Sworn to Silence

This is the first book I've read by Linda Castillo who apparently intends to write other episodes with the same protagonist, Kate Burkholder. Burkholder was raised Amish near Painters Mill, Ohio, and only left after a rape and a self-defense murder sent her off the deep end. She was shunned and ran away to the big city, but eventually found her footing, worked her way into law enforcement, and took a job back in her home town as chief of police. In this book, a serial murderer has resurfaced. She thought the person responsible for the first series of murders 16 years ago was the man she had killed as a young woman, but the MO is identical and so Kate is now uncertain--did the man she shot really die? Her siblings, who also knew of the death and were sworn to silence by Kate's parents, are dragged into Kate's conundrum about finding out if the man she shot is really dead before she brings in outside law enforcement agencies to help solve these new killings. The murders are absolutely grisly so if that isn't something you can stomach, stay away. But the character is engaging, place is well established and the plotting will keep you on the edge of your seat. And you get a little love interest, fairly predictable, in the end.

The Sorceress

This is the third installment in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by folklorist Michael Scott (you need to read The Alchemyst and The Magician -- in that order before you read this) and I had imagined that it would be the end of a trilogy. No such luck! The Sorceress is Perenelle, Flamel's wife and she doesn't really figure any more prominently in this volume than in the previous ones. Nevertheless this is a fun read. All the action takes place in just a few short days, and nothing less than the continued existence of the humani (that's us) is at stake. The Dark Elders are bound and determined to re-assert dominance over the earth and they have summoned and collected every imaginable monster of myth and legend to move forward their plans. The first task is to get rid of Nicholas Flamel who is desperately trying to protect and train the "twins of legend", aka Josh and Sophie, who thought that they were just two ordinary teenagers living with an aunt in the bay area while their parents were on an archaeological dig. Now Sophie has mastered two of the elemental magics and Josh is learning as well. They battle the evil forces with their growing powers, with enchanted swords, and through sheer determination. Perry is trapped on Alcatraz with a whole array of creatures intent on her demise, the ghost of an old Spanish explorer who is trying to protect her, and a giant spider and a crow goddess who have become unlikely allies. Immortals in the employ of the Dark Elders have also been sent to kill her. Consequently, she is unable to assist in the action taking place in England as Flamel tries to reach the ley lines at Stonehenge that will return them to San Francisco before they are captured or murdered. William Shakespeare, Billy the Kid, and Machiavelli are just a few of the immortals who round out this colorful cast of characters.

Abide with Me

Written by Elizabeth Strout, Abide with Me tells the story of Tyler Caskey, who has come to be the minister for the small town of West Annette in upper New England. He loves God and his congregation, his wife and their daughters. But his wife does not take to small town life or to the confines of being a minister's wife. She spends more money on clothes and make-up than Tyler earns, refuses to socialize with the townsfolk, and then has the audacity to get cancer and die. Tyler goes from grief to depression, while his older daughter, Katherine, becomes mute and angry. His congregation also loses its way as his sermons become repetitions of old work rather than inspirations flowing from Tyler's former sense of grace and goodness in the world. Negative rumors about Tyler's behavior and his suitability as a father and minister are started as people imagine slights based on his unresponsiveness. People act badly and then pull themselves together. We are reminded that everyone has feet of clay and yet most of us are capable of tremendous compassion. The beautyof this book is in the small descriptive details, the pacing, and the ordinarinous of life made significant.

