Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals (left to right):

• Nature's Best Hope by Doublas W. Tallamy - from Timber Press for review 
• The Contender: The Story of Marlon Brando by William J. Mann - from HarperCollins for review
• The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street by Karen White - from Berkley for review
• The End of Something Wonderful by Lucianovic and Ermos,
• Moldilocks and the Three Scares by Marie and Lorenzo, and
• The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh by Kelkar and Marley - all from Sterling Children's Books for review

The Contender and The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street are hardcovers (both unexpected) of books I already received in ARC form, so I'll read the finished copies in case I decide to quote from them, for accuracy. I believe I signed up for Nature's Best Hope via Shelf Awareness before I stopped opening SA newsletters due to my forthcoming break. I'm excited about it. I always love books from Timber Press. Nature hates me but I am a big fan of it, anyway. I think I mentioned that I changed my updated review policy to continue accepting children's books. I won't accept any that will need to be reviewed while I'm gone but I decided I can't bear to give up the children's books. 

Books finished since last Malarkey:

• Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris

Currently reading:

• Summary of the Mueller Report by Thomas E. Patterson 
• Help the Witch by Tom Cox (short stories)

I hope to finish Summary of the Mueller Report, tonight. It's hard rereading it and having all the horror reinforced, but I'm realizing that there are some things I missed on the reading of the complete Mueller Report, probably partly because you lose a little bit of continuity by going back and forth between text and footnotes (there are a lot of footnotes in the complete report) but also because I occasionally was sleepy when I read it. I love the ease of reading the Summary. And, to be honest, it's more relevant than ever. 

I started Help the Witch, last night, and the first story is so long that I stopped before finishing. It was already late when I got going on the Summary of the Mueller Report, later still when I opened Help the Witch. So far, I'm having a little trouble following Cox's description of the house and surrounding track in the title story, "Help the Witch," but I've learned two new words. Here's one of them: 

ar·chi·trave

/ˈärkəˌtrāv/

Learn to pronounce

noun

1. 1.

   (in classical architecture) a main beam resting across the tops of columns, specifically the lower third entablature.

   

   

   

   

   

   
2. 2.

   the molded frame around a doorway or window.

I forgot the other but I'll try to remember to share it in my review. 

Posts since last Malarkey:

• The House on Tradd Street by Karen White - #3 for RIPXIV (book review)
• The Size of the Truth by A. Smith, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters by J. D. Salinger, and Collage and Construction by H. Weiss (mini reviews)
• Fiona Friday (cat photo)

In other news:

I was wrong about the DVD cases, last week. Season 1 of Glitch is the image of the officer, James, with a woman in a towel — his dead wife, resurrected. Season 2 is the one with the woman in the background, new wife Sarah and their baby. I'm on Season 2, now. It's getting more sinister but I haven't been frightened away, yet. Also watching Chicago Fire, Poldark, and The Durrells in Corfu. Kind of bummed that this is the last season of both of the latter two. 

Our first cool front of the season has arrived! It's only supposed to get to 76°, today. Woot! Sure, it'll be back in the upper 80s in two days, but we have to take our joy when it comes. 

©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.

Fiona Friday

©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.

The Size of the Truth by A. Smith, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters by Salinger, Collage and Construction by H. Weiss

Well. This is a hodgepodge. I looked back over the list of books I've read and found that there are 4 I haven't reviewed. One is The Mueller Report, which I think I'll start quoting, next week (you should see the number of flags in that book). The rest are random and none are ARCs; all were purchased at some point, so there's no need to say much.

The Size of the Truth by Andrew Smith is a middle grade story about Sam, a boy who fell down a well when he was 4 years old and was so traumatized that he didn't speak for years. While he was in the well, he encountered a talking armadillo.

Now 11, Sam has been moved 2 grades ahead and is feeling traumatized all over again. Everyone is bigger, especially James, the boy Sam blames for his fall into the well. Sam's father wants him to go to the science and math magnet school and MIT but Sam wants to be a chef. Gym sucks and the teacher seems to hate him. Everyone is making him feel like he has no control over his life.

As the present-day story is told, the tale of Sam's time in the well with Bartleby, the talking armadillo, unfolds. Of course, the armadillo was all in his mind (or was it?) The Size of the Truth is a fun read and all the way through the book I was so convinced that the armadillo was real that I kept stopping myself to question how on earth it was that someone had managed to convince me a clearly-not-real character was, in fact, real and not a figment of the child's imagination.

I do recall having a bit of trouble with the fact that the 4-year-old knew so much, including how to swim. But, obviously Sam is a pretty sharp kid or he wouldn't have been bumped up 2 grades. I still had trouble swallowing his level of knowledge, although I shouldn't because I knew a little girl who was that far ahead of her age range at 5.

