Historical Mystery and Fantasy and Some Ponderings

For Dead Men Only has a great cover.    

Alexandra Gladstone is a Victorian doctor who solves murders with the help of her maid and her friend Lord Dunsford.  In this novel, Freemasons are being murdered and the body count continues to increase.  

It is a light historical mystery series and most reviews are quite positive, but I had trouble believing in the characters.

NetGalley/Random House/Alibi

Historical Mystery.  April 12, 2016.   

An immigrant story full of martial arts, mythical Chinese creatures, evil spirits, and magic--The Girl with Ghost Eyes is set in San Francisco's Chinatown at the turn of the 19th century.  It is a unique fantasy, specifically Chinese/American.  Chinese immigrants faced with the conflicts that arise between tradition and progress  must carve out new lives for themselves amidst prejudice and cultural differences in a new country, and (since China is a huge country with many languages and dialects, ethnic groups, traditions, and beliefs) Chinatown itself is another kind of melting pot.  ( China has 297 living languages according to Ethnologue.^[5))

Li-lin is a young widow and the daughter of one of Chinatown's most respected exorcists in the Maoshan tradition of Daoism.  She, herself, is in training, but at only a second ordination, her skills are limited.  When persuaded to take a dangerous journey to the afterlife to help a ghost, she is betrayed and an evil plot is initiated.

"Maoshan isn't like other traditions. We are ghost hunters, spirit mediums, and exorcists. When creatures out of nightmare trouble Chinatown, people come to the Maoshan for protection. With paper talismans we drive away the spirits, with magic gourds we imprison them, with peachwood swords we destroy them. People fear those who live at the border of the spirit world. They say a haunt of death taints us. They might be right."

Li-lin fights valiantly to do what is right and, forced into a new more active situation, her character grows from the always obedient and traditional daughter.  As she questions situations and dictums she previously took for granted, Li-lin eventually realizes that what she has been told is a curse and shameful...might actually be necessary to combat the evil that threatens Chinatown.

Li-lin is a wonderful protagonist, and I hope for more from Mr. Boroson.  

The information about the author and how he came to write this story is definitely worth the time to read it.

Purchased ebook.

Fantasy/Historical Fiction/YA.  2015.  Print length:  288 pages.



Jackaby by William Ritter is the first in a series featuring an eccentric paranormal investigator and a young woman recently arrived from England to keep from confronting her parents about a foolish adventure.

Abigail Rook is an intelligent young woman with sharp observational skills;  R.F. Jackaby is an oddball detective with the ability to perceive the supernatural.  They make an effective team with Abigail realizing the importance of ordinary details, while Jackaby recognizes what goes beyond the ordinary.

“Miss Rook, I am not an occultist,” Jackaby said. “I have a gift that allows me to see truth where others see the illusion--and there are many illusions. All the world’s a stage, as they say, and I seem to have the only seat in the house with a view behind the curtain.”


I found the novel entertaining, mostly because it offers the promise of more and better. Jackaby is full of suspense and offbeat humor, but I would have liked more character development and backstory.  I suspect that as the author develops the characters, the series could be one that improves with each addition.  I need to try the second in the series, Beastly Bones.  

Middle School/YA/Mystery/Paranormal.  2014.  Print length:  321 pages.
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So many more book reviews to catch up on, but I'm headed back upstairs to tackle a re-organization of my studio.  Tomorrow, I'll be searching for items I've re-organized.  

The final day in the Month of Letters challenge is tomorrow--Monday, Feb. 29!  I have something ready to go out in tomorrow's mail, and with this last letter, I will have met the challenge!  I'm pretty proud of myself for following through.

Of course, it won't be the end of writing letters.  Making the envelopes and postcards has been too much fun and will continue, but instead of worrying about putting at least one thing in the mail each day, I'll post several things at a time--maybe once or twice a week.  A more comfortable fit.

On Tuesday, I'll share some of the incoming and outgoing mail from this past week, but today I'm going to share the  invitation to Jack & Ginger's annual Critter Dinner that arrived in Saturday's mail.  Jack is an artist and designs the invitations each year.  

 Love that list of last year's dishes is included!

