 |
| 4 out of 5 stars |
To save precious
centuries-old Arabic texts from Al Qaeda, a band of librarians in
Timbuktu pulls off a brazen heist worthy of Ocean’s Eleven.
In
the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library,
Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the
Niger River, tracking down and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient
Islamic and secular manuscripts that had fallen into obscurity. The
Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells the incredible story of how
Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist and historian from the legendary city
of Timbuktu, later became one of the world’s greatest and most brazen
smugglers.
In 2012, thousands of Al Qaeda militants from
northwest Africa seized control of most of Mali, including Timbuktu.
They imposed Sharia law, chopped off the hands of accused thieves,
stoned to death unmarried couples, and threatened to destroy the great
manuscripts. As the militants tightened their control over Timbuktu,
Haidara organized a dangerous operation to sneak all 350,000 volumes out
of the city to the safety of southern Mali.
I was fascinated by this
account of the libraries/archives of irreplaceable old manuscripts in
Arabic and other languages of North Africa and the Middle East. The
first chapters introduce us to the main players in the manuscript biz,
as they try to find & trade for these delicate, rare documents and
set up local archives to store them.
I think many people forget
how sophisticated the Arab world was, back when Europe was languishing
in the Dark Ages. They were responsible for maintaining scientific
knowledge, mathematics, medicine, and philosophy, while Europeans were
being held back by a repressive Church. The Renaissance began when
Europeans re-discovered the books that had been preserved by the Arabs.
I
don’t know about you, but I remember being taught the history of
civilization in grade school. I think it must have been about Grade 5 or
6 that we learned about the Mesopotamia being the Cradle of
Civilization and being part of the Fertile Crescent. And still, Western
governments & researchers seem to be surprised to discover that
non-European people had complex civilizations complete with books &
universities. I was glad to see the people of North Africa hanging on to
their patrimony and keeping these manuscript collections in their own
countries, as they have the expertise to read and interpret them. Too
often this kind of collection gets whisked off to some Western
repository where it attracts limited interest and travel costs prevent
African scholars from accessing them.
Reading about the history
& variety of extremists in the area certainly gives one pause. So
many of the names of the major players were familiar to anyone who
follows the news, especially the kidnap victims. I was interested to
fill in the details on why these events happened and what else was going
on behind the scenes. I still don’t really comprehend the level of
hostility of groups like Al Qaeda and the Taliban to art, culture, and
literature, but I understand that they have a potentially mistaken idea
of what early Islam was like (just as many fundamentalist Christians
seem to have a skewed view of what early Christians were like). It seems
like most fundamentalists have the same view of the world, i.e. that it
is just a temporary waiting room before the real deal, the hereafter.
What a limiting way to look at the world!
As a library worker who
has dabbled in archival and museum collection description, I have to
say that I was sincerely jealous of the people who got to work with the
marvelous collections described in this volume. I would give my eye
teeth to be involved in the cataloguing & digitization of such a
significant resource!
 |
| 4 out of 5 stars |
The great annual
Fair of Saint Peter at Shrewsbury, a high point in the citys calendar,
attracts merchants from far and wide to do business. But when an
unseemly quarrel breaks out between the local burghers and the monks
from the Benedictine monastery as to who shall benefit from the levies
the fair provides, a riot ensues. Afterwards a merchant is found dead,
and Brother Cadfael is summoned from his peaceful herb garden to test
his detective skills once more.
What a pleasure it is to
find a character and a series that I consistently enjoy. Four books into
the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, and I am well and truly hooked. So I
am well pleased to see that I still have 16 books ahead of me. The
trick will be not to read them too quickly!
Brother Cadfael is a
wonderful medieval sleuth—he’s participated in the Crusades, he’s had
love affairs, he’s a man of the world, but he has chosen “retirement” in
Shrewsbury Abbey. I think his philosophy would be that God helps those
who help themselves, although in this installment he receives one of his
greatest breakthroughs by withdrawing to the chapel to pray. Abbey
politics also feature in these books and Cadfael is getting used to a
new leader (and they seem to see eye to eye).