Recommended - Smart and entertaining with some terrific lessons. I particularly liked what Sam learned about James and how memories can be distorted.

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour, an Introduction by J. D. Salinger is a book of two novellas (I think), which I read during a weekend readathon. I posted a couple photos of the book to Instagram but chose not to do any updating at the blog because I figured it would be too time-consuming and the whole idea was to read as much as possible, after all. There's something very real about Salinger's writing and the moment I read that opening paragraph, I was hooked. I loved "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters". I love the Glass family and it was nice to revisit them.

"Seymour, an Introduction" was a bit more philosophical, much like Franny and Zooey but without the nice stretches of description in which the family is just being human, so I didn't care for the second story as much. The great thing about Salinger was his straightforward descriptive ability and characterization. The awful thing was that he was too smart for his own good. I find his philosophical meanderings exhausting. But, it was great to go back in time and learn a bit about Seymour, his love of poetry, and how he and his friend kept getting in trouble for going off to talk poetry when they were in the military. In general, I kind of adore Salinger.

I definitely recommend Salinger, in general, and particularly loved "Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters", of the two stories.

Collage and Construction by Harvey Weiss is an ugly old book that I bought in the library sale so long ago that I didn't even recall owning it. I came across the battered copy while I was going through books, trying to find some to donate. It's a children's book that describes the difference between collages and constructions, gives examples by the author and other artists (often with photos of museum pieces), and describes how to come up with a theme, the items needed to create them, and the actual process of creating or building.

I looked up Harvey Weiss, after I finished reading the book. He was an interesting man. He wrote quite a few how-to books and I wouldn't mind finding more of them to read but they were mostly published a long time ago, like this one (1970 is the copyright date). I also looked up some of the artists whose works were included and I'd like to read more and see more of one of those artists' works. I'm still not buying from Amazon but it's a book of one of the featured artists' work that I might break my boycott for . . . eventually.

At any rate, the book was fascinating and informative enough that I'd probably keep it if I didn't need to get rid of books and it didn't happen to be so grubby. Recommended, if you can find a copy.

©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.

The House on Tradd Street by Karen White - #3 for RIPXIV

I read The House on Tradd Street by Karen White both for the RIP Challenge (ghosts!) and because there's a new Tradd Street book coming out (it's on my October TBR stack). The House on Tradd Street was published in 2008 and has been sitting on a pile of books in my library for a couple years, and the series has chugged on, since then. I'm pretty sure I got my battered copy from Paperback Swap, a few years after it came out. It was one that I packed up and moved from the old house.

The House on Tradd Street is about a real estate agent named Melanie Middleton, in Charleston, South Carolina, who sees ghosts. When she goes to a house in the historic district to talk to the owner, Nevin Vanderhorst, thinking he's about to offer her the listing as he prepares to go into a residential facility, she sees a woman in old-fashioned clothing standing behind a swing. Reluctantly, she admits that she saw the ghost of his mother, after Nevin asks. That night, he dies and leaves the house to her in his will. But, there are conditions. She must stay in the house while it's being restored, try to unravel the mystery of his mother's disappearance when he was a child, and after a year the house will become hers.

Melanie is approached by a writer named Jack Trenholm, who wants to dig around in the house to find out what happened to Mrs. Vanderhorst for his next novel. Did the late Mrs. Vanderhorst run away with Joseph Longo, the man she dated before she married and gave birth to Nevin, as the rumor states? If so, where did the two go and what happened to them?

There are many ghosts in the Tradd Street house. One is a dark presence that has a tendency to shove people. The rest are harmless. But, they're trying to tell Melanie something. As she enlists the help of her friend Sophie, is aided by Jack, and must report her expenses to her father, there is quite an interesting cast of characters. When a relative of Longo's shows up looking to buy the house and he starts taking Melanie out, is a love triangle forming when Jack appears to be jealous? Who are the ghosts and what are they trying to say? Will Melanie figure everything out and help lay the spirits to rest or will the sinister spirit do too much damage and put an end to the restoration?

Recommended but not a favorite - The one thing I really, truly loved about The House on Tradd Street was the ghosts. I thought Karen White did a fabulous job of keeping the spirits close to available literature and other ghost stories so that it felt believable. In fact, I was really quite surprised to find that, after finding Heart-Shaped Box far-fetched enough that it didn't frighten me at all, Tradd Street seriously made my skin crawl and had the hairs on my neck standing, at times. It just felt real to me. I also liked the secondary romance. But, I found the heroine too prickly and didn't understand a few things about her. Why was she so rude to Jack? Why did she think of business dinners as dates? Why did she trust the man that everyone said was fishy and the dog even hated?

