Bookmarks Winter 2007 edition of the BOOKLOFT NEWSLETTER
What's Mary Been Reading?
For some reason, as the year winds down and the days grower shorter, I like to read about other times as well as other places and I often retreat to medieval or older times for my escape. The book that got me through the busy and hectic holiday season at the store was The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I had heard about this book in many of my bookselling publications and it also received a lot of praise from independent booksellers across the country. It is the first novel by this author and I think she is off to a dazzling start.
The novel is a multi-layered story of a young woman historian who is following in her father's steps in researching the true story of the man who inspired the Dracula legend. It is by no means your typical vampire story, however. There is less bloody horror and more tracking down obscure bits of eastern European history. We follow the narrators as they journey to exotic locales throughout Spain, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Turkey searching for the grave of Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler. As his name suggests, he wasn't afraid to shed his enemies' blood and the legend of the bloodletting Dracula follows from this. But the story, while it does contain some neck biting, goes much further in exploring the life and times of Count Drakulya.
The book is one which contains stories within stories as we simultaneously follow the young woman's as well as her father's quest for the truth about this dark period of medieval history. It is fascinating and compelling.
Somewhat lighter and definitely more romantic, was The White Mare by Jules Watson. This novel is set in Scotland in 79 AD and is kind of a cross between The Mists of Avalon and the novels of Diana Gabaldon. The first century in Britain was not exactly an easy life and there was plenty of violence and conflict going on. Having established a presence in the south of Britain, the Romans cast their eye on the north. The tribes of northern Britons were having their own difficulties, fighting between themselves and so, the idea of uniting to fight was as foreign an idea as the Roman invasion itself.
The two main characters, one a Scottish priestess and princess and the other, an Irish prince exiled from his home, are forced into a marriage to promote a strategic alliance. But as the story progresses and the threat of the Roman invasion increases, so does the romantic tension between the two. If you like to read about the magic of Celtic culture with a nice mix of history and myth, you will enjoy this epic tale. (The White Mare is part one of a forthcoming trilogy.)
Although I could probably spend all winter in the wilds of ancient time, I do return to the present or near present for a little diversity.
To School Through the Fields by Alice Taylor
This delightful memoir takes the reader to Ireland in the 1940s to the rural area where the author grew up. She shows us farm life as it was then, full of hard work, but also full of the joy of being in close touch with the land and the animals around the farmstead. The adults as well as the children seem to be more aware of the beauty and mystery around them as they spent their days raising and harvesting food and crops. The book is interspersed with the author's simple but lovely poems about the charms of her Irish country childhood.
Citizen Vince is the latest book by Spokane author Jess Walter. Set in the week before the presidential election of 1980, it explores the mind of a petty criminal living in Spokane as part of the witness protection program. Vince Camden has been relocated from New York, where he not only defaulted on a debt to mobster, but also squealed on him. He is now making donuts and engaging once again in the petty crimes he knows so well. But because he is, on paper, a new man, he receives a voter registration card in the mail for the first time. (His previous felonies have excluded him from the voting process up until now.) Suddenly, he becomes interested in the wider world and actually starts paying attention to politics. As his past threatens to catch up with him, we follow once again the last days of the presidential race between Carter and Reagan.
The author does a nice balancing act between the political race and Vince's own race to escape hit men and corrupt cops. There is a cast of interesting characters and funny dialog. Walter also gives a good sense of place as his character contrasts his current town to the place he grew up when he takes a trip to New York to try to square up his debts.
All in all, a good read and a different look at life lived on both sides of the law
LOVE AND OTHER IMPOSSIBLE PURSUITS by Ayalet Waldman an audio book review
This novel is told in the voice of a 30something young woman living with her husband in an upscale apartment building across the street from Central Park. They are recovering from the loss of their daughter who died two days after she was born. The woman, Emelia is also struggling to get along with her husband's five-year-old son William who spends Wednesdays and alternate weekends with them. William is very precocious and his mother is a high-powered physician with big expectations for William and standards of care giving which are impossible for Amelia to achieve. In the two months since her daughter died, Emelia has only barely been able to cope with her life and resents William and the inevitable unpleasantness that results when she fails to live up to his mother's ideals. The emotional tension between the couple escalates to the point that Emelia moves out. Ironically, it is then William who brings about a resolution to the swirl of emotional upheaval, which surrounds Emelia.
From the beginning through to the end I was completely caught up in the lives of these characters. There are wonderful descriptions of Central Park and New York City life. Through it all, the author manages to explore love in its many aspects. Though we look to love for bells, whistles and fireworks, it comes to us subtly and in ways we least expect.
Okay, now for all of you younger readers out there champing at the bit for a good new read while waiting for the latest Potter, Paolini, Artemis Fowl etc. I've been reading away and have discovered a couple of new ones that you might like.
The Book Without Words by Avi
You know, I've never read Avi although he is very prolific (a word which in this case means he's written more than 50 books!). This one is set in England in 1046 and is about an old man who is studying magic to make gold and achieve immortality. His magical book however, only reveals its secret formulas to green-eyed readers who are filled with a great desire. His young girl servant, his talking raven and two green-eyed boys get involved in the magic. They must decide the fate of the book and in the process learn about greed and betrayal, magic and secrets.
Now I'll have to try some of Avi's many other books.
Sign of the Qin by L.G. Bass
Dragons, martial arts, sea monsters and magical monkeys this novel has it all. It is an action packed adventure in which a band of outlaws fight to save their people from an evil emperor. They await the arrival of "the chosen one" a descendent of a mighty warrior and enlightened leader. Unbeknownst to them, the chosen one has been born. But he must learn a lifetime of skills in a short time while fighting of the emperor's thugs sent to behead him. Thank goodness for magic!
This book is part one in a series of The Outlaws of Moonshadow Marsh. The second book is out now, but still in hardcover.
Bookmarks Archive
Past Bookmarks Newsletters (without graphics) are available by clicking on links below: