Rutabaga's Reads 2012: Part 9

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.