Category Archives: books

Book review: True Grit by Charles Portis

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True Grit by Charles Portis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I used to be an avid reader of Westerns, but this hasn’t been true for decades (literally). However, I read a commentary on the place “True Grit” should hold in the pantheon of books and decided to read it. All I knew beforehand was that it was made into a movie starring John Wayne.
Imagine my surprise, then, when it was apparent that John Wayne’s character, Rooster Cogburn, isn’t a critical part of the book. Oh, he’s a major character, for sure, but the pivot on which the book turns is the narrator, a woman by the name of Mattie Ross who is 14 years old when the story takes place. Her narrative voice is idiosyncratic, and the author has a gifted ear for colorful and authentic dialogue.
I was delighted by the characters, especially Mattie, and the pragmatic and matter-of-fact air by which the narrator tells even the most unlikely parts of her story. The narrative voice never breaks character, and the evolution of the three main characters, Mattie, Rooster, and a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf from their distrust and dislike from each other to their grudging respect for each other is compelling character development.
It may be a few decades before I read another Western, but I am very glad I read this one! I can see why the book makes the list of greatest American novels. Even if Westerns aren’t your thing, this is a quick and worthwhile read.



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Book review: Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott

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Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was recommended to me by a mentor of mine, and I am so glad she made the recommendation. The author, who is a reporter at the New York Times, follows one family and, in particular, one girl in the family, as the family navigates being on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic scale. The daughter who is profiled is mentored by various adults along the way, is admitted into the Hershey School–a school designed to help poor children by providing them with educational opportunities–and then, sadly, returns to NYC without completing her education at the school. The author illustrates with sensitivity and understanding many of the obstacles the poor have in navigating life and the system, even when given opportunities to break out of the poverty cycle. Sub-optimal choices are made more understandable and, overall, by profiling this specific girl and her family, the book is a powerful depiction of the systemic and psychological obstacles that are placed in the way of individuals to move upward socioeconomically.
That being said, I do have one major criticism: not surprisingly as a NYT reporter, the author has her political biases. Those biases in themselves need not detract from the story, but she felt it necessary to indulge in criticism of political leaders throughout the book. The book would have been even more powerful had the author been content to limit her criticism to the limitations and obstacles of the system that is designed to help the poor but often hinders the poor’s ability to create a better life for themselves. Her description of the bureaucratic and life obstacles to performing even simple tasks (such as getting to school on time) are immensely powerful. Criticism of NYC’s political leaders just comes across as gratuitous and petty and detracts from the emotional resonance of the story.
Despite this limitation (and the author is not subtle, so the criticisms are easy to spot), the book is a powerful statement on the limitations of government intervention (although perhaps not in the way the author intended) and the limitations constraining society’s most vulnerable. It’s definitely a worthwhile read.



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Book review: The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich

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The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the first in a new series by a well-known mystery author, Janet Evanovich, who writes the Stephanie Plum series. Gabriela Rose is a “recovery agent,” someone who is retained to find lost/stolen/missing items. And this time she is off to find lost treasure in order to save her family’s home.
While the premise of this mystery is wildly improbable (lost treasure based on a family legend), the author, as usual, writes fun and appealing characters with entertaining dialogue and well-paced action plots. I was highly entertained by the book, which can best be characterized as a fabulous beach read. You don’t have to think too hard, it’s an easy read, and (surprise, surprise), the heroine lives on to fight another day (or, more accurately, in book #2, which is coming out in June).
If you’re looking for an easy escape read, this one is for you. Fans of Stephanie Plum will enjoy this book as well. While the main characters aren’t quite as quirky as Stephanie’s posse is, they are also a bit more accessible and just as much fun. I will definitely be picking up book #2 in the series.



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Book review: The Murder of Mr Wickham by Claudia Gray

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The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The premise of the book is clever–the author has taken many of the characters from Jane Austen novels, thrown them together, and murdered one of them (no spoilers, but based on the title, it’s clear which character it is). Then, two children of 2 couples from the novels are thrown together to solve the murder.
Like I said, the premise of the book is quite clever, and I applaud the author on her imaginative rendering of the story. The mystery is cleverly plotted, and as a fan of Jane Austen novels, it is fun to see the characters after their stories were told, as it were.
The issue is if you are going to borrow characters from Jane Austen’s novels, it would help to be as satirical and insightful and perceptive as she was. And while the author is a very good writer, the tone of her book falls flat, especially when compared against the original author.
This is, of course, not entirely the author’s fault. There are few writers as gifted with light-hearted satire and irony as Jane Austen. But if you are going to extend Jane Austen’s characters, then you should not be surprised to be compared to her (which is probably not to your benefit).
That being said, the book is creative and clever. It’s just that the characters don’t quite ring true to the originals. I enjoyed reading the book but will probably not read its sequel, at least not while my TBR pile is so long.



