Everything I Didn't Review in 2018, Part 2

This is the second installment, which gets me to all but the final book of the year. There's only one book, of these three, that I didn't read in December, and one book that I'm leaving out for separate review.

The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig is just what it sounds like: the story of a pixie who is unable to tell a lie. Unfortunately, this gets the pixie into all sorts of trouble, as you might imagine. Eventually, she's kicked out of her home. There are all sorts of fantastical creatures that she encounters and some bits of wisdom about when it's good to be truthful and when it's not.

I am a big fan of Matt Haig's writing. It's so unencumbered by expectation. You just never know what you're going to find in a Matt Haig book and I adore that. However, the two Christmas titles I've read by him have left me flat. As I was reading The Truth Pixie, I would find myself thinking of ways the pixie could have rephrased her words to make them less hurtful. It was maybe a failure of imagination on my part that I couldn't just allow myself to be swept up in the story.

I don't recall the ending but I do remember I liked how the book ended. Unfortunately, I read The Truth Pixie in November and it just didn't stick with me. It's gotten sparkling reviews so it's a book that I plan to give a second chance, probably during the next Christmas season. If it still doesn't enchant me the second time, I'll pass it on.

Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans is the story of a Welsh woman, Catrin Cole, who is hired to write the women's dialogue in a WWII propaganda film designed to keep hopes high during the war by focusing on the story of twins who joined in the Dunkirk rescue operation after borrowing their drunken father's boat.

The true story, which Catrin finds out when she interviews the Starling sisters, is rather disappointing. But, when she pitches the idea to her fellow writers, they immediately take up the story, romantically fictionalize it, and turn it into something inspiring.

As they're writing the script, improving it, and finally putting it on film, you also get to know the actor who plays the twins' drunken uncle, a washed-up older actor who has difficulty tolerating small roles. The majority of the story is set during the London Blitz and I confess that much as I loved the unfolding story of how a film went from idea to theater, I most loved the visceral sensation of the bombings. But, honestly, I love everything about Lissa Evans' writing. She has become a new favorite author in recent years and I've yet to read anything less than stellar by Evans. Wonderful characterization, obviously well-researched settings, smart writing, and plenty of humor make her writing a stand-out.

I've mentioned Their Finest Hour and a Half, already, because we watched the movie before I read the book. The movie is also excellent, with wonderful actors, lots of funny moments, and that sense that you were there that you get from the book.

Down in Mississippi by Johnette Downing and Katherine Zecca is a children's book that Kiddo bought for our eldest grandchild for Christmas. Naturally, I can't pack up a children's book to mail away without reading it first, so I read it -- and it hasn't made it out the door, yet (but it will, I promise).

Down in Mississippi is apparently based on a song and also is a counting book. The first page confused me because I didn't realize that.

Down in Mississippi in the surf and the sun lived a mother dolphin and her dolphin one. "Splash," said the mother. "We splash," said the one, and they splashed all day in the surf and the sun. 

I don't know how long I looked at "dolphin one" thinking, "What? What does that mean?" before I decided to move on and realized it was a counting rhyme. Duh. At any rate, I liked the book after that. After the counting rhyme, there is a section on various flora and fauna that are officially designated (state bird, state flower, etc.) in the state of Mississippi. I loved that part. And, then the book ends with the music to "Down in Mississippi" (treble part), the song.

While the illustrations are understated (or, maybe you could go so far as to call them "dull" of color), I liked the rhyme, the information about state flora and fauna, and the fact that in the end you can learn the tune if you're able to read music, so I gave the book four stars. I really do dislike the subtlety of the illustrations, though. In a children's book, I'm a fan of bold color.

Next up will be a review of The Huntress by Kate Quinn (probably tomorrow) and then I'll be able to post my full list of 2018 reads with links to every review.

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Blackout by Marc Elsberg

I've recently read two thrillers because I've been in a mood for fast-paced reading and neither disappointed, although Blackout is good but it also is the lesser of the two.

Blackout is a realistic novel about what might happen if the European electrical grid were taken down by saboteurs. Some of the details can be a bit of a yawn but the book is fast-paced and often very exciting.

Lights start going out across Europe. Piero Manzano, a former hacker, is in an automobile accident - one of many that happen across Europe when the traffic lights go out. After attempts to restart the power stations end up bringing up error messages, almost all of Europe is cast into darkness for an extended period. The longer the power is out, the worse things grow. If the power isn't restarted within a certain amount of time, nuclear plants can go into meltdown. Nobody can pump gas so food, medicine, fuel, and other supplies quickly run out, leading to deaths by starvation, freezing, illness, and fire. What can be done?

Manzano is the hero of the book. Shortly after the power goes out and he's injured, he has an idea. He and an elderly neighbor decide to try to contact authorities to explain what he thinks has happened. Meanwhile, you also occasionally get a brief, vague glimpse into the world of the terrorists and the reason for their plan (but only a few paragraphs at a time - Elsberg is quite the tease). As Manzano tries to help uncover the problem and come up with a solution, he also becomes a suspect and befriends a young CNN reporter who just wants a chance to break a big news story.

The author tried to stick as close to reality as possible without providing a road map for potential terrorists as this is a realistic danger, both in Europe and the United States. He guessed at what would happen with the population (with the help of at least one actual study on the possible outcome). If anything, I'd say he was a bit too kind at the outset. Having lived through Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, I can tell you that it doesn't take long at all for people to begin to panic. Fights broke out at the local gas stations in my area (well inland) within days of the hurricane's landfall as people tried to hoard gas for generators and vehicles. The grocery stores only let in a handful of people at a time and wrote transactions down by hand. All perishables were ruined. It took slightly longer for people to become desperate and dangerous in Blackout. But, the author did a great job of describing what happens without power and I found the book a pretty quick and, at times, exciting read.

Recommended - Solid, realistic storyline with plenty of exciting action. While not a favorite thriller, Blackout is, in fact, pretty realistic. And, reality involves a lot of people gathering, having meetings, and getting bogged down in expectations while a few people who are able to think outside the box end up coming up with the answers. In this case, you have a heroic outside-the-box thinker in Manzano, undoubtedly a deliberate rogue type because he needs to be an anti-hero so that he will easily fall suspect. Sometimes that worked for me and sometimes I thought it was just a useful tool that didn't quite fit. At any rate, I found the book pretty gripping. There is a large cast and I had a little difficulty keeping some of the characters distinguished from each other in my mind, at first, but eventually they crystallized a bit and I was able to just enjoy the storyline, even though I didn't always entirely understand the IT details.


©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.