RIP Betty Ballantine and Rosamund Pilcher, Holy Envy; Finding God in the Faith of Others by Barbara Brown Taylor, Devil in the White City Comes to TV, Dear Committee Members by Julia Schumacher, The Sisters Mederos by Patrice Sarath and City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender

I used to have a ton of Ballantine science fiction and fantasy paperbacks, because they were cheap and often had fantastic colorful cover art. RIP Ms Ballantine. Rosamund Pilcher was a great author, whose work my mother and I shared reading and chatting about for years. She will be missed.

Obituary Note: Betty Ballantine

Betty Ballantine

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz39778830, who with her

late husband, Ian Ballantine, "helped invent the modern paperback and

vastly expand the market for science fiction and other genres through

such blockbusters as The Hobbit and Fahrenheit 451," died on Tuesday,

the AP reported. She was 99.

In their early 20s, the Ballantines began their publishing career by

establishing the U.S. division of Penguin Books, introducing quality

paperbacks to the U.S. In 1945, they founded Bantam Books, then part of

Grosset & Dunlap. Seven years later, they set up their own publishing

house, Ballantine Books. Both legendary imprints are now owned by

Penguin Random House.

As the AP recounted, "Charging as little as a quarter, [the Ballantines]

published everything from reprints of Mark Twain novels to paperbacks of

contemporary bestsellers. They helped established the paperback market

for science fiction, Westerns and other genres, releasing original works

and reprints by J.R.R. Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke and H.P. Lovecraft,

among others. They made their books available in drugstores, railroad

stations and other non-traditional outlets. They issued some paperbacks

simultaneously with the hardcover, instead of waiting several months or

longer."

Betty Ballantine edited Shirley MacLaine's Out on a Limb and wrote a

fantasy novel, The Secret Oceans, published in 1994. The Ballantines

were voted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2008.

Obituary Note: Rosamunde Pilcher

British novelist Rosamunde Pilcher

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz39719964,

author of "the sweeping, bestselling family saga The Shell Seekers,"

died February 6, the Guardian reported. She was 94. Author Robin Pilcher

described his mother as a "a wonderful, rather alternative-thinking

mother--I think she might have liked the description bohemian--who

touched and influenced the lives of many of all ages, not only through

her writing but through personal friendships."

The Shell Seekers, Pilcher's 14th novel, was published in 1987 and spent

49 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists, selling more than 10

million copies. A TV adaptation starred Vanessa Redgrave. Pilcher's

other books include Coming Home, September and Winter Solstice

The subject of this book is one of the things I loved about my education at Clarke College, now Clarke University. We had a world religion class that explored how various religions saw God or the Creator of All Things, and how their worship practices differed or were the same as Christian worship. It was brilliant and eye opening, and I've always considered myself a person who was open to learning about all forms of religion, and how their participants practice their worship of the divine. This sounds like a good book for following that same quest of learning about God through other POVs

Book Review

Review: Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others

  

As an Episcopal priest, Barbara Brown Taylor (Leaving Church) spent

years delving into the nuances of Western Protestantism. But after

parting from parish ministry, she found herself ever more curious

about--even jealous of--certain elements of other faiths. She began

teaching Religion 101 to undergraduates at Piedmont College in rural

Georgia, which gave her and her students the chance to explore. It was

permission to learn the basic tenets of five major world religions, as

well as to walk forward into the wonder and joy that might await them in

a temple, a synagogue or a mosque. In Holy Envy, her 14th nonfiction

book, Taylor chronicles two decades of exploration and struggle, as she

took her students along on field trips to new places and unfamiliar

spiritual terrain.

To her credit, Taylor began with humility, knowing her own ignorance of

other faiths matched that of her students. "I was on the first leg of a

whole new journey," she writes, and the map changed so many times that

she lost track. "I got exactly what I wanted," she adds: "new views of

the divine mystery, new wells of meaning, new buckets for lowering into

new wells." The problem wasn't the fascinating conversations she had or

the joy she found in exploring new traditions; it was "the high cost of

seeing the divine mystery through other people's eyes." Inevitably, for

Taylor and her students, visiting an Atlanta masjid for Friday prayers

or sitting on the floor of a Buddhist meditation center raised

questions--not only about the Jewish Sabbath or the multiplicity of

Hindu deities, but about the ways American Christians often view those

who practice other faiths. As Taylor peeked over the fence to other

religious pastures, she had to reckon with the briar patches of her own.

In a time when religious differences are often the subject of polarizing

arguments, Taylor offers another way: a gentle, holy curiosity laced

with compassion and wonder. She urges her readers to ask questions, to

stay open to encountering the divine in whatever form it may appear.

Most of all, she encourages keeping a loose grip on certainty: "Once you

have given up knowing who is right, it is easy to see neighbors

everywhere you look." If this is heresy, it is the most joyful and

thoughtful kind: a call to see all people, of all faiths or none, as

fully human, and to accept that the divine may show up in the ways we

least expect. --Katie Noah Gibson

blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz39778885

We read this book in my book group, and I would be intrigued to see how DiCaprio decides to play the evil Holmes.

