Tulsa
event guide
INSIDE! March 2016
Book Review 4 6
VOLUME 5, ISSUE 5
F R E E
NEW AND OF INTEREST
C H E C K
Slow Fires
I T
Scream
Professional recipes for advanced cooks Page 5
The thrill of the hunt Page 7
O U T
11 13
Ivory Vikings The mystery of the most famous chessmen Page 9
A Cherokee tale for children The Apple Tree By Sandy Tharp-Thee (author), Marlena Campbell Hodson (illustrator), Patrick Rochford (translator) The RoadRunner Press, $17.95, 36 pages Tulsa City-County Library’s American Indian Festival of Words celebrates the history, culture, arts and achievements of American Indians. See March Event Guide inside for related events. I have a new favorite book. Reminiscent of Shel Silverstein’s much-loved The Giving Tree, this is the story of a boy and a tree, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a story of faith, hope, love and perseverance. This boy is no fickle friend, only ever taking what the tree gives. No, this Cherokee boy is a true steward: watching over and caring for the tree that he planted, giving love
and support—even when the tree grows discouraged at being an apple tree with no apples. “’When we are big, we will both be able to do lots of things!’” he assures the tree. Beyond the truly delightful story, this is a beautiful book. The illustrations are simple, charming, with eye-catching colors. The warm red-brown page border grounds the story and contributes an earthy feel. Even the font is beautiful and unique. If all this was not enough, this story of a little Cherokee boy and an apple tree is a bilingual book. Read it in Cherokee if you’re familiar, use the Cherokee syllabary in the front to puzzle out the words, or simply enjoy the story in English. However you do it, read this story. Reviewed by Randy-Lynne Wach
Placebo Junkies A professional drug tester starts to lose her grip. Page 12
Luna: New Moon For the sci-fi fanatic Page 15
61 Reviews INSIDE!
Book Reviews
Category
Biographies & Memoirs SNAP IT for additional book summaries.
Gratitude By Oliver Sacks Knopf, $17.00, 64 pages Check this out! Gratitude is a collection of four essays written by Dr. Oliver Sacks from July 2013 to August 2015. They are an inspiring reminder that time is finite, but that each person can make it count. By choosing to turn away from selfpity and embrace his memories of the positive events of his life, Dr. Sacks has shared his courage with his readers much as he shared his insights into his work as a neurologist through more than a dozen books, beginning with Migraine, published in 1970. After decades of caring for and writing about his patients, he turned the focus to his own life and on what informed his perceptions about life. Various phases of his life and his insights on aging, health challenges and death are discussed. Dr. Sacks was never one to settle for mundane explanations and his essays exemplify that. After learning that he had multiple metastases in his liver, he made the decision to invest his remaining time and energy in only the activities he deemed most important. Thus, he continued to write until the end. He spent time on relationships with his family members and friends, while turning off the worldly background noise of causes he could no longer impact. This small volume will be read and reread because of the wisdom and beauty contained in it. Reviewed by Karen Collins Interlock: Art, Conspiracy, and the Shadow Worlds of Mark Lombardi By Patricia Goldstone Counterpoint, $28.00, 408 pages Check this out! Mark Lombardi constructed a masterpiece with unflattering facts. He was the author of conspiracy conceptual art. He was a failed author, but as an artist found fame later in life. His premature death at age 49 in March 2000 would leave family and friends mystified. The manner of death would be questioned, but
quickly labelled a suicide. The author takes the reader from the mystery to Lombardi’s life and inner turmoil. His family was tight-lipped, closely resembling the Mafia more than the Waltons. Mark Lombardi had to constantly bid for attention in his home, some of this would serve as a drive in his artwork. His work with Jim Harithas would lead him from Syracuse University to Houston from the 1970s-1980s, stormy relationships with a few different women dotting the way. Lombardi would find disillusionment after his dismissal from the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston. Lombardi’s future would be assured when he met politician Sissy Farenthold who introduced him to some investigative journalists looking into topics such as political corruption, savings and loans, the Mafia. Lombardi would take a possible book idea and mold it into the artwork that would make him a name to be regarded in those circles. As his notoriety grew, the FBI and CIA may have even taken notice, and Lombardi’s paranoia would grow in the last year or so of his life. His death in 2000 has been compared with the deaths of journalists Gary Webb and Danny Casolaro, the questions outnumbering the answers. His work has sold well since his untimely death, the FBI and CIA apparently searching for his graphs post 9-11. His notoriety continues to grow. Maybe someday an answer to his death will surface. Patricia Goldstone’s biography of Mark Lombardi is a fair and balanced book on her subject. Lombardi is shown as being unlucky in love, not always easy to live with, giving, but fiscally reckless. Goldstone had her work cut out for her, as the story takes on a Rashomon quality with the differing versions of Lombardi’s love life and his death. The conspiracies that Lombardi tried to unravel are peeked into in a few chapters, but not too in-depth as to leave the reader lost. The depth of research that Lombardi put into each of his works is highlighted and applauded by the author. Goldstone doesn’t make allegations about the suicide of her subject, but does reasonably pose questions that need answers. An investigatory biography that sheds light on a
subject that had so much to give the art world as well as the investigative journalist world. Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg By Irin Carmon, Shana Knizhnik Dey Street Books, $19.99, 240 pages Check this out! In the summer of 2013, New York University Law School graduate Shana Knizhnik created the Notorious R.B.G. Tumblr as a tribute to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It set off a cultural movement which led to the authorship of a book by Knizhnik and Irin Carmon, an MSNBC journalist. Notorious RBG explains the phenomenon of how a Supreme Court justice’s image found its way into such unlikely places as nail art and tattoos. The book expertly details timelines of cases upon which Justice Ginsburg ruled. Commentary from highly qualified sources further break down RBG’s reasoning on briefs and dissents she authored in key cases, thus allowing the layperson to gain a fuller understanding. The book is a delightful amalgam of anec-
dotes and serious reporting of history-making case law. Such unexpected topics as RBG’s workout routine, love of opera and fashion sense are explored in a way that is honest, reverent and highly entertaining. At the core of the book is the reverberating proof of Justice Ginsburg’s contributions toward leveling the playing field for both genders and her tireless efforts to impress upon all Americans that we truly are “we the people.” Reviewed by Karen Collins Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America By T.J. Stiles Knopf, $30.00, 608 pages Check this out! George Armstrong Custer’s life is summed up by most by the end of it, The Battle of Little Big Horn. Custer’s Trials by T.J. Stiles goes deeper to examine the career and life of a soldier. George Armstrong Custer was of a nature that can best be described as contradictory. He served with heroic distinction in the Custer’s Trials cont’d on page 8
& PRESENT
JAY NEWTON-SMALL
Tulsa Book Review • March 2016 • 2
Tuesday, March 29 6:30-7:30 P.M. Herman and Kate Kaiser Library 5202 S. Hudson Ave.
Jay Newton-Small, a political correspondent for TIME magazine, will discuss her new book, Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works. A book signing will follow and books will be available for purchasing.
Tulsa
Book Review Tulsa City-County Library 400 Civic Center Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103 Ph. (918) 549-7323
IN THIS ISSUE
Dear Reader,
Biographies & Memoirs..........................Page 2
EDITOR IN CHIEF Ross Rojek Ross@1776productions.com
Cooking, Food & Wine...................... Pages 4, 5
EDITOR/COORDINATOR Jackie Hill Tulsa City-County Library GRAPHIC DESIGN/LAYOUT Steph Rodriguez COPY EDITORS Michelle Baker Michael Julian Heather Osborne Caryn Shaffer
Nonfiction.....................................Pages 6, 7, 8
History...................................................Page 9
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Christopher Hayden Faith Lewis
WEBSITE TulsaBookReview.com
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Fiction...........................................Pages 10, 11
Teens....................................................Page 12
Kids’ Books...........................................Page 13
Libraries are at the center of our community and books are at the center of our library. Three months into the year and the Tulsa City-County Library already has welcomed or is welcoming two major authors to Tulsa. PBS talk show host and author Tavis Smiley visited Rudisill Regional Library’s African-American Resource Center to receive the biennial Sankofa Freedom Award in front of a huge audience in late January; and political correspondent and author Jay Newton-Small, author of Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works, will be at the Herman and Kate Kaiser Library in LaFortune Park on Tuesday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m. to present her new book. Her visit is courtesy of our partnership with BookSmart Tulsa. Some authors are meant to spark your imagination and others are meant to spark your brain. All are meant to deliver you the best library experience possible, whether you prefer to read their work or listen to them live and in person. Sometimes there is no accompanying book, but there is still a spark. Such is the case with two Tulsa Library Trust sponsored events: Tulsa City-County Library’s American Indian Resource Center’s Circle of Honor induction ceremony honoring Muscogee (Creek) elder Sam Proctor slated for Saturday, March 5 at 10:30 a.m. at Hardesty Regional Library’s Connor’s Cove, and the Tulsa Library Trust’s annual partnership with the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice’s Interfaith Trialogue Series. This year’s Trialogue theme is “Lift Every Voice: Diminishing Hateful Behaviors and Increasing Peace-Making Ones.” The series wraps up Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m. at the Wilson Learning Center. As you can see from this issue of the Tulsa Book Review there are many books available at your library, but there is also so much more for you to check out. Thus my colleagues and I will plan on seeing you at the library or at one of our events really soon! Warmest regards,
The Tulsa Book Review is published monthly by City Book Review. The opinions expressed in these pages are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Tulsa Book Review or City Book Review advertisers. All images are copyrighted by their respective copyright holders. All words ©2016, City Book Review
Crime Fiction........................................Page 14
Speculative Fiction...............................Page 15
Gary Shaffer Tulsa City-County Library CEO
Book Reviews
Category
Cooking, Food & Wine SNAP IT for additional book summaries.
