The Quote Maker

“Catnapping is a skill everyone should have.” Truth.

40.12 Angelmaker

I love little things. I marvel over the hands that can take such small items and make them function. How can they see and touch with such delicacy? From doll house furniture to mini erasers to jewelry, I have had this fascination for as long as I can remember. So immediately upon meeting Joe in his clock repair shop, I was in love.

What a book!  It is impossible to describe: part steam punk, part spy versus spy, part good versus evil.  All fun!  The names, the devices, the amazing female characters - those “woman of consequence” - and the quotes.  My god the quotes!  I have never found so may funny, thoughtful quotes that I had to stop and read twice all in one place.  

“Particularly now, when thirty years of age is visible in his rear-view mirror and forty glowers at him from down the road, now that his skin heals a little more slowly than it used to from solder burns and nicks and pinks, and his stomach is less a washboard and more a comfy if solid bench.” Page 6

“Glass mirrors are green, and make your image look sick and sad.  He doesn’t want to be the person he sees reflected in a glass mirror.” Page 7

“He tries no to reflect on the nature of a life whose high point is an adversarial relationship with an entity possessing the same approximate reasoning and emotional alertness as a milk bottle.” Speaking of a cat on Page 9

“Bastion’s owner is called Edie Banister, and she is very small, and very wiry, and apparently goes back slightly further than the British Museum.” Page 13

“His cheeks are wide and fatty, so that, if Mr. Cummerbund were a deer or a halibut, they would excite pleasurable anticipation in those fond of rich foods.” Page 21.

“He considers himself the wrong side of thirty-five and no closer to being who he wanted to be, if he ever knew who that was.” Page 87

“It makes the world better, just by being. Isn't that wonderful?” Page 95

“It would be very nice if someone would hug him, just for a minute.” Page 178

Beautiful little pieces of art aren't they? Well done Mr. Harkaway.

Death of The Darcys

“But the past is too much a part of what I am.”  Truth.

39.12 Death Comes to Pemberley

I am not sure it is ever a good idea for one author to try to write like another, but I am a big fan of experimentation in fiction so I had high hopes for PD James and her take on the characters of Pride and Prejudice.  Problem one, James is no Austen.  Problem two, in this case James isn’t even James.  This is easily the most lack luster mystery I have ever read and if being married has turned Elizabeth and Darcy into the people here then ugh…  Death really has come to Pemberley.

When I imagined a murder mystery with Pemberley as a back drop I envisioned a bit of a Nancy Drew/Elizabeth Bennet cross over, with Darcy valiantly taking on the bad guys as he and his wife put all the clues together, trusting each other implicitly and aware of each others intelligence.  Kind of like Charlotte and Thomas Pitt in Anne Perry’s books.  Instead Elizabeth bustles around making sure of refreshments and bedding, while Darcy broods over his decisions and actions of six years ago!  I mean, come on, like these two didn’t sit down and have a bit of a talk before they got married to hash out the various bad behaviors of their courting.  

There is no whit or humor here.  In fact, the whole thing was rather depressing and lacking in fun, which feels like a real missed opportunity.  The murder takes place, but there is very little mystery around it, and the big reveal at the end, while well plotted, just doesn’t seem very important by the time you actually get there. Overall, this is a well-written book of a not very good story and sadly not a fitting tribute to Austen or even to James.  But it does have a great cover…

Hidden Past

“Of all the times I could ever have used a glass of whiskey.” After the month I have had, this is a big TRUTH.

38.12 Hide Me Among the Graves

The whole time I read this book I felt out of sorts.  Was it because I was trying to process unbelievable things in my personal life?  Because I started it on a plane in a haze of exhaustion and anxiety?  Because I read a few pages here and there before really digging in? Honestly, I still can’t figure it out.  It is well written, with beautifully described atmosphere, but somehow I kept thinking I had missed something early on.  Turns out I did – the first book!  This is a sequel and I had no idea until after I finished it and scanned some other reviews of people saying that you HAD to read the first book first.  Really wish I had known that…

The first book, The Stress of Her Regard, was originally published in 1989 and reprinted in 2008.  Oddly, it is not mentioned on the copy of Hide Me, even though the cover mentions two of his other books and his author bio lists an additional four.  I first heard about this book on NPR and they never mentioned this either, which is odd since our hero is the son of the two main protagonists of the first book.  So, it turns out I had in fact missed something and it effected my reading a lot.  Anyway, back to this book.

