'The Immortals'

Mythology has always interested me.  Be it in a comic/graphic novel universe, an ancient civilization, or even a children's book series.  Not all of it centers around religion.

But the book I just finished does center around religion, albeit an ancient one.

'The Immortals', a new book written by Jordanna Max Brodsky, takes ancient Greek mythology and turns it on it's ear.  It's the first in a series, and after experiencing great satisfaction in reading it, I'm anxious for more.

The city sleeps as Selene DiSilva walks her dog along the banks of the Hudson river. She enjoys her solitary existence; she doesn't have friends, and she doesn't speak to her family.  Most of of them are simply too dangerous.

During her walk, she finds the body of a young woman that has been gruesomely mutilated and wearing a laurel wreath. Selene's ancient rage arises, and so does the memory of a promise she made long ago---when her name was Artemis.

This book was recommended to me, and once I held it in my hands, I wasn't sure if I had the time to do my customary 'plopping down on the sofa' and devoting a couple of hours to the story. 


But I did.  And I was pleasantly surprised.  Brodsky is a good writer; she keeps up the frenetic pace, and really knows her Greek mythology.  The story is set in our time, and Greek gods and semi-gods are walking the earth, no longer important idols.  As the centuries pass and civilization forgets about them, their powers lessen, while their anger grows.

As most scholars (and fans) of Greek mythology know, Artemis was the Huntress, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto. But in this story, Selene-Artemis is given a chance to narrate her own life. She chose chastity, but fell in love with Orion.  She was the goddess of the natural environment, yet lived in the city where she spent the last of her days.

Author Jordanna Max Brodsky

At first, I didn't have much sympathy for her (Artemis was a rather aloof goddess), but when I learned that her current passion for helping women in distress was her life choice, I grew to respect her.  After a slow start, the story began to move, and with it, more characters were introduced.  Theo Schultz, a professor of mythology, comes into her orbit; Helen, the murdered woman was once his lover and a colleague.  As the story progresses, Theo and Selene set off to find Helen's murderer, and in doing so, discover that an ancient ceremony is taking place, one which offers up human sacrifices. 

Jordanna Brodsky 'knows her stuff', and it's a wonderful education for the reader.  

But, most of all, it's so damned interesting.


    

'The Immortals', first in the 'Olympus Bound' series by Jordanna Max Brodsky, is available at your local library and favorite bookstore. 
ISBN 9780316347181

'Pax'

I should know better than to read stories about animals.

They reach in and tear out my heart, even if the story is fiction.

One that comes to mind is 'Pax', the story of a little fox and his boy, written by the wonderful children's author, Sara Pennypacker.

You see, the problem I have with animal stories is that the animal usually dies, and I cannot handle the grief.  I end up on the couch, crying my stupid eyes out, while my cats circle me and wonder when I'm going to feed them.  Every time I'm in a bookstore, or the library, and find an animal book, I always ask if the animal dies.  Most know better than to tell me.

'Pax' is a wonderful story about, as I said before, a little fox and his human boy.  The boy saved the fox when it was just a kit, and it lived with Peter and his father.  It had no taste for the wild, aside from various animals milling about the yard while Pax was in his cage.

But when Peter's father enlists in the military, he makes Peter return Pax to the wild.  Although Peter ends up living with his grandfather, who lives 300 miles away, he strikes out on his own to find his beloved companion.

While Peter continues on his journey back home, Pax keeps a look-out for his boy, and finds adventures of his own.

Author Sara Pennypacker

This is such a gently-written story, so full of love and compassion.  Peter and Pax make a remarkable pair, although they are separated for most of the story.  But the 'not knowing' hit me hard; I wanted to read ahead, but the story deserved my fullest attention.  It is very compelling and full of suspense.  

Writing a children's story is hard work, and much care goes into it.  There are lessons to be taught, and lessons that are learned.

And, in this case, tears that are shed for a story that will be cherished for generations to come.


'Pax', written by Sara Pennypacker, is available at your local library and favorite bookstore.  ISBN 9780062377012.  Ms. Pennypacker is the award-winning author of the 'Flat Stanley'  and 'Clementine' series, along with many other stories for children.

'The Little Paris Bookshop'

It's not often that stories can make me cry.  Tears of joy, tears of terror, tears of sadness. How about tears of familiarity? 

