Homer and Langley

Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow  208 pp.

Homer and Langley Collyer were real people. In 1947 the eccentric brothers were found dead in their N.Y. mansion filled with old newspapers and the other detritus of their bizarre habits. Doctorow created a fictionalized version of the story narrated by Homer, the brother who loses his eyesight as a teenager. Langley goes off to fight in WWI and is severely injured by mustard gas. He returns home changed both physically and mentally to find his brother living alone in their Fifth Avenue mansion with the servants. Their parents died during the Spanish flu epidemic. Their home becomes a haven for tea dances, Langley's cockeyed projects, musicians, gangsters, hippies, a Model T in the dining room, and others who wander through the lives of the brothers. Fights with the health department, utility companies, and banks cause an increased sense of paranoia in the brothers who end up shuttering their house and booby trapping it to stop unwanted invaders. Doctorow takes liberties with the story by having the brothers live long past 1947. Their lives in the story are marked by the succession of wars up through Vietnam. Who knows what made the real Collyer brothers live like they did? Doctorow's speculation makes for a good story.

Thy Neighbor

They Neighbor by Norah Vincent 306 pgs.

If you like books full of characters that are all creepy, this might be for you.  Nick Walsh is thirty-four and an alcoholic basket case.  His parents met a violent end which was the final blow to a less than stellar upbringing.  This, of course, is  his excuse to be one of the neighborhood weirdo who spends his few sober moments spying on his neighbors and being a jack-ass.  Clearly not a real sympathetic character but pretty much everyone else in this book is as bad or worse.

I loved the Norah Vincent's 2 non-fiction books that precede this one but this dark tale is not my cup of tea.  Not to say that it wouldn't be yours but overall a little too depressing for me.

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The Alloy of Law/Brandon Sanderson

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn book 4-ish); fantasy, steampunk; 336 pages (about 10 hours on audio)

Hundreds of years have passed since the events of The Hero of Ages; the world is no longer choked with ash or oppressed by brutal rulers--indeed, it has begun to move into its own industrial era, with railroads and skyscrapers bringing civilization to the wild lands beyond the city.  Lord Waxilium Ladrian has been exiled to the Roughs by his family, and has made a life for himself as a lawkeeper; when a sudden death draws him back to the city, he thinks his days of investigation are over.  But soon a band of criminals begins to terrorize the city, kidnapping women from noble houses and stealing small fortunes in metals from railcars.  When the woman he's engaged to marry is stolen, Wax starts to investigate on his own.

A lot of reviews I've read refer to this book as Mistborn-lite.  I can see why:  the plot here is much simpler and less introspective than those of previous Mistborn books, and new setting is so radically different from the ash-covered world of before that it does feel like a different series.  Allomancy  and Feruchemy (two of the major abilities available to mankind) are still around, but in radically different forms as well.  In fact, one of the most interesting parts of this book was seeing how those powers have changed with the advent of industrialization (steel-pushing and guns?  I'm there). 

Despite all the changes, I had a lot of fun with this book.  It was fun to see how the legends of Vin, Eland, Sazed, and all the rest have been interpreted and changed over the years.  It was also kind of nice to have a little more action and a little less philosophy in this volume.  The ending was a little predictable, but Sanderson throws in a great twist in the epilogue that makes me see a series in this book's future.  Mistborn meets steampunk:  it totally works, and I will happily read more of these. 

Monkey Mind

Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety by Daniel B. Smith  212 pp.

Daniel Smith's life was almost paralyzed by anxiety. The simple act of choosing condiments for a sandwich could immobilize him with dread. Anxiety was a torment from childhood on. It ruined relationships, nearly ended his college education, and caused him to quit jobs. In this book he chronicles his experiences and various forms of treatment he received from doctors and therapists until he finally finds one that helps more than the others. Smith writes about his experiences with honesty and humor. Some of the more technical parts get a little dry but overall it's an interesting book.

A hundred flowers, by Gail Tsukiyama

In 1956, Mao Tse-Tung wrote, “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend,” thus inviting intellectuals to offer their ideas about and critiques of the Communist Party.  Those who did fell into a trap and soon found themselves being “reeducated” in far-off labor camps.  This is why seven-year-old Tao’s father Sheng has disappeared.  Tao lives with his mother, Kai Ying, scholarly grandfather, Wei, Auntie (in name only) Song, and another couple in the subdivided villa which had been his family’s ancestral home.  This gentle tale covers a short period in the family’s story when Tao falls from a tree and breaks his leg; a homeless, pregnant girl shows up on their doorstep; and grandfather Wei, holding a terrible secret, sets off alone on a 1,000 mile journey to find his son.  I enjoyed the book, but found it episodic and ultimately wondered why the author had written it.  Not one of her best.  288 pp.

