Grave Predictions

While I found this an interesting book to read, I can't say I enjoyed it. It did give me a lot to think about. This is a compilation of short stories about the end of the world as we know it. There are a couple that were written in the late 1800's, one written in 1872 about global warming that is prescient. W.E.B DuBois' story of the last white woman and black man left in the world breaks my heart. Several other stories are written by acknowledged masters of sci fi and fantasy literature. There is not one ray of hope in this stories, but they are all remarkable stories.

Michael Swanick's Not so much, said the Cat

I truly enjoy this man's work. His brain provides points of view from so many odd angles. This is a compilation of his short stories, of which I think he handles masterfully. These stories have been previously published in other venues of Science Fiction, like Tor, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Asimov's Science Fiction to name a few. I particularly liked An Empty House with Many Doors that speaks of heartbreak and parallel dimensions. And Of Finest Scarlet was her Gown where a daughter travels to Hell to bargain with the Devil for her father's soul. And the Man in Grey is incredibly interesting to think about, in a way illustrating Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage. And men and women merely players" the poem from As You Like It. Good fun. Interesting reading. Don't miss it.

Brunonia Berry's Fifth Petal - a perfect Halloween Read

Barry certainly has a way with telling a story. Here we have modern Salem, touting witchery and the Witch Trials to build tourism. And it's Halloween, perfect for an other worldly murder mystery....maybe. There's the crazy old homeless lady who rails of banshees coming for the dead. And there's the little girl, now grown, the only surviving victim of a gruesome murder when she was only 5. There are hints of the mystic throughout the story, but what else would one expect of such a place setting. Barry's storytelling voice draws one in and wraps one in a blanket of suspended belief. 

If you are a fan of Sarah Addison Allen, you're going to like Barry's taletelling.

Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

I love books about magic, but I've never figured out why.  I'm sure there's some deep dark psychological meaning that I'm deeply flawed.  Oh well, too late now.

 In some ways this story line has been used many times: Young girl finds she has a special talent, family and friends are uncomfortable with this talent, girl is brought to a "school" for special training, teachers and training are too confining, schoolmates are jealous of her talent, girl breaks out on her own.

And yet, and yet, it was a very good read and I had no idea where it was going. The story is told from two different narratives, now (events being related by another) and then (the girl telling her story to the other). The Now narrative is much darker and the reader knows from the first that something has gone terribly wrong in her life. There are castles and dragons and monsters, kings and princes and knights, there is magic, both good and bad. There is flirtation and love, life and death and something in between. Don't be surprised if it's optioned for a movie.

Not Quite States of American by Doug Mack

Author quote from the chapter of Guam: "You cannot write an honest narrative of the United States of America without including the territories as key components. And you cannot write an honest narrative of the territories without feeling acutely uncomfortable about the United States and its continuing struggles to live up to it's own ideals."

This is a fascinating travel work about the U.S. territories. It's entertaining and educational, and raises a lot of questions about America's goals around the world. American territories are a small but important part of our history as a country, but can you name all of them? If someone even mentioned their name would you even recognize it as a U.S. possession, and ruled under the U.S. constitution? I know I couldn't, There is rarely news about them, but you as a U.S. citizen can travel there without a passport or re-locate there as if you were moving to another state, if......and that's a big IF. If you are at all interested in world affairs this should be on your reading list.

Etitle provided by Netgalley in return for a review.

Chasing Embers

I love the website NetGalley where I can find books about to be published and read them (and review, of course)  but I get too greedy and then I have to suspend all other household activities (poor me) and read, read, read.  This one was fun and not quite what I expected.

As a first time novel, it's pretty good, tho the author gets carried away in some of his plentiful use of adverbs and adjectives, but I hold out hope he'll tone it down in his following novels. It's a fun read about dragons and magic, and fairly well reasoned out to its use in this alternate earth. I found it interesting that the author talks about conservation of resources and the earth's changing climate, and the devastation of war as seen from a dragon who has the long view. I was impressed with this addition. There's lots of action, and a bit of romance. Lots of introspection on the part of the dragon, and growth in the character, which was somewhat unexpected on my part.

Reader's Advisory: Urban Fantasy. First in the series. This is a great What to Read Next for followers of the Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey, the Dresden Chronicles by Jim Butcher, or Simon Green's Nightside series.

Where I am Now by Mara Wilson

I love autobiographies.  There's something sort of naughty about them peeking into someone else's life, and not minding my own business.  I suppose it's a manner of wondering if I'm doing my life right, because for sure it's doesn't seem to be going as I would prefer.  However, I really enjoyed Mara Wilson's new autobiography Where I am Now.  It's a parody of those click bait sites we see at the bottom of articles, that tell you the celebrities you've grown up with are now completely disgraced, old, fat or whatever.  Like we're not all human.  Anyway, my review:

Autobiographies; where we peek into someone else's life with no shame. Wilson's story was a thoroughly enjoyable read, even though I empathized as Ms. Wilson discusses her personal anxieties and obsessions, and later discovering that they are treatable. But I particularly like how she discovers that her true love is telling stories and doing stand-up story telling. She speaks to how being a very young actor sets up expectations in later life, within herself and with others who saw her movies. And she talks about, even though she was considered |cute" by casting directors in her youth, she is not considered "pretty enough" as she grows into her teens, giving no credit to her acting talent. I mean, really, how many of us were pretty in our teens? She speaks of some of the people she worked with, especially her love of Robin Williams. She takes these stories as her stand up material giving them a wry, comedic twist, making the folly of our human experiences comparable.