It's the last lap of February, and I'm struggling with a lot of things right now, which has lead me to turn to the comfort of reading books just to keep myself upright and moving forward. Things are turning more grim nationally as well, as our current fascist POTUS and his evil sidekick EM go on rampages to remove American's right to read, or to retire or to immigrate. It's become a country in turmoil because the right wing rich guys don't care if the rest of us starve and perish. Be that as it may, here's some current tidbits and 4 book reviews. Hang in there, bookish folks. Keep me in your prayers as well, if you're so inclined.
Sadly, this doesn't surprise me anymore. Disgust me, yes, surprise me, no.
Turns
Out Bill Gates is a Scumbag, Just like other Billionaires
In
2021, The
New York Times
published an article called Long
Before Divorce, Bill Gates Had Reputation for Questionable Behavior,
which included discussion of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The same year, Business
Insider
published a timeline
of all of Bill Gates’s “questionable conduct” ,
among many other outlets’ coverage. But four years later, his
memoir is on the bestseller lists, showing just how short the
internet’s memory is—or how nonexistent “cancel culture” is.
As for how Gates addresses any of this, in an interview with Wall
Street Journal
promoting the book, he calls his meeting with Jeffrey Epstein after
Epstein had been convicted of child sex trafficking “foolish.”
This sounds like a great book that I will have to keep an eye out for in the future.
Freelance
Review: The Antidote
It's been a considerable wait for Karen
Russell--author of highly
praised and eclectic short story
collections including St. Lucy's Home
for Girls Raised by Wolves--to produce
another novel since her first,
Swamplandia!, was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2012.
Happily, The Antidote, a deeply
imagined blend of gritty realism and
alluring fantasy about the American
Midwest in the Dust Bowl era, will
amply reward readers for their
patience.
On April 14, 1935--Black Sunday--a
catastrophic "black blizzard" swept
across the already beleaguered Great
Plains of the United States.
Russell's locus for her account of that
devastating dust storm and its
aftermath is the tiny fictional
southwestern Nebraska town of Uz, an
"ugly and uninviting place"
that shares its name with Job's biblical
homeland. The town, whose desperate
citizens are "all in the market for
miracles," is home to bachelor
farmer Harp Oletsky and his 15-year-old
basketball-obsessed niece, Asphodel,
who becomes his ward when her
mother falls victim to a serial killer
terrorizing the region.
Another resident is immigrant Antonina
Rossi, a "prairie witch" whose
pseudonym provides the novel's title
and who claims to store the
memories townspeople share with her for
a fee in her "Vault." They're
joined by Cleo Allfrey, a young Black
photographer who's been dispatched
by the Roosevelt administration to
document the farmers' plight in hopes
of persuading Congress to fund New Deal
aid programs.
Shifting among the voices of these
characters, supplemented by periodic
brief contributions from a sentient
scarecrow, Russell exposes the scars
they each bear from the events of their
pasts and the hardships of daily
life in a dying town. Most moving are
the stories of Antonina's longing
to be reunited with the son taken from
her after she gave birth to him
as a 15-year-old in a home for unwed
mothers, and Asphodel's ache for
the mother she barely knew. Russell
energizes the plot with a
brilliantly conceived, profoundly
moving dose of magical realism
involving Cleo's photography that
becomes central to an effort to derail
the reelection bid of Uz's corrupt
sheriff and save an innocent young
man from execution.
But like Cleo changing her lens from
portrait to wide angle, Russell
skillfully pulls back from the travails
of her characters to excavate
out of the formerly rich soil of this
barren earth the story of how
immigrants like Harp's Polish
parents--fleeing German oppression in
their homeland--ruthlessly displaced
the Pawnee and other Native
American tribes and then exploited the
land in ways that set the stage
for its eventual ruin. In doing so,
Russell has created both a tender
story of how our memories sustain us in
the face of significant loss and
a frank reckoning with a painful period
of American history. --Harvey
Freedenberg, freelance reviewer
I've enjoyed the first season (and some of the second) of this program, so I'm glad to see that the show has another season coming up. I watch it on Amazon Prime.
TV:
Dark Winds Season 3
AMC and AMC+ have released a sneak peek
clip from the third season
premiere of Dark Winds
<https://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/x/pjJsdgOLxO8I6a1hcBgkEg~k1yJoKXv-hs8x67EWcWnpoMLg-gVdw>,
based on the Leaphorn & Chee book
series by Tony Hillerman. The TV
series returns March 9, on AMC and
AMC+, with additional availability on
AMC Networks' BBC America and Sundance
TV. Subsequent episodes will
continue to debut weekly on Sundays at
9 p.m. Eastern on AMC/AMC+.
