Month: September 2013

Saturday Miscellany – 9/7

On September 7, 2013

Odds ‘n ends over the week about books and reading that caught my eye. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:

Kindle Matchbook announced — I’ve heard a lotta pros and cons about this since the announcement. Not so sure it’s good for the author.
Harper Lee settles ‘Mockingbird’ copyright suit — not a lot of details on this, but I’ll take any excuse to think about Lee and her novel
Oyster: The Netflix Of Books — not sure what I think of this, what about you?
Chevy Chase in Booked — from Funny or Die, perhaps it’d be a good idea for Chase to switch to audio books?

Never Go Back by Lee Child — whoops! listed this a week early.
Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire — new Toby Daye! new Toby Daye!

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

By HCNewton

On September 6, 2013

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

because what else are you going to post on the same day as a review of an installment electronic serialized novel about Fairy Tales invading the Real World?

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The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With the possible exception of The Torrents of Spring (I’ve pretty much repressed most of my memories of this one), there’s been at least one scene in every Hemingway novel I’ve read this year where someone recounts (or has) a man against nature or man against animal experience. Frequently, this is the best part of the book. So it’s not surprising that the time he threw out all the rest — war, love, dissipated living, etc. — and just focused on that element, man vs. the natural world, that he wins The Pulitzer. Here he’s really at his strongest.

I’ve read a lot of theories/takes on what Hemingway was really trying to say here, what/who the Old Man symbolized, who/what the giant marlin symbolized, who/what the Sea symbolized, and so on. Or that this is a minimalistic Moby Dick (if so, great, it’s needed!). And some of these might be right, a lot of them are full of more hokum than the typical literary criticism. I think it ‘s equally valid to go more surface-y on this one. Looking at how Hemingway lived his life, I tend to want to go for this being a straight-forward story of a regular guy, down on his luck that runs into the challenge of his life and comes out on top — momentarily, at least — and then has to fight for survival and the chance to do it again.

And as such, it succeeds. I really was gripped throughout (something I can’t say I’ve experienced with Papa before), after a slow (but necessary) introductory few pages, this story takes off and you just can’t help but feel for this Old Man and his last-ditch effort to eke out a living. I know it annoys some readers, but I enjoyed his talk of “the great DiMaggio,” his fisherman father, and the rest of MLB. I’m guessing these readers haven’t worked long hours alone — you have to do something to keep your wits about you, and you tend to get a little more eccentric than you otherwise would’ve. That part rang utterly true, and was amusing anyway.

A strong, deceptively-quick, compelling read. If nothing else, you get a feisty, elderly Cuban laying a beat-down on some sharks. That’s enough, right?

Indexing, Episode 8: Empty Nest by Seanan McGuire

By HCNewton

On September 6, 2013

In Fantasy, Fiction, Indexing, Seanan McGuire, Urban Fantasy

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Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.8

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Episode 8: Empty Nest
Hey, diddle diddle! That was something! I spent most of this episode leaning forward on the edge of my seat (surely, I’m not the only one who subconsciously believes that helps them read tense/exciting parts of books faster, am I?). Sure, I was way ahead of Henry on picking up that Very Significant Clue, but the important thing is that she grabbed hold of it eventually and ran with it. Killer episode.

From the shell-shocked reaction of the team to the events in the last episode (unlike the rest, this one picks up right from the end of the previous installment), through the bureaucratic kerfuffle that kicks up from it to Henry’s clue pickup straight through to . . . well, the end — this was Indexing firing on all cylinders.

It struck me that at this point McGuire’s developed her world enough that she can say something like this:

Birdie Hubbard lived in exactly the sort of house that you would expect a woman named “Birdie Hubbard” to live in, especially if that woman existed in a world where fairy tales were real and had teeth.

and the reader doesn’t need the 3 sentences that follow to know what kind of place the characters are at (not that McGuire was guilty of over-kill in providing them). We also are at the point where we can understand Sloane’s reaction (“somewhere midway between horrified and impressed”) to the presence of garden gnomes in Hubbard’s lawn.