People have been recommending the book, 'The Little Paris Bookshop', for a while now, and once I put it on my 'hold' list at the library, I had to wait a good while for it.

Once I got the notice that it was waiting for me, I ran down that day and picked it up.  It was a story that I won't forget anytime soon.

It is at once a gentle, yet passionate, tale of a Parisian man who is drowning in memories of his lost love.  Before she took off, she left a letter, but her lover couldn't bring himself to read it.

But, twenty years later, he rediscovered it and read it, which led to the journey of a lifetime.

I realized from the very first paragraph that author Nina George is an extremely talented writer.  She pulled my heartstrings.  She made me cry.  She made me concentrate on lifelong regrets, and guided me toward a reconciliation of what I had done, and what I was too fearful to try.

This is a deep book, folks.  It's not a pretty romance.  It's not a 'bromance', either (two men accompany him, and they each have their own reasons for the journey)  It's a journey of enlightenment; a journey to find things lost and delight in things found.  Her characters touched me deeply.

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary.  From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. But the only person he cannot heal is himself.  He's still haunted by the heartbreak after his great love disappeared.  She left him with a letter that he has never opened.

Author Nina George

After finally reading the letter, he lifts anchor and travels to the south of France, hoping to discover the end of the story.  Joined by a young bestselling, but blocked, author, and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu goes on a journey to heal his soul.

I cannot recommend this novel enough.  It is warm, full of wisdom, and has a few surprises. And, yes, it is romantic.


What do you expect from a story set in a floating bookstore (with two cats!) on a river in France?






'The Little Paris Bookshop', by Nina George, is available at your local library or favorite bookstore.  ISBN 9780553418774 Published by Crown Publishing, a division of Penguin Random House.

'Winter'

There comes a time when all good things must come to an end.  And it's especially difficult if the 'good things' are book series.

As with so many, grief strikes when I read that last page.  I still want more Harry Potter books.  I crave to read more about the Magicians.

Last night, I finished Marissa Meyers' 'Winter', the last Young Adult book in her wonderful 'Lunar Chronicles' series.  But this time, I wasn't grief-stricken.  The whole ending was tied up with a neat little bow, and I felt satisfied with it.  I no longer have to bite my nails to the quick while waiting for the latest installment.    

But that doesn't mean I won't be anxious to read her future stories.  Meyers is a good writer; she's clever, creates full-bodied characters, and knows how to keep the tension alive.  Plus, I absolutely loved/hated Queen Levana.  What a realistic bitch!

If you've been keeping up with my reviews on this series, you know that I love fairy tales. They were a big part of my childhood.  And they still are.

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.


Levana thinks that Winter is a little weakling, but appearances deceive.  Before she knows it, Winter and her love, Jacin, are involved in an elaborate plan to lead a rebellion against the Queen.  Together with Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, and her other allies, they are determined to win a war that's been going on way too long.

Thanks, Marissa Meyer, for the wonderful series.  It was a great way to end the old year, and begin the new one.




'Winter', the last book in Marissa Meyers' 'Lunar Chronicles' series, is available at your local library and favorite bookstore.  The series is published by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan books.  
ISBN 978-0-312-64298-3    

'Did You Ever Have a Family'

Stories about death are the last things most people think I need to read.  A year to recover from my daughter's death isn't enough time; there will never be enough time.  But sometimes, a story comes along that not only lifts me, but makes me feel as if someone has read my soul. 

And it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I survived, although it took me a while to really get into it.  But I finished it.  I loved it.

It's my choice for 'Book of the Year'. Thanks, Bill Clegg, for 'Did You Ever Have a Family'.

On the eve of her daughter's wedding, June Reid's life is upended when a shocking disaster takes the lives of her daughter, future son-in-law, June's ex-husband, and her boyfriend, Luke.  Her entire family is gone in an instant, with June being the only survivor.

Alone and not knowing what to do, June drives across the country, away from her small Connecticut town.  In her wake, the community emerges into something viable and worthy of sympathy.  Luke's mother, Lydia, the town outcast; the couple running a motel on the Pacific coast, where June eventually settles into a quiet half-life; the wedding caterer, whose bill has been forgotten; the boy who brings us to a tragic discovery.

Although most people I know thought that I would never be able to finish this book, I think I surprised them all.  It is so tragic, yet so uplifting.  It echoed my own feelings about sudden death.  And like June, I just wanted to run away. Forgetting my bills, forgetting my friends and family.  Forgetting every disappointment.  Insulating myself from the people who most wanted to help me overcome the tragedy.

