Six Books in a Week! 🥳👏

 

    The Golden Yarn is the third book in the MirrorWorld Series by Cornelia Funke. It is not the last book in the series, and the others are still waiting to be translated into English. So, I need to work on learning German. Other than the book ending on somewhat of a cliffhanger, it raced along with unforeseen plot twists and turns. I get the sense the series wasn't planned out from the beginning because each book has new characters needed to solve present problems. It works. 

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    This short book (129 pages) is powerful. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan feels longer than it is. The main character, Bill Furlong, delivers coal in a small Irish town. It's a busy time, right before Christmas. He discovers something that troubles him and is unsure what to do about it. Small Things Like These could be melodramatic--unwed mothers, Christmas, powerful villains--but in Keegan's deft hands, this story accumulates tension as Bill Furlong's various obligations are in conflict. I know what I want him to do and understand what it will cost him. Keegan does a lot in 129 pages.

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     In P. Djeli Clark's novella, A Dead Djinn in Cairo, what starts as a mysterious death becomes a race to save the world. Clark creates a world in early 19th-century Egypt, no longer occupied by the British but now inhabited by djinns, ghouls, and angels. The eccentric investigator from the Ministry of Alchemy, Fatma el-Sha'arawi, is investigating the mysterious death of a djinn. The deeper she digs, the more dangerous her situation grows. 

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If you liked Andy Weir's The Martian, you will probably like Kate Hope Day's In the Quick. I was surprised to discover that it is based on Jane Eyre! However, it makes sense. An intelligent, quirky woman is sent away by her aunt to a special school--that just happens to be for astronauts in training. June possesses a mechanical brilliance and the firm will to keep going despite opposition. She is the only person who believes that the missing presumed dead astronauts might be alive and could be rescued. Kate Hope Day writes a tight plot with a fierce central character. I enjoyed the melding of gothic fiction and sci-fi.

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    The Dark Lord's Daughter by Patricia C. Wrede is a clever middle-grade fantasy. Kayla, her adopted mother, and her little brother are pulled into a different world, where Kayla is the lost daughter of the former Dark Lord. She is received with mixed emotions and motives. Everyone expects her to exert her power by killing her rivals and torturing her minions. She's not into it. Her desire is to return home. She has allies in her adopted mother and brother. Her tablet has become her familiar in the form of a flying monkey. Wrede has several plot "time bombs" that bring tension and propel the story. 

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    Benjamin Stevenson is great at writing wry, comical murder mysteries. His debut novel, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (reviewed here: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/2023/08/great-mystery-and-amusing-short-stories.html), was the best mystery novel I read in 2023. His latest book, Everyone on This Train is a Suspect, continues with the same unlucky protagonist, Ern. He is at a writer's conference on a famous train in "Australia," The Ghan. Ern teaches mystery writing and follows closely to "the rules" of writing a fair play mystery novel. He keeps the reader periodically apprised of what he doing. At 20,000 words, the author should have introduced the murderer and used their name several times. Then, he listed the main characters and the number of times their names have been used. I find it transparent but also a red herring because I'm diverted into thinking about whose name has been mentioned the most instead of who's the killer. It's cleverly done.

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Theology, Murder, and Fantasy--Typical Week

 

    Someone recommended Unoffendable: How Just One Change Can Make All of Life Better by Brant Hansen, and I've begrudgingly read it. I am suspicious of subtitles that say one change can make all of life better. I found it to be even-handed and generous. I frequently circle around the question of whether anger is good or bad, helpful or destructive. (I tend to be a black-and-white thinker. Surprise!) Hansen gave good arguments, especially for followers of Christ, to examine their anger and see if it is self-justifying or a check engine light pointing to a problem. This book is short, full of stories, and thought-provoking. It is worth reading and considering.

😡😤🕊️

    Lindsey Davis writes historical mysteries that take place in Ancient Rome, and they are terrific. I have been reading her Roman mysteries for over 30+ years. That's a long time. She doesn't disappoint. This week, I read #10 in the Flavia Albia series, Desperate Undertaking. This series is best read in order but optional. Desperate Undertaking is the tale of a serial killer with a fondness for theater and cruelty. Long-time readers will encounter characters from past adventures. Davis's previous series, Marcus Didius Falco, is about Albia's adopted father, who also solved crimes. If you have lots of time or want to read interesting, informative books about Rome involving murder, Lindsey Davis is for you.     

Here is a link to previous Flavia Albia books I've reviewed:

https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Flavia+Albia

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    This will be the first week in a long time that I haven't read a T. Kingfisher. I went online and typed, "If you like T. Kingfisher, you will like _______? We used to do this at the bookstore to find recommendations for people who wanted a book close to an author they liked. The all-knowing internet produced the author Cornelia Funke. Hurray! I've read her Ink Heart series and liked it a great deal. The past four days have been spent consuming her Mirrorworld series. The first book, Reckless, starts with William following his older brother, Jacob, into a mirror world where he is immediately infected by a curse that begins to turn his flesh, heart, and mind into a living stone. Jacob must use all his learned skills as a treasure hunter to find a cure for William. A cure that none of the withes, magicians, or fairies have been able to create. The second book, Fearless, continues the story, focusing on Jacob and his shape-shifting companion, Vixen, as they search for a powerful crossbow able to defeat entire armies. They aren't the only ones desperately needing to find this weapon of mass destruction. 