TV: Devil in the White City

Hulu is developing a series based on Erik Larson's bestselling book The

Devil in the White City

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz39811292:

Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, according to

Variety. Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese will executive produce

the project along with Stacey Sher, Rick Yorn, Emma Koskoff and Jennifer

Davisson. Paramount Television is producing.

Describing the project as "the latest chapter in the long development

history of the book," Variety wrote that DiCaprio "acquired the rights

nearly a decade ago with plans to adapt it as a film in which he would

star as Holmes. Scorsese came onboard to direct in 2015 with Billy Ray

set to write the script. It was first put in development in Hollywood by

Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner through their Cruise/Wagner banner via the

shingle's deal with Paramount, but the option lapsed in 2004. Paramount

reacquired the film rights in 2007 and set it up with producers Michael

Shamberg and Sher."

Dear Committee Members by Julia Schumacher is an epistolary novel about a much beleaguered English professor at a Midwestern college who is put upon to write recommendation letters for his students and colleagues. He does so with rapier sharp wit and satiric style. I laughed out loud during each letter, and found myself sympathizing with this ridiculously vain and egotistical man.  Here's the blurb: Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the Midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student can't catch a break with his brilliant (he thinks) work Accountant in a Bordello, based on Melville's Bartleby. In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this droll and inventive novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students and colleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of high dudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies. We recommend Dear Committee Members to you in the strongest possible terms. 

I concurr with the blurb, as I'd give this snarky but extremely well written slender volume an A, and recommend it to those who appreciate sarcasm, academic satire and wit that often draws blood, but is still humorous, rather like a latter-day Voltaire. 

The Sisters Mederos by Patrice Sarath is a Steampunkish fantasy/mystery with plenty of adventure and  magic thrown in for spice. Yvienne and Tesara are the daughters of a fallen house due to being framed by the local guild, and in trying to restore the family fortunes, each sister plays to her strengths and becomes a "gentleman bandit" and a card sharp gambler, respectively. While they are successful in gaining money through nefarious means, it takes awhile longer for them to find out who is behind the conspiracy to destroy their family and murder anyone who tries digging into the situation to find out more. Here's the blurb: House Mederos was once the wealthiest merchant family in Port Saint Frey. Now the family is disgraced, impoverished, and humbled by the powerful Merchants Guild. Daughters Yvienne and Tesara Mederos are determined to uncover who was behind their family's downfall and get revenge. But Tesara has a secret – could it have been her wild magic that caused the storm that destroyed the family's merchant fleet? The sisters’ schemes quickly get out of hand – gambling is one thing, but robbing people is another…
Together the sisters must trust each another to keep their secrets and save their family.
While I enjoyed the defiant sisters and their stories, I found the whole disapproving society ladies and political intrigue aspect of the tale tedious. That said, the prose is clean and the plot only slows down twice, and then only briefly. I'd give this novel a B, and recommend it to those who enjoy historical adventures and feisty female protagonists.

City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender is a unique fantasy novel that takes the perspective of magic being used in nefarious ways, especially when there are infestations of monsters in magical amulets gone bad. Laura is a new apprentice to magical monster hunter Clae, and between the two of them, and a magical recruit Okane, they put the magical smackdown on people-eating monsters in every chapter of the book. The way that they do it, with bombs and bullets containing "kin" a magical liquid derived from "Gin" a magical stone, is unusual and fascinating. Here's the blurb:

Five hundred years ago, magi created a weapon they couldn’t control. An infestation that ate magic—and anything else it came into contact with. Enemies and allies were equally filling.
Only an elite team of non-magical humans, known as sweepers, can defuse and dispose of infestations before they spread. Most die before they finish training.
Laura, a new team member, has stayed alive longer than most. Now, she’s the last—and only—sweeper standing between the city and a massive infestation. Publisher's Weekly: Bolender’s debut secondary-world fantasy comes to life thanks to a no-frills, working-class point of view that immerses readers in the world of the Sweepers. Monsters are threatening to take over the city of Amicae. The government has convinced residents that the monsters can’t get in, but Clae and Laura know that isn’t true. They are Sweepers, the only people in the city qualified to fight the monsters and make sure they can’t return—and narrator Laura has only been an apprentice for three months. The duo takes on mobsters, corrupt businessmen, and a deliberately skewed cultural narrative, culminating in a fight to protect their city from its own refusal to accept reality. Amicae’s strict caste system is expertly woven into the fast-paced plot that will keep readers turning pages until the very end. This debut builds a fascinating setting that readers will want to keep coming back to.

I completely agree that the prose is straightforward and no frills, but that's refreshing because the subject matter is so exotic and strange, telling it in uncomplicated prose normalizes the violent encounters that the team has with the monsters. the plot moves along well during the monster fighting action, but drags a bit when dealing with Laura's home life with her aunt and bratty cousin. I found the aunt a tedious stereotype of a matchmaker/homemaker who won't listen when her niece says she doesn't want to get married. The other problem I had with this book was its abrupt ending, which was a bit disappointing after the death of one of the team members. Readers are left without enough closure. I'd give this book a B-, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys dystopian magic stories and monster hunting tales.