Grow Your Own Herbs in Pots / Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell

 

3 out of 5 stars

The weather here in Calgary has been unusually warm and spring like of late and it has given me a bit of spring fever. I haven't maintained plants on my balcony for a couple of years, as there was a balcony railing replacement project and I needed to keep the area clear. I took the opportunity to tip out the old soil from my pots, so now I must decide if I have the stick-to-itiveness to maintain outdoor plants this year. If I sink cash into potting soil and plants, I'd hope that I would take care of them, but I know myself. (I just admitted defeat in the form of a dead African Violet that I had for well over 20 years due to my erratic watering of the poor thing).

I confess that perusing this book made me want to trot off to the greenhouse today! I have delusions of tending a green and sweet smelling tiny garden on my balcony. I must control myself and start small. The general plant and soil advice in this volume are sound and I loved all the inventive containers. I'll be sticking to the large pots that I have available, but I can dream of someday having more room, can't I?

My balcony is small and north facing. Our growing season is short, since I really can't put plants outside overnight until June without risking frost/snow. I'm also right beside an extremely busy major road, which makes sitting outside a very noisy and exhaust fume ridden experience. But I think I will at least do what I call my Scarborough Fair pot, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.

The Rebel Angels / Robertson Davies

 

4.5 out of 5 stars

2022 Re-Read

I always enjoy revisiting Davies' novels as they are lively, quirky, and written in his very distinctive voice. He values eccentricity in his characters, making people like Arthur Cornish look rather stiff and boring. However, having previously read the next book in the series, I know that there are dark roots in the Cornish family. I have yet to read the third book of the trilogy, which I hope will give Arthur more page time and authorial attention.

I picked up a biography of Davies today at the library, hoping for some insights into one of my favourite authors. Rereading this novel was actually in anticipation of April, when Davies is one of our chosen authors for the (Mostly) Dead Writers Society. I hope to squeeze in quite a few of his works before the end of June, this one being just a warm up for the main event.

Original Review (2013)

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

She is so perfect--a beautiful brainiac. How much I would have given as a student to have her knowledge of languages. However, I remember spending hours trying to conjugate Ancient Greek verbs and remember proper endings of nouns--all these many years later, the only sentence I remember? "The boat is in Byzantium." Not really too useful, for translations or conversations.

Davies does try to give Maria some faults--she has a Gypsy family to contend with and has an adolescent crush on her thesis adviser, Hollier. And trust me, the whole crush on an instructor happens more frequently that one would expect (I had one friend who made a complete idiot of herself over her thesis adviser). But somehow Maria manages to spin these problems into gold by the end of the book.

I did enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at academic life--the rivalries, the jealousies, the friendships. Academics are people after all and have all the same passions. Having been employed by a university for 30 years, I have seen many of these dramas play out.

My only (small) complaint was that I did not find Maria and Arthur's relationship and marriage very realistic. It seemed much more like a business transaction--well, if I can't have that man, this one is offering marriage, so I'll accept him. There was a relationship in which I would have liked to see more passion! 

The Two Swords / R.A. Salvatore

 

3 out of 5 stars

Salvatore gives me just enough in each Drizzt book to keep me moving along to the next. Each book ends with a number of unresolved issues, encouraging the reader onwards. This volume is no exception.

After a couple of books which didn't have much relationship focus, this volume suddenly stirs up everybody's sensibilities. There are two love triangles, namely Cattie-Brie/Drizzt/Innovindil and Delly/Wulfgar/Cattie-Brie. Drizzt remains unaware of the survival of his friends for much of the book (but come on, you've got to know they'll be reunited again, right?) As a result he allows himself to consider the elf Innovindil romantically and it seems that she might be willing to reciprocate. Meanwhile, Wulfgar and Cattie-Brie are trying to morph their relationship into fond siblings. Wulfgar seems devoted to Delly and their little girl, Colson, but Delly can't seem to accept that she's number one in his world.