Fortunately, I do love a good ghost story and that kept me going. I occasionally felt lost amongst the clues, but I also enjoyed the mystery and the fact that the mystery deepened as the story progressed, keeping the pages turning. So, not being overly fond of the heroine certainly didn't ruin the book for me. And, in fact, she seemed to have laid her own ghosts to rest ("ghosts," in this case, meaning her childhood traumas) by the end of the story, which bodes well for her attitude in future stories. I'm looking forward to reading the new book, particularly for more creepy ghostly fun.

Since this is the first Tradd Street book I've read, I have no idea what's happened in the series as it's progressed but I don't have any problem with reading stories out of order if they're written to stand alone. Hopefully, the new one will stand alone well.

Silly book story: When I moved The House on Tradd Street to my bedside TBR, it became vulnerable to Cats Trying to Get Mom's Attention in the Morning. I don't know who is the guilty party (probably Fiona – she's terrible about chewing on paper) but one of the cats ripped a corner off the cover. I was able to salvage the corner and put it back on with carefully-placed clear packing tape. Whew! Grateful that clear packing tape is a thing!


©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.

Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals:

Top photo:

• When the Marquess Was Mine by Caroline Linden - from Avon Romance for review (review already posted; link below)
• Where the Angels Lived by Margaret McMullan - purchased for F2F discussion

I added the props to fight the ugly because the brown wall made a much duller background than expected. 

Bottom photo:

• Confederates by Thomas Keneally
• The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
• Windfallen by Jojo Moyes
• Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen
• The Miracles of Santa Fico by D. L. Smith
• Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
• The Penguin History of Canada by Robert Bothwell
• The Bingo Palace by Louise Erdrich
• Maria by Eugenia Price
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe

I still consider myself on a book-buying ban, believe it or not. All of these were library sale purchases. I decided it's OK to bring home a pile if I don't spend too much money on them and provided other books are going out the door (I really do have too many books). At $3.50 for the entire pile, I felt like that stack was fine for the budget. Group discussion books are a no-purchase exception, also. If I plan to be there, I'll buy the book.


Books finished since last Malarkey:

• When the Marquess Was Mine by Caroline Linden

Obviously, not my best reading week. I've had blurry vision (probably from sleep deprivation — I had a lot of weird nightmares that woke me up, last week) so I didn't read much. Things are still blurry, but I'm going to try to finish my current read by tonight.


Currently reading:

• The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

I've wanted to read The House on Tradd Street for years, but it was the combination of the RIP Challenge and a new Tradd Street publication that got me to finally pick it up. I'm enjoying it. I've found it much more frightening than Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box. The heroine is a bit prickly for my taste, but I'm holding out hope that she'll soften up a bit. 

Posts since last Malarkey:

• No Judgments by Meg Cabot (book review)
• The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan (book review)
• When the Marquess Was Mine by Caroline Linden (book review)
• Fiona Friday on the Wrong Day - Whose chair? (cat photo) 

Fiona Friday on the Wrong Day was posted late because my mouse was dying and only worked off and on for about 2 or 3 days before we finally managed to buy a new one. What a relief to have a mouse that doesn't freeze up!!!

In other news:

I can't believe I did this: I've been anxiously awaiting the first episode of Chicago Fire and what did I do? Oops, didn't even turn the TV on, that night. I'm going to see if I can find it at the network's website.

I started watching Glitch, last week. I think I'm on Episode 4. In case you haven't seen it, Glitch is an Australian program in which people return from the dead. One of them is the local police officer's deceased wife. What surprised me about this show is that it's not a zombie show at all. It's more like a resurrection. The people who return are intact; there's nothing revolting about them. They have flashes of memory about their lives and how they died, eventually, but at this point only one of them thinks she knows why they've been brought back.

What I love about Glitch is the way they handled it. The police officer, not knowing why a bunch of naked people covered with dirt are wandering around the cemetery, calls for medical help, wraps them in blankets, and takes them back to the clinic. He acts like a normal person, in other words, not leaping to any conclusions about where they came from or how a group of people ended up in their condition. I'm a little afraid of Episode 4, to be honest. Vic (a second police officer from a different area, nearby, who found the first officer's behavior suspicious) was acting very odd in Episode 3 and I'm afraid he's going to hurt someone.  The first image of the DVD case is from American Amazon. The second is the image that pops up most frequently in a search and I'm guessing it's the Australian version.


There doesn't seem to be any image at all for The Royal, Season 6, but BritBox has just added 3 more seasons to their site. I've only watched one episode and probably won't watch it as often as I have been because I'm in the mood for something different (hence Glitch), but it was a very interesting episode, showing Dr. Jeff Goodwin in Biafra, where he had to dodge bombs and gunfire.