Dog Stories

I've been on vacation and reading just for fun. My sister-in-law handed me a couple of books where dogs figure prominently: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski and The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.
Edgar Sawtelle introduces us to one family that for several generations has worked to selectively breed and train dogs that are highly intuitive in relation to their humans. Edgar's grandfather started out selecting promising dogs through chance encounters, based on stories (e.g., the tale of the Japanese dog who came back to meet his master at the train station for years after the man had died), and occasionally from respected kennels. The dogs were then bred and trained for an extended period of time before they were sold. They were tracked for their entire lifespan and reports of their behavior helped refine the breeding program for what became known as the Sawtelle dogs. Young Edgar, his father was also Edgar but went by Gar, is in early adolescence for most of this story; although we do hear of his early years. He was born mute, but not deaf, and has his own special dog that grew up with him, Almondine. From several perspectives--including that of the dogs--we learn of a family's devotion to creating an extraordinary group of dogs, and about the relationships between the family members, and between the dogs and the people. Edgar's father dies suddenly and his paternal uncle, Claude, who has recently re-entered the picture, begins to take over the running of the kennel and Edgar's mother's affections. Edgar is extremely intuitive in his own right and has an encounter with his father's ghost during a rainstorm; his father points Edgar to evidence that Claude killed him. Edgar's attempts to prove the murder have disastrous consequences and he runs away with several of the younger dogs; however, he can't stay away from his mother and Almondine. I couldn't stop reading the book. It is beautifully written, occasionally the phrasing and descriptions are just exquisite. But it is also the second "Oprah" recommended book I've read (She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb was the first) with such an irredeemably grim ending that I am swearing off reading anything on her list--again. One evil person is allowed to manipulate and then destroy everything good this family created. I guess that means I don't like books that offer no glimpse of hope.
Racing in the Rain, on the other hand, is infinitely hopeful, although bad things happen to one of the protagonists, and the narrator dies in the end. This is also a family story, about Denny Swift, an aspiring and gifted race car driver, his wife Eve, whose parents think she has married beneath her class, their daughter Zoe, and Enzo the narrator. Enzo happens to be Denny's dog but is at heart a philosopher who firmly believes the Mongolian legend that a dog who is ready to leave his dogness behind will be reborn as a man. He saw it once in a documentary on TV, which he watches during the day to learn how to be a person in his next life. There is a lot about car racing, but it is all tied to how one lives life with integrity and awareness. I loved this story. Don't be deterred by Enzo's death; he has learned what he needed to learn in this lifetime and he is happy to go.

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

A big claim to be sure, but in fact, people did come from all over the U.S. and even from countries as far away as Japan to meet this remarkable orange cat in Spencer, Iowa. This is not only the story of a amazing cat, but also a semi-autobiography of the library's director and author of the book, Vicki Myron. Additionally, we learn about the town of Spencer, and its economic trials and tribulations, as family farms became an endangered species.
As a young kitten, Dewey Readmore Books (his full name) was found in the book drop-box one morning after a night of sub-freezing temperatures, with frost-bitten feet that required weeks of recovery. But he quickly took possession of the library, won the hearts of staff and patrons, and seemed intuitively to know who needed a cat on their lap at any given hour. He had a bad habit of eating rubber bands and so they were banned from the library. He roamed the light fixtures high overhead at will. He greeted people at the door. He excited the children of all ages and even some oldsters. This is an absolutely touching story about the amazing impact that one animal can have on individual lives and the community as a whole.

NEWS UPDATE: There's an upcoming picture book and maybe even a movie (supposedly starring Meryl Streep --man she's busy). Here's the article in Publisher's Weekly.

The Devil in the White City

Thanks to my friends Pete and Betsy (formerly of Seattle, and now in Boise), I got to read this book by Erik Larson right before going to my library conference in Chicago. It interweaves the two stories of the creation of the Columbian Exposition, aka the 1893 World's Fair, in Chicago (see photo at right) and the story of a serial killer operating in the area at the same time. The book opens with two quotes:
"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood," spoken by Daniel Burnham, Director of Works for the Exposition.
And this from the confession of H.H.Holmes, "I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing."

Although I expected the opposite, I found the account of building the World's Fair infinitely more interesting. Neither of these tales is fictionalized; both are based on documentary evidence and detailed research. I have to say that my visit to Chicago was enormously enriched by reading this book, which alerted me to the seminal role that Chicago played in American architecture. It was the home of the first skyscrapers--by ten years! Many of the major architectural styles, such as modernism, received critical impetus from the work of local architects. Everyone knows that Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright also started their careers here. Chicago was celebrating the 100th anniversary of Burnham's design for the whole city while I was there and so posters of him, as well as books about him, and about the Exposition, were abundant at the Architecture Foundation's gift shop. I also found there a book of postcard with paintings and archival photographs of the "White City" and I have to say that my major criticism of the book is that more of these were not included in the book. Chicago's architecture is truly monumental and it's definitely worth taking either the land or water tour sponsored by the Architecture Foundation next time you go. Oh, and read the book, too, so you can learn about how the first Ferris Wheel almost didn't get created, or why the Exposition was called the White City, or how a serial killer almost got away unnoticed.

