Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was offered or requested.
Josh JafDisclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was offered or requested.
Josh Jaffe is hitting a mid-life crisis. His body is beginning to fall apart, he doesn’t really talk to his wife much any more, and his entire job field was rendered obsolete by new technology, so he’s been unemployed for the last six months. Nothing has turned out like he’d imagined it would as a kid, or even as a teenager. Josh’s dentist brother recommends nootropic supplements, “smart drugs” that supposedly improve cognitive function. Sounds kind of shady, but while surfing the web, Josh finds an ad for “Jacked,” which seems to speak to him.
Josh orders a supply of Jacked, and discovers that the ad was perhaps underselling the product. He can think more clearly (other than the hallucinations), has energy to spare (especially in bed), his aches and pains vanish…and he can pull a car door right off the hinges. Josh’s formerly unimpressed son starts looking up to him again! This is the good stuff.
But then Josh discovers that his next door neighbor Damon is a drug dealer that’s been beating his girlfriend Jessica. The outcome of that encounter puts Josh and Jessica on the wrong(er) side of some very bad people. Worse, the nastier side effects of Jacked start coming to the fore, and what if Josh runs out of the drug before the bad guys run out of bullets? And how will this affect Josh’s wife and child?
Eric Kripke is probably best known as the creator of the popular television series Supernatural. According to the introduction of the collected volume, he had his own mid-life crisis a couple of years ago, and his musings on that led to him proposing this comic book series to Vertigo Comics. He mentions that writing for comic books is a whole different kind of hard than writing for television, and gives much credit to John Higgins for making the script actually work on page.
One of the themes of the story is that Josh doesn’t live in a superhero world, so even though he gets some low-level superpowers, things tend not to work out as they would in a traditional superhero story. Even when he dons a costume, it only makes him look ridiculous. In the end, it’s his human abilities and connections that give Josh the ability to resolve the situation. (We do get cameos by a few classic DC heroes, and a reference to obscure series Electric Warrior.)
This is listed as for “mature readers” and has some nudity, non-graphic sex scenes, a lot of gory violence, body function humor and even more vulgar language than is called for by the plot and setting. I suspect Mr. Kripke may have gone overboard on that last one because of having had to work to TV’s broadcast standards.
One of the features I really liked was that most issues’ last pages were flash-forwards to the next issue that weren’t quite the same as the depiction in that later story. Also, all the points that were important at the climax were properly set up earlier in the series.
Josh does a fair bit of self-absorbed whining at the beginning of the series, and it takes a while for him to get his head out of his own funk. I do like that while Josh and Jessica do team up against the drug gang, it’s all about survival (and revenge on Jessica’s part) with no attraction between them at all. Josh loves his wife, and much of his motivation is being a better husband for her, even if he doesn’t understand the best way to do that.
The main villain is Damon’s brother Ray, who has a rather narrowly defined sense of morality. He takes care of family, but everyone else is fair game.
Recommended for fans of the “ordinary schlub gets superpowers and screws up big time” type of plot....more
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was requested orDisclaimer: I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was requested or given.
Nathan’s Famous was the number one hog dog stand in the world for several decades, and synonymous with the Coney Island experience. It was the creation of Nathan (originally Nachum) Handwerker, an immigrant who worked his way up from grinding poverty to being a successful businessman. This book is primarily his story, told by his grandson.
According to the book, Nathan was born in a Jewish shtetl in Galicia (now part of Poland) in 1892. At the time, the region was occupied by Austria, and was proverbial for its inhabitants’ poverty. His father Jacob was a shoemaker who was usually unemployed and his mother sold vegetables as a sideline whenever the chance came up. Nathan grew up constantly hungry and early on decided he wanted to be in the restaurant business. Over time, his hard work and good business sense got him enough money to buy passage to America in 1912.
To make it in business, you need a strong work ethic, canny business sense…and a walloping dose of good luck. Nathan had all three, and by 1916 had learned enough English and accumulated enough savings to open his own “grab joint” selling frankfurters and lemonade from a tiny storefront on Coney Island. His initial partner backed out when initial sales weren’t good, but Nathan found a good price point and soon became able to stay open all year, expanding the store and his menu bit by bit.
After a year or so, the initially nameless joint became “Nathan’s”, and then “Nathan’s Famous” as business boomed. Nathan used a business philosophy of fast service, a limited menu and consistent high quality to grow his enterprise. (This was later independently discovered by the McDonalds brothers, though the highness of quality is debatable.)
A big believer in family, Nathan brought over almost all of his clan from Europe as well as marrying and having children of his own. He didn’t let nepotism stand in the way of good business practice, though, once firing his older brother the same day he hired him for failure to follow procedure. He was a very hands-on manager, and ran a tight ship; his contentious personality meant that he often fought with his top workers, but it also bred loyalty. He integrated his staff very early on and was generous with benefits, but was firmly against unions.
Nathan’s Famous was huge, and the book describes its interactions with American history. But by the time Nathan’s sons Sol and Murray moved into management positions under him, times were changing. The brothers had clashing ideas about where the store and its brand should be going, and did not work together well. Coney Island was losing its place as a tourist attraction, helped along by a city planner who wanted to gentrify the area. (Unfortunately, his plans had the opposite effect, crashing the local economy and increasing crime.) And chain fast food places became the standard.
The original Nathan’s Famous has never closed, but is no longer in family hands, and in the modern day, it’s more famous as a hot dog brand than as a destination.
