A Chunk of My Children's Book Collection

Elfwyn's Saga, by David Wisniewski

"Outraged that the Hidden Folk have favored Anlaf Haraldson wwith the greenest valley in the North, Gorm the Grim lays a curse on Anlaf and all his line. Because of the curse, Anlaf's daughter, Elfwyn, is born blind. But though she cannot see, Elfwyn is blessed by the Hidden Folk. Her grace, her knowledge, and her astonishing ability to 'see' without sight astonish everyone -- until Gorm returns with a gift even more menacing than his curse."

You have to see the artwork to believe it.

Atuk, by Mischa Damjan

The tale of Atuk and his brown husky, Taruk, loyalty, and devotion.

Moon Mother, by Ed Young

Tells the story of the moon, whose face is that of the first woman spirit person.


The Sleeping Lady, retold by Ann Dixon

The story of the Sleeping Lady, Mt Susitna, who will awaken when we learn the ways of peace.

(Minna Unchi) Everyone Poops, by Taro Gomi

A delightful "Curious Nell" book.

Dombey and Son

Dombey and Son, by Charles Dickens

Not one of Dicken's more famous, but I had the opportunity to pick up a bunch of 'classics' in paperback earlier this year and grabbed it. I'm glad I did. It's a good book.

In a nutshell. Florence loves her father but he ignores her. Over many trials and tribulations, he comes to regret this.

Anthony Trollope's Barsetshire novels

by Anthony Trollope

Trollope's 'Barsetshire' novels:

• The Warden
• Barchester Towers
• Dr Thorne
• Framley Parsonage
• The Small House at Allington
• The Last Chronicle of Barset (just started)

It takes some doing, once you decide to wade into 'verbose' literary styles -- Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray -- gawd, they all wrote these tomes that just go ON and ON -- to realize the humor, the political commentary, and the satire present in the works.

"Anthony Trollope was a masterful satirist with an unerring eye for the most intrinsic details of human behavior and an imaginative grasp of the preoccupations of nineteenth-century English novels."

Honestly? I don't know what to say more than that. They're fun, funny, and as long as you pay attention, take some serious pokes at their society.

David Copperfield

David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens

Second reading, just as good as the first time.

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray


Scheming, conniving, plotting Becky Sharp just wants to climb the social ladder. And she does, ruthlessly. Amelia loves her soldier George, and both women sail the high seas of English society during the Napoleonic wars.

Hehhehehehehehe.

P.D. James

(reviewed 2000)

I just fell off a P.D. James kick. I've been devouring books -- all of them quite good, and I feel I understand her popularity. If you're not familiar with James, she's a Brit mystery writer [with fabbo appropriate credentials] who has been publishing mysteries since the '60s. Often featuring her very popular protagonist, Adam Dagliesh of Scotland Yard.

I feel like I've been at a smorgasbord, riffing through a collection of works published during the past 30 years, and dipping in to see what's changed in this world and what hasn't.

Let's see which ones I can remember off the top of my head that I've eaten recently:

Cover Her Face
A Mind To Murder
The Black Tower
Shroud for a Nightingale
Unnatural Causes
A Taste for Death
Devices and Desires
Original Sin

They're all '+'s.

So, several points:

Adam Dagliesh is, for me, a very sympathetic protagonist, because he reminds me of me -- we get to see what he's thinking and he's the quintessential observer/non-participant, very intelligent, and very proud. I'm wondering if others find him too remote, or find it difficult to sympathise with him.

Feminist stuff: there's some feminism in there, and it's very appropriate to be there. There are occasional female characters in law enforcement, and James lets you glimpse into their perceptions of the world, and the thoughts of the people they work with, and I think she really communicates in a very understated way how difficult and complex the whole male/female work integration thing can be. And it's all just part of her context in the given book.

So, interesting things happen to interesting, complex people, some of whom work for the police, some of whom may be murderers, and some of whom just happen to be sucked into the surrounding events. I think that's one of the things I like: there isn't just one or two suspects and the Great Mouse Detective, there's 10 witnesses, and a schoolfull of students and the regulars at the local pub, and all these people who get involved in the story.

I like.

The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas

(reviewed 1999/2000)

In brief, _Musketeers_ is the tale of a young Gascon, d'Artagnan, and his quest to make his way in the world. Along the way, he is embroiled in intrigue, joins the King's Guards, then the more elite Musketeers. Falls in passion for a lovely young woman, battles evil in the form of Cardinal Richelieu and 'Milady', and in general, has a much more exciting life than I do. :-) [but a way shorter projected lifespan, IMHO]

The core of the book is the relationship between d'Artagnan and the musketeer 'Athos', who, like many, is enlisted under an assumed name. I don't want to spoil any specifics, but whenever the 3 Musketeers and d'Artagnan must make some stand, it is Pothos and Aramis who fall first, and Athos and d'Artagnan making final desperate moves as a pair. So there's a multitude of interesting relationships: the original three Musketeers, the pair Athos and d'Artagnan, the foursome of Musketeers and d'Artagnan, Athos and Milady, the tense triangle of Richelieu, the King, and the Queen, encompassing in some sense the tension between the Church, the State, and the Individual, the pair of d'Artagnan and Milady, not to mention the Queen and her lover, & a plethora of loyal servants.