Directed by Chris Eyre and written by
John Wirth and Steven Paul Judd,
the series stars Zahn McClarnon, Kiowa
Gordon, Jessica Matten, and
Deanna Allison, along with a new guest
star roster that includes Jenna
Elfman and Bruce Greenwood. The series
is executive produced by Roland, Wirth, McClarnon, Robert Redford,
George R.R. Martin, Chris Eyre, Tina Elmo, Jim Chory, Vince Gerardis,
and Anne Hillerman.
The Midwest (where I'm from...Iowa to be exact) is becoming a backwards morass of ignorance, corruption and censorship, which is heartbreaking, because when I was growing up, I was able to check out any book in the library that I wanted to, and read to my heart's content. Dolly Parton is a saint, and the fact that Indiana doesn't support her books for kids program is terrible.
Don’t
Mess With Dolly
Funding
for the Imagination Library, Dolly Parton’s program to encourage
early literacy by sending children under five years old a free book
each month, is
not in Indiana’s proposed budget.
The State of Indiana had previously supported the program, which
Parton started in 1995 inspired by her father’s inability to read
and write, through a funding match. Over the past two years, the
Imagination Library has reached more than 125,000 children in Indiana
alone. Urging Indiana Governor Mike Braun to reconsider, Parton said
this:
”The
beauty of the Imagination Library is that it unites us all—regardless
of politics—because every child deserves the chance to dream big
and succeed.”
With
U.S.
literacy on the decline,
we could use all the help we can get.
The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith is a YA romantasy that reads like a fantasy soap opera written by an adult who remembers what it's like to be a teenage girl. Here's the blurb:
London, 1848—For four hundred years, England has been under the
control of an immortal fae queen who tricked her way onto the throne.
To maintain an illusion of benevolence, Queen Mor grants each of her
subjects one opportunity to bargain for their deepest desire.
As
Ivy Benton prepares to make her debut, she knows that not even a deal
with the queen could fix what has gone wrong: Her family’s social
standing is in shambles, her sister is a shadow of her former self, and
Ivy’s marriage prospects are nonexistent. So when the queen announces a
competition for Prince Bram’s hand, Ivy is the first to sign her name in
blood. What a bargain can’t fix, a crown certainly could.
Ivy
soon finds herself a surprising front-runner—with the help of an
unexpected ally: Prince Bram’s brother, the rakish Prince Emmett, who
promises to help Ivy win his brother’s heart…for a price. But as the
season sweeps Ivy away, with glittering balls veiling the queen’s
increasingly vicious trials, Ivy realizes there’s more at stake than
just a wedding. Because all faerie bargains come with a cost, and Ivy
may have discovered hers too late.
This book is a real roller coaster of teenage girl emotions and romance, and while it moved fairly quickly, I found the ending to be abrupt and one that came to no resolution of the storyline at all. I also found the six chosen girls to be thin on character, and ridiculously gullible. I was also disappointed at how the author threw in a lesbian romance toward the end of the book for appearances sake, likely pandering to the YA audience who like to see LGBTQ characters represented in romantasy novels. The actual time spent on the romance between two girls was thin and felt like an afterthought. I'd give this novel a C+ and only recommend this to YA readers who like cookie-cutter plots that hit all the major spots of popular romance novels...but since it fails to be original, it will fall flat with readers looking for something out of the ordinary.
Six Scorched Roses by Carissa Broadbent is a short but well written romantasy that is a prequel to Broadbent's Crowns of Nyaxia series (which I've read). Broadbent's prose is succulent and succinct, and her plot glides along like an elegant ballerina. Here's the blurb: A standalone fantasy romance set in the stunningly epic world of Carissa Broadbent's New York Times bestselling Crowns of Nyaxia series. This short novel is perfect for readers of The Serpent & the Wings of Night and The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King and features beautiful case wrap art!
Six roses. Six vials of blood. Six visits to a vampire who could be her salvation… or her damnation.
Lilith has been dying since the day she was born. But while she long ago came to terms with her own imminent death, the deaths of everyone she loves is an entirely different matter. As her town slowly withers in the clutches of a mysterious god-cursed illness, she takes matters into her own hands.
Desperate to find a cure, Lilith strikes a bargain with the only thing the gods hate even more than her village: a vampire, Vale. She offers him six roses in exchange for six vials of vampire blood―the one hope for her town’s salvation.
But when what begins as a simple transaction gradually becomes something more, Lilith is faced with a terrifying realization: It’s dangerous to wander into the clutches of a vampire…and in a place already suffering a god’s wrath, more dangerous still to fall in love with one.