Most of the material about Nathan’s early life is derived from a single interview done with him by another of his grandsons, so should be taken with a grain of salt. The book also talks about some Nathan’s Famous legends and whether they are based on truth or the result of a public relations campaign.
There’s quite a bit of time spent on the logistics and mechanics of running a grab joint in the early part of the Twentieth Century, which will be useful to people who have always wondered about that sort of thing. There’s also family drama, as well as details about some of the long-time employees.
To be honest, the book never really grabbed me, but I think it will be of great interest to hot dog aficionados and those who are nostalgic for the Nathan’s Famous of yore. Each chapter has a black and white photo heading. Also, there are end notes (functional but lackluster) and a bibliography for further reading....more
Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purposes of writing this review. This review is of an Advance Reader’s Edition, Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purposes of writing this review. This review is of an Advance Reader’s Edition, and there may be changes in the final product.
Joshua Speed is the junior partner at the Springfield, Illinois store of A.Y. Ellis & Co, and he has an empty space in his bed for a roommate in 1837. As it happens, there’s a new lawyer in town who needs a place to stay. He’s a tall drink of water, and rather an odd-looking sort of fellow, but there seems to be something special about young Abraham Lincoln.
Mr. Lincoln’s talents as an attorney are about to be put to the test, as a young woman from a neighboring village is shockingly murdered, and her aunt falls under suspicion. Speed has his reasons for wanting to protect the older woman, and as more corpses appear, it becomes apparent that this is no ordinary murderer. Can the team of Lincoln and Speed crack the case, and if they do, can they live with the truth?
This historical mystery is the first novel by Mr. Putnam, who is himself a trial lawyer and Lincoln enthusiast. The narrative hints at further volumes in the series. Not being an attorney myself, and certainly not versed in pre-Civil War Illinois law, I cannot speak to the accuracy of the depiction of that aspect. Suffice it to say that some of the things various characters do would not be allowed in modern jurisprudence. And Speed is forced to rethink some of his cultural assumptions when he realizes that the laws as they stand may prevent justice from being done.
Many of the characters are actual historical figures, at least one of whom is dramatically re-imagined for the sake of the plot. Fortunately, they’re all dead so it’s unlikely the author will be sued. There’s a helpful set of historical notes at the end.
The writing is decent, and Speed is biased enough to forget an important clue that will allow astute readers to figure out the mystery before he does. In the ARE, one section towards the end of the story is printed in a different, and much harder to read, font.
Slavery and the laws of Illinois concerning it are a plot point, as are abuse of the poor and abuse of the mentally ill.
Overall, this is a competent historical mystery, which should appeal to fans of such, and may be of interest to Abraham Lincoln buffs.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review.
In early 1871, the readers of Scribner’Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review.
In early 1871, the readers of Scribner’s Magazine, one of the best-selling periodicals in the United States, were treated to an article about a mysterious land south of the Montana Territory. According to the article, there was a place of geysers that shot steaming water hundreds of feet into the air, where mud pools exploded on a regular basis, and trees were encased in stone. This was the first widely-published account of the Yellowstone, and many dismissed it as an absurd traveler’s tall tale.
But the Yellowstone River and its surroundings were very real. It had been named “Mi tse a-da-zi” (Rock Yellow River) by the Minnetaree tribe, and translated to “Roche Jaune” by French trappers before English speakers gave it the present name. Native Americans had often visited or lived there for its special properties, and stories of it were shared by the few hardy white people who’d managed to survive a visit. They were generally disbelieved by those who had not been there. It took a proper expedition organized by former banker Nathaniel Langford and staffed by sober, reliable citizens to show the reality.
This volume is a history of how Yellowstone became a National Park written for young adults by a former park ranger. The primary emphasis is on the two important expeditions, first Langford’s and then a full scientific expedition led by government geologist Ferdinand Hayden. In addition to the hardy scientists and support staff, the expedition had two artists and photographer William H. Jackson, and their visual evidence was key in convincing Congress of the reality of the fabled wilderness.
The writing is clear and concise, rated for twelve and up, but quite readable for adults. There are multiple sidebars about related subjects such as the Transcontinental Railroad and Henry David Thoreau, and many illustrations in both black & white and color.
The history section briefly covers what is known of the history of the Yellowstone area before the expeditions, and up to the point where the National Park bill was signed into law. More recent events concerning the park are not covered in the main text, although some are mentioned in the sidebar.
After the history section, there’s a map of America’s National Parks and other federal preserves, then a couple of chapters on the science of why Yellowstone is a unique area. There are endnotes, a bibliography, index and photo credits (in readable sized font!)
Part of Yellowstone’s importance is mentioned in the subtitle; it was not just the United States’ first National Park, but the world’s. Previously, when land was set aside to preserve it, it was only for the powerful (“the King’s forest”) or the very wealthy to enjoy. This was the first time a national government had set aside wilderness for the sake of the public at large. And just in time, as the Hayden expedition had already run into people planning to exploit the Yellowstone area for private commercial gain. (At this point in history, the U.S. side of Niagara Falls had already been completely privatized and commercialized!)
The book briefly touches on mistreatment of Native Americans, the extinction or near-extinction of animal species and other difficult topics, but these are not the main concern. The bibliography contains books that go into much more detail on these matters.
Most recommended for teens interested in history and the outdoors, but also good (and affordable) for adults with similar interests....more
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or rDisclaimer: I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or requested.