When Drizzt learns of his posse's survival, he is gobsmacked. When he finally returns to Mithril Hall, he does a true romantic hero impersonation, sweeping Cattie-Brie off her feet. It seems that Innovindil taught him something after all. I must say, it's about bloody time. Mr. Salvatore, if you pretend all of this didn't happen in the next book, I shall be seriously displeased!

Oh yeah, and there were piles of orcs, flying horses, frost giants, and all that jazz. But those things just provide a framework to display the importance of love and friendship, right?

Book Number 448 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project

The Windsor Knot / S.J. Bennett

 

R

4 out of 5 stars

I had a lot of fun reading this cozy mystery featuring Her Maj, Elizabeth II. I'm predisposed to enjoy this premise, having an aunt who was an unabashed royalty fan and a mother who took my sisters and me to the resigning of Treaty 7 here in Alberta, attended by Prince Charles. We were all very excited, even when overwhelmed by an unexpected dust storm. I guess what I'm saying is that my family is interested in royalty but not staunch monarchists.

I thought the author used known details of the Queen's life very effectively, corgis, horses, Prince Philip, and all. Bennett provides a plausible murder inside Windsor Castle after one of many social occasions held there. The victim is a young Russian man, involving MI6 in case of Russian government machinations. When the head of the investigation gets too focused on the members of the Queen's household, trying to find a Russian connection, Her Maj takes matters in hand to make sure justice is served.

Of course the Queen cannot do her own investigating, so she enlists her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a young British Nigerian woman. Rozie soon discovers that QEII has a habit of drafting her APS in this role, as they will listen to her and actually hear what she's saying. As an earlier secretary tells Rozie, “The Queen solves mysteries. She solved the first one when she was twelve or thirteen, so the story goes. On her own. She sees things other people don't see--often because they're all looking at her. She knows so much about so many things. She's got an eagle eye, a nose for bullshit, and a fabulous memory. Her staff should trust her more."

Obviously Elizabeth cannot take credit for solving the crime either, so she must manipulate the men in charge, carefully stage managing things to make sure they all think the ideas are theirs. I loved the obvious fondness for Queen Elizabeth, the intelligent and attractive Rozie, and the conspiracy of female secretaries to aid and abet their sovereign. Just my cuppa tea!

Wintersmith / Terry Pratchett

 

3.5 stars out of 5

I'm still enjoying this series, but this book was slightly less charming than the first two Tiffany books. It was saved by the entertaining Nac Mac Feegle, who are instrumental in the solving of Tiffany's problems. I also appreciated Granny Weatherwax's approach to problem solving. I can see where the Witches subseries of Discworld will be one of my next Pratchett reading goals.

I grew up on a farm and as a result I loved the plague of chickens, predicted by the kelda of the Nac Mac Feegle. Tiffany ends up with the cornucopia of the Summer Lady, which produces quite a crowd of chickens when left unattended one night. Pratchett's description of chickens was bang on: ”The floor was covered in chickens. So was every room down below. In the kitchen, chickens had overflowed into the sink. They weren't making much noise, just the occasional 'werk' a chicken makes when it's a bit uncertain about things, which is more or less all the time.”

There was also a moment, when Roland, the Baron's son, is in the Underworld with the Feegles, when he states, “When you take away memories, you take away the person. Everything they are.” I have to wonder, as this book was published just before the time that Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, if it was a comment on how he was feeling. That he realized that something within himself wasn't quite right. A sad moment in an otherwise playful book.

This was a buddy read with my SRR friends and I thank them once again for helping me find my way into Discworld.

The Warrior-Prophet / R. Scott Bakker

 

2ish out of 5 stars

When I placed the interlibrary loan request for this book, I had no idea how difficult it would be to keep myself interested in it. It is definitely a book about a brutal war. The description of the sacking of Caraskand alone was horrible. The killing of children, the raping of women, and the senseless destruction of the city—they all turned my stomach. And when I turned from fiction and switched on the news, all I got was the bombardment of Ukraine by Russian forces. There was no escape.

