Borrowing (The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman)

If the title of this post led you to believe that this would be about finances, it is not. I finished the last three books of the Invisible Library series -- or, at least, the last three written. Since Cogman writes about one a year, and The Mortal Word, came out in 2018, perhaps another in the series will turn up. The stories are the types that could go on solving one crisis after another, while the reader wonders whether the heroine will wind up with the hero or not. Also, there are unsolved mysteries at the end of the fifth book. More on that at the end of this post.

I checked all five books in the series out from the public library which seems fitting since the series revolves around THE Library and libraries in various versions of the world. The first in the series The Invisible Library fascinated me with its references to books, its fantastical characters, its alternate worlds...so many of my favorite elements all in one book and a storyline that was new to me. (Read that review here.) The Masked City was good in a three stars kind of way. I felt (as mentioned in my review here) that the author used a large portion of the book catching up readers who had not read book one of the series. Yet, moving on the book three The Burning Page, I started bookmarking pages...a lot of pages. This is always a good sign when I am reading a book. I started being impressed with Cogman's descriptions: "It wasn't psychic powers, as some people would have described them. It was simply alpha teacher, channelled with a side order of extra ice and public humiliation, and it worked far too well" (91).

Also included within a good solid story are lines that would make a discussion group happy (because they're so discussable): "'Not sympathy so much as pity,' Silver said. 'Sympathy would imply I might even try to help them. Pity is much safer. It can be delivered from on high without getting involved. I pity them. I sympathize with you, detective'" (189). Interestingly, one reviewer stated that YA ethical issues show up in this book (which I totally agree with although I would say those issues are not just for young adults), but those issues make me like the book even more, while for the reviewer mentioned, he feels he's "too old of a dog for that." The Language and its power continues to intrigue me as does the tension between chaos and rigid order. I don't think I'm going to actually buy the book so I can't quite give it 5 stars; however, 4.5 seems fair.

I checked all five of the books out of the library at the same time so a bit of boredom may have been setting in as I read The Lost Plot, not necessarily due to the plot, but due to the author's need to fill in readers who have not read any of the previous books. Also, this one is set in an alternate United States, and my own country's story of Prohibition as a setting didn't seem interesting. (The real history with the narratives of real people might be, but this setting was used as background for the story of Irene and Kai.) Also, while the wolves weren't as bad as the robotic alligators in book one, they're still a bit silly at times. I confess that my review is being written a number of days after reading the book so I may have had more to write if I had written the review right away. Mostly I remember liking the book and being glad I read it, and eager to read the next book in the series. Three stars for book four in this series.

By book five The Mortal Word, I was powering through this series, much as if I was bingeing on a television series (please, someone make this into a television series so that I can binge on it). As I close out this post on this series, I think what started to happen is the newness and the novelty started to wear off. Cogman still has the capacity to reach readers with her allusions to books, metaphors, other literary devices, but by book five, I was ready for a break from the series. I almost think it would have been better if I had read the books as they had been published with some time in between reading. I will be able to do that (let some time slide by) if a book six is forthcoming. Cogman could easily fit in a book six as not all has been resolved. Sure, there's the "will the heroine and hero get together?" but there's also the backstory of Irene and her parents--will the mystery be solved?...and, of course, will chaos and order find a way to stability and peace? Even though I don't have any bookmarks in book five, I do remember the story being better than book four, so let's go with 4 stars. Overall, I would give the entire series four stars.

Ageproofing (Age-Proof by Chatzky, Roizen, and Spiker)

Were these types of books out there when I was younger and I just ignored them? Maybe. Then, again, when I was younger, families thought they were feeding their children healthy food if they could afford the new boxed cereals, commercially canned fruits and vegetables (loaded with sugar and salt), and a commercial loaf of bread that could be molded into a marshmallow (with same type of texture).

A bit of a different picture this post. I actually don't know what connection I was making between these three! I may have been showing a family member how I can read three books at the same time. I started AgeProof (the book on the bottom of the picture) on January 1 and finished it on February 9. The book is meant to be worked through not raced through. The subtitle is "Living Longer Without Running Out of Money or Breaking a Hip." Jean Chatzky provides the financial information, Michael F. Roizen, MD provides the health information, and Ted Spiker writes it in a way so that the reader is not bored to death. The format is easy to work with and humorous as Spiker "spikes" (I had to) the information with quips from the two experts. The chapters alternate between finance and health (with connections to each other interwoven).

