Bitch Planet: Extraordinary Machine

Bitch Planet [volume 1]: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick, art by Valentine De Landro, 136 pages

In a not-too-distant future, women must be subservient, docile, and always compliant to the men in their lives. If they stray from those roles, they are arrested and sent to a prison on another planet, one that's been dubbed "Bitch Planet" by the women serving time there, as well as by those back on Earth.

This volume, comprising issues 1-5 of the comic, introduces us to a handful of prisoners, as well as the "Fathers" who are running the world. It's stark, graphic, sharp, and uncomfortable, which is exactly how this should be. It's also AMAZING, and I can't wait to discuss it with the Orcs & Aliens next week.

And They Called It Camelot

And They Called It Camelot by Stephanie Marie Thornton, 458 pages

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis is well-known for the style and grace she showed as First Lady, as well as for the strength she showed after JFK was assassinated beside her in 1963. This novel seeks to give readers an intimate view of the events of Jackie's life from the point of view of the notoriously quiet and reserved woman. Spanning the years from first meeting JFK in 1952 through settling the will of her second husband, Aristotle Onassis, in 1977, several years after his death, this is the world seen through Jackie's eyes, full of splendid trips abroad and classy designs, but also tragedy in the form of miscarriages and stillbirths, and of course the well-publicized philandering of her late husband and also his assassination.

The book aims to be intimate and emotional, but somehow misses that mark. I felt like I was reading a memoir in which the author didn't want to get too deep into emotions or linger on particular events too long. The pacing never varied, and it felt like the author just wanted to make sure she hit all the big events instead of making the reader sympathize with Jackie. It's sad really: I felt bad for Jackie the person during all of the tragic events, but the writing didn't move me to feel for Jackie the character at all.

Oona Out of Order

Oona Out of Order / Margarita Montimore, read by Brittany Pressley, 338 page

Oona leaves each year at midnight and starts up the next day in a different year.  Sure, we all do that but she does it out of order.  So she "time travels" to a different  place in her life.  The book starts with her being 18 and the next year, she is in a 51 year old body but mentally 19.  This is a fantastic premise and had such promise.  Unfortunately, instead of being really cool, this is a pretty standard novel revolving around the romantic adventures of the title character.  Most of which are NOT that interesting. This could have been so much more.

The Opposite of Fate

The Opposite of Fate by Alison McGhee (2020) 265 pages

Mallie, a young massage therapist whose father is dead and who is estranged from her uber-religious mother, lives with her boyfriend and her teen-aged brother. One rainy night, while waiting to pick up her brother from a party, she is raped and assaulted and left comatose and pregnant. A whole array of people weighs in, including her mother's church community and neighbors who are Mallie's family-in-spirit. They fight not only for Mallie's life, but for or against abortion of the fetus sired by her rapist. When Mallie awakens from her coma sixteen months after the assault, the processing begins.  The book's imagery is compelling and poetic. The story is told from alternating points of view, mostly from Mallie and her neighbor, William T.

One measure of a great book is how much it grabs you from the time you first see the description by the publisher, and how it continues to haunt you each time you set the book down or try to sleep, and how it still consumes you after you've read the last page. For me, this is one of those books.

Leviathan Wakes

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey, 582 pages.
Jim Holden is serving as the Executive Officer on the ice-hauler Canterbury making their regular run between Saturn and the Belt when they receive a distress call from a stranded ship. When Holden, Naomi Nagata, and three other crew members take a small skiff out to see if they can effect a rescue or at least some salvage, they stumble upon a secret that is going to change the lives of everyone on Earth, on Mars, and on all the colonies in the Belt.
That same secret drives Detective Miller, on Ceres Station, to go looking for the missing daughter of one of the richest men in the solar system. The two authors who write as Corey do an excellent job of creating interesting, likable characters and placing them in extraordinary circumstances. Great fun to read.