People are people,
regardless of time period. Young people are going to have strong
opinions, occasionally drink too much and embarrass themselves, fall in
love, and generally do the things that young people do. Including
getting implicated in crimes. Cadfael is wonderfully non-judgmental for a
monk and full of quiet wisdom. A person who notices small details and
can put them together quickly & accurately, he is an excellent
forensic investigator before such a thing was considered.
A joy to read this comfortable, entertaining series.
 |
| 3 out of 5 stars |
Love at first sight turns into newlywed bliss for former librarian Aurora Teagarden-until violence cuts the honeymoon short.
Wealthy
businessman Martin Bartell gives Roe exactly what she wants for their
wedding: Julius House. But both the house and Martin come with murky
pasts. And when Roe is attacked by an ax-wielding maniac, she realizes
that the secrets inside her four walls—and her brand-new marriage—could
destroy her.
When your hobby is studying
True Crime stories, what do you want as a wedding present? Well, a
mysterious house where the whole family has vanished without a trace,
that’s what. And that’s exactly what Aurora Teagarden gets from her new
husband, Martin. She gets a few other secrets rolled into the bargain
without her knowledge, however, that lead her to wonder whether she’s
made the correct choices for her life.
The amount that I enjoy
Charlaine Harris’ mysteries seems to depend more on my frame of mind
than anything else. When I’m in a receptive mood, I’m willing to just go
with whatever scenario she dishes up. When I’m perhaps a bit cranky, I
start questioning those plot choices and I don’t enjoy the story quite
so much.
This time out, I feel a bit cranky about things.
Although I thought that the reveal of what actually happened to the
Julius family was very well done, I found the relationship developments
between Roe and Martin to be questionable. Who in their right mind goes
into a marriage with unanswered questions of that magnitude? When you
have an opportunity to question the ex-wife, why would you shut her
down? And why would you ever go to your former date for marriage
counselling?
Yeah, yeah, small town, limited number of people,
blah, blah, blah. I’ve lived in a small town and I don’t find it
realistic. But I’ve never lived in the Southern States, so what do I
know?
I actually own a copy of the next book in the series, which
I picked up in a second-hand bookstore. So I guess I will be continuing
on at some point, when I have the crankies under control.
 |
| 4 out of 5 stars |
Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration
of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years,
cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in
science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. In this fascinating
account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the
centuries and tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no
longer with them.
Mary Roach never disappoints
me. She is interested in unusual subjects and she approaches them with a
slightly off-kilter sense of humour. However she has finally found a
subject that I can’t read about while eating--I had to save this book
for after-supper reading.
We hate to be brought face-to-face with
our mortality and that is exactly what human cadavers do. We have to
consider who they were before death and that we will be like them some
day. I think even Ms. Roach found herself testing her usual gung-ho
boundaries during this research. She talks about the line that she had
to ride, to be sufficiently respectful of the dead (who, after all,
still have people in the world who care about them) and her usually
irreverent self. She retains the humour by making fun of her own
reactions.
As a society, we don’t like to think about death, yet
we get all emotional about using human bodies (which were donated by
those who used to inhabit them) in safety tests of various sorts. I
guess it’s not as dignified as we expect the dead to be treated. It also
seems to be extremely uncomfortable for those doing the testing.
Weird
and wonderful, this is everything you wanted to know about being dead,
but were afraid to ask. Mary is rarely afraid to ask. If you enjoy this
book, I would recommend her logical companion volume, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife.
 |
| 3 out of 5 stars |
She flees on her
wedding day. She steals ancient documents from the Chancellor’s secret
collection. She is pursued by bounty hunters sent by her own father.
She is Princess Lia, seventeen, First Daughter of the House of
Morrighan. The Kingdom of Morrighan is steeped in tradition and the
stories of a bygone world, but some traditions Lia can’t abide. Like
having to marry someone she’s never met to secure a political alliance.