©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.

Fiona Friday on the Wrong Day - Whose chair?

I got a reading chair! There was some dispute over which cat it belonged to, but Fiona seems to have won, for now.

©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.

When the Marquess Was Mine by Caroline Linden (The Wagers of Sin #3)

I have not read the first two books in The Wagers of Sin series by Caroline Linden and this book is the third, so the first thing you need to know about When the Marquess Was Mine is that it absolutely stands alone beautifully. I was quite surprised to find out it's the third in a series. There was never a sense that I was missing any backstory or important information about any of the characters at all. The second thing you need to know is that I loved this book so much that I was thinking about rereading it while I was still in the midst of reading, which is always a sign I'm especially loving a book. It's unusual for me to feel that way about a romance novel.

As When the Marquess Was Mine opens, a group of men are partying and gambling. A man who does not belong to this particular group of friends ends up gambling with them and losing everything he wagers. But, he's determined to win it all back so, against the advice of everyone present, he decides to wager his home. He loses it to the Marquess of Westmorland (who goes by either "West" or "Rob").

The gambler, Charles, writes home and warns his wife, Kitty, that West may come up to Derbyshire and that he should absolutely not be allowed onto their property. He doesn't bother saying that the Marquess has won the title to his home (his only property) in a game of cards, but instead claims that he's been cheated out of their home. The letter is emphatic enough for his wife to take the threat seriously. Georgiana is visiting Kitty and she's acquainted with the Marquess. She knows him as a man who has been known for making frequent, cutting remarks about people, including herself.  Meanwhile, the Marquess has loads of property and no interest in evicting a man and his family from their home. But, he wants to give the title back in person.

Here is where it gets really fun. Something terrible happens to the Marquess and he's badly injured. He has taken a severe blow or blows to the head and is found unconscious. Georgiana is out riding while he's being attacked, sees the attack, and insists that he must be brought back to Kitty's home (Charles is still in London). Because Georgiana knows the injured fellow is the man who holds the title to Kitty's house, she lies and says he's her fiancé, Lord Sterling, out of fear that Kitty wouldn't allow him to be tended to and he might die, otherwise. But, when he finally awakens, Rob has a bit of amnesia. He readily accepts the idea that he's engaged to Georgiana, although the name "Lord Sterling" doesn't ring any bells.

Will the Marquess regain his memory? If so, what will Georgiana do? When Georgiana finds herself falling for the Marquess, will she act on her feelings? What will the real Lord Sterling do if he finds out Georgiana has been nursing a man who is definitely not him? And, for that matter, why doesn't Lord Sterling write or visit and why has Sterling dragged out their engagement for two years? Is it possible he doesn't really love Georgiana?

Highly recommended - When the Marquess Was Mine is absolutely the best romance I've read, this year. There have been a couple others I loved, but there was just something deliciously fresh about the storytelling and the building friendship between the hero and heroine was nicely paced and believable. It wasn't all throbbing this and tingling that; there was a genuine growing affection in line with their attraction. Plus, Georgiana and Rob are incredibly likable characters and I cared about what would happen to them. I found Georgiana's honesty and forthrightness refreshing. Love it, love it, love it. I need to get my mitts on the first two in the series.

I received a copy of When the Marquess Was Mine from Avon Books in exchange for an honest review and goodness, what a wonderful discovery. I hope Caroline Linden has written a lot of books. I want to read them all. Many thanks to Avon!

Fiona Friday will be held on Caturday, this week.


©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.

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan - #2 for RIPXIV

In The Nanny, Jocelyn (Jo) was deeply attached to her nanny, as a child. Hannah was trustworthy, kind, and a better mother to Jo than her own mother. So, she was traumatized when her nanny disappeared in the night and her mother claimed it was due to Jo's behavior. As soon as she was able, she fled the country and has most recently lived in California with her husband and daughter, Ruby.

But, now Jo is home in Wiltshire at her family's 1,000-year-old ancestral home. A young widow, Jo is unhappy to be back with her mother (her father having recently passed away) but she has no choice. Her husband's money was tied up in his business and Jo can't work in the US. Jo needs a job and help with her daughter. Returning home was her only option.

When Ruby and Jo find a skull in the lake on their property, Jo's mother, Virginia, is certain she knows who it belonged to and expects that the truth will soon be uncovered. But, then Hannah shows up and Virginia's confused. Is it really Hannah or is she dead and someone else is pretending to be her? If it's her, how is that possible and why has she returned? When Hannah becomes a part of the household staff, Virginia is horrified. And, Ruby absolutely doesn't like Hannah but is Ruby trustworthy? She's been behaving badly since just before Hannah's arrival.

