Tears in the Darkness

Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and its Aftermath by Michael Norman & Elizabeth M. Norman  464 pp.

This well written account of a horrendous episode in military history uses one survivor, Ben (Bud) Steele as a focal point. But it also includes personal accounts of others who fought the doomed Battle of Bataan to be taken prisoner in the Philippines in 1942 and forced on a 60+ mile walk with 80,000 other U.S. and Filipino troops. During the march the men were given little food and water, were beaten, tortured, bayoneted, and beheaded. About 3,000 died on the march with nearly 28,000 dying at the Camp O'Donnell prison camp. Many of the prisoners died of malnutrition, dysentery, malaria, beriberi, made worse by the lack of food, medicine, water, forced labor, and thr brutality of their captors. Ben Steele nearly died of malaria while a prisoner. When the Allies began to retake the Philippines, many who still survived were put on "death ships" that transported them to Japan to work in mines not far from where the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Once the survivors were freed, the book focuses again on Ben Steele who went on to be an artist and professor of art in his home state of Montana. The little bit I knew of what occurred was based solely on movies and other sources. The one relative I had who survived the march and POW time never spoke of it which seems to be the way most coped with it.

Humans of London

Humans of London by Cathy Teesdale 224 pages

If you're a fan of Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York books and blog, you'll find Cathy Teesdale's book every bit as refreshing: a wide variety of people photographed all over London, with enough of their story included to make you feel that you were next to the photographer, meeting these people. The photographs and the people are intriguing.

Beneath the Sugar Sky

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire, 174 pages

Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children is a safe space for kids who have gone through a door to other fantasy worlds where they feel at home — and then returned to our mundane world. So the residents at Eleanor West's are used to hearing about other places where the logic is different (or nonexistent). But they're not used to a door being opened from another world directly into their back yard, which is exactly what happens when Rini, a girl from the sugar-spun world of Confection, drops into the turtle pond at Eleanor West's. Rini has come with a problem that only the wayward children can solve, sending them on a world-hopping quest to save Rini's very existence.

This is the third book in McGuire's Wayward Children series, and while I like it and the characters she creates here (I LOVE our narrator Cora, an overweight girl who's hoping to return to a world of mermaids), it's definitely not my favorite installment. Something about Confection and the devious Queen of Cakes seems unfinished, and perhaps McGuire will sort that out in a future book. However, I think the reason that this isn't my favorite is simply that the previous two entries in this series — Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones — are so fantastic. The bar is set very high for this series, and Beneath the Sugar Sky just doesn't quite clear it.

The Best Kind of People

The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall, 430 pages

When a high school teacher is arrested, accused by four students of sexual misconduct on a class ski trip, his life and the lives of his family are turned completely upside down. The author transports the reader delicately into the evolving points of view of  his wife, adult son, and high school-aged daughter. We see how the crisis changes relationships within and outside the family. Like his family, I kept wondering whether to believe the man or his accusers. Whittall's novel, published in 2016, evokes the #MeToo movement that has lately resonated through our society.
  

Theory of Shadows

Theory of Shadows: a Novel / Paolo Maurensig, 179 p.

An exploration of the very real life of Russian chess master Alexandre Alekhine, who died under exceedingly mysterious circumstances in Portugal in 1946.  Alekhine, who survived the war by playing chess on behalf of the Reich and cozying up to high-ranking Nazis, was found dead in his hotel room, seated before a chess board,  cause of death unclear.  The author uses the form of the novel hoping that fiction will lead him to uncover truths that research does not.  The result is an interesting, creepy story about a brilliant but horribly flawed man. 

Barbie Chang

Barbie Chang: Poems / Victoria Chang, 99 p.


I was impressed by Chang's earlier volume Boss and enjoyed this one as well.  Barbie Chang is a persona, the author's immature, insecure, frightened self.  The experience of reading these poems, about not fitting in, about romantic fantasy, and about demented and dying parents, is a bit like reading a novel in YA style with adult themes.  Not as strong as Boss, but nevertheless very accessible and true.

No Time to Spare

No Time to Spare: Thinking about what matters by Ursula K. Le Guin  215 pp.

This wonderful collection of essays, penned while the author was in her eighties was published shortly before her death on January 22 of this year. Included are topics as varied as growing old, the "f" word, writing, politics, catching a rattlesnake, eating soft boiled eggs in the shell, the Oregon food bank, her cat, the story of a captive lynx, and much more. There is much to think about and much that is just entertaining. The collection shows off her ability to write not just the science fiction and children's books for which she is most well known. Time to dust off The Left Hand of Darkness for a re-read.

Little fires everywhere, by Celeste Ng

Shaker Heights, Ohio, is perfect.  A wealthy, planned community where the schools are excellent, all the children are above average, and the homes are color-coordinated by law.  But as the novel opens, one of those beautiful homes, the Richardson’s, is burning to the ground.  The pebble dropped into this placid surface may be Mia Warren, a young artist with a 15-year-old daughter, Pearl, who shows up in the town and rents the upper floor of the duplex that is owned by Mrs. Richardson (note, all duplexes look like single family homes with one entrance instead of two so as not to disturb the appearance of the street).  Mrs. Richardson, married to a successful lawyer, is a fourth generation Shaker resident and subscribes to the progressive, if somewhat repressive, tenets of her community.  She seems undisturbed that her oldest daughter, Lexie’s, boyfriend is African-American or that Lexie’s best friend is Serena Wong.  They are, after all, a very progressive community.  Mrs. Richardson, a journalist with the local paper is the mother of four children, one in each year at the high school.  Her younger son, Moody, befriends Pearl, and Pearl slowly becomes a fixture in the Richardson household, which also includes junior Trip, a handsome and charming athlete, and freshman Izzy, a surly, sullen, unhappy teen in Doc Martens.  The Richardson children’s lives couldn’t be more different from Pearl’s peripatetic life.  When a Chinese baby is abandoned at the local fire station, she seems to be the answer to the prayers of Mrs. Richardson’s best friend, Linda, who with her husband has tried unsuccessfully for years to have a baby of their own.  Then Mirabelle, nee Lily May’s, birth mother reappears and wants her child back.  Suddenly, things aren’t so progressive any more.  A thoughtful and thought-provoking book by an Asian-American who grew up there.  338 pp.

Be frank with me

Be frank with me / Julia Claiborne Johnson, read by Tavia Gilbert

A reclusive author gets bilked out of her fortune and returns to writing in hopes to keep the house.  Her publisher sends twenty-four year old Alice out to California to keep her on track and transcribe her book.  Alice arrives to fine M. M. Banning a little odder than she anticipated.  Also on site is her son Frank, a nine year old cinephile who dresses like he is on set in a Hollywood hit from the 30's or 40's.  Alice becomes Frank's companion as the goal it to get his mom to finish her book.  Frank has a lot of rules and isn't all that adept at reading a situation.  He has problems in school, mostly with the other kids, but lights up whenever the mysterious Xander, the globe trotting handyman appears.  Alice is starting to fit in with this oddball group but every time she gets answer, several more questions appear.  I listened to the audio version and found it absolutely delightful.

Fire and fury

Fire and Fury: inside the Trump white house / Michael Wolff, 321 pages.

There isn't a whole lot of new information in this book if you have paid attention to the comments about it and the appearances the author has made on various talk shows.  However, the political junkie really has to read it just to marvel at the amazing stories of the president and staff.  It is kind of like looking at a car wreck, you don't want to see it but you can't look away.  It would be a fun book if it was fiction but since it is our reality, it is mostly frightening.