Friday, August 7, 2009
Vacation
I'm on vacation for the next week. I'll have a lot of books to tell you about when I get back!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Starvation Heights by Gregg Olsen
YUCK! How would you like to "take" a cure for disease that meant you could not eat anything other than tomato water, aspargus water, oj, and daily enemas for nearly 2 months??! Claire & Dora Williamson did just that with horrible results. Certainly not the "cure" they were looking for when they started.
I just finished Starvation Heights. It's historical non-fiction about "Dr." Linda Burfield Hazzard's starvation diet and the death of a British heiress. It's set in Ollala, WA. Claire was just in her 30's when she died. Her sister Dora was rescued in time from the same fate and eventually, with the help of a family nanny, set in motion events that would cause the doctor to be convicted of manslaughter.
Written in 1997, it has not been greatly promoted in the Twin Cities. I would suggest to anyone interested in either the Pacific Northwest, Washington State, early 20th Century crime or weird medical fads to check this one out!
I just finished Starvation Heights. It's historical non-fiction about "Dr." Linda Burfield Hazzard's starvation diet and the death of a British heiress. It's set in Ollala, WA. Claire was just in her 30's when she died. Her sister Dora was rescued in time from the same fate and eventually, with the help of a family nanny, set in motion events that would cause the doctor to be convicted of manslaughter.
Written in 1997, it has not been greatly promoted in the Twin Cities. I would suggest to anyone interested in either the Pacific Northwest, Washington State, early 20th Century crime or weird medical fads to check this one out!
Friday, July 31, 2009
The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney
My niece was reading a cool looking book a few weeks ago. I asked what it was and in true "I can't be troubled while I'm reading" bookworm fashion, she gently flipped over the soft cover to reveal the whole title and half the author's name for me. It turned out to be a new series of supernatural portions.
Delaney spins a tale from somewhere in Europe and sometime in the mid to late 19th Century. It could even be earlier or take place in North America. They tend to speak English and that's not all that specific either. This is the kind of book that intriques the reader on so many levels. The main character/protagonist is young Thomas Ward, apprentice to The Spook. Spook rids the county of evil doers and mischief makers of a supernatural kind--boggarts, witches, banes, and such. Written in such a manner to evoke the Salem witch hunts and the evil eye, we find that young Tom is well on his way to being the next Spook.
Tom is the seventh son of a seventh son and a son of a witch to boot. His new master is also a seventh son and has a boggart keeping his house and grounds. Spook likes to deal with the evil in a logical, well grounded manner. Witches are buried beneath 13 iron bars. Boggarts are bound in a square hole painted in iron, salt and special mud then covered with a custom slab of stone. Most beings can be temporarily held with a silver chain or driven off with salt and iron.
Well written, the story does move a long. However, Tom tends to be a little stupid and rather than following his instinct he chooses to follow his heart. Thus, trouble abounds and is often created by him. Like any 10 year old, he tries to rectify his mistakes, and while succeeding, he often is found out and gets extra duties to atone.
Delaney spins a tale from somewhere in Europe and sometime in the mid to late 19th Century. It could even be earlier or take place in North America. They tend to speak English and that's not all that specific either. This is the kind of book that intriques the reader on so many levels. The main character/protagonist is young Thomas Ward, apprentice to The Spook. Spook rids the county of evil doers and mischief makers of a supernatural kind--boggarts, witches, banes, and such. Written in such a manner to evoke the Salem witch hunts and the evil eye, we find that young Tom is well on his way to being the next Spook.
Tom is the seventh son of a seventh son and a son of a witch to boot. His new master is also a seventh son and has a boggart keeping his house and grounds. Spook likes to deal with the evil in a logical, well grounded manner. Witches are buried beneath 13 iron bars. Boggarts are bound in a square hole painted in iron, salt and special mud then covered with a custom slab of stone. Most beings can be temporarily held with a silver chain or driven off with salt and iron.
Well written, the story does move a long. However, Tom tends to be a little stupid and rather than following his instinct he chooses to follow his heart. Thus, trouble abounds and is often created by him. Like any 10 year old, he tries to rectify his mistakes, and while succeeding, he often is found out and gets extra duties to atone.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I really tried to resist this series. For one, I was no longer in the sci-fi/fantasy mindset and two, I was no longer a young adult. The attraction was too much and I finally gave in after the fourth book was published. My supervisor and her son had been reading the books and it was just too much. I found myself instantly pulled into the world of Hogwart's and the wizards of England.
It's amazing just how fabulous the UK can make fantasy sound. Their oral and written history add to the current trends in fantasy publishing. They have clans in Scotland, constant unrest in Ireland and druids in most of the UK. The rich history and superstitions, along with the myriad of religions just add to the enchanting stories and worlds that develop.
Rawlings put a lot of thought into her world. Not only does she incorporate magic and supernatural (two very importants aspects of fantasy), she makes it plausible by using latin derivations for spellwork & incantations; real plants available today; mythical creatures found in ancient texts (such as a hippogrif); adolescent angst set in a normal school; and the ever ready "good versus evil" background. She explains away unnatural events as natural phenomenon or vice versa. There is just enough truth to sometimes wonder, could it really happen?
Why do stories pull us in and how do the authors achieve that? Here is a great author destined to follow the footsteps of JRR Tolkein.
It's amazing just how fabulous the UK can make fantasy sound. Their oral and written history add to the current trends in fantasy publishing. They have clans in Scotland, constant unrest in Ireland and druids in most of the UK. The rich history and superstitions, along with the myriad of religions just add to the enchanting stories and worlds that develop.
Rawlings put a lot of thought into her world. Not only does she incorporate magic and supernatural (two very importants aspects of fantasy), she makes it plausible by using latin derivations for spellwork & incantations; real plants available today; mythical creatures found in ancient texts (such as a hippogrif); adolescent angst set in a normal school; and the ever ready "good versus evil" background. She explains away unnatural events as natural phenomenon or vice versa. There is just enough truth to sometimes wonder, could it really happen?
Why do stories pull us in and how do the authors achieve that? Here is a great author destined to follow the footsteps of JRR Tolkein.
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