The Bone Jar --by S. W. Kane

Fiction / Mystery

328 pages / 2229 KB

5 Stars

 

 

If the F-bomb offends thee, read not this book! Yes, it’s used liberally, but is there for a reason, not just gratuitous use. After all, it’s a perfectly good word, and has a very legitimate and historical use. 

 

First book in a new series I had a hard time putting down. A cop, DI Kirby, who is normal, not rogue. He plays well with others—his partner, his boss, his parents, and his new girlfriend. He gets along with all of his suspects, isn’t a bully, in short, he’s a decent cop. 

 

An old woman is killed and placed in an abandoned mental asylum. She is obviously posed, no identification, and someone’s cell phone found nearby. As we all know, the identification of the deceased is paramount to finding her murderer. In the search, we learn the people connected to the story have a connection, one way or another, to the abandoned home. We also learn the old woman was a Saint personified, or a Witch, depending on one’s point of view. 

 

This is one of those stories I did not want to skim to get to the end. I wanted to read every word. And every word was important. Like other reviewers, I hope Connie and Raymond return in later books. Especially Raymond. What’s he going to do now? How is he doing? I hope the next book comes sooner than later!

Slow Lightning --by Eduardo C. Corral

Nonfiction / Poetry

96 pages

5 Stars

In the couple of weeks I have owned this book I have read it cover to cover twice. I have read many of the poems three and four times, and I sat with a Spanish dictionary and now have translated all the poems. (I can order a beer and a taco, and that’s about it.)

Lyrical, musical, magical realism, even not understanding all the words the first time through, the poems sang themselves off the page, grabbed me in their arms and danced me around the room. I eagerly await his next book. 

Paper Wife, a Novel –by Laila Ibrahim

Fiction / Historical, China, California

293 pages / 4223

5 Stars

I’d read about Ghost Brides, Picture Brides, Mail-Order Brides, but never a Paper Wife. The title alone was enough to grab my attention. A paper wife is none of the aforementioned—she is a lie. 

Mei Ling’s older sister Jah Jeh was brokered in marriage to a Chinese man, Chinn Kai Li, who lived in San Francisco. In 1923 it was extremely difficult for Chinese to immigrate to the US, but he was married, lied about his occupation, and came to China to collect his wife and young son. His first wife died just before he arrived. He had all the paperwork for his first wife, and it could not be changed, so he hired a broker to find him a suitable wife to care for his young son, Bo. The marriage would be the following day, and Jah Jeh would have to become his first wife, at least until through immigration.

Jah Jeh gets sick, and Mei Ling gets married to her sister’s betrothed, finds herself with a husband, a very young son, and on a voyage (steerage) to San Francisco. En route, she studies her book, all about her husband’s first wife. By the time they get to San Francisco, she realizes she is pregnant. How will he react? Will she be out of Immigration before the baby is born? Will she be deported? Will he keep her if the baby is a girl? What will happen if he finds out she is not who he thinks she is? All valid questions, and fearful ones.

On the ship she meets a six-year-old girl, who she wants to keep. The girl is in the women’s section, her uncle in the men’s, so Mei Ling “adopts” her. At least for the voyage. Mei Ling wants to make it permanent; will her new husband agree? Adopting a girl is not the usual thing a newlywed couple do. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was a fascinating insight into 1920s China, and even more, into the treatment of the Chinese on our shores. Basically, it is a story of an arranged marriage, a marriage built on lies, and how the couple grow, how Mei Ling adapts to a new country, a new culture, and I couldn’t put it down! I really hated for it to end.

Daughters of the Dragon --by William Andrews

Fiction / Historical, Korea

362 pages / 2675 KB

4 Stars

This could have been an embarrassment, but had it turned out that way, I wouldn't be writing my review. You see, I ordered this book by accident, I wanted another and clicked the wrong button. I am sooooo glad I did.