Such a fun read, don’t know how she’s going to top it next week, but I’m sure she will.

Blood Bond by Jeanne C. Stein

By HCNewton

On September 5, 2013

In Authors, Fiction, Jeanne C. Stein, P-U, Urban Fantasy

Blood Bond by Jeanne C. Stein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is not at all what I expected from the last installment in the Anna Strong series. For that matter, it’s not what I expected from any Anna Strong book. Although, in retrospect, it makes sense that this would focus on the human side of Anna’s life — her love life, her family, her friends.

Yes, there’s a supernatural storyline — almost perfunctory, and even when it takes center stage in the novel, it does so under the shadow of the personal storylines. If this wasn’t the last in the series, it would seem that Stein was introducing a large, shadowy group that Anna and her allies would wrangle with for awhile. But, that doesn’t appear to be the case. There’s a new vampire character introduced that Anna becomes awfully chummy with far too quickly for someone in her position (vague, yeah, but trying to stay spoiler-free) Again, if there were more books to come — I’d fully expect this new pal to reveal himself to be just cozying up to her to find her Achilles’ Heel. Regardless, it was a quick and painless story that really only served to keep this book in the Urban Fantasy camp.

Stein’s focus was on the human/emotional stories, giving each major character some sort of resolution as the curtain comes down (although Culebra was given pretty short-shrift) — and in each scene apart from the Vampire story, it feels like Stein is trying to channel the spirit of the mid-80s long distance telephone company commercials and make you reach for the kleenex box every chapter. Big emotional moments and conversations, a lotta lovey-dovey faces, and tears being jerked.

Which sounds like a complaint, but it’s not — somehow Stein pulls it off. It’d be easy for this to be overly-sentimental and sappy — and she gets right up to that line, but she doesn’t cross it. Granted, it’s not the kind of book that I’d want to read all the time, but it worked this time. It let her leave Anna in a good place — or at least a place she could find a measure of peace and happiness for a time. But we all know Anna well-enough at this point to know that can’t last, she’ll find trouble/it will find her soon enough. We just won’t get to see it.

The Good Cop: A Mystery by Brad Parks

By HCNewton

On September 2, 2013

In Authors, Brad Parks, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, P-U

The Good Cop: A Mystery by Brad Parks
Series: Carter Ross, #4

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the opening pages of Faces of the Gone, I could tell that Parks could tell a good story, and a compelling mystery while making you laugh. He’s only gotten better each novel since — which hardly seems fair.

Not that I’m complaining.

There were times when I thought the mystery this time was a tad predictable, but there were enough twists to keep my interest — and the way Parks writes, plus the subplots and characters made it more than enough. Parks makes me laugh out loud frequently — without turning these books into a sit-com like Janet Evanovich would. It’s real humor in the midst of suspense — like early Robert B. Parker or Robert Crais (remember when Elvis Cole was funny?)

My biggest gripe is that Parks only puts out one of these a year.

Dusted Off (and updated): Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks

By HCNewton

On September 2, 2013

In Authors, Brad Parks, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, P-U

Faces of the Gone by Brad Parks
Series: Carter Ross, #1

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a solid mystery novel from a first-time novelist who doesn’t write like a first timer (a career as a newspaper reporter helped a lot there, natch). Some of the characters bordered on stock, but Parks used them well enough that you just don’t care. Same with the mystery itself–on the whole, it was pretty obvious, but it was the telling of the story that sold it. Thoroughly entertaining — I even laughed out loud a couple of times.

Looking forward to the next one.

P. S. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve read this one (I have read it twice, however). I think given the world he created, and the way things have played out in the following books. And just my overall appreciation for Parks, I’d probably give this at least 4-4.5 stars now. But I’ll stick to my original grade, just to be honest. Just know that these three stars are very shiny.