The story is told from several viewpoints  (Jocelyn, Virginia, one of the detectives, and Hannah in the years before and during her work as Jo's nanny) but I thought of Jo as the heroine. It's Jo's return to the UK and her discovery of the skull that are the inciting incidents. Virginia is there to make you question what's happening. Is it really Hannah or an imposter? The detectives are either trying to lead you down the garden path with a diversion or there as filler (not sure, but their scenes just baffled me, although they eventually get it together). Then, there are scenes from the past that are told from Hannah's viewpoint and they reveal Hannah's backstory. How did Hannah end up becoming the nanny for a posh family when she came from a lower-class background? Is it possible that the person posing as Hannah (if Hannah is an imposter) is Hannah's friend and former roommate?

Iffy on recommendation - The Nanny is the fourth book I've read by Gilly Macmillan. My feelings about the books have varied but one thing is consistent: her writing has an excellent flow and a tendency to suck you in right away. This one I gave 3 stars. I finished it, but there were times I considered abandoning it because I felt like the mystery was transparent to a certain extent, the heroine too stupid to live (sorry, Jo, I just thought you were dense), the facet of grief almost entirely lacking, and the detectives stunningly incompetent. So, not a favorite, and yet . . . no regrets. I particularly loved the gothic atmosphere, which fits well with the setting of an ancient home in the English countryside.

I'm calling this my second RIPXIV read. Working on the third, this time a ghost story.


My reviews of past titles by Gilly Macmillan:

• What She Knew
• Odd Child Out
• I Know You Know 

I received an advance reader copy of The Nanny in exchange for an unbiased review. My thanks to HarperCollins! You can't see how the cover reflects light, but it's got a lovely, metallic sheen that is gorgeous. Love the cover. 

©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.

No Judgments by Meg Cabot

No Judgments by Meg Cabot is a fluffy romance set against the backdrop of a hurricane in the Florida Keys. Sabrina (Bree) left her home in New York after her boyfriend and mother failed to support her through two particularly difficult experiences and now she lives and works on the little island in the Keys where her family used to vacation.

When a Category 5 hurricane heads toward the Keys, Bree's wealthy ex and her mother both offer to help her escape in advance of the storm. But, Bree's cat can't travel and she's uninterested in getting any help from the two people who weren't there for her when she needed them most. Now, even though she's also on a mancation (like vacation, but a break from dating), Bree is frustrated to find herself falling for a local fellow named Drew who has a reputation as a lady's man.

Both Bree and Drew are stubborn. Bree plans to stay in her apartment, even after being told the building will undoubtedly flood due to storm surge since it's too close to the water. Drew is determined to ride out the hurricane in the home he's built on the beach.

When the hurricane has passed, Bree is stunned by the damage. And, when she finds out the person who was supposed to watch her neighbor's pets left without moving them to higher ground, she's horrified. Then, she discovers that a surprising number of people have left their pets behind but will be unable to return to the island for days. The task of taking care of people's pets is overwhelming. But, it turns out that Drew loves animals, too.

Recommended but not a favorite - Absolutely the right book for the moment. While it's not, in my humble opinion, Meg Cabot's best work and I had a lot of minor issues with this book, there's a lot that I liked about it. I liked the accuracy of the hurricane description (pre-, during, and aftermath) and the predictability of the romantic aspect. I was mostly in it for that predictability, as is often the case with romance. I also appreciated the mental break — no heavy plot, not too many characters to keep track of, nothing mentally taxing. The romance itself was nice but there was just something flat and lifeless about the storytelling in this book and I thought the descriptions of Bree when she was turned on were . . . eww. That could have been left out. The best thing about the attraction between Bree and Drew is the fact that the hero and heroine have a love of animals in common. If you're an animal lover, you'll definitely appreciate their mutual affection for animals and determination to care for all the abandoned pets on the island.

I received an ARC of No Judgments from HarperCollins in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you!

©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.

Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals:

• I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell and
• Help the Witch by Tom Cox - both purchased

I read a review of I Am, I Am, I Am that intrigued me and ordered the book immediately. That was at least a couple weeks ago and I'm still holding out well on the book-buying ban. Both of these books took weeks to arrive. Help the Witch was described by the author in a way that made me think it would be perfect for spooky fall reading, so I pre-ordered it for the RIPXIV Challenge and hope to fit it in, soon. I can't think of any other books that were pre-ordered, apart from one that will arrive in January, so this may be the end of the purchased arrivals for a while, although I keep pondering a particular art book that I'd like to buy (not available at my library) for ideas about a new kind of art project I want to attempt.