Theo Chocolate: Recipes & Sweet Secrets From Seattle’s Favorite Chocolate Maker By Debra Music, Joe Whinney, Charity Burggraaf (photographer) Sasquatch Books, $24.95, 256 pages Check this out! Indulge your senses with the savory and alluring sensation of chocolate with 75 tantalizing recipes that answer the call. Who hasn’t dreamt of having chocolate for breakfast? Now you can have it for breakfast, dinner and dessert with recipes explor- ing the versatility of chocolate, and then diving into tempting puddings, cookies, pies and confections. With a mission to educate consumers, coauthors Joe Whinney and Debra Music take readers not only into the kitchen, but on a chocolate-coated journey, sharing the process from bean to bar, connecting readers to their chocolate and their passion, while inviting readers into their dream of saving the world one chocolate at a time. Filled with beautiful, full color pictures, Theo Chocolate recipes are as show-stopping as they are achievable. Author Whinney is adventurous and fearless, as he explains the passion behind the bean; while Music shares her story from her first chocolate memory, to the moments that created her chocolate-covered life. Theo Chocolate takes the celebration of chocolate and pairs it with a global commitment to Fair Trade, bringing readers recipes that are both wholesome and healthy. Reviewed by Amy Shane The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook Volume 2 By America’s Test Kitchen (editor) America’s Test Kitchen, $26.95, 328 pages Check this out! More and more people are finding it healthier to change their diets to be gluten-free or dairy-free or both. Fortunately, America’s Test Kitchen has been busy working on all kinds of recipes for those needing to avoid gluten and dairy. While not all the recipes are dairy-free, there are more than 50 that are. The opening section in the book, over 30 pages, is an excellent tutorial on all things gluten-free,
including how to replace wheat flour in a variety of instances and evaluations of a good number of products on the market. They also have instructions for making flour blends to replace wheat-based blends and even have a wholegrain blend. The rest of the book is filled with mouth-watering recipes for all kinds of comfort foods from pancakes to muffins to donuts to lasagne to pizza to chicken and dumplings to all kinds of pies, cakes and cookies. It is beautifully illustrated with full-color photographs that will make your tummy rumble with anticipation. A table has nutritional information for every recipe. This is a great addition to any cookbook library but a real gift for those with gluten and dairy issues. Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck
Interspersed with recipes we find short descriptions and photos of Scandinavian food traditions. The book was written for European cooks but American equivalents are given, slightly distracting; also many ingredients are named by European and American usage: castor sugar/granulated sugar; beetroot/beet; plain/all-purpose flour. Many of the recipes are illustrated with photos of the finished products. The index is nicely cross-referenced. Reviewed by George Erdosh Dinner at Home: 140 Recipes to Enjoy With Family and Friends By JeanMarie Brownson Surrey Books, $29.95, 288 pages Check this out! With so many cookbooks available on American cuisine, why would anyone want to publish yet another cookbook? Part of the reason is that American grocery stores now carry ethnic foods. In addition, Indian, Chinese and other ethnic stores (most of which carry ethnic foods) now proliferate the American landscape. What is not available in some areas can arrive at your doorstep in a few
The ScandiKitchen: Simple, Delicious Dishes for Any Occasion By Brontë Aurell Ryland Peters & Small, $21.95, 176 pages Check this out! For a nice selection of a variety of good, imaginative Scandinavian recipes, The ScandiKitchen is an excellent choice. Author Brontë Aurell presents true Scandinavian cuisine in a very pretty, high-end cookbook produced on heavy paper stock, and artistically illustrated by wonderful food photography, including many photos of Scandinavian landscapes. The recipes are not easy but not very involved— you will need to work on most of them, including preparing one or more additional preparations. For some the list of ingredients is long and for many you need to have a specialty food store stocking Scandinavian food items like cloudberry jam or Kalles Kaviar. Typical of Scandinavian cooking, Aurell’s cookbook is rich in sweets, sweet rolls and whole-grain breads, even crispbread (Swedish crackers). Recipe instructions are very good though not for beginner cooks. Tulsa Book Review • March 2016 • 4
days courtesy of Internet shopping. It is only natural that these foods would find their way in American cuisine. The recipes in this cookbook retain a contemporary American pallet while introducing flavors from other ethnicities. The nine substantive chapters of recipes are divided by course. The index is useful if readers know the name of the dish in which they are interested; hence finding the desired recipe requires some browsing and guessing. Sidebars – when discussing recipe variations or cooking tips rather than relating personal stories – are helpful. The pictures show readers what the dish should look like – but the dish I tried did not look like the corresponding picture in this book. The recipes are not for the novice chef, however the flavors are rich, the taste is complex, the meals are delicious and the book encouraging to personalize each dish. That is true American cuisine. Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali The Big Green Egg Book By Dirk Koppes Andrews McMeel Publishing, $50.00, 208 pages Check this out! This huge volume, The Big Green Egg Book edited by Dirk Koppes weighs more than a three-pound pork roast. It is not about egg cooking but the fancy, heavy ceramic char-
Book Reviews
coal grill with the same name designed some 40 years ago that has its dedicated followers. The illustrations by an artist/photographer are outstanding, showing us both finished foods, dining company and close-ups. They are full page or double spreads, and are so beautiful that this high-end production fits a first-class coffee-table book. As a cookbook it is disappointing. First, its huge size makes it an inconvenience. The recipes are from professionals, unsuitable for the average home cook. Only the more advance cooks would be tempted to reproduce some of the time-consuming recipes, many requiring three or four separate preparations before assembly. For many recipes you’ll hunt for hard-to-find ingredients such as orange blossom water, lavender salt, banana leaves, spelt berries, black currant, suckling pig and doves. The grill with its heavy construction will produce unusual flavors; it may be heated up to 750 degrees or kept very low. There is a recipe index and a well cross-referenced general index. Leave this book on the coffee table. Reviewed by George Erdosh
Oysters: Recipes That Bring Home a Taste of the Sea By Cynthia Nims Sasquatch Books, $19.95, 145 pages Check this out! For those who love or appreciate having oysters as an appetizer or a meal, Cynthia Nims’ Oysters is a nice addition to their cookbook collection. Besides the many recipes, we find all the information we need to know about oysters: their history, biology, oyster hatcheries and growing regions on both coasts. This is an extensive introduction that includes the story of oyster bar culture, buying and storing, and, of course, shucking, as well as nicely illustrated pages and descriptions of the five major types of oysters we grow and consume. The recipes are in four chapters: raw, baked and grilled, fried and sautéed, and steamed and poached. Each chapter conveniently starts with a list of recipes in that chapter. Not so conveniently for many recipes you need to go back and forth a page as layout is not cook-friendly as aesthetics dictated photo illustrations next to the recipes. Recipes are not hard to follow with good instructions and many with nice professional photo illustrations. Although we have many recipes to choose from, quite a number are accompaniments to oysters, such as mignonettes and granité. There is even a recipe to make your own oyster
Cooking, Food & Wine crackers. Index is nicely cross-referenced. Reviewed by George Erdosh Slow Fires: Mastering New Ways to Braise, Roast, and Grill By Justin Smilie and Kitty Greenwald Clarkson Potter, $40.00, 320 pages Check this out! Slow Fires is a strikingly beautiful cookbook produced by no-expense-spared publishing. The professional food photographs are stunning, some are of exhibition quality. The author is professional chef Justin Smillie, and here he presents 52 complete meals, any of which would fit on the menu of a high-end restaurant. They are very wellwritten professional recipes in down-scaled serving sizes. They are not for the average good cooks—these are for advanced cooks who are willing to spend close to a day to prepare any of the suggested meals, and willing to spend hours on finding ingredients. The recipes are very complex, time-consuming to prepare, many consist of several separate steps and previous preparations. Finding ingredients such as colatura, Sardinian couscous, Castelvetrano olives or shishito peppers, to name a few, is going to be a challenge. For each meal Smillie gives a timetable, some starting several days in advance, until the last few minutes of the meal. Some equipment called for (e.g. sausage stuffing attachment) also will be a problem. An example of recipes included in this book is Grilled Poussins with Smashed Yucca and Caper-Onion Salsa. The book is divided into four parts: braising, roasting, grilling and foundations. The cross-referenced index is very good. Reviewed by George Erdosh Cooking With Seeds: 100 Delicious Recipes for the Foods You Love, Made With Nature’s Most Nutrient-Dense Ingredients By Charlyne Mattox Da Capo Lifelong Books, $22.99, 224 pages Check this out! Cooking With Seeds is a compilation of 100 recipes for cooks who want to move up a level from basics. If you have a kitchen already equipped or about to be equipped with a food processor, a stand mixer, a microplane, and possibly you have access to a grill and someone who knows how to use it, this is the book you want. Addressing primarily the flavor-dense oil seeds – sesame, chia, flax, hemp, poppy, sunflower and pumpkin – this is a way to incorporate the nutrient-dense seed world into your repertoire. Some ingredients will require research to source. Well worthwhile, and projects abound
here, with fine excuses to explore your local oriental and exotic food stores. Not for the working parent, looking for fast and simple, but for a couple wanting a weekend-day project, or a stay-at-home spouse’s grace notes, Mattox has compiled a masterpiece. Including sections on Pantry, Basic Building Blocks, How to Set Up a Grill, and, toward the end, Metric Conversions, this is essentially a book of recipes. Don’t be put off by that. Each recipe is accompanied by well-written directions for preparation and a bleed-to-edge photographic illustration. I found it hard to avoid drooling on the plates (word pun intended). Reviewed by David Lloyd Sutton Laura in the Kitchen: Favorite ItalianAmerican Recipes Made Easy By Laura Vitale Clarkson Potter, $24.99, 240 pages Check this out! If you don’t own a few good Italian cookbooks, Laura in the Kitchen has a variety of good Italian recipes, with more than 100 to choose from in every category of the meal. Author Laura Vitale did a nice job selecting recipes, claiming they all are quick and easy — and most of them are, but not all. Some you delegate for weekend cooking, or for a day when you have a little more kitchen time. The professional photo illustrations are beautiful. Many of the recipes are pictured so you know what to aim for. Not all the recipes are Italian. Vitale presents a few Mexican favorites (chili with cornbread dumpling, enchiladas, quesadilla), and some others like brownies, cinnamon rolls and eggs Benedict. The recipe writing is very good and ingredients are readily available. Most of the recipes are not for beginners, but for more dedicated home cooks who like Italian. They are interesting and original, including old Italian standards. Recipe headnotes are informative. Each chapter starts with a list of recipes within that chapter. With a few exceptions, recipe layout is very good for the convenience of the cooks. The index is useable and nicely cross-referenced. Reviewed by George Erdosh Everyday Super Food By Jamie Oliver Ecco, $34.99, 312 pages Check this out! Restaurateurs and celebrity chefs often make poor cookbook writers—they have problems downscaling professional recipes and instructions to the home kitchen level. Luckily, Jamie Oliver does not fall into this group. His Everyday Super Food is excellent in every aspect of a cookbook. Although he operates in the UK, this edition was written for American home cooks. His emphasis is in the word healthy but also relatively low in calories, and virtually every recipe he presents seems very healthy. He provides complete nutritional information following each recipe. He also gives preparation time in minutes, and the times are rea-
