Shadows on Our Skin by Jennifer Johnston

Shadows on Our Skin

Book Description:  

 Recognized as a small masterpiece when first published in 1977, and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. A poignant novel about a boy in Derry jolted into early adulthood by harsh circumstances.

------
Not everyone remembers the horror of The Troubles in Northern Ireland--the murders, the bombings, the checkpoints, the constant guerrilla warfare.  A terrible time, a time of great violence; mothers didn't want their children on the street for fear of gunfire.

This novel was written in the midst of the troubles and examines the life of one family and the effects the Troubles had on them.  Joe Logan is the protagonist, a young boy stuck in a city under siege, whose home life is also full of anger and resentment. 

Joe finds a friend in Kathleen, a young school teacher who provides him with some respite from the harsh realities of life in conflict-ridden Derry.  But when Joe's brother Brendan returns and joins the Provos (Provisional Irish Republican Army), the problems at home escalate.  Then Brendan begins dating Kathleen, and Joe feels jealous and left out.

An intense and moving account of a time period that tore a country and families apart.

Recommended.

NetGalley/Open Road Media

Literary Fiction.  1977; 2014.  Print length:  177 page.

The Conjurer by Cordelia Frances Biddle

The Conjuror   

Set in 1842 Philadelphia, the novel features Martha Beale, twenty-six, unmarried.  She has been dominated by her wealthy father her entire life, and when Lemuel Beale suddenly disappears, she finds that Owen Simms, her father's secretary, takes over that role.  She is treated as a child and denied any sense of autonomy.

Although Martha occasionally tries to assert herself, she is only rarely successful.  When mayoral assistant Thomas Kelman is assigned to the case, she senses a support she is not getting elsewhere, and the two develop a low key attraction for each other.

The search for Lemuel Beale takes a bit of a sideline when Kelman finds himself assigned the gruesome murder of a child prostitute.  

In the meantime, upper class society is fascinated by an Italian conjurer.  At a seance held for some of the Philadelphia elite, the conjurer goes into a trance and mentions details about the murder of the first child.

What I liked:  Rich detail about the period and social customs; I wasn't certain who "Mr. Roby" (the murderer was).

What I didn't like:  Martha's passivity; the distasteful episodes concerning the child prostitutes; the almost incidental episodes with the conjurer--since he really did seem to be channeling certain events, his role was pitifully small;  Martha doesn't really make any attempt to solve the mystery, that role is Kelman's.

Actually, the parts that drove me almost to distraction were the conversations between Martha and Owen Simms.  Each time the two had any contact, I would realize I was gritting my teeth.  Patronizing doesn't even cover his behavior.

The Conjurer was originally published in 2007, and was the first in the series featuring Martha Beale.  Two more followed.  I wouldn't mind reading the next one to see if Martha's character develops.

read in June

NetGalley/Open Road Media

Historic Mystery.  2007; 2014.  Print length:  319 pages.

Book Benches? :)

Books about Town celebrates London's literary heritage with benches that look like open books scattered along various trails in London.  What a great project for art, literacy, and public enjoyment!

Congratulations to National Literacy Trust and Wild in Art for such a great project!

Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie Stiefvater is impressive in the many roles she plays.  She is, of course, a YA author whose novels include The Scorpio Races, The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, Lament, and most recently:  Sinner, which is described as a stand-alone companion book to the Shiver Trilogy.  

What might be lesser known is that Stiefvater is a wife and mother, a talented artist, and a musician, in addition to her role as author.  I love her music, and if you go to the link about her art, scroll down to "The Cat with a Pearl Earring."




So...Sinner.  Because I only read the first novel in The Shiver Trilogy, and that was several years ago, the stories of Cole St. Clair and Isabel Culpepper were not familiar to me. 

 Nevertheless, the novel does function as a stand-alone, and as I read I became involved with the rock star playboy with addiction problems and the aloof Isabel, who loves, but doesn't trust him.  Cole comes to California after some time in rehab with the intention of making a fresh start with Isabel.  Only problem--he has agreed to be part of a reality tv show in which the stars of the previous shows have all lost it.  Will he succumb to the temptations of alcohol and drugs and women?  Will Isabel be able to trust him enough to support him?