The Dam Keepers: Return from the Shadows

The Dam Keepers: Return from the Shadows by Robert Kondo and Daisuke "Dice" Tsutsumi, 191 pages.

A juvenile graphic novel that quite clearly states on its title page that it is "book three," but I didn't notice that and kept wondering when the backstory would become clear. I am slow like that. Anyway, this tale of a fox, a hippo, a pig, and their friends flying around in an airship, fighting against the waves of fog that threaten their whole world (maybe?) is pretty interesting and extremely well-drawn, so it is  all good. The author's have made a short film of The Dam Keeper, and both of them work at Pixar, so the art is very good. Looking forward to reading the first two volumes to see what was going on before the air adventure.

The Rakess

The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham, 383 pages

Everyone, even those who don't read romance novels, are familiar with the historical romance stereotype of the rake, that ne'er-do-well dashing man without a care in the world who leaves broken hearts in his wake wherever he goes. Well, in this novel, Peckham gender-swaps that role, with notorious authoress Seraphina Arden taking on this traditional role as the titular Rakess. But unlike her male counterparts, Seraphina is the target of harassment, slander, and dirty looks wherever she goes. The abuse doesn't seem to bother her, though her temporary neighbor, architect Adam Anderson, begins to see both the kind woman behind the facade, as well as the cracks the taunts are leaving in her carefully constructed persona.

This is a wonderful take on the traditional stereotype, and Peckham has created some fantastic characters in Seraphina, Adam, and Seraphina's band of feminist friends. I didn't think I'd enjoy an 18th Century romance set on the dramatic cliffs of Cornwall, but here we are.

Messenger of truth, by Jacqueline Winspear

The fourth of the “Maisie Dobbs” series finds our heroine involved with an artistic family whose painter son has fallen to his death from a scaffolding while preparing to exhibit his masterpiece in a gallery. His twin sister refuses to believe that her brother actually fell – she suspects foul play and employs Maisie to ferret out the truth. Again, the long reach of the effects on “The Great War” on families has a central place in the story. The controversial artist served in the war and afterwards retreated to an artists' camp consisting of repurposed railway carriages on the coast. This coast has an centuries-old connection to pirates, and Maisie stumbles upon suspicious activity while investigating. Another great outing. 337 pp.

Pardonable lies, by Jacqueline Winspear

Having inadvertently read one of the engaging “Maisie Dobbs” series out of order, I am now going back to fill in some blanks. My admiration for the series has grown over time as Maisie herself grows. In this third outing, Maisie is engaged by a recently widowed man to find out whether or not his son, Ralph, really died during World War I. Although the father is himself fairly convinced of his missing son’s death, his late wife had refused to believe it true and it was her dying wish that he continue the search for a definitive answer. Meanwhile, Maisie’s good friend Priscilla, who lost three brothers in the war, finds that the youngest of them had a connection to the missing Ralph. These two stories, and Maisie’s mentor, Maurice’s, connection to them will try Maisie’s faith in Maurice. 359 pp.

On earth we’re briefly gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong

This highly acclaimed book by Vietnamese-American writer Ocean Vuong, who was under thirty when it was published, is a mix of memoir, history, and literary fiction. That his first published work was poetry is evident in the rich, evocative language throughout. Ostensibly, the text is a letter written by the narrator, Little Dog, to his mother, who is an illiterate immigrant refugee from the Vietnam War. (The author, himself, didn’t learn to read until he was eleven.) Like his mother's, "Little Dog's" real name is concealed – no one will try to harm just a little dog. Growing up impoverished in Hartford, Connecticut, Little Dog is bullied at school but finds odd solace and an erotic relationship with the owner’s son Trevor, while working on a tobacco farm. Trevor, however, doesn’t value himself, or admit his own gayness, and falls victim to the opioid crisis sweeping the country. I can understand the rapturous reviews, many from authors I admire, but think I personally would enjoy his poetry more. 242 pp.