A Gathering of Shadows

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab, 512 pages

I'm going to start this out by linking to my post about A Darker Shade of Magic, the first book in this series, as it's absolutely impossible to read A Gathering of Shadows without first reading that one. For the Cliff's Notes version... Kell is an uber-powerful magician in Red London, one of four Londons in this series, each of which has its own degree of magic (Red London has lots of magic all over the place; Gray London is like our world and has none; White London has just enough magic to make its inhabitants vampires/junkies for the stuff; Black London abused its magic and collapsed upon itself), and Kell's the only person around who can travel between the different Londons. Lila Bard is a pickpocket from Gray London who hitched a ride into Red London in the first book, but has joined a pirate crew in the second. Finally, we've got the royal family of Red London (with whom Kell lives), who are preparing for a magical tournament that seems to be the Olympics of that particular world.

I enjoyed this book, particularly the parts that focused on Lila, whose scrappiness and stubbornness make her a really likeable (if not always relatable) character. I also liked the mystery of Alucard* Emery, Lila's pirate captain who is not at all who he seems. That said, this isn't as strong as the first book in the series, particularly in the sections that take place in White London, and Kell's awesome coat doesn't get as much play in this book. That also said, I'm definitely going to read the next book in this series...because this one ended on a cliffhanger. Sigh.

*Is Schwab a fan of Dracula, of Castlevania, or both? Inquiring minds want to know!

The 6:41 to Paris / Jean-Philippe Blondel, trans. Alison Anderson, 146 pp.

What Kara and Christa said!

In others words, this is a startlingly suspenseful and entirely engrossing book.  Cecile and Philippe, each 47 years old, were lovers 27 years earlier.  They find themselves seated next to each other on a train.  Will they speak?  Shout?  What are they afraid of?  Who is Mathieu?  And what exactly happened on that fateful trip to London?

Told in back-and-forth points of view between the two characters, Blondel has terrific mastery of the interior processes of these distinct people.  I was rather blown away by his grasp of the connections between our present and past selves.  And he does a superb job of laying out that space between the indifference of our children and the recalcitrance of our parents (I'm paraphrasing...can't find the quote) which characterizes a certain time of life.  I hope Blondel writes many more novels, and very soon.

Franny and Zooey

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger  201 pp.

I read this book in high school 40 something years ago and frankly didn't remember a whole lot about it. The book is made up of a short story, "Franny" and a novella, "Zooey." Franny and Zooey are two of the Glass siblings who grew up in a family of highly intelligent kids who were featured on a genius kids radio show. Now all grown up, Franny attends college and has become obsessed with a short book The Way of the Pilgrim and the concept of praying without ceasing. A discussion of this with a boyfriend in a restaurant reveals that he is more interested in himself and getting to a football game. In the novella, Zooey, now an actor, is portrayed soaking in the bathtub, reading an old letter from his brother Buddy. His mother intrudes, demanding that Zooey try to help Franny who has suffered an emotional breakdown. There is much discussion of Buddy's reclusiveness and another brother, Seymour, who took his own life years before. Finally Zooey retreats into the bedroom once shared by Buddy and Seymour to read the philosophical quotes tacked to their door. Eventually he calls Franny for further philosophical discussion. I probably didn't remember much from my first read because I didn't understand it then. While I understand it now I am not very impressed.

The Man from Beijing

The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell  365 pp.

What starts out as an intriguing murder mystery about a brutal mass murder in a small Swedish village veers into an unbelievable plot about revenge for one man's evil one hundred years prior. Judge Birgitta Roslin becomes involved in the crime investigation when she realizes that two of the victims are her foster grandparents. After subsequent brush-offs by the police, Roslin begins investigating on her own during the time she is conveniently off work due to a heart condition. Her investigation takes her to China before the story then moves to Africa. This novel is a far cry from Mankell's Wallander novels and I found it very disappointing.

Harriet the Invincible

Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon  247 pp.

This is the first book in Vernon's new "Hamster Princess" series. It is a fractured fairy tale version of Sleeping Beauty starring Princess Harriet, a hamster, who is cursed on her christening day by the evil fairy Ratshade. Because she only has until age 12 before the curse takes place and is apparently invincible until then, Harriet, a most un-princesslike princess, goes off on quests riding her quail, Mumfrey. She travels the land defeating all manner of evils and converting them to vegetarianism. In one more twist of the classic story, she ends up awake while the rest of the royal court falls asleep. She must then seek out a prince to kiss everyone in the castle to wake them up. I am a big fan of Vernon's work (Dragonbreath, Digger) and this one is just as entertaining.

A manual for cleaning women

A manual for cleaning women / Lucia Berlin 428 pgs.