    This book reminds me of Star Wars. It has multiple plots, wars, a hint of romance, and a gritty, dangerous world. 

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🛣️ Road Trips 📚 Mystery 😱Horror

    April's travel book for book club is On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I had heard of this book but had never read it, and a benefit of book club is exposure to books I might not choose. It is a book about travel both exteriorly by bus, car, and hitchhiking back and forth across the USA, and interiorly, away from conservative values and the confinement of society's expectations like paying your bills, being faithful to your spouse, and supporting your children. It is described as the voice of the Beat Generation and its influence on American culture. It is a book to read to have a window into the upheaval of the late 50s and 60s. I didn't like On The Road because I found it dishonest. There is no free life; someone will have to pay the cost of food, gas, and babies. Kerouac's idea of freedom is self-centered and comes at the cost of someone else taking on the debt.

    In contrast to other books I've read on travel, Wild, Eat, Pray, Love, and Travels with Charley give the writers an understanding of themselves and others; the result of Kerouac's trip feels like a spiral downward. His travel catalyst is his friend, Dean Moriarty, who abandons him and also fascinates him in turn. Dean is the main protagonist and the most exciting character. When he's not around, things are less interesting. Overall, I'm glad to have read On The Road because I won't have to ever read it again.

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    I read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield many years ago, but I didn't recognize the book until about halfway through. I couldn't remember how it ended! It feels like I'm not long from hiding my own Easter eggs. The plot of this excellent mystery is complex so I will give myself a break for not quite remembering the title. The book fits into a gothic mystery category with a crumbling house, orphan twins, and mysterious old women. It has surprising turns and mysteries within mysteries. A big plus is the protagonist works in a bookshop, and there is much book talk. I recommend reading it twice!

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    Speaking of gothic and adding horror brings me to T. Kingfisher's book The Twisted Ones. She has several titles--A House with Good Bones and The Hollow Places--that take place in the American South and are spooky weird. Here is a link to my reviews of the others.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1658929891i/70401.jpg

    The Twisted Ones follows Kingfisher's gothic horror formula of the female protagonist with a recent break-up, goes south to help or be helped by a relative, and lives in a creepy house that turns out to be a portal to horrible things. However, the book is populated with weirdly wonderful characters and evil villains that give the plot suspense. I like the heroes and dislike the villains. 

As a side note, if Kingfisher's actual grandmother is as bad as her written grandmothers, she's crafted an excellent revenge. 

    This is the last Kingfisher book for a while. I'm still missing a few, but I will have to find them outside my usual channels. Fortunately, there are many good books in the world that I still want to read.

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⚔️ More T. Kingfisher (Help, I Running Out!), 🪦Middleschoo Horror-ish, 🎑 and a Novel About Jimbocho, Tokyo 📚

 

    As I've read most of T. Kingfisher's backlog, I've done it out of order, reading what has come available on Libby. Mostly, it hasn't been a problem. There is an occasional reference that I don't get, but most of her books, even in series, can be read out of sequence. The Clocktaur War duology is the set of books establishing her Paladin universe. Clockwork Boys and The Wonder Engine set up  The Saint Steel series as well as Swordheart. Kingfisher's works have a distinctive style and repeating elements. There is reluctant romance, humourous gnoles, hidden backstories to reveal, a road trip, and the forces of evil to defeat. I knew it would all come right in the end, but I didn't know how it would all come right. A forger--Slate; a disgraced paladin--Caliban; an assassin--Brenner; and a monk scientist--Learned Edmund, must work together to defeat what no one else, including the army, has been able to stop, the Clockwork Boys. If they don't or refuse, they will be eaten by their demon tattoos. Well played, Ms. Kingfisher.

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       The Doll Bones by Holly Black is horror-lite for middle schoolers. Three friends since elementary school, but are now in middle school. Change is inevitable, and it's scary. Black describes the turmoil of having a foot in two boats: who you've been and who you are becoming. Things that defined them as elementary kids are now "babyish." Black demonstrates how the skills from playing pretend and making up stories are still valuable and necessary.

                                 ⛵️🏴‍☠️👑🚍🪦

    I love reading books, and the next level up from reading a good book is reading a good book about someone who loves reading good books. Days at Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa, is that sort of book. It is a novel about a young woman who suffers a heartbreak and falls into a depression. Her uncle invites her to come live above his bookstore in Jimbocho, the used book district of Tokoyo.

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This is an actual place, and I want to go there: https://booksandbao.com/jimbocho-tokyos-book-town-video-guide/. 

    The story is about relationships and learning to communicate with those you love. It had a different feel from the fantasy I've been reading lately. I quite enjoyed it.

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