The Midnight Library by Matt Haig **

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig beat out Anxious People by Fredrik Backman by 5 votes for the 2020 Goodreads novel award. I highly recommend the Backman book. This one, not so much. IMHO Haig’s book is a cross between a self-help book and It’s a Wonderful Life.

The Midnight Library is about Nora Seed, who wants to die, but instead ends up in the Midnight Library where she gets to relive all the decisions she regrets and visit all her lives that might have been. Unsurprisingly, the answer is there’s no place like home.

Advice to live a better life: Acceptance.

“And there really were quite a lot of things she hadn’t become. The regrets which were on permanent repeat in her mind. I haven’t become an Olympic swimmer. I haven’t become a glaciologist. I haven’t become Dan’s wife. I haven’t become a mother. I haven’t become the lead singer of The Labyrinths. I haven’t managed to become a truly good or truly happy person. I haven’t managed to look after Voltaire.”

"Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be different if you had made other choices. Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?

More advice to live a better life: An attitude of gratitude.

“I have run out of lives. I have been everything. And yet I always end up back here. There is always something that stops my enjoyment. Always. I feel ungrateful.”

“We only know what we perceive. Everything we experience is ultimately just our perception of it.”

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” — Thoreau

A cross between The Wizard of Oz and A Christmas Carol.

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Nobody’s Princess by Esther Friesner *****

Helen of Troy was “the face that launched a thousand ships,” but in the 21st-century women are more than just pretty faces. In Nobody’s Princess, author Esther Friesner, asks, “Who was Helen?... Did she know that everyone agreed that she was the most beautiful woman in the world? Did knowing that make her feel proud, or smug, or embarrassed, or bored with all the never-ending compliments?” This Helen fights and rides instead of spinning and weaving, and much more.

In addition to giving life and agency to Helen of Troy, the book also reexamines Pythia, the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the Oracle of Delphi.

Another female character brought into the story of Helen is Atalanta and the Calydonian boar hunt. Atalanta is the huntress who draws the first blood, but the patriarchs refuse to recognize her contribution because she is a woman.

A modern revisit to the woman who started the Trojan War, an ancient story with too few female characters.

This is an 8-book series: Princesses of Myth.

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Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen *****

Carl Hiaasen writes humorous hyperbolic satire about crazy Floridians. The 45^th president was too good a subject to pass up. Squeeze Me is about Mastodon, his wife Mockingbird, and his country club Casa Bellicosa. It also includes a plague of giant pythons and the POTUS Pussies, a fiercely loyal group of Palm Beach women fiercely loyal to the president. Fans of Hiaasen will not be disappointed. N.B., when Biden was elected Hiaasen added an epilogue to commemorate the end of Mastodon’s fall from power.

The protagonist is Angie Armstrong, a wildlife removal expert. “Tonight’s feature starred the commander-in-chief himself. Angie had been summoned to Casa Bellicosa to unfasten a screech owl from the presidential pompadour, which the low-swooping raptor had mistaken for a road-kill fox.”

Mockingbird on her husband, “All because my husband doesn’t trust anyone with an Islamic name. Or Jews, or blacks, or Asians, or Hispanics, or Mormons, or whatever. God, it’s exhausting to keep track.”

“The sitting President of the United States was a soulless imbecile who hated the outdoors.”

Summary: “I don’t know. Prepare for a plague of pythons?” “Shit, Angie.” “Major fuckage,”

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Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle ***

Brooklyn Wainwright restores old books. Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle is the first of a series of 16 books. It centers around a cursed,1880, jewel-encrusted edition of Goethe’s Faust. Her mentor Abraham Karastovsky was murdered while working on the restoration. Brooklyn receives the assignment and apparently the curse. For a book restorer and detective, Brooklyn is a bit ditsy for my taste. She faints at the sight of blood and gets flustered in the presence of a sexy guy. (They seem to be everywhere.) I can’t decide whether this is a romance or a mystery. Maybe the other 16 books in this series will answer my question.

Her parents are an interesting addition to the book. They are hippies who joined a commune in Sonoma County (California wine country, north of San Francisco) in the 1960s. The value of their land and the winery has appreciated since its founding. The commune and its early members are very rich. Rich hippies!