Though I love the fact that the main protagonist is a female heroine, it still bothers me that she's the only person who seems willing to do something to save her entire town and her last remaining family member. Everyone else is either too cynical or dead or just gives up, which is unacceptable. Of course Lilith triumphs, but also of course, since she's a woman, she will be derided for generations for doing the right thing and giving everything to find a cure, because no good deed ever goes unpunished when it comes to female heroines. BTW, the book itself is beautifully produced. Still, it was a good read, and I'd give it an A-, and recommend it to those who liked the CON series.
Six roses. Six vials of blood. Six visits to a vampire who could be her salvation… or her damnation.
Lilith has been dying since the day she was born. But while she long ago came to terms with her own imminent death, the deaths of everyone she loves is an entirely different matter. As her town slowly withers in the clutches of a mysterious god-cursed illness, she takes matters into her own hands.
Desperate to find a cure, Lilith strikes a bargain with the only thing the gods hate even more than her village: a vampire, Vale. She offers him six roses in exchange for six vials of vampire blood―the one hope for her town’s salvation.
But when what begins as a simple transaction gradually becomes something more, Lilith is faced with a terrifying realization: It’s dangerous to wander into the clutches of a vampire…and in a place already suffering a god’s wrath, more dangerous still to fall in love with one.
Though I love the fact that the main protagonist is a female heroine, it still bothers me that she's the only person who seems willing to do something to save her entire town and her last remaining family member. Everyone else is either too cynical or dead or just gives up, which is unacceptable. Of course Lilith triumphs, but also of course, since she's a woman, she will be derided for generations for doing the right thing and giving everything to find a cure, because no good deed ever goes unpunished when it comes to female heroines. BTW, the book itself is beautifully produced. Still, it was a good read, and I'd give it an A-, and recommend it to those who liked the CON series.
The Cabinet of Dr Leng by Preston and Child is a science fiction/time traveling thriller that has some romance and horror mixed into the plot for spice. Here's the blurb: Preston & Child continue their
bestselling series featuring FBI Special Agent Pendergast and Constance
Greene, as they cross paths with New York’s deadliest serial killer:
Pendergast’s own ancestor…and now his greatest foe.
AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
Astoundingly, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins: New York City in the late 1800s. She leaps at the chance to return…although it means leaving the present forever.
A DESPERATE OPPORTUNITY
Constance sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother. But along the road to redemption, Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng, lies in wait, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.
UNIMAGINABLE ODDS
Meanwhile, in contemporary New York, Pendergast feverishly searches for a way to reunite with Constance—but will he discover a way back to her before it’s too late?
AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
Astoundingly, Constance has found a way back to the place of her origins: New York City in the late 1800s. She leaps at the chance to return…although it means leaving the present forever.
A DESPERATE OPPORTUNITY
Constance sets off on a quest to prevent the events that lead to the deaths of her sister and brother. But along the road to redemption, Manhattan’s most infamous serial killer, Dr. Enoch Leng, lies in wait, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.
UNIMAGINABLE ODDS
Meanwhile, in contemporary New York, Pendergast feverishly searches for a way to reunite with Constance—but will he discover a way back to her before it’s too late?
Perhaps because it was written by two middle aged white guys, the female protagonist, Constance, really f-s up the other world's timeline because she's intent on saving her siblings from a horrible death at the hands of Victorian serial killer Dr Leng (who is a combination of Moriarty and Dr Mengele the Nazi scientist). Of course the Sherlock Holmes stand-in, Pendergast, must re-create the time machine and "save" this damsel in distress, though it turns out that, due to his hiring of a venal engineer, he's too late to save her sibling Mary. Granted, this book is the 21st on this series, and I've never read any of the other books, so perhaps this is a theme in them all, but the casual misogyny kind of threw me. Still, the whole time machine concept was fascinating, and the rapid-fire prose, along with the clear and swift plot made this book an easy reading page-turner. I'd give it a B, and recommend it to those who like time-travel and Sherlock Holmes stories.
The Crimson Road by A.G. Slatter is a YA gothic vampire romance story that was well written and plotted. It's also beautifully produced with a striking cover and lovely font for the text. Here's the blurb:
I was fascinated by how hard Violet was willing to fight to have a life of her own, especially after the death of her horrific father. When she finally manages to get to the heart of the 'leech' (vampire) problem, the story careens in unexpected directions until it reaches a satisfying conclusion. I'd give this book a B+ and recommend it to those who like gothic fantasies featuring fearsome feminists.
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