I have not read any of these authors other works so it was not a rehash for me. I did know much of the information, but it was nice to see it in writing with the background research written in common vocabulary and not medical or financial jargon.

Reviews are all over the place with this book -- the first that I've seen that happen on a site like Goodreads. The fluctuations in ratings seem to come from whether the reader gained much from the book or little, and that makes sense. If you already know the information, then the book will be boring or shallow. If the reader doesn't want to hear that Americans need to eat healthier, then that reader is going to think the doctor is pompous. Was it totally new to me? No, but did I find useful information or encouragement? Yes. Do I think the book is worth working through, if only as a checkup if you already know everything? Yes. Do I already believe in healthy eating and living healthy financially as well? Yes. My rating range: 3-5.

💕💕💕 In our family, we tend to make wise eating choices and we ended up eventually making wise financial choices, but, oh how we wish we had made those wise financial choices from the moment we married! I like how this book encourages everyone that it is never too late and even has sections for the different stages of life. My children are getting this book as a gift (and now I will find out which ones read my blog...ha).

--- It may seem strange to think that I am including my spiritual formation section in a review of a finance and health book; however, these authors have wise words about forming habits and making changes by small steps. Also, when one is wanting to change, change happens best when one replaces an unhealthy or unwise habit with a better choice rather than simply to stop the bad habit. For example, if a person wants to stop buying sugar laden lattes everyday (hard on the finances and the gut), then replace it with a smaller plain latte (less money and less sugar but still caffeine) and a small piece of extra dark chocolate.

With Christ-following spiritual formation, the replacement for gossip or lack of kindness or (fill in the blank) is knowing Christ. Not knowing about Jesus, but knowing Jesus daily. In order to do so, one way to make time for knowing Jesus and stopping the gossip or the unkindness might be to practice small steps of silence  or maybe it will be to start small steps of journaling or maybe singing grateful songs. I'll revisit these thoughts in later blogs. 

Surviving (The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah)

When it comes to getting a beautiful book cover (and end sheets with beautiful gold embossing), it helps to be a well-known bestselling author like Kristin Hannah.

I would give the book a rating range of 4-5 stars even without the beautiful cover. Five stars because Hannah's writing continues to be excellent (and she knows how to keep her verb tense consistent -- lack of which drives me crazy as you know if you read my last review of another author's book), and the story itself is mesmerizing even more so, for me, when I found out that Hannah has lived in Alaska (and I found the link to her life embedded within the story). Four stars because I don't know that I will read the book again, and I have no bookmarks in the book. Bookmarks show me that I found a thought that I want to come back to again and again, usually something philosophical or theological or thought-provoking.

My response to other reviews of this book:
The main antagonist deals with some issues that will annoy, frustrate, irritate, or anger some military families. Some of those reviews have a point. Hannah's explanations might have been a bit too pat and convenient. For one of my family members, characters putting up with abuse frustrates him and makes him stop reading. Yes, here is your forewarning: there is abuse in this story.

Some felt the ending was abrupt and again, conveniently romantic. After the tension of surviving in the country itself and surviving the situations in the book, a more uplifting ending was fine with me. Resolutions generally are short.

I can tell you right away, no thinking about it, I would not survive living in Alaska. I admire those who do. I enjoyed the story; I appreciated the characters. I was as frustrated with some of them as my family member would have been (but I kept reading). Also, I felt Hannah kept the story based in reality.

💕💕💕 Family -- the good, bad, and ugly are included in this book. From my own personal experience, I am not good at teaching survival skills (see above -- I would not survive). My preparation for sending children off to college was to make sure that they had tasted baked goods such as Twinkies and Ding Dongs (food we normally did not eat). In situations where teaching children to survive is needed, I am not the one.

--- Ask me about surviving spiritually, and I want to talk about not just surviving but growing and thriving. The "great alone" lower case, not the story of the book, can be beneficial when it is silence, solitude, and time between one and one's Creator. But, it can also be gut-wrenching when it is alone and lonely.