Funny thing, though. I've found that once I become accustomed to not buying, I often can't talk myself into buying. It becomes a habit. Besides the book ban, I also stopped ordering from Amazon, in general, when I read that Jeff Bezos has cut the health benefits of 1,900 Whole Foods workers. There will be times I'll have no choice but to buy from Amazon because some things just aren't available locally and Amazon is pretty much how I have to buy them, but I'm going to do my level best to avoid Amazon as much as humanly possible.


Books finished since last Malarkey:

• No Judgments by Meg Cabot
• The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

I read No Judgments (an ARC) primarily because I needed a fluff break and I know Meg Cabot's writing to be reliably light. I followed it up with The Nanny (also an ARC), which I read as my second RIPXIV book. It's a not-so-mysterious mystery (I found it pretty obvious) but it has a gothic sensibility, so it was good for its sinister atmosphere.


Currently reading:

• Summary of the Mueller Report by Thomas E. Patterson - So, this was not my best reading week and I stuck to fiction. Hopefully, this week will be an improvement and I'll get plenty of this book read. 
• The House on Tradd Street by Karen White - another RIP read

Posts since last Malarkey:

• After the Flood by Kassandra Montag (book review)
• Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill - RIPXIV #1 (book review)
• Fiona Friday - Interaction (cat photo)

In other news:

I watched a single episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Darmok," after seeing someone quote it and realizing I'd forgotten the meaning of things like, "Temba, his arms wide." That's such an interesting episode. Otherwise, I only watched one thing, the first episode of a medical show set in India. I don't recall the name of the show but I didn't like it enough to continue on, anyway.

This week is the return of Chicago: Fire, so I'll be tuning in to see that. I don't watch the other two Chicago programs (Med and PD, although occasionally I'll watch an episode of Med if I don't feel like doing anything else while I wait for Fire to come on).

Otherwise, our world has been revolving around Kiddo — his job hunt and wedding. His second diploma, for the just-finished Mechanical Engineering degree, arrived on Friday. Now, if he can just find a job we'll all be very, very happy.


©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.

Fiona Friday - Interaction

©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.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill - RIPXIV #1

I've already talked about Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill, a bit, but I decided I wanted to have a separate post up that's got "RIPXIV" in the labels, so here 'tis. Let's do the goofy version of a review, shall we?

So, there's this rocker dude named Judas Coyne (not his real name). He's not a nice guy, really. In the past, he's been a bit of a sexual deviant because rock stars can get away with that crap. When he takes up with a woman, he calls her by the name of the state in which they met (or, maybe "hooked up" is the better term), rather than by her actual name. The same is true of his current babe, Georgia.

Judas collects macabre items and when a haunted coat comes up for auction, he buys it. Why not? He doubts its authenticity but whatever. When the coat arrives and it is haunted by the ghost of his former flame's uncle, he's creeped out. When it somehow plucks Georgia's finger and gives her an infection, he's spooked. When the ghost keeps showing up with squiggles in front of his eyes, he's freaked. Then, he finds out he was targeted; the ghost wanted to end up with him so he could kill Judas. How can Judas get rid of the ghost?

Epic road trip, that's how. Judas leaves with Georgia and his two dogs. Much chasing and haunting and making of revolting wounds that won't heal ensues. Death, destruction, and possession occur. But, it ends on a high note, so there's that.

Recommended, if you like that kind of thing - I gave up Joe Hill (with the exception of his short stories) a couple years ago, after I read The Fireman (link leads to my review, which I just posted with a 2016 date to backdate to the actual reading) because he has an unfortunate tendency to kill off cats. And, apparently dogs. But, the guy who makes my neck stop hurting told me, "You have to read Heart-Shaped Box and then talk to me about it!" when I told him about the RIPXIV. So I read it and we talked and you guys, it's really cool to have a physical therapist who likes to talk books. I am, however, still essentially done with Joe Hill. Except for the short stories.

Not sure why I didn't write a review of The Fireman at the blog in 2016 but the review I just posted is one I wrote at Goodreads. Fortunately, I had that content to move over to the blog. Goodreads now just shows my rating.

©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.

After the Flood by Kassandra Montag

"I keep thinking grief feels like climbing a staircase while looking down," she said. "You won't forget where you've been, but you've got to keep rising. It all gets farther away, but it's all still there. And you've only got one way to go and you don't really want to go on rising, but you've got to. And that tightness in your chest doesn't go away, but you somehow go on breathing that thinner, higher air. It's like you grow a third lung. Like you've somehow gotten bigger when you thought you were only broken." 