I plan on starting the sequel, _Twenty Years After_, shortly.

Pretzel Logic



Pretzel Logic, by Lisa Rogak

(reviewed in 1998)

I read _Pretzel Logic_ by Lisa Rogak, in one sitting. (Insomnia is such a mixed curse, sometimes.) 'Pretzel logic' is both an album title mentioned briefly in the novel, and [much more importantly] a term used to describe the contortions of thought a person can go through when their world changes, in an attempt to answer an incredibly perplexing question:

What do you do when your spouse comes out? "Morning, dear, I'm gay."

Before you stop reading this review with a wave of your hand, "well, that doesn't apply to *me*", let me tell you right now that it does. Because this novel *isn't* "just" about one woman finding out she's married to a gay man, it's about two people who love each other enough to get married -- only to find out that love isn't enough. In romance-obsessed America, it hurts to say it, but it's true: love isn't always enough. I can tell you that firsthand, and so can Emily Spencer, the protagonist of _Pretzel Logic_.

In all likelihood, *because* failures at love are so universal, *anyone* could tell you that. One of the interesting things about human beings is that such realizations take so long to sink in, and it is a very truthful, humorous, and loving journey to that realization that Rogak takes us on.

Emily is a reporter and the novel is told in first person -- she has a need to chronicle things: lives, deaths, and the stuff that happens in between. Including her marriage to Michael, who came out a few years later -- still married -- as gay.

"Didn't you *know*?", Emily may be asked. You might hear her answer, "Well, no, the sex was great and the emotional intimacy was fabulous." And then, gradually, not-so-fabulous.

Some of the things Emily and Michael must face include the question of his being 'bisexual' or on his way to coming out as '100% gay', the "oh, you'd like it if you tried it yourself" argument that gets used by both side of the gay/straight fence, sometimes in jest and sometimes in total seriousness, the cold slap of "when it's you it's making love, my having sex with so-and-so is just a physical need", and the loss of romance along with the sex. All this while publishing a newspaper together in a small, New Hampshire town.

There are no simple answers to the questions Emily faces, trying to fit her husband's sexuality into the puzzle of their lives. They are no longer the same, no longer part of a special clique all their own with its private language and cues, when Michael starts attending his married-gays meetings and Emily her straight spouses gatherings. These meetings preserve their respective sanities, at least most of the time. The ending of the novel is bittersweet. No one gets shot, and there's a potential for future happy endings.

I plan on recommending _Pretzel Logic_ to just about anyone -- you don't have to be gay, or a straight spouse, to read this book and get something out of it. It's refreshing, truthful, funny, and I wish I'd had it lying around to hand to my ex when we still lived together. Oh, no, it wouldn't have saved our relationship -- love simply wasn't enough for us -- but it might have reminded us both that there are people out there who've "been there, done that", and that's what helps -- knowing you're not alone.

Mansfield Park

Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen

reviewed in 1997

My least favorite of the Austen I've read so far, but only because the ending (while surprising) seemed contrived. Rushed, even, in comparison to the remainder of the novel. I like Fanny Price, and the book very much as a whole.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

Well, I prefer _Sense and Sensibility_, but not by much! I like Austen's main characters in both a great deal. Witty and intelligent, though different from one another.

Narcissus and Goldmund

Narcissus and Goldmund, by Herman Hesse

reviewed in 1998.

It's a good book (she said in an understated fashion), about 2 very different lives - primarily following the sensualist, Goldmund, on his travels in the German Empire. Narcissus is a monk, a man living only by his mind, and Goldmund is a medieval wanderer, an artist of great feeling.

It was more interesting to pick this up and read due to something about, but not in the book. The back cover mentions this "Hesse phenomenon", and appealing to the underground as well as the establishment, and man's 'search for meaning in a meaningless world'. It was so dated.

But, without those comments on the back cover, I would never have sat and wondered about the impact the book had when originally released. I don't have the exact date since I'm not looking at the book, but that darn cover was obviously written and addressing a social situation that predates me, completely. Anyway, that knowledge added a whole new dimension to the reading experience.

We, The Living

We, The Living, by Ayn Rand

Rand's near-autobiographical story of the Russian Revolution and the struggle of the individual against the state.

The Age of Innocence

The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton

What, did you think I made it out of the bookstore with only one book on the day I bought Sense and Sensibility? Don't be silly.

Sense and Sensibility

Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen

Saw the film, had never read the book. Got the book. Outside of the excessive descriptiveness, which was the style (I'm sorry that type of writing is always a little difficult for me to plow through), it's a sharp, witty, knowing, book. I'm going to read more of Austen, never read any in high school.

(reviewed 1999-ish)

And Four To Go

And Four To Go, by Rex Stout

Yet more fun mystery novellas with my favorite sleuths.

Homicide Trinity

Homicide Trinity, by Rex Stout.

Three shorter Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin works by Rex Stout, "Eeny Meeny Murder Mo", "Death of a Demon", "Counterfeit for Murder".

Stout's New York, Wolfe, and Goodwin in particular, are always a joy to read.