The novel includes lots of details on the restoration of old books.

 

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman *****

Fredrik Backman opens chapter one of AnxiousPeople with “A bank robbery. A hostage drama.” The author goes on to write, “This story is about a lot of things, but mostly about idiots. So it needs saying from the outset that it’s always very easy to declare that other people are idiots, but only if you forget how idiotically difficult being human is.” Also, this book is about how easy it is to misjudge people. It is a mystery where the reader’s prejudices supply all the misdirection.

I read this book in October, a month dedicated to fright and horror. This book is about a bank robbery and hostage drama. Also, divorce, death, desperation, and suicide. Plus, murder, alcoholism, and drugs. However, every character—and this is a novel about the characters—is nice.

The author is an astute and humorous observer of people.

·       The real estate agent takes a deep breath and says what women usually say to men who never seem to think that their lack of knowledge should get in the way of a confident opinion. “I’m sure you’re right.”

·       When a banker is asked what she does with her money, she states, “I buy distance from other people.”

·       Roger was silent for a long, long time before—without looking at her—he said three of the hardest words an older man can say to a younger woman: “You’ll manage it.”

·       “The planet will survive for billions of years even without human help. The only people we’re killing are ourselves.”

Neil Smith deserves special mention. He is the translator. Fredrik Backman writes in Swedish. The book includes plenty of wordplay—wonderfully translated. For example, this is how the real estate agent answers her phone, “Hello, you’ve reached the House Tricks Real Estate Agency! HOW’S TRICKS?” There is also a scene where a character confuses “inverted commas,” for “perverted commas,” indicating that the translation is British.

The truth? The truth about all this? The truth is that this was a story about many different things, but most of all about idiots. Because we’re doing the best we can, we really are. We’re trying to be grown-up and love each other and understand how the hell you’re supposed to insert USB leads. We’re looking for something to cling on to, something to fight for, something to look forward to. We’re doing all we can to teach our children how to swim. We have all of this in common, yet most of us remain strangers, we never know what we do to each other, how your life is affected by mine.

Do you need proof of all the love in the world? Notice: “All the apartments that aren’t for sale.”

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The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich ****

***2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction*** TheNight Watchman by Louise Erdrich tells the story of congressional plans to terminate the Turtle Mountain Chippewa, abrogate their treaties, and take away their land. Following Pixie, her grandfather, and several others, the story of the people on the Turtle Mountain Reservation unfolds. It is a story of a heroic challenge to white encroachment, triumphant spirit, and the dismal treatment of the native Americans. Alternately it is a heart-warming tale of overcoming adversity and humble circumstances

It is set in “the mid - 1950s, supposedly the golden age for America, but in reality a time when Jim Crow reigned and American Indians were at the nadir of power — our traditional religions outlawed, our land base continually and illegally seized (even as now) by resource extraction companies, our languages weakened by government boarding schools.” The narrator is Pixie (Patrice) Paranteau, a single young woman with works at the Jewel Bearing Plant. The central character is her grandfather who is chairman of the Turtle Mountain Advisory Committee and night watchman at the Jewel Bearing Plant.

Opposite Thomas Wazhashk and the Turtle Mountain Chippewa was Senator Arthur V. Watkins. He “was indeed a pompous racist. But to give Watkins his due, he also was instrumental in bringing down Senator Joe McCarthy and ending an ugly era in national politics.” In “Watkins’s religion, the Mormon people had been divinely gifted all of the land they wanted. Indians weren’t white and delightsome, but cursed with dark skin, so they had no right to live on the land. That they had signed legal treaties with the highest governmental bodies in the United States was also nothing to Watkins. Legality was second to personal revelation. Everything was second to personal revelation. And Joseph Smith’s personal revelation, all written down in The Book of Mormon, was that his people alone were the best and should possess the earth.”

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Murder at Mount Vernon by Robert J Muller *****

Murder at Mount Vernon is a historical mystery that tells the story of a man, confronted with conflicting duties and powerful adversaries, who takes a moral journey toward two fateful decisions: whether to abandon his long-sought retirement for the Presidency and how to free his slaves.

