Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch Series Books II and III

  This weekend was spent hiking the Appalachian trail with Dear Husband, so I didn't read much. The weather was terrific. Query: do 8 miles and some change mean (1) 8 miles and a little more or (2) ALMOST 9 MILES? 

    Asking for a friend. 

   I finished Anne Leckie's Imperial Radch Series. It well deserves all the awards it has won with excellent world-building, characters, and plot. The second and third books of the trilogy are strong stories that continue to develop the action and tell an encapsulated, satisfying story in each book. The culmination rocked. 

 

 

  I didn't mention this with the first book, but Leckie's main character--a former AI of a spaceship--doesn't see gender. The Radch society that created her doesn't differentiate between males and females. It is gender neutral. At first I thought it was entirely women, but the planet she finds herself on has languages that need the correct pronouns and Breq is trying to decide who's male and who's female. I like that sci-fi can create spaces to discuss themes like gender, race, and politics. At times it felt slightly moralistic, but Leckie keeps the action moving. 

    Here is a post that addressed her use of "she" for both genders: post-binary-gender-in-SF-ancillary-justice-by-ann-Leckie

  I found talk of an adaptation starring Keira Knightly. Keira-Knightley-to-star-in-ancillary.html 

    I would watch that!

Here is a cool fan-made book trailer. It contains spoilers if you haven't read the series. ancillary-justice-fan-made-trailer

    

    The Imperial Radch Series is good sci-fi: entertaining me while it made me think.

Sci-Fi, Essays, and a Dog Story

 

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd is a dystopian virus novel with an odd Eastern Religion twist. There are gobs of dystopian novels. To be noticed, a story needs to be extraordinary, and this one is. The premise is humanity's shadows are disappearing, dividing the world into shadowed and shadowless. When people's shadows disappear, their memories gradually fade, much like dementia. There is an interesting relationship and comparison between a man who suffered memory loss due to a car accident, an American, and the first man to lose his shadow, who is from India. As people lose their memories, they gain the fantastic ability to create things using their imaginations--fierce beasts, fantasy landscapes, and destruction. Shepherd takes several story threads and weaves them into a notable, readable book.

    

    I am a reader who writes as well. I like C. S. Lewis and thought The Art of Writing and the Gifts of Writer would be instructive. It was. Lewis is an excellent thinker and adroit communicator. As a Lord of the Rings fan, I enjoyed essay about Tolkien and The Hobbit. I was surprised by the fact that Lewis reads books two or three times before he reviews them. I'm a one-and-done reader. I think the book was hastily pulled together, and some pieces are weaker than others, but it's still C. S. Lewis.

     I live in the Baltimore, MD area and have read Laura Lippman's mystery novels set in Baltimore. They are exciting, and I get an extra thrill in recognizing places I know. Here is a link to her mysteries: laura-lippman However, My Life as a Villainess let me see another side of her writing talent. Her essays are humorous and insightful. I learned she became a first-time mother at fifty-one, her husband, David Simon, created a little show called The Wire, and about her friendship with Ann Hood. Getting to see into her mind was a treat.

    It is universally acknowledged that any book with a dog as a significant character ends in its death: Sounder, Where the Red Fern Grows, Marley and Me. The dog dies in Homer's The Odyessy. Sorry for the spoilers. 😜  However, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez is a most unusual dog book. The protagonist has lost their long-time fellow writer, teacher, friend, and mentor to suicide. Through a series of unfortunate events, she ends up with his Great Dane in her two-room, no dogs allowed, New York apartment. I don't have time for rereading books--so many books, so little time--but I think there is so much here that it deserves to be read several times. The Friend is a masterful piece of writing. This would make a great book club book because there is much to discuss: betrayal, privilege, student/teacher relations, fidelity, marriage, love, and pets.

    When I worked at a bookstore, my favorite section to shelve was sci-fi. I noted this series by Ann Leckie, Ancillary Justice, and meant to read it one day. That day came this week. Leckie has built a solid, credible world. Her book deserves the awards it's received. Breq is an AI created from a human body who, along with other similar AIs, is ancillary to a ship. They become the physical manifestation of the ship. And then something happens, and Breq is severed from the network, leaving her alone and angry. The story is well-paced, suspenseful, and with compelling characters. Well told. 