Tulsa Book Review • March 2016 • 5
sonable and doable for the average home cook. The recipe layout is excellent— Oliver presents recipes on one page with a photo illustration on the facing page—no page turning while following instructions. Some recipes have nice sidebars and healthy tips, and the recipe headnotes also instruct you about some healthy, nutritious aspect of ingredients. No old tired recipes in this book—they are imaginative and original, different than what many new cookbooks offer. The variety of recipes under the main chapters (Breakfast, Lunch, etc.) is amazing: under breakfast, for example, we can choose from 31 interesting and tempting creations. Oliver likes to give long titles to his recipes yet they describe what we expect in them: Black Rice Pudding, Mango, Lime, Passion Fruit & Coconut; Fruit Soups: Yogurt and Granola Dust; Tomato & Olive Spaghetti, Garlic Bread & Sardine Sprinkles. Some recipes are very unusual yet practical: Portable Jam Jar Salads for lunches you can prepare ahead of time and carry with you. We see from these recipe titles that we can expect a fairly long list of ingredients; and sure enough, for most the list is long though you rarely see hard-to-find ingredients. This is not a cookbook for beginner cooks, in fact many cooks will be discouraged by the shopping list for many items not in their pantry or refrigerator. The recipe preparation is fairly fast for most but shopping and gathering ingredients is likely to be time-consuming. Recipe instructions are excellent and photo illustrations (also done by Oliver) are professional and superb—we always can tell what we are aiming for, though to achieve what the photos illustrate takes advanced kitchen work and dedication. We find a chapter on snacks and drinks with many good ideas, still remaining low in calories. They may be prepared in 5 to 15 minutes but add extra time for collecting ingredients, for example Blushing Pickled Eggs, Red Cabbage, Cloves & Star Anise. Drinks also include a couple of healthy ideas. The last chapter is interesting, called Live Well—A Healthier, Happier You. Over 30some pages, Oliver provides a bountiful of information on many aspects of healthy foods, healthy living, starting with My Philosophy in This Book—The Balanced Plate. If you are health conscious you are likely to be familiar with most or all of this information yet you may find tidbits that are new to you (The Coconut Oil Myth; Tasty Tap Water; How to Deal with Hangover; Five Reasons to Trade up to Organics). The index is complete and user friendly. This cookbook is a good choice for somewhat advanced cooks looking for imaginative recipes. Reviewed by George Erdosh
Book Reviews Category
Nonfiction SNAP IT for additional book summaries.
I Was a Boy in Belsen By Tomi Reichental O’Brien Press, $25.00, 283 pages Check this out! Few memoirs penned by survivors paint as full a picture of life before and after the Holocaust as Tomi Reichental’s I Was a Boy in Belsen. This unusual narrative is divided into three parts: before, during and after the Holocaust. As Tomi states in the book’s foreword, “The first part seems the briefest of all.” As the title suggests, Tomi was interned as a 9-year-old child in one of the most notorious of the Nazi’s concentration camps, BergenBelsen. While Tomi’s account of life in the face of death is horrifically gripping, it is not the whole story. Rarely do we have a chance to see prewar Jewish life in Europe in all its beautiful ordinariness as we do in the first few chapters of this memoir. Tomi’s relatives seem as vibrant on the page as they do in their photographs, which are included in the book. Tomi’s tale is also somewhat of an anomaly from a historical perspective. The Reichental family lived in a small Czechoslovakian village which in 1939 became part of independent Slovakia – a client state of Nazi Germany. It was not unusual for the Nazis to first occupy a country and then round up its Jewish population. Some countries, such as France, complied. Others, such as Denmark, refused. Slovakia did not wait for occupation, they willingly offered up their Jews to the Nazis, and in fact were the only European country to actually pay the Germans to take them away. Each survivor’s story is unique and Tomi’s is no exception. Liberation was only the first step on an altered future that would take him back to a Slovakia he no longer recognized, and eventually to Israel, Germany, England, Italy and finally Ireland. The third and longest section of the book reveals how this displaced Slovakian child became an Irish businessman and eventually the voice of Holocaust education for his adopted country. Not included in the book is Tomi’s journey towards reconciliation with one of his former captors and the unusual bond he developed with the granddaughter of a man who played an im-
portant role in the death of 35 members of the Reichental family. Tomi will reveal this part of his story when he speaks in Tulsa for the 19th Annual Interfaith Holocaust Commemoration on May 5 at 7 p.m. at Temple Israel synagogue, 2004 E. 22nd Place. The event is free and open to the public. Reviewed by Suzie Bogle Germany: Memories of a Nation By Neil MacGregor Knopf, $40.00, 656 pages Check this out! How do you tell the history of a people and a country that only has existed for a little over 100 years? That is a struggle that historians must face when they talk about German history, since there has only been a unified Germany since 1871; before that it, was a loose collection of free cities and principalities. This book explores the idea of a German nation and how the sense of Germany has been defined through objects, buildings, cities, people and events. Each short chapter explains the importance and how it fits into a national narrative for a country that did not exist yet, and how people in Germany view it as their national narrative, even though many of these places are now in other countries. Contrasting these monuments, events, etc. with more established national narratives in England and France, the author helps to bring to life a German identity. Neil MacGregor does a good job going through a wide variety of time frames, and often time showing how they are felt today within the country. This would be a good book for a young student wanting to get a broad overall picture. Reviewed by Kevin Winter Last to Die: A Defeated Empire, a Forgotten Mission, and the Last American Killed in World War II By Stephen Harding Da Capo Press, $26.99, 288 pages Check this out! Author Stephen Harding, a seasoned military journalist, touches a raw nerve in this fea-
ture story about the last American killed in action in World War II. Initially, the unfolding background about Tony Marchione and all the engineering jargon about the longforgotten, troubleplagued, super bomber known as the B-32 Dominator sets the reader up for one great big yawn. Push through the drudgery of nearly a dozen disappointing test missions to find your reward of remarkable “behind the Japanese screen” insight waiting for you at chapter three. Suddenly you find yourself transported into the chaos of a government paralyzed by two atomic bombs and the sheer panic of realizing their imminent extinction. Nevertheless, the Supreme Council was deadlocked with generals steeped in the ancient “Bushido way of the samurai” that made surrender beyond illegal. Harding brings out the depth of the mutiny within the Japanese Empire and the bloody coup attempt. Better than any argument in print on the pros and cons of America’s decision to annihilate the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, these newly disclosed facts reveal that even that massive loss was almost not enough to
stimulate surrender. Unfortunately, it took one last life to decide. Reviewed by C.D. Quyn When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain: History’s Unknown Chapters By Giles Milton Picador, $16.00, 272 pages Check this out! A mysterious corpse on Mount Everest. The man who fought World War II for decades. A heroic pigeon. The Lindbergh baby kidnapping. The man displayed at the Bronx Zoo. The failed British Eiffel Tower. The story of Norton I, emperor of the United States (and protector of Mexico). The last man killed in World War I. The men who ate the last dodos. The thing about history is that there’s just so much of it. You know the big strokes, the key moments, the important moves, but do you know about all the little moving parts? Well, Giles Milton knows about more than a few of them, and he gleefully shares them in When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain, the
? s d r o w e Lov
Tulsa Book Review • March 2016 • 6
Book Reviews
first in an ongoing series collecting peculiar, hilarious and off-putting moments from history. My only qualm with this otherwise informative and engaging collection is that the mix of dark moments and light can be a little unsettling. He swings wildly from acts of heroism to acts of cannibalism, from murder and mayhem to humor and unsung heroes, conveying the incredible variety of unknown historical moments. Nonetheless, there are far more pluses than minuses with this one. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 3: Robots, Planes, Cities & More! By Megan H. Rothrock No Starch Press, $24.95, 192 pages Check this out! Expertise comes in all guises, and Lego model-making experts are unique. The select group, allied over geographical distances, creates miniature representations from cities to a police car, steam engines to a coffee shop all with colored plastic bricks, tiny people and a variety of supplementary pieces. Megan Rothrock’s The LEGO Adventure Book will captivate the enthusiast who maybe first built brick-on-brick childhood towers and then graduated to complex simulations. Which will top the list of favorites? Perhaps the eco-villa built on two stories with lots of windows and a flower-filled roof garden complemented by a wind turbine, solar panel and even a beehive. A very different subject, the symphony orchestra shows the players heeding their conductor as they appear to play the tiny instruments. At first the book is bewildering, almost overwhelming, but the sections soon fall into place. Projects are described in a series of same color pages prefaced by the name of the creator, ‘day job’ and nationality. The initial page of instruction for each project displays a daunting jumble of the component pieces, a scattering of ‘bubbles’ offering helpful building tips, and then step by step the finished product emerges, demanding considerable patience. Whether encouraged to test your creative impulse or just admire the skill of others, the book is one to treasure. Reviewed by Jane Manaster Free Agent: The Independent Professional’s Roadmap to Self-Employment Success By Katy Tynan Productivity Press, $29.95, 172 pages Check this out! Free Agent is a concise freelancer’s guide to success. Katy Tynan has packed a great deal of valuable information into a relatively small package, offering practical tips and demonstrations of self-employment best practices. Everything from who makes a good independent professional to how (and why) to craft effective contracts and how not to burn out, Free Agent
