Book Round-Up

The Forgers by Bradford Morrow: an unconventional mystery with an unreliable narrator. In fact, the narrator is so repellent -- an ex-felon, unremorseful, snobbish, egotistical, and worst of all too willing to lie and deceive the supposed love of his life -- by the second chapter I accurately predicted his character arc. I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as I hoped I would.

The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang and Sonney Liew: Yang and Liew revive a very obscure Golden Age superhero, the Green Turtle, and give him an explicitly Asian identity and backstory, and the result is delightful -- poignant and clever and laugh-out-loud funny. The trade paperback collects the 6-issue mini-series, and I really hope they plan to write and draw more someday.

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes: I've been a fan of Holmes's pop culture writing for a while, so I was pleased to see she had published a novel, and even more pleased to have enjoyed it. It's a romance between a widow (Evvie of the title) who's not grieving the way everyone expects her to and an MLB pitcher whose career was derailed by the yips, but it's also about Evvie's relationship with her best friend, and most importantly about her healing.

Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald: A novel about time-crossed lovers meeting in Grand Central Station, in the vein of The Time Traveler's Wife. The story was fine, the characters were fine, the writing was fine, and I had to force myself to finish it.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara: Despite loving mysteries I generally don't read true crime books, especially about serial killers, because all too often I find the works exploitative, sensationalistic, and occasionally downright creepy in the way the perpetrators are treated. This book came highly recommended, though, and the praise it has received is justified. McNamara's writing is compelling without being excessive, and she is deeply respectful of the victims and their families.

Book Round-Up

The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes:this is the third in the tetralogy, and things finally pick up for some of the storylines.  Anne stops reacting to or running away from things and begins to take control of her life and destiny;  Stephen keeps reacting rather than acting, but he also learns quite a bit about the power struggle underlying world events, which means we learn it too.  Other storylines, however, lag -- Leoff's big role was in the second book so he has little to do here, and Aspar continues to bounce around from one quest or task to another.  Given his prominence in the books, and certain hints, I assume he has an important role to play at the climax, but there is little preparation for it, as far as I can tell.

The Born Queen by Greg Keyes:a mostly satisfying conclusion to the story.  Keyes had some unusual ideas and concepts that made for an interesting world (including the idea that the secret, dangerous power kept hidden from man really should be kept hidden).  Unlike some other readers, I was also satisfied with where various characters ended up, Stephen being the only exception.  The problem wasn't his motivation for his actions in the last book (I thought that made sense, given what happened), I just wanted something different for him.  I do wonder how far in advance Keyes plotted out the narrative; over the course of the four books, characters and plot elements that appeared crucial in earlier novels were sidelined (or vanished entirely) at the climax, and there were some abrupt changes in focus, meaning, and significance.  The impression I got is that Keyes had some key concepts in place from the beginning, but that the story got away from him (or perhaps he just changed his mind).  Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable series.

Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz:a slim novel about Akenaten's rule, told from the perspective of the people around him -- family and friends, supporters and enemies and opportunists.  I've always found this brief period of Egyptian history utterly fascinating and completely mysterious -- how much can anyone truly understand the actions and beliefs of another, whether 3000 years ago or in the immediate aftermath?

Saints by Gene Luen Yang:the companion volume to Boxers, and just as awesome.  Four-girl's journey parallels Little Bao as they both struggle with religious belief, the injustices and cruelties of life, and ordinary adolescence.  Yang is a Catholic, and so it's clear where his sympathies ultimately lie, but his telling of this historical event is nuanced, fair, heartbreaking, and even a little funny.

The Book Stops Here by Kate Carlisle:I picked this up at the library on a whim; it's the 8th ( I think) in the "Bibliophile Mysteries" about a bookbinder who keeps getting caught up in murder investigations.  The prose was a bit over-written, and there was some serious wish-fulfillment in some aspects of the bookbinder's life, but it was an enjoyable read with some fun tidbits about rare books, which of course I loved.

Book Round-Up

The Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogyby Nora Roberts: I picked this up because I wanted more witchy books after finishing Harkness's trilogy, and it was October, and I generally like Roberts.  Unfortunately, the trilogy was a disappointment.  The structure, the characters, the not-very-conflicting romantic conflicts, even the scenes were too similar to her previous books; I get that Roberts doesn't want to mess with a successful formula, but I'd like to see her experiment more.  Moreover, the witchy plot itself was too thin -- there was little attempt at world-building or describing the magic, and the antagonist was one-dimensional and uninteresting.  Things did improve in the third book, once Roberts was finally free to focus on the final battle.

The Charnel Princeby Greg Keyes: The second in the tetralogy was just as entertaining as the first; Keyes has created both an engaging world and a fascinating plot.  The very short chapters alternating between the characters sometimes made the narrative a little choppy (more than once I'd skip ahead to read several chapters pertaining to the same storyline), but they certainly serve their purpose of making the reader think "just one more!"  I do have two issues:  1) The series fits into the sub-genre of "dark fantasy," which means there is a fair amount of violence and destruction and a high body count, something I don't enjoy, especially when the majority of the tortured and dead are ordinary background characters just trying to live their (fictional) lives. 2) The Catholic Church is, apparently, evil, which at this point is not only annoying, it's a cliche.  It's the same problem I had with Becket's trilogy, and I can't help but think of the storytelling opportunities if there were multiple factions within the Church (like there are in the various governments) or if the Church were not actually evil, just a rival with the same goal of saving/preserving the world but different methods.

Boxersby Gene Luen Yang: This is one half of Yang's masterpiece about the Boxer Rebellion, and is told from the viewpoint of a Chinese peasant who leads a rebellion against foreign influence and abuse.  Yang's clean and youthful illustrations contrast with the complex story, and his spare storytelling elicits both sympathy for Little Bao's experiences and ideals and abhorrence of the actions he ultimately takes.  As soon as I finish the Keyes series I will pick up Saints, which tells the other side of the story through a Christian convert.