Unconventional Women

 

    Maggie O'Farrell is a favorite author of mine--she wrote Hamnet--so I'm reading through her other titles. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox brings together two unconventional women for comparison and contrast. Iris gets a call from an insane asylum asking what to do with her great aunt, Esme Lennox. It is closing, and Iris is listed as next of kin. Iris had no knowledge of Esme's existence. Iris is the only one left in her family except for her grandmother, who has dementia. The narrative shifts back and forth between the two women telling their history. O'Farrell builds suspense by continually keeping the reader off balance. I think I know what's going on, but I don't. My miscalculations of the plot were usually due to conventional storylines like odd girl meets a man who appreciates her, the love between sisters, and happy endings. This book addresses the vulnerability of women in a bygone age, but also currently. It is complex and engaging. I liked it.

    Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman surprised me. It was also a story about sisters struggling with being unconventional and ostracized and trying to make their way in the world. They ask the same big question: can I endure being different? Can I find a way to flourish? Practical Magic was surprisingly hopeful and encouraging. Its story is rooted in Massachusetts and its history with witches. It gives the book a feeling that this could possibly be a true story. I found it similar to Harry Potter's premise that magic is all around us, but we aren't awake to it. It was a satisfying book because everyone gets what they deserve. 

    There is a movie based on the book with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman released in 1998. It's a fun spooky adaption that doesn't follow the book closely. As a book person, in the debate of which is better, the book or the movie, I usually choose the book. Books can show you more of the inner workings of a character than a movie. Because the film and the book Practical Magic are so different, I don't think they should be judged by each other. I believe they have different goals from the start. Both are good, in their way.

Enneagram, Romance, Chemistry, and a Master Class in Writing

    This entry will be especially long because I didn't post last week due to twins, traveling, and the torment of Covid (not me, Dear Husband). 

 

    There are many, many ways to learn about the Enneagram and many, many opinions about its effectiveness,  legitimacy, and provenance. I found The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile to be reasonable and balanced. Can you sort people into categories and understand them? Maybe? I think people are complex, and I doubt if I can fully understand myself, even less someone else. But I find it helpful to consider that other minds don't work like mine. For example, I prefer a stable, planned life, and Dear Husband desires adventure and spontaneity. This has occasionally, sometimes, okay frequently caused friction between us. Seeing us as different numbers (I'm a six, and I think he's an eight, or maybe a one) makes space in my head for life beyond I'm right, and he's wrong or, inconceivably, visa versa. It's a good thing for me and our marriage-building moments, also-known-as intense discussions, AKA big fights, for me to have an idea of different motivations and perspectives.

    Book Lovers by Emily Henry is a fun read, especially if you are familiar with romance tropes. popular-romance-fiction-tropes-to-keep-your-readers-hooked This book exploits them turning them upside down, making for a plot with unpredictable, exciting twists and turns. Henry's skillful writing had me rooting for these enemies to get together because I wasn't sure if they would. If you consider yourself a book person, you will especially enjoy all the book recommendations and allusions. It's a treat.

   Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is the story of a female scientist in the late fifties and early sixties. It depicts the worlds of science and academia where women are not welcome, and are actively abused: financially, sexually, and intellectually. Yet, it is a clever, humorous book and is already on the movie track. brie-larson-apple-lessons-in-chemistry-1234888875

    Though I was entertained Lessons in Chemistry, I found Garmus' depiction of the evilness of men and religion heavy-handed. Any belief in God made the character unintelligent and prejudiced. Although she tried to bring balance by having characters on both sides of the divide--a minister who doesn't believe in God and an understanding male OBGYN--it didn't give her point nuance or complexity and weakened her message.