Nonfiction covers all of the major bases. As a freelancing professional, it took me 10 years to learn what Tynan clearly explains in 150 pages. The history lesson that Tynan includes at the beginning of the book does an excel- lent job of contextualizing the move toward and need for independent workers. The following 17 chapters break down seemingly complex and overwhelming business topics to reveal the commonsense versions of setting up your business, establishing a professional team, handling finances (including dreaded taxes), and pitching and pricing clients. Tynan doesn’t shy away from much and points toward helpful resources where her own personal expertise is insufficient. Handy resource to keep on the shelf, even for freelance vets who need a little poke. Reviewed by Kate Stephenson Architectural Photography: Composition, Capture, and Digital Image Processing By Adrian Schulz Rocky Nook, $44.95, 296 pages Check this out! This updated and expanded third edition, by architect and photographer Adrian Schulz, covers history, camera technology, shooting techniques and image improvement through digital image processing. It stresses the importance of subject choice, analysis of the situation, and selection of camera settings and accessories. Each chapter is subdivided into smaller topics, all supplemented by numerous charts, screen captures and stunning photographs, many of which compare the same subject treated differently. There is a special section with comments by photographer Marcus Bredt, as well as a table of contents and index to facilitate searching for specific items. This book comprehensively describes the ingredients for successfully capturing the architectural image, a rare accomplishment in photography literature these days. Perspective, weather conditions, shadow effects and human interaction are included, making this a worthy read for both amateur and professional alike. Filters, lenses and camera settings are specified for specific conditions, and basic strategies in design and composition are deftly discussed. Though interior photography is included, this section is nowhere near as extensive as the coverage of shooting building exteriors, but perhaps that would require an entirely separate
book. As it stands, much can be learned from Architectural Photography, a worthy addition to any photography enthusiast’s library. Reviewed by Richard Mandrachio Old Faithful: Dogs of a Certain Age By Pete Thorne Harper Design, $19.99, 144 pages Check this out! The picture that accompanies this text shows a sweet 15-and-a-half-year-old miniature poodle with large bright eyes and a gray muzzle. What’s not to love? Puppies are cute and wiggly but if you want a real buddy, go for one with wisdom and character written across its face. Missy loves everyone, even cats. Pete Thorne, a professional photographer, became fascinated with older doggies. His online post featuring one at his grandma’s birthday party touched many folks. Seventy-five of the many biographies sent to Thorne have been gathered into an elegant, coffee-table book. His full-page headshots taken while meeting with the owners and small versions placed next to the biographies fill the book. I doubt you will leave Old Faithful sitting on a table or shelf. The furry face on the cover seems to be ready to bark, “Open the book and see what we’re all about.” Unlike many elegant books featuring photos accompanied by small blurbs of explanation, this one is filled with heartfelt joy and wonder. I dare you to resist running to the nearest shelter to adopt a dog of a certain age! Reviewed by Ruta Arellano Monet’s Trees: Paintings and Drawings by Claude Monet By Ralph Skea Thames & Hudson, $19.95, 112 pages Check this out! Monet’s paintings represent his impressions, his perceptions of the landscape and the trees as they appeared in the sunlight and affected by mist or breeze. The forms and hues of trees especially fascinated him as shown in the more than 200 paintings where this feature dominates the canvas. This small book richly displays 84 examples from this genre. Beginning with a background discussion describing the artist’s passion for trees, the subsequent four sections categorize the paintings according to location: trees by river and sea, trees in the country-
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side, trees in parks and gardens, and trees in winter. Poplar trees especially entranced Monet by their graceful elegance, but he was equally taken by oaks, pines and palm trees, and flowering trees among others. Readers will be familiar with the scenes from his gardens and the elusive floating lilies under the cascading willow branches into the water. Throughout the clear explanatory text accompanying the illustrations, the reader can marvel at how well color, light and reflections are integrated into the painted image. With the brush Monet was fluent in translating changing moods into the tapestry of his works. This is a delightful collection of illustrations accompanied by an engaging and informative text. Reviewed by Aron Row Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear By Margee Kerr PublicAffairs, $26.99, 288 pages Check this out! There are plenty of books out there about the origins of fear or how to conquer fear, but Scream is something different. Scream ponders why we seek out fear in experiences like roller coasters and haunted houses, asking what it means to be afraid, and devoting entire sections to the positive effects of fear. But, quite tellingly, Kerr doesn’t limit her descriptions and analysis to moments of fear we choose. She chronicles fearful experiences she’s had on vacation and while living in bad neighborhoods, exploring what those terror-filled moments meant to her emotionally and intellectually. And these anecdotes only serve to support the scientific points made earlier in the book. In a wonderful bit of synchronicity, I read this book the week of Halloween, and it certainly got me into the spirit of spooks and frights. But it also gave me a renewed appreciation for the Halloween experience. For all the costumes and candy and regalia, Halloween is one of those few cultural events that encourages us to embrace something primal, and I suspect that’s part of its ongoing popularity. Scream is wonderful, accessible science told well. We need more science books like this. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas
Book Reviews
Why Does the Other Line Always Move Faster?: The Myths and Misery, Secrets and Psychology of Waiting in Line By David Andrews Workman Publishing Company, $14.95, 208 pages Check this out! Hurry up and wait, that’s the mantra repeated as one waits in line in the military. So David Andrew reminisces of his inter minable line-standing routines during his boot-camp internment. This intolerable experience propelled him to explore the origins of line waiting and how it is practiced in various regions. There definitely is a culture to forming a line and waiting one’s turn; it usually depends on availability of goods and services, but it also is used to provide uniformity as in school line formation or parade theatrics. Queueing is the term used in England, and the author drolly follows the etymology of the term now describing the mannerly line-waiting behavior of that society. The mindset of people waiting in line has been studied by Milgram in the 1980s where he looked at line cutters and studied the anxiety levels of those trapped in waiting lines. Different cultures react differently to queueing: Russians have been habituated to stand waiting for hours, Poles will join any apparent line, some South American countries will initiate a line at the airport and then explode in a jumbled mess when boarding commences, Egyptian males will elbow their way past women and children to reach the front. Read this book to recognize line-waiting behavior which has evolved into a lineholding profession and laugh at our conformist behavior. Perhaps this narrative will spur an appraisal of the current headache termed call waiting. Reviewed by Aron Row Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion, and Pluck Take You From Ordinary to Extraordinary By Linda Kaplan Thaler Crown Business, $19.95, 160 pages Check this out! Often times the person who gets handed the plum project or gets promoted is not the smartest person or even the most qualified person. However she or he is generally the most committed person, the person who shows the most initiative and demonstrates the greatest drive to safeguard the interests at hand. The characteristic is referenced by several synonyms and this book focuses on grit (referring to perseverance). The eight short chapters are filled with stories of how having grit succeeded in the business world. These stories also encourage readers to pursue their own ambitions,
Nonfiction using failure as a learning opportunity to propel forward. With such powerful stories, it is difficult not to applaud the protagonists in these true stories. However there isn’t much in-depth discussion of empirical studies that explore success due to grit. Studies are mentioned, but only their conclusion, not their methodologies and assumptions. The stories depicted drive in the business arena (all-nighters, routine 8:00 p.m. meetings, etc.). While the stories show admirable dedication, other aspects of these individuals’ lives probably suffered (possibly family). A balanced life is what some individuals strive for, and these stories tacitly exclude it. The stories are inspiring, the text is easy-to-read, and the narrative flows easily. The chapters draw in readers and hold their attention until the very end. This is a well-written book. Reviewed by Muhammed Hassanali The Dogist: Photographic Encounters With 1,000 Dogs By Elias Weiss Friedman Artisan Books, $24.95, 304 pages Check this out! Elias Weiss Friedman has the greatest job in the world: dog photographer. And The Dogist is a collection of these wonderful puppy portraits in all their man’s-bestfriend glory. From the cutest dogs in the land to other, less traditionally handsome breeds, he’s chronicling the canine world like no one has before. Some of the comments from the owners that accompany the pictures are absolutely hilarious, sharing traits, anecdotes or the circumstances of the dog’s behavior on a given day. Other photos have brief biographies of the dogs that range from the wonderful and uplifting to the absolutely heartbreaking. (Several of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring have portraits in the book.) There are also some interesting facts about certain breeds or subsets of dogs. For instance, I never knew that guide dogs often get false names to keep strangers from distracting them from their jobs. And, admittedly, despite how marvelous the photography is or how photogenic the subject, you can’t help but feel bad for some of the dogs based on their names. Theodore James Franco Gatsby? Really? The Dogist is a treat for any dog lover or aspiring puppy portraitist. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas
Green River Killer: A True Detective Story By Jeff Jensen, Jonathan Case (illustrator) Dark Horse Books, $19.99, 240 pages Check this out! The spectre of the Green River Killer haunted Washington State for decades, and Detective Tom Jensen doggedly pursued every lead. When Gary Leon Ridgway was finally brought in, Tom knew they only had one chance to get the information they’d need to finally complete the case and provide closure for all of Ridgway’s victims. So they did something never done before: they moved Ridgway into the police station itself and interviewed him for months, taking him to crime scenes and trying to pin down every victim’s identity. Green River Killer takes us inside the case like few narratives ever have, as journalist Jeff Jensen (Tom’s son) brings the investigation and the interviews with Ridgway to life in gripping fashion. The black-and-white illustrations offer an edge to the storytelling that is positively bone-chilling, and Ridgway’s almost affable presence in the book is profoundly unsettling. The graphic novel allows for pacing that a regular novel couldn’t – putting us in the shoes of the detective and really bringing to life the toll the case took on him – and the combination of rich details and stark, crisp illustration provides the necessary gravitas to make for a compelling truecrime read. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas North American Hummingbirds: An Identification Guide By George C. West University of New Mexico Press, $24.95, 256 pages Check this out! For years the hummingbird has remained illusive. These creatures are high energy, driven birds, seldom making cameos. Many people have never even seen one. Thanks to George C. West, all that is about to change. In his new book, North American Hummingbirds, West reveals all. The book is essentially an identification guide, cataloging nearly a thousand birds. Illustrated with breathtaking HD photography, it is a staple to learn about the habits and habitats of this magnificent and well-adapted animal.