Blindfold Game

Dana Stabenow is one of my long-time favorite mystery writers; I have read and enjoyed a number of her series featuring Kate Shugak, Aleut native who homesteads in Alaska and occasionally works as a private investigator. This novel is a departure from the series and tackles an international terrorist plot to explode a dirty bomb over southern Alaska. Two strong protagonists, married but living apart, each carry a significant part of the action. Hugh Rincon is a CIA analyst who can't seem to convince his superiors that there really is a threat. Sara Lange is second in command on a Coast Guard cutter working in the Bering Sea, and it is to her that Hugh turns when the information suggests the bomb is headed for their home state. As engrossing and atmospheric as everything else of hers I've read.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I was so impressed by hearing Sherman Alexie's keynote address at the Association of College and Research Libraries conference in Seattle this March, that I determined to actually read some of his books. What better way to start than with his new YA (young adult) book! As with so many high quality YA books, this one deserves to be read by adults as well, although the abundance of gross boy humor will certainly make it appealing to male teens. Arnold aka "Junior" Spirit lives on the Spokane Indian reservation with his parents and older sister Mary. The rez is a close knit community but Arnold has been singled out for abuse by peers and even adults because he was born with hydrocephalus (water on the brain). He is both verbally and physically abused by all and sundry except for his best friend Rowdy who defends Arnold against all comers--usually pretty successfully since Rowdy is strong and mean. A fit of anger precipitates a conversation with one of his teachers, and Arnold decides to attend school off the rez, and thereby earns the enmity of an even larger proportion of the tribe, including his former best friend Rowdy. Like Alexie's speech at ACRL, this book is painful and funny and eye-opening. Hear Alexie read a portion of the book.

The Master and the Margarita

Written by Russian dissident Mikhail Bulgakov in the final 12 years of his life, The Master and the Margarita was not published until 26 years after his death (in 1940). From 1930 on he was unable to publish at all in Russia although, strangely enough, he was allowed to produce others' plays as literary consultant to the Moscow Art Theatre. For a quick overview of his work and life, see the Wikipedia entry. The translation I read was by Mirra Ginsburg. I have to say this is not my favorite genre. Bulgakov is taking the atheist state on with a tale about the devil coming to Moscow and wreaking havoc with the lives of those who profess not to believe in either God or the devil. There are lots of plays on words, which are surely influenced strongly by the translation. There is a second story within the main one about the crucifixtion of Jesus. The devil was present and a contemporary author in Moscow, the Master, has written the story. The tale culminates with Satan's ball over which the Master's lover, Margarita, presides in the form of a beautiful witch. All the people the devil considers to have integrity (i.e., the Master and Margarita) get to go off to their own private paradise in the end. And the citizens of Moscow are left trying to make sense of the whole series of puzzling events that the devil whipped up while he and his entourage were in town. The hypocrites--again according to the devil's evaluation--all get their come-uppance.

Some stray YA books

I picked up a couple of books by well-known young adult authors at the big book sale at CML a couple of weeks ago and since I won't be submitting reviews for them to the children's lit database, I thought I would make notes about them here.
The Rogues (alternate title is Rogue's Apprentice) is apparently the 4th in a series collaboration between Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris. These are historic adventure stories set in Scotland, this particular one being centered around the Highland Clearances that took place in the 18th century. As the large landowners enjoyed the benefits of more peaceful times, they no longer needed to be able to call on their clans, usually tenant farmers, for defense. And they found that money was to be made by grazing a new breed of English sheep. Many of them drove the farmers off their land in most brutal fashion, by burning people out of the homes and off the farms that had sustained them for generations. Many went to cities and many came to the New World, i.e., America. This tale revolves around the son of one such family--Roddy Macallan-- as he throws his lot in with a bootlegger in order to try and recover a family heirloom also stolen by the laird who burned his village and tried to kill him. I enjoy historical fiction because I learn new things in a richer fashion. I never knew why there was a wave of Scottish immigration to North America, prior to reading this, or at least I didn't remember if I ever did know.
The other "oldie but goody" I read was Eoin Colfer's first in the Artemis Fowl series. Artemis is a 12-year old criminal mastermind trying to re-establish the family's ill-gotten fortune after some bad investments by his late father left them somewhat strapped for cash. His plan is to kidnap a faery and ransom him/her for gold. He is indeed brilliant and the brawn is supplied by his bodyguard manservant, Butler. But even their combined resources are no match for Holly Short, an officer in the Lower Elements Police (aka LEPrecon) once she gets her magic back. This is really a great bit of fun filled with magical characters, action, and a lot of tongue in cheek humor. I'll definitely go on to read the sequels--of which there are many.