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Search Results for: friday reads
Friday Reads — Atlas : The Story of Pa Salt, by Lucinda Riley and Harry Whittaker
Earlier this year, I read and did a Friday Reads post about The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley. Atlas : The Story of Pa Salt is the 8th book in that series, released in May of this year after a two-year gap, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait! Sadly, Lucinda Riley died of oesophageal cancer in 2021, and her son, Harry Whittaker, completed this final book in the series. And once again, it does not disappoint. Spanning a lifetime of love and loss, crossing borders and oceans, Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt, draws Lucinda Riley’s saga to its stunning, unforgettable conclusion. I listened to the audio version and was amazed at how masterfully all of the pieces of the seven previous books came together. I won’t say more, because to do so would give away too much, but trust me when I say–this book was a non-stop page-turner!
1928, Paris. A boy is found, moments from death, and taken in by a kindly family. Gentle, precocious, talented, he flourishes in his new home, and the family show him a life he hadn’t dreamed possible. But he refuses to speak a word about who he really is.
As he grows into a young man, falling in love and taking classes at the prestigious Conservatoire de Paris, he can almost forget the terrors of his past, or the promise he has vowed to keep. But across Europe an evil is rising, and no-one’s safety is certain. In his heart, he knows the time will come when he must flee once more.
2008, the Aegean. The seven sisters are gathered together for the first time, on board the Titan, to say a final goodbye to the enigmatic father they loved so dearly.
To the surprise of everyone, it is the missing sister who Pa Salt has chosen to entrust with the clue to their pasts. But for every truth revealed, another question emerges. The sisters must confront the idea that their adored father was someone they barely knew. And even more shockingly: that these long-buried secrets may still have consequences for them today. In this epic conclusion to the Seven Sisters series, everything will be revealed! [Audible]
Friday Reads: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
“A novel of high fantasy…and low stakes”
Viv, an Orc Barbarian, is ready to put her mercenary days behind her and hang up her sword for good. Her travels have led her to Thune, where she hopes to open the very first coffee shop in the city (where no one even knows what coffee is).
However, opening a new business alone with just a vague plan proves difficult, even with the help of a magic fortune stone. Old “friends” showing up and Thune’s own dark streets aren’t helping anything either. She’ll need to rely on new friends and partners in order to build this new quiet life of good food and delicious coffee that lasts.
“People just sat around drinking it from these little ceramic cups, and I had to try it, and… it was like drinking the feeling of being peaceful. Being peaceful in your mind. Well, not if you have too much, then it’s something else.
This book is all about found family, the importance of building a community and sense of belonging, and self-reinvention. The process may be difficult, but so worth it. It’s a great slice-of-life sort of story when you need something cozy and heartwarming with some loveable characters (plus some cinnamon rolls and giant cats).
“The combined aromas of hot cinnamon, ground coffee, and sweet cardamom intoxicated her, and as she brewed and smiled and served and chatted, a deep contentment welled up. It was a glowing warmth she’d never experienced before, and she liked it. She liked it a great deal.”
A prequel story, Bookshops & Bonedust, should be out in November 2023.
Baldree, Travis. Legends & Lattes. Cryptid Press, 2022.
Friday Reads: This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
This Is How You Lose the Time War came out in 2019 and won several awards, but there was a resurgence of interest in the novella last month, when the book was a main character on a social media platform for a few days. Suddenly it was sold out everywhere, and libraries that had it in their collections were racking up long reserves lists on it. I’m here to tell you that this book lives up to the hype. Any time is a good time to pick up a good book—when it’s new, when it’s old, when it’s neglected, when it’s all the rage.
This time-traveling, epistolary novella is written by Amal El-Mothar and Max Gladstone. Each author wrote the letters of one character, who was writing to the other character, written by the other author. They had agreed to a general storyline before they started writing the letters to each other’s characters, but each author found the tale grew, delightfully, in the collaborative process.
This Is How You Lose the Time War is a quick and dazzling read, and it’s best if you know as little as possible before you start in on it. It won a Hugo Award in 2020, and a Nebula Award in 2019, and a British Science Fiction Award in 2019 as well. And it’s one of the social media “It” books of 2023. Everyone seems to like it—chances are good you might enjoy it, too.
El-Mohtar Amal and Max Gladstone. This Is How You Lose the Time War. First ed. Saga Press an Imprint of Simon & Schuster 2019.
Friday Reads: The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe by Angela Kelly
Judging a book by its cover is one way to select what to read but I have often judged an audio book by its length. Five hours is perfect for a palette cleanser in between longer tomes. Such is the case with this book. Also recommending this selection was the phrase: “fully endorsed by Queen Elizabeth II.” Lastly, the author narrated her book and while this can sometimes be a drawback, Angela, a Liverpudlian, who is conscientious of her accent, spends some time in the book discussing her desire for elocution lessons. The Queen herself takes on this task and this memorable conversation shows the kind of friendship she enjoyed with Her Majesty. Kelly’s slow and precise storytelling reveal her character in a way nothing else could.
Dressing the queen is, as you can imagine, a time laden and rigorous job. Protocol, tradition, regalia, weather, and every kind of unexpected condition you can imagine, make this job rife with problems to solve. Angela began her position as Personal Assistant and Senior Dresser in 1993 and moved on to increasingly more important and intimate tasks until the Queen’s death in 2022. Working with a battalion of milliners, jewelers, perfectly sighted seamstresses, and other palace staff, she shares various wardrobe stories that are quite charming.