On finishing The Shiver Trilogy, Stiefvater said she would never return to Mercy Falls, but then, on a visit to L.A., she decided that a werewolf in that city would interesting.  Satisfied with the stories of the main characters in the first novels, she decided to turn to Cole and Isabel, and she said she had a blast doing it. 

My favorite remains The Raven Cycle, and the latest in that series is Blue Lily, Lily Blue, which is due out in October.  I'm eagerly awaiting this one.

Awards:  The Scorpio Races was named Michael L. Printz Honor Book by the American Library Association and The Raven Boys was selected by Publishers Weekly as a Best Book of the Year.  

NetGalley/Scholastic

YA/Paranormal.  July 1, 2014.  Print length:  368 pages.

Feedly Problems

I've been wondering why Feedly wouldn't come up and give me my favorite blogs to read.  
So I finally decided to check out the problem.

To summarize, criminals are trying to extort money from Feedly to stop the attacks.
You can read about it here.

Darkest Powers Trilogy by Kelley Armstrong

I read Omens (a Cainsville novel) by Kelley Armstrong last year and liked the paranormal aspects and the characters.  Still waiting for the next book in the series which should be out soon, I looked for something else by Armstrong. 

I decided on The Summoning, the first in the Darkest Powers trilogy.  

Chloe seems an average girl.  She attends a special art school, has friends, and plans for herself.  Until one day when she sees a ghost and has a spectacular breakdown.  She is placed in a home for teens with mental problems where she is to remain for a month before she can return to her old life.  While there, however, the psychiatrist seems to think her symptoms may indicate schizophrenia.  She accepts her diagnosis, hoping to be released as soon as possible, and she takes her medications with hope that she will be able to go home soon.

The teens in the home have problems, too, of course; some problems are easy to identify, some not so much.  One of the other teens, a large, powerful, and unattractive boy brusquely suggests that maybe her problems are mental.  Maybe Chloe actually sees ghosts.

As it turns out, Derek is correct.  The teens in the home have various supernatural abilities, and society, unable to comprehend the reasons for their behaviors, believe the problems are mental.  Or...is there something else going on at Lyle House, and just how serious are the implications?

The author hooked me pretty quickly; I liked the supernatural elements and found the characters interesting.  It is fantastic, I mean, there is a necromancer, a sorcerer, an anti-social werewolf, and a cranky witch--you aren't going to be reading anything close to reality.  Fantasy, for sure, but great fun and a head-long read.

Until you get to the end and find a cliff hanger.  Another one!  So then what can you do but order the next in the series.  

The Awakening continues the story of Chloe, Derek, Simon, and Tori on the run from the bad guys.  More about the evil Edison group, and what?!  Genetic engineering, cabals, and power struggles!  Oh, my!  

I can't stop there, on to the final book.

The Reckoning.  Who to trust?  Deception and intrigue.  And a resolution.

These books were such fun.  I loved the characters, the solid pacing, the touch of romance.  I did feel the conclusion seemed to have left some elements unresolved, but these books provided me with hours of entertainment.

YA/Paranormal.  2008, 20010, 2011.  

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Books Read This Year 

is this week's theme from Top Ten Tuesday 

at The Broke & the Bookish.

I exceeded the stated ten because I had trouble deciding.

I've reviewed all of these except for The Vault of Dreamers

and that review is written and scheduled 

for closer to the publication date.

If you are interested in my reviews, 

you can search the blog for the titles.

The following links are to Amazon.

Mystery & Suspense:

In the Blood 

Watching You

Blacklist 

The Black House 

Historical Mysteries:

Season of the Raven

A Famine of Horses

Alternate Histories:

Dominion

Farthing

Literary Fiction:

A Dangerous Age

Mercy Snow

YA Fantasy:

The Kiss of Deception

Thorn

YA:

The Crossing

The Vault of Dreamers:

Children/Middle School:

The Cheshire Cheese Cat

If you've read any of these,

what did you think?

The String Diaries by Stephen Jones

The String Diaries  

A creepy book that would be a good choice for Carl's R.I.P. challenge, The String Diaries begins with a scene that hooks the reader with suspense.   

Hannah drives frantically with her severely wounded husband bleeding out in the passenger seat as her daughter sleeps in the back.  The tension is palpable.  Where is Hannah going and what has initiated this terrified flight in search of safety?

