The Ladies of Missalonghi --by Colleen McCullough

Fiction / Woman's Lit

189 Pages

5 Stars

This may be one of the shortest novels McCullough ever wrote. In fact, it is part of the Harper Short Novel Series. Personally, I found this utterly delightful. Brain candy of the highest flavor and lowest (none) calories!

It takes place in the Blue Mountains of Australia, outside of Sydney shortly before WWI in a time when men controlled the world, and kept their women in total submission. Not just their wives and daughters, but their widowed or maiden sisters and nieces. Men controlled the money and the country. Women controlled the house. And had their husband's permission to say so.

Missy grew up in the town of Byron in genteel poverty. She lived in a world of brown. Brown was a good color, it did not show the dirt, was never out of (or into) fashion. Raised by her widowed mother and maiden aunt, she grew up as submissive as the rest of the women in town. Byron was a family town, literally owned and controlled by the Hurlingford family—fair, blonde, and far better off than Missy and her family who were also Hurlingford's. Missy grew up a brown submissive mouse.

Beauty was not one of Missy's strong suits, and has never turned the eye of an eligible man, and both she and the town have given up. After all, who would want a brown mouse? Especially when beauty, fair and light, was all around the town? Who was the cousin who came to help in the library and saw to it Missy had novels to read? Novels of strong young women. Novels of romance.

When the stranger came to town, claiming ownership of the valley just beyond Missalonghi, Missy's home, Missy developed heart trouble. And she grew a spine! And she wanted romance. With the stranger, before she died.

As I said, this is pure brain candy, and it was great fun. If you're looking for a book as complex as, say, The Thorn Birds, then this isn't for you. But if you're looking for a fun book to read, perhaps in bed before you turn out the light as I did, this is perfect.

Prism: The Color Alchemist Book One –by Nina Walker

Fiction / YA Fantasy

338 pages / 2953 KB

4 Stars

LEGALITIES FIRST: I received a free eCopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

According to the Source of all Knowledge (ie, the world wide web), the age range of young adult books varies between 12-18 or 15-20s. Keeping those ages in mind, I agree this is a YA novel, on the younger side of the continuum. The heroine, Jessa is just 16, while the hero, Lucas, is 18. While many adults read YA books, I think this will appeal far more to the teenybopper crowd. (Did I just date myself?)

As an adult reader, I could have done with a little less angst and a lot more explanation of the color alchemy. As a teen reader, it is probably perfect. The use of color is an intriguing concept, and that alone makes it worth the read.

Jessa comes into her powers considerably later than most, and is accused of hiding them. Actually, she thought they belonged to her kid sister, Lacey, and did try to hide them, as she did not want Lacey taken from the home and trained; never to be seen or heard of again. Instead, Jessa, whose only dream is to dance ballet, and is finally dancing a solo in front of a huge audience, including the King Richard and Prince Lucas, becomes so enraptured with her dance, she inadvertently shows the whole world her powers. Fortunately, no one was injured, and instead of Lacey being taken, Jessa is. To no good end, we may rest assured. She is too old to buy into the usual brainwashing, and or be trained as a child. Her powers are also dangerous.

King Richard wants to control her, and her magic, to control his subjects. Prince Lucas just wants her—he's in love with her, and he neither loves nor respects his father. The Resistance just wants to eliminate the Royals and return to a democracy. Oh, yes, there is lots of conflict and some mystery to go along with all that angst.

The story is told in alternating chapters, by either Jessa or Lucas. It is a book I think the younger teen girls will enjoy no end.  And many adults will read as brain candy. (Think chocolate and no calories.) A solid 4 Star debut novel. Job well done, Ms. Walker!

Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism 1981-1991 –by Salman Rushdie

Nonfiction / Essays

439 pages / 1485 KB

5 Stars

I am not sure when, or where, I found my copy of this book. I do not know how long it sat, ignored, on my bookshelf. What I do know is, when I needed it, it was there, and literally fell into my hands. Of course I knew of Mr. Rushdie, but had never read anything by him. My education has begun.