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Book review: The Iron Princess by Barbara Hambly

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The Iron Princess by Barbara Hambly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have loved all of Barbara Hambly’s books, and this one (a standalone book) is no exception. The author is excellent at world-building and has a deft approach to explaining the rules under which the world operates without actually explaining them. (This is an underrated skill when writing fantasy.) The adventure/world-building/conflict in this book tends to overshadow the romance aspect, but that is characteristic of all of her books. The book delves into realistic societal and systemic conflicts while integrating magic and fantasy elements. The characters, especially the main character, are well developed.
I am a devoted fan of the author and am always eager to read her books. This book is no exception, and I highly recommend it.



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Book review: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

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Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a difficult-to-place genre of a book, which I really enjoyed). A group of middle-aged female assassins are retiring, but someone is trying to kill them, and they have to “unretire” long enough to fend off attempts to kill them while trying to figure out who has ordered the hit. The book alternates between the past lives of this squad and the present. It’s a technique that generally annoys me since it breaks up the narrative thread and results in a choppy story, but I didn’t mind it in this case because the author is skillful enough to interweave the threads of past and present seamlessly, and both story lines are interesting enough to keep the reader engaged.
Part mystery, part thriller (without a lot of gratuitous dead bodies so common in the thriller genre), and part revenge fantasy for older women, this was a hoot to read and was a very enjoyable story. (The author also writes the Lady Julia Grey series and the Veronica Speedwell series.) I think this is a standalone book, which is a shame, because I certainly would love to read more about the idiosyncratic characters in this book!



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Book review: When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley

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When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the debut novel of the author (and full disclosure: the author was my son’s favorite high school English teacher).
Reading this novel is like peeling an onion–you think you know what’s happened and what’s going to happen, but then you peel off a layer of the story and another layer appears, giving a different angle and additional depth to the story.
The story takes place in Seoul and is about a search for identity and belonging and what those two words mean to a person who appears to have both but has neither and to a person who thinks they have neither but actually has both. The journey by the main characters is a journey of continuing revelation about the façades people erect about themselves and others and what happens when those façades are torn away.
This is a stunning debut novel, and the themes of identity and belonging are universal and resonate, no matter the setting. I can’t wait to read the author’s next book, and I highly recommend this one!




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Book review: Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran

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Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I have really enjoyed all of Michelle Moran’s books that I have read, but this one is one of my favorites. Of course, it helps that I love reading about ancient Egypt. This book is about Cleopatra’s daughter, Selene, and what befell her after Octavian conquered Egypt. The descriptions of Egypt and Rome during Selene’s time period were fascinating, and even more interesting were the machinations and power struggles surrounding Octavian, involving not only his advisers but his family members as well.
I liked this book so much that I ordered a hardback copy of it (I originally read it on my Kindle). Any book that I willingly add to the already large amounts of clutter in my house definitely deserves a place of honor!



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Book review: Sweet Revenge by Andrea Penrose (A Lady Arianna mystery)

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Sweet Revenge by Andrea Penrose

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The debut novel of the Lady Arianna Regency Mysteries (I think my theory is that if I keep discovering new good series, I will never run out of books to read. I think I will never run out of books to read anyway, but that’s a different matter altogether.)
This series is actually an earlier series from the same author as the Wrexford & Sloane series. Both of these historical mystery series have a female protagonist that is “modern,” in that the character does not consider herself bound by the female norms of the times. Both do it because they have no choice–life has dealt each a bad hand.
Lady Arianna has accumulated some interesting skills as part of her unusual childhood, and these skills come in handy in her initial quest to seek revenge for her father and then in her subsequent quest to find a murderer.
This is a grittier, darker Regency mystery series, more along the lines of C.S. Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr series (although not quite as dark) then Georgette Heyer mysteries. The perspectives of hero and heroine are interesting and unusual, and the mysteries are well crafted. I am thoroughly enjoying this series!



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Book review: Castle and Key by W.R. Gingell

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Castle and Key by W.R. Gingell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the latest (but hopefully not the final!) book in the author’s Two Monarchies series. I have loved all of the books in this series and highly recommend that you read them. This most recent book is the story of Susan Farrah and is an intricate tale of a Bluebeard-like villain, magic, and romance. It is a delightful read, full of drama and fun.
The series is best read in order if you want to experience the most out of the characters. The author has a vivid and whimsical imagination that she transfers well onto paper. This book (and the series) is highly recommended!



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