For example, did Her Majesty break in brand new shoes? No, Angela, being the same size broke them in for her. And when a hat was hastily shipped for an occasion without being checked or tailored, Angela unpacked it knowing that it wouldn’t flatter Her Majesty and came up with the brilliant solution for her to wear it backwards. When Prince Philip agreed, the Queen acquiesced and it was a success to everyone but perhaps the milliner. How to clean jewelry at the last minute? Gin and water of course. According to Angela, one of the Queen’s secret wishes was to have her photograph taken more casually with her hands in her pockets. Angela created an opportunity and designed a dress for this to happen. The Queen’s face says it all.
Unfortunately, I went looking for the back-story on Angela. To no one’s surprise, the new King evicted her from her semi-detached grace-and-favour cottage. There is speculation that Angela was set to write another book about the queen. Perhaps her royally financed new home, not so close to London, came with a signed agreement to say no more.
After hearing Angela’s story, I can categorically say, this is a job I would not want. Yet, I found it interesting to hear from someone inside the palace who was given permission to share her story.
Kelly, Angela. (2019). The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe. Harper.
Friday Reads: “The Word is Murder: A Novel” by Anthony Horowitz
Anthony Horowitz is the author of over forty-five novels, including the Magpie Murders Series which has been made into a BBC TV series. He’s also a writer for BBC Television including series like Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War. Horowitz has written this new semi-autobiographical murder mystery series as a new spin off on the Sherlock Holmes and Watson partner dynamics.
Writing himself into the book as the one of the main characters, Anthony Horowitz is a TV writer and author living his life in London when he’s approached by private detective and police consultant Daniel Hawthorne, with the proposition to write about his interesting cases for a new book series. In a very Holmes like way, Hawthorne is brilliant with his deductions but has a personality that is hard to like.
Hawthorne comes with a case, Diana Cowper, the mother of a famous actor with a troubled past has been murdered in her own home, the day before she visited a mortuary to make her own funeral arrangements. As if she knew what was coming or even planned it herself. This unlikely duo will investigate the case together, Horowitz will follow all the twists and turns of the case with Hawthorne leading the way.
The Word is Murder is the first novel in the Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery Series. There are now three books in the series, including The Sentence is Death and A Line to Kill.
Horowitz, Anthony. The Word is Murder: A Novel. Harper.2018.
Friday Reads: The Mystery of Hunting’s End by Mignon Eberhart
The Mystery of Hunting’s End is this year’s selection for the One Book One Nebraska program. Published in 1930, Mignon Eberhart chose the Nebraska Sandhills region near Valentine for the remote setting of this mystery novel. Hunting’s End is a lodge owned by the wealthy Kingery family. There, a small and curious group comes together by invitation, the same group present five years earlier when a death occurred. Was it by a heart attack or was it murder?
The Nebraska Sandhills, where Mignon G. Eberhart lived as a newlywed, inspired the setting of this mystery. Matil Kingery’s intent in this reunion is to discover which one of her guests murdered her father.
Posing as another guest is detective Lance O’Leary. At his recommendation, Matil has arranged for Nurse Sarah Keate to care for Aunt Lucy Kingery at Hunting’s End – a challenging assignment, as it turns out. Keate is a perceptive and persistent sleuth and an able O’Leary ally. Nurse Keate has a recurring presence in Eberhart’s novels.
Gathered together at the lodge, the guests are sealed from the outside by a November snowstorm. A dog named Jericho lurks about, and a stray cat is curiously present for each discovery of a new death.
This book keeps the reader guessing as to who is behind the murders at Hunting’s End. Why were these murders committed and who is the killer? The reader will be alert to clues leading to the identity of the guilty party.
I found The Mystery of Hunting’s End to be an enjoyable and fun read. It is true to a good mystery book – colorful characters and a plot that continues to surprise and keep the reader guessing – who did it?
Mignon Eberhart was a prolific writer, one of the most popular mystery writers of her time with a career spanning from the 1920s to the 1980s. Eberhart published over 50 novels and numerous short stories during her career, and with several adapted for film and television. The 1938 movie, Mystery House, is based on The Mystery of Hunting’s End. Eberhart received the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America.
For more about Mignon Eberhart, read Nebraska Wesleyan University Professor Rick Cypert’s America’s Agatha Christie: Mignon Good Eberhart, Her Life and Works. Cypert contributed discussion questions for The Mystery of Hunting’s End. Discussion questions can be found on the Nebraska Library Commission website.
Mignon G. Eberhart. The Mystery of Hunting’s End. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1998. ©1930.
Friday Reads: Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky
What would happen if you lured all the Instagram beauty influencers to a tropical island with the promise of music, luxury accommodations, and access to other beautiful people… and then left them stranded without food, electricity, and gasp, WiFi? Small-time podcaster Rafi Francisco is about to find out. Shelling out her meager life savings for a ticket to the Fly Fest, an exclusive island festival where she hopes to score a chance to dig up some dirt on a famous performer, Rafi instead finds herself stuck on the beach with a bunch of spoiled and increasingly dirty trust-fund kids who have mistaken her for staff. But there is no staff. No staff, no gourmet meals, no private villas, no music festival…and no way to get in touch with anyone off the island that can rescue them.
If this sounds a lot like a recent island festival scandal that resulted in fraud charges and felony convictions, you are not mistaken. Described as “Lord of the Flies meets Fyre Festival” the setup is not as unlikely as you’d hope.