The book is a combination of thriller and paranormal elements told through different timelines and generations. The atmosphere throughout is menacing and sinister.  Jones creates a mythology about a Hungarian people with long lives and certain powers, including shape-shifting;  they are not evil and they function within the laws of the land, maintaining low profiles.  

When one of them turns bad, however, the vampire comparison arises.  Jakab.  Boy, is he a wicked and egocentric fellow!  He doesn't have fangs, but he kills without compunction, brutally and maliciously, if things don't go his way.  He is a bit childlike in his thinking, or maybe, just all id, concerned only with his own desires and why he is entitled to them.  He's also OCD and pursues the woman he wants through the generations creating chaos and destruction with all of the woman's descendants.  

The best character is not Hannah, whose encounters with Jakab begin and the novel, but Nicole.  Nicole's character has some wit and humor (which are pretty much absent in the rest of the novel) and her relationship with Charles begins with some amusing episodes.

Perhaps the main problem with the novel is the length, largely generated by repetition of events.  A pattern of action is repeated.  And repeated.  In detail.  It loses immediacy.  The characters of Hannah, Nate, Leah, and Seb remain surface elements that lack definition;  they are like semi-anonymous chess pieces who are necessary for the action, but who remain essentially indistinct.  (Nicole and Charles do have more of a personal presence.)

Another observation-- when an author can manage suspense the way Jones does, graphic violence is unnecessary.  Some of Jakab's messy temper tantrums would have been more effective cut short, avoiding the blood and gore.

Despite the length, I read this quickly, the problem is that it felt dragged out.  


NetGalley/Mulholland Books

read in Jan.; blog post scheduled for June

Horror/Supernatural.  1st published in 2013; new release in July, 2014.  Print version:  432 pages.

The Railway Man

Yesterday, we went to the Robinson, our local art theater that I've written about before, to see The Railway Man with Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.  

Description:  Colin Firth portrays World War II prisoner of war survivor Eric Lomax, who years later attempted to reconcile with the past that haunted him by tracking down one of his Japanese captors. In the film, Nicole Kidman portrays his second wife Patti and Stellan Skarsgård portrays his best friend Finlay. Watch The Railway Man movie trailer for an overview of the movie's interpretation of the story, which was adapted from Lomax's book of the same name.

Based on Eric Lomax's memoir The Railway Man, the film is often difficult to watch, but absolutely moving.

I've added the book to my wishlist, but I'm still processing the film version right now.  

All of the actors did an excellent job, and this is just one of the remarkable stories about survival in these camps and the effects that follow throughout the lives of the survivors.

With Memorial Day and the anniversary of D Day just past, the film may have carried extra impact for me as far as being eternally grateful for those men in service of their country.




Images of POWs from Japanese camps.















In 2011, I read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the story of Loui Zamperini, the Olympic runner/Army Air Corps bombardier, who survived horrific conditions in Japanese POW camps.  (my review).

Unbroken will also be released as a movie, possibly in December.  


(duplicate post on my other blog)

Fantasy and Once Upon a Time

I usually schedule my blog reviews within a month of the release date,

 but because I received several great possibilities 

for Carl's Once Upon a Time challenge, 

I reviewed some fantasy books early

 with the promise that I'd mention them again closer to the review date.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson (reviewed here)

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie  (reviewed here)

I enjoyed both of these fantasy novels (and both were from NetGalley), and went on to purchase  The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Pearson (reviewed here).



A couple of other fantasy novels for the challenge that I haven't reviewed-- Luck in the Shadows and Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling, the first two books in the Nightrunner series.  I really enjoyed both of these, but there was one element that made me a little uncomfortable.  I'm so far behind in reviews, I'm not sure I'll even review them, but the links will take you to the book descriptions.

Arcadian Genesis by Greig Beck

Arcadian Genesis is a novella, not a novel, and functions as a prequel to the series featuring Alex Hunter and his elite HAWCS.

I haven't read any of this series, but the novella was fast-paced and action-filled.  The mission of the HAWCS is to rescue a Chechen scientist who wants to defect with important information.    Alex Hunter's team is not alone in searching for the defector, and the Russian team has no compunction, no compassion.  It is best not to get between the Russian team and their prey.

Since I've not read any of the novels in this series, I can't appreciate the information Arcadian Genesis provides, but evidently fans of the series are happy to have some of their questions answered.