Fed
up and ready for a new life, Lia escapes to a distant village on the
morning of her wedding. She settles in among the common folk, intrigued
when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one
is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her.
Deceptions swirl and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking
perilous secrets—secrets that may unravel her world—even as she feels
herself falling in love.
Holy Mother of Love Triangles, Batman!
However,
having said that, it’s a common trope in Romance novels, and is used
quite effectively in this YA novel. Of course our main character is a
princess, one who has become a runaway bride. Unwilling to marry for
political purposes to a young man that she’s never even met, Lia takes
off on her wedding day and sets her sights on becoming a commoner.
Enraged
that his bride has kicked over the traces, her betrothed goes looking
for her. He seems unsure of quite why—maybe he just wants to look at the
woman he’s lost, maybe he wants revenge. Also pursuing the fugitive
bride is an assassin from a neighbouring kingdom whose job it is to
eliminate the princess and thus make sure that these two countries don’t
unite against his.
The inevitable (in romantic fiction) happens and both
young men unexpectedly find that they really like Lia. They both
(unwisely) spend time with her and learn the reason that she fled and
the things that matter to her. Lia finds that she likes both young men,
not knowing that they have ulterior motives for spending time in her
company.
I have to say that it took me 2/3 of the book to figure
out which name belonged to which man! I could have sorted it out, but
preferred to just plough on until the matter sorted itself out. I didn’t
really find the assassin’s task to be a sensible one—just let the
princess stay lost and the situation resolves itself! Plus, Lia’s quick
adaptation to working at an inn seemed too easy. Despite those
misgivings, I think that my teenage self would have loved this book. It
makes at least as much sense as the Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart books
that I was devouring at that age!
 |
| 3 out of 5 stars |
The willow bends and
does not break, but the wind that blows from the west has a name...and
that name is Khan--Jenghiz Khan. It is to the north of ancient China
where lies the greatest danger and no one is safe, especially
foreigners.The man known to the Chinese people as Shih Ghieh-Man faces
the greatest danger. He is an enigma--a man of strength with no
perceivable vices. To survive the coming storm, he allies himself with
the beautiful T'en Chih-Yu, a woman warrior desperate to save her people
from the Mongol horde.But the man who offers his help has another,
older name-and a terrible secret. For he is the Count St. Germain...and
the greatest gift he can bestow can be bought with blood...or death.
This
installment of the Saint-Germain chronicles didn’t quite hit the spot
for me—it seemed to cover a lot of ground (literally), a lot of tragedy,
and did it all without much point. It wouldn’t have taken much to push
it into 4 star territory, just a bit more focus. As it stands, this book
felt to me very much like two excuses to push Saint-Germain into a
Chinese and an Indian woman’s beds, and little else.
I can
certainly see why female readers find Saint-Germain a sympathetic
character—age doesn’t mean much to him, considering how old he is, so
even we older readers can envisage ourselves as possible love interests
for this enigmatic vampire. Plus, as the Indian woman, Padmiri,
discovers, he is all about female sexual satisfaction. She describes a
subsequent lover as willing to get her aroused because he knows that it
will benefit him, but her arousal & satisfaction are not truly that
man’s focus.
Two enormous, diverse countries are explored in
this novel and both got short shrift. When the story begins,
Saint-Germain has already been in China for some time, long enough for a
university to decide that they would like him to leave. At no point is
the reader told why Saint-Germain chose China or what he was trying to
accomplish there. India is just a way-station on his travels “home,” and
the potential for interesting adventures is hemmed in by the rather
histrionic plot in which a young priestess of Kali attempts to capture
& use Saint-Germain as a sacrifice to her goddess.
For me,
the most engaging and interesting part of the book took place as
Saint-Germain and Roger over-winter in a Buddhist monastery and get to
know the nine-year-old lama in charge of the lamasery. It is a small
section, disappointingly quick to pass.