The narrative of 'The Great Alone' is set in a vast lonely place; however, community shines throughout the story. As my own family was discussing so many sorrows hitting at once, the common saying, "God never gives you more than you can handle" tends to come to mind. Actually,  the Bible verses people base the above saying on doesn't refer to tragic suffering. Sometimes we do get more than we can handle...alone. We need help, from God, from others.

Reading 2.0 (I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel)

My reading of this book I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel came about because of happy coincidental timing of two reading challenges ("a book about reading" on the 2019 Reshelving Alexandria Reading Challenge), (2019 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge which led me to her blog), and the book itself offered at half price from two different vendors.

At first glance, I felt the special offer price was the only price I would ever pay for a book this small; however, that was before I actually read the book. It would make a great gift book which was another reason I thought it should be under $10 until I looked at the prices of the gift books on my shelves, and I realized $10 and more is not an unusual price for a gift book.

So, pricing aside, I went from a range of 3 stars (I like this book) to 4 stars (I really like this book).  I'm glad I bought it, and my "Want to Read" list of books grew especially since I discovered via Goodreads' book compatibility analysis that I have a 90% book compatibility with Anne Bogel, so I am likely to enjoy the books she mentions in this book.

The opening chapters were fine. I felt like I could read those same chapters on her blog, but, as I continued reading, her chapters (really, each stand alone pieces in themselves rather than connected chapters -- "charming essays" one reviewer called them) held some deeper thoughts (a quality I like). Interestingly, a reader who gave the book a rating of 3.5 liked the opening chapters and not the last chapters. Differences in enjoyment for various chapters is probably fairly common in a book of essays. My guess is that any voracious reader would enjoy this book as a gift (and at 156 pages, it is little in size, not in number of pages).

💕💕💕 It's definitely a great book for parents who are short of times to read (because the chapters are short and complete within themselves) and who want to raise children who read.

----Those interested in spiritual transformation, I loved the sighting of the influence of Dallas Willard on pages 27-28. 

Siblings 2.0 ('The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag' by Alan Bradley AND 'The Immortalists' by Chloe Benjamin)

I am writing about these two books in one post because of two common factors: I started out disliking both of them, and siblings are involved in both. Other than that, the differences between the two books will leave some of my friends open-mouthed and amazed that I paired up the two. I'm not sure I came to truly like either of them, but I did move both to a range of interest beyond one star, "I hate the book" rating.

I started reading the second book of Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series, 'The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag' on the third day of January (hence the holiday mug in the picture), and didn't finish it until the end of January, dragging my eyeballs all along the way. I wasn't overflowing with love for the first book in the series; however, it grew on me enough to consider reading books 2-4 in order to fulfill "three books by the same author" on the 2019 Modern Mrs Darcy Reading Challenge.

However, protagonist Flavia's love of poison and the treatment of the three sisters toward each other annoyed me from the beginning of the book. Also, unlike the first book, I didn't like the mystery to be solved. Still I kept on for reasons I don't even know. Possibly it is because I didn't realize until I wrote up above "three books by the same author" that the challenge wasn't to read "three books in a series by the same author". Since I could not think of another series, I keep plodding along. Then, I reached the point where a character I do like entered the story: Inspector Hewitt. Unfortunately, he is not in this particular story often. I also like the author's writing skills, excellent vocabulary, and wonderful allusions to other literary works. Sometimes Bradley even has a witty or thought-provoking quote such as this: "...I have learned that under certain circumstances, a fib is not only permissible, but can even be an act of perfect grace" (268).

Then, Bradley, does something at the end that makes me say to myself: "Drat, he did it again! He offers a controversial statement by the pre-teen narrator that causes me to want to discuss this book and this thought!" I shall give a portion of that statement, only a portion so as not to spoil any plots (which I never see coming because mysteries are not my "go-to" genre): "We were puppets, all of us, set in action upon the stage by God -- or Fate -- or Chemistry, call it what you will..." (354).

Bradley's protagonist also highlights a difference between his book and 'The Immortalists'. Flavia remarks upon the undertaker's use of the phrase "final journey" and several pages prior means to ask Dogger (another favorite character) what it meant when Emma Bovary "gave herself up to him" (281). My star range for this book: 2-3 stars and the possibility that I might (emphasis on "might") try the next book in the series.

