Baptism of Fire

 

Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski (1996) 349 Pages

Geralt of Rivia, witcher, continues on his daunting series of adventures. In this novel, Geralt is seriously injured during the coup of the sorcerers guild. Ciri vanishes, and Geralt spends most of this novel attempting to track down his child surprise. Linked by destiny, they share dreams and nightmares. Geralt soon finds out she is not in Nilfgaard because an impersonator is playing the part of captor with Emhyr, the white flame of Nilfgaard. Yennefer is not mentioned for most of the book until Enid, or Francesca, the elf-queen releases her from a spell that compressed her into a small jade statuette. Continuing on the journey, Geralt has become one in a horde of random comrades. Regis, a vampire who is "sober" from human blood acts as their barber-surgeon. They also are back with the dwarves, Zoltan and and the parrot, Field Marshal Windbag. Cahir, former Nilfgaardian and "black knight" who once upon a time briefly captured Ciri in the fall of Cintra, half-druid Milva and of course the bard, Dandelion. The book ends with a battle between Nilfgaard, the witcher and the comrades, and Lyrians. They defeat the Nilfgaardians and the witcher is dubbed a knight by queen Meve of Lyria. Ciri is currently pretending to be "Falka" among a band of thieves and misfits. A paragraph in the book mentions its a shame she was trained as a witcher at Kaer Morhen, because she is an excellent assassin and is beginning to enjoy killing and pillaging. 

Thornhedge

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher, 116 pages

In this retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Toadling is a homely person who has lived hundreds of years at a tower surrounded by thorns and brambles, wishing and hoping that no knights will come close to break the curse upon it. But when a young knight arrives searching for the source of an ancient story, Toadling is forced to reckon with the past, and more importantly, the present, specifically how to deal with this surprisingly bookish and gentle man.

T. Kingfisher has a wonderful way of looking at fairy tale tropes and forcing her readers to reexamine our own biases (in the gentlest and most humorous way possible) when it comes to the tales we all grew up with. Thornhedge is an excellent example of how to do that, and other fairy tale-twisters should use this as a guide going forward. A great short read.

Solitaire

Solitaire by Alice Oseman, 260 pages

Tori is nearing the end of her pre-university education at a largely all-girls private school (the oldest two years are coed) and she has almost completely lost interest in everything — her "friends," her schoolwork, anything outside of her blog, really. But then a post-it note with an arrow on it leads her to "Solitaire," a prankster/blog that disrupts her school in sometimes humorous, sometimes wild ways. And then there's Michael Holden, a new transfer who is weird in some of the same ways Tori is, though she can't seem to figure out why anyone would find her interesting enough to be friends with.

Written before (but released in the U.S. after) Oseman's lovely boy-meets-boy graphic novel romance Heartstopper, the book focuses on the sister of one of Heartstopper's protagonists, and the events of this book happen concurrently to the graphic novel. But this is a much darker story, with disaffected teens thinking dark thoughts. Heartstopper tackles some pretty tough topics, and so does Solitaire, though the way they're handled is a bit different, as Tori deals with things alone. It's not always an easy book to read, though it's definitely a worthwhile use of your time.

The Real Frank Zappa Book

The Real Frank Zappa Book by Frank Zappa and Peter Occchiogrosso  352 pp.

I bought this book for my husband a long time ago but never read it. This time I went for the audio book read by Frank's son, Ahmet Zappa. It's surprising how similar Ahmet's voice is to his father's. Included in the audiobook are sound recordings of comments and interviews with Frank which showcases their vocal similarities. The book covers Frank's childhood, his musical beginnings, the creation of the Mothers of Invention, his children, successes, failures, and run-ins with the "authorities". The last couple chapters are his views on a variety of music industry, political, and business absurdities. He minces no words there. I wish he was still around so we could hear his opinions on the current political insanity. Alas, we lost him to cancer in 1993. 

The Refrigerator Monologues

 The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente, 160 pages.