What should have been a
more pressing problem—Saint-Germain is running out of his supply of his
native earth—doesn’t get nearly the attention that it should. Especially
since he and running water don’t get along and he will need to put to
sea to get home. Another irritant (for me), was a series of letters from
two Nestorian Christians travelling in China, but who remained
completely unexplained. It is not until the very end of the book that
the survivor of the pair crosses Saint-Germain’s path and I assume that
it is a set-up for another volume.
Still, despite my criticisms, I enjoyed this fluffy little fantasy tale and I will definitely continue on with the series.
 |
| 5 out of 5 stars |
An
autobiographical narrative in which the author describes his experiences
in Nazi concentration camps, watching family and friends die, and how
they led him to believe that God is dead. Night is Elie Wiesel’s
masterpiece, a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical
account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps.
I chose this book as one of several Remembrance Day reads. I read Viktor Frankl’s Man's Search for Meaning just before it and, although there are many similarities, there are also interesting differences.
Reading
about life in a concentration camp is a brutal experience. Frankl had
the advantages of being a grown man and a psychiatrist when he entered
the system—he understood human behaviour, both good and bad, and could
make assessments that the teenage Wiesel wasn’t able to. The fact is
that anyone who survived the death camps ended up doing things that were
selfish in order to survive and people who are starving don’t have the
emotional energy to spare to care about others. They are numb to both
their own suffering and that of even their own family members. Knowing
that other prisoners were in worse shape and could have used more help
and/or sympathy left these survivors with terrible guilt, feeling that
they were faulty human beings who should have done better. They saw
horrible things, they did things that they judge themselves for, and it
is absolutely no wonder that they had psychological issues for the rest
of their lives.
Where Frankl emerged from Auschwitz with a
renewed sense of purpose, Wiesel seems to have changed profoundly—from
an innocent, religious, and scholarly young man, he became a crusader to
preserve the memory of the Holocaust. This book is a testament to his
experience, his survival, and his mission.
 |
| 3 out of 5 stars |
Allan Quartermain
is a sequel to the famous novel King Solomon's Mines. Quatermain has
lost his only son and longs to get back into the wilderness. Having
persuaded Sir Henry Curtis, Captain John Good, and the Zulu chief Umbopa
to accompany him, they set out from the coast of east Africa, this time
in search of a white race reputed to live north of Mount Kenya. They
survive fierce encounters with Masai warriors, undergo a terrifying
subterranean journey, and discover a lost civilization before being
caught up in a passionate love-triangle that engulfs the country in a
ferocious civil war.
I have read Haggard’s She and King Solomon's Mines, and I basically knew what to expect when I began Allan Quatermain.
In many ways, AQ is a combination of the other two novels, but not
quite as good as either one of them. It’s an adventure fantasy, starring
rich Englishmen in deepest darkest Africa. They shoot a lot of animals
and incidentally kill off quite a few African servants in the course of
their quest. And what are they searching for, you ask? Why an unknown
civilization of white people in an area where almost no one has gone
before.
When the men find their Lost Civilization, Haggard
doubles down on a good thing. Instead of one mysterious white woman
ruling the area (as in She), he provides two of them in this
novel! And just to show that the love triangle trope is not unique to
modern romance literature, both of these queenly personages fall head
over heels in love with Allan’s companion, Sir Henry. To say that this
causes problems is an understatement. Also similar to She is Allan’s position vis-Ã -vis Sir Henry, just as Horace Holly played wise, humbler advisor to his young companion Leo.
I adore Haggard’s She,
having discovered this portal to fantastical adventure during my high
school years. I feel affection for all of his work because of that and
it is impossible for me to rate it objectively, but if you are only
going to read one of his adventure fantasies, choose She and get to know She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. Allan is just not quite as much fun.
 |
| 5 out of 5 stars |
Psychiatrist
Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its
descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual
survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps,
including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife
perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he
treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid
suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and
move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory-known as
logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")-holds that our
primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the
discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.
If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.