The subtitle of this book is “A Reinterpretation of the Ten Commandments for the New Millennium.” While a close look at what the classic rule set means to us in the 21st Century would certainly be a worthy project, it turns out that’s not the “New Millennium” the author is talking about. Instead, she means the spiritual New Millennium which has no fixed date, but represents humanity moving on from its current toxic ways into a better place.
What this results in is not so much a reinterpretation of the Ten Commandments, but using each of the commandments as a starting point for a riff on New Age philosophy. Alien wisdom, astrology, psychics, chakra energy and other such subjects are all mixed together in a stew of optimism and positive thinking. Those unfamiliar with every fringe movement out there might get confused when she uses the lingo without explanation as of course her main audience will get it. (For example, when she talks about being a “double Virgo” who dated an “Aries.”)
While the author has some good points about not letting toxic people drag you down with them, and finding the positive in any situation, they’re buried under multiple layers of dubious pseudo-philosophy and could be picked up from any number of more solid self-help books. Which is not to say that there aren’t some entertaining stories here about the author’s experiences in the New Age community.
The author at one point talks about her publisher and editor, but the book is self-published, and the spellchecker typos lead me to wonder about the editor’s existence or competence. The book was originally published in 1996, and this is an updated version from 2011. The most obvious revision is that one passage clearly was originally about the year 2000 (end of the Twentieth Century), but was patched to 2012 (end of the Mayan calendar cycle); the author wisely gives herself an out by saying that visible results might not arrive until 2017.
Not recommended for serious Bible scholars, or people who are triggered by heresy. Might be of some interest to New Age aficionados....more
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was offered or requested.
When George GoDisclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was offered or requested.
When George Gordon, Lord Byron, was a lad, his father Mad Jack often told him tales of the vrykolakas, immortal beings who fed on the blood of the living. Now he’s nominally a student of the university at Cambridge, where a young woman has been found murdered and drained of blood. As both the world’s greatest living poet and England’s greatest expert on vampires, Byron feels that he is the best person to undertake an investigation. After all, he must also be the world’s greatest criminal investigator!
This new mystery novel is loosely based on real life poet and romantic figure Lord Byron (1788-1824). It blends some actual hings that happened (Byron really did have a bear as a pet to thumb his nose at Cambridge’s “no dogs in student housing” rules) with a fictional murderer on the loose.
Byron makes a fun narrator; he’s vain, self-centered and often drunk enough to miss important details. On the other hand, he’s fully aware that he is not a good person and is reasonably honest about his character flaws. We learn the circumstances that shaped him, including his abusive father and being born with a deformed leg–but it’s clear that Byron could have made much better life choices at any time. Some people may find him too obnoxious as a protagonist.
The neatest twist in the plot is that there are two private investigators that claim they were hired by the murdered girl’s father, who are not working together…and in a mid-book flash forward we learn that the father doesn’t know which of them he actually hired.
Bits of Lord Byron’s poetry are scattered throughout, and are the best writing in the book. A word about the cover: the Photoshopping is really obvious and a bit off-putting.
As mentioned above, Byron’s father is emotionally and physically abusive, there’s a lot of drinking and other drugs, gruesome murders (the corpses are lovingly described), on-screen but not explicit sex scenes, and some profanity. Period racism, sexism (Lord Byron himself is especially dismissive of women) and ableism show up in the story and narration. The ending may be unsatisfying for some readers–Lord Byron has odd standards of justice.
Recommended for Lord Byron fans, and historical mystery readers who don’t mind a protagonist who is more flaws than good points.
Disclaimer: I received this volume from a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or requested.
I Disclaimer: I received this volume from a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or requested.
I don’t talk a lot about colorists. In most comics, they’re not noticed unless they really screw up, or there’s a particularly striking image. But they are an essential part of the color comics creation process. It’s the colorist who makes sure that the characters have the same color clothing and hair from panel to panel and page to page. The colorist has to choose appropriate background colors that will complement the foreground without hurting the eyes, and create mood with appropriate shades for the circumstances. It’s a difficult job and one that doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
The reason I bring this up is because this anthology comic book is all about color. It’s named after Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/blacK, the four inks used in tiny dots to create all the colors in the “four color” printing process that allowed color to work on cheap newsprint paper. For many years it was used both for the Sunday comics and comic books. The latter are printed on fancier paper now, allowing for more shades and variations, but “four-color” is a history that all comics creators know. This was originally a four-issue series with each color getting a focus.
The Cyan section leads off with “Serial Artist” by Shaun Simon (writer), Tony Akins (artist) and Andrew Dalhouse (colorist.) A struggling musician falls in love with a girl he finds “tagging” a building. When he inherited a funeral parlor, he feels obligated to make a go of that instead. His girlfriend has an idea for bringing in some business…he really should have asked more questions about that building she was putting graffiti on.
Many of the pieces aren’t full stories, but mood pieces or story fragments.
One of my favorites is “Adrift” by Jody Houser (writer) and Nathan Fox (artist who did his own colors.) A bereaved girl has a conversation with her little sister’s “Barbara Jean” doll while they wait for her grandmother’s funeral. The doll’s garish magenta clashes with the gray tones around her in a way that emphasizes she’s not of this world.
The Black section tends towards…well, darker pieces, but a couple of them play against this expectation. “Super Blackout” by Gene Luen Yang (writer) and Sonny Liew (art & colors) is about an app that allows you to erase photos on your smartphone–but that’s not its true purpose. There’s some effective use of app icons to carry the story with a minimum of dialogue.
Each section ends with a story by Fabio Moon, who does all the chores himself. They form a connected narrative about a vase artisan and his friend who lose one gallery and go in search of another. The artisan is able to see this loss as an opportunity and sees hope in the future.