My star range for Chloe Benjamin's 'The Immortalists' is 2-4 stars -- a whole lot of two stars, a handful of 3 stars and barely squeaking in there, 4 stars for this book that includes much to discuss. No mild "final journey" or "gave herself up to him" phrases in this book. It's graphic and detailed even in a sixteen-year-old's careless, dangerous (the author's words) sex. I knew from the first page description of a thirteen-year-old's body that I was going to dislike this book. Why did I keep on reading? Because my grown daughter and I were reading the book at the same time (and she gave me  the book). So, I read on even though, after the detailed section stopped, the lack of consistent verb tense drove me almost crazy!

Here's my issue with this book: I felt as if the publisher knew this was going to be a popular book (read "a book that would sell a lot of copies") and so the editors did not send it back for 13, 16, 20 revisions (the number of revisions I've heard other authors mention). They wanted to get this book to market.

I don't know what book people are talking about when they say this is a "joyous" book; it is a sad book, a painful book, a grieving book, and I only bumped my rating up into the 3-4 star range because sad books are also often discussion worthy books.

The "big idea" issue I see in this book revolves around knowing one's future. Research shows us that when we're young, our older selves don't connect in our minds as a part of who we are, yet, knowing the future may not be the best for our present selves either.

The other connected issue involves the lengths we go to extend our lives. I won't say more as it could be a plot spoiler. And, an issue that returns again and again: lack of communication. Lack of communication between the siblings in this book hurts.

The pain is in reading through this time period of the AIDS epidemic (so many lives lost), of a time when a female magician was a novelty like a "pink volcano" in Vegas (when men had more value than women), a time when waivers were needed to send young men into war, and bringing us up to current times: what kind of research do we do to extend our lives (and what if what we learn actually takes the joy out of living?)

Quotes worth discussing:

"She understands, too, the loneliness of parenting, which is the loneliness of memory -- to know that she connects a future unknowable to her parents with a past unknowable to her child" (134).

"In time was their culture. In time, not in space, was their home" (139).

"That was the problem with God: he didn't hold up to a critical analysis" (179).

"As a species, God might be the greatest gift we've ever given ourselves. The gift of sanity" (180).

"But perhaps God was nothing like the dreadful, lurid fascination that brought him to the fortune teller...For Saul, God had meant order and tradition, culture and history. Daniel still believed in choice, but perhaps that did not foreclose belief in God..." (181).

I'll stop here. In the first half of the book, I have no highlighting bookmarks; in the second half, I have bookmarks every five pages or so.

I Resolved Not to Make Resolutions

I have not made New Year's Resolutions for many years; however, this year on a whim and because my daughter did it first and showed me her list, I made a 20 Before 2020 List.

This is mine, not hers. We have a few in common if you adjust them slightly. She wants to read 26 books; for a second year in a row, I am attempting 52 books read in 52 weeks. She's going to take a new class and go to an art exhibit; I'm going to try and take an art class. I stole #4 from her: "12 Purges -- 1/month.

It is the last day of January, and I somewhat started a purge...sort of...kind of...okay, well, maybe not. Yet, the difference between a resolution and a (whatever this is...a to do list by a certain time...20 Actions Before 2020) makes itself most clear when I fail.

When I fail a resolution, I fail. End of story. End of resolution. Try again next year. When I fail at this list, I don't think of myself as failing. One, it was made up in fun and whimsy and a measure of reality. Two, when I failed at some of these, I actually succeeded at something better. That silly number 9 about using bookmarks? I learned not to use bills and checks, and I learned that old envelopes and library receipts (or coffee receipts) and napkins can be torn to mark special pages. Therefore, fancy bookmarks are not always the best choice for me to mark a page.

My 20 Before 2020 list is an opportunity to ask myself "What works?" and "What didn't work and why?" Or, "What didn't work, but worked out even better?" On one hand, I failed miserably on #12 -- tech free, utility free day / month. On the other hand, I succeeded because I kept trying each day to fulfill number 12 and, by the end of the month, I had more moments of turning out lights, of making decisions to not use technology or appliances. I became more aware and more conscious of my actions.

