November 11th, 2012
We Are Absolutely Not Okay: Fourteen Stories By Teenagers Who Are Picking Up the Pieces Marjie Bowker and Ingrid Ricks (Editors) Scriber Lake High School (2012), Paperback, 80 pages Wow. Fourteen strong stories baring hearts, souls and feelings. Tough stuff for anyone, especially a teenager, to write. The product of a writing program in an alternative High School, this is a collection transformative moments in the lives of teens who were, not so long ago, considered 'at-risk' or worse. The contributors to this collection are not only telling their own stories, but are being an example for other kids in crisis. They are not just surviving, but thriving. (****) This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/450741.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
NaNoLoMo #6Gideon's Corpse by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child Vision (2012), Edition: Reprint, Mass Market Paperback, 480 pages **no spoilers** Gideon's Corpse reintroduces us to Gideon Crew, a man with a past and very little future. If you haven't read Gideon's Sword it's okay – you'll pick up in short order, though some of the early character interactions will make a little more sense if you have. The book also leaves a number of loose ends dangling – there will be forthcoming Gideon Crew books from these authors. Preston & Child write in their usual high definition style. There are a lot of sneaky details that are completely credible; as someone who has spent some time around Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Jemez wilderness I can follow the action in my minds' eye and know right where things are happening. The bio/techno/terrorist premise is scary. It's truly frightening to think what a small group of terrorists might conceive of if not for the real life vigilance of the men and women protecting our country's Weapons of Mass Destruction. Fast paced and gripping, this is a story that can get inside your head and make you sit up and take notice of your surroundings. This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/450438.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
NaNoLoMo #7Vale of stars by Sean O'Brien Trade paperback, 360 pages: JournalStone, 2012. This book was received as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. **No Spoilers** A multi-generational tale of an Earth-origin colony ship with a repeated conflict between 'Us' and 'Them'; 'Norm' vs 'Mutant'; 'Have' vs 'Have-Not'. 100 years in deep space has exposed each ensuing generation to cosmic radiation and the potential genetic damage it causes. In preparation for landfall a dishonest Council member tries to compel the medical staff to abandon the care of the 'genetic defectives' using the rationale that upon landfall all medical resources will be needed for the productive colonists. Jene Halfner, the Chief of Medical Services refuses to do so and discovers the population of Ship is far more polarized and less egalitarian than she (and most other people) would have believed. Her actions, and those of her descendants make you examine the dynamics of the colony population, the interaction with the planet itself, and the discovery of an indigenous life-form. The author presses the question of what is 'Normal'? Can Humanity actually live as one among equals or will there always be the conflict 'Us' vs 'Them'? Is social conflict 'Human Nature' or something else? A well crafted Sci-Fi tale with a thinking philosophical twist, Vale of Stars can be fairly light reading, or you can allow it to raise fundamental questions about our very nature. Well Done!! (****1/2 stars) This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/450292.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
November 5th, 2012
NaNoLoMo #5Amanda's Eyes (A.J. Gregson Novel) Kathy DiSanto A near-future crime reporter investigating Very Bad People finds herself blinded by an explosion that kills two colleagues. When she recovers from ocular transplant surgery surgery she finds herself seeing things in an entirely new way. Can she use this unique ability to break the story of a lifetime before the Bad People break her? A well constructed story that is a fast and entertaining read. (****) Four Stars This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/449813.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
November 4th, 2012
NaNoLoMo #44 Nov 2012 Scholar (The Imager Portfolio) by L. E. Modesitt Tor Fantasy (2012), Edition: Reprint, Mass Market Paperback, 672 pages Another fine volume in The Imager Portfolio, 'Scholar' is set generations before the first previous books in this Universe. As with all Modesitt books it is lushly descriptive and has a series of credible and practical (but not entirely predicable) sub-plots. Quaeryt is a scholar with a secret – he is also an Imager. As an adviser to the Lord of Telaryn he is sent to investigate why a large cohort of troops are still needed to occupy Tilbor, ten years after his sire conquered the area. Just getting there turns out to be an ordeal, with storms, pirates, a ship-wreck, reavers and poisoning. Once he arrives he discovers things are both better and worse than expected, and has to find his way to the bottom of plots and deceptions without revealing his imaging ability, and before any of several plotters do away with him. The story does hold some surprises, most of which are neatly wound up by the end, but enough loose threads are left dangling that I'm anxiously looking forward to getting the next book in this sequence. (*****) Five stars This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/449684.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
November 3rd, 2012