A collection of short stories from an author who died too young.  These stories have recurring characters and are places and times similar to the author's life.  It took me awhile to notice the connections but only because I read only one story a night so I could savor each of them.  All were enjoyable.  Although addiction and failed relationships are a theme, there is a bit of joy or humor even in the most depressing stories.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City / Matthew Desmond, 406 pp. (advance reader's edition)

Desmond is an academic but he's written a compelling, almost addictive book. He embedded himself in the lives of a variety of residents of Milwaukee, all of them straddling the line between homelessness and being precariously housed. Some are white residents of a trailer park, others are African American inner-city residents. He uncovers truths that are not especially astonishing: everyone suffers, but blacks suffer in greater numbers and more intensely, many landlords are predatory, families with children are at greatest risk of eviction, police and court practices work against the tenants, and most importantly, there are horribly high numbers of people whose incomes are such that they effectively have no chance of maintaining secure housing. Rents are simply too high, and these families are on track for eviction from the moment they move in.

This was often uncomfortable reading; I felt like I was watching reality TV and occasionally enjoying the drama more than I should. Desmond can only have presented a fraction of the individuals and situations he observed and sometimes I wondered at his choices. He follows Crystal, for example, whose violent behavior and serious mental illness push the narrative outside the bounds of his thesis; Crystal would likely be frequently homeless even if our country adopted Desmond's sensible recommendations for alleviating the crisis: widespread use of vouchers such that no family need spend more than 30% of its income on housing, controls on pricing and discrimination, and more thoughtful enforcement of building codes such that maintaining safe properties remains profitable.

Still, this is undeniably an impressive and important work. I was gratified to see Desmond use the word brutality to describe the treatment of poor tenants. It's entirely appropriate.

One Hundred Poems from the Chinese

One Hundred Poems from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth, 148 pages.
Rexroth's book of translated poems includes 35 written by Tu Fu a scholar who wrote in the 700s. Rexroth refers to Tu Fu as "the greatest non-epic, non dramatic poet who has survived in any language."

Tu Fu:

A hawk hovers in the air.
Two white gulls float on the stream.
Soaring with the wind, it is easy
To drop and seize
Birds who foolishly drift with the current.
Where the dew sparkles in the grass,
The spider's web waits for its prey.
The processes of nature resemble the business of men.
I stand alone with ten thousand sorrows.

The other seventy or so poems are a variety of poets of the Sung dynasty, who wrote between 1000 and the 1200s.

This from Su Tung Po:
I fish for minnows in the lake.
Just born, they have no fear of man.
And those who have learned,
Never come back to warn them.

Rexroth's explanatory notes are illuminating, though at times seem disdainful (of the presumptive audience, not of the poets or poems). The poet states that ". . . I do not consider these notes at all necessary. They just seem to be the custom."
The book also features a select bibliography which includes a succinct comments by Rexroth about each work; from one-word judgements like "excellent," or "fair," or "biased" to the longer notes like "the less said the better" about Ezra Pound's The Classic Anthology.
Beautiful poems.

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Every anxious wave

Every anxious wave / Mo Daviau 276 pgs.

Karl and Lena are supposed to be together but time isn't always on their side.  Sometimes the time isn't right, sometimes they are overcome by other needs, sometimes their time travel is difficult.  Yes, time travel plays a big part in their relationship.  Karl has a wormhole in his closet and loses his friend Wayne to the year 980.  He hires Lena to get him back.  Lena is a working on her physics Phd but has some other issues.  She is, of course, VERY interested in the worm hole and its implications.  She sees this as an opportunity to go back and correct a few things that went wrong in her life.  Each time it changes her relationship with Karl.  And eventually they don't really know each other because her life has taken a totally new path.  But never fear...Glory, Karl's eventual step daughter is monitoring the situation from the future and taking care to make sure it all works out.

Very fun book to read...Karl and Lena are fans of indie bands and there is a lot of name dropping of bands and songs.  There are so many people who will like this book, hats off to Mo Daviau for writing it.

A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedics Wild Ride to the Edge and Back

A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedics Wild Ride to the Edge and Back by Kevin Hazzard, 261 pages.
A fast-paced account of Hazzard's time working as an EMT and then a Paramedic in Atlanta. After studying for several months and becoming an EMT, Hazzard spent about a decade driving an ambulance; first for a private company, then for Fulton County. Once he became a Paramedic, he got his dream job,working for Grady Hospital in Atlanta. The bulk of his career was spent at Grady, and his best stories come from there. There are a lot of crazy vignettes about his own mistakes and misadventures, and a lot of stories about his colleagues, the various bureacracies (his one-time partner, a great Paramedic, was fired for making t-shirts for the ambulance crews, violating the county's copyright), and, of course, the patients.
A quick, engaging read. Reccommended!
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