   Last Night in Montreal reminds me of reading Julius Caesar in 8th grade English. Mrs. Cohen opened my eyes to the inner workings of great writing--structure, characterization, comparison and more--and I was amazed. Last Night in Montreal is a master class of great writing. It is tense and compelling. I'm not one to throw around five stars on GoodReads, but I gave five stars to this book, not because I enjoyed the story in the same way as I did Lord of the Rings or A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but because it was valuable to my development as a reader and it deserved it.

Maps, Mysteries, and Mallorca

 

  I have several geography nerds in my family. One is my husband. I thought of him frequently as I read Peng Shepherd's book The Cartographers. Using fiction, it wrestles with the question: what is the purpose of a map? (I asked the internet that question, and one of the things that popped up was this gem of a website: https://www.mapshop.com/10-reasons-why-maps-are-important/) The story is a bit campy with several barely credible coincidences, but I enjoyed it and was a willing participant in setting aside reality. The premise is Nell Young, a rising star in the cartographer world and the daughter of prominent cartographer Daniel Young, has a public argument with her famous father over an ordinary gas station map. He is her boss, and she is an intern. He not only fires her, but also destroys her reputation. They don't speak for seven years. Then he dies under suspicious circumstances. She finds the disputed map hidden in his office. What makes this worthless map so valuable? 

    This book is fun to read because it contains the New York Public Library, a mysterious society, a curve-ball laden plot, and quirky characters. I'm looking forward to reading other works by Peng Sheperd. It is a mature version of Greenglass House by Kate Milford.

    Greenglass House is the first in a YA series. Milo is looking forward to Christmas break at his family's usually deserted hotel; however, several peculiar guests arrive. They seek answers about the smuggler the hotel belonged to before his death. Where is his treasure? What would they do to get it? Milo finds untapped courage as he and Meddy, the cook's granddaughter, try to solve the puzzle and redeem their ruined holiday before anyone get's hurt. Milford had several plot twists that surprised me.

  When I worked at a bookstore, we joked that beach reads usually incorporated turquoise in their covers. The Vacationers by Emma Straub indeed advertises itself well. It is a quintessential beach read: a good one. A Manhattan couple, Jim and Franny, with their two children--Sylvia, who recently graduated high school, and Bobbie, who is five years out of college--go on vacation to Mallorca, Spain. Franny's best friend, Charles, and his husband, Lawrence, and their son's long-term girlfriend are with them in a beautiful house. Seven people are vacationing under one roof with secrets and unspoken hopes, but not for long. Straub skillfully takes the familiar ingredients of a beach read: betrayal, unrequited love, expectations, and sunshine and creates a diverting, satisfying story. ⛱ 

In Which I Time Travel

 

    I have been on vacation on the west coast for the past ten days. The first seven days were with two of my adorable grandchildren (3 years and 8 months) in San Diego. Then Dear Husband and I returned to the Grand Canyon for a second time. The first time I went, I became sick and only saw the Grand Canyon clinic. This time was much better. 

    Between the three-hour time change--7 PM is now 10PM and 5 AM is now 8 AM--and playing with some cuties, I didn't read a single novel until the plane ride back. It was a glorious novel by Emma Straub entitled This Time Tomorrow. It's about one of my favorite sci-fi subjects, time travel. Alice turns a discontent forty, but wakes up the next day to find she's sixteen again. What's going to happen? Straub cleverly has Alice's father be a novelist who writes about time travel. The book, besides telling an enthralling story with great characters, also discusses time travel tropes (looper-time-travel-tropes) and referencing several movies, books, and shows that contain time travel plots. It explores the question: if you could do it again, what would you change in a fresh engaging way. The story is complex and heartwarming. This is the first Emma Straub book I've read, and I will be reading others.

    I was lamenting to Dear Husband that I hadn't read much this week, and he reminded me of this book that I read at least five times a day to my granddaughter: The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson with illustrations by Axel Sheffler. This wasn't a hardship because the text and the pictures are delightful. I enjoy a kid's book that has little surprises in the illustrations. It helps keep everyone interested. The story is in rhyme, but it's not annoying because it is well-done and adds to the enjoyment of the book. It is about a bright mouse in perilous situations at the bottom of the food chain so he makes up a tale of aterrible creature who wants to eat his preditors. If you have a little person in your life, I recommend highly this book. Donaldson's other book Room On A Broom is terrific as well. 