Author Bill Clegg

But, unlike June, I stuck around.  I didn't run away.  I settled my daughter's estate.  I got through her memorial service.  I managed to stay afloat during the first birthday/Christmas/Thanksgiving without her.

This story is full of forgiveness and hope, love and sadness. The characters are ones I wanted to embrace, and I think I did.

Because I know them.  I know them well.

'Did You Ever Have a Family', the remarkable novel from Bill Clegg, and published by Scout Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster), is available from your local library or favorite bookstore.  

ISBN 978-1-4767-9817-2

'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams'

The weather's pretty crazy in my part of the country.

It's not even Winter yet, and it's cold enough to _________.  I'll let you fill in the blank.

I haven't been running through books as I usually do at this time of year; that's what illness will do to you.  But the books I do manage to finish are quite interesting.  Especially this one. 'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams', by Stephen King, is a collection of twenty short stories. There are a few that I really wish had been longer, but I feel lucky that I had a chance to even read them.  Some are bazaar (see what I did there?  Did ya?), some are straight fiction 
(and very dazzling, if I might add).  And some of them make you think.

Some of these stories have never been published, and some of which Stephen has revised. He introduces each one with the story of it's origin, or the reason he wrote it. Very enlightening info from a man who doesn't shy away from sharing.

King's 20 short stories have connections: Themes of morality, the afterlife, guilt, what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past.

'Afterlife' is about a man who died of colon cancer and keeps reliving the same life. Other stories address what happens when someone discovers that he has supernatural powers--the columnist who kills people by writing their obituaries in 'Obits', or the old judge who, as a boy, canoes to a small island and sees names written in the sand, the names of people who then die in freak accidents.  

Some of the stories are scary in another way:  They tell of real life and the real horror hidden within the nicest person.

Author 'Little Stevie' King

The story that really stayed with me was 'Ur', and when you read it, you'll know why.  

King's stories tend to become instant classics the minute the ink hits the paper.  He's done a great job with this new collection.  The stories have kept me up all night, and it wasn't because I was scared.

It's the writing.  The writing pulls me in and doesn't let me go.

When it starts pulling me under the bed, I'll send for help.




'The Bazaar of Bad Dreams', published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, is available at your local library and favorite bookstore.  ISBN 9781501111679

'Beastly Bones'

I'm sorry it's been so long, faithful readers, but I've been taking a hiatus.  A health hiatus. Reading is still one of the best ways I spend my days, but I've had to stand back and think about my future.

And I've determined that this blog is part of it, especially if my dream of owning a book shop comes to fruition.  I'm still working on that.  And if it does happen, I'll most likely stock a lot of Young Adult novels.

Speaking of Young Adult novels, I was overjoyed to find the second book in the 'Jackaby' series by William Ritter while I was roaming around the library not too long ago. I grabbed it, checked it out, and ran, eager to throw myself upon the couch and dig into Ritter's newest story, 'Beastly Bones'.

And I really liked it.  It wasn't as unusual as the first book, but it was entertaining, nonetheless.

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, are called upon to investigate the latest supernatural incident.  First, members of a particularly vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens.  A day later, their owner is found dead, with a single mysterious puncture wound to her neck. Then, in nearby Gad's Valley, dinosaur bones from a recent dig go missing, and an unidentifiable beast attacks animals and people, leaving mangled bodies behind. Policeman Charlie Cane, recently exiled to the valley, calls on Jackaby and Abigail for help, and soon all three are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer.

Ritter has maintained the same type of humor that was so well-displayed in his first book. But what truly delighted me was learning more about the 'house ghost', Jenny.  She and Abigail have become close friends, and the fact that she loans clothes to Abigail seemed rather strange, yet endearing.

Author William Ritter

The story's pace never lets up, even when there's an incident broiling between two of the antagonists.  I especially love the story's 'Sherlock Holmes' vibe.

But the tentative move toward a romance shared by Abigail and Charlie has taken a few steps. Small steps, I grant you, but at least it's moving forward.  

'Beastly Bones' is a quick read, but I was totally satisfied and am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

'Beastly Bones', the second 'Jackaby' book by William Ritter, is now available at your local library or favorite bookstore.  

ISBN 9781616203542