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The vivid, midflight shots are especially intriguing. This book is organized by the sizes of the birds themselves. There are three groupings: small, medium and large. The actual sizes of the birds range from 2-6 inches. There are two reasons they are so illusive. First, they’re rare, and second, they’re agile and quickly dart away from large animals, like humans. Each hummingbird species is illustrated with a detailing HD photo, followed by a description of its habits and habitats. The book explains the most bizarre avian habits as well as some of the most intriguing adaptations. In all, the reader can’t go wrong. And for the serious bird watcher, it’s a must have. Reviewed by D. Wayne Dworsky
Custer’s Trials cont’d from page 2 Civil War rising through the ranks, yet at the same time believed in the institution of slavery. He fought and lobbied for promotions in rank, yet he was a mediocre student at West Point, had disciplinary issues and faced expulsion just as the Civil War exploded on the American landscape. He loved his wife, begged for her hand in marriage, yet had a wandering eye and was a serial philanderer. The reader will go on a course that starts in Custer’s modest Ohio roots to his turbulent times at West Point and then onto Custer’s role under the hesitant George McLellan, followed by Custer’s brave and reckless actions with soldiers under his own command. No stone is left unturned. Stiles had his work cut out for him with such a controversial subject. His biography is thorough, engrossing and fair. Custer is seen as a man wearing many faces, some good, some not. The author has done a commendable job drawing from other sources to write a balanced account of a misunderstood historical figure. A+ read Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro
Book Reviews
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History SNAP IT for additional book summaries.
Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them By Nancy Marie Brown St. Martin’s Press, $26.99, 288 pages Check this out! “With a single chess set, you can play an infinite number of games,” says Nancy Marie Brown, the author of Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them. Such seems to be the case with the chessmen themselves in the circumstance of their origins, the material they’re made from, the person who made them and when they were commissioned. Everything about the set seems to be controversial, the pieces of facts moving about the board to create new theories each time. Yet the chessmen are no less fascinating for all these vying theories, captivating popular imagination to be continually commemorated in song and film, and still encouraging new perspectives when examining history and its players. Ivory Vikings is a surprisingly fascinating read. Brown’s skilled storytelling skills come to play here, bringing the pieces and their supposed maker alive on the page. If you’re looking for a quirky, easy reading history book, this one definitely fits the bill. Reviewed by Axie Barclay Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty By Dan Jones Viking, $27.95, 288 pages Check this out! Dan Jones, author of the best-selling The Plantagents, has added to this celebrated narrative with a companion novel that dives deeper into the engrossing family’s decline. This is a tale of three kings, who in the span of a few decades conquered, governed and lost a mighty empire. The book’s main subject, the fabled Magna Carta, serves as a safeguard against their emotional and dangerous demands. A version of the document rested in the slim book’s appendices, and on the jacket cover, normally reserved for carefully selected book blurbs, is an assortment of historic praise for its text. Jones in the first chapters tells the events of King Henry II and Richard the Lion Heart, as
they build their continental empire. England, while the seat of their government, is in reality just a giant cash cow for the family’s military. Jones’ portrait of Henry II is particularly compelling and vivid. Richard is portrayed as a ruthless and reckless adventurer who brought his nation’s GDP in the red for the Crusades. King John, the book’s main figure, is presented for perhaps the first time as a fully formed character, complex and yet appealing. Reviewed by Robert Buccellato First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His – and the Nation’s – Prosperity By Edward Lengel Da Capo Press, $25.99, 296 pages Check this out! Washington is a colossal figure in the annals of American History. An individual so mythical in his features and actions that it’s almost impossible to remember he was once an ordinary man, entirely divorced from the marble statues we see him as today. Edward Lengel’s book First Entrepreneur attempts to awaken this forgotten dimension of Washington’s personal story. Washington from the onset knew that his every action was setting a precedent; not only in how he handled himself in office, his determination to leave that office after two terms, but also in the way he handled his financial dealings and gains while in the presidency. Lengel’s Washington is presented as a figure who married for money and developed into a skilled social climber; someone who reluctantly took up the presidency, actually losing sleep the night he was elected. Washington was a disciplined executive and agribusiness man who innovated his nation’s economics as well as his own. Tragically, by creating both peace and prosperity for his nation, he denied himself both qualities of life. Reviewed by Robert Buccellato
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YOUTH NONFICTION NEW AND COMING SOON
TO TULSA CITY-COUNTY LIBRARY Search the library’s catalog at www.TulsaLibrary.org to reserve your copies now.
Explore Fossils! With 25 Great Projects
by Cynthia Brown Readers can expand their dinosaur obsessions into learning opportunities that take them beyond Triceratops, Stegosaurus and even Tyrannosaurus rex to other animals, plants and microbes that lived long before humans.
How to Cook in 10 Easy Lessons by Wendy Sweetser Offers an introduction to cooking in 10 lessons that each introduce a different kitchen skill, from using knives to mixing, folding and kneading dough, and provides simple recipes that make use of each skill.
The Boy Who Became Buffalo Bill
by Andrea Warren Explores the childhood of Billy Cody, who at age 11 herded cattle and rode the Pony Express, later joining the Jayhawkers following the violence of Bleeding Kansas, and fighting in the Civil War as a Union spy, before founding the legendary Western show and gaining fame as Buffalo Bill.
The Travel Book
by Malcolm Croft Provides facts about the wildlife, lifestyle, sports, food and festivals of every country in the world.
Take a Hike, Teddy Roosevelt!
by Frank Murphy Describes the 26th president’s lifelong dedication to protecting the environment, detailing how he overcame the limitations of asthma to become an avid outdoorsman and establish the American national parks system.
Where Is the Brooklyn Bridge?
by Megan Stine Building the Brooklyn Bridge was no simple feat. Despite a brilliant plan from a fatherson team of engineers, the process was a dangerous and grueling one. Construction workers developed a mysterious illness (now known as the bends), several died, and the project had devastating effects on the engineers’ lives. Still, after 14 years, the Brooklyn Bridge was finished and became the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time and still is admired today.
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Fiction SNAP IT for additional book summaries.
Ruins By Peter Kuper SelfMadeHero, $29.95, 256 pages Check this out! This is a dual story: one story follows the migration of the monarch butterfly from New York to Mexico; the other story follows a young couple going on sabbatical to Oaxaca, where she can reconnect with her past and work on her book and he can explore a brandnew world, where nothing is as it seems. Samantha and George are a young couple trying to make it work in academia. They decide to head to Oaxaca where Samantha can work on her book, and George can experience something out of his comfort zone. These two will meet up with new friends, neighbors and a new culture that is ripe for explosion. They will get caught up in political events, as it forces them to view themselves as outsiders in a system they do not understand. They will find out who they truly are. The story is beautifully told and brilliantly paced. Each section starts off with the butterfly on its journey, and George going from an awkward outsider, to someone who is at peace with himself. The art is luscious and beautiful and the colors are fantastic. Reviewed by Kevin Winter Bella and the Beast (Cinderella Sisterhood Series) By Olivia Drake St. Martin’s Paperbacks, $7.99, 352 pages Check this out! Even a grown woman enjoys a good fairy tale, and Bella and the Beast: A Cinderella Sisterhood Novel by Olivia Drake delivers. Traveling through Persia with her father and siblings, learning foreign cultures and languages is the only life Bella Jones has known. However, before her father passes he tells Bella to return to their family home to find Duke Aylwin and a mysterious Egyptian map that could lead her to her half of Pharaoh’s fortune. Upon her return, as Bella searches for work, she has a chance encoun-
ter with Countess Milford who lends her red satin slippers that, unbeknownst to Bella, would help change the path of her life. Countess Milford sends Bella to secure the job as curator for Duke Aylwin, who also happens to be whom she is seeking. Bella and the beastly Aylwin are intrigued by each other, and as their lust/love deepens, danger grows, leaving both lives and love hanging in the balance. Drake does a wonderful job of taking a fairy tale and showing the loving and lustful side in Bella and the Beast. The mystery of the Egyptian map adds to the drama as well. It’s an enchanting novel that cannot be missed. Reviewed by Amy Synoracki Fishbowl: A Novel By Bradley Somer St. Martin’s Press, $24.99, 304 pages Check this out! Basic human feelings and experiences are explored as the lives of a broad cast of characters intertwine in Bradley Somer’s Fishbowl. Ian, an adventurous fish desperate to escape the confines of his fishbowl, decides to leap from the 27th-floor balcony of his owner’s apartment building. As Ian plunges to- ward the concrete below, he witnesses short snippets of the lives of those residing in the apartment building. In the course of about 30 minutes, Somer’s characters encounter heartbreak, joy, loneliness, love, fear and companionship. Many of their lives interlace with each other, either casually in passing or through significant meetings. Somer’s unconventional approach to describing humanity is entirely alluring. Perhaps the most unique feature of
Somer’s novel is the amusing flipbook that appears in the margins of his book, which showcases Ian’s descent in a series of small sketches. Somer has the ability to make the most ordinary occurrences in his novel interesting. Though a few of the storylines are melodramatic, the characters’ emotional situations are still alluring. Somer is particularly skilled at writing natural dialogue; the interactions among his characters feel innate, never forced. In many ways, Somer’s neatly finished story is unbelievable; however, Fishbowl is so marvelously imagined and executed that it makes up for the too perfectly conceived ending. Reviewed by Mandy Nevius And After Many Days: A Novel By Jowhor Ile Tim Duggan Books, $25.00, 272 pages Check this out! And After Many Days is a story of hardship in a changing country. The story focuses on a family who does well in this everchanging society; the father is a lawyer and the mother works in education. Their three children are smart and cautious. Even in their less threatened state, they’re not immune to the corruption of their surroundings. When a tragedy strikes the family, they have to lean on each other and adapt to the way of their new life. As I began reading this story, it took awhile to really grab my attention. However, as I stuck with it, I was pleasantly surprised by the flow of the story and its progression. This novel is for the patient and devoted reader. It delves deeper in meaning than just a catchy story. There are layers to the story, it takes thought and understanding. If you’re looking for a fun, easy read, this is not the book for you. This book is meaningful and powerful; anyone willing to take on the emotional journey of And After Many Days will not be disappointed. Reviewed by Jenna Beattie The Story of My Teeth By Valeria Luiselli, Christina MacSweeney (translator) Coffee House Press, $16.95, 184 pages Check this out! Those of us who can only read in English should be grateful to Christina MacSweeny for bringing Valeria Luiselli to our monolingual attention. In Luiselli’s second novel, The Story of My Teeth, world-renowned auctioneer Highway Sanchez sells off his collection of infamous teeth once belonging to the mouths of Plato, Virginia Woolf and Jorge Luis Borges, among others. Of course the teeth actually once belonged to the mouth of Highway Sanchez himself. Through his own allegoric method of auctioneering, the teeth gain new meaning, new value.