~ fr. p. 282 of Advance Reader Copy, After the Flood (Some changes may have been made to the finished copy)

100 years in the future, after climate change has led to such widespread flooding that cities and mountains are buried, Myra and her daughter Pearl struggle to survive. Myra was abandoned by her husband — who took their daughter, Row, with him — during the early days of the Earth-drowning flood. She was pregnant at the time and has been traveling the world on a boat her grandfather built, Bird. Myra and Pearl fish and trade in the few small port towns at what used to be mountain peaks but now are the last remnants of land.

When Myra finds out Row (short for Rowena) is still alive but in danger of a new horror, she decides she must rescue her eldest daughter. But, that means traveling across the North Atlantic, which is prone to rough waters and deadly storms. Her boat isn't strong enough. Then, she and Pearl find another way. I won't spoil the plot point that lands them on a separate boat.

At first, it seems like they've found a fairly harmonious little group of people to sail with, but all is not as it seems. Myra lies about wanting to look for Row, instead saying she's heard The Valley, the place Row is located, is a great place for settlers. But, she knows it's been overrun by a group known as the Lost Abbotts and that she has little time to rescue her daughter. There are also the Lily Black to deal with, basically pirates who murder and plunder. It's a vicious new world. Pearl is going through a stubborn adolescent phase and has an odd affinity for snakes. Myra knows she could be kicked off the ship for lying. Daniel, a man Myra rescues, and the ship's captain, Abran, have dark secrets of their own. And, absolutely everyone has one or more losses they're grieving.


Recommended - I found After the Flood a slow-paced read, apart from the occasional heart-pounding action scene, and one of my biggest problems with it was that I didn't particularly like Myra. She was strong, resourceful, and had a lot of interesting survival skills, though, so what I did like was reading about how she and Pearl survived and thinking about that world and the what-ifs. What would I do if I was in this situation? Would I say or do the same things? Would I choose to live on land or go from port to port, like Myra? How would I survive?

In spite of the fact that I thought the book could have been tightened up a little, I enjoyed it. In general, I found the world-building fascinating and if a dystopian novel is readable enough (while slow of pace, the writing was solid enough to keep me going and I did want to know whether or not Myra and Pearl would find Row), I will finish a dystopian for the experience of imagining myself in that world. So, I most enjoyed After the Flood for the way it made me think and for some adventurous, heart-pounding scenes. It can be brutal but I love the way a dystopian novel makes me ponder.

I received an ARC of After the Flood from HarperCollins for review. Many thanks!

©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.

Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals:

• Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman - purchased

It was not that long ago that such a thick book (nearly 1,000 pages) would have intimidated me so thoroughly that I wouldn't have even remotely considered tackling it. I think maybe Don Quixote has made me cocky — or, at least, broken the spell. At any rate, I'm looking forward to Ducks, Newburyport but I will not read it till after I've succeeded at reading Gone With the Wind. Priorities.


Books finished since last Malarkey:

• The Rent Collector by Camron Wright
• Collage and Construction by Harvey Weiss
• After the Flood by Kassandra Montag

The Rent Collector (link to review, below) is my F2F discussion book for September and I went ahead and reviewed it while it was fresh in my mind, rather than waiting till after the discussion. I enjoyed it and I'm sure the discussion will be a good one. Collage and Construction (an instructional art book) is an old library sale find that I've had for ages, published in 1970. I found it while looking for books to donate and since it was only 62 pages long, I decided to just give it a quick read before donating. It's ugly and water-stained but the content was fascinating! I finished After the Flood at a little after midnight, last night. It's an interesting read but it's fairly slow of pace (apart from some heart-pounding action scenes) so I was just ready to be done with it, to be honest, but don't get me wrong . . . I enjoyed it. More on that, soon.


Currently reading:

• Summary of the Mueller Report by Thomas E. Patterson

Since I just finished After the Flood, I haven't started my next novel. I'm not far into the Summary of the Mueller Report. One nice thing about it, though, is that the author/professor who abridged the report totally eliminated all of the footnotes. Much appreciated. I think they're important, at times, but if you just want an overview not having to constantly look back and forth makes it a lot more readable. 

Posts since last Malarkey:

• Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (book review)
• Invisible as Air by Zoe Fishman (book review)
• The Rent Collector by Camron Wright (book review)
• Updated Review Policy (just an updated sidebar post) 

In other news:

I watched a movie, this weekend! It was an old one, but other than The Royal (which I also viewed and finally finished), it's one of the few things I've seen on TV in a while. The movie is Three Days of the Condor, a 1970s-era movie starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. It has me thinking I might want to have a Robert Redfordathon. There are quite a few Redford movies that I love.