Rafi recognizes that the situation will quickly become dire and tries to rally the festival-goers into working together to find food and shelter, while still trying to secretly investigate her podcast subject. But she soon finds herself up against a prominent makeup guru who has deluded himself and an increasing number of others that the festival has not been canceled; the promoters are just testing the attendees to see if they are worthy of such an experience. Will reason prevail? Or will Fly Fest end in #disaster?
A quick YA read, it’s a good reminder that everything you see on social media is not as perfect as it appears.
Moldavsky, Goldy. Lord of the Fly Fest. Henry Holt & Co., 2022.
Posted in Books & Reading
Tagged Friday Reads, Goldy Moldavsky, Lord of the Fly Fest, Reading, YA, Young Adult
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Friday Reads: Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee
What is American cuisine? Should we use the term “authentic” to describe a recipe or cuisine? These are just two of many questions that Edward Lee explores in his book Buttermilk Graffiti. Much like American cuisine, Buttermilk Graffiti is an amalgamation. Although the book is part memoir and part cookbook, it primarily focuses on the culinary traditions and stories of immigrants. At times it has the feel of a Bourdain-like food travel show, mixed with history and self-reflection. Lee explores the history of place, migration stories, and the personal histories of individuals whose culinary traditions started across the globe. As much as Lee attempts to better understand the vastness of American cuisine, he also explores his own place in American food culture, and shares fifty recipes inspired by the foods he encounters.
If you are unfamiliar with Edward Lee, he is a chef and restaurateur from Louisville, Kentucky. His culinary style has many influences, including his Brooklyn childhood, his Korean heritage, and the two decades he has lived in Kentucky. He entered the television realm by competing on Top Chef in 2011, and was featured on The Mind of a Chef in 2014. Lee published his first cookbook and memoir, Smoke and Pickles, in 2013. His Louisville restaurant 610 Magnolia boasts a modern approach to southern cooking.
Lee is a compelling storyteller and approaches people and their food cultures with curiosity and empathy. As part of this project he visited more than a dozen cities and explored many food traditions and cultures: Nigerian, Vietnamese, German, Scandinavian, Peruvian, Chifa, Cambodian, Uyghur, Arabic, a Kosher deli, and Louisville soul food. He often came away with more questions than answers and will leave you with many things to ponder:
- Does our education in global food depend on global tragedies that bring immigrants to this country?
- Is there some other way that we can honor the foods of other nations without the tragedy?
- When looking for the “authentic” food of a specific culture, are we looking for a nostalgia that doesn’t exist?
- Is cooking the food of others appropriation or learning?
“I wonder if in 100 years Americans will eat bibimbap without knowing where it came from. Isn’t that already happening to foods such as tacos and pizza? Or can we go back and recalibrate these beloved foods every time a new wave of immigrants comes to America?”
Lee reveals the complexity of food traditions and cultures and shows that there is no monolithic or “authentic” version of any particular food. Each chef’s personal story makes their recipe unique. At the same time, he shows connections between individuals and their traditions. The elder Scandinavians he meets in Seattle value the nostalgia of certain foods much like his own father, who was a Korean immigrant.
“You have your own story and your own history, and your own connections to make. There is good food to be discovered everywhere. All it takes are an adventurous palate and an inquisitive mind. You can link both to the foods that sit in your memories.”
At times Lee’s personal stories seem to fall into a familiar pop culture stereotype for chefs, focusing on what’s supposed to be edgy or rebellious. As Buttermilk Graffiti progresses, however, the reader gets a fuller picture of Lee’s life as a son, husband, and father, and what has shaped him as a chef. He shares vulnerable stories and does a lot of personal reflection, including sharing how he has pushed back against what a man of Korean ancestry in America is supposed to be.
Lee is a compelling writer who believes in the power of stories. If you are a fan of food writing and food culture, I think you will find many of these stories powerful and thought provoking as well.
Lee, Edward. Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting-Pot Cuisine. Artisan, 2018.
Friday Reads: Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville
The year was 1986, and I had just finished the front 9 at Holmes Park Golf Club. Fletcher and I were headed towards the clubhouse for a quick snack, as time was of the essence because we had tickets to the Hall and Oates concert that night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. As we entered the clubhouse, a fellow golfer we knew, acting somewhat excited, told us that “Kris Kristofferson is in the can”. Both Fletcher and I, simultaneously, replied with “Bull”, but waited patiently and sure enough in about 3 minutes, Kristofferson himself emerged from the can. He sashayed outside and picked up his golf bag, which seemed to be larger than he was, but he had no problem carrying it. We said no words to Kristofferson that day, who was in Lincoln at the time filming the TV mini-series called Amerika (about a Soviet takeover of the U.S.), but certainly now regret that decision to remain silent. If we knew then what we know now, undoubtedly it would have went down quite differently on that day.
Dad was a diehard country music fan, especially outlaw country, and even though the year before the brush with Kristofferson he hauled us against our will to the County Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, he never (as far as I recall) spoke about Kristofferson or his songwriting prowess. Dad was all Johnny Cash, George Jones, and some Waylon. He didn’t like Willie Nelson because of his ponytails, although after Dad died I found Willie’s Red Headed Stranger in his album collection, and I’ve enjoyed it many times. I found no Kristofferson, but did find copious amounts of Merle, Waylon, and Tammy (in addition to those previously mentioned).