While some of the pieces are weaker than others, it’s a beautiful assortment. I should mention that this is a Vertigo “mature readers” title, so there is some violence and nudity, as well as rough language. There are stories that involve suicide and rape, both off-page. (It doesn’t wallow in it like some other Vertigo series have, however.)
I’d recommend this book especially to art students to see how different colorists work with artists and writers to enhance the stories....more
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. No other compensation was involved. Also, this is an aDisclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. No other compensation was involved. Also, this is an advance uncorrected proof, and there will be some changes in the final product. (Such as fixing the typo on the very first page of the story.)
Marla Vail, hair salon proprietor, and her new husband Dalton Vail, a homicide detective, are on a belated honeymoon. Dalton’s Uncle Raymond owns a dude ranch in Arizona, and is developing a ghost town as a tourist attraction, so they’re going to spend their vacation there. But this is a mystery novel, so there’s no rest in store. A forest ranger has died under suspicious circumstances, and there’s been a spate of supposed accidents at both the ranch and ghost town.
Raymond is pretty sure that another rancher he’s long feuded with is responsible, but Marla’s not so convinced. Could it be the rebellious daughter; the wranglers with shady pasts–perhaps the ecoterrorists? The “accidents” become more deadly as the puzzle pieces pile up.
This is the twelfth book in the “Bad Hair Day” cozy mystery series. Marla normally works out of her hair salon in Southern Florida and uses her knowledge of hair care to help solve crimes. She’s a bit out of her element here; the flat landscape of her home has not prepared Marla for a case that involves lots of hill and rock climbing, and she’s not a young woman. She does spot a hair-related clue early on, but doesn’t really follow up on it, and the savvy reader will solve that part of the mystery many chapters ahead of the reveal.
One thing that irritated me as a fan of “fair play” mysteries is that ghosts and psychics are treated as valid (if frustratingly vague) sources of information; unless it’s a “one weird thing” story, the supernatural has no place in cozies. I was also baffled by the absence of right wing/libertarian loonies from the list of possible threats given by the local sheriff. The ecoterrorists are more germane to the plot, true, but the former have been in the news more recently in the Southwest.
The character byplay is pretty good, with Marla and Dalton having an active sex life just off camera. There is quite a bit of family drama that screens the actual solution to the mystery as various members conceal useful information.
Perhaps in deference to the Western setting, the ending involves rather more gun play than one would expect from a cozy, nearly up to hard-boiled levels.
This is a light mystery suitable for vacation reading that’s not too challenging....more
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. No other compensation was involved.
A string of seemingDisclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. No other compensation was involved.
A string of seemingly-identical murders baffles London detectives in four time periods. It can’t be the same killer every time…can it? And what is the mysterious Long Harvest? From Victorian times to the too-near future, those involved must seek out the common thread.
Each of the detectives has issues. In 1890, Inspector Edmond Hillinghead thinks his attraction to other men is hidden; after all, he’s never succumbed. His closet has a transparent door, however. In 1940, Inspector Charles Whiteman is a Jew who escaped Nazi-occupied Poland, only to find a niche running the rackets. He’s blamed a captured German pilot for the mysterious corpse, but his own crimes are about to be exposed. In 2014, Detective Sargeant Shahara Hasan wears her issue out in the open. She’s a practicing Muslim, and British to the core, in a time when many think those are contradictory traits. And in 2050, a woman whose name might be Maplewood and might be a detective suffers from scrambled memories, as does everyone in London–but this corpse seems familiar and important.
The four artists each cover one of the time periods as the narrative cuts back and forth, making it easy to tell when we are in the timeline. I don’t care for all of them, but it works well.
Each of the detectives must discover things about their own identity (literally in Maplewood’s case) in order to uncover the deeper mystery, and its connection to the theme of England.
This is part of Vertigo Comics, which is well known for its reliance on British writers. That, and being DC’s “Mature Readers” line. As such, there’s violence, nudity, sex scenes and some filthy language. College age and up, I’m thinking.
To be honest, some knowledge of British history and culture is going to go a long way towards making this graphic novel more enjoyable. Those who haven’t studied such things are likely to find themselves lost.
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. No other compensation was involved.
The corrupt Mayor CDisclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. No other compensation was involved.
The corrupt Mayor Cobblepot may be dead, but that doesn’t mean that Gotham City is free of the machine he helped set up. New Mayor Jennifer Dent and her district attorney brother Harvey are attempting to discover the identities of the new cabal that;s running the rackets now. There’s a bomber who asks riddles and kills you if you’re wrong, and…something…is attacking people in the sewers.
While all this is going on, Bruce Wayne is coming to grasps with who he really wants Batman to be, and working out just how far he and police officer James Gordon can trust each other. Is he is just a vigilante out for vengeance on criminals, or a symbol of hope for the city?
DC Comics’ “Earth One” line of graphic novels is an interesting experiment. Much like Marvel’s “Ultimate Universe”, it’s a way of writing more modernized stories about familiar characters without the confines of previous continuity. (This is in contrast to the line-wide reboots like “The New 52″ where some of the previous stuff is assumed to be in continuity, but the readers can never rely on which bits are still valid.)
