Bridge of Birds

Bridge of Birds —by Barry Hughart

Fiction / Ancient China that never was

288 pages

3 Stars

First off, I love stories of Ancient China, especially about Qin Shi Huandi, the first emperor. I love the histories I've read, and the fiction I've read, and the fantasies of Ancient China whether or not it ever was. So it was with great excitement I began this book. I was not as excited by the end of the book as I was at the beginning.

The writing is consistent, and while I enjoyed some of the characters, I really didn't bond with any of them. I never saw them as anything but paper cut outs. And there were a few times when I was thrown completely out of the story.

The story has its amusing moments, as Li Kao and Lu Yu (aka Number Ten Ox) go about their adventures finding the treasured ginseng root to save the children of Lu's village from a mysterious illness. However, I thought it a tad too long. By the time we were on the third, and final, adventure, I found myself wondering if I cared enough to finish the book. I was, at best, only mildly curious at the whole outcome (saving of the children was a foregone conclusion).

I believe this is Mr. Hughart's debut novel, and long as it was (psychologically, not literally) I will give his next book a read. He has a good story, I think, just too much fluff and not enough busting (editing). I want to care about his characters. I want to identify with at least one of them.

Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer --by Dorothy Gilman

Fiction / Mystery (Cozy)

218 pages

4 Stars

This is my introduction to Mrs. Pollifax, so I have no idea how it compares to the rest of the series. I found it moderately entertaining, enough that I finished it. Mysteries are not my normal reading genre, and when I read them, I try not to figure out who the bad guy is so the ending won't be ruined when I get there.

This is a book I would be delighted to find on the hospital book cart, should I find myself confined to such a place. Mrs. P and the Lion Killer is easy to read, easy to put down, and easy to pick up again later.

The title is somewhat misleading; it is not about a person who goes to Africa to kill lions, but about the man who kills others like a lion might.

If you are a fan of the Miss Jane Marple books by Agatha Christie, I think you will enjoy the Mrs. Pollifax books.  While there is violence, it is neither gratuitous, nor graphic, and there is a great deal of humor. And, true to the "cozy" format, it ends well for everyone but the antagonist.

A Cup of Light

53  A Cup of Light  —by Nicole Mones  

Fiction / Modern

304 pages / 331 KB

5 Stars

This book was my 'Introduction' to Nicole Mones. Or, at least, to her writing. I shall search out her debut novel, Lost in Translation, and others she may have out there. I was thoroughly entranced by this book.

A Cup of Light is not a fast paced book; it is a deliberately woven story. I loved the two main characters, Lia and Michael. I could definitely relate to Lia's deafness, and how she loves to remove her hearing aids to be enveloped in a cocoon of quiet where she can focus on her work, and also visit her memory files. She has trained her memory, since childhood, to file everything away, and when she needs to find a particular memory, either of porcelain or anything else she has filed, she knows just were to find it.

Lia Frank, an American who reads Chinese, but due to her deafness does not speak it well, is a highly gifted appraiser of Chinese porcelains. She is sent to China by her employer with a companion to appraise several antique porcelains. Her companion gets sick en route, and she ends up going alone, without the second set of eyes needed for such a task. Most of the pieces are genuine, some are exquisite forgeries, and she must know the difference.

Mones takes us into the world of porcelain, what makes it so beautiful, so rare, so beloved by emperors and collectors the world over. When Lia goes into her memory files to help her decide which is real, which is fake, we get some absolutely fascinating tidbits of Chinese and porcelain history. When she finds forgeries, even they are good enough, exquisite enough, to almost cause her pain.

This story is a silk tapestry woven from the lives of several people, primarily focusing on Lia. The threads are brought in when needed, and by the end of the book, the tapestry is finished, beautiful, and worthy to grace A Cup of Light.

The Bone Knife

The Bone Knife: A Short Story —by Intisar Khanani 

Fiction /

55 pages / 213 KB (The Bone Knife is about 24 pages. File also includes sample chapters)

5 Stars

I admit to a certain amount of disappointment when at 46% I reached the end of the story. Rae and her sisters and parents, and the Faerie who visited, were all fun, and enjoyable.

This is not a short story about a young woman who is orphaned, or abandoned, who must 'go it alone' — this is a story about a family, and how they live with their fears and their love for each other.

Being a short story, there wasn't a great deal of time to flesh out the characters, or explain why Rae's family seemed somewhat different from the villagers. A possibility of that difference is the secret they are keeping.

This is a prequel to a trilogy the author is working on, and I understand Rae will once again make an appearance. I hope her sisters do, too. I look forward to reading more by this author in my near future.

The Daily Shark

The Daily Shark – Shark Facts for Kids (Newspaper Facts for Kids, Book 1) — IP Factly and IC Beasties

Nonfiction / 8 and under

28 pages / 3960 KB

5 Star

This delightful book about sharks reads like a newspaper. Each page features a headline, photo, short article. Many of the articles were about sharks I'd never heard of. The cookie cutter shark was the most fascinating, too me. I'd like to know how it got that name, and what, besides submarine sonar is there preferred diet.

I did have one quibble, about the time sharks first appeared in our oceans, and when dinosaurs first appeared on earth; however, I don't think it's enough of a quibble to downgrade it to 4 stars.

The book is geared to young readers of about eight years of age, though I think older children would also enjoy it. If you're looking for books to spur the reading habit in your youngsters, be sure to add this book to their collection. You won't go wrong!