What if Jesus hadn't proclaimed that the meek would inherit the earth? If he had never urged us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves? The titular warrior-prophet, Kellhus, assumes a very Christ-like role in this second book of Bakker's <i>Prince of Nothing</i> series. However, you cannot call him the Prince of Peace. He travels with the armies of the Holy War, holding court around his campfire each evening, talking with his “apostles" and gathering larger and larger audiences. He even has the two women, Esmi and Serwe, as his Mary and Martha. He communes with someone he addresses as Father. 

I had intended to read the final book of this trilogy this year, but I now question whether I can stand to. If this book tells me anything, it's that war is abominable and I already know that. These days, I need more lightness and joy in my life and these epic fantasy war epics drag me down. It remains to be seen if I ever finish this series.

Book Number 447 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project.

Shifting Shadows / Patricia Briggs

 

3.5 stars out of 5

What took me so long to read this collection of short stories set in the Mercy-verse? I'm just not sure. They are fun little vignettes, filling in some of the spaces between the novels. I was particularly taken with Asil's story(Roses in Winter). I suspect that a lot of us have a quiet crush on Asil.

Two of the stories I had read before, but they were worth reading again. Seeing Eye, the meeting of the blind witch Moira and her werewolf, Thomas, was also published in the anthology Strange Brew. It was one of my Halloween books one year. And of course there was the infamous Alpha and Omega, the introduction to the Charles and Anna series. I was so annoyed when I read the first novel (Cry Wolf) and found that I was missing important data! The introduction to this entry finally explained to me why a short story was the actual beginning of the series. I've been over my annoyance for a while, but it was still helpful.

I wouldn't recommend this volume as an introduction to Briggs' werewolf books. It's much better if you know the players before consuming this sampler. But for those of us who have become fond of these characters, this volume is a great way to distract ourselves while we await the new installment.

Girl A / Abigail Dean

 

3 out of 5 stars

Meh. I liked it well enough to finish it. I kept waiting for the “oh wow" moment, the twist that would make things worthwhile and it never came. There were a couple of small surprises, but nothing worth over 300 pages of slogging through sibling politics. 

Lex Gracie, along with her siblings, is a survivor. After failing at setting up his own church, Lex's father goes off the deep end into religion and anti-government conspiracy theories. It starts mildly enough, with home schooling the children and progresses to severely restricting their food intake, tying them to their beds, and eventually chaining them there. We meet Lex many years later when she is a lawyer, just after her biological mother has died in prison. She is her mother's executor and must deal with their childhood home, known in the press as the House of Horrors.

As part of the executor position, Lex must get in touch with each of her siblings and get their agreement on her plans for the house. Each chapter deals with a particular sibling, past and present. So, lots of sibling relationship angst, multiplied by several factors by the abusive situation. The author represents this reasonably accurately, I imagine, maybe even toning down the resentments and warped ties between them. They all have issues and getting everyone on the same page is like herding cats (although I thought they were actually far too easily convinced to be co-operative).

I you like reading biographies and memoirs of abuse survivors, you will probably get more out of this novel than I did. I've read a few of these, enough to know it's not my genre. I'd hoped for a little more from fiction, where the author can arrange things their own way to illustrate their point. 

Fifty-Four Pigs / Philipp Schott

 

4 out of 5 stars

Thank you ECW Press for sending me an advance reader copy of this novel.

I've had mixed results with ARCs in the past, so I was both excited and apprehensive to receive this mystery from a small Canadian press. From the first page, I was hooked.

Now the publicist that contacted me had no way to know that I grew up on a hog farm on the Canadian prairies. Just knowing that a pig barn is the place where the plot begins was exciting to me. (Other people may find that their mileage varies on this issue). It also helped that I've always been interested in Iceland and the Icelandic community in Manitoba.

This is a cozy mystery, with plenty of tea drinking and dog walking. Our main character, Dr. Peter Bannerman, is a veterinarian with a mixed practice of pets and farm animals. He's kind of an inflexible guy, keeping an extremely regular schedule, with definite rational beliefs, and he's a bit clued out about regular irrational human behaviour. This gets him into trouble sometimes when he misinterprets the folks around him. Despite the cozy label, there are serious crimes committed and Peter admits to being curious as a cat. This gets him in hot water with his brother-in-law, an RCMP officer. Not to mention his wife.

