Reviews and Comments

I don't often get so hooked on series, but J.K. Rowling knows how to write a story! As usual, Robin and Strike are juggling several cases, with one of said cases being the book's main focus. The characters and their peccadillos are fascinating, and there are plenty of twists and turns. Then, of course, there is the relationship between Robin and Strike, which is particularly engaging.

Stephen King is undoubtedly the epitome of horror writers, one who develops a plot with perfect timing and invents interesting personal stories, along the way. The central character is Ben Mears, a writer who has returned to a small town he knew as a child, hoping to gain inspiration for his next novel. He gets much more than that. It is Mark Petrie, the child in the story, who I most cared about. King's horror stories do not always come to a definitive end, and this one is ripe for a sequel, with Mark Petrie as the main character.

I like a good vampire story, and this is an excellent homage to Bram Stoker's Dracula. For anyone in the mood for a good vampire tale, or a good horror story, this would be an excellent choice.

Ta-Nehisi Coates has written a beautiful debut novel, conveying the emotional toll and outrageous wrongs suffered by people who were forced into slavery in the American South. The story emphasises the importance of memory. Without memory, there is no life story, no collective knowledge, no culture. For a group of people who have no rights at all, who can be sold away from their family members and traditions, memory is tantamount to a sense of identity.

In this novel, Coates refers to slaves as The Tasked, while the plantation owners are Quality. The main character is Hiram Walker, the Tasked son of a plantation owner, who was brutally separated from his mother when his father sold her away. Hiram becomes the servant of Maynard, his Quality half-brother, and they are perfect foils; Maynard is a coarse, slow witted boor whose character makes the word "quality" suitably sarcastic. In contrast, it is obvious from the beginning that Hiram is gifted in many ways, including a phenomenal memory.

Hiram eventually becomes involved with The Underground Railroad, and leads people to freedom with a skill called conduction. This is magical, and involves oral story telling on the part of the conductor. As Harriet Tubman tells Hiram, "Memory is the chariot and memory is the way." This seems spiritual, a way to acknowledge the world while rising above it.

This is a thought provoking novel with well written characters, and I recommend it highly.

The Mirror and the Light is the final installment of the Wolf Hall Trilogy. Hilary Mantel has accomplished something awesome with these books. They are richly written and impressively intricate. Yes, there are many characters, and the politics and danger surrounding King Henry VIII's reign are complicated. This, for me, was not a quick, easy read. I did not expect it to be. I love the writing and always found myself sympathizing with Thomas Cromwell, a man who carried out some evil orders for his king (though he always tried to show mercy). Mantel creates a multi-layered character for Cromwell, along with a rough, sad background. This final piece of the trilogy offers an even deeper introspective mood for him than is previously shown.

Since this is very much based on fact, there are no plot spoilers, here. We know how Thomas Cromwell's life ends, and must but marvel at the mindset of those who lived and worked in the king's sphere. Cromwell was walking a perpetual tightrope, until the end. This is a challenging, rewarding read and I plan to read more by this author.

Since this book first came out a decade ago, it's important to read the preface and the forward for the updates.

The author's thesis is that "The system of mass incarceration created a legal framework by which the rights and benefits of citizenship are routinely stripped away from millions of U.S. citizens labeled "criminals" and "felons" until they mirror...those of non-citizen immigrants within the United States."

It seems obvious to me that that is exactly what has happened, though I'm not sure that I'm convinced that there was a master plan for this. The fact is, it happened, it's happening, and it will take major change to put an end to this horrible crisis.

Alexander gives us a history lesson, a tour of the outrageously discriminatory laws of the past, and argues that each time one of these was overturned, powerful whites found a new way of discriminating against African Americans. She outlines the laws that boxed people of color into poor neighborhoods and ghettos, and how police, seeking funding from the federal government, kept their arrests high during The War on Drugs. The easiest way to do this was to turn these poor neighborhoods into occupied territories. She points out that the "colorblind" laws are simply a new way of not talking about race, rendering the issue invisible.

Alexander is highly critical of many politicians, and not just republicans. She is critical of both former presidents Clinton and Obama for adding on to the problem. (I will admit that it's hard for me to read criticism of Obama. It's not my most objective quality.)

Overall, I found Michelle Alexander's book to be highly informative and eye-opening. The one criticism I have is the amount of repetition.

I'm very glad to have read this! Right now, I am concerned that too many people do not understand what is really meant by defunding the police.

Look, I'm finally reviewing a book... it's so hot, it takes my motivation for doing anything away.



The Trespasser might be my favorite of Tana French's mysteries. As usual, I won't give out too much information, not to worry!

We readers get to know Antoinette Conway and her new partner, Stephen Moran, in a more in depth way than before. Conway's past, and her real and perceived career challenges as the only woman on the murder squad add timely authenticity to the background. What I find most intriguing about these stories are the human relationships, and the way French depicts them.

The main plot is a murder with a solve that is complicated and unpredictable--so many people out to deceive, for so many reasons! At the same time, a drama is unfolding in Conway's life and her professional relationship with Moran is becoming more entrenched.