He even had a stamp made from his drawing at stamps.com!

Flight of the King (Animas 2) by C.R. Grey

Flight of the King (Animas 2)

I thoroughly enjoyed the first in this middle school series and was eager for the second installment.  Set in the prestigious Fairmount Academy  (Do we ever really get tired of this trope?  It is the easiest way to remove young people from a parental situation and provide plenty of other youngsters in a microcosm), Bailey Walker and his friends have returned from the winter break.

Of course, all is not well, and the academy awaits a visit from Viviana Melore, whose evil intentions Bailey and his friends are only to aware of.  Who is the current spy that Viviana has implanted in the academy?   What is up with the Seer's Glass?  Bailey and Hal are on one quest; Gwen and Phi on another.  A battle approaches that could decide the fate of the country and change the human/animal kinship forever.

Plenty of action in Flight of the King, but in order to have the appropriate background and familiarity with the characters, it is important to have read Legacy of the Claw (Animas 1).  I have to admit that I didn't enjoy Flight as much as Legacy, but then it has been a year since I read the first book, so it was over 100 books ago...and, uh, I am a little more mature (OK, read ancient, if you must) than the target audience.  

This series should appeal to young people, especially those who feel strong bonds with animals.  It isn't Harry Potter, but it is entertaining and has embedded themes of friendship, animal kinship, loyalty, unbridled ambition, and courage.

Read in July.  Blog post scheduled for 

NetGalley/ Disney-Hyperion

Middle School Fantasy.  Oct. 13, 2015.  Print version:  304 pages.

Hunter by Mercedes Lackey

Hunter is a YA novel that spans several genres--science fiction, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, mythology, and fantasy.

Joyeaux Charmand has been raised as a Hunter in a mountain monastery.  Her training began early and has been assiduously cultivated by skilled Masters.  At fifteen, she is summoned from the reclusive monastery to the city of Apex where she expects to employ her skills protecting the citizens. What she discovers is that there is more to her new profession than simply protecting the citizens and that there are political undercurrents that must be navigated.

The world building was excellent, and the character development was as well. Survival/magical skills are the metier of a select few whose superior talents are both inherent and trained--following the theme of several well-known YA novels in recent years.  It also uses the "reality show" motif; devoted fans, ratings, and celebrity status throw Joy for a loop when she first arrives.

Reviews of this one are startlingly opposing, which surprised me as I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Is there a derivative element?  Yes, but there are only so many stories to tell and the manner of telling is often extremely varied.  Christopher Booker says there are 7 basic plots: 

1. Overcoming the Monster (an antagonistic force--which may or may not be an actual monster--which is as old as Beowulf and recent as The Hunger Games)
2. Rags to Riches
3. The Quest
4. Voyage and Return
5. Comedy
6. Tragedy
7. Rebirth

(I realize I'm digressing, but Robert Tobias says there are 20 Master Plots and there is always Man vs Nature, Man vs Man, vs machine, vs god or religion, vs self, etc.)

Recently, the YA novel genre has embraced Booker's Overcoming the Monster plot, with some novels doing it better than others.  When I finished the book, I was quite pleased with Lackey's telling and was surprised to see such dichotomy in the Goodreads reviews.  One star and five stars with emphatic opinions.  I would assign it 4 stars; I think its intended audience is for the younger end of the YA scale, but that didn't impair my enjoyment.

I admit to finding the beginning a bit slow and deliberately vague, but once past that initial portion, Hunter was fun and exciting with characters that interested me.

Post scheduled for Aug. 11.

NetGalley/Disney Hyperion

Middle School/YA.  Sept. 1, 2015.  Print version:  384 pages.

Two Books for Young Readers

Years ago, when my children were young, I read two mystery books with them that I loved as much or more than they did.  I've thought of both books fondly many time over the years.

Finally, I decided to follow through my frequent intentions to reread both books and actually get new copies that I could give to the grandchildren--after rereading them myself, of course!

One held up beautifully, making me appreciate again the skill of Zilpha Keatley Snyder and the creative imagination of children.  First published in 1967, The Egypt Game  won a Newberry Honors Award and is included in NPR's 100 Must Reads for Kids 9-14.  We read it in the mid-1980's, and on rereading it this year, the only thing that dates the book is that children today are not allowed the same freedom to roam away from parental oversight as they were in the past.