The first book in the series is Beneath the Dark Ice; the review sounds like a good action/thriller, and I'd much rather read a novel than a novella.

NetGalley/Momentum Books

Action/Thriller.  2014.  

Brick Books

Love these "books" found at Salvage & Selvedge!  Brick books with over a hundred titles to choose from...if you live close enough.  Shipping from Melbourne, Australia would be excessive.  Creator is Daryl of Light Reading Melbourne.

 Nice hot plate

I'd love to have some for my garden with the titles of old garden books like Old-Fashioned Gardening: A History and a Reconstruction by Grace Tabor or Children and Gardens by Gertrude Jekyll.  I'd love to see the cover for this 1908 edition.

You can get prints or gift cards from Life Chart.

Or several of Gladys Taber's  (no relation to Grace Tabor) Stillmeadow books.  Bet Nan would have plenty to choose from.  Or just some favorites from my own collection of garden books.  

Rain (Paper Gods Book 2) by Amanda Sun

Rain 


I reviewed Ink, the first in the series, last summer and really liked some aspects of the novel, including an interesting premise--an artist's drawings coming alive. Other elements that were promising:  the cultural information about Japanese customs, the difficulty of fitting into a school where another language is spoken, typical teenage rivalry exacerbated by supernatural events.

So...a little background:

Katie Green moved to Japan after her mother's death so that she could live with her aunt.  She made good friends, but still has some difficulties with school and learning the kanji characters for literacy.  She has a cute and talented boyfriend, Tomohiro; also interested in Katie is Jun, another cute and talented fellow, who completes the triangle.

In Ink, Tomo discovered his connection to the Kami, powerful supernatural beings, and he continues struggling to control the ink, to keep his drawings from becoming destructive.  Jun is also a Kami, and in the last book, Jun wanted to recruit Tomo for his own purposes;  Tomo refused.  Now Katie turns to Jun as a possible source of help because Tomo is having more and more trouble controlling his drawings, and when he tries to stop drawing, well...let's not go there.

But is Jun truly an a friend or are his own purposes paramount?

The characters are still well-drawn, but for me,  the plot becomes less involving as it becomes more complicated.  The Kami and the violent and misbehaving ink drawings don't completely draw me in.  They have become too powerful and too mythic.  What I like is the relationships between the characters--not just the major characters, but the minor ones as well.  The difficulties of being different, regardless of the reason, issues with which several characters find troubling.  

I was a bit disappointed because I'd lose interest at points that are supposed to be highlights, but I still had an interest in the interpersonal relations.  All should be resolved in the next book.

NetGalley/Harlequinn Teen

Fantasy.  June 24, 2014.  Print version: 320 pages.

Medieval Mysteries

Forsaken Soul by Priscilla Royal is the fifth in her Medieval Mysteries series.  I've enjoyed each of these books set in 13th century England at the fictitious Tyndale Priory. Forsaken Soul finds Prioress Eleanor's friend Ralph the Crowner widowed and with an infant,  brutal Martin the Cooper is murdered, and the new anchoress is causing a stir.  Prioress Eleanor, Sister Ann, and Brother Thomas once again have their work cut out for them.


Medieval Mystery.  2008.  Print version:  224 pages.

The Oathbreaker by Martin Jensen (translated by Tara Chace) is the second book in The King's Hounds series. Although Halfdan's role increased at the expense of Winston the Illuminator's, the setting, plot, and characters are still engaging.  The setting is England, but in an earlier period, the early 11th century.  King Cnut (king of Denmark, England, Norway, and parts of Sweden) came to power in 1016 and promptly and brutally dealt with many of his rivals.   The story takes place in 1018 when it appears that some of Cnut's actions may have come back to bite him.  Halfdan and Winston have been employed as eyes and ears, to gather gossip and information about possible threats and conspiracies.  

As guests in a monastery when a monk is murdered, the two are charged with the investigation.  Does the death have anything to do with a conspiracy?  There is certainly a possibility.   (and btw, the betrayal in the prologue actually did occur)

I would love to see more of Alfrida (Winston's paramour) in future books, and it appears that this may be the author's intention.  She will make an appealing third to the sleuthing team of Halfdan and Winston.

Medieval Mystery.  Most recent trans. 2014.  Print version:  258 pages.