Where’d you go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple

A largely epistolary novel, this comic, yet touching, story is set in Seattle and takes a satirical look at that fabled techy city, Microsoft, TED lectures, MacArthur Genius awards, and other cultural icons.  Bee, daughter of lapsed architect Bernadette and Microsoft team leader, Elgin, is finishing her last year at a progressive private school.  Receiving perfect grades, she demands that her parents make good on their promise to grant her heart’s desire, which she declares is a family trip to Antarctica.  This presents a particular problem for her mother, who has become a virtual recluse and fears both going out of the house and being surrounded in close quarters by other people which has resulted in her using a “virtual assistant” in India to relate with the world.  Bernadette also hates Seattle, her fellow parents at the school, and has a sorrowful past.  A series of misadventures and misunderstandings occur and Bernadette disappears.  Or does she?  336 pp.

Skios, by Michael Frayn

Noises off goes to the Greek Islands.  A romp and send-up of self-important cultural foundations and academia by the author of that hilarious play.  Dr. Norman Wilfred has been asked to deliver the keynote address at the world-renowned Fred Toppler Foundation, located in luxurious surroundings on the sunny isle of Skios.  Meanwhile, Oliver Fox, a foxy and attractive young man, has arranged a dirty weekend at a villa on the island with a woman he hardly knows.  How Fox becomes Dr. Wilfred, and other dubious characters are revealed to be not at all what they seem is aided and abetted by the comic duo of taxi drivers called Spiros and Stavros.  Fun.  257 pp.

Wilson

Wilson by Daniel Clowes  77 pp.

This is the tale of a man who is loner who really loves only his dog. He is socially inept at making relationships with others. The rediscovery of his ex-wife and knowledge of a teen-age daughter he never knew he had turns his life upside-down for the worse. Quite frankly, this is a pretty depressing story but their just might be hope for Wilson in the end.

What in God's Name

What in God's name/Simon Rich 227 pgs.

Turns our poorly run businesses are everywhere...even Heaven Inc. which is the corporation run by God.  Lately God has been kind of bored and letting things slide.  It gets to the point that he is going to resign and destroy the earth.  Two over achieving angels in the department of miracles (Craig and Eliza) love their jobs and don't want to see it go away so they work a deal with God.  If they can answer a prayer in a month, God will keep the business going (and save earth).  Craig and Eliza pick 2 people who have prayed for a relationship with each other thinking it is the easiest to accomplish..  When they meet their subjects, they quickly learn they may be the two most socially awkward humans on the planet.  They are practically home bound and hardly ever vary from their routine of being alone.  Craig and Eliza go to work and try to get Sam and Laura together for the sake of humanity.  This is a funny premise and Simon Rich has a way with dialog that often delights.  Seems like a lot of cussing happens in heaven.  Cute book and a fast read.

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Red Robin: Collison/Christopher Yost

Red Robin:  Collision by Christopher Yost; graphic novel; 192 pages

In his quest to prove that Bruce Wayne is alive, Tim Drake has crossed some lines--most notably allying himself with Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins.  But Tim hasn't forgot Batman's ethics, and he uses his inside knowledge of the League to do serious damage to its worldwide operations.  Now Ra's al Ghul himself is out for Tim's blood, and he intends to get revenge by destroying everything Tim Drake and Red Robin hold dead. 

This is part three of the arc begun in The Grail (as far as I can tell, part two, Council of Spiders has not been collected).  This book is cool in that it manages to be a somewhat self-contained story (Red Robin angers the League, then fights them off all in this volume), while still providing a really satisfying conclusion to the story begun in Grail.  Tim really comes into his own here, managing to be both Batman's protege and his own brand of superhero (seriously, the way in which Tim *spoiler* wins *end spoiler* is so great I had to go back and read it a second time).  The ending hints at an interesting new direction for Drake, and I'm curious to see where it goes.  There's not a lot of this series, as it launched just shortly before the New 52 reboot, but I hope to track down at least one more collection.