Random Reading March 2019

My reading style is highly disorganized.

I go to my local library every Monday and check out anything that looks good. I read them all at the same time (well, not at the SAME time…I toggle back and forth between them). I finish the ones I like and the ones I don’t like end up under the bed. Some I read at a snail’s pace and renew until they start flashing red on my library account and then I reluctantly return them. If I don’t check those out again or buy a copy at B+N to finish it, then it’s an official DNF.

Therefore my list of books to recommend to people is a short one. Be aware, I do not recommend books or stories to people unless I really enjoyed them. Here are the four I’d recommend that I’ve read this month.

New Caviar by Stephany Brandt

This is a short story, just over 40 pages. Somewhere about the second page, you’ll have a good idea of where it’s headed. Whether you’re like me and you’ve been exposed to a lifetime of dystopian fiction or if you’ve been reading historical romance novels your whole life, the basic plot here is obvious to anyone.

I suspect that it’s supposed to be. The point here isn’t to be surprised by some clever twist ending. Instead, getting to know the two main characters as their paths converge, knowing where it’s going, gives the reader a heavy feeling of dread and sadness. I liked and related to them both, the anxiety-ridden wife of a wealthy man and the naive 18-year-old boy living in a regimented facility where his every move is micro-managed.

When the ending came I was still interested to know what the entire deal was, which was pretty original. It also made me feel terrible for everyone involved.

Except for the Russian. I hated that guy.

The theme here is about the power that money bestows on the wealthiest among us and how that power allows them to 1. Play by their own rules 2. Get around the law and 3. grind up the lives of the poor. Not an original concept, but still a problem and therefore still good subject matter.

Very good. I’ll have to check out some more Kindle titles by this author.

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

I saw this book on a table at B+N and the cover drew my attention immediately. The blurb on the back cover motivated me to plop it into my shopping basket. I started reading it right there at the Starbucks Cafe.

Author Edgar Cantero deftly blends the mythology of both Scooby-Doo and H.P. Lovecraft, both of which I love, utilizing humor and horror in unequal measure. It’s more funny than scary, but the spooky bits are still effective. I have to add that when the story does start to dip its toes into really disturbing territory it retreats quickly back to action or humor as if he’s afraid to freak readers out too badly. 

The five main characters are close enough to be recognizable, yet they’re different enough to keep things interesting. We know Andrea (Andy) is Velma, but Andy is a tough tomboy with martial arts skills and a hot temper who’s street savvy but not clever. Kerri (Daphne, with moody orange hair that’s a character by itself) is still danger-prone but she’s also the brains of the outfit, a biologist and a bookworm. Nate (Shaggy) has those basic run-away instincts but they have an understandable basis in their shared past. Peter (Fred) is presented primarily in flashbacks or as an imaginary friend of Nate’s. He’s not particularly well-drawn, but then, Fred always was the most boring character, wasn’t he?

Tim the Dog (a big gray Weimaraner, not a Dane) wanders into some Scooby territory that’s silly, but not so unrealistic that it takes you out of the story. The author walks a fine like that all the way through, cartoonish mental institution escapes juxtaposed with doom-filled cave crawls, but it never gets too serious.

Oh, and I loved the ending. Did not see that coming, not at all. Thank you, Mr. Cantero. 

The Whispers by Greg Howard

I asked my library to order this for me after I read a press release for it. I appreciate that the stellar librarians at my public library are patient with me and my endless purchase suggestions. I make good money, but I am also a cheap bastard and while I love B+N and go there almost every week I don’t buy much for myself because I have three kids.

The Whispers is a new piece of Middle-grade fiction released late last year, part coming of age story and part mystery. It’s told in the first person by Riley, an 11-year-old boy who’s funny, sweet, troubled and in a state of advanced denial about where his mother is. Through Riley’s narration it’s clear she’s gone, but to where we don’t know because Riley doesn’t want to deal with the reality. Instead, he retreats into an old story about the Whispers, fairy-like creatures that live in the woods and grant wishes in exchange for what you love the most.

Riley is a great character. He’s hilarious, for one, which is always good. I wanted to adopt him.

He’s also smart and endearing while still coming across as a real child, and we’re invested in his troubles from the first page. He has a dad and a brother who don’t get him, his beloved mother has vanished and he’s been wetting the bed ever since she went away. He refers to this as His Condition. His Other Condition, as he puts it, is the fact that he’s attracted to other boys, especially an older neighbor boy who’s nice to him and wants to help but clearly has troubles of his own. Riley struggles to explain his own nature to himself, as he lives in the American south in a small religious backwater and there’s not a lot of help to be had, just disapproval and suspicion.

I really wasn’t sure how it was going to end, and though I had some idea I was still surprised by several elements once they were revealed. The storytelling is the thing here, it’s compelling and well-crafted. I loved this and would recommend it to anyone.

Twisted Tales- As Old As Time by Liz Braswell

I’m not much for the YA section. I happily dig through adult and children’s books, but I avoid YA shelves like the plague. There’s not much there that I like to read (this is not a criticism of those who do, by the way).

The Teen Section in our local library is at the top of a rickety, winding metal stair. When my kids want me to pick something up for them I’ll skulk upward, humming the Mission Impossible theme, breaching the top to be enveloped in a cloud of minty Orbit gum and Axe body spray, grab what the kids need under the gaze of amused teenagers who wonder what the hell I’m doing there and then I escape quickly.

Recently, while making The Dash to obtain a copy of The Chocolate War for Son#2 (a great YA book, btw, if you’ve never read it), I saw a shelf full of the Twisted Tales Series. I’d seen them mentioned on a book blog I follow (thank you Amanda @ Devouring Books) and I’d thought the idea sounded clever. Extreme Re-tellings of Very Familiar Stories, always asking the question, what if?

I’m an admitted sucker for the old Beauty & the Beast story, so I started with that one. I told everyone who didn’t ask that I got it for my daughter.

I read it in one sitting. So good. Really, I can’t even put it into words. It was like eating a very filling yet nutritious meal.

What if Belle’s mother cursed the Beast? What if there was a kingdom that welcomed magical beings to live side-by-side with humans in a world increasingly hostile to magical people? What if, due to fear, disease, and paranoia, all of that came to an end and perfectly nice people were convinced through propaganda that the magic folk were a threat and an enemy? What if both sides kinda sorta had a point and dealt with that in all the wrong ways?

This book takes the bare bones of Beauty and the Beast (the Disney films, mind you, not the original fairy tale) and puts meat and muscle on it. It fleshes it out with real people and all too human behaviors and motivations, without taking away from the magic. It’s also funny, which is always a plus for me.

What struck me the most is this- all too often female characters in books are wish-fulfillment on the part of the author, both male and female authors. Male authors turn them into cardboard, female authors turn them into…I don’t know what, only that it’s wrong, usually too perfect with one small “flaw” thrown in and it’s always an endearing flaw. They are so rarely living, breathing human beings. They’re rarely like any people I know. 

Specifically, both Belle and her mother in this book are very real. Not good, not bad, not perfect. They have understandable emotions, tempers, strengths, and weaknesses. They don’t always do or think the right thing, and their actions make sense. Way to go, Ms. Braswell.

I picked up Twisted Tales-A Whole New World this week and totally admitted it was for me.

Did you read any of these and have an opinion? Let me know in the comments.