The Egypt Game  

There are books written for children that may be loved at the time, but that are soon outgrown.  Then there are the books written for children that remain as enthralling at 60 as at six, or nine, or 12.

The Egypt Game deserves its role as a classic.  Z.K.S. has created kids that jump off the page and into your imagination and heart, and you find yourself wishing you could play with them, be a part of their games and, like Peter Pan, never grow up.

It is interesting to see the ethnic diversity Snyder includes in a book that is nearly 50 years old.  She explains the various "roots" of her ideas in the introduction, and  one of the roots of her story involves  children she taught in Berkely, CA--a mix of "American kids of all races, as well as a few whose parents were graduate students from other countries."  

While her idea for the Egypt game played by the characters in the story had roots both in her own childhood and that of her daughter, the characters in the book, she admits freely (and with pleasure) are loosely based on students she taught.

Book Description:  "The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she's not sure they'll have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard behind the A-Z Antiques and Curio Shop, Melanie and April decide it's the perfect spot for Egypt Game.

Before long there are six Egyptians instead of two. After school and on weekends they all meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on their secret code.

Everyone thinks it's just a game, until strange things begin happening to the players. Has the Egypt Game gone too far?"

The book is beautifully illustrated by Alton Raible with just the right amount of detail.

It is a pleasure to read, whether you are a child or an adult, and I recommend it highly!

The Westing Game which we also read at some point during that period, didn't hold up as well for me.  It is also a Newbery book and one still beloved by many.  

Book Description:  A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger—and a possible murderer—to inherit his vast fortune, on things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead…but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!

The mysterious game, the clues, the reasons these particular sixteen people were chosen as heirs--I still like the idea.

However, in rereading, I found the most of the characters to be thinly drawn  and the writing  lackluster and overly complicated--this opinion is based on my second reading because all I remember about reading it the first time with my kids --is that I loved it.  

Because the book remained such a fond memory for so many years, I recommend that you read it for yourself, especially if you have kids.  The number of people who have read and loved it (and even reread, and loved it) far outweighs my opinion on this one.  



Have any of you read either of these books?  What do you think?

Legacy of the Claw (Book 1 of the Animas series) by C.R. Grey

Animas is the first book in this series by C.R. Grey.  The Animas bond links humans to animal, a mutual sympathy and understanding.

Bailey Walker, however, is one of those rare and unfortunate humans with an Absence.  He has not found his kin yet; not having awakened to his bond at his age means he is mostly an outsider, an object of ridicule, and a human with a tremendous sense of emptiness.

When Bailey is accepted to the prestigious Fairmount Academy, he has high hopes that one of the teachers, known for his skill in awakening and strengthening bonds, will be able to help him.

At Fairmount, Bailey makes connections with some true friends, something he has lacked before, but his hope that his bond will awaken has still not been fulfilled, and he senses something dark in the forest surrounding the campus.  At the same time, revolution is brewing in the city, as the leader of the Dominae's propaganda is inflaming the populace and encouraging humans to enslave their animal kin.

Things are getting dangerous, and Bailey and his friends are uneasy about the unrest.  Is there anything they can do to prevent this horrific threat?

I did not expect to enjoy this one as much as I did.  Written for a younger, middle-school audience, it nevertheless kept me interested.  One for the grandkids?  Very likely, but I will also eagerly anticipate the next in the series.

Read in June.  Blog post scheduled for Oct. 8, 2014.

NetGalley/Disney Hyperion      

Fantasy/Juv.  Oct.  28, 2014.  Print length:  324 pages.

4 More for Once Upon a Time Fantasy Challenge

A Natural History of Dragons:
A Memoir by Lady Trent by Marie Brennan

A lovely cover for one of NPR's Best Books of 2013--I'm not sure why I delayed reading it.    Another perfect read for Carl's Once Upon a Time challenge, the book is the memoir of a Victorian lady (in an alternate historical setting) flouting convention in order to pursue her unladylike scientific interest in dragons.