Most of these 75 or so essays are short, some just a couple of pages, but all of them require thought while reading them, and several require thought after reading them; at least for me. As one reviewer noted, this is not a book to take to the gym. His insights on colonialism are fascinating. His insights on the Ghandis, Pakistan, cultures I knew little-to-nothing about were spell-binding. The articles about contemporary authors were not only interesting, but often humorous, and always enlightening.

But the articles in the last section were, for me, the most eye-opening. These were the ones where he discussed the fatwa against him, what he meant when he wrote The Satanic Verses, and the duplicity of the imams even when they agreed with him, shook his hand, said they would help reverse the fatwa, and didn't. What is a human life worth? What is a man's word worth? What is a friend worth?

The writing in these essays is often lyrical. It is always clear, and easily read and understood. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a curiosity about how our world, and those who inhabit it, think and work. Beautiful writing, and I can hardly wait for my copy of Step Across This Line... to arrive.

French License --by Joe Start

Nonfiction / Essays

292 pages / 2305 KB

5 Stars

DISCLAIMER: I was given a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a fairly fast reader, and normally, when I am given a book in exchange for a review, I sit down and read it. After all, the author or publisher who entrusted it to my care is waiting for my input. Now and then, I find a book that I don't want to read in one sitting Never in a Hurry by Naomi Shihab Nye, Places Left Unfinished at the Moment of Creation by John Philip Santos and now French License by Joe Start. I started this book of essays about his odyssey of moving to France and obtaining permission from the Country to legally drive on their highways and byways and was enjoying it so much, I parsed out the essays to a few a day just to make the book last longer. Sorry Mr. Start, if I've taken too long to read it.

Having lived in Germany, many years ago, I could relate to some of his frustrations. Not that I had to deal with a drivers license, but I did have to deal with a new country, language, and culture. As much fun as it was, it still had its moments.

French License should be read by anyone who is considering moving to a different country, for whatever reason and for however long. In fact, it jolly well might be worth it to read before going on a vacation in a country with a language and culture you're not intimately familiar with.

While the basic story is about the trials and tribulations of getting his drivers license, it is also a marvelous and quite humorous look at life as an ex-pat. There is, as he learned, a major difference between Futball and Football, and though I'm not a fan of the latter, his story of going to the bar to see the game is pretty funny.

There is a lot of French thrown in, but for the most part, it's translatable from the context, and when it isn't, translation is provided by the author. The one thing I have a question on, obviously I don't speak French, is at the beginning of each chapter, after the Chapter (Number) is the word Borne and a double digit number—00, 25, 50, etc. I never did figure that one out.

Do I recommend this book? Without hesitation or reservation. A delightful read that will be savored again, I'm sure.

The Irrationalist: The Tragic Murder of René Descartes –by Andrew Pessin

Fiction / Historical

508 pages

5 Stars

DISCLAIMER: I received a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you like historical fiction, sans romance and the required rescuing of fair maidens, then this is the book for you! It's a murder mystery about one of the more famous men of European history, the philosopher, René Descartes.

For untold years, it has been accepted, more or less, that Descartes did in fact die of pneumonia his first winter in Stockholm. Rumors also have abounded that he was murdered.

Andrew Pessin has taken history, and rumors, and combined them into a most enjoyable, and plausible, read. This is, primarily, a murder mystery. It isn't an adrenaline gusher, though there are a couple of times it comes close. It is the story of a young, sickly René, raised by the Jesuits who has a penchant for mathematics and not much else. It is also the story of another young boy who is the 'house boy' and René's "servant." Due to his lack of money, this young boy is self-taught, and he is every bit as much of a genius as René. Perhaps more so.

Sometimes the modern language in the dialog is a bit jarring, but not much, and I'm pretty sure the locals of the time had equivalent words. The flashbacks were superbly done, and the end of the book nicely tied all the sub-plots and mini-mysteries together. One does not need to be a student of philosophy to enjoy this book.

Well written with believable characters I would actually enjoy meeting. I highly recommend The Irrationalist to anyone who enjoys literary fiction, historical fiction, or murder mysteries.