A Dangerous Age by EllenGilchrist and The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'Brien

Darn, I have a ton of books to review, mostly just average reads.  But I've read two recently that really connected:

A Dangerous Age by Ellen Gilchrist.  I loved it, but I've just looked over some reviews, and it appears that I'm in the minority.  In a way, it isn't too strange, since the reviewers often mention the Rhoda books.  They loved them, and I didn't feel strongly about the ones I read.  Perhaps, then, it is typical that I like the book most Gilchrist fans don't like, but it is kind of disappointing that others didn't enjoy the book as much as I did.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints of the Hand family cousins, although most sections eventually settle on Olivia deHaviland Hand. The story begins on Sept. 11, 2001 and continues through 2005.  The style is a little choppy, sentences are very short, and perspectives change, but somehow, I found myself entangled with these lives.  

What I loved:  the closeness of the cousins, the way each of them dealt with Sept. 11 and the repercussions of the Iraq war, the struggle Olivia, a newspaper editor, has with the constant barrage of bad news, Olivia's grandparents, oh, hell, just about everything concerning Olivia.

Some of the language that cropped up occasionally felt jarring and somehow out of place, but most of the book is so sensitive, so personal, so gently drawn.   Without overtly playing on the reader's emotions, the book covers the ramifications of 9/11, the resulting war in Iraq and its effects on both the military and civilians, the changes in public attitudes about the war, and the role of newspapers.  There was a lot to think about, and I really loved the book.

This was an ARC from Algonquin books.  It is a re-release; originally published in 2008.



The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'Brien.  Truthfully, I suspected that this would not be very good, but I requested it from NetGalley anyway, and I'm so glad I did.  I started it last night, finished this morning, first thing.  I don't usually begin reading early, but I almost couldn't wait to get my cup of coffee.

What surprised and intrigued me is the way the author took a fantastic premise and drew me in so completely with the tale that I was wholly invested. That doesn't happen all that often--usually, I'm carrying a subconscious criticism in my head even when I'm enjoying a book.   Once I started Vault, I was hooked on both plot and characters, and my internal critic stayed silent and let me believe in the author's world.

My only criticism is that I didn't realize it was part of a series until the cliffhanger conclusion!  Not only did I not want the book to end, but certainly not leaving me wanting more!

I'll do a better review closer to the publication date, but I wanted to just share a bit now.

(from NetGalley; to be released in Sept.)

Some Fantasy

I've tried a couple more fantasy novels for the Once Upon a Time challenge.  Each is a part of a series, but I won't pursue either.  There will be plenty of people to love these books, but neither truly engaged my interest. 


Daughter of Time by Sarah Woodbury is a time travel novel in which the protagonist Meg gets transported to 13th century Wales and meets Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, the last (Welsh) prince of Wales.  There are a lot of implausible elements (I've never met a time travel novel that doesn't have some), and some of them could easily have been avoided.   

If you want an Outlander light, you will enjoy the book.  In spite of the implausible factors and the modern language Llewellyn occasionally uses, the novel was a  quick read, more entertaining for the historical elements than the story itself. 

The sense of danger and possibility of betrayal by even members of a family, the inclusion of  real battles and skirmishes, and the complicated political landscape were interesting.  Of course, then I did a little research to separate fact and fiction.

This book is actually a prequel to the alternate history series that Woodbury wrote about what might have occurred if LLewellyn had not died at Cilmeri.

Fantasy/Time Travel/Historic Fiction.  2011.  Print version:  352 pages.

The Wretched of Muiwood by Jeff Wheeler is a fantasy set in a medieval world, the first in a series. 

An orphan raised in an Abbey, Lia is a Wretched and a kitchen servant.  The explanation of treating orphans as Wretched didn't work all that well.  Lia's dream is to learn to read and write, but the Abbot will not allow it.  When a young squire is delivered to the Abbey kitchen where Lia works, she saves the young man's life.

The first part of the book was pretty good, but when the adventures started, instead of becoming more interesting, the book became too coincidental, too predictable.  The characters development--well, they started off fairly interesting, but the didn't really develop and became sort of pawns for the action.  I also had trouble with the magic system, which was too vague and felt forced.

The book ends in a cliff hanger, but I didn't care enough about either the characters or the plot to invest in the next installment.

Fantasy.  2013.  Print version:  300 pages.