Isaac's Storm

Isaac's Storm: a Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Storm in History by Erik Larson  323 pp.

In September of 1900 Galveston, Texas was hit by the deadliest hurricane on record - 6000 dead - and nearly wiped from the face of the earth. Larson used meticulous research to chronicle the events leading up to and the aftermath of the storm. The story focuses on Isaac Cline, a meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau. Cline finds himself in a battle against the bureaucrats at the U.S. Weather Bureau while trying to save the people of Galveston including his own family. The prevailing belief at that time was that hurricanes always travel up the east coast and never across the Gulf of Mexico (tell that to New Orleans). Because of a refusal of the bureaucrats to share information with the weather service in Cuba, storm warnings were not raised until much too late. In fact, the Bureau denied Isaac's first request to issue such a storm warning. It was only when Galveston was completely unreachable via telegraph that the Bureau became concerned. The details of the storm's deadliness are shocking and heart wrenching. The loss of life made it necessary to burn the bodies that were strewn everywhere because burial was just not possible. Isaac lost his wife to the storm and his daughter was seriously injured. The diamond pinky ring on Cline's photo on the cover was his late wife's wedding ring. Larson does an excellent job of providing the human side to this story based on letters and other written accounts by survivors and witnesses.

Jonah's Gourd Vine

Jonah's Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston  316 pp.

I really enjoyed this book and the discussion about it I attended at the library. Christa's description of the story pretty much covers it. I had not read this work by Hurston although I had heard about it and planned to read it "one day". The dialect in the story is a bit challenging at first, until a kind of rhythm sets in. That the story is based on Hurston's family makes the characters come alive. This is one I recommend.

Assassination Vacation

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell  258 pp.

Sarah Vowell made many trips researching the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. She visited the sites of the crimes, museums with pertinent displays, homes of the victims and perpetrators, and other places associated with the murders of the three. In addition to the interesting facts she provides an often hilarious description of her travels to the historic sites, often with her sister and young nephew in tow. The number of quirky and downright bizarre things she discovered were never presented in the history books. You wouldn't think there would be things to laugh at in a book about assassinations but Vowell has provided plenty of humor which made me laugh out loud. And I'm seriously thinking of leaving instructions for memorial yo-yos to be handed out when I die.

Jonah's Gourd Vine

Jonah's Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston, 316 pages


Christa offered an excellent plot summary here, so I won't rehash it. What I will say is that I probably wouldn't have picked this one up if it wasn't part of the Big Book Challenge this summer, but I'm glad I read it and I look forward to reading more Zora Neale Hurston over the next couple of months. This was a fascinating look at African American life in the post-Civil War South, and the fact that it's loosely based on Hurston's parents is equally compelling. A word of warning, however: the dialect in this book is pretty difficult to wrap your head around at the start; sounding out the words in your head is a good way to figure it out though, and once you get used to it, the going gets MUCH easier. Too bad this doesn't exist as an audiobook.

Blue Labyrinth

Blue Labyrinth by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child  403 pp.

This is the fourteenth book in the Agent Pendergast series. Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast is up against a mysterious villain who is seeking to destroy him in revenge of an old family secret. Pendergast's son turns up dead on the doorstep of his mansion and the investigation in to the death leads the agent into a labyrinth of clues, dead ends, and an ultimately life threatening situation - poisoned by the patent medicine created by his ancestor. The investigation ends up connected to another death, this time in the New York Museum of Natural History, the place where the first Pendergast book, Relic, takes place. Researcher Margo Green from that first novel plays an important part in this story also. This is the first time I've read (or listened to) a book from this series but my husband was a big fan of Preston & Child. The audiobook is read by the actor, Rene Auberjonois who does an excellent job except for two small errors, one of which may have been the authors'.

The secret city

The secret city / Carol Emshwiller 209 pgs.

High in the mountains, a city of aliens are living on earth awaiting a trip home. They have been there for awhile.  Some of the aliens have integrated with Earthlings in "the down" and live among us.  Lorpas is one looking for others of his kind when a rescue party comes and tries to take him home.  Communication is poor and things don't turn out well.  Soon after, Lorpas does find the secret city where others of his kind are living.  He quickly falls in love with Allush.  They are soon separated and an adventure follows to get them back together.

In the end, your fairly typical alien love story.

The Invisible Library

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, 341 pages

Before I launch into a description of this book, a warning: the quote on the cover describes it as "satisfyingly complex," and never a truer phrase has been written.

Now that that's out of the way: imagine a library that exists only in the cracks between infinite alternate worlds. This library collects books that bind the worlds together, while preserving the titles that only exist in those worlds. The Librarians (yes, capitalized) are something like secret agents, sent into these worlds on undercover missions to collect the books through whatever means necessary. That's the situation when our protagonist Irene travels with her apprentice Kai into a steampunk alternate London, on a mission to snag an original Grimm manuscript. But it seems the Library isn't the only party interested in the book: the Fae, a cat burglar, and a rogue former Librarian are all after it as well, leading to a much more dangerous mission than Irene had anticipated.

Yes, it is complex, but in her debut novel, Cogman has done an excellent job of world-building in a way that doesn't get bogged down in details. There's enough mystery and craziness to keep the plot rolling, and plenty of sly jokes to keep it light. I'm looking forward to the second book in this series, which comes out this fall.

The mark and the void

The mark and the void / Paul Murray 459 pgs.

Claude is stuck in a boring banking job and finds himself under the spell of a down-on-his luck writer.  The writer, Paul, is thinking about writing a book about an "every man" an has picked Claude as his subject.  Things aren't what they seem and Paul is actually hoping to rob Claude's bank.  But it is an investment bank so has no money on site.  Claude realizes he is the mark but he is so intrigued with Paul, he tries to help him get his mojo back and write his next book.  Hilarity ensues, including zombie banks, tainted reports to the minister of finance, and Claude and Paul getting mistaken for a couple.  I spent a little bit of time wondering what was going on in this book but once I figured it out, it was highly entertaining.

The sound of a wild snail eating

The sound of a wild snail eating / Elisabeth Tova Bailey 195 pgs.

Bedridden with a mysterious illness, the author finds herself away from home in a small, blank studio apartment.  She does have a terrarium and a snail found near the property.  Recovering from her illness takes a long time but becoming entranced with the snail takes almost no time at all.  Watching the snail learn about its new habitat and observing its habits helps keep her mind busy while her body is static.  She becomes so intrigued that she spends time learning more about snails.

This is a great book that makes chronic illness real but also shows that being forced to slow down doesn't mean you can't find interesting things surrounding you.

The perfect comeback of Caroline Jacobs

The perfect comeback of Caroline Jacobs / Matthew Dicks 216 pgs.

Caroline Jacobs is a mouse.  She is quiet, she avoids conflict, she is shy, she is living a life of avoidance.  Caroline is the mother of a teenager, Polly, with whom she barely speaks.  She has an unsatisfying job but is a great photographer who has no faith in her talent.  And all of this might continue forever until one night at a PTA meeting when the former prom queen president is mean to another shy, quiet woman, Caroline tells her off.  Now, with some new found backbone, she decides to go back to her hometown and tell off her former best friend.  This woman dumped her in a humiliating way in the middle of the lunch room in high school.  Caroline and her daughter Polly bond on the trip but things don't work out as planned.  Turns out Caroline has some other issues to confront.

This book is written by a man but features women characters almost exclusively.  I'm not sure he gets it perfect but does a pretty good job, especially with the school memories.