Today’s write-up is about the book Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville, by Michael Streissguth. Outlaw describes the history of these three country music musicians (including Cash, the members of the super group The Highwaymen), with Nashville as the central focal point. In 1986, I had no idea of the depth of Kristofferson’s writing aptitude, but now have come to realize and acknowledge it with the utmost of respect. Kristofferson’s catalog includes Bobby McGee, Help Me Make it Through the Night, The Taker, Sunday Morning Coming Down, Loving Her Was Easier, For the Good Times, Jesus Was a Capricorn, and many others. If I had a do-over of that day in 1986, I would have thanked Kris and expressed my appreciation for his work. Outlaw also describes the logistics of the rise and intersection of Willie and Waylon’s work together, in and out between Nashville and Texas, and the rise of The Johnny Cash Show. The book also describes the battles faced by the musicians, mostly the addictions of Waylon and Cash (pills), and Kristofferson’s battles with alcohol. Waylon would often go on binges where he would not sleep for a week, but unlike George Jones (who also had legendary binges), rarely missed shows. While separate individual biographies on all the major players here are highly recommended for the more detailed narratives, Outlaw serves its purpose as a short dip into the zero entry pool. In tandem, for you youngsters who are starting to collect vinyl, if available snatch up copies of Jesus Was a Capricorn or The Silver Tongued Devil and I. You shouldn’t be disappointed, and they won’t cost a fortune.
Streissguth, Michael. Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville. It Books. 2014.
Friday Reads – Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
Imagine being 12 years old and moving to a tiny Nebraska town with no internet, no TV, and no cell phone service. Heck, imagine being 40 and doing that! In this day and age, it’s almost unthinkable. Now imagine being famous for being the sole survivor of a mass shooting – also unthinkable – and needing a fresh start where no one has heard of you.
Simon and his parents move to Grin And Bear It, Nebraska, a small town set in the National Quiet Zone – a space where radio signals are banned as to not interfere with the operation of radio telescopes used by the astronomers and scientists searching for signs of life beyond our planet. His mother takes over the local mortuary, his father settles in as deacon of the Catholic church, and Simon just tries to resume life as a normal, anonymous kid. So far, so good – no one here can Google him. He can make up whatever goofy story he wants about why his family relocated.
Then disaster strikes. And keeps striking – a rogue squirrel ransacks the church’s communion wafers, a flock of emus get loose, the mortuary’s driver loses a body, a tornado bears down on the town… and someone finds out Simon’s secret. In the midst of his family getting all the wrong kinds of attention, Simon and his friends scheme a way to shift the focus from him to the stars, using a forbidden microwave, a metronome, and a whole lot of math.
Despite the devastating tragedy underlying the story, this was actually one of the most hilarious books I’ve read in a while. The author, originally from Iowa, lived in Nebraska for a time, and is familiar with the state’s geography and love of football. There is so much to love about Simon and his family and friends, as well as the odd little town they find themselves in. If you are looking for an entertaining read that will make you laugh AND cry, Simon says read this book!
Bow, Erin. (2023). Simon Sort of Says. Disney Hyperion.
Posted in Books & Reading, General
Tagged books, Erin Bow, Friday Reads, juvenile fiction, middle grade, Reading
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Friday Reads: The Ancient One by T.A. Barron
Today is Arbor Day – go out and plant a tree! To celebrate the day, I decided to read a book about saving trees. Giant, magical redwood trees.
The Ancient One, by T.A. Barron is the second book in a trilogy about the adventures of thirteen year old Kate, but it is an entirely stand-alone novel. You don’t need to read the other books in the series to understand and enjoy this one.
Kate is visiting her Great Aunt Melanie, who lives in a rural town in Oregon where logging companies have done so much clear cutting of the forest that they are running out of trees to cut down, and work is almost impossible to find anymore. Tensions are high and many citizens are angry about the loss of income.
But, a new source of trees has recently been discovered – an ancient redwood forest in the Lost Crater, a previously inaccessible extinct volcano. Aunt Melanie has been working to protect the trees from the loggers – they may be the oldest redwoods on the planet and they were a sacred place to a lost Native American tribe, the Halamis.
Aunt Melanie is quite the mysterious figure, loving and supportive, but also full of secrets. There’s something just a bit different about her. And she has a special connection to her walking stick, with its carved owl’s head handle. Strange things seem to happen when she is around. As Kate is being chased by some boys in town, she trips and falls, but the boys keep running right past her, as if they didn’t see her laying in the mud, as if she wasn’t even there. And suddenly, Aunt Melanie is there, dismissing Kate’s confusion and making curious comments about being … invisible?
Kate and Aunt Melanie hike into the Lost Crater, to hopefully stop the loggers from cutting down the redwoods. When Kate must return to the redwood grove to retrieve Aunt Melanie’s accidentally left behind walking stick, she is transported back in time, where she becomes involved in a battle to save the same forest from an evil force.
I truly enjoyed this fantasy novel with its strong environmental message, it’s a combination that I haven’t read before. The world of the past is well developed and Kate’s encounters, unfortunately, mirror the struggles in our own time over climate change. It will definitely make you think about nature and how we should be protecting it, for our future.
Posted in Books & Reading, Youth Services
Tagged #arborday, #FridayReads, Friday Reads, FridayReads
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Friday Reads: I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
Romania, 1989. Cristian Florescu (17) and his family are barely surviving the regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu. There are spies everywhere, and due to a small mistake, now Cristian is forced to spy on his neighbors and the family his mother cleans house for, an American who works for the American Embassy.