A third reason I don't feel like a failure: Many of these involve one action to be completed by the end of the year. One month has finished, but I have eleven more to go!

(P.S. For those wondering about "deeper" actions: I do have additions, but that's a whole other post, and who is to say that numbers 1-12 aren't deep?) 

Transitioning ('The War Bride's Scrapbook' by Caroline Preston and 'Jane and Prudence' by Barbara Pym)

I started to use "Matchmaking" as a post title; however, the war was the "matchmaker" in the one book and matchmaking isn't such a draw anymore. On a whim I grabbed The War Bride's Scrapbook off of the new library books shelf. If I couldn't find something better, the cover would meet a reading book challenge of "book you chose for the cover" (Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge).

(I reviewed the middle book Proof in my previous post.)

The War Bride's Scrapbook was also my third book read in 2019 (3/52). I read it fairly quickly, four days, and not because it is a novel in pictures. While not a typical novel, author Preston does actually give us the story of Lila Jerome who elopes after a few weeks of knowing Perry Weld who is about to ship out to the European front. I found the clippings of vintage postcards, magazine articles (with advice that borders on hilarious to us nowadays), newspaper clippings (sad), and photographs to be enlightening -- an excellent way for an adult to learn more about WWII and life during that time. Not exactly high school textbook material (who would have thought grandma and great grandma -- and great, great grandma --  thought that way about sex in the 1940s). It was an enjoyable book and in that respect I would give it 4 stars, but I usually reserve 4 stars for something I would buy at least at thrift store prices. The more I think about it, I might buy this book as a gift, so I'll leave it at 4 stars. It's worth checking out from the library and if it was a bit more general audience content in the bedroom, I would definitely buy it for a high school history/government class. 

I intentionally ordered from the library Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym (1953) because it was a book written before I was born; I saw it on a Goodreads list; and Pym is an author I did not know (with a book cover that looks Austen-ish). Interestingly, Shirley Hazzard (apparently an author I should know but I don't), is quoted on the cover as saying, "Her books will last." I had never heard of Pym before so she did not make the 50 years necessary to become a "classic." Although, who knows, maybe she's going to make a posthumous comeback. This novel reads so much like an Austen type of novel, but has modern qualities, that I was baffled by the time frame at first. It is indeed a modern (modern for Pym and 1953) novel. Other reviewers claim Pym's novel has the feel of Wodehouse, but I can't verify that as I have not read Wodehouse (I know, let the shaming begin); however, I can agree that it has the feel of Austen (Pym is a bit more gently edgy, a bit more thought provoking in not just relationships but also church hierarchy and social mores for men and women), and the feel of Trollope (but not so long and drawn out) and the feel of Gaskell (but not so short). Stars, oh yes, rating with stars. This is one of those books, I would encourage people to check out of the library and keep checking out of the library so that it doesn't get discarded. I don't think I really need to buy it (which means 3 stars: I like it, but I don't want to buy it); however, I think the book is worth keeping around. Maybe I could say that I would buy it as a gift, not necessarily for my children (so, my children, don't start groaning about mom's next Christmas gift to you), but my literary women friends, if I had unlimited book funds, yes, I would buy it for them. 

Book Discussion Group? -- Definitely for both of these books. 

Transitioning? -- For the first, transitioning through the war years and the aftermath, transitioning in married life, transitioning in the role of women in culture. For the second, transitioning into modern life and also transitioning in the role of women in culture. 

Racing (Proof by Dick Francis)

"Racing" in this title refers to the world of horse racing in the book, but it can also refer to me racing to catch up with posting about what I have been reading. I have never stopped reading (even if it meant reading cereal boxes during my childrearing years); however, writing (as I recently read) quickly turns into a long and boring practice (which...cough...often spills over into this blog). Therefore, let me race through this review.

My local library book group periodically mentions Dick Francis, yet I never picked up any of his books until this year when I was looking for a book written in 1984. Of course, I looked up the 1984 booklist on Goodreads and saw this one Proof by Dick Francis. Mysteries, detective work, etc. don't usually appeal to me -- too much blood and guts, and I'm horrible at solving the mystery.