Out of curiosity, I just looked up Three Days of the Condor and found that it was released in 1975 and has an 86% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

As to that newly-updated review policy, between that and my book-buying ban (which has lasted at least 10 days — I know, but it's hard, people!) there should be relatively few books to photograph in the near future. And, at some point I'll be going on an extended blog break, which will mean shuttering the blog for at least a month, possibly much longer. I'm not thrilled about it but you do what you have to do and I have no control over what's to come. I'll let you know what's up when the time comes. At any rate, till then it'll be business as usual but I'll just be working from the ARC backlog.

©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.

Review Policy - Updated 9/14/2020

Updated 1/18/22

I am currently not accepting any books for review. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Bookfool

1. No e-books, PDFs or self-published books will be accepted, ever. I tried electronic books and discovered that I need and desire a solid book in hand, the ability to mark passages with Post-its, the feel of placing a bookmark inside a book and the satisfaction of closing a book when done. The only exception to this rule is self-published, bound books by friends or relatives. If you don't already know me, sorry.

2. I do not review books that require a post on a specific date, aka "book tours" or any other scheduled reviews.

2(b). Moved to reflect that this part still applies: I do not post specific, pre-written content (boilerplate information about books or authors written by publishers or publicists). My blog, my content.

3.  Any books accepted for review are subject to being ditched if they don't work for me. If I choose to DNF (Did Not Finish) a book, I reserve the right to say nothing at all about the book.

4. This is a new condition: If I accept a book for review, a "review" may consist of something as minimal as a single paragraph. You can say quite a bit in less than 50 words; I've discovered that during the times I've written "month in review" posts. But, don't ask me to review a book at all if you're not willing to accept very brief thoughts.

5.  I reserve the right to change this policy at any time.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Bookfool

bookfoolery @ gmail [dot] com

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

I had to ponder The Rent Collector for a bit before even considering writing a review. There were things about it that felt a little off to me (more on that in a minute) but in general it's a fascinating story from which I learned about a place that's escaped much notice from me. Apart from the occasional book about the Vietnam War, I've seldom read much about or even mention of Cambodia.

The Rent Collector is the story of a little family in Cambodia (based on real characters but heavily fictionalized). Sang Ly and Ki Lim live in a literal dump and pick through trash to find items they can sell. Their baby, Nisay, has been sick all his life. Even when they occasionally manage to get treatment, once the antibiotics run out he goes right back to being sick.

Sopeap is a drunken woman who collects the rent monthly. When Ki Lim finds a children's book in the garbage, Sang Ly is excited. Nisay will have a little treasure. But, something remarkable happens to Sopeap when she sees the book and Sang Ly realizes the rent collector knows how to read. She asks Sopeap to teach her, so that she can better their lives. Gradually, Sopeap's former life (before the Khmer Rouge slaughtered the educated) comes out through her teaching.

I was most fascinated by the mystery of Sopeap. Who was she? How did she end up in a dump if she was an educated woman and why did she drink heavily? What had happened to her to make her such a mess?

The story is told a little like a fable and very much like the stories that Sopeap teaches Sang Ly to read. Inside the story, there are lessons. They aren't always what you want to hear. Heroes and villains may have elements of evil or humanity in them, respectively. Things may not turn out the way you expect. But, somewhere in there are the universal themes and similar tales that continue to be retold — always a journey, whether internal or external.

I glanced across a few reviews and noticed that people spotted the same things I did. Sang Ly does not sound like a poor person who lives in a dump. She has a pretty substantial vocabulary and she learns to read at a startling speed. But, I think if you focus on such details, you're missing the point.

The Rent Collector is about literature, about life, about finding the meaning in both that may or may not be hidden. If you look at it too literally, what the author is attempting to say will just buzz right past you. One of those themes was obviously that you should find beauty wherever you are. Kind of a "bloom where you're planted" thing. A little trite, maybe, but I loved the unfolding mystery of Sopeap's past, the growing friendship between Sang Ly and Sopeap, the way Sang Ly helps Sopeap find redemption, the quest for a cure for little Nisay, and the general loveliness of the storytelling.

Highly recommended - While not a 5-star read because I did occasionally have trouble with clinging to reality instead of sinking into the story itself and allowing it to envelope me like a dream, I thought it was a terrific read and it makes me want to learn more about Cambodia and its people.

I bought The Rent Collector for group discussion and I'm looking forward to my next book group meeting. I think we'll have a lot to discuss. If I feel like anything said during the discussion is worth mentioning, I'll return to post about it, after the meeting.

I didn't get any great cat photos, this week, so if I manage to snap anything tonight, I'll post it on Saturday. If not, Fiona Friday will return next week.

©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.