I quite enjoyed this mystery, despite the fact that the pigs don't feature as much as I'd hoped, judging by the title. The author himself is a vet and he has written nonfiction books about his profession. If I wasn't already snowed under with a huge TBR, I would request one of these from our public library. There's a second mystery in the works (Six Ostriches) and I'll be keeping an eye out for it.

This book will be available on April 19, 2022.

My dad feeding the sows on our family farm

Quicksilver / Neal Stephenson

 

3 out of 5 stars

What a difference the right character makes! I was on page 384 when I suddenly realized that Eliza was finally someone in the narrative that I could care about. Because of her, Jack Shaftoe became more interesting too. (If I was a stickler for Nancy Pearl's rule, I would have abandoned the novel long before this point [Take 100, subtract your age and the result is the number of pages you should read before giving up on a book. When you're 100, you're free to judge a book by its cover.]) But I did end up liking the book, although not as much as I had hoped.

It shouldn't have been that way. I was so optimistic when I started this huge book. After all, Isaac Newton was a prominent character. How could he fail to be fascinating? Well, by appearing for a while, then dropping out of sight, that's how. He reappears fleetingly at the end, at least. Daniel Waterhouse was mildly interesting, but so clueless about politics (and women) that he was next to useless as a narrator. It was the sections about his older self, trying to return from Massachusetts to England on a ship and escaping from pirates that kept me reading until I found Eliza. I'm usually an enthusiastic reader of historical fantasy, but I found my attention drifting frequently. I'd have to back up a couple of paragraphs to make sure I hadn't glossed over a significant point.

I've read a few Stephenson novels at this point in my reading project: Snow Crash, The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, and Cryptonomicon, varying from 2 to 3 stars for me. I am coming to the conclusion that Neal is just not the lid to fit my pot. What’s interesting to me is that I have hit the 2003 to 2004 part of my reading list and many of the titles are huge brick-like tomes! What was it about this time period that encouraged these huge doorstoppers of books? Now comes the question, will I continue this series? Well, I'm going to give the second volume a try for sure. My library has it so it will be effortless to acquire. And I still have some time to wait before the Ruler of my Historical Fantasy Heart, Guy Gavriel Kay, publishes his newest title.

Book Number 445 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project

The Little Sister / Raymond Chandler

 

3.8 out of 5 stars

One doesn't read Chandler for plot (which is fortunate, because the plot here is nebulous). One reads Chandler for his wonderful noir descriptions, for the world-weary atmosphere, and for the beautiful sentences. For using sentences where Marlowe distinguishes between Browning the weapon and Browning the poet. Where he uses elegant similes to describe sordid business. I think that's the biggest draw for me: the gorgeous manipulation of the language juxtaposed with the sleazy subject matter.

It really struck me in the book how much of an alter ego Philip Marlowe was for his author. Marlowe smokes a pipe, something I see in many of the photos of Chandler. He consumes alcohol like his life depends on it. If he's not kissing some dame, he's got one throwing herself at him. Unfortunately for the women who would like to distract him, Marlowe sees through that ploy because he sees it so often. Poor women don't have much else to use to their advantage.

“Chandler was by 1931 a highly paid vice president of the Dabney Oil Syndicate, but his alcoholism, absenteeism, promiscuity with female employees, and threatened suicides contributed to his dismissal a year later.” (Wikipedia)

Sounds a lot like Marlowe (without the suicide attempts). I have to say that I'm kind of impressed that the Syndicate fired him. I have no idea how they treated the women that Chandler was promiscuous with, but I appreciate that the highly paid man got turfed instead of just gently smacked on the wrist.

Not up to the level of his first two Marlowe books, but still I enjoyed it a fair bit.