I did not solve the mystery (before it was revealed) in Proof either; however, the story of whiskey and wine being stolen, the additional background of horse racing, and, more importantly, an actual mystery written with more character development than blood and guts, kept me interested...so much so that I was disappointed to find out that Francis had not continued writing books about these characters. They would be perfect for a television series (since I can't read more about them in books). This book was #2 in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge, and it was going to be my book outside my genre comfort zone on the 2019 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge. Since then I have found another book farther outside my comfort zone. Proof is a mellow, enjoyable read. I give it 4 stars which equals "Really good. I am returning it to the library, but I did recommend it to someone who bought the ebook version (for cheap), and if I saw it (not ebook) at a thrift store price, I would buy it." Interesting side note: the pages in this hardbound copy are super thick. I like quality paper, but these were almost too thick.

💕💕💕 Family section: I can't reveal all without including a plot spoiler, but Proof includes the protagonist's struggle with living up to his father. The conclusion is much better (thought-provoking) than one expects in a mystery novel. We all tend to have someone we try to whom we try to measure up, and sometimes we discover that that person had those very same feelings.

--- Thought-provoking spiritual formation quote: "To err was human, to be easily forgiven was to be sentimentally set free to err again. To be repeatedly forgiven destroyed the soul" (158). 

Lying (Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty)

My first book read in 2019, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, fulfills both book 1 read in week 1 of the 52 Books Read in 52 Weeks Challenge and one of the challenges on the 2019 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge list: "a book in the backlist of a favorite author".  I don't know that Liane Moriarty fully qualifies as a favorite author as I have only read one other book of hers, Nine Perfect Strangers. Find that review here. However, one of the libraries in our county-wide system discarded their large print version of Big Little Lies so I snatched it up for a mere couple of dollars. Moriarty wrote it before Nine Perfect Strangers so I was set to meet the backlist challenge.

Note: I had to look up to see what a backlist is (it's a list of books an author has written before the one you are currently reading, and it is usually at the front of the current book). I thought maybe it was other book titles by other authors that the author one is reading mentions within his or her book, if that makes sense.

I was prepared for a well-written story as most reviewers of Nine Perfect Strangers felt it did not match the greatness of this book Big Little Lies. It was excellent, four stars excellent; however, I can't write that it was better than Nine Perfect Strangers. The books are different from one another.

I wasn't quite prepared for the seriousness of Big Little Lies. Moriarty's humor and satire come through but there are some deep issues dealing with abuse in Big Little Lies. CAVEAT: the situations could spark emotions in readers who have had to deal with these issues although I also hope that if someone is going through the same issues that this might encourage them to seek help.

I can imagine that someone who reads Big Little Lies first and then follows up with Moriarty's next book might have expected something just as serious as they read Nine Perfect Strangers, but Moriarty mixed it up a bit. Her satirical take on modern life is in both books, but is more prevalent in the later book. It will all boil down to a matter of taste. I liked both books. I gave away Nine Perfect Strangers to my son because I thought he would enjoy the health spa improvement satire in it, but I don't see me giving him Big Little Lies because Moriarty gets more into the heads of her female characters in this book. Not that males can't read a book heavy with female characters. Heavens! Females have read books heavy in male characters for years!

Big Little Lies would make a great book discussion group read (there's even a so-called book discussion group in the story although mostly they gossip). CAVEAT: Moriarty occasionally drops the "F" word and other like terms. When this happens I tend to remember something I read 20 or more years ago. An Australian writer (like Moriarty but not Moriarty) stated that Americans had such clean speech but horrible morals whereas research showed Australians with high morals and colorful speech.

I can't go into much more without revealing plot spoilers. Yes, there is a mystery to be solved and I enjoyed how Moriarty set up the book. For my friends who hate ambiguous endings, you will like this book because it is not ambiguous. In spite of some fairly shallow conversations, the people are complex. I read 675 pages in three days, but it was large print. Still it's not a small book and it is easy to stay interested in the story and read it quickly.

---My real life section of the blog as it relates to this book. The children. The children see and they do what mom and dad model. It can be cute, but it can also be horrible when it deals with these situations. Our family did not, but no one gets off free of missing the mark in this book. Gossip and pettiness is framed humorously, but those "big little lies" come back to haunt you.