This allows the creators to pull in bits from various previous versions of the characters that are helpful to the new story, while discarding the parts that haven’t aged as well. For example, the Earth One Alfred is more combat trainer and accomplice to Batman than family servant. Batman is still new at this, and isn’t the world’s greatest detective, master of all combat arts and escape artist all in one. Yet. He’s not realistically fallible, but fallible enough for verisimilitude. Detective Gordon and his partner Harvey Bullock work at cross-purposes with the other good guys because they’re not let in on the plan until almost too late.
Similarly, the villains are given new treatments that work for this story. This Riddler is a much more cynical take, while Waylon “Killer Croc” Jones is the most sympathetic he’s been in years. The art team teases us with multiple glimpses of Harvey Dent’s face half in darkness or otherwise hidden, as though foreshadowing his usual role, but his actual fate is a bit surprising.
Some of Gary Frank’s disturbing face work is still there, but it seems to be mitigated by the inker DC assigned to him. The writing is decent, but I think Geoff Johns is overextended and some bits seem threadbare. Since the colorist is on the cover, I should mention that the coloring job is good; not too muddy, not calling too much attention to itself.
If you’re a Batman fan, or liked the movies but are not ready for the mainstream Batman titles with their years of continuity, this is worth looking at. You may also want to look at the previous volume, but it’s not necessary to follow this one....more
Disclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway in the expectation that I would read and review it.
God’s love is a wonderful thing. It iDisclaimer: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway in the expectation that I would read and review it.
God’s love is a wonderful thing. It is not dependent on our earning it, it comes to us free of charge and all we have to do is accept it. But sometimes it can be hard to feel that love, trapped in our own circumstances and beset with difficulties–or sometimes too much luxury distracts us from what’s important.
This book is a collection of short essays and personal stories about grace, and the writers’ relationships with God. They are divided by general themes: purpose, trust, hope and encouragement, etc. It’s firmly in the Christian inspirational genre, so will be most useful to those who already believe. Most of the writers are women, with one token man, most are mothers and many are bloggers.
There is of course some sameness of topics, and you may have to look at the author’s name to see if it is a different person from a previous essay or not. Thankfully, there is little glurge, and most of the essays are at least readable.
My personal favorite of the essays is “When God Says ‘Stop,’ He Doesn’t Always Mean ‘Quit'” by Rachel Anne Ridge. It’s about a traffic sign that seems misplaced and useless where it is, but go on a bit further and the meaning becomes more obvious. A parallel is drawn to roadblocks in our lives; they may not be meant to be permanent obstacles to our goals, but a way of telling us about hazards ahead.
“And So We Are Carried Along” by Amanda Williams is a powerful piece about her family’s time on food stamps. “When Giving Up Is the Right Thing to Do” by Kristen Strong is about learning to accept when something is impossible and moving on.
Dawn Camp, the editor, also contributed several pieces, and the photographs throughout the book. I think a bit more care could have been used to pick photos that look “right” in black and white; several of these lose something without color.
There’s an author bio section in the back if any of the essays intrigue you and you want to check out their blogs.
Overall, a decent book that will introduce you to many writers in the Christian inspirational field you may not have heard of before, and a nice gift for, say, Mother’s Day....more
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. My copy was an uncorrected proof, and there will be chDisclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. My copy was an uncorrected proof, and there will be changes to the final edition. Specifically, there will be maps, genealogical charts, and an index.
William Marshal started life as the younger son of a minor noble, so little regarded that when he was taken hostage, his father pretty much said, “go ahead, I can make more.” But a combination of superior battle prowess, a gift for political maneuvering, and a certain amount of luck caused William to rise through the ranks of knighthood, until he ended his career as regent of all England, acting for the boy king Henry III. In some ways, he came to define what people expected a knight to be.
We know more about William Marshal than many other figures of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries because his family commissioned a flattering biography of him, the sole remaining copy of which turned up in the 1860s, and was finally read and translated in the 1880s. Now, I say “flattering”, but as the author points out, what people in the 1220s considered admirable traits do not necessarily conform with what Twenty-First Century folks consider to be the ideal of chivalry. William often acted out of naked self-interest to gain rewards of land and titles. It’s also pointed out when The History of William Marshal skips over or obfuscates events we know from other sources that William was involved with, but don’t reflect well on him.
William Marshal’s life was strongly tied to the fortunes of the Angevin dynasty, and this book covers the political situation of the time, as well as a general discussion of knighthood as it then existed. It puts the treachery of John Lackland against his brother Richard the Lionheart into perspective when we see that their entire family was like that (Richard was actively trying to overthrow his father when the old man suddenly took ill and died.) It’s just that King John was much less competent at it than most of his relatives, so he got saddled with the worst reputation.
While the writer has to speculate in places, it doesn’t feel forced. He has the advantage of writing about an interesting subject who lived through many historic events. But William Marshal soon fell into obscurity; all his sons died without heirs, and his biography was written in the days before printing presses, so only a few copies were ever made. By Shakespeare’s time, he was reduced to a cameo in the King John play as “Pembroke.” Thus you may be hearing about him for the first time.
While this book is written for adults, it should be suitable for junior high students and up. I’d especially recommend it to readers who love tales of knights and kings, and Game of Thrones fans who want deep background....more
Disclaimer: I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Howard Phillips “H.P.” Lovecraft (1890-1937) was a minoDisclaimer: I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Howard Phillips “H.P.” Lovecraft (1890-1937) was a minor writer of horror fiction in the early 20th Century. But thanks to a gift for purple prose, a strong philosophical unity in his stories’ viewpoints and (most importantly) a willingness to share his ideas, he’s been immensely influential in the development of the horror field. He’s best known for the Cthulhu Mythos, a series of stories involving cosmic “gods” that are implacably hostile to humanity as we know it, not out of malice as such, but because humans are irrelevant to the universe at large.