    Some of my sweetest memories of being a mom of young children is reading to them. Getting to read to my grandchildren is like traveling back in time. (See what I did there?) This Usborne book, Who's Making That Mess illustrated by Stephen Cartwright is one that I've owned for over 25 years. I brought it with me to San Diego and it was a hit. From the appealing animals, hidden ducks, and silly premise it is an excellent reread with new things discovered each time. Plus it has flaps!

The Multiverse and Theology

 

    Space Between the Worlds by Micaiah Johnson does sci-fi well. It embodies several elements of well-crafted sci-fi: speculation--what if we could move between multiverses; social commentary--the divide between the haves and the have-nots, what keeps tyrants in power, nature versus nurture; and psychology--what is our responsibility towards others, are we the same person in every world, and why not? However, the story isn't bogged down by these considerations because it's fast-paced and keeps you guessing. Good stuff. 

    I have read other books by N. T. Wright and find him consistently annoying. I get a subtext in his writing that no one but Wright correctly interprets scripture. He alone can see things clearly. However, he is a brilliant man and thoughtful theologian. How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels by N. T. Wright is thought-provoking in a good way. He challenges western Christianity in several ways. First, recognize there is a unity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Second, as Christians, we serve a Suffering Savior and are called to suffer as we build God's kingdom on earth. Third, as Christians, our purpose is to live and serve God as a church, not merely waiting to be called to heaven. Finally, and, I'm not sure I fully agree with or understand this, Jesus became king surplanting Caesar.

In writing this review, I drew on these resources:

nt-wrights-how-god-became-king

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDWcvGOBOhU

    Reading theology is an excellent challenge to my critical thinking and spiritual development, but it ain't easy!

Mystery, Firefighters, and Time-travel

    The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley is an absorbing, suspenseful mystery. Its storyline felt familiar, and it is, but turned on its head. Instead of a girl missing under a suspicious circumstance that needs to be rescued or avenged: eight-great-books-about-women-who-disappear, it is a missing, older half-brother. Foley writes a scrappy, down-on-her-luck half-sister as the dogged pursuer of truth. The book features a luxury apartment with dubious tenants with dark, twisting backstories. So good!

 

    I was looking for something bright and breezy, and Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center delivered. Cassie Hanwell is an Austin firefighter who has to relocate to an all-male firehouse in the suburbs of Boston. She reluctantly lives with her estranged mother, who left her dad and Cassie on Cassie's sixteenth birthday. Romance is at the center of this book, but it also vibrates around forgiveness and the life of firefighters. It's caused me to spend time thinking about forgiveness: how and why we do it. I love surprises like this: romance novels that have more to them than girl meets boy.

    A couple of weeks ago, I read The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel and didn't like it. At All. A former bookstore colleague recommended I read Sea of Tranquility by the same author. With great reluctance, I did. It was mind-bending in the best way. Characters from the TGH appeared in SOT in meaningful, intriguing ways. The two books together tell a strange, time-traveling, alternate universe story. Each book stands separately, but together they resonate beautifully. I find Mandel's characters emotionally distant from the reader even when they are the main character, which is a weakness. Still, the themes she wrestles with are masterfully handled. 

Turtles, Samarais, and Nuns

 

      Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott is a book of essays that are vulnerable, funny, and timely. Philpott explores life's difficulties--middle of the night 911 calls, Covid--but instead of sinking under the weight of capricious disasters, I came away feeling hopeful. 

  The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama is the historical fiction pick for my book club. It tells the story of a Chinese young man, Stephen, who contracts tuberculosis and is sent by his family to their summer home on the beach in Japan. It is 1938, and Japan has invaded China. Stephen spends a year with the aloof master gardener and caretaker, Matsu, who has always intimidated him. The plot has many unexpected turns making it a quick read. It describes a time in history I don't know much about. I think because Europe and World War II overshadow what happened in China prewar. Stephen grows in many ways as he faces living in his enemy's country and his friendship with Matsu. I liked the exotic, non-western feel of the book. 