Everyone is suspicious of everyone else, for good reason. Only Cristian’s grandfather, called Bunu, is willing to speak out loud – but he is ill, and is taking a risk every time he talks. There is some comedy relief – as Bunu and others delight in jokes about Ceaușescu and the regime.Cristian finally comes up with an idea that may outsmart the spies – but it could cost him his life. The horrible conditions – little food, little warmth in winter, suspicions, beatings, despair, the threat of wild dogs – are clearly portrayed. Cristian wonders if anyone in the U.S. is aware of their circumstances and their level of need. It has been so hard to visit the home of the American diplomat and know he cannot say anything to ask for help for his country.
The revolution began on Dec. 21, 1989. Cristian joins it.
Includes period photos, references, and an Author’s Note at the back of the book. This title is fiction and is aimed at high school age readers.
Sepetys, Ruta. (2022). I Must Betray You. Philomel Books.
Friday Reads: How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang
Gold. Coal. Fire. Water.
C Pam Zhang’s debut, highly acclaimed novel is set in the years following the ’49 Gold Rush. We are introduced to our small cast of characters — a Chinese family — as they choke on grief and coal dust: Ma is gone. Ba is gone, too; gone with her even before he dies in the coal-town shack, starved from life by alcohol and rage. Left behind is his twelve year old daughter, Lucy — our protagonist — and eleven year old Sam.
It is difficult to explain how wonderful this book is without spoiling its intricacies. Through lyrical prose that vacillates between golden and gritty, each carefully chosen word rich-full of marrow, sharp and hard as bones, we follow Lucy and Sam as they try to find footing in a world that does not want them. They are each their parents’ children: Lucy, so much like their mother, even with their father’s eyes, and Sam, so much like their father, even with their mother’s beauty. And, like their parents, they love each other. They hate each other, too. Lucy and Sam were born to this land, but they are treated as though they are strangers and unwelcome guests. The tension of being considered outsider, pushed to the margins of the already liminal territory of the West, is a reverberation that hums behind every page.
I started with the audiobook, first, and it was a challenge: Zhang’s writing is quick, succinct, dreamlike. Her brilliant prose flows through the story like a stream, varying from trickles to floods, and the shifts from scene to scene were dizzying. I borrowed the eBook from the public library and followed along with the narration. After I had read a few chapters in text, I got a sense of the book’s construction and was able to continue solely in audio. Catherine Ho’s voice is dynamic, fluid, haunting; she seems to savor every word, turns them over in her mouth, transforms them. I wasn’t expecting the narrator swap in the middle, but Joel de la Fuente was equally superb: his voice made the soliloquy of history shine, as his character turns the story on its head.
How Much of These Hills is Gold reads like a tale illustrated best by a campfire’s light. An oral history of winking secrets: what is inherited, what is not, what is stolen, what is owed, and what home means. It reads like the best kind of fairy-tale: grim, memorable, familiar, foreign, full of violence and injustice but never entirely devoid of hope.
Zhang, C. P. (2020). How much of these hills is gold. Riverhead Books.
Friday Reads, Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans
The seaport of Bezim is the only place in the world of Notorious Sorcerer, where alchemy actually work., The other three planes of existence, which correspond to the other three alchemical elements Air (Aethyr), Fire (Empyreal), and Water (Aby), can be reached from there. Alchemists work their wonders, in industry, medicine, or purely for science, by mixing elements harvested from the other planes by petty alchemists like Siyon Velo. It’s a chancy business, but he’s already a risk taker, a member of a swashbuckling street gang (bravi), one of several gangs, who fight (only three quarters seriously), dual, run across rooftops (yes, really), mock attack parties, and are paid to protect parties. Neither alchemists nor bravi are strictly legal, but as long as no one splits the city in half, everyone gets along. Because once alchemy was taught at University, was respected, until a great working went terribly, horribly wrong, and the city was split, one side down by the harbor, the lower city where the docks and industry are, and part lifted up, where the Flower District, the Commercial District, the University, and the Avenues, (where the Avatani live.)
So. Of course, it all goes fine, until one of Siyon’s fellow bravi, Zagiri, gets caught in a youthful bit of foolishness gone disastrously wrong, and Siyon catches her from a deadly fall, not with alchemy, but, with, well, he doesn’t know how he did it. What he did do was upset an already perilously balanced peace. And the chase is off– over roofs, through allies, slowing down now and again, ending at her sister’s house. Anahid and her husband, who is an alchemist and member of the Summer Club, a registered alchemist. The story just gets more complicated from there. Alchemists try to put right what’s gone wrong, Siyon tries to prove himself as an alchemist, so many things go wrong, and many things go right. I can’t tell you how it all works out, there just isn’t space!
The point of view runs from Siyon Velo, petty alchemist; young Zagiri Savania fellow Little Bracken bravi, and 18 year old female member of the avatani (both a people and a highborn caste), Anahid Joddani, Zagiri’s older sister, who has walked through the traditional paths to adulthood, and regrets it; and Izmirlian Hisarani he’s gone on voyages of discovery, and brought back wondrous things, but he has no interest in trade, and now he wants to go further, which is why he needs an alchemist. All of them are trying to find their way through different paths to get to what they want. All of them grow through the experiences.