A number of his stories were set in the Miskatonic Valley region of Massachusetts, a fictional backwater including such shadowed locations as Innsmouth, Dunwich and Arkham. That last one will be familiar to Batman fans.
Which brings us to the book at hand, an anthology of first-person narratives set in the Miskatonic Valley. They range in time period from about the 1890s to the far future, and one is set in an alternate history. As is traditional in Lovecraft-inspired fiction, several of the narrators cannot be telling their stories to any living person, although none of them are quite to the level of that one Lovecraft protagonist who was still writing in his journal even as the monster was actually entering the room. An especially nice touch is that the fictional narrators have their own author bios at the end of the stories.
Some standouts in the anthology include:
“Arkquarium” by Folly Blaine: A high school student working part-time at the Arkham Aquarium tries to impress the girl he likes by sneaking into the locked laboratory section. Turns out there’s a reason no one is supposed to go in there. The protagonist shows some gumption, but isn’t unrealistically competent beyond the average teenager he is.
“The Reservoir” by Brian Hamilton: A direct sequel to Lovecraft’s classic “The Colour Out of Space” which has a microbiologist investigating particles in the water of the title lake. He finds an old well still calling–or is it a hallucination of the deep?
“The Pull of the Sea” by Sean Frost: A ghost learns that not even death can protect you from the worse horrors that come from the ocean. The story carefully sets up rules, then the creatures that break the rules come along.
“The Laughing Book” by Cliff Winnig: A college student studies the title book in the restricted stacks of Miskatonic University. This story is more influenced by Lovecraft’s “Lord Dunsany” period of dark fantasy than his straight-up horror.
The quality of writing is generally good, absent a couple of typos, and the annoying use of phonetic dialect in “Dr. Circe and the Shadow Over Swedish Innsmouth” by Erik Scott de Bie. Horror tends to be subjective as to whether it works for you or not; I found most of the stories nicely creepy, with a couple going a bit too much for the gore for my tastes.
Recommended for fans of the Cthulhu Mythos, and the more literate horror fan in general....more
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This copy was a bound galley, and changes have been maDisclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This copy was a bound galley, and changes have been made in the published edition (most notably, a proper index.)
The Weimar Republic, Germany after World War One and before the rise of the Nazis, was a time of great change. The Kaiser had been dethroned, militarism had been discredited with large sections of the population, and social movement was greater than ever before. But at the same time, the economy was dreadful, many in Germany felt they could have won the war if they weren’t “betrayed”, and political extremists rioted in the streets. This was the crucible in which the partnership of playwright Berthold Brecht and composer Kurt Weill was born.
The two men, brilliant on their own, inspired each other to greatness in their two most famous collaborations, The Threepenny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, as well as a handful of lesser works. This volume concentrates on the years of their partnership and how it was facilitated by three important women, actors Lotte Lenya and Helene Weigel, and writer Elisabeth Hauptmann.
The partnership only lasted a few years, with brief reprises necessitated by their joint ownership of their plays. While there were many factors involved in the breakup (political differences, diverging artistic aims, Weill becoming independently successful in America), the author posits that the main reason the team splintered was that neither man could stand not being in charge. They hadn’t quite realized this during their initial creative period, but as the political climate changed, and each had his own goals in mind, it became obvious.
Brecht comes across as a deeply unpleasant person, the type of man who has three children by three different women before he even had a proper career. It feels like the biographer bends over backwards to excuse Brecht’s behavior towards his wives and mistresses (especially as he hypocritically expected them to be faithful to him.) He seems to have believed that his superior creativity and artistic vision gave him license to run roughshod over anyone in his path. It didn’t go over so well in America, where no one was impressed by his European reputation and he didn’t speak the language.
Weill, by contrast, though he had his flaws, seems to have known how to adapt his desire for creative control to the demands of Broadway, working with many excellent writers.
The book goes into great detail about the production of Threepenny; rehearsals were disastrous, entire parts had to be cut at the last minute, and it took several scenes in before the audience figured out which play they were watching. The song “Mack the Knife” was written and scored in 24 hours as a simultaneous concession to and dig at the actor playing MacHeath, as he’d demanded a song about how awesome his character was.
There’s also quite a bit of focus on the women; Lenya and Weigel brought their husbands’ work to life on the stage, and after they became widows truly kept the legacies alive as well as coming into their own careers. Hauptmann is a bit harder to read; as the translator who brought Brecht many of the works he freely adapted, and probably much more involved in his writing than was ever acknowledged by either of them, she’s a shadowy figure. The Weimar Republic gave women new freedom, but it was still in relation to powerful or creative men.
The book skimps on the parts of Brecht and Weill’s careers that did not involve each other; you’ll need to read their separate biographies for those. The writing gets a bit pompous at times, and there’s some use of gratuitous mind-reading, along the lines of “Weill would have enjoyed the breezes.”
There are extensive end-notes with bits that didn’t fit into the main text, and a good bibliography. I’d recommend this book to fans of Brecht, Weill and theater in general....more
Disclaimer: I received this book through the Goodreads giveaway program on the premise that I would review it. My copy is an Advance Reader’s Edition,Disclaimer: I received this book through the Goodreads giveaway program on the premise that I would review it. My copy is an Advance Reader’s Edition, and changes will be made in the final version, including an index and more illustrations.