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What Luiselli gives us is an essay in fiction on the ways art is valued. Highway doesn’t just buy and sell objects, but is “first and foremost, a lover and collector of good stories, which is the only honest way of modifying the value of an object.” The object—a painting, a sculpture, a rotten tooth—only gains meaning through the stories we tell about it. And using her own version of Highway’s allegoric method, Luiselli turns a simple story about a juice factory security guard turned auctioneer into a wonderfully structured and beautifully written piece of art. Reviewed by Sean West The Day of Atonement: A Novel By David Liss Ballantine Books, $16.00, 384 pages Check this out! Day of Atonement by David Liss is a tautly woven historical revenge thriller set in 18th-century Portugal. It is the kind of novel certain to keep any reader on the edge of his seat as double crosses emerge, lies are spun and truths revealed. In this novel of greed and deception Sebastião Raposa is a 13-year-old boy who’s forced to flee for his life after his parents are unjustly persecuted by Portugal’s corrupt Inquisition enforcers. Thoughts of vengeance brew, and he finally gets his chance 10 years later as he returns to Lisbon, under the guise of Sebastian Foxx, an English businessman. But his quest for vengeance doesn’t quite take the turn he expected and Sebastião, or rather, Sebastian, begins to realize that he’s not the only one who has changed in 10 years. Liss crafts a compelling, driving narrative, steeped in questions about justice and revenge, love and forgiveness with a main character tortured by his past. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to seeing what Liss has in store next for his fans. Reviewed by Qurratulayn Muhammad Eleanor By Jason Gurley Crown , $26.00, 384 pages Check this out! Eleanor by Jason Gurley is the hauntingly beautiful story of a girl falling out of time. Eleanor’s life hasn’t been the same since when she and her twin sister were 6 years old and a car accident left their family broken. Now a teenager, a powerful force keeps
Book Reviews
ripping Eleanor out of her world and into others. Confused and breaking, Eleanor must master her own strange abilities and heal her shattered family or else her sister’s loss might not be the last tragedy to strike the family. Jason Gurley weaves a gorgeous story with Eleanor. It’s the type of story that grabs a hold and won’t let go, sucking readers into Eleanor’s world. His story of the dysfunction of mothers and daughters is honest, brutal and wise. Eleanor is the kind of heroine you never get tired of and the worlds in which she finds herself remain ethereal and strange. As with most of Gurley’s work, this novel is the very best kind of mash-up between the fantastic and the literary. It’s a smart, beautiful story with vivid images and polished prose, the kind of novel you can read over again and will want to recommend to others. Reviewed by Axie Barclay Miller’s Valley: A Novel By Anna Quindlen Random House, $28.00, 272 pages Check this out! In this novel, Mary Margaret Miller recounts her life in Miller’s valley from the 1960s to the present. While change is a constant theme in the story, the one thing that never changes is the government’s long-term plan to flood the valley in order to improve the local dam and create a recreation area. As years pass, more and more families sell and move away, but Mary Margaret’s family stays put as long as possible. Through the course of the story, we see the events, both happy and tragic, that shape their lives, as well as the secrets they keep and the lessons they learn about life itself. Reading this book is like opening an old dusty family photo album. You see people and places that you’ve forgotten, but with one glance, you remember how things used to be. Quindlen has a style of writing that makes you feel like you’re reading about people you’ve known, or could have known your whole life. It’s comforting, in a way, which shows that change may come but no matter where you go, memories of family and home will always remain. Reviewed by Susan Miller
Early One Morning By Virginia Baily Little, Brown and Company, $26.00, 400 pages Check this out! Chiara and Cecilia are all alone in Rome, a city now torn apart and crawling with Nazis. Their only redemption is their papers signifying that they are not Jewish. The girls have lost all but each other to the war and they are doing all they can to keep from losing anything more. One morning, Chiara finds herself in the Jewish ghetto across town; she has a friend there that needs her help. She is mortified to see the German soldiers herding the families out of their homes and onto transports to who knows where. Within the crowd she picks out faces, some terrified, others too exhausted to show emotion past lethargy. Then, she sees a young mother, with a small son. Instantly, she knows what she must do. Daniele then becomes a new fixture in her and Cecilia’s life. Many years after the war has ended Chiara is contacted by a woman who will turn her world upside down once again. This woman will bring back pain, suffering and happiness that Chiara thought she may never have to relive. Early One Morning is easily one of the most riveting historical fiction books I have ever read. It has so much character and so many layers to the story. Virginia Baily has a way of making the characters so real that you feel like you know them. Early One Morning is the perfect read for any historical fiction fan, or anyone who loves a good, heartfelt, dramatic story. Reviewed by Jenna Beattie
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BESTSELLERS COMING SOON
TO TULSA CITY-COUNTY LIBRARY Search the library’s catalog at www.TulsaLibrary.org to reserve your copies now.
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what shines most in Carry On is what shines in all of Rowell’s books: her characters. Simon, Baz, Penelope and every character in the World of Mages come alive with Rowell’s masterfully realistic dialogue and full, warm descriptions. Carry On is a magical narrative, a hero’s story and a romance, full of just as much love and friendship as thrill and conflict. Reviewed by Emma McGorray
Teens SNAP IT for additional book summaries.
Half a Creature From the Sea: A Life in Stories By David Almond, Eleanor Taylor (illustrator) Candlewick, $16.99, 240 pages Check this out! A boy says his dead father has returned to life, just as he promised. A woman supposedly gave birth to a monster. A little girl believes God is sitting in her garden. A boy claims his house is under attack by a poltergeist. A gang of troublemakers meets a new German kid in the neighborhood who makes them question their thuggish ringleader. Stories about being young, about the intangible magics lurking in the corners of our daily lives, about the power of telling stories, about confronting what we think we know ... many of these tales are simply about kids being kids, and on the hard lessons we learned then and the conclusions we were only able to draw later upon looking back at events past. This is nostalgia sharpened to a keen edge and wielded in impressive fashion. I can’t point to a particular story that represents everything Almond accomplishes in this collection. (Though I admit, “Slog’s Dad” got me, and good.) It’s the collection itself that paints a greater picture, one of all the mysteries, sadness and victories of growing up, and Half a Creature From the Sea means more as a whole than any one story could. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas Placebo Junkies By J.C. Carleson Knopf Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 304 pages Check this out! Audie, product of a messed up childhood and a broken system, makes a living as a professional guinea pig, participating in various pharmaceutical trials for cash. And now, she’s ramping up her game, trying to make a lot as quickly as possible, so that she can take her sick boyfriend on a dream vacation. But too many pills and other
treatments are starting to take their toll, and Audie’s starting to lose her grip on reality. J.C. Carleson’s Placebo Junkies is a crazy glimpse into a world that actually exists in some places. It’s fascinating to think about the process of human drug testing, and to think about what drives people to voluntarily take part in such studies, without knowing the possible side effects. Audie is an interesting character, driven by her envy of and desire for the normal life that she believes is completely out of reach. Readers will have their minds twisted this way and that as different aspects of Audie’s past and present are revealed! This is one crazy novel that is impossible to put down. Reviewed by Holly Scudero Carry On By Rainbow Rowell St. Martin’s Griffin, $19.99, 528 pages Check this out! Simon Snow is the Chosen One in the World of Mages. It turns out that being the Chosen One is harder than it looks. Simon has strong suspicions that his roommate Baz at Watford School of Magicks is a vampire who wants to kill him; he’s fighting the threat to the magical world the Insid- ious Humdrum but barely knows what the creature even is, and he’s dealing with the pressures of his friends and the pressure of the Mage, Watford’s headmaster and Simon’s mentor. Rainbow Rowell’s book builds off of many fantasy conventions and seems to take special inspiration from the Harry Potter series, but Rowell uses those similarities as a way of challenging the norms and exploring new thematic ideas. Her handling of the novel’s fantasy elements is clever, but
The Chase (Last Man) By Balak, Bastien Vivès, Michaël Sanlaville First Second, $9.99, 208 pages Check this out! Richard Aldana has disappeared with the newly won Royal Cup to a mysterious land beyond the rift. It is now up to young Adrian and his mother Marianne to go across this rift and after Richard to get back the Royal Cup, and possibly more. What they discover is a strange world that they have trouble understanding, one that is not their own. With renegade lawmen, bordellos and a court system that recognizes feats of strength rather than rational arguments, Adrian and Marianne are caught up in this mess while trying to figure out where they are and find Richard, before they are caught up in the madness and the anarchy that they are not used to. This is similar to American graphic novels in terms of story structure. But in terms of plot and art style, it is very much European with that European feel about it – from the character design to the way they talk, almost in way how Europeans view Americans, with Marianne and Adrian standing in as the Europeans in a new world. The art style is clean and clear so it is an easy story to follow. Reviewed by Kevin Winter See No Color By Shannon Gibney Carolrhoda Books, $18.99, 192 pages Check this out! Alex is a black girl who was adopted into a white family at a very young age. For most of her life she hasn’t known any different; she knew she was loved and her family meant everything to her. As a teenager, she realizes that some people make comments about her looking differently. Her younger sister, Kit, is a very curious young girl. She has many questions about where Alex is from, which gets her thinking about who she might really be. The big
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thing she shares with her father and brother is baseball. She is the only girl on the team, and she is one of the best. This sport brings the three of them so close together. Baseball allows them to express their relationships with one another. See No Color by Shannon Gibney is a story of identity, relationships and passion. Gibney sparks the readers interest right from the get-go with a story of a young girl, and then carries you on a journey encompassing Alex’s passion of baseball, getting to know herself, and her navigation through different relationships with the people in her life. Simply, See No Color is a nice, realistic book that many can relate to. A wonderful choice for anyone old or young, this story will not disappoint. Reviewed by Jenna Beattie Speak a Word for Freedom: Women Against Slavery By Janet Willen, Marjorie Gann Tundra Books, $21.99, 216 pages Check this out! This book introduces 14 women who have fought to eliminate slavery in its many forms. Several were connected with Black slavery in the United States; some, like Elizabeth Freeman, Ellen Craft and Harriet Tubman, were once slaves themselves; others, like Harriet Beecher Stowe and Frances Anne Kemble, wrote incendiary descriptions (like Uncle Tom’s Cabin) that also powerfully argued for abolition. Other women worked to eliminate slavery elsewhere in the world. Alice Seeley Harris, a missionary in the Congo at the turn of the 20th century, was horrified to see the slavery in the Belgian rubber plantations, and used photography to graphically document the atrocities she encountered to sway public opinion back home in England. Another Englishwoman, Kathleen Simon, fought to end child slavery in China. Unfortunately, slavery still exists; human trafficking of young women and of children, and of forced child labor, is still a salient and alarming issue. Written for teenage readers, it is an excellent read for anyone wishing to know more about this issue. This heartbreaking but eye-opening book will inspire readers to take action along with those women who are still fighting the fight against this cruelest injustice. Reviewed by Gretchen Wagner
Book Reviews
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Kids’ Books SNAP IT for additional book summaries.