The novel begins with the murder of an enslaved man at Mount Vernon. During this time, George Washington is contemplating whether he should accept the position of President. The murder is followed by the discovery of a conspiracy to steal from his plantation and more murders. The chaos complicates his decision because he doesn’t want to move to New York and leave the plantation in disarray. In addition, word of mismanagement at Mount Vernon might allow his opponents to block his election.

As Washington and his friend Colonel Humphreys (narrator) investigate the murder, they uncover a widespread conspiracy to steal from the local plantations and a plot by the British to destabilize the new country. Colonel Humphreys presents a strident voice and conscience for abolition while Washington is more concerned with Federalism and unity based on the new constitution. The Bill of Rights and the Civil War are foreshadowed.

A mystery that starts with one murder, but becomes more involved as multiple conspiracies are uncovered, leading to more murders.

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Dune by Frank Herbert ****

Dune by Frank Herbert is a 1965 Science Fiction classic centered around an arid planet. Or is it a fantasy? Frank Herbert built an environment and culture around the scarcity of water. Few other science-fiction works construct such a detailed world. In this way, Dune is more like fantasy (Harry Potter, LOTR) than sci-fi (Star Trek, Star Wars).

Dune uses many tropes that were later popularized in Sci-Fi movies and television. Mentats are hyper-logical and Bene Gesserit are hyper-perceptive, character types repeated throughout SF. Bene Gesserit use a “command voice” that cannot be ignored or disobeyed. This is also common in several SF contexts.  The “cone of silence” also appeared in Get Smart and elsewhere. While the book predates Star Wars by more than a decade, much foreshadows that franchise—the evil emperor and galactic politics.

Dune is a classic—worth reading over 50 years later, combining the best of fantasy and SF.

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The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable by Carol Baxter ****

On New Year’s Day 1845, John Tawell murdered his mistress, Sarah Hart of Salt Hill. The witnesses saw him escape on the train. That would have been the end of it, except the constables send a message to London using the electric telegraph enabling the authorities in London to arrest him. The 1840s were a time of technological innovation: railroads, telegraph, and forensics. The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable by Carol Baxter tells the story of John Tawell, someone who stayed one step ahead of the law until this new technology caught up with him.

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Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge ****

 While Dostoyevsky, Dickens, and Victor Hugo were exploring the depths of human despair, Mary Mapes Dodge was writing a charming travelogue about Holland (for children): Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates. While the race to win the Silver Skates takes the title position, the book is about much else. The protagonists are Hans and Gretel Brinker two exceeding good children in dire circumstances. Ten years ago, their father lost his strength and intellect. The poor family now cares for his unresponsive body. Call this Dickens-lite. The family bravely struggles but, in the end, everything turns out well (similar to Great Expectations published a few years earlier).

SPOILERS:

In the end, the lost money is found, the father recovers, and the doctor’s lost son is found.

This book tells the story of the little Dutch boy who saved his village by putting his finger in the dike. It also includes the advice not to count your money in public lest someone decides to rob you. (Advice I grew up with.)

Mary Mapes Dodge writes in her time. She praises Dutch author Jacob Cats over his English contemporary William Shakespeare because Cats “has no white women falling in love with dusky Moors.”

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Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Weatherford, Jack ****

What do you know about Genghis Khan? Jack Weatherford’s goal is to set you straight. Genghis Khan was for free trade, freedom of religion, multiculturalism, and equal law enforcement. He opposed torture and nobility. He introduced universal education and literacy by building schools. He supported women’s rights and secular governments. For a period in the 13^th century, he brought peace and prosperity to Eastern Europe and Asia. Are you surprised? Read Genghis Khan and the Making of the ModernWorld to learn the real story of this great man.

Genghis Khan was a genius of organization and governing. “The Mongols made no technological breakthroughs, founded no new religions, wrote few books or dramas, and gave the world no new crops or methods of agriculture. Their own craftsmen could not weave cloth, cast metal, make pottery, or even bake bread. They manufactured neither porcelain nor pottery, painted no pictures, and built no buildings. Yet, as their army conquered culture after culture, they collected and passed all of these skills from one civilization to the next.”

He built bridges, literally (“more than any ruler in history”) and figuratively.