This is complex world building, combining politics, a fairly ordered magic system, and set caste system, and very well done characters, all thrown into a very precarious situation. No one really knows what to do to set the magical balance right. The policing arm of the government is heavily patrolling the streets and arresting all practitioners. And the characters are all second-guessing themselves.
Notorious Sorcerer, by Davinia Evans, The Burnished City, book 1, Orbit , subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, 2022, 978-0-316-39803-9. The sequel, Shadow Baron, The Burnished City, Book 2, is due out November 14, 2023. Sigh.
Friday Reads: The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, by Meik Wiking
This past weekend I listened to The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living, by Meik Wiking (duration: approximately three hours). Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, narrates with a delightful Danish accent.
You’ve probably heard at least a passing reference to the Danish word hygge (pronounced HOO-GA). According to a blurb on the back cover of the book’s print edition, hygge “loosely translates as a sense of comfort, togetherness, and well-being.” You may even have read an article about hygge—they proliferated during the pandemic when people were struggling with how to feel better about being stuck at home. But according to my new understanding, spending time consuming a whole book about hygge is definitely more hyggelig (the adjectival form of hygge) than spending 5 minutes scanning an article about it!
Wiking spends a lot of time talking about what is and isn’t hygge. Candles and low lighting are hygge. Wool socks and blankets are hygge. Cake, coffee, and chocolate are hygge. Cooking and eating a meal with friends at home is hygge. Bling and boastfulness, on the other hand, aren’t hygge. The idea that “bigger is better” isn’t hygge. And neither is champagne and oysters at a fancy restaurant.
At its most basic level, hygge is about relishing simple, everyday pleasures, especially in the company of close friends and family. The fact that this practice contributes to happiness isn’t an earthshattering revelation, so why do the Danes seem so much better at it than other nationalities? According to Wiking, “What might also be unique for Denmark when it comes to hygge is how much we talk about it, focus on it, and consider it as a defining feature of our cultural identity and an integral part of the national DNA. In other words, what freedom is to Americans, thoroughness to Germans, and the stiff upper lip to the British, hygge is to Danes.”
The intentionality with which Danes approach hygge is undoubtedly one reason Denmark consistently ranks among the happiest nations in the world. But Wiking also points to policy factors, including a good work-life balance and the welfare state, which “reduces uncertainty, worries, and stress in the population.”
Policy change, while worthwhile, is hard and takes time. Hygge, on the other hand, is easy and accessible to all of us if we are so inclined. So if you’ve been feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and unhappy, plan intentionally for a hyggelig evening sometime soon. And if you want to learn more about why Danes are among the happiest people in the world, consider reading or listening to The Little Book of Hygge.
Wiking, Meik. The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living. HarperAudio, 2017.
Friday Reads : The Seven Sisters, by Lucinda Riley
Some of you may already know about, and have read this series, but I just recently discovered The Seven Sisters, by Lucinda Riley, and I’m amazed I didn’t know about it sooner. There are currently seven books in the series, one for each sister, whose names are based on the star cluster named the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades in Greek mythology. An eighth and final book is due out in May of this year, telling the story of their adoptive father, Pa Salt.
I have to tell you, I was hooked from the very first book, and am currently listening to and reading book seven. Each sister, her talent, and her story has a connection to a unique person, thing, and piece of history, from all over the world.
Book 1– The Seven Sisters: Maia D’Aplièse and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home–a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva–having been told that their beloved adoptive father, the elusive billionaire they call Pa Salt, has died.
Each of them is handed a tantalising clue to their true heritage–a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil . . .
Eighty years earlier, in the Belle Époque of Rio, 1927, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into aristocracy. But Izabela longs for adventure, and convinces him to allow her to accompany the family of a renowned architect on a trip to Paris. In the heady, vibrant streets of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again.
Book 2–The Storm Sister: Ally D’Aplièse is about to compete in one of the world’s most perilous yacht races, when she hears the news of her adoptive father’s sudden, mysterious death. Rushing back to meet her five sisters at their family home, she discovers that her father—an elusive billionaire affectionately known to his daughters as Pa Salt—has left each of them a tantalising clue to their true heritage.
Ally has also recently embarked on a deeply passionate love affair that will change her destiny forever. But with her life now turned upside down, Ally decides to leave the open seas and follow the trail that her father left her, which leads her to the icy beauty of Norway….
There, Ally begins to discover her roots—and how her story is inextricably bound to that of a young unknown singer, Anna Landvik, who lived there over a hundred years before and sang in the first performance of Grieg’s iconic music set to Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. As Ally learns more about Anna, she also begins to question who her father, Pa Salt, really was. And why is the seventh sister missing?
Book 3– The Shadow Sister: Star D’Aplièse is at a crossroads in her life after the sudden death of her beloved father – the elusive billionaire, named Pa Salt by his six daughters, all adopted by him from the four corners of the world. He has left each of them a clue to their true heritage, but Star – the most enigmatic of the sisters – is hesitant to step out of the safety of the close relationship she shares with her sister CeCe. In desperation, she decides to follow the first clue she has been left, which leads her to an antiquarian bookshop in London, and the start of a whole new world…
A hundred years earlier, headstrong and independent Flora MacNichol vows she will never marry. She is happy and secure in her home in the Lake District, living close to her idol, Beatrix Potter, when machinations outside of her control lead her to London, and the home of one of Edwardian society’s most notorious players, Alice Keppel. Flora is pulled between passionate love and duty to her family, but finds herself a pawn in a game – the rules of which are only known to others, until a meeting with a mysterious gentleman unveils the answers that Flora has been searching for her whole life…
As Star learns more of Flora’s incredible journey, she too goes on a voyage of discovery, finally stepping out of the shadow of her sister and opening herself up to the possibility of love.
