Well, we had a tad of snow fall on Friday and it's still cold, but that's about it so far. Not a whole heck of a lot to report on but let's do a beginning month reading update.
Finished
"I am constantly amazed at the variety in graphic novels and the talent of the authors and artists that make them. Pearl by Sherri L. Smith and illustrated by Christine Norrie was no exception. It's a powerful touching story set during WWII and follows Japanese - American girl Amy. Before the war, Amy and her family live in Hawaii. Amy has to go to Japan when her great grandmother, who was once a pearl diver, falls ill. Because her young brother has just been born, Amy's parents can't make the trip, so they send Amy.
While Amy is in Japan... her family lives near Hiroshima, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. This effectively isolates Amy in Japan for the duration of the war. Amy gets caught up in the war. As a Nisei (Japanese American) she and other Nisei in Japan are tasked by the Japanese Army to monitor American radio transmissions. While working there, Amy discovers that her family back in Hawaii has been arrested and sent to a camp. This changes Amy's attitude to America, causing much confusion within her; was she American or Japanese?
As the war begins to turn against the Japanese, life becomes more difficult in Japan; food shortages, depression. Amy's grandmother succumbs to her illness and finally Amy is caught in the nuclear blast that destroyed Hiroshima. As the war ends, Amy has a long road to recovery and while she tries to return to the US and her family, the post war suspicion makes her efforts difficult if not impossible.
It's fascinating story, presenting a history of which I wasn't all that aware. The story is stark, becoming even starker as the war progresses and the artwork becomes more and more bleak and dark. It moves along quickly and while some aspects may be glossed over somewhat, it's still a powerful, interesting, touching story. A history that should be read. (4.0 stars)"
Currently Reading
"This is a year of reading from home, by one of Britain's most distinguished authors. Early one autumn afternoon in pursuit of an elusive book on her shelves, Susan Hill encountered dozens of others that she had never read, or forgotten she owned, or wanted to read for a second time. The discovery inspired her to embark on a year-long voyage through her books, forsaking new purchases in order to get to know her own collection again. A book which is left on a shelf for a decade is a dead thing, but it is also a chrysalis, packed with the potential to burst into new life. Wandering through her house that day, Hill's eyes were opened to how much of that life was stored in her home, neglected for years. 'Howards End is on the Landing' charts the journey of one of the nation's most accomplished authors as she revisits the conversations, libraries and bookshelves of the past that have informed a lifetime of reading and writing."
New Books
"Aging, embittered Inez Blaine wages an anonymous poison pen letter assault against several prominent bank employees but reserves her special letter-writing wrath for Lucia Rutyer, whose reputation, career, and life Inez wanted destroyed."
Women Authors Whose Work I've Been Enjoying - Caitlin R. Kiernan
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| Caitlin R. Kiernan |
"Agents of Dreamland is my first exposure to Caitlín R. Kiernan and is the first book in her Tinfoil Dossier trilogy.
The Signalman, an agent of the government, was sent to a farmhouse in the Salton Sea to investigate what appears to be a cult. The story starts after this event with him going to Winslow, Arizona to meet Immocolata Sexton, an agent of the British (I think). She also seems able to travel between time lines, although that's not totally clear yet. The two exchange information, the Signalman, info on what he discovered at the ranch and Sexton, info from her previous investigations.
It's not totally clear what has been discovered at Salton Sea, except the bodies of cult members who were infected with some fungus? It's changed them and it's infectious and it may have come from outer space, from somewhere beyond Pluto. This has happened many times over the decades and Sexton has investigated them, as well as what happens to the world in the future?? Oh, and what has happened to cult leader Drew Standish? And what is in the Black Book???? Questions!
It's an intriguing opening to this trilogy and leaves more questions than answers. Kiernan is an intelligent writer, very descriptive and she creates a tense, eerie scenario. It's a short story, more a novella but it does draw you in quite quickly. I assume you can get the three stories in one package but now that I've got this on, next in line is Black Helicopters. (3.5)"
"Black Helicopters is the second book in the weirdly wonderful Tinfoil Dossier trilogy by Caitlín R. Kiernan. How to describe it? I'm not sure I can.
Let's see. First there are the albino twins, la Bete and Ivoire. la Bete is by Deer Island with 66 and soldiers, X agents, CIA / FBI, etc. as they battle Lovecraftian creatures who have taken over the island and rise from the sea to battle these troops. Bete is hooked on drugs... Then we move to Ireland where Ivoire and is being 'protected?' by Twimsby while assassins from the various agencies try to get rid of her. There is a sort of time travel as the Egyptian, Ptolema, moves from time to time (I think) In the future it seems that Earth is kind of a Water world..... I think.. LOL.
So now that you know what's going on. Even though I'm constantly confused, I'm also constantly amazed. It's like a Philip K. Dick story when he was writing his most drugged out stories... It's dark, poetic at times, philosophical, horrific, and great Sci Fi. I'm looking forward to #3, The Tindalos Asset to see how it all wraps up. Will the Signalman from Book 1 make more of an appearance? (3.5 stars)"
"The Signalman returns in The Tindalos Asset.
A rundown apartment in Koreatown. A Los Angeles winter. A strung out, worn out, wrecked and used government agent is scraped up off the pavement, cleaned up, and reluctantly sent out into battle one last time.Ellison Nicodemo has seen and done terrible things. She thought her only remaining quest was for oblivion. Then the Signalman comes calling. He wants to learn if she can stop the latest apocalypse. Ellison, once a unique and valuable asset, can barely remember why she ever fought the good fight.
Still, you don't say no to the Signalman, and the time has come to face her fears and the nightmare forces that almost destroyed her. Only Ellison can unleash the hound of Tindalos. . ."
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