The ABC Murders / Agatha Christie

 

R

4 out of 5 stars

2022 Re-Read

It's been 3 years since I read this and I thought I would remember the solution to this mystery. Nope! I got fooled again. Arthur Hastings and I should form a Clueless Club. At least when he's not in Argentina. Somehow I can't picture him as a successful rancher. But I digress….

I loved when Hastings declared that he didn't notice what people wore! Is this the same man who is always cognizant of the social status of the people he meets? He's always giving upper class folk the benefit of the doubt, right along with attractive women. It made me smile when Poirot told him that he should join a nudist colony! 

Madame Christie introduces a new, snooty policeman in this novel. Crome, like Japp, would like to dismiss Poirot as old and foreign. And like Japp, he learns that his attitude is unwarranted. Christie has got the goods on her countrymen, knowing how insular and xenophobic the English were at this time. And, of course, there is still a tendency to discount older folks. Ageism has never really gone away. 

A very pleasant diversion, allowing me to shirk my reading responsibilities towards a huge historical fantasy tome. Now I must return my nose to that particular grindstone! 

All Passion Spent / Vita Sackville-West

 

4 out of 5 stars

I don't know exactly why the fiction written by women in the 1930s appeals to me so much, but it does. I knew from the very first page that I was going to enjoy this little novel. The author, Vita Sackville-West, was a choice of the Dead Writers Society in the first quarter of this year.

It is the story of a person who got chivvied into a life that she didn't really want, preventing her from following her heart to the life of a painter. When she is in her late eighties, her husband dies, leaving her finally to do what she actually wants for what remains of her life. It turns out that she wants her family to leave her alone. Against their advice, she rents a small house and proceeds to do what she wants, which seems to be largely assessing her life and visiting with new friends.


In actuality, Lady Slayne has led a privileged existence, protected from difficulty by her husband and his money. Her inability to pursue her art career has been the only impediment in her life, but that has blighted her happiness. So she feels perfectly fine about arranging her final years just as she chooses. Why shouldn't she?

It's difficult to avoid thinking of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, with the argument that creatives women need space of their own to practice their craft. This author, Vita Sackville-West, had an intimate relationship with Woolf and they undoubtedly discussed this very subject. I've never felt very motivated to read Woolf, but this book may have changed my mind on that prejudice.

If you enjoy this book, might I suggest that you also try Elizabeth von Arnim's The Enchanted April and/or Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

Wellspring of Chaos / L.E. Modesitt

 

3.25 stars

I was somewhat worried when I started this novel that by its end, I would know far more about barrel making (cooperage) than I ever wanted to know. Unfortunately for Kharl and fortunately for me, Kharl's life goes to hell in a handbasket and he must abandon his business. No more barrel making! Yay!

Still, Modesitt treats his main character rather roughly. His wife is executed, he is given a lashing, his taxes get raised to an outrageous amount, his sons abandon him, and he experiences the wrath of a corrupt nobleman. He spends time as a beggar, hoping that a ship, captained by a maybe friend, will come in before the Watch finds him. If he got boils, he'd be equal with Job.

Strangely, I liked Kharl better than most Modesitt protagonists, despite his lack of emotion about all that has happened to him. He's very typical of the main characters in this series: stoic, hard working, steady (to the point of being boring), with concealed talents and very firm values that he refuses to compromise. He is told by two or three people along his journey that he must discover his purpose and find himself.

This story was much less plodding than most in the series. A fair amount of time is spent on a ship, so there's a fair bit of nautical jargon that I could have done without, just as I quickly tired of all the barrel staves at the beginning. But at least it wasn't a military tale, so there was a great deal less “Yes, ser"-ing. Blessed be.

The ending was somewhat surprising, as Kharl seems to pull a rabbit out of his hat, suddenly stronger and better than had been hinted earlier. But I should have expected it, it is part of the pattern this author uses. A determined self righteous man, overcoming an unjust system.

Book Number 444 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project

March of Crime / Jess Lourey

 

4 out of 5 stars

It's been a while since I visited with Mira and Mrs. Berns in Battle Lake, Minnesota. I always enjoy their adventures. Mira has a talent for stumbling over dead bodies and for messing up her own love life. Mrs. Berns has a talent for making Mira blush and for being a fun and confident sidekick. Jess Lourey gives Mrs. Berns all the best lines.