So what makes the great poets great? Vampirism of course!

This Victorian London is a bit steampunk and real literary figures play many of the characters. While I concede that this may be a new take on a trend, I have recently seen it done better in Anno Dracula and so the whole thing was felt repetitive.  But the most frustrating part was that the bad guys here are easily vanquished and the good guys make it really hard not to hate them for being so stupid.  The build up to action is done well but the end result fizzles.  Our characters include the real life actions of John Polidori, the Rosetti siblings, and Algernon Swineburne, but the only character I cared for was Edward Trelawney.  I kept hoping the story would focused more on him and how he became what he was – but wait, was that in the first book and so I just missed it?  Don’t know, didn't know it existed until I was done with this one, but I am not bitter.

Maybe you really do need to read the first book to understand all the minute of the second or maybe all of those others factors led to me not connecting to the story. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood, but for as long as I have been writing reviews and doing this blog I have never had such a hard time figuring out something to say about a book; I couldn’t even come up with a quote.  It isn’t that I didn’t like it, or that I did, I just didn’t engage with it at all which leaves me feeling even more out of sorts than ever.

Sad Truth of the TBR

“The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.” - Joseph Joubert. Truth.

Exactly one year ago, I wrote about my various TBR piles here, and the fact that their sheer volume pressure me daily to read more, faster.  Last year I read more books than ever before and I am on track to best that number this year so I felt I should check back with the piles to see if things had changed.  Here there are and all I can say is that they have grown.  Ugh.

This is still my main shelf, and it is easy to see that more books have been added than removed.

My husband tried to reinforce the bowing shelves with wood stilts but the books are still winning.

Last year I considered this my more immediate TBR pile, but since they are mostly the same books I would say that description is now inaccurate.

Last year this last picture was of my stack of library books, but this year it has been replaced with loans from friends.

Seeing the piles a year later I have come to some conclusions about the way I actually read and I am not sure I really like it.

My personal shelves are full of books that I ran out and bought as soon as I knew about them and knew that they were something that I HAD to read.  These are books that I know I will love, that I know I need to be surrounded by, the cream-de-la-cream.  I also have a list of books to get from the library.  These are books that I also know I need to read but that I am not sure I need to HAVE.  Not sure I will need to look at them and be reminded of a great character or a great line.  Not sure they will bring me comfort.  So I give them my undivided attention, and then give them back, but they are only one step away from a permanant spot on the shelf. Lastly, I have a stack (actually they fill a bag) of books lent to me by friends.  The people who I love, who usually know me well enough to lend me books that I will enjoy.  The problem here is that I feel the need to read them promptly and return them along with feedback. 

All of these stacks are wonderful treasures but my reading of them seems to be a bit backwards.  Instead of reading the things I am really excited about I read the friends’ and library books first because of their built in self-destruct mechanisms (ie: due dates, and manners), before finally getting back to the things I am just DYING to read.  As I have wonderful friends and a spectacular library, I get to my shelves very rarely, and the piles only grow.  That is a very sad TRUTH.

The Truth Will Out

“People are complicated. There is so much more to everyone than you realize.”  Truth.

37.12 Code Name Verity

It took me three days to read the first 70 pages of this book but only one day to read the last 260. The book is written from one point of view and then the other, and really to understand the first you have to read the second and I am not sold that that is a great strategy especially for a YA book. Nonetheless, I liked it but I really thought I would love it.

Two young British women, a spy and a pilot, crash land in France in October of 1943. Each of their stories is recorded as well as the story of how each got to this point. They are strong and confident. Smart and loyal. But this is war time, and war is ugly.

