Sunday Shorts, R.I.P edition

Just a quick summary of what's been going on around here, R.I.P.-wise....


First I read

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
published 2006
406 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father’s antiquarian bookshop. On her steps she finds a letter. It is a hand-written request from one of Britain’s most prolific and well-loved novelists. Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. The request takes Margaret by surprise — she doesn’t know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter’s dozens of novels.

Both women will have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets... and the ghosts that haunt them still.

My thoughts -

I think I'm at the point where I'm just going to admit that novels with ghosts as a plot device are not my favorite thing. This book had lots of saving graces, though, so I did enjoy it very much. But the ghost parts? Not so much. I loved the emphasis on reading and literature throughout the novel, and found Margaret as well as Miss Winter to be extremely engaging heroines. Good stuff here, even if it DOES have ghosts.

Finished - 10/15/14
Source - mom
MPAA rating - PG-13 for adult situations & possible scaryness.
My rating - 4/5


Then I read the first two stories from this collection -

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
published 1953


You can read a summary and some analysis of the title story here.

I intend to read the entire collection, but it is not a collection I will breeze through. These first two stories were tough, and bleak, and full of despair. In some ways they remind me of episodes of The Twilight Zone, which used to freak me out SO MUCH when I was young. These are worlds where horrible things happen, in ways that you don't expect. 

A Good Man is Hard to Find is a gut-punch of a story. It plays with emotions and perceptions, and introduces some pretty unpleasant characters without giving any of them much of a chance of redemption. I didn't particularly choose this collection to go along with RIP, but it certainly fits the bill. Lots of perilous situations in these stories!


Next I read this novel -

Advent by James Treadwell
published 2012
448 pages


Synopsis from publisher -

Once there were virtues in the stars and mermaids in the seas; but then a gift was lost, and all of that became no more than the stuff of fantasy. What if it came back? Everyone tells fifteen-year-old Gavin that the things he sees aren't really there. He hardly believes himself any more.

My thoughts -

Okay, there is A LOT going on in this novel. Elements of Arthurian legend, Faust, mermaids, Greek myth - there is a lot to keep track of, and there were moments in the novel that I could feel some of the threads slipping away from me. But I have to say that I was completely entranced by this story from the very beginning. Even when I wasn't quite sure that I was keeping track of all the fantastical bits, I was always eager to see where Gavin's story was going to take him next. I loved the writing, and I definitely plan to read the next in this series.

Finished - 10/24/15
Source - South side library
MPAA rating - PG-13 for fantasy violence
My rating - 4/5


And then I read -

Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesa Lia Block
published 2013
240 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

Her life by the sea in ruins, Pen has lost everything in the Earth Shaker that all but destroyed the city of Los Angeles. She sets out into the wasteland to search for her family, her journey guided by a tattered copy of Homer’s Odyssey. Soon she begins to realize her own abilities and strength as she faces false promises of safety, the cloned giants who feast on humans, and a madman who wishes her dead. On her voyage, Pen learns to tell stories that reflect her strange visions, while she and her fellow survivors navigate the dangers that lie in wait. In her signature style, Francesca Lia Block has created a world that is beautiful in its destruction and as frightening as it is lovely. At the helm is Pen, a strong heroine who holds hope and love in her hands and refuses to be defeated.

My thoughts -

This YA novel was a fairly loose retelling of The Odyssey, and it didn't work all that well for me. I thought the writing was lovely, but I didn't particularly care for the story as Block told it. I thought it was difficult to follow, and there were certain plot elements that seemed to be added more to have something to say about a "hot topic" issue than to really further the action of the plot. I will read more by this author, but probably not more in this sequence.

Finished - 10/25/14
Source - South side library
MPAA rating - R for violence, language, sexuality
My rating - 2/5



So this means that I have completed

for RIP this year!

Book Thoughts - The Color Master by Aimee Bender

The Color Master by Aimee Bender
published 8/31/13
240 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

In this collection, Bender’s unique talents sparkle brilliantly in stories about people searching for connection through love, sex, and family — while navigating the often painful realities of their lives. A traumatic event unfolds when a girl with flowing hair of golden wheat appears in an apple orchard, where a group of people await her. A woman plays out a prostitution fantasy with her husband and finds she cannot go back to her old sex life. An ugly woman marries an ogre and struggles to decide if she should stay with him after he mistakenly eats their children. Two sisters travel deep into Malaysia, where one learns the art of mending tigers who have been ripped to shreds.

My thoughts -

I remember the first time I read the ACTUAL story of Cinderella - not the Disney version, but the Grimms tale where the stepsisters have to chop off parts of their feet to try on the slipper - and thinking, Wow. This story took a turn I didn't expect.

I felt very similarly about most of the stories in this collection. I would be reading along, thinking the story was heading in one direction, and then all of a sudden, "Wow. How did we wind up here?"

And honestly? I kinda liked it. It was entertaining to read a collection where I had (literally) no idea what was coming next. And I realize that at some point, I probably should have stopped being surprised - I mean, that is clearly her thing - but somehow I never was. Which is clearly the mark of a really good writer.

Highlights from the collection for me were Tiger Mending, about two sisters investigating a very unusual seamstress position; The Fake Nazi, about a woman investigating the life of a man claiming to be a war criminal; The Color Master, about a woman who must learn how to put anger into her work; and The Devourings, about a human and an ogre, and how that marriage works.

I do not think this collection will be for everyone - I think if you are not already a fan of the short story as a genre, this would be a tough sell. But if you are willing to take a chance and be a bit astonished, you just might find yourself enjoying Bender's slightly bent world.