Book 4–The Pearl Sister: CeCe D’Aplièse has always felt like an outcast. But following the death of her father—the reclusive billionaire affectionately called Pa Salt by the six daughters he adopted from around the globe—she finds herself more alone than ever. With nothing left to lose, CeCe delves into the mystery of her origins. The only clues she holds are a black and white photograph and the name of a female pioneer who once lived in Australia.
One hundred years earlier, Kitty McBride, a Scottish clergyman’s daughter, abandons her conservative upbringing to serve as the companion to a wealthy woman traveling from Edinburgh to Adelaide. Her ticket to a new land brings the adventure she dreamed of and a love that she had never imagined.
When CeCe herself finally reaches the searing heat and dusty plains of the Red Centre of Australia, something deep within her responds to the energy of the area and the ancient culture of the Aboriginal people. As she comes closer to finding the truth of her ancestry, CeCe begins to believe that this untamed, vast continent could offer her what she never thought possible: a sense of belonging, and a home.
Book 5–The Moon Sister: After the death of her father – Pa Salt, an elusive billionaire who adopted his six daughters from around the globe – Tiggy D’Aplièse, trusting her instincts, moves to the remote wilds of Scotland. There she takes a job doing what she loves: caring for animals on the vast and isolated Kinnaird estate, employed by the enigmatic and troubled Laird, Charlie Kinnaird.
Her decision alters her future irrevocably when Chilly, an ancient gypsy who has lived for years on the estate, tells her that not only does she possess a sixth sense, passed down from her ancestors, but it was foretold long ago that he would be the one to send her back home to Granada in Spain.
In the shadow of the magnificent Alhambra, Tiggy discovers her connection to the fabled gypsy community of Sacromonte, who were forced to flee their homes during the civil war, and to ‘La Candela’, the greatest flamenco dancer of her generation. From the Scottish Highlands and Spain to South America and New York, Tiggy follows the trail back to her own exotic but complex past. And under the watchful eye of a gifted gypsy bruja, she begins to embrace her own talent for healing.
But when fate takes a hand, Tiggy must decide whether to stay with her newfound family or return to Kinnaird and Charlie….
Book 6–The Sun Sister: To the outside world, Electra D’Aplièse seems to be the woman with everything: as one of the world’s top models, she is beautiful, rich and famous.
Yet beneath the veneer, Electra’s already tenuous control over her state of mind has been rocked by the death of her father, Pa Salt, the elusive billionaire who adopted his six daughters from across the globe. Struggling to cope, she turns to alcohol and drugs. As those around her fear for her health, Electra receives a letter from a complete stranger who claims to be her grandmother.
In 1939, Cecily Huntley-Morgan arrives in Kenya from New York to nurse a broken heart. Staying with her godmother, a member of the infamous Happy Valley set, on the shores of beautiful Lake Naivasha, she meets Bill Forsythe, a notorious bachelor and cattle farmer with close connections to the proud Maasai tribe. But after a shocking discovery and with war looming, Cecily has few options. Moving up into the Wanjohi Valley, she is isolated and alone. Until she meets a young woman in the woods and makes her a promise that will change the course of her life for ever.
Sweeping from Manhattan to the magnificent wide-open plains of Africa, The Sun Sister is the sixth instalment in Lucinda Riley’s multi-million selling epic series, The Seven Sisters.
Book 7–The Missing Sister: They’ll search the world to find her. The six D’Aplièse sisters have each been on their own incredible journey to discover their heritage, but they still have one question left unanswered: who and where is the seventh sister?
They only have one clue – an image of a star-shaped emerald ring. The search to find the missing sister will take them across the globe – from New Zealand to Canada, England, France and Ireland – uniting them all in their mission to complete their family at last.
In doing so, they will slowly unearth a story of love, strength and sacrifice that began almost 100 years ago, as other brave young women risk everything to change the world around them.
Each book is so well written, and each voice performed so well, that I felt like I was really in each sister’s history and location. I’m excited to finish Book 7, and can’t wait for Book 8: Atlas, the Story of Pa Salt. Synopses courtesy of Audible.com and Amazon.com
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Tagged Book Covers, books, Friday Reads, Reading
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Friday Reads: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
Arsenic and Adobo is the first book in Mia P. Manansala’s “Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery” series. This cozy mystery follows Lila Macapagal as she moves from Chicago back to her small hometown, trying to recover after a terrible breakup. She works in her family’s Filipino restaurant to help Tita Rosie, her grandmother, and the “calendar crew” – a group of aunties named after the months. One day, as she’s serving a special dessert to a particularly unpleasant food critic (and her ex-boyfriend), he dies…after an argument with Lila…surrounded by witnesses. The local detectives all look to Lila as the main suspect, as the restaurant is shut down and the landlord threatens eviction. Lila, along with her tough grandma and lovable aunties, must do her own investigation to find the truth and save their restaurant. (There’s also a dachshund pup named Longganisa which is adorable.) While Lila isn’t a super sleuth, there are other endearing characters to help her out, and plenty of town gossip.