When Genghis Khan died his legacy began to come apart because of fighting among his children and grandchildren. The black plague was the final stroke of death.

“The Secret History” has just recently been discovered, decoded, translated, and published. Most of what is “known” about the Mongols is racist or conveniently wrong.

While the history is fascinating, this book is a dry recital of facts.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan *****

Think of Crazy Rich Asians a Jane Austen in Singapore. Rachel Chu is the poor girl matched with Nick Young the rich guy. This is the general social structure:  Rachel Chu’s mother is a successful real estate agent in California. She makes thousands. Rachel’s girlfriend is Peik Lin. Her father is a successful developer. He makes millions. Nick’s friend is Colin Khoo. His family has old money, billions. Nick’s family is crazy rich, the ultimate step on this ladder.

Breach of Promise by Anne Perry *****

Breach of Promise by Anne Perry is #9/24 of her long-running William Monk series. I hope it is one of her best because I can’t imagine how it could be any better. The story includes two mysteries: Mr. Killian Melville (a brilliant architect) is being sued for breach of promise for failing to marry Zillah Lambert (his rich and beautiful fiancée). The second mystery is locating Leda and Phemie Jackson, deaf and deformed, who were abandoned as small children almost two decades ago. A mark is an excellent mystery is when the reveal is not just surprising but changes the meaning of everything that came before.

The novel asks many questions about the roles of men and women and the assumptions society makes. It also explores appearances with the two Jackson girls and with Lt. Gabriel Sheldon who lost his arm and had his face scarred during the India Mutiny.

 Pure mystery gold. Unexpected and retroactively obvious.

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The Minnesota Book of Skills by Chris Niskanen *****

The Minnesota Book of Skills by ChrisNiskanen is a terrific book about skills that are quickly becoming extinct: homemade sausage, pickling, cutting firewood, canning green beans, and building a birdhouse, to list a few of the six dozen short articles. Some of the articles are specific to Minnesota (Minnesota trails and Five Minnesota trees) and others require a cold winter (dog mushing and ice fishing), but I live in California and found it fascinating. The book has something for everyone (Five adventures for five-year-olds).

Since this is a collection of short articles, it is ideal for situations where you might want to just read a couple of pages at a time (aka a bathroom reader).

 A random selection of interesting topics:

The essential elements of a rope swing

Corn husk dolls and fairy houses

Crop art 101

Showing champion dairy cows

Sauna etiquette

 If you’re interested in outdoor activities and self-reliance, this is the book for you.

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Blind Justice by Anne Perry ***

Even though the previous book (A Sunless Sea) dealt with Opium and this book (Blind Justice) is centered around religious fraud, the two books are duplicates. The ethical dilemma in both is Sir Oliver Rathbone’s struggles with the pornographic photographs of powerful men bequeathed to him by his deceased father-in-law. Should he use them for good or will the implied power corrupt him? The author extensively refers back to previous volumes in this long series. These two books overlap in their backstories. Aside from these major duplications, small details are also duplicated, such as lawyers needed to stall the trial waiting for new evidence.

The other disappointment was that the final revelation seemed to be obvious from the beginning.

Don’t read these two books one after the other.

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A Sunless Sea by Anne Perry *****

A SunlessSea by Anne Perry is 18/24 in her William Monk series about a Victorian detective. This novel is set in 1864 with Monk in command of the Thames River Police. The tale begins with the brutal murder of Zenia Gadney. This unfortunate woman is connected to Dr. Joel Lambourn who was campaigning against opium before he was found dead by suicide. Eventually, his wife, Dinah Lambourn, is arrested for Zenia’s murder. Together with his wife Hester and lawyer friend, Sir Oliver Rathbone, he tries to save Dinah from the gallows. A historical mystery with many surprising twists and turns.

The author, who is still writing, was born in 1938. Most interesting for a murder mystery author: at the age of fifteen, she was convicted of the murder of her friend's mother. She changed her name after serving a five-year sentence.

 The history of this story concerns The Pharmacy Act of 1868, the Opium Wars (1839-42 and 1856-60), and the invention of the hypodermic needle for IV administration of opium.

 Trigger warnings: drug use, addiction, prostitution, evisceration, suicide, and, obviously, murder.