Finished - 9/2/13
Source - review copy from publisher via Netgalley - thank you!
MPAA rating - R for adult situations & some violence
My rating - 8/10

Book Thoughts - The Hypothetical Girl by Elizabeth Cohen

The Hypothetical Girl by Elizabeth Cohen
published 8/6/13
256 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

An aspiring actress meets an Icelandic Yak farmer on a matchmaking Web site. An online forum for cancer support turns into a love triangle for an English professor, a Canadian fisherman, and an elementary school teacher living in Japan. A deer and a polar bear flirt via Skype. In The Hypothetical Girl a menagerie of characters graze and jockey, play and hook up in the online dating world with mixed and sometimes dark results. Flirting and communicating in chat rooms, through texts, e-mails, and IMs, they grope their way through a virtual maze of potential mates, falling in and out of what they think and hope may be true love.

My thoughts -

This was a great collection to read on my phone as I was going about my daily tasks and would find 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there to do a little reading. Each of the stories was a quick read, and the tone in general was on the lighter side. They were perfect to read, one or two at a time, because each story was easy to jump into, and each felt fully complete when it was done. 

Cohen does a great job of taking situations the reader can relate to and turning them into often awkward, sometimes cringe-worthy moments of relationship hell. With the online dating world exploding, nearly everyone knows someone who has met someone this way, and nearly everyone knows a cautionary tale or two. Cohen takes those cautionary tales and explodes them, making the reader laugh and gasp and shake their heads, and potentially learn a thing or two in the process.

Standout stories for me include Death by Free Verse, in which a relationship started with shared limericks finds its end with a surprise revelation; Man on a Boat, which illuminates clearly the disconnect between online conversations and meeting in real life; and Love Quiz, by far the darkest story in the collection, which highlights the dangers of letting yourself get too involved with people you don't really know.

I found this collection to be a quick and fun read. While at times some of the stories and situations seemed a bit interchangeable, it was on a the whole a nice collection. Recommended if you are looking for a smart, modern take on the short story.

Finished - 8/7/13

Source - review copy from publisher via Netgalley - thank you!
MPAA rating - R for adult situations 

My rating - 7/10

Book Thoughts - The Human Division by John Scalzi

The Human Division by John Scalzi
published online January-April, 2013
published in print 5/14/13
432 pages

Synopsis from publisher -

Following the events of The Last Colony, John Scalzi tells the story of the fight to maintain the unity of the human race.

The people of Earth now know that the human Colonial Union has kept them ignorant of the dangerous universe around them. For generations the CU had defended humanity against hostile aliens, deliberately keeping Earth an ignorant backwater and a source of military recruits. Now the CU's secrets are known to all. Other alien races have come on the scene and formed a new alliance — an alliance against the Colonial Union. And they've invited the people of Earth to join them. For a shaken and betrayed Earth, the choice isn't obvious or easy.

Against such possibilities, managing the survival of the Colonial Union won't be easy, either. It will take diplomatic finesse, political cunning… and a brilliant “B Team,” centered on the resourceful Lieutenant Harry Wilson, that can be deployed to deal with the unpredictable and unexpected things the universe throws at you when you're struggling to preserve the unity of the human race.

Being published online from January to April 2013 as a three-month digital serial, The Human Division will appear as a full-length novel of the Old Man's War universe, plus — for the first time in print — the first tale of Lieutenant Harry Wilson, and a coda that wasn't part of the digital serialization.

My thoughts -

I should preface this review by saying that I am a fan of John Scalzi. I enjoy and respect his writing across the board, both fiction and nonfiction, in both formal published work and informally on his blog. If this post becomes a bit gush-y, just keep that in mind.

I've been eagerly anticipating Scalzi's return to his Old Man's War Universe, and was especially intrigued when I learned of the unique method he'd chosen for publishing this story. I decided to wait and read The Human Division as a complete work, and so the anticipation was (if possible) even greater. Then my awesome sis got me an AUTOGRAPHED copy, and my excitement was complete.

I'm happy to report the story lived up to my high expectations. Science fiction often doesn't click with my reading sensibilities for some reason, but Scalzi always manages to find a way to draw me in. It's partly his sense of humor - he thinks up such bizarrely hilarious situations, and then somehow makes them seem plausible (like having a carnivorous plant "eat" a dog, who then had to have its heart stopped and re-started).  But mostly it's his fantastic characters. Harry Wilson is sarcastic and bizarrely brilliant; Hart Schmidt is earnest and idealistic; Ambassador Abumwe is prickly and tough, but by the end of the novel you have to admit she's one of your favorites. Scalzi develops relationships so perfectly, and it's his relationships that make his novels so rich and rewarding.

The Human Division ends with many of its questions unanswered - presumably to be picked up in season 2, which has been confirmed. (Yay!) It might seem odd referring to a book as a "season", but in many ways that is very much what the experience of this novel was. Each "episode" felt completely contained in itself, and occasionally it seemed unclear how a certain chapter would fit into the greater whole. But by the end, the loose threads draw together, and the "season" feels complete. I mentioned that I chose to wait and read the book as a whole - while I certainly enjoyed the experience, I think for the next season I will read each episode as it is released. It's unique and exciting to have an author willing to experiment like this, and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story takes us next.

I think Scalzi's Old Man's War series is a great way to dip into sci-fi if you aren't sure of the genre - his work is engaging and highly entertaining, and I think almost everyone will find something to enjoy. I highly recommend this fantastic series.

Finished - 7/7/13
Source - my shelves via my sister - thank you!
MPAA rating - R for violence and adult situations
My rating - 8/10