Junk Drawer Chemistry: 50 Awesome Experiments That Don’t Cost a Thing By Bobby Mercer Chicago Review Press, $14.95, 224 pages Check this out! When it comes to science, the best way to tackle the subject is to learn by doing, and Junk Drawer Chemistry offers dozens of easyto-do experiments to explain concepts like atomic structure, altering states of matter, chemical reactions, electricity and more! Virtually everything you need for the experiments can be found around the house – soda, vinegar, baking soda, pennies, batteries, salt, balloons, pushpins, etc. – and a quick trip to the supermarket can supplement anything missing for cheap. The numerous photographs and carefully written instructions make each experiment a breeze to understand and execute, and they’re careful to mention adult supervision on any experiment involving heat, scissors or certain chemicals. This was clearly written with safety in mind, and it shows. Plus, the book cleverly presents the experiments first and then follows up with the science, almost working like a magic trick and then explaining the magic right after. (There are even bonus facts scattered throughout the book.) If you want to make science fun, Junk Drawer Chemistry is a terrific place to start. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas Bubonic Panic: When Plague Invaded America By Gail Jarrow Calkins Creek, $18.95, 200 pages Check this out! When people hear the words “bubonic plague,” most will think of the middle ages in London, bodies lying in the streets as gravediggers were unable to keep up with the number of dead, vermin skittering through gutters running with sewage, and people wearing flowers by their
noses to ward off the evil. But the plague has a long and frightening history, surviving to kill people all over the world and well into the 20th century. Plague came to California in the early 1900s, and city leaders of San Francisco refused to accept it had arrived. Their fear for lost business and tourism caused them to turn a blind eye to what was before them. Could the plague be beaten? Gail Jarrow follows up her marvelous nonfiction books on Typhoid Mary and the horrors of pellagra with another medical history to complete her trilogy. This book, as the prior ones, is incredibly well-researched and well-written. Jarrow’s skill as a storyteller is superb. The photos, drawings and interesting layout will keep readers, young and old, engaged and fascinated, turning pages as if reading a thriller. Great back matter, including a glossary, timeline and bibliography, will lead to further investigation. Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck
her best friend. But Granny warns Sarah since she is white and Ruby Lee is black and North Carolina schools are just integrating (it’s 1969), their friendship best be kept at home. Shannon Hitchcock has written a rich, complex story set in a time and place filled with tension. The first-person narrative in the voice of 12-year-old Sarah is pitch-perfect, the characters are well-rounded and absolutely believable, the story is compelling, and the writing is beautiful. This is the kind of coming-of-age story that should become a staple in middle-grade classrooms. Kids will love it, but it deserves a much wider audience. Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck George Ferris’ Grand Idea: The Ferris Wheel (The Story Behind the Name) By Jenna Glatzer, Stephanie Dominguez (illustrator) Picture Window Books, $14.95, 32 pages Check this out! George Ferris, one of 10 children, always wanted to do something important. He studied civil engineering and, when it was announced the United States would host the 1893 World’s Fair, he had his chance. The director of the fair challenged Americans to come up with something bigger and better than the Eiffel Tower, which had been the centerpiece of the
last fair. George Ferris proposed a giant wheel that would take people on rides as high as a tall building. Most people didn’t think it could be done, but the fair director gave Ferris the go-ahead if he raised the money himself to pay for it. Against all odds, he was able to raise the money and get the wheel built, changing the way fairgrounds the world over would look. Jenna Glatzer has written a well-researched telling of George Ferris and the signature invention of his career. Her story will have youngsters looking at a popular ride with new eyes. The illustrations by Stephanie Dominguez completes this fine nonfiction work for children. The back matter includes a glossary, things to think about for kids and a short list of books for further reading. Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck
YOUTH FICTION COMING SOON
TO TULSA CITY-COUNTY LIBRARY Search the library’s catalog at www.TulsaLibrary.org to reserve your copies now.
Ruby Lee & Me By Shannon Hitchcock Scholastic, $16.99, 224 pages Check this out! Sarah is supposed to be watching her little sister, Robin, when she hears screeching brakes and screams. Everything changes. Robin is in the hospital, and Sarah moves to her grandparents farm while everyone waits for Robin to wake up. Granny’s neighbor, Miss Irene’s grand- daughter Ruby Lee, is Sarah’s best friend. Being with her makes waiting tolerable. Robin’s healing is long and hard. Hospital bills mount, and Sarah’s parents sell their house and move near the farm. Sarah will have to start a new school. At least she will have Tulsa Book Review • March 2016 • 13
The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet S. Fox
In 1940, during the Blitz, Katherine, Robbie and Amelie Bateson are sent north to a private school in Rookskill Castle in Scotland, a brooding place, haunted by dark magic from the past.
Infinity Riders by Kekla Magoon
A spaceship piloted by children travels to Planet Infinity where the youngsters must navigate underground tunnels in search of the fourth element of a power source needed to save Earth.
The Lost Tribes by Christine Taylor-Butler When their parents go missing, five friends embark on a mission involving ancient artifacts and find themselves involved in a battle for the fate of the world.
Recess Is a Jungle! by Jack Chabert
At the end of recess at Eerie Elementary, everything on the school grounds suddenly comes alive and turns into a fog-filled jungle maze intent on trapping and disposing of hall monitor Sam Graves and his friends Antonio and Lucy.
Book Reviews
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Crime Fiction SNAP IT for additional book summaries.