I liked both girls but the disjointed writing of the first half of the book made me feel at arms length from them instead of pulling me in to their story. I never felt emotionally involved with either of them. I think the unraveling, yet connecting, of both stories in the second half is very well done but maybe some of it needed to come sooner.  I did like that the connections were left to the reader to make, doled out a bit at a time, instead of being thrown at you like you aren’t smart enough to figure things out.  It is a very well written and compelling story without being so overtly harsh and devastating that it will probably be perfect for some younger readers who are not as interested in historical fiction. I just hope they stick with it.

The Battle of Midway

“Any act can be a prayer, if done as well as we are able.” Truth.

36.12 A Storm of Swords

I really loved Game of Thrones. I knew going in that there would be a lot of backstory and character introductions and I thought it was done really well.  I really cared about that core group of characters: Tyrion, the Starks, Jon Snow and the small group of The Watch, Cersi and the Kingslayer, the Hound, (Sorry, but Dany annoys me).  I couldn’t wait to see what happened to them next, and herein lies my problem.  The next two books have given me a bit of detail on their stories, and the fact that they are still around leads me to believe that they are in it for the long haul, but they are still the only characters I care about.  Both Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords and full of new characters pledging loyalty, gaining lands, acting both chivalrous and treacherous, experiencing battles, deaths, marriages.  And I care not a lick about any of them.  As my eyes read the works my brain literally says, “Blah, blah, blah.” When I come to a heading chapter and see the name of a character I don’t care about I force myself through just to see who is next.  

These are big books and they take time to read, and while I love those original characters I am wondering if I am just wasting my time wading through all this other nonsense when I could be reading a new book and discovering new character to love instead.  I don’t want to give up on Game of Thrones but there is very little holding me to the story at this point that I can’t really imagine four more books, especially when two of them haven’t been written.

***Confession time!***

I wrote the first half of this post after reading the first half of the book.  I really considered putting it aside and giving up.  I was so tired of people moving from place to place and looking for food and shelter; but man, once people get where they are going – watch out!  There is nothing off limits in this series.  No character is safe, no one to really be counted on to act as they have before, and my mouth was left hanging open more than once.  But it was all saved up for the last 1/4 of the book and that makes me wonder what all of that other running around is really about.  Is it even important?  Is it time to give up on the reading and just watch the TV show - I can't even believe I just said that! I wish more than anything that the series was already complete so at least I would know there is a resolution waiting, but it isn’t.  

Clearly I  am losing some of my fortitude to continue with the series but I imagine that I will, because when the going gets good it is soooo good.  I just wish it would get going a lot faster and more often.

Holy Plot Twist Batman

“It’s a very difficult era in which to be a person. Just a real, actual person, instead of a collection of personality traits selected from an endless Automat of characters.” Truth.

35.12 Gone Girl

Three part book gets a three part review.

Part 1:

This is why I read. To find out that the me I am inside my head isn’t the only one feeling crazy. Isn’t the only one feeling in the wrong all the time. Desperate for someone to love her in all the ways it has been described to her all her life in books and movies, even if she knows she doesn’t always act in a way to deserve it.

My god, I am so Amy. The first years of my marriage I hated the changes in me that I could attribute to becoming more “wife” like, and after becoming a stay at home mom, lordy... I absolutely want to be the Cool Girl and I still hate when I feel the guilt of not being her. When I am angry about stupid things. When I self create resentments and stew about them even when I truly try to stop myself. Honestly, I identified so much with Amy that the book got scary and uncomfortable to read. Thank god I didn’t marry Nick.

Part 2:

B.A.N.A.N.A.S!!!

I mean, I can’t even...

My jaw is still on the floor. I kept looking around the room for someone to verify that this was really happening. I even had to walk away for a moment. Total Jedi mind-fuck.

Part 3:

Fucking hell.  I am certainly NOT Amy, and again I thank god I didn’t marry Nick.  

This a thriller about a marriage seen from both the husband and wife’s POV after the wife has gone missing.  We see him reacting to the disappearance and we read her diary of the time leading up.  It is fast paced, meticulously plotted, and, again, absolutely jaw dropping.  I don’t want to say more because to ruin it for anyone would be such a disservice.  If you want a mindless escape of a summer read then this isn’t it; but if you want a completely unexpected, and sometimes hard to read, look at how dark people can be then this is a winner. Just know that whatever you are expecting isn’t what is going to happen, I promise you that.