George Washington, “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” has had a great number of books written about him. However, most of them are general biographies of his entire life, or focus on his two most active periods, being Commander in Chief of the American revolutionary forces, and being the United States of America’s first president. This book covers the period between those two, when Washington was trying to retire to his day job as a farm owner and landlord.
As one might expect, Washington being away in the war for eight years had done Mount Vernon no favors, and there was much to set right. In addition, land that he owned in the west was either mismanaged or infested with squatters. For these personal reasons, and because he feared that the newly settled lands might pull away from the new republic unless there were good communication routes, Washington sponsored building a navigable waterway up the Potomac River.
Unfortunately for George, it quickly became apparent that the Articles of Confederation weren’t a sufficient framework to run the new country on. The Continental Congress couldn’t pay its bills, including the back pay of the Revolutionary Army, because the individual states didn’t want to give them any money. And the Articles didn’t allow them to force payment. (Kind of like how certain countries are perennially behind on their dues to the United Nations in the modern day.)
Bad money policy led to hyperinflation in some states, while too strict a money squeeze in Massachusetts led to Shays’ Rebellion when debtors could not get relief.
So a convention was called to fix some of the problems with the government–only to have it taken over by those who felt a wholesale overhaul and a new constitution was the only way to go forward. Washington was reluctantly called forward to chair the convention and give it the public gravitas it needed to be taken seriously.
The convention adopted a strict rule of secrecy as to its proceedings, and Mr. Washington took this very seriously, not writing any of the details in his diary or personal letters. As he seldom spoke on the floor, what was going through his head, and what backroom conversations Washington might have been having are mostly unknown to us.
Still, the convention came up with an innovative three-part federal government with checks and balances built in. Not everyone liked all the compromises made, but as a process for amendment was included, it was sent to the states, who mostly voted for ratification.
The problem for Washington at that point was that the new Constitution called for a strong central executive, the President. And there was just one man the Federalists trusted to be the first, Washington himself. So he spent the first Presidential campaign not running for office, but desperately trying to get on with his personal life before it was wrested away by his country again.
There’s an epilogue which briefly covers the Presidential years and Washington’s later life. There is a long endnotes section and several black and white illustrations.
Mind you, this story isn’t all good news. George Washington, like everyone else, had his flaws. The most pressing one is that he was a slaveowner, one of the biggest in Virginia. He seems to have been ambivalent on the subject of slavery, regretting its “necessity” but always finding it economically unfeasible to do without buying more slaves, and only making good on his promise to free his personal slaves in his will…with the actual freedom to be after Martha Washington’s death.
However, it seems likely that his slaveholding helped the Southern states accept the Constitution and the idea of a President more willingly than they otherwise would have. And Washington’s patriotism and sense of civic duty were strong influences on the early shape of the United States government.
As with other biographies that only cover a limited time span, students will want to supplement this volume with a more general biography. I’d recommend this book for high schoolers on up, as the subject matter is a bit dry for most younger readers’ tastes....more
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Katy Byrd is from small-town Minnesota, and seeking a dDisclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Katy Byrd is from small-town Minnesota, and seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus and her Christian faith. She accompanies her father on a (“non-denominational” but later specified as evangelical) mission trip to Morocco to help out a struggling local church community. She get separated from her group and is kidnapped by terrorists.
Azir Ahmed was turned on to radicalized Islam in college, and has joined AQIM. Despite his admiration for some of their goals, he’s really not down with the terrorism part of being in a terrorist organization, and is becoming increasingly uncomfortable with their violent actions. When a foolish AQIM hanger-on kidnaps an American, Azir is assigned to guard the prisoner until the organization can figure out to capitalize on the situation.
While this book was self-published, the subject matter and treatment indicate that it’s meant for the Christian young adult market. The writer for this market faces difficulties beyond the normal ones facing a YA writer, since certain topics are off limits or required to be presented in a specified way–without, one hopes, turning off or boring the young readers who are the target market. Not everyone can handle this balance. I regret to say that this is not a very good book.
The positive: The basic plot idea is a good one; I like that the abduction is not planned, but a bungle by someone who only has a job in AQIM because his big-shot cousin was required to take him in.
I like that it’s not an “insta-conversion” story with the Sinner’s Prayer and an altar call, and a minor atheist character is not depicted as a sneering villain. And if you wish, you can read it as non-supernatural, with the placebo effect of prayer, and some amazing coincidences.
Less good: This book desperately needs an editor. The prose is clunky, there are spellchecker typos, and there is a lot of extra verbiage dedicated to telling, not showing. This is especially evident in the first chapter, which is a prime example of what TV Tropes calls “character shilling.” A secondary character spends most of the chapter extolling the virtues of the main character in order to impress the reader as to why they should like Katy. (Pro tip: starting by listing all the superlative qualities your heroine lacks does not make it not character shilling.)
It takes about a third of the book to get to the main plotline, and the early chapters feel padded. For example, there’s an attempt to build suspense with an untrustworthy-looking bus driver that goes absolutely nowhere–there’s not even a sigh of relief that he turns out not to be untrustworthy.
There’s also a weird political digression where the president of the United States is depicted as not being willing to help Katy because her father might possibly have voted against him in the last election, and only publicly identifying as Christian for political purposes. The book is very careful not to mention the president’s name or skin color, but since the story is set in 2015, the odds are slim it’s Joe Biden. (Shades of the “secret Muslim” canard.)
It’s also kind of weird that a cute white girl being kidnapped by terrorists somehow doesn’t cause a feeding frenzy by the American media–in real life, the parents would have been constantly harassed by opportunistic reporters and paparazzi. Here, only the local media are interested, and then only after Katy is partially rescued.