Dishing the Dirt: An Agatha Raisin Mystery By M.C. Beaton Minotaur Books, $25.99, 304 pages Check this out! When a new therapist, Jill Davent, comes to Carsely, a village in the Cotswolds, she stirs up no end of trouble. For one thing, she is spreading rumors about Agatha Raisin, the village’s local private investigator. After Agatha confronts Ms. Davent, she ends up dead. Of course Agatha feels compelled to find a motive and a murderer. Not easy, when the police consider her the No. 1 suspect. What follows is a fun lighthearted mystery in which Agatha’s colleagues, friends and an ex-husband lend their help in trying to catch the killer before he or she strikes again. The story is full of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. Agatha Raisin is a loveable character full of contradictions and with a knack for attracting the wrong men. The other characters are well-depicted and occasionally eccentric. Overall, the story is an entertaining one. I can’t think of a better way of spending a lazy afternoon, curled up on a sofa, following Agatha Raisin on the hunt for a killer. This is definitely a book that will appeal to those who enjoy the typical English village murder story. Reviewed by Susan Miller The Grave Soul By Ellen Hart Minotaur, $25.99, 320 pages Check this out! Jane Lawless staggers, beaten and bloody, into Cordelia Thorn’s home in the middle of a party. Not only does she not remember how she was hurt, but she doesn’t even know her own name. Jane, a restaurateur and private eye, had been hired by a former employee, Guthrie, to look into the long-ago death
of his girlfriend ’s mother. Kira, the girlfriend, has terrible nightmares about it, and what she has related to Guthrie doesn’t add up. When Kira is called home to small-town New Dresden, Wisconsin, she claims to want to come home but says she can’t. It’s when Jane is in New Dresden for a few days that she is beaten and barely escapes with her life. What’s going on? Ellen Hart is back with a new conundrum for Jane Lawless and Cordelia Thorn to solve. This unlikely pair are some of the most interesting characters in the cozy mystery genre. Hart’s writing, story evolution and character development are always top-notch, and this book is no exception. The convoluted twists and turns will keep readers guessing while the interesting characters will engender strong reader reactions. If you like cozy mysteries, you will like this book. Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck After She’s Gone By Lisa Jackson Kensington, $26.00, 400 pages Check this out! In After She’s Gone, Allie and Cassie Kramer, daughters to a Hollywood legend, are actors in their own right. Younger sister, Allie, is a full-blown star while older sister, Cassie, lives in her shadow igniting bouts of sibling rivalry. While filming, Allie the star and Cassie with a smaller role, something goes terribly wrong when the body double for Allie is shot on set with what was supposed to be a prop
gun. As chaos ensues, Allie is nowhere to be found and the police are looking for suspects. Suspect one: Cassie, with whom Allie had last been having a heated argument. Swearing she is innocent, Cassie sets out to find her sister all the while dealing with mental health issues, a worrisome mother and an unwanted husband she can’t let go. As bodies linked to the movie start to pile up and Allie is still missing all signs point to Cassie. Can she find her sister and the answers she needs before she loses her mind or worse, her life? Lisa Jackson, once again, delivers a spine-tingling thriller that I can’t put down. With a group of characters that add to the mystery, Jackson delivers a true page-turner once again. Reviewed by Amy Synoracki Descent: A Novel By Tim Johnston Algonquin Books, $15.95, 400 pages Check this out! In Descent, Grant and Angela Courtland are faced with the unimaginable. While on a family vacation to the Rocky Mountains, their two children, col lege-bound Caitlin and high-schooler Sean, venture into the mountains for a run/ bike ride one morning. When they don’t return, a search finds only Sean, battered and broken, unable to tell anyone what happened to him, or where they can find Caitlin. After weeks of searching leads nowhere, the heartbroken Courtlands return home to Wisconsin. As years pass, each family member faces personal demons, questions their faith, and holds onto hope all the while continuing to be plagued by the questions: What happened to Caitlin? Is there still hope? And will their family survive until they find the answers? Descent is a haunting story full of heartbreak, suspense and the unexpected. Johnston’s engaging writing paints the mountains in such a picturesque way that the awe-inspiring and terrifying reality of their presence in the Courtlands’ lives is brought to the forefront of the story and remains until the chilling end. One book that will be hard to put down, Descent is a definite must-read! Reviewed by Amy Synoracki
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Wrath of the Furies (Novels of Ancient Rome) By Steven Saylor Minotaur Books, $26.99, 320 pages Check this out! Wrath of the Furies is a historical fiction novel set in ancient Greece and the Eastern Aegean region. Having weathered a coup in ancient Egypt, young Gordianus receives a message that his tutor and mentor, Antipater of Sidon, is trapped in Ephesus. Placing his life on the line, Gordianus devises an audacious plan to rescue Antipater. He is quickly ensnared in the political machinations of the conquering Mithridates. Unsure of who he can trust, even possibly his beloved mentor, Gordianus must wade through conspiracy and court intrigue in order to save himself and those close to him. Steven Saylor has brought the ancient world to life in a way history books never can. He effortlessly interweaves historical and fictional characters with true historical events. It is easy to envision the opulence of the nobility juxtaposed against the squalor of the Roman refugees through the intense narrative. The author easily piques the reader’s interest to find out more about the events and historical figures (at least this reader’s interest). Wrath of the Furies is the third book in Steven Saylor’s Novels of Ancient Rome series, but is easily read as a stand-alone book. Any references the author makes to previous situations do not leave the reader in the dark, but rather leave the reader wanting to find out exactly what happened. A superb read for anyone with a modicum of interest in history. Reviewed by Tarina Speidel
Book Reviews
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Speculative Fiction SNAP IT for additional book summaries.
Our Lady of the Ice By Cassandra Rose Clarke Saga Press, $25.99, 432 pages Check this out! Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke is set in an alternate post-steampunk timeline where Antarctica has been colonized by Argentina, androids look eerily life-like, and cyborg technology is feasible. The story is told from the multiple perspectives of Eliana Gomez, Hope City’s first female PI; Lady Luna, a dazzling celebrity with a dark secret; and Sofia, an android who is determined to help her kind break free from the cage of their programming. Trapped in a web of mob bosses, shady businessmen and corrupt officials, Clarke weaves a tale that connects all three women with the question of what it means to be human and what it means to be truly free. Our Lady of the Ice definitely brings to mind the works of Paolo Bacigalupe. Clarke crafts a unique tale full of mystery and intrigue, and a city at the end of its classical heyday and on the cusp of either a glorious new future or the ashes of desolation. While the twist was easy for me to see, I still found the story interesting enough that I was eager to see how it would all unfold and affect the cast of characters. Reviewed by Qurratulayn Muhammad
a gladiator; Corylus, scholarly son of a retired general and merchant; and the wizard Varius, possessed of the spirit of Sybil, which perhaps makes him the most powerful wizard in the world. Drake’s style hearkens back to the Greek epics, not just in subject matter, but in tone. The heroes upon meeting with a challenge, manage to out trick almost every problem with brains and by favors gathered. Early in the book, Corylus frees the spirit Aura, who promises to lead him through the underworld. Instead, she leads him to the clutches of Scyllia. More through luck than skill, Corylus kills Scyllia, which gave Aura vengeance on the beast that killed her lover … and her service forever. Between the crossing of worlds, locations which don’t exist in our world (Carce), locations that do (Greece, India), and the multiple plotlines, the book does tend to bog down and get confusing at times. Are you reading Corylus’ tale or Alphena’s? When did Hedia get to India? It’s not enough to make the story unfollowable, but more than once I found myself having to reread sections to make sense of them. Fans of alternate history and mythology will find much to enjoy in Drake’s book, as well as any who enjoy an epic fantasy series. Reviewed by Jason Lang
Air and Darkness: A Novel (The Books of the Elements) By David Drake Tor Books, $26.99, 352 pages Check this out! Finishing up his Not Rome epic, David Drake’s Air and Darkness finishes up the series in suitably grand style. As the novel opens, Baccaus, the god of wine, continues his unstoppable rampage of love and revelry. Swathes of the countryside are replaced with vineyards, and dozens of people abandon their lives to go and follow in his train. Arranged against him are Hedia, the reluctant matriarch of her clan; her daughter Alphena, who defies everyone to train as
Luna: New Moon By Ian McDonald Tor Books, $27.99, 416 pages Check this out! In the not-too-distant future, the lunar colonies are run by five incredibly wealthy and powerful families. The majority of people on the moon are workers, constantly struggling between paychecks to maintain the air, power, carbon and data accounts that keep life on the moon possible. The poorest of people on Earth can still find air. On the airless moon, running out of one of the four “elementals” is death. This is the story of the Corta family, the newest of the five incorporated families on
the moon. The clan matriarch Adrianna found a fuel source that the other families had overlooked, which launched her and her family into massive wealth selling to the run-down and hungry Earth. Now in her last weeks, she must take the corporation and family she has forged and ready them for her passing. But to children born into fabulous wealth and power, this may be harder then thought. They must put aside their own internal rivalries … the other families on the moon are always watching, waiting for the slightest weakness. And beyond them lies the moon itself, where even the slightest mistake results in death. Part mob family novel, part political thriller, Luna is as full of backroom deals, double crosses, family, love and lust as you could want. The moon doesn’t have nations, instead they have families that reign as royalty. They even have arranged marriages between the families to help stabilize political stresses. But like any royal family, the maneuvering needed to keep and gain power is constant and merciless. Tailored assassin insects are as useful a tool as hacking computer systems or legal artificial intel l igences. The world of the moon resembles a mob war almost as much as it resembles a highstake corporate boardroom. McDonald effortlessly weaves the multiple stories of the Cortas, from Adrianna telling her life story as she moves into her final days, her five children, to Marina a surface worker who manages to gain a valued position within the family by simply being at the right place at the right time. The world of the Moon is well-detailed, both with new organizations that run the lunar economy, as well as companies that are more familiar to those of us on Earth. McDonald’s attention to detail is amazing; you learn the smell of moon dust, some of the more popular computer games, fashion in the future, cocktails, even engineering. The world is brought to vivid life even as the characters are. Luna: New Moon will appeal to hard sci-fi fans and to those who want a political thriller with a slight twist. I look forward to the sequel to this book. Reviewed by Jason Lang Krampus: The Yule Lord By Brom Harper Voyager, $19.99, 368 pages Check this out! There is a chapter late in Krampus that might be the most evocative writing that I’ve read in a long time. In a small bar on the outskirts of town, the losers and drifters and bikers are visited by the Krampus, looking to bring back the spirit of Yule. Despite the ridiculousness of the idea, the party ends in a full-fledged revel. The beer flows freely,
Tulsa Book Review • March 2016 • 15
the band is playing, and even the most hardened are drinking and laughing and dancing. And watching over it all is the giant black-furred, horned figure of the Krampus. You, as the reader find yourself wishing to join in, dancing with the bikers and drugged-out, laughing and singing with the ancient spirit of Yule. Past and problems are put aside for a short while, in a fight against the dark and the cold outside. Krampus: The Yule Lord is not your typical Christmas story. Even with the recent uptick in interest in the Krampus legends in the past few years, a story featuring St. Nick’s devilish companion who would snatch naughty children and throw them in his bag to beat them with his switch (or for the truly wicked, simply take them away to a fate best not talked about), is not the typical fare you would expect. Casting Santa Claus as the bad guy is another high hurdle that in other hands would likely never work. And yet, Brom has managed to craft a story that turns the usual Christmas tropes on their head, and paints a portrait of developed, complex characters who draw you in. Jesse, the story’s protagonist, starts the book by drinking the bottle of whiskey he got rather than his daughter’s Christmas gift. He is a low-rent musician at the cheap bars of the area, and sometimes runs errands for the local drug kingpin. His marriage is on the rocks, his wife has moved in with another man (the local police chief). He lives in a broken-down trailer and drives his father’s decrepit pickup. Then, on Christmas night, he witnesses a fight, inexplicably between a man dressed as Santa, and a couple of men dressed in furs and horns. In the struggle, Santa’s bag ends up in Jesse’s possession. Which makes him the prime target for both sides of the struggle. Oddly, though subverting the typical Christmas story, Krampus ends up being one. A story of redemption and family, of love and spirit and trying to do the right thing. Krampus questions what the spirit of the season is about and finds that with a season as complex as the end of the year, that whatever holiday you might celebrate, at the center is the same values we all hold. Reviewed by Jason Lang
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