This
seemed like a fitting book to read on the Remembrance Day weekend,
especially since I recently read Anne Frank’s Diaries. It is a harrowing
reading experience, but also strangely comforting. Frankl details his
concentration camp history in order to show us the how and why of
survival.
I think it was Frankel’s even-handedness that impressed
me the most. He sees evil when it presents itself, in the form of
sadistic guards and other prisoners who lord it over their peers, but he
also acknowledges the presence of good people in difficult
situations—the server in the food line who always scoops from the bottom
of the soup pot, giving everyone a chance at one of those longed-for
peas, the guard who nudges the weaker prisoner towards lighter duties,
the fellow marcher who offers a hand.
Survival is often a matter
of luck—choosing the right work assignment or choosing a favourable move
to another camp, but each person was also responsible for their own
luck by paying attention and helping others when they were able or
stroking the ego of a guard when the chance arose. Frankl points out
that most of those who survived had a bigger goal—a loved one to be
reunited with or a project to be finished. He credits his half-finished
book with getting him through a bout of typhus during his imprisonment.
A tale of grim survival, leading to a sympathetic psychiatric theory. Have you identified your purpose?
 |
| 4 out of 5 stars |
As the evil
minions of the undead Sithi Storm King prepare for the
kingdom-shattering culmination of their dark sorceries and King Elias is
drawn ever deeper into their nightmarish, spell spun world, the loyal
allies of Prince Josua desperately struggle to rally their forces at the
Stone of Farewell. And with time running out, the remaining members of
the now devastated League of the Scroll have also gathered there to
unravel mysteries from the forgotten past in an attempt to find
something to strike down their unslayable foe.
But whether or not
they are successful, the call of battle will lead the valiant followers
of Josua Lackhand on a memorable trek to the haunted halls of Asu'a
itself - the Sithi's greatest stronghold.
A satisfying ending to an
engaging trilogy. I can see why this final tome was originally published
in two parts—it was a definite door-stop! I sprained my wrist two years
ago, and I found that old injury aching at the end of lengthy reading
sessions!
However, the size of the volume was necessary in order
to tie up the many, many loose ends from the first two books. I
especially appreciated the return of “Rachel the Dragon” as an honoured
elder lady, even as I grieved the loss of other characters. I also have
to say that I appreciated the focus on Miriamele, despite the fact that
she often came across as spoiled and irrational. I was able to endure
that portrayal because Simon was often angry and petulant for no
particular reason that I could discern either. Equal opportunity bad
behaviour!
I appreciated that Osten Ard was not just a clone of
Middle Earth. Williams gave the world his own structure and rules, and
created unique creatures and challenges for his characters. I really
liked the ending--it worked for me. I always feel the tug of emotion as
the war ends and the circle of friends must split up to return to their
own lives—happy to get back to normal, sad to be parted.
Book number 267 in my Science Fiction & Fantasy reading project.
 |
| 4 out of 5 stars |
Carolyn's not so
different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and
cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit
tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the
Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts. After all, she was a
normal American herself once.
That was a long time ago, of
course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in
by the man they called Father. In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't
had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings
have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied
the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power.
And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be
God.
Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library
that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all
of creation. As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to
come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them
with powers that far exceed her own. But Carolyn has accounted for
this. And Carolyn has a plan.
The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.
4 dark and twisty stars.
I
spent the first couple of chapters of this book wondering WTF? What is
going on here? Who are these people? Are they really people? Then things
started to weave together for me—if not exactly making sense, I could
start to see a pattern developing and it intrigued me. By the end, I was
enjoying the hell out of it.
I’m a pretty devoted fantasy reader
and I chose this book for my real-life book club as a horror choice. I
had to sit and think about that once I was finished. Was this horror? I
had to go look up some definitions of the horror genre, but I’ve come to
the conclusion that it does indeed slot into that classification. It
has supernatural elements. It is surreal and sometimes gruesome. It is
unsettling. I guess that I associate horror with being scared and
because I wasn’t hiding under my bedcovers, this felt more like dark
fantasy to me.