As Lady Trent says in the preface, "...this series will contain frozen mountains, foetid swamps, hostile foreigners, hostile fellow countrymen, the occasional hostile family member, bad decisions, misadventures in orienteering, diseases of an unromantic sort, and a plenitude of mud." 

I just ordered a couple of books for my oldest granddaughter, but surely she must have this one as well?  After reading the description of the deckled pages, the chestnut brown ink, and Todd Lockwood's lovely illustrations in sepia, it seems that it will have to be the hardback version for the lovely Miss Mila.  My kindle edition allowed no such sensuous tactile or visual effects.

Fantasy/Memoir/YA.  2013.  Print length:  335 pages.

The Last Falcon and Dragon Fire by Collen Ruttan

"This kickoff to a traditional fantasy series starring feisty and independent teen heroine Erynn is both well paced and engaging. The book starts in medias res, with Erynn hiding in a cave after the dragon Krystalix attacked a group of men from her kingdom returning from a horse-buying expedition, and the raid on the recently purchased animals leaves her father dead. But Erynn got a clear look at the person who struck the fatal blow, a "fair-haired man with the limp and the jagged scars," and vows to avenge the murder. When she discovers the true identity of the fair-haired man, Erynn uncovers a conspiracy that may complicate her quest. Ruttan blends the medieval and supernatural effortlessly, ably setting up a sequel to this fun fantasy novel."
-- Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)

I know, I'm getting lazy, but I've got several reviews to get into this post, and the above review describes the situation so neatly.  

My main complaint is the sequence of caught! escaped! caught! escaped!  caught!  well, you get the idea.  Oh, and I didn't like the name Krystalix...it grated on me each time I saw it.  Weird.  

Overall, it is a decent series and entertaining, but not in my top tier of favorite YA fantasy.

Hmmm, although I have to admit the covers are excellent and may be among my favorites for their graphic simplicity and visual atmosphere.

YA/Fantasy.  2012 and 2013.  Print length:  Falcon - 292 pages; Dragon - 341 pages.

I'm just going to mention another one that I've finished and really liked:  Animas:  The Legacy of the Claw by C.R. Grey.  This one is another NetGalley book, and I will have to hold the review until closer to the publication date, but you can pre-order it.  

It is for a younger audience, but was a great read, and I can't wait for the next in the series.  Perfect for grandson Max, who will be entering the third grade in the fall.  It would make a great book for my daughter to read aloud to both Max and Mila.  Although the target audience is for grades 3-7, I thoroughly enjoyed it! 

Middle School.  Oct. 28, 2014.  Print length:  304 pages.

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet

Chasing Vermeer   

What a fun mystery for middle schoolers!

Book Description:  This bewitching first novel is a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, disguised as an adventure, and delivered as a work of art.

When a book of unexplainable occurences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect; an eccentric old woman seeks their company; an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one is spared from suspicion. As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth, they must draw on their powers of intuition, their problem solving skills, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has stumped even the FBI?

What a fun mystery for middle schoolers!  I ordered this one for Mila, but I had to read it first.  I know, I know--but the book is not hurt in any way from pre-reading.

Art history, mathematical puzzles, problem solving, intriguing characters in Petra and Calder, and suspense are all included.  

I even ordered a set of pentominoes to go with the book.  We all played with the puzzles, although Mila didn't start the book because she was to involved with one of The Land of Stories books.

Ever wonder what inspired Tetris?

Did you know that Arthur C. Clarke included pentominoes in Imperial Earth?  

From the Amazing Mathematical Object Factory:  
The pentomino puzzle is a popular choice for a classroom manipulative to facilitate learning how shapes can be transformed or arranged in a predefined shape and space by simple rotation, reflection, and translation. The pentomino puzzle is readily available and also easy to make. It is a fun way for students as young as grade 3, to learn the basic concepts in tranformation of shape and space.

Want to try some pentominoe puzzles?    online puzzle form Scholastic        

I liked the book, the art connection, the introduction to pentominoes, the mystery, the characters.  It is a great book for the 10-12 age range, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

My favorite mysteries for this age group remain The Westing Game Ellen Raskin and The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, but this one was fun, too.

Read in March

Middle School.  2012.  304 pages.