Waiting on Wednesday #5

Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title:  The Last Days of New Paris
Author:  China Miéville
Expected Publish Date:  August 9, 2016

Summary:

“Beauty will be convulsive. . . .”

1941. In the chaos of wartime Marseilles, American engineer—and occult disciple—Jack Parsons stumbles onto a clandestine anti-Nazi group, including Surrealist theorist André Breton. In the strange games of the dissident diplomats, exiled revolutionaries, and avant-garde artists, Parsons finds and channels hope. But what he unwittingly unleashes is the power of dreams and nightmares, changing the war and the world forever.

1950. A lone Surrealist fighter, Thibault, walks a new, hallucinogenic Paris, where Nazis and the Résistance are trapped in unending conflict, and the streets are stalked by living images and texts—and by the forces of Hell. To escape the city, he must join forces with Sam, an American photographer intent on recording the ruins, and make common cause with a powerful, enigmatic figure of chance and rebellion: the Exquisite Corpse.

But Sam is being hunted. And new secrets will emerge that will test all their loyalties—to each other, to Paris old and new, and to reality itself.

Review: Go Set A Watchman

Title:  Go Set A Watchman
Author:  Harper Lee
Rating:  2.5/5

Summary:

Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch--"Scout"--returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt.

Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in a painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past--a journey that can be guided only by one's conscience. 

Review:

I was so very stoked for this book to come out as soon as I heard the manuscript was found after Harper Lee's sister died.  I'm not sure I've really ever been so disappointed in a sequel before.  To Kill A Mockingbird was one of my ultimate favorite books, so naturally I was skeptical (as well as the previous excitement) about a book with my favorite characters that had apparently been previously rejected by the publishers.

I hate to say it, but they were right to originally reject it.

Whoever edited this (because come on, we know Harper didn't have a huge part in this decision or edit) did not do a stellar job.  I'm sad that this was the last book she released before her death.  I honestly wish it hadn't been found.

What did you think?  Am I being to harsh about it all?  And rest in peace Harper Lee.

Review: The Devil's Arithmetic

Title: The Devil's Arithmetic
Author: Jane Yolen
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

This critically acclaimed novel by award-winning author Jane Yolen is now available in a beautifully designed new edition. Hannah dreads going to her family's Passover Seder—she's tired of hearing her relatives talk about the past. But when she opens the front door to symbolically welcome the prophet Elijah, she's transported to a Polish village in the year 1942, where she becomes caught up in the tragedy of the time. "Readers will come away with a sense of tragic history that both disturbs and compels." 

Review:

I have a thing for Holocaust books.  I and I definitely have a thing for people who refuse to acknowledge the Holocaust so I really liked this book if only for those two reasons.  I get (sorta) how Hannah is sick of remembering her past, especially when she sees it just as a boring religious ritual that is only enjoyed by the adults.  I love the time she spent in the past and how it wasn't just a dream.

However, I hated spending most of the book with her questioning everything as a dream (and me thinking it was an alcohol-induced hallucination/collapse), and then telling the people how right she was.  I hate when people are like that, thinking they are all knowing.

Once her memories faded though I love how she found her inner strength and then the book was all neatly, satisfyingly wrapped up in the end.

I'm normally extremely sad at the end of Holocaust books, this time I was relieved/happy/content.  It was odd.  I highly recommend the read though (then again, when do I post a review and not recommend the book?  Maybe I should try that some day)

Review: The War within These Walls

Title: The War within These Walls
Author: Aline Sax
Rating: 5/5

Summary: It's World War II, and Misha's family, like the rest of the Jews living in Warsaw, has been moved by the Nazis into a single crowded ghetto. Conditions are appalling: every day more people die from disease, starvation, and deportations. Misha does his best to help his family survive, even crawling through the sewers to smuggle food. When conditions worsen, Misha joins a handful of other Jews who decide to make a final, desperate stand against the Nazis.Heavily illustrated with sober blue-and-white drawings, this powerful novel dramatically captures the brutal reality of a tragic historical event.