I highly recommend The Trespasser. It'll keep you thinking.

Whoa, this is one dark crime novel populated by some disturbed people. It focuses on Richard Bone, a once successful marketing exec who is now a drifter, thanks to crippling anxiety and some kind of breakdown. He is sleeping on the floor of a house owned by Alex Cutter, a disable Vietnam vet and his girlfriend Mo, and their infant son. The three of them live in poverty, just managing to feed themselves. One night, Bone runs out of gas on his almost-kaput car and walks the rest of the way home. Along the way, he sees some guy driving an expensive car screech to a halt, dump something in a garbage can, and speed away. At this point, Bone does not realize what he's just seen.

That evening, news of a murder is broadcast, the victim being a young woman whose body was dumped in a garbage can. Of course, Bone knows right away that he saw this, but does report this to the cops until he is forced to (that's another story) Later on, Bone will, quite by accident, see the picture of a wealthy tycoon in the paper, and exclaim, "It's him!" Cutter hears this, and will not let Bone walk it back--always with an eye for profit, Cutter proposes a blackmail scheme.

Bone tries very hard to not be a part of this, but he is too involved in Alex Cutter's life. Cutter is extremely disturbed and knows how to cause trouble anywhere he goes. It's a sign of self destructiveness for anyone to get too close to him. The plot thickens, and Alex draws Bone into the scheme, as well as the sister of the victim. He uses her horribly, because she is also short of self love. Actually, all the women in this book are very troubled, especially Mo.

I will not reveal anything more about the plot. Believe it or not, there are some funny moments. At times, this humor put me in mind of Inherent Vice (Thomas Pynchon). This novel also takes place in the 1970s and has a postwar anti-establishment attitude voiced mostly by Cutter.

This is a great novel, and I recommend it, with a "dark, despairing warning."

This is another excellent installment of The Dublin Murder Squad series, in which we see Frank Mackey from a different angle, and the the younger Stephen Moran a few years later. This mystery also concerns Frank's daughter Holly,, but in a different way.

Tana French's characters and back stories keep me coming back to her series. Interesting Irish expressions and good dialogue are also a plus in this page-turner of a mystery.

Enjoy!

This was an eye opening experience for me. This is a collection of speeches and interviews in which Angela Y. Davis eloquently expresses the importance of mass movements, and that everyone see the connections between all the movements that are taking place around the world. Freedom is indeed a constant struggle, and it is a global one. One thing I'd never thought about was the parallels between Apartheid in South Africa, and what is happening in Palestine. And right now, American policemen are using the same tactics against protesters that Israel uses in Palestine.

Another topic that will stick with me is that G4S is the largest security company in the world, they are everywhere, but I've never heard that name, until now. The disturbing militarization of the police, and the racist system behind it, are responsible for imprisoning African Americans at a rate that is impossible to justify.

"The soaring numbers of people behind bars all over the world and the increasing profitability of the means of holding them captive is one of the most dramatic examples of the destructive tendencies of global capitalism. But the obscene profits obtained from mass incarceration are linked to profits from the health care industry and from education and other commodified human services that actually should be freely available to everyone."

In these speeches, Davis speaks about many movements and how they are connected. It will leave you wanting to know more. And, by the way, it is well indexed, which helps when researching the many topics Davis covers.

I would recommend this to anyone.

This is my first experience with Ruth Ware. I found this novel engrossing. Ware created an atmosphere that was both fascinating and creepy, telling a story with some twists that I did not see coming. Most of the book is one long letter from a nanny who is accused of murder to a prominent lawyer. This story did keep me turning the pages!

I thought the ending very effective--the note from the younger sister, which functions as the great reveal, and the fact that the first note was not sent on. So, in the end, Rachel surely faced a death sentence, rather than bring down any more pain to this family. That was touching. Will anyone ever find out, and know what she's done? That is the final question, which goes unanswered.

Here is one of those novels I won't be forgetting. It's a family saga surrounding a man with a tragic flaw and the women in his life. I disliked James Piper as much as I can remember disliking any literary character, and felt a different kind of sympathy for each of the women surrounding him--his wife Materia and their daughters, especially Materia and Frances. The story unfolds a little at a time, as Frances comes closer and closer to realizing some of the truths that are fundamental in her life. In the end, there are four generations of story that come together very well in the end.

This is a beautifully written, tragic story. It was a fascinating read, but contains violence and domestic abuse that makes it also a hard read.

This is a most clever sci-fi mystery, absolutely unpredictable. This tale kept me turning pages, and there is much to think about. The reader will see the same day as several different people, from various perspectives. That is really all I should say, but for anyone in the mood for a mysterious page turner, I highly recommend it. There is much to discuss.

Helen Macdonald's prose is a lovely experience. This is an intimate memoir of grief, solitude, and recovery. Also, it is a fascinating look at goshawks and her relationship with one in particular. She expresses her thoughts, feelings, and mental associations with singular and astonishing beauty. History, magic, and falconry-- that is how I will remember this book.

There is much to marvel at here, and I recommend it highly.