 A historical Victorian mystery where little is as it appears.

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A Thousand Brains by Jeff Hawkins **

I read A Thousand Brains by Jeff Hawkins (well, most of it) because it was recommended to me. I am not recommending it to you. The book is divided into three sections. The first ostensibly covers neuroscience. However, the author is not a scientist nor a science writer, so this survey is short on science and long on personal assertions (“I believe…”). The final two sections pontificate on machine and human intelligence visiting questions like will intelligent machines be the end of humanity and will people bring about their own extinction. These chapters are essays with little relevance to neuroscience.

The introduction is by Richard Dawkins who has spent significant energy debating with creationists. Jeff Hawkins also allocates space in this book on creationists and flat earth believers. The book also discusses global warming and uploading yourself to a computer.

More of a memoir of a citizen scientist than a review of neuroscience, artificial intelligence, or climate change.

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The Murders, The Mosque: Justice in the Golden Age of al-Andalus (Suramarti Saga Book 2) *****

 New release. Isn't the cover art great? Set in a time when different religions and races lived in harmony. A mystery of hope and love.

The Murders, The Mosque: Justice in the Golden Age of al-Andalus (Suramarti Saga Book 2) *** special Kindle pricing 99c *** Free on KU ***

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Historical cozy mystery: When three strangers visited Qurtuba, the western limit of ninth-century civilization, they brought tales of buried treasure. The ensuing treasure hunt shook the peaceful capital of the Umayyad dynasty with murder. Bhaja and Pai searched to uncover the mysteries of the murders that reached back decades, meanwhile discovering through dreams and visions their timeless love that began millennia ago. This Islamic golden age was a period of tolerance with a focus on education, but the people who lived there still experienced jealousy, pride, greed, and love.

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What kind of reader are you?

From The Atlantic. What kind of reader are you? I’m an avid reader.

“The National Endowment for the Arts ran a detailed survey, and found that 23 percent of American adults were “light” readers (finishing one to five titles per year), 10 percent were “moderate” (six to 11 titles), 13 percent were “frequent” (12 to 49 titles), and a dedicated 5 percent were “avid” (50 books and up).” 

In the Woods by Tana French *****

In the Woods (#1/6 Dublin Murder Squad) by Tana French features two crimes involving children. Twenty years ago twelve-year-old Adam Robert Ryan’s two best friends disappeared. Now twelve-year-old Katherine Devlin was discovered murdered in the same area and Rob Ryan with partner Cassie Maddox are assigned to investigate. If you demand justice for these innocent children, this is not the book for you.

Tana French is an accomplished writer with interesting characters and richly detailed settings. Her plots twist and turn. She all sneaks in obscure (to me) literary references.  For example when Ryan says, “Don’t let me fool you into seeing us as a bunch of parfit gentil knights galloping off in doublets after Lady Truth on her white palfrey,” this is a quote from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

This is a gritty story. In addition to all the discussion of child abuse, there are corrupt politicians and a teenage boy who gang rapes his girlfriend.

My new favorite series with engaging characters and complex plots (set in Dublin).

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Faithful Place by Tana French *****

Faithful Place (#3/6 Dublin Murder Squad) byTana French begins when Frank Mackey is summoned home after 22 years. On the night he left, he’d planned to elope with Rosie Daly, but she hadn’t shown up for their rendezvous. Now new evidence suggests that she hadn’t abandoned him as he feared. With his return, he is forced to face his dysfunctional family, along with a reevaluation of his relationship with his ex-wife Olivia and their nine-year-old daughter Holly.

In addition to Frank’s relationship with his ex-wife and child, the book explores the complex interactions among the families stuck in poverty, how they support and compete with each other. Faithful Place is a block of semi-detached houses where the generations live together dependent on each other and each looking for a way out.

The writing is beautiful on a paragraph-by-paragraph level and how the entirety is put together.

The book uses a lot of Dublin (Irish) slang: nixer (informal extra job usually paid in cash), mot (girlfriend), slapper (derogatory for a woman), skanger (derogatory for a young working-class person), slagging (making fun of), wagon (wild girl), and yoke (thingamajig), for a few examples.

My new favorite series for engaging characters set in Dublin.

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