This is a small town mystery, so there are the requisite number of quirky characters. Kennie Rogers, the female mayor who always has a money making scheme going (this time it's a Minnesota phone sex business). Eustace, the off-the-grid guy outside town. Little D, the foster care kid who's shoplifting and looking for odd jobs. Gary Wohnt, the sheriff who is keeping an eye on Mira (is she a crush or a potential criminal?) Ida, the senior citizen who crafts life size dolls. If you've ever lived in a small town, you'll realize that all of this is entirely plausible.

The first body is dressed up as one of Ida's dolls and left at the restaurant counter. Where, of course, it's Mira who accidentally knocks her over to reveal what's going on. But Mira is resolved to keep her nose out of this investigation and herself out of Sheriff Wohnt's crosshairs. It just doesn't work, partly because Mrs. Berns is so gung-ho, partly because Mira's just too good a neighbour and citizen.

The solution to the crime, when it comes, is surprising but reasonably believable. Now I must start the search for the next volume of this series, because I have some questions about Gary Wohnt that I want answered!

Down Cemetery Road / Mick Herron

 

3.5 stars out of 5

This is Mick Herron's debut novel. It's very good and I could see how he was honing his craft. Instead of inventing a better mousetrap, he was learning how to structure a better espionage novel. I like his Slough House series better, mostly I think because the spies have become the main characters. In this novel, our main set of eyes is a bored housewife. When an explosion happens just down the street, she becomes fixated on the four year old survivor. Her mission becomes finding this child, dragging her into the sights of the spooks, who are disinclined to be gentle.

Although I don't know how realistic Sarah's sense of mission is. But perhaps because her life is in danger of coming apart at the seams, she has nothing left to lose. Nothing that she does seems too hard for a regular woman, but to keep on going in the face of obvious danger—I think I would have chickened out much earlier. However that wouldn't have made for a good story.

I felt like Herron wrote Sarah really well. He depicts her as a real person, realizing that her marriage is strained to the breaking point, that it has constrained her as a person, and that she has no idea where things are going. But she felt real to me, having emotions that I can relate to.

I decided some time ago that I wanted to read all of Herron's novels, and now I have made a good start.

The End of Men / Christina Sweeney-Baird

 

R

3.75 stars out of 5

Who would have thought that a book about a pandemic would be kind of comforting during a pandemic. Some of that effect is a result of the fictional Plague being much, much worse than Covid-19. It's a virus that only affects men, almost always resulting in death. Think of all the professions that are predominantly male: pilots, police, firefighters, soldiers, politicians. To a lesser extent doctors, dentists, other healthcare professionals. Societal paralysis results.

The female doctor who discovers Patient Zero struggles to get any of the men in charge to pay attention. There's the typical line, “It's only the flu.” Where have we heard that before? The author uses so many details from our years of Covid to great effect, making this story feel familiar and more believable. She uses short, staccato chapters to convey the panic and desperation of the people living through the disaster. Indeed, if the chapters had been longer or more detailed, my poor pandemic tired brain probably would have refused to let me continue. My concentration is shot to hell. (I've been hiding in genre fiction, unable to face nonfiction or literary fiction.) A passage of the book addresses this difficulty: ”I tried to read a romance novel a few days ago, thinking it might help. I managed two paragraphs before I slammed it shut, repulsed by the cheery tone. Now, it's comforting to read about mysteries, death, terror, and the eventual resolution of justice. My brain's capacity for reading about good fortune of others, even if their happiness is fictional, is currently nonexistent."

It's a combination of two of my favourite fiction forms, the apocalyptic and the post-WWI and WW2 fiction. Rationing combined with training women to fill in all the empty jobs. I also think this novel would make a great book club selection, generating plenty of interesting discussion. Would things really turn out this way? Could we face another pandemic like this in the future? Lots to talk about!