Review:

There's a special place in my book reading heart for World War II novels.  Actually, it's one of the only pieces of 20th century history I care to study in any detail.  I think it's the part of me that has a deep-seated, strange fascination with human horrors and the great deal of pain we as a race can inflict upon one another.

My morbid fascination aside, this book was unique in it's structure from the general shape of the book to the drawings and text within.  The book is at least an inch taller than a usual hardcover book and the cover colors are mimicked throughout the text.

The protagonist was loosely drawn, which I found allowed for a more generalized experience.  I mean by this, that you could see the faces of history (more than just the character) in him and thus lends the character their pain and hardship on top of his own.

Plot-wise there were little to no surprises because it all fits with the time period and events of the Warsaw Ghetto, even if it is not perfect (it is fiction after all).

I would recommend this book to history book lovers, as well as those who do not like history but are looking for a stepping stone to get into the subject or an easy historical read.

Rating:

Review: The Mysterious Howling

Title:  The Mysterious Howling
Author:  Maryrose Wood
Series:  The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place [1]
Rating: 4.5

Summary:

Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age ten or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the-middle, is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.

Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. Only fifteen years old and a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position. Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must help them overcome their canine tendencies.

But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these three wild creatures, and how did they come to live in the vast forests of the estate? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to teach the Incorrigibles table manners and socially useful phrases in time for Lady Constance's holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische?

Review:

Shockingly awesome!  I thought the premise was interesting to start (thus why I picked up the book), but it actually turned out better than I expected for a juvenile book.  The language (as it takes place "back in the day" in England) is a little difficult for a younger audience I think, I'd say it's geared towards middle schoolers and older.

Anyway, the children were absolutely endearing, and I liked the other characters as well, and they certainly are "characters", like Lady Constance, she's crazy!

The only reason I didn't give this a higher rating because the book led up to this one scene that spanned about two chapters, and those were the only chapters in the book I did not care for.  I think the goal was accomplished, but I didn't love it, I don't know.

Recommended to people middle school aged and older.

Review: Billy Girl by Vickie Weaver

Summary

Abandoned as in infant because of her incessant crying, Billie Girl is raised by two women who are brothers. Her life, a gender-bending puzzle filled with dark humor, is a series of encounters with strangers who struggle along with what they are given: a bigamist husband, a long-lost daughter named after a car, a lesbian preacher's wife, a platonic second husband who loved her adoptive father. Twin themes of sexuality and euthanasia run throughout. In a journey from hard-dirt Georgia farm to end-of-life nursing home, Billie Girl comes to understand the mercy of killing.

Review

This book was in no way what I expected.  We follow Billie as her life never ceases to change.  Billie rarely seems to gain any happiness through her years, but few reoccurring characters bring her peace.  Though it seems whenever she gets too comfortable something happens and/or someone dies.

The book spans seventy-some-odd years, beginning with Billie's birth and ending with her death.  You feel for her and I personally found myself attached to various characters that may not be conventionally likable characters.

I wouldn't recommend this book to those who are squeamish or shy away from dark themes.  It is thought provoking and well crafted.

4.0/5.0

Review: Quiver by Stephanie Spinner

Summary

Cast off and abandoned at birth, Atalanta– saved by a she-bear and raised by hunters–proves herself to be a superior archer and the fastest runner in the land. But her skills and independence anger many, including her father, the Arcadian King, who suddenly reclaims her and demands that she produce an heir to the throne. Atalanta has pledged herself to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, who has forbidden her to marry. Unwilling to break her promise, Atalanta suggests a grim compromise: she will marry the first man to beat her in a race, but everyone she defeats must die. All the while, Artemis, Apollo, Aphrodite, Eros, and Zeus himself watch–and interfere–from on high.

Review

Normally I am not a person who enjoys fantasy books in any way (save for Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl), but I do have a weakness for the Greek Gods and Goddesses.  While this book is straight forward, it is not always easy to follow if one is not the least bit familiar with mythology.  We follow Atalanta, but the banter between the Gods is interspersed and highly amusing.

It is a quick, satisfying read.  For those of you who like when books have a map in them that is required to figure out the setting, this book is for you.

3.5/5.0