The Hell Hath club is something like a support group, and something like a group of friends. It's made up of the fridged residents of Dead Town, women who died to advance a male hero's story. The six women who tell their stories in this novella have very little in common; they all had different careers, interests, and personal arcs. Yet they all understand what it is to be treated badly by the narrative.

This was a really interesting little novella. I know just enough about comics to be familiar with the phenomenon that this book is critiquing, and I feel like I definitely have a more complete understanding having finished it. Outside of that, I also found the Valente's characters to be very compelling (which is, I suppose, the point). I also quite enjoyed how the novella alternated between the monologues and scenes of the characters together in Dead Town, which I felt gave the story a lot of cohesion. I would definitely recommend this book to comic book fans, but honestly probably to other people as well.

One Kid's Trash

One Kid's Trash by Jamie Sumner 231 pp. 

Hugo is a sixth grader who is very small for his age. This has been a constant problem for him at school and made him a victim of bullying. Now he is in a new town at a new school, having to start over with making new friends and settling in. The jokes and bullying begin almost immediately after arriving at school. Hugo's parents are having problems and appear to be heading toward a split. His one anchor at the new school is his cousin Vijay but they start having issues with each other. Things start to improve with his classmates when Hugo begins using his talent for Garbology - analyzing people by the trash they produce. Then it all goes wrong. This book is nominated for the 2023-2024 Missouri Mark Twain Award and is one of the selections chosen for our Treehouse Book Club. 

The Holver Alley Crew

 The Holver Alley Crew by Marshall Ryan Maresca, 352 pages.

The Rynax brothers were determined to give up their life of thievery to instead run an honest gadget shop. Then their home, their as yet unopened shop, and the whole of Holver Alley burn down in a fire overnight. And the more they look into it the more it looks like it wasn't an accident. So they gather a crew who all lost everything in the fire and plan a few heists, even as they are reminded of why they wanted out in the first place. Verci Rynax has a baby, and Asti Rynax is clinging to the scraps of his sanity after having a very traumatic time working in Druth Intelligence. 

This book had all of the components of a fun fantasy heist, but it never felt like they quite got enough momentum behind them to get off of the ground. The characters were fine, and the setting was a pretty standard city with a few fantasy elements at the periphery, but I very nearly stopped halfway through after the first heist was over because the story structure made it feel like the book should be over. A fine novel, but I don't know that I will read the sequels.

The Tale of Genji

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu 1177 pp.

This is one of the books selected for the adult summer reading discussions. It is a book that had been on my "to read" list for many years but its length made me keep putting it off. Kara's commentary is excellent and I don't have anything to add except that it wasn't quite what I was expecting, although I'm not even sure what I expected. I do enjoy Asian literature although this is the first I've read with 1000 years of age on it. I'm glad I finally crossed this one out of my "to reads". 

The Ballad of Perilous Graves

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings, 456 pages

Twelve-year-old Perilous "Perry" Graves knows that music is magic, something he witnesses on a daily basis when piano-playing haints pop up to create spontaneous dance parties on the street. But when one of those haints, Doctor Professor, tasks Perry, his sister Brendy, and their friend Peaches with capturing some songs that physically manifested and escaped, Perry discovers that the music magic is more complex than he ever imagined. 

This debut novel weaves a rich tapestry of music, magic, history, and attitude for a complex fantasy tale that could only take place in New Orleans. The patois of the city's residents permeates the story nearly as much as the music does, and when it's combined with the fantastical elements and thick musical background, the book is confusing as heck, but in the best possible way. I loved the characters (Brendy is AMAZING), even the villains. I'm still digesting the complexities of the plot, and I'm sure I'll be thinking on this one for quite some time, but I'm absolutely OK with that.

Norse Mythology

 Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (2017) 301 pages

One of the best storytellers of all time, Neil Gaiman brings Norse myths to life with this stunning retelling. I listened to the audiobook on a road trip after having read the publication sometime last year, and have to say it was great fun listening to Gaiman read. These are classic myths, retold with some humor that Gaiman has given to some of the various characters. I especially love the way he portrays Loki, the notorious god of mischief. An excellent read, whether you're listening to it or reading.