Alameda's Awakening --by Tara Pegasus

Fiction / Literary 

198 pages

5 Stars

Disclaimer: I've known Tara Pegasus for a few years, and have read all the iterations of Alameda's Awakening. And that should tell you something – I don't very often read the same book as many times as I read this one, and not once was it anything but a pleasure! Each time I read it, it was better than the time before. It is a pleasure to know the author, and a pleasure to recommend this book to you.

The characters in this book are fully developed, and the story is believable. Alameda and her brother are born into a hyper-religious family. Her father is the small-town protestant minister, and her mother runs both the church and the house. Alameda knows she needs to escape, but doesn't understand why, and she and her best friend decide to join the convent when they graduate from school, where she will be not only allowed, but encouraged, to play her beloved violin.

Life, and in this case death, happens and Alameda's life is turned upside down and inside out by a virulent epidemic that hits the town hard, affecting everyone in one way or another. Alameda's mind is tormented by the cognitive dissonance brought about by her upbringing and life as it actually is.

Her mother's machinations at controlling her life, her desires to live her life as she chooses, and the small town doctor who befriend her combine to make this a one-sit read. This story is well written and very well told. The characters are believable.

Buy this book. Read this book. Review this book. (That's how you tell an author you appreciate the time and the hard work of writing the book!)

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.

Like the Moon

Like the Moon –by Mary Lewis Foote

Fiction / Humor

148 pages / 516 KB

5 Stars

I keep track of the books I read, and this is the 40th book I've read so far this year (2014) and also the 41st. Yes, I read it twice, and it truly was better the second time through as I knew what was going to happen.

Ms. Foote accomplished quite a feat in that she successful wrote in dialect, and carried it off beautifully. I've lived in the South, and traveled through the Carolinas many times, and the dialect brought back many fond memories. And while Hart County may be fictional, I swear I've been there.

Humor is difficult to write, and often seems forced. This story is a delight filled with chuckles, outright laughter, and a few sad and thoughtful places. The people are real, and are treated with respect. This is not put-down humor, but build-up humor.

As the book description says, it invites you to pull up a rocking chair and set a spell with some delightful people and listen to their stories. The story takes place in fictional Hart Country, North Carolina and is told by Lulu Quillen in her own inimitable style. The story centers around Willis Bone, Lulu and Red's neighbor, and his death and how his wife, Mattie Mae and their daughter Cherryldine, and his father, Old Man Bone settle the "estate" and keep on living.

While these people may live a hardscrabble life, their lives are filled with love and humor, collard greens and ham hocks, coon dogs, and Beethoven. Yes, Beethoven. The composer, not a kitchen hound (his name is Curtis). If you're a Yankee, it may take you a page or two to get into the dialect, but just relax, enjoy the ride, and get ready to smile and laugh out loud. 

This is the kind of book that, when you reach the end of it, you will feel better for having read it. And jolly well may be ready to start over again. I did.

Sex, Drugs, and, uh, Witchcraft

Witch Hill –by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Fiction / Horror? (could be Humor?)

188 Pages

2 Stars

There is something about Bradley's writing that usually sets my psychic teeth on edge, and so I haven't read many of her books, and few of those I started did I finish. Still, she has a solid reputation in the SF/F genre, and when I found this book on a recent trip, I figured I'd give her another try.

This time, I finished it, and over all, it was an okay read. But only an okay read. Whatever about her Darkover novels or Mists of Avalon that rang a discordant note in my psyche was not in Witch Hill. Alas, there wasn't a lot of anything else, either. I don't think it measured up to her capabilities or her normal writing.

There is a lot of sex in this book, germane to the story. While sex doesn't bother me, unless it's totally gratuitous and or sadistic, I'm not sure it added all that much. It felt like it was added at the last minute, without much, shall we say, fleshing out?

I found the book "jerky" – lacking smooth segues between scenes, sometimes no segues, smooth or otherwise. It read more like a rough draft than a polished novel. Thinking it may have been published posthumously, I checked – the book was published in 1990 and she died in 1999; however, Wikipedia says she suffered declining health for years, so that perchance played a part.

Sara Latimer is one of a long line of Sara Latimers, all Witches (not Wiccans, please do not confuse the two) who died violent deaths; however, she knows nothing of her father's side of the family. Her brother was killed in a military accident, her mother died on hearing the news, and her father died on the way home from the double funeral. While going through mail and bills, she discovers the ancestral home she knew nothing about in Backwoods New England exists, and someone wants to buy it. She, needing money, as well as a place to recoup the onslaught of sudden deaths, ventures forth to see first hand what she owns, and if she really wants to sell it or keep it.

Now, I know and understand all of us grieve differently; however, having lost my parents and other friends and family, some close together, others not so much, I found our heroine to be somewhat unbelievable. Another strike against the book. However, it IS a novel of drugs, sex, and, uh, witchcraft.

Arriving at the manse, she discovers she looks exactly like previous the Saras whose portraits hang on the walls. Many of the locals are sure she is the Witch, reincarnated. Some even fear her, like they feared her departed Aunt Sara who died 7 years prior and whom she not only did not know, but did not know of.

She meets the young Dr. Standish, and (of course) it's love at first sight for both of them. The only problem is the Coven wants her back--with her Aunt's memories and power. Oh, dear.

Hard times ahead as Sara must decide what she wants—the power of the Coven, or the love of a man. She can't have both. (Remember, this is fiction, and not about Wiccans!)

Reunification of Joseph K

The Reunification of Joseph K –by Richard Badalamente

fiction

1412 KB / 197 pages

4 Stars

Disclaimer: Richard and I are friends.

OK, now that the legalities are out of the way.... I read the earlier version of this story, and didn't care so much for it. I made a few suggestions, some of which he actually used, and I must say, I enjoyed the "new and improved" version much better.

This short novel is an homage to Kafka, I think, and Kafka is darker than I normally care for, hence the 4 star rating. This is a dark story. The hero is not, to my way of thinking, particularly likable, but he finds himself in a most interesting situation, and I end up actually liking him. At least a little ;-)

The story moves along well, with no major stumbles. And though Joseph is not my favorite hero (or anti-hero) he is believable. And the situation in which he finds himself while sent to North Korea on a fact-finding mission is frighteningly believable. Especially for someone who is going to do it his way, not the way of the North Koreans, and flaunt his arrogant individuality in the faces of his hosts. 

If you like Kafka, I think you will enjoy this story. If you like dark fiction, I'm sure you will enjoy this story. And if you just want a good read, something different from your usual, check out The Reunification of Joseph K by my friend. Surprise yourself!