Though I might not have read this book, had I read the story is about the comfort women, women enslaved by the Japanese for sexual pleasure. By the time I got there, I was intrigued by the story, and read on. Up front, let me state I thought the topic was handled as tastefully as possible.

Anna is Korean, was adopted by Americans as a baby, and is now twenty, and a college student. Her mother has died, and she and her father decide to go to Korea to meet her birth parents if possible. She finds out her birth mother died giving birth to her, but she does meet her grandmother who tells her an amazing story of her youth, an old comb, and how she and her sister were "volunteered" to be comfort women in China. 

This book is not just a story of survival. It is a story of family, of heritage, of coming of age. I am not an historian of Korea, or Asia, so I don't know how accurate the history is, and though there were places I thought might have been a tad contrived, and a couple of places I questioned the validity, over all I enjoyed the book and read it in a couple of days.

I do believe Japan still owes the comfort women a formal apology and some sort of compensense

The Art of Inheriting Secrets --by Barbara O'Neal

Fiction / mystery/romance

359 pages / 1898 KB

5 Stars

I was a tad trepidacious about reading this book. I read her later novel, When We Believed in Mermaids and loved it, and I so did not want to be disappointed in this one. I wasn't. I will now look for more of her books.

As a little girl, I was sure I was a real princess, and had been kidnapped and raised by my parents, and someday... Of course, it was fiction that I grew out of. But can you imagine being an adult, in an abusive relationship, your mother dies, and you discover you're not a princess, but a countess with your own estate in England? 

Olivia couldn't, but she had to check it out. And it was true. She was a countess, and the estate is in a sad state of repair, but she hopes to salvage it. Many of the village detest her, as an American, they are sure she will sell the estate to a developer. Some in the village truly like her, and are willing to help her. And her solicitor has been robbing her blind for years. And where is her uncle? The one who disappeared in India? Puzzles within puzzles. 

And the romance is a breath of fresh air. True romance, not a bodice ripper.  A most delightful book!

Tomas Tranströmer Selected Poems 1954 - 1986 --ed by Robert Hass

Nonfiction / Poetry

208 pages

5 Stars

Seldom has a book of translated poems struck such a chord with me.

The very first line of the very first poem had me: Prelude // Awakening is a parachute jump from the dream. I knew, then, I was in thrall to a Master. What a wonderful introduction. My only complaint is I don't read Swedish, and I would love to read these in the original.

When I'm involved in a good book of poetry, I often find myself underling special lines, marking poems I really like, that speak to me in whole or in part. I'm guessing 50% of the poems in this book affected me so, such as these lines from The Gallery:

"Because the margins will finally rise

over their edges

and drown the text."

"It happens, but seldom,

that one of us really sees the other."

"It is his life, it is his labyrinth."

I look forward to finding and reading more of his work. 

If You Want To Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit --by Brenda Ueland

Nonfiction / How to write

179 pages

5 Stars

First off, I did not read the publication pictured here, the book I read, same title, same author, different publisher came from Graywolf Press. The only reason I mention that is several of the low-rated reviews were complaining about the typesetting, etc. Mine was perfect.

This book was given to me with the caveat that if I didn't like it, I could pass it on. Being one of those horrid people who love to both read and write marginalia and dog ear corners, it has entirely too marked up to share. It is one of the best 'how to' books on writing I've ever read.

I don't recall a single chapter on grammar (read Strunk & White for that, and for formatting and style, check out On Writing by Stephen King). Her chapters are on the art of writing. Relax. Give yourself permission to write a bad story, just write. Have fun. Who cares? I think that is some of the best advice going. The first time I heard it was from the poet, Marvin Bell. He told us to give ourselves permission to write a bad poem. Just write. Write, and then write some more.

Ms. Ueland gives many examples, and has a great sense of humor that comes through the pages. I laughed out loud in many places. 

The more you write, the better writer you will become. Be honest with yourself and your writing will improve. Read this book. That will help, too. Honest. Trust me.