It’s been decades since I read The Epic of Gilgamesh,
but I thought about it when reading about David, who reminded me a bit
of Enkidu, the Wildman. I have to say that all the resurrections and
being children of a god made me think of the New Testament too and its
stories about Jesus. The lions, Dresden and Naga, brought C.S. Lewis’
Aslan to mind as well, so there were just threads pulling all over the
place to all these other works.
What made me laugh, after I was
done, was reading the author’s biographical note and seeing that he’s
very involved in dog rescue, including owning a “pack” of foster dogs.
One of the more disturbing events in the book is a scene where Steve and
the two lions must fight off an unending stream of supernaturally
determined dogs!
I love it when an author doesn’t get all
explainy and lets you sort things out for yourself. I also love it when
details that seem like throw-away items early in the book become
suddenly significant when the chips are down.
A very impressive debut novel and I shall be very interested to see what this author produces next.
 |
| 3 out of 5 stars |
Elena Michaels is
the world’s only female werewolf. And she’s tired of it. Tired of a life
spent hiding and protecting, a life where her most important job is
hunting down rogue werewolves. Tired of a world that not only accepts
the worst in her–her temper, her violence–but requires it. Worst of all,
she realizes she’s growing content with that life, with being that
person.
So she left the Pack and returned to Toronto where she’s
trying to live as a human. When the Pack leader calls asking for her
help fighting a sudden uprising, she only agrees because she owes him.
Once this is over, she’ll be squared with the Pack and free to live life
as a human. Which is what she wants. Really.
I read this for the “Werewolves” square of my 2017 Halloween Bingo card.
I
keep reminding myself that this is a first book in a series and that I
often like later books better, once the author has found their groove.
I’m fence sitting with a 3 star rating on this one because I’ve got some
issues with it, but I found it interesting enough to finish it, and not
just for the sake of my Bingo game!
Elena, the main character,
drove me crazy. She should actually be a cat of some kind, because no
matter where she was, she thought she wanted to be somewhere else. If
she was in Toronto, she was thinking she’d be happier in Stonehaven.
Then she’s pissed off when she gets summoned to Stonehaven and wants to
be back in Toronto. She’s supposedly trying to build an ordinary life
for herself with Philip in Toronto, but pretty much immediately is
having sex with Clayton when she returns to the werewolf fold. Rinse and
repeat the pattern above—whichever man she’s currently with, she wants
the other one.
Philip, although we see very little of him (and
never from his point of view), haunts the background of most of the
book. He’s an unusually patient man, who spent months trying to get to
know Elena and who seems to have been stealthily sneaking more ties into
their relationship as time passes. What he finds attractive is somewhat
of a mystery—he is sleeping with a woman who sneaks out in the middle
of the night regularly and doesn’t explain why. She’s slim, of course,
from all that nocturnal wolf running and starving herself so as not to
display her amazing werewolf appetite, but she admits that she hates
clothes shopping and doesn’t concentrate too much on her appearance.
She’s secretive, understandably to those of us in the know, but not the
slightest bit creative about her excuses for her behaviour and Philip
doesn’t seem to have the wherewithal to interrogate her in the way I
think a normal lover would.
In the foreground is Clay, who
doesn’t care about people at all, just werewolves. He liked Elena, so he
made sure to bite her in order to trap her in his world. He’s not the
alpha (that would be Jeremy) but he’s still an overbearing a-hole who
only listens to Elena when he wants to. Mind you, he has some reasons
for that, since she seems to lie to herself quite regularly about what
she truly wants and what is realistic for a woman in her situation.
So
the ending of this volume was no surprise to me—there was only one way
things could resolve, it was just a matter of the path that Armstrong
took me on to get there. I know that a lot of my GR friends who like
urban fantasy love this series, so I am going to persevere for a book or
two more to see if I can get into it. After all, I would love to
support a Canadian writer and to read fantasy set in my own country.
