disjointed and disconnected

A Mind of Winter by Shira Nayman
Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Review: This book got off to a very promising start for me.  Nayman's initial narrator (Oscar) said something that gave me an instant feeling of connection.  But, after only a few pages with this narrator, and just as things are starting to get interesting, we are abruptly thrust into a new time and place, and given a narrator (Christine) with whom I not only felt no connection, but couldn't even bring myself to be really interested in at all.  I was so turned off by this section of the book, that I had a hard time feeling any investment in the the next section, even though I felt at least some connection with this third narrator (Marilyn).  Both Christine and Marilyn hint at some dark secret from Oscar's past that they think they know, though both do it in such a jumpy, pseudo-tantalizing fashion that by the time we hear Oscar's voice again I was more relieved that all the games were coming to an end than actually interested in what the secret was.

It's a shame that the story felt so herky-jerky, because I think that if Nayman had kept Oscar's voice as the sole narrator throughout the book her story would have had the emotional impact she was going for.  Instead, by throwing in so many extraneous plot points and red herrings (Christine's opium addiction and Marilyn's conflicting feelings about her wartime photography, among others) she's declawed what could have been a powerful story.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

forced ignorance

Worldshaker by Richard Harland
Rating: 1 star (out of 5)
Genre: childrens, steampunk
Review: This book gets one star for having an interesting premise (a juggernaut on wheels that travels the earth after Europe is devastated in an alternate version of the Napoleonic Wars).  Beyond that, though, this book is terrible.

Every author is faced with the question of how to convey needed information to the reader.  After all, the reader must somehow learn the background of the characters and something of the world in which the book is set.  Some authors choose to do this through the voice of the narrator, others use dialogue and allow one or more characters to explain what's needed to another.  Both choices can work if done properly, and each has inherent narrative pitfalls that must be avoided.

The biggest problem that an author who chooses the dialogue approach must overcome is that of the ignorant character.  This character must be believably ignorant (so that the explanations come in the natural course of the narrative), but not so ignorant as to become unsympathetic.  This is the trap into which Harland falls.  His main character (Colbert) is the grandson of the Supreme Commander of the Worldshaker (a person second in significance of the juggernaut only to the queen and her consort).  The book opens with the announcement that Colbert is to be his grandfather's successor.  Colbert is 16, and so ignorant as not to be believable  He's never met any of his peers in his relatively small social class (even though it's clear they've all met each other) and has clearly never received any kind of instruction in social skills, let alone in how to run a city-sized juggernaut.  If Colbert were actually written to be an idiot, I might have found this easier to believe, but he's not.  It turns out that he's a smart, thoughtful boy, who, if he were better-written, would have asked the questions that come up in the book long ago.

Harland would have done better to have a little more faith in his reader and not assumed that his readers are as forcibly ignorant as he makes his main character be.

flawed but promising

Mr Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Review: This book should have been a fun read.  It deals with some of the most interesting aspects of WWII-era London including cryptography and Churchill's offices at 10 Downing St. and adds the little-discussed element of IRA activity in London during this time.  Unfortunately, the book's numerous flaws overshadow the positive aspects.  MacNeal takes several shortcuts to get characters were she needs them and to move the narrative along.

However, as the first book in a projected series about Maggie Hope, it shows promise.  As MacNeal settles into her narrative talents (which are certainly evident, despite this book's shortcomings), she will figure out to avoid the pitfalls of narrative convenience and lovers of strong female detectives in historical fiction will have another series to become engrossed in.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

limited narrative

Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung
Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: At the outset, this book seems to be about a fairly ordinary Korean-American family.  Although the younger sister has left town without telling her family where she's gone, her actions seem like an understandable act of rebellion (as opposed to the mystery the jacket-blurb would have you believe).  In point of fact, she is relatively easily found and returned to the family fold, although the real reasons she left are frustratingly left un-fleshed out.

Soon after we meet this family, however, it seems as though the book is really about cruelty.  There are acts of cruelty perpetrated by the government, by spouses, sisters, parents, and other family members against one another.  This part of the book is very difficult to read, not just because of the descriptions of cruelty, but because they were so unexpected after the book's opening, and because I never really understood why we were presented with so much cruelty.  It doesn't seem to help us understand much about how the family interacts during the father's illness and decline, which takes up much of the book.  Yet even here the story seems insubstantial and can't support the weight that the author seems to be trying to give it.

There might have been more to this story if it had been told in multiple perspectives.  But because it is told in the first-person of the older sister, a character who doesn't seem to grow or change, the book itself stagnates.  By denying us the insights of any of the other characters, the author limits what the reader can get out of the book.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

how to build a family

No Biking in the House Without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: memoir
Challenge: 100 Book Challenge 2011
Review: It may be a cliche to say that you laughed so hard you cried, except that I did while reading this book.  Several times.  Greene tells the story of how her family created itself with such wonderful humor that you can't help but fall in love with them all.

Of course, a book like this can't be all sunshine and smiles, and Greene doesn't pull her punches when relating stories of family tribulation.  Nor does she leave us in any doubt that children around the world face horrifying poverty and hunger every day.

If this book has a flaw, it's that it's a little uneven.  In the midst of discussing the process of adopting one child, the narrative jumps back to relate an anecdote involving an older child, or Green's own childhood.  These leaps never detract from the overall story, but the transitions are sometimes jarring.

Another cliche: this book is both hysterical and heartbreaking.  But mostly it is about how family bonds are about love and effort more than blood.

did I miss something?

Nightwoods by Charles Frazier
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Challenge: 100 Book Challenge 2011
Review: The action in this story, what there is of it, moves very slowly. For the first half of the book, nothing really happens at all. But then, suddenly, things start happening and connections start being made, and I couldn't help but feel that I missed some sort of catalyst in the narrative. It is entirely possible that I did miss some important bit, but since I'm pretty sure that I actually read every page, it seems more likely that Frazier decided that his readers would take a bit of the action on faith.  In something like the reverse of dramatic irony, characters are suddenly referring to conversations and relationships of which the reader is unaware.

This kind of storytelling leaves me scratching my head and flipping back through the book to see if I missed something. (It also has me wondering whether the author chose to relate action to the reader in this way because he couldn't figure out how to actually write the scene where the critical interactions occur.) Frazier is talented enough to pull off these sudden transitions in a way that's not as aggravating as it might be, but I did still feel cheated out of critical parts of an otherwise beautifully told story.

 FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

the light and the dark

Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction, children's
Challenges: 100 Book Challenge 2011, 2011 Page to Screen Reading Challenge
Review: In this book, Michelle Magorian has written what is essentially a very sweet story of an abused boy (William) who finds love and happiness.  But while most of the book is taken up with William's recovery (both mental and physical), Magorian is not afraid to show us what happened to him.  It is a true mark of her skill as a writer that our brief glimpse into this darker side of the story is done with a very light touch, making it completely believable, but not at all overwhelming.  Readers of all ages will be moved.