Along with the restaurant, Lila’s dream is to open her own bakery of some kind, so there are lots of great food descriptions, which might not be helpful if you’re reading this while hungry. There are also a few included recipes in the book, like ube crinkle cookies. This was a good introduction to the series – a light, cozy mystery filled with family and food – a quick and easy read.
- Homicide and Halo-Halo (2022)
- Blackmail and Bibingka (2022)
- Murder and Mamon (2023)
Friday Reads: The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich
Sometimes, when authors narrate their own audiobooks, it turns out well. Even more rarely, it turns out amazingly well. I checked out The Sentence, the latest book from Louise Erdrich, from the audiobook shelf at the public library without looking at the narrator credit. I’m not sure what the hurry was—it came out in 2021 and I hadn’t read it yet. Once I was ready to listen, I saw that it was narrated by the author. This can be a real hit or miss situation, as any audiobook fan can tell you—narration is generally best left to professionals. I’m happy to share that Erdrich’s narration of her own book is fantastic, and brings new levels of appreciation for the text.
If you’re familiar with Erdrich’s work, you know that she understands her characters and their motivations deeply, and knows more about them than she puts on the page in black and white. Her narration of the dialogue in The Sentence illustrates this skill even further—each character speaks in their own distinctive way, with their own cadence and bluster or hesitation, with their own honesty and their own secrets.
The narration is so on point that I’m leading with that in this review, instead of where I would’ve expected to start: there is so much about books in this book. After a wild and tragic beginning in 2005, most of the story takes place in a bookstore starting in 2019, and that bookstore happens to be the bookstore Louise Erdrich owns in Minneapolis in real life. Erdrich herself is a character in the book—but she’s not one of the main characters. Her appearances in the bookstore, and the way patrons look for her there, are handled with comedic humility, and told through the eyes of our protagonist, Tookie, who works in the bookstore. (There’s also a ghost in the bookstore, but you should hear about that from Tookie.)
Tookie has a history, and a future, and a rich and nuanced love of books and authors and reading. Books have helped her through some hard times, and help her connect with other people, and find a way of living. (I ended up checking out the print book, also, so I could refer easily to all her book recommendations to bookstore customers.) The candid descriptions of customer interactions are refreshing, surprising—and validating. We are rooting for Tookie, and all her co-workers, especially since we know what’s ahead for the world and especially for Minneapolis.
Readers new to Erdrich may have heard that she handles heavy topics—she does! And no one handles the heaviest of topics in a more readable, listenable way. The Sentence deftly, compellingly, tackles every subject that one book-selling indigenous woman in Minneapolis might find in her life or her history—including her experiences in the summer of 2020.
Erdrich, Louise. The Sentence: A Novel. HarperCollins. 2021.
Friday Reads: The Cutting Room and The Second Cut by Louise Welsh
Looking for Scottish authors in preparation for an upcoming trip, Megan at Francie and Finch pointed me to Louise Welsh, a writer and Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow. Both titles are 1 and 2 in a series that feature a promiscuous, gay auctioneer named Rilke, who works for a struggling auction house in Glasgow. For those who like to listen, Scottish actor Alan Cumming narrates this series to perfection. In both books, Rilke’s company is hired to expedite the sale of a considerable estate with complete discretion.
In The Cutting Room, Bowery Auctions liquidates the home of the wealthy and recently deceased Roddy McKindless. Rilke discovers a collection of snuff photographs hidden in an extensive pornography library. The woman featured in the photos is stuck in his memory. Is she alive or dead and how can he put his mind at ease? In The Second Cut, Rilke follows a tip for a questionable estate sale from his friend JoJo, who turns up dead a few days later. There are additional circumstances that create doubt about the legitimacy of the sale, including the missing matriarch, the intended beneficiary of the auction proceeds. Where do you begin to investigate snuff photography and even though JoJo was known to the police for various recreational activities, why is his death not being investigated as a murder? Rilke’s moral compass compels him to find answers.
Unlike busybody sleuths in cozy mysteries, Rilke moves through the seedy underbelly of Glasgow to investigate with more incentive than sheer nosiness. His professional reputation and livelihood are at stake. The deals he makes to barter information with various characters/criminals often put his life in danger. The cast created by Welsh is colorful, gritty, and uniquely likeable. Given the amount of time between the two books, I am hopeful Louise continues writing Rilke stories and that Alan continues narrating them.
Welsh, Louise, The Cutting Room. Canongate Books Ltd. 2003.
Welsh, Louise, The Second Cut. Canongate Books Ltd. 2022.
Friday Reads: “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death” by Jean-Dominique Bauby
For me, the hallmark of all my favorite books is that I enjoy reading them over and over again. Maybe years apart or for some I revisit them every year, but I always come back. If I like a book enough that I want to re-read it, I know it’s a classic for me. This is one of those books. Written entirely by a man bed-bound and paralyzed, Jean-Dominique Bauby, suffered a massive stroke and was left in what doctors thought was a completely vegetative state. In truth, his mind was intact but he could no longer communicate with the rest of his body, what is now known as locked-in syndrome. Yet through blinking and eye-movement alone, he wrote what is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It is both his memoir and treaties on life and death and how he copes with the hand he’s been dealt. Translated from Bauby’s original french by Jeremy Leggatt, this short (only 131 pages) but poignant book will make every reader look at the world differently.
Bauby, Jean-Dominique. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death. Vintage. 1998.
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Tagged Book Review, Friday Reads, Kassandra Montag, mystery, Reading, series, Those Who Return
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