Batman: Secrets

Batman:  Secrets by Sam Kieth; graphic novel; 128 pages

Mixed feelings about this one--kind of like my mixed feelings about the author.  anyone who's ready Sandman will recognize Kieth's name.  He was the artist for the Preludes & Nocturnes storyline, which I've always felt was some of the weakest art in the series.  But then a few years ago, I read Kieth's other Batman story:  Arkham Asylum:  Madness.  It remains to this day one of my favorite Batman books, both for the excellent storytelling and perfect art.  Secrets falls somewhere in between these two extremes:  the art tends more towards the kind of thing I remember from Sandman (good, but not to my taste--though Kieth's depictions of the Joker are great, and vaguely reminiscent of Dave McKean's Joker from Arkham Asylum).

The story here is good, but felt kind of derivative of The Dark Knight Returns.  As in Miller's book, The story starts with the Joker, newly released from Arkham, and claiming to be rehabilitated.  He's touring the talk show circuit promoting a new book that explains his change of heart, while secretly, of course, plotting Batman's downfall.  While the vapidity of the media is an underlying theme throughout Miller's work, here it takes center stage, and the Joker manipulates different print and electronic outlets to chip away at Batman's public image.  Also interesting to me was the inclusion of a love interest for the Joker, an assistant D.A who believes that she understands him and that they're meant to be together (this story is SO, SO SIMILAR to Harley Quinn's backstory that I wondered why they bothered to introduce this new character when they had the same thing already in the DCU.  Plus, Harley's one of my favorite characters; writing her out to make room for this stranger was just plain annoying).  This was a fun read, but mostly because it reminded me of other books I enjoyed.  It has the makings of a good book on its own, but never quite strikes out on its own enough. 

Sister Queens

Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana,

Queen of Castile by Julia Fox  480 pp.

This dual biography of two of the daughters of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Katherine of Aragon and Juana of Castile. Much has been written about Katherine and her marriage to King Henry VIII. Less is written about Juana, wife of Philip of Burgundy and mother of Charles, the Holy Roman Emperor except to call her "Juana the Mad." When they were young their powerful parents arranged politically advantageous marriages for them. Katherine to Arthur of Wales, the heir to the throne of Henry VII, and Juana to Philip of Burgundy. After the death of Arthur, much political wangling, Katherine's marriage to Henry was arranged. Much has been written about how that turned out. Juana became a queen in her own right only to have her power usurped by her father, her husband, and her son. The stories of her madness, including the story that she lived with her husband in his casket, were propagated by her son and his officials as an excuse to keep her sequestered from the people she should have been ruling. (She did keep him in his casket but only because her son would not let her go to Granada to have him buried.) These sisters were strong enough to endure the hardships they encountered but could not overcome the betrayal and mistreatment by the men in their lives.

I listened to the unabridged audiobook version and it is very well done. However, I could have used a scorecard to keep track of all the Henrys, Philips, Charles's, and how they were all related to each other.

Someday, Someday, Maybe

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham, 344 pages

Straight away, I need to confess that I picked this up simply because it was written by that Lauren Graham, the best coffee-guzzling, fast-talking innkeeper in all of Stars Hollow (AKA Lorelai in Gilmore Girls). I love the show, and I'd heard that Graham is just as smart and witty as the character she portrayed, so maybe her book wouldn't be as horrible as I generally perceive novels written by actresses who thinks they can write to be. And hey, turns out I was right.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is the story of Franny Banks, a mid-20s woman who's trying to make it as an actress in New York in the mid-1990s. She's auditioned a few times, and been in a non-ironic commercial involving Christmas sweaters, but the arbitrary deadline she's set for herself to "make it big" is looming and she's increasingly unsure of her capabilities as an actress. She's balancing catering and waitressing jobs, and lives with her production assistant best friend Jane and their friend Dan, who quit med school to be a screenwriter, but is having about as much luck with that as Franny is at booking acting gigs. There's the backup plan (high school boyfriend who lives in Chicago), but there's also the dreamy guy from Franny's acting class.

Yes, this plot is typical chick lit. And chick lit really isn't my bag, most of the time. It's obvious from WAY early in the book how this is going to turn out for Franny, just like it is when you watch a stereotypical chick flick. But Graham is aware of the trope, and slyly pokes fun at the notion of love triangles. That, to me, made it a bit more acceptable. Also, Graham really is a pretty good writer. Do I think she's going to win the Nobel Prize for Literature? No. But she did a good job with this one.

Last thing: there's got to be something said for writing what you know. An actress (who looks a lot like Lauren Graham) trying to make it in New York in the 90s? Could this just a bit autobiographical? Graham did a great job getting the details across without making it seem like she was writing about herself though, and for that, she should be commended.

Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon

Hawkeye:  My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction; graphic novel; 136 pages

Cindy recommended this as a good way to dip my toe into the Marvel Universe.  It's the story of Hawkeye when he's not being Hawkeye, and what his life is like outside of the Avengers.  Of the stories collected in this volume, all are well-written, fun, fast-paced reads.  The art in some of them, though, is better than in others.  It was disappointing to find that one of the more interesting storylines (involving an underground auction in an exotic city) had artwork that just threw me off, and I found myself having a hard time getting into it.  I was also a little confused about Hawkeye's relationship with his female sidekick Kate, especially since the stories aren't really arranged in chronological order (though after reading the last story, the constant flirting between the two is a little creepy.  Then again, I don't know much about the Young Avengers.  Are they like the Teen Titans--actual teens?  Because if so this book just got a whole lot less comfortable). 

I still enjoyed this volume, and would probably pick up more if I can find the right entry point into this continuity. 

The song of Achilles

The song of Achilles/Madeline Miller 378 pgs.

This book helped make clear to me my ignorance of Greek mythology.  I had not been under the impression that I had any expertise in the area but have never desired it either.  As, I assume, everyone else knows the basic story, I can summarize this book  as the love story between Achilles and Patroclus with a little Trojan war mixed in.  It is well written but this just isn't the type of book that I enjoy.  


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The signal and the noise

The signal and the noise: why so many predictions fail - but some don't by Nate Silver 534 pgs.

This book took some effort.  It isn't something that I could read quickly and I ended up checking it out several times to get through it and read all the footnotes.  Nate Silver made quite a name for himself blogging for the New York Times and correctly predicting all of the political races in the 2012 election including president, senate and house seats.  He did it by looking at the polls and doing analysis.  He didn't go on gut feeling but actual statistics.  What a novel idea!  I'm not expert with statistics but do remember some little things from my classes like how you can actually figure out their accuracy.  It seems like basic statistics should be a required class.  Not that it will get us to Silver's level, but at least it makes us able to read his book.

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Something Borrowed

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin p. 322

Rachel and Darcy have been friends since they were little girls. Rachel has been a great friend, but Darcy can't say the same. Rachel met Dex in law school and they were great friends with potential for more. Until Darcy meets him that is. Darcy and Dex get engaged and are planing their wedding when the unthinkable happens.

This book was fun to listen to, mostly because I wanted to see how it was going to end. If I was reading it, I may not have found it as amusing. The movie was not very amusing at all. I like her writing style though. I would possibly listen to another book by her.

God Don't Like Ugly

God Don't Like Ugly by Mary Monroe p. 340

Annette has a pretty depressing life. People call her fat and ugly, and eventually she starts believing it. Her father leaves their family for a white woman and she and her mother move somewhere that she hopes will be better for them. They live with a madam for awhile until they are able to get their own place (not to mention Scary Mary keeps going to jail and they shut the whore house down). Her mother takes in a boarder, Mr. Boatwright, who is a nightmare. He is an old smelly man and even worse, he's a rapist. On top of all that her friend Rhoda is crazy and causes all kinds of stress and drama in her life.

This book was enjoyable but a little difficult to read. This was my second time reading it and it was probably even harder the second time because I know more. I have read two of the other books in the series. She is a great writer. However, she isn't an author I recommend to a lot of people. I think people would enjoy her books but the subject is a little touchy.

Spellcaster

Spellcaster by Claudia Gray; young adult, paranormal, horror; 400 pages

Eighteen-year-old Nadia has always been closest to her mother, who, like Nadia possesses the gift of magic, and is training her daughter in the secret art of witchcraft.  But when her mother suddenly abandons her family, Nadia, her father and brother relocated to a small New England town, and with no teacher, Nadia gives up on ever becoming a full-fledged witch.  Then she detects a dark magic covering the town, and encounters Mateo, the last living member of a family rumored to be cursed, but who might also share a strange connection with her. 

Yeah, I know my summary is terrible.  I'm making this sound like every other teen paranormal romance, and this is really a step above most of them.  Yes, Nadia and Mateo share an instant attraction, and there's some supernatural stuff that keeps happening to bind them together.  BUT, this book is refreshingly devoid of love triangles, and just about every single character is one that I would like to learn more about (the obvious exceptions being the stock "mean girl" characters at school, but they don't really add anything to the plot, anyway).  Also refreshingly, this story ties up pretty neatly in the end.  Yes, there are very clear setups for a series, but there's no gripping cliffhanger that will make me crazy for the next year while I wait for the second book.  And the loose ends of this book are, again refreshingly, all things that I really want to know more about:  why Nadia's mom left so suddenly, Verlaine's curse (and what happened to her parents), Mateo's curse (what's the status with it now?), and WHAT'S HIDDEN UNDERNEATH THE CHEMISTRY LAB???

This was a fun book, which managed to take a subject that's been kind of beaten to death and make it fresh and interesting.  Recommended for fans of Beautiful Creatures (the book, not the movie). 

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Hear us roar

Hear us roar:  a history of Flynn Park School, University City, MO by Gabe Fleisher 36 pgs.

This history of Flynn Park School was written by a library patron.  If you missed his event last week where he spoke about his research and this book, you missed something great.  Gabe Fleisher tells us how the University City School District began but then focuses on Flynn Park School, an elementary school that opened in 1924.  Flynn Park has a lot of interesting history and this is fine work by a new young author.

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