Reading Update #2 of January 2024

So we are having the coldest weather we've had in a few years. But it's supposed to start warming up tomorrow or the next day. A bit of snow today to go along with the cold. Made it a perfect reason to have McDonald's today. Don't you think? 

Taking a quick break from my ongoing look at our book shelves and books to provide a reading update. I've completed two more books this past week, making it 3 so far in 2024. I'll provide my reviews and also the synopses of the next two, plus synopses of any books I might have bought since my last update.

Just Finished

1. Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin (Hainish Cycle #1 / 1966). My 12 + 4 challenge is to read all of the Le Guin books I've got on my book shelves.

"Other than some short stories, Rocannon's World was Ursula K. Le Guin's first novel and the beginning of a prolific, excellent career. It is also the 1st novel in Le Guin's Hainish Sci Fi series. The story is a bit rough and ready but still an excellent read.

The planet Fomalhaut II was made a part of the League of All Worlds many years ago. The Starlords had landed, exacted tribute from the 3 races on the planet, did a bit of a survey and then basically left it on its own. A scientific team lead by Rocannon, beginning a more detailed exploration is attacked by an unknown alien force and only Rocannon survives. 

Wanting to avenge his teammates and also the races on Fomalhaut II, who have been attacked and enslaved by the aliens, Rocannon takes a small group of people and voyages into unknown territory to find the enemy and somehow defeat them.

That's the story at its simplest. It's also about friendship, loss and discovery. It's not the best of Le Guin's books that I've enjoyed but it's still well - crafted and well - paced. The relationships in this relatively short story still have an emotional impact when there are losses and the friendship does affect you. It's a nice introduction to Le Guin's work. (3.5 stars)"

2. The Big Four by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #5 / 1927). My January Focus author is Agatha Christie. Hoping to read 2 or 3 at least.

"The Big Four is the 5th Hercule Poirot story by Agatha Christie. This story finds the famed Belgian detective and his friend and companion, Capt. Hastings in a battle of wits and wills against an international organization, The Big Four, that wants so sow discord around the world. 

As the two investigate, they slowly discover that the Big Four are 4 individuals; the brain is a Chinese mandarin, the money is an American billionaire, the technical know - how comes from a female French scientist and the brawn is a master of disguise, a British gentleman.

At every turn, Poirot and Hastings run against roadblocks. They come close and then the subject escapes their clutches. There are threats to their lives, to the lives of loved ones, e.g. Hastings' wife in Argentina. But they seem to be coming closer at each turn until very drastic measures are required for the final confrontation.

It's not my favorite Christie story but it shows a slightly different side of Poirot, a more active one in some cases. And who knew he had a brother. Still enjoyable and an interesting ending. (3.0 stars)"

Currently Reading

1. Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea Cycle #4 / 1990). Switching from the Hainish cycle to her Earthsea fantasy series.

"In this fourth novel in the Earthsea series, we rejoin the young priestess the Tenar and powerful wizard Ged. Years before, they had helped each other at a time of darkness and danger. Together, they shared an adventure like no other. Tenar has since embraced the simple pleasures of an ordinary life, while Ged mourns the powers lost to him through no choice of his own.

Now the two must join forces again and help another in need the physically, emotionally scarred child whose own destiny has yet to be revealed."

2. They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie (Miss Marple #6 / 1943). Jo and I have enjoyed many of the Miss Marple TV adaptations. This one doesn't sound familiar.

"Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in Stoneygates, a rehabilitation center for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when someone shoots at the administrator. Although he is not injured, a mysterious visitor is less fortunate; shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.

Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not, and must use all her cunning to solve the riddle of the stranger's visit … and his murder."

New Books

1. Big Sky by Kate Atkinson (Jackson Brodie #5 / 2019). Definitely one of my favorite authors.

"Jackson Brodie has relocated to a quiet seaside village, in the occasional company of his recalcitrant teenage son and an aging Labrador, both at the discretion of his ex-partner Julia. It's picturesque, but there's something darker lurking behind the scenes.

Jackson's current job, gathering proof of an unfaithful husband for his suspicious wife, is fairly standard-issue, but a chance encounter with a desperate man on a crumbling cliff leads him into a sinister network -- and back across the path of his old friend Reggie. Old secrets and new lies intersect in this breathtaking novel by one of the most dazzling and surprising writers at work today."

Women Authors Whose Work I've Been Enjoying - Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie Stiefvater

Maggie Stiefvater was born in Virginia in 1981 and is a writer of Young Adult fantasy and fiction. I read The Scorpio Races back in 2016 and was so impressed with it. It was around the time I had started other YA Fantasy series and this stood out for me. Now this is the only one of her stories I've read so far but in the last couple of years I've purchased some others of her books and I look forward to trying them. I'll highlight The Scorpio Races and the 3 books I have on my book shelf.

1. The Scorpio Races (2011).

"This was such an excellent story, well-written, a page turner, thoughtful and even emotional. It's a YA fantasy, so I was thinking it was more of The Hunger Games, but it was quite different in some ways. 

Each year on an island off America, Thisby, the Scorpio Races take place. The difference between a normal horse race and the Scorpio races is that the horses used come from the sea, and they are meat eaters. They wash ashore during storms and some are captured and kept on land. In November, the races take place. People and horses will die. 

Sean Kendricks, a young man who works for the wealthiest landowner on the island, has won 4 of the last 6 races, on a horse named Corr. He competes with the landowner's son and others; there is ill-feeling between him and Mutt Malvern, partly because Mutt's father seems to prefer Sean. 

Kate (Puck) Connolly needs to enter this year's race, to try and keep her family together and to keep her family home. However, there has never been a girl in the Scorpio Races before and Kate will be riding her land horse, Dove, not a water horse. 

This is the premise of this fantastic story. The book is peopled with wonderful characters, Kate and her brothers, Sean, George Holly (the horse trader from the mainland), Peg Gratton, Dory Maud and her sisters and the story draws you in more and more until you can't put the book down. I want to go the bakery on the island and have November Cakes, they sound delicious. Excellent book and I have to give it (5 stars)."

2. Sinner (The Wolves of Mercy Falls 3.5 / 2014).

"Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Series. Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason, to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her. Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes. But what's the point? What is there to win? Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to love each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go."

3. Call Down the Hawk (Dreamer Trilogy #1 / 2019).

"The dreamers walk among us . . . and so do the dreamed. Those who dream cannot stop dreaming – they can only try to control it. Those who are dreamed cannot have their own lives – they will sleep forever if their dreamers die.

And then there are those who are drawn to the dreamers. To use them. To trap them. To kill them before their dreams destroy us all.

Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams and into his compromised reality.

Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.

Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer . . . and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person. And she has seen the damage that dreamers can do. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed. . . ."

4. Mister Impossible (Dreamer Trilogy #2 / 2021).

"Something is happening to the source of the dreamers' power. It is blocked. Diminished. Weak. If it goes away entirely, what will happen to the dreamers and those who depend on them?

Ronan Lynch isn't planning to wait and find out. Backed by his mentor, Bryde, he is ready to do what needs to be done to save the dreamers and the dreamed . . . even if it takes him far from his family and the boy he loves.

Jordan Hennessy knows she will not survive if the dreaming fails. So she plunges into a dark underworld in order to find an object that may sustain her.

Carmen Farooq-Lane is afraid of the dreamers -- which is why she's agreed to hunt them down. The closer she gets, though, the more complicated her feelings become. Will the dreamers destroy the world . . . or will the world be destroyed trying to eliminate the dreamers?"

So there you go. Do any of the above pique your interest? You can see all of Maggie Stiefvater's books at this link.