  I did not like Matrix by Lauren Groff. The title refers to the Latin form of the word mother. It is a clever title because the main character, Marie's, is a reluctant abbess over an English nunnery, but also alludes to the power of mother figures. My dislike of the book is rooted in its morally superior tone and the avant-garde writing style. It didn't work for me.

the life of man [and woman] [is], solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short--Thomas Hobbs

  Emily St. John Mandel is the author of one of my favorite books Station Eleven, so I'm trying to read her backlist. The Glass Hotel is a bleak story of two step-siblings and the far-reaching consequences of poor choices. One review said the book was about how we search for meaning in our lives, but I didn't see it that way. It was more how we try to escape from responsibility for our actions. Mandel is a gifted writer and tells the story on a non-linear fashion shifting in time and perspective and employing magical realism. 

  I found the book difficult to get into because I didn't connect with the main characters (they were unlikable--greedy, and selfish) but was drawn into the well-told story.

  I listened to the Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. It is considered historical, literary fiction. It has a contemporary message or sensibility regarding LGBTQ and reminded me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reed. The primary character is Marian Graves, and the main story thread is her life from conception to death to beyond death. Hadley Baxter is an actress who portrays Graves in a movie. Her story weaves in and out of the Grave's narrative--a contemporary contrast of lost parents, neglectful upbringing, and a desire for connection. Shipstead creates a life so genuine that I was surprised to find Marian Graves wasn't an actual person. Great Circle is vibrant with realism and is deeply researched. The writing make me feel I'm experiencing Marian and Hadley's lives as they do. 

I enjoyed the book--it is impressive in its scope and power, but at its core, I found nihilism--the rejection of all moral and religious principles, in the belief that life is meaningless. Marian's struggle to fly and to find freedom felt pointless to me because her solitary life brought nothing to her or others. The star of the book is the writing and not the story.

  Both of the books I read this week are a product of our time in that their main characters are rootless drifters who are incapable of finding or giving hope. They have surrounded me in a miasma of depression. I need a spritely rom-com to clear the air.

There Will Be Gushing

    I think Maggie Shipstead is a sharp writer. She incisively describes characters that pierced me as a reader--not with sadness, but with observations that caused me to examine my own self-centered brokenness. Ouch. You Have a Friend in 10A is the book that follows her best-selling book, Great Circle. I'm on the waitlist for it and am slightly afraid to read it. Will it wreck me?  Shipstead is masterful in her short stories. Of the eight in the book, "The Great Central Pacific Guano Company" and "You Have A Friend In 10A" will roll around my head for a while, not only because of the terrible situations her characters find themselves in, but also because of their responses. It slays the dream that my best self shows up when life is tough.  

    I'll Have What She's Having: How Nora Ephron's Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy by Erin Carlson was a delightful book. I admire Nora Ephron's achievements as a writer and director and her larger-than-life persona. The three romcoms--When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seatle--are some of my favorite movies. Carlson's book shows how the sausage was made. I thought it would be about Nora Ephron, and it was, but it was also about the production and the actors. I try to be a person who isn't caught up in celebrity culture, but this was a delicious book about movies and actors influential in my life. The hopefulness I possess about love and romance has roots in these movies.  Carlson portrayed the events and people authentically. I enjoyed it a lot.

    The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall concludes the five-book series. I love this series so much. It makes me wish my daughters were younger or my granddaughters older so I could enjoy it with them. Each book centers on a different sister going from oldest to youngest. It describes them at eleven or twelve at a momentous--to them--time in their lives. As the final book of the series, it is responsible for giving me, the reader, a window into how their lives develop when the series ends. This is not an easy task, but Birdsall does a masterful job. I had feelings of satisfaction and sadness at the end. I will miss the sisters, but I know they are living fulfilling and vibrant lives in the land of fiction. 

    I'm hoping a streaming service will make it into a series!