The end of 2012 will be here shortly, so this will be my
last compilation for this year. Thanks always for checking out my blog and
perusing what I’ve read. I wish everyone a wonderful and blessed Christmas and
a healthy, safe and fabulous 2013! Keep on reading, my Rutabaga friends!
The Humming Room
(Feb. 28, 2012) by Ellen Potter.
When her parents are permanently ousted from her life,
12-year-old Roo Fanshaw is sent to live with Emmett Fanshaw, a previously
unheard-of relative. He is described as eccentric, but wealthy, and lives in a
large home on an island known as Cough Rock. Roo is especially skilled at
hiding, which can be a very useful skill to have, but it doesn’t help her
ferret out all of her new home’s secrets. What is the humming she hears? And who
cries? Who is the mysterious boy on the water?
Potter, who
wrote “The Kneebone Boy” (you can find my blurb on that book here), was
inspired by “The Secret Garden” to write this middle-grade novel. It is a quick
read, and it has parallels that anyone who’s familiar with “The Secret Garden” will
see. However, it is a shorter book and is well-modernized for this century.
It’d be a good introduction for readers who may be intimidated by the original
classic. I found the tale to be thoughtful and entertaining.
Ruby Red (May 10,
2011) by Kerstin Gier. Anthea Bell, translator.
Are your genes as unique as 16-year-old Gwyneth “Gwen”
Shepherd’s? Gwen lives in an affluent London neighborhood, and she’s been the normal one: texting her best friend,
going to the movies, giggling. But through the female line in her family runs a
time-traveling gene. Her cousin, Charlotte Montrose, is supposed to be the gene
carrier. So imagine everyone’s surprise (or contempt) when Gwen time travels
three times within 24 hours. Talk about life going topsy-turvy! Suddenly she’s
meeting the Guardians, a sort of secret society, getting fitted for fancy
period-correct dresses, and traveling to eras past! Her unpreparedness is an
understatement, as she didn’t get one iota of the training Charlotte did. But
in being the gene carrier, she does gain a time-traveling counterpart: Gideon
de Villiers. He’s easy on the eyes, but he’s also an obnoxious know-it-all.
Gwen, the
Ruby, is the last of the time travelers. With her blood, the Secret of the
Twelve can be revealed, except the first chronograph was stolen. There is a
second in use, but it’s not as full as the first. Why was the first chronograph
stolen? Who stole it? What is the mystery that is the Secret of the Twelve?
“Ruby Red”
is the first in a YA trilogy by German author Kerstin Gier. As the first in a
trilogy, there are plenty of questions yet unanswered, but I wholly enjoyed
this book. I didn’t want to put this YA tale down. Gier’s storytelling flows
well, and her writing is humorous and entertaining. I highly recommend this
story to anyone who enjoys light science fiction.
Shadow of Night
(July 10, 2012) by Deborah Harkness.
If you could timewalk, would you travel to the past and risk
unwittingly disrupting it by introducing new variables? Diana Bishop and
Matthew Clairmont have so that Diana can learn how to be a witch. And don’t
forget Ashmole 782 (see “A Discoveryof Witches”). They expect things will be accomplished shortly. Not
surprisingly, things don’t go as planned. Danger lurks in multiple forms, as do
secrets and fears, love and sorrow. Then throw in many notable historical
figures – e.g. Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh and even William
Shakespeare – and the past can get extra messy. (Or for Matthew, re-messy.)
Will Diana learn to control the witch in her? Can Matthew come to terms with
his greatest fears? How will their actions in the past affect the present? Will
time unravel?
Fans of “A
Discovery of Witches” will surely add this sequel to their bookshelves, but I did
not find this novel as riveting as the first. The writing is intelligent, but I
lacked interest in the book until roughly 275 pages in. Harkness is well-researched,
which is so important, but it is the reason I didn’t find it riveting. There
were too many extra details. And sometimes, extra details read as just extra
words. This novel is over 575 pages long; therefore, it contains a lot of extra
words for someone like me who finds historical details interesting but doesn’t necessarily
relish them.
I’m not
discouraging anyone from reading this book; I’m still interested enough to look
forward to the final installment. I simply want you to be aware that this isn’t
a rapid read like the Twilight
series. It’s heavy stuff. After all, it’s holding the weight of the main
characters’ present AND over four hundred years of the past!
Vanishing Barns on
the Backroads (Apr. 9, 2012) by Julie Bronson.
A book of photography with limited captions, Julie Bronson
captures vanishing scenes from the countryside. Most of the photos were taken
within 35-40 miles of where she lives in southern Minnesota. This book, as
noted by the title, focuses on very old barns, though there are other crumbling
structures as well (e.g. silos, windmills). Bronson finds beauty in the
dilapidated, the abandoned, the forgotten. To her, these relics of an older farming
landscape represent a treasure trove of rural history.
Bronson
displays much skill in her photography. It is apparent that she cares very much
for the subjects of her photos, inanimate as they are. She pays great attention
to natural lighting and the angle of the shot. She hones in on the remains of a
bygone time. In her next book, I would like to see page numbers, and it would
be a good idea for someone to proofread her book before she publishes it. Aside
from that, this book is a dear ode to the vanishing structures of old. These
barns/silos/etc. were once essential to the organization and management of
farms, so let us appreciate them as their physical shells vanish from view along
our back roads.
What Doesn’t Kill You
(Apr. 17, 2012) by Iris Johansen.
Newly introduced Catherine Ling is a beautiful but lethal
woman. Orphaned at a young age, she was left to fend for herself in Hong Kong. To
survive, she became an expert in martial arts and information-gathering. She
can be ruthless and cold. She does have a caring side, which she often attempts
to keep tamped down. Now a top-notch and highly effective CIA agent, Catherine
wants to focus her attention on her son, Luke. But the CIA calls, and she’s
whisked away to find Hu Chang, a master chemist whose life she once saved. A
brilliant man, he’s concocted wonders that can miraculously heal or painfully slay.
A vile man named Hugh Nardik has something Hu Chang made, and Nardik will stop
at nothing to accomplish what he wants, including hurting Catherine and her
son. Can Nardik be stopped before he reaches his goal to destroy?
“What
Doesn’t Kill You” is classic Johansen. There’s a strong woman at the center of
the story who’s bold and is no distressed damsel. There are supporting
characters we know from her past novels, and there’s plenty of violence. For
those familiar with Johansen’s work, there aren’t many surprises, and the
suspense is same old, but it’s always nice to cheer for the good guys, though
even they can walk a fine line. I do applaud her on her character, Catherine
Ling. It’s nice that she’s finally introduced a major heroine who’s not only Caucasian.
Read this if you like thriller fiction.
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