell gift from the dolphins, brought to them from the Campaign to Save the Humans.

Ford makes it back to Earth in his usual exciting fashion and makes his way to Arthur's house. Ford gets what he came for (old movies) and the three of them take off; Arthur and Fenchurch to find God's Final Message to his Creation. I won't tell you what it is. That would spoil the fun.

Just about every paragraph in a Douglas Adams story is packed with humor, but a smart kind of humor that makes you think while you're reading. He made me think about things in a very different way when I first began reading his books (a real eye-opener for a teenager), and he has continued to challenge me. If you like his books, please read his nonfiction book Last Chance to See (which I will probably review some time later).

Life, the Universe & Everything - Douglas Adams

2009-11-26T04:44:00.000-08:00

When we last saw our intrepid intergalactic travellers, Zaphod and Trillian had just met the man who rules the Universe and his cat, the Lord. Arthur and Ford had crash landed on early Earth with the useless Golgafrinchams, who may just be our ancestors. We pick up five years later - Ford and Arthur have parted ways, and Arthur is living in a cave somewhere in England (before it was called that, of course). Arthur has had no contact with anyone, save an insult from Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged (an accidental immortal who has decided to pass his forever by insulting everyone in the universe in alphabetical order) two years earlier. Arthur sticks a rabbit bone in his beard and decides it's time to go mad. Excellent timing, because Ford has just returned from a trip to Africa (where he invented giraffes) with information that there are eddies in the space time continuum. After a bit of a "who's on first" discussion about Eddy, a sofa appears galloping about, Arthur & Ford jump on, and end up on Lord's Cricket Ground in the middle of a test match between England and Australia, two days before the Vogons blew up (will have blown up?) the Earth. And this is just the first couple of chapters, folks.

Arthur and Ford run into Slartibartfast (late of Magrathea and creator of fjords), trying to save the universe from the evil Krikkit robots. Slarty's spaceship is protected by a Somebody Else's Problem field, and looks like a small, upended Italian restaurant (more on that in a bit). The Krikkit robots are the last ones left from the ancient Krikkit wars, in which the people of Krikkit tried to destroy the entire universe so they could be alone (long story - they were encased in a dust cloud, thought they were alone, sang lots of whimsical songs, and then a spaceship crashed on their planet. They were able to use it to build one of their own, flew out of the dust cloud, saw the rest of the universe and decided it had to go - more on that later too). The robots are trying to put together the key that opens the slo-time envelope in which the Krikkiters are imprisoned (and have been for millenia) so that they can get back to destroying everything. The key looks like a cricket wicket (three vertical columns and two horizonal bails), and the robots have to get them from various places, one of which is Lord's Cricket Ground on that day. They succeed, and the chase is on to prevent them from setting their masters free.

The reason why Slarty's spaceship looks like an Italian restaurant is because it kind of is. It runs on Bistromathics, because in space travel, the numbers are awful. But have you noticed that numbers behave differently in restaurants than they do anywhere else? Someone decided to harness that power, and one-upped the improbability drive for space travel efficiency. Pity about the decor, though.

After a trip to a party that has been going on for generations, and is airborne (plus a side-trip for Arthur to a cave with a weird dude who believes Arthur is responsible for all of his deaths), the boys find Trillian and make it to Krikkit just in time to see the robots complete their mission. The Krikkiters have been working hard all this time, and have developed an ultimate weapon - a bomb that would completely destroy the universe. Why, you ask? Good question.

Turns out the dust cloud in which Krikkit was enveloped wasn't a dust cloud at all, but the pulverized remains of Hactar, a supercomputer that failed in its duty grillions of years ago (that is, to create a weapon that would destroy the universe). He's been working hard and has finally done what he was tasked to do. Luckily Trillian managed to talk everyone out of using the bomb (although Hactar tried to pull a fast one on Arthur, Arthur's flying skills saved the day) and the universe was saved. Zaphod and Marvin helped a little too.

It's impossible for me to critique these books, because I've loved them since I was a teenager. Also because I read this (and the next book) in one night because I couldn't sleep because I think I might lose my job. These books helped me through a difficult night. I'm still employed (for now), but we'll see.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams

2009-11-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

"The story so far: A race of hyperintellingent pan-dimensional beings once built themselves a gigantic supercomputer named Deep Thought to calculate once and for all the Question to the Ultimate Answer of Life, the Universe and Everything. For 7 1/2 million years, Deep Thought computed and calculated, and in the end announced that the answer was in fact Forty-two - and so another, even bigger, computer had to be built to find out what the actual question was. And this computer, which was called the Earth, was so large that it was frequently mistaken for a planet - especially by the strange apelike beings who roamed its surface, totally unaware that they were simply part of a gigantic computer program."

So sayeth Douglas Adams on the first page of "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," and why mess with the master's work?

Our story picks up where we left off, with Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Beeblebrox and Trillian fleeing the Vogons, at the behest of the universes' psychiatrists, who wanted to destroy the last two remaining Earth inhabitants, Arthur and Trillian. The theory being, if we know the question and the answer, then what the heck would we need psychiatry for? I guess that's what Scientology's all about. Only crazier.