NaNoLoMo #33 Nov 2012 The Bobbsey Twins in the Country Laura Lee Hope Bobbsey Twins #2 published 1905 A recent conversation about vintage and childhood books had me looking at what I was reading between Grades 1 and 2. A quick re-read shows a huge (and not unexpected) difference in perspective from a 6 year old to a mumblety-year old. The 1905 text shows classist and societal norms that were first edited in the 1940s-50s, turning carriages into automobiles and otherwise updating technology; and in the 1970s, eliminating the 'N”word and changing the patois of the black maid and gardener into more culturally correct language. Having said all that, the stories of two sets of fraternal twin who get into all kinds of 'adventures', not always 'correct' or 'heroic' are quick moving action stories for kids, but well into the range of 'chapter-books' as opposed to children's short stories. Despite being unquestionably dated this story still engages more than 100 years later. (***) Three stars This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/449417.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
November 2nd, 2012
NaNoLoMo #22 Nov 2012 Butterfly Potion by Trent Zelazny Nightscape Press, LLP (2012), Paperback, 92 pages ISBN: 1938644018 978-1938644016 **no spoilers** A lush collection of word-pictures and a geographically correct picture of Santa Fe fill this novella. 24 hours in the life of a blackout drinker. From waking up in a ditch with no memory of the night before and everything gone but forty-five cents in his pocket to finding himself in the arms of another regular from the bar, this is not so much a coming of age as a coming to terms for Perry. There are insightful words of wisdom and well crafted writing in a tale that is remarkably engaging for all that it's not a particularly happy adventure. (****) Four stars This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/449111.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
NaNoLoMo #11 Nov 12 The Chocolatier's Wife by Cindy Lynn Speer (c)2012 Dragonwell Publishing ISBN-13 978-1-4524477-6-6 Part mystery, part magic, with a measure of old fashioned romance make The Chocolatier's Wife a delightful sweet. In a world where marriages are arranged in infancy by use of a 'Mating Spell' William, of the House of Almsley, was looking like a forever bachelor when he went to see the Wise Woman on his seventh birthday. Finally, his perfect mate appears, but to his proper Merchanting family's horror, she is from the North Country. After the end of a war 500 years before there has been little communication between the North and the South. All 'proper' Southerners know that the people of the North are Hags who eat their dead and 'just anyone' can practice magic. Barbarians, indeed – but are they... ? Over the years William develops a relationship by correspondence with his intended, while progressing in the management of the family business and becoming a fine captain of his own merchant ship. When the time comes to marry he shocks the family by announcing he intends to quit sailing and open a chocolate shop. Appalling! Miss Tasmin Bey has grown up with William's letters and gifts and developed an affection for him, but is teaching Herb Lore at the University (!!?!) and wondering if he will ever come for her when she learns that he has been arrested for murder! Her family, who are not much inclined to have their daughter marry on of the 'barbarians of the South' see this as an opportunity to void the marriage arrangement. Instead, Tasmin resigns her post at the University and flies (after a fashion) to his aid. It is quickly apparent that William didn't commit the crime, and up to Tasmin to get to the bottom of it. A well constructed story with murder, magic (and pirates!!!) there are some clever sub-plots and a few completely unpredictable twists. Speer writes a fast paced tale that engages to the very end. (****) Four Stars This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/449010.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
October 9th, 2012
The Glass Butterfly by Louise Marley Kensington (2012), Edition: 1 Original, Paperback, 400 pages This book was received via the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program. No spoilers. A skillfully woven pair of tales; one, the lengths a mother will go to save her son, the other, the loyalty and devotion of a servant in the household of composer Giacomo Puccini. Fast-paced despite the alternating perspectives, and, like all Marley books, expressing the author's love of music in a way completely integral to the story. You'll want to put on Madame Butterfly and settle in to read this delightful book. This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/448559.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
August 31st, 2012
What Nurses Know ... PTSD by Mary E. Muscari The book was received via the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. Everyone knows about PTSD, right? Something that combat veterans and crime victims experience? If that's what you think it's all about you'd be wrong. This book provides a wealth of information in a useful, non-clinical way. PTSD can be caused by many things and manifest in many different ways. This book describes both acute and chronic PTSD, presentation, and potential coping methods. It will be useful for the patient who doesn't realize this is what they're experiencing, or the family member who intellectually 'gets' it but really doesn't understand. There are a multitude of useful resources, suggestions, and discussion material. There is ample space devoted to acute PTSD - the form most people are familiar with. Chronic PTSD, something unrealized by many, is addressed in useful and informative ways. Most sections of the book can be read in 'small bites' and stand alone very well. This format works well for the subject matter, because it's not something that most people can consume all at once. There are a couple of places where a full page table is not clearly delineated from the preceding page text and it took me two or three looks to parse the information before realizing it was related, but not integral to the material on the previous page. Otherwise the book is well organized and easy to read. Overall, an excellent offering. This entry was originally posted at http://somewhatbent.dreamwidth.org/448389.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
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