Fatal: Azir, a fervent Muslim, is gobsmacked by the concept of a merciful god that forgives sin. He’s never heard of such a thing before! This would seem to indicate that he has never read the Koran, the first verse of which describes God as merciful, and which goes on to describe God’s mercifulness and forgiveness of sins several times. Nor has he ever seen a list of the ninety-nine names of God, which include “the Merciful.”
Slightly less untenable is the treatment of Allah and the Christian God as two separate entities; from the Muslim point of view, they’re the same being, the Christians are just worshiping Him wrong. This should be even more evident as Azir and Katy are conversing in French, In that language, the word for both “God” and “Allah” is “Dieu.”
It’s also notable that Katy, who’s been spending her spare time studying the Bible, seems never to have read Job or Ecclesiastes, with their perspectives on the problem of suffering. Another odd bit is when her pastor uses his Christmas sermon to talk about how Jesus’ birth should influence lives in the present day, and this is treated as unusual, when it’s a standard pastoral topic that comes up every Christmas in most churches.
(There’s also a bit of gender essentialism when it’s just assumed that men going on a mission trip will be doing construction work while the women cook and clean, without checking to see if their skill sets lend themselves to that.)
So, no, I cannot recommend this book. It needs a total rewrite with a good editor to bring out the good book that is buried in there....more
Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Once again the Galactic Academy of Science must reach oDisclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Once again the Galactic Academy of Science must reach out to kids from the 21st Century to preserve the timeline. This time Dr. G is sabotaging the International Science Fair to crush the spirits of budding scientists and create a public impression that junk science is just as valid as real science. Future teen Quarkum reaches out to two new field agents, Ella and Shomari.
Shomari and Ella must travel through time to learn about cryptography and cryptoanalysis, codes and ciphers, so they can crack the coded messages Dr. G is sending his minions while protecting their own communications. From Julius Caesar’s shift cipher to Whitfield Diffie and the public key, the experts of the past inform the children of the present to save the future.
This is the latest in a series of children’s books about science, with the framework of ethnically diverse youngsters traveling through time to learn about subjects firsthand. The language is suitable for fourth graders on up, with more difficult words defined in the text. It helps that Ella and Shomari are very literate for their age and bright enough to bring up examples when they’re appropriate.
Important or notable words are emphasized with colored text, and the illustrations are good. There’s information on how to find more codes and ciphers on the publisher’s website if the reader wants to play along.
There is some mild peril–Dr. G’s minions aren’t very threatening. And the story acknowledges that there are difficult topics that come up in the past, such as slavery, religious discrimination and sexism, which hinder or offend the children from time to time. However, they are treated as problems of the past, with no mention of such topics in the present.
Like many kids, I went through a codes and ciphers phase, and this book would have been fascinating to me then. Check out your school or public library....more
Disclaimer: This magazine came to me through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Infernal Ink is a horror fiction and poetry maDisclaimer: This magazine came to me through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Infernal Ink is a horror fiction and poetry magazine aimed at ages 18+. As such, it contains sex, violence, sexualized violence (Trigger Warning for rape) and crude language. As of the 01/2014 issue, it is accepting advertisements for suitable businesses.
The cover (which might make this a poor choice to read in public) is by Dave Lipscomb, who also contributes “Demonic Visions”, a selection of his black and white pieces; and “The DaveL’s Music” which reviews albums, in this case, Motorhead’s latest.
There are several gruesome poems; all are modern poetry, so I cannot speak to their quality.
“Amazon Goddess of Doom” is an interview with Saranna DeWylde, who writes both horror and erotica, and helpfully gives us a look at the difference. Her nickname turns out to come from her day job as a prison guard.
All the fiction is very short.
“The Devil’s in the Details” by Robert Lowell Russell: A woman can have a new lease on life if she convinces someone else to go to Hell for her. Quick and twisty, with no innocence to be found.
“Going Viral (Pop Culture Apocalypse)” by Bosley Gravel: After the zombie plague, late-night television looks a little different, though just as cut-throat. Funny if you like your jokes gross.
“A Kiss to Die For” by Giovanni Valentino: Two guys in a bar compete over an attractive woman. Fairly predictable, but a nice last line.
“The Pope’s Dildo” by Peter Gilbert: The title object is stolen, and it’s up to the Vatican’s top agent to retrieve it. Very juvenile.
“The Ripsaw Floor” by Shaun Avery: A one-hit wonder meets the woman who inspired that song at his school reunion. I liked the female lead in this one.
“Flow the Junction” by Roger Leatherwood. A gross-out tale about a woman with constant menstrual flow and her objectification. Very unpleasant.
“Xenophobia” by Michael C. Shutz-Ryan: New neighbors next door present new opportunities for a lonely man who talks to his Buddha statue. Another fairly predictable story.
“Fey” by Robin Wyatt Dunn: A relationship with an otherworldly creature. Dreamlike and hard to follow.
“Add Me” by Rob Bliss: A small twon stalker may have bitten off more than he can chew–or maybe this is what he wanted all along. A bit longer of a story, so it has an actual build-up to the reveals.
All of these could use some polishing, but I most liked the Gravel and Avery stories. There are some spellchecker typos, and a couple cases of what might be that or odd vocabulary choices. Hydra M. Star might need to take a firmer hand as editor.
Mildly recommended to fans of the horror/erotica conjunction; everyone else can safely skip....more
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