Anyway, they're all hungry and heading for food, when they all get sidetracked. Well, Zaphod gets sidetracked, and the rest of the gang ends up in his pocket. This is after Arthur almost gets them all killed by trying to get the spaceship's computer to make tea, they hold a seance to talk to Zaphod's great grandfather (Zaphod Beeblebrox the 4th - long story), Zaphod ends up on Ursa Minor Beta at the offices of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (where he utters several of my favorite lines of all time: "I am so hip I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis. . . . Listen, three eyes, don't try to outweird me, I get stranger things than you free with my breakfast cereal." - Ok, dorky, but remember I was in high school when I first read it). After a series of misadventures, the gang ends up at the Restaurant. They have to go waaaaay forward in time to the actual end of the universe - and have dinner during the Gnab Gib.

After they steal a spaceship that turns out to be a stuntship for a rock band that is programmed to dive into a sun, they use a malfunctioning teleporter to escape. Zaphod and Trillian end up back on the Heart of Gold, and get to meet the guy who runs the universe, who talks a lot like Alan Watts. Ford and Arthur end up on board a ship full of useless Golgafrinchams (phone sanitizers, marketing managers, and jingle writers, among others) who were tricked off their planet and crashed on what turned out to be the Earth. They're indirectly responsible for the demise of the natives, and therefore the corruption of the computer program. The closest Arthur gets to figuring out the Question is by using a set of made up Scrabble letters, and finding: "What do you get when you multiply six by nine." Edified yet?

Sorry for the long book report, but a lot goes on in this book - even more than what I shared. Douglas Adams was able to cram a lot of story into a little space. Every single one of his books makes me smile. This one is worth reading just for the bits about the Total Perspective Vortex and the man that runs the universe.

Up next - Life, the Universe and Everything.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

2009-11-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

There's a reason why every time I have the opportunity to give a number (sports jersey, lottery, etc.), I always pick 42. Trite? Yes. Unimaginative? Without a doubt. But I look upon it as my homage to the late Douglas Adams, the man who opened my eyes to a whole world of literature and thought when I was in high school. I'm pretty old, so I've been reading and re-reading these books for well over 20 years. I don't remember which friend introduced me to the Hitchhiker's books, but I'm forever in her debt, whoever she is.

For those of you who haven't read any of the books (and where have you been?), here's a quick overview. Arthur Dent is your average 30-something non-Londoner Brit. On the day that his house is scheduled to be torn down to make way for a bypass, he learns that his good friend Ford Prefect is actually from Betelgeuse (not Guildford), and that the Earth is about to be destroyed by the Vogons (a vile lot) to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Ford rescues Arthur from Earth, and interstellar hijinks ensue for five books (in the trilogy). Ford and Arthur encounter Zaphod Beeblebox, President of the Galaxy, Ford's cousin, and all-around hoopy frood. Traveling with Zaphod is Trillian (f.k.a. Tricia McMillan), who Zaphod stole from Arthur at an Earth party some months before.

Anyway, the reason I decided to start the Cannonball Read with these books (and I'll be reading and reviewing all of them) is because of the effect they had on me when I first read them, and still have when I re-read them. Douglas Adams introduced me to British humor. I knew nothing of Monty Python or anything else when I was 13 or 14. No clue. These books showed me a whole different level of funny. He made me want to write like him, and to speak the way he wrote. He made me want to be clever. I fear that I will never live up to Adams' cleverness, but I try.

In this installment, our intrepid travellers make their way to Magrathea, a planet whose inhabitants made their living building custom planets for the very rich. It turns out that they built Earth for some hyperintellingent pandimensional beings, who manifest themselves in a very interesting way in our dimension. Turns out we're only the third smartest life form on the planet. Earth and its inhabitants were part of a huge computer program to learn the ultimate question to life, the universe and everything (the answer is 42, but no one bothered to figure out the question). Because Arthur was there when it was destroyed, the HIPD beings need his brain to access the question. Problem is, they need it outside his head. They offer to replace it with a simple computerized brain (which Zaphod thinks would work just fine - all is has to do is ask "what?" and "where's the tea?"), but Arthur's friends rescue him anyway.

When they escape Magrathea, they head for The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Which I hope to have read & reviewed by this weekend. Happy reading, all!

Cannonball Read Part Deux, Electric Bookaloo

2009-10-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

As so named by the Pajibans. I'm hereby dedicating this particlar blog to the Cannonball Read II endeavor. Fifty-two books in fifty-two weeks, plus reviews of each. We'll see how far I get. I remember winning the summer library reading contests when I was in grade school (first prize was - more books!), so I have a winning tradition to uphold.

Plus, it's for a good cause.

First Post

2009-06-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

So I decided to try to write again. Maybe even do something daily, like a real writer. But I didn't want to do it on my home or work computer because then I wouldn't be able to keep it private/quiet/whatever. Not that blogging is private, but it could be a better option so long as I don't tell anyone about it, at least not right away.

Anyway, the title of the blog is from a neighborhood where I grew up. I always thought my town was pretty small, but sometimes I wonder. I graduated with over 500 people, I think, so maybe not so small. Most streets didn't have sidewalks or curbs, the grass just ran to the street. My dad put up railroad ties to mark off our yard, but not everyone did. But there was this one street that my friend Debbie and I would ride our bikes to. The houses weren't any better than anywhere else (that I remember), but this street was special, because there were sidewalks and curbs. It made everything look nicer. We wondered about the people that lived in those houses, how lucky they were to live on that street. I've been gone from my hometown since 1987. I wonder if that street would still be as beautiful and magical to me now. Doubt it.