Review: The Grave Tender

The Grave Tender by Eliza Maxwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I believe this was a ebook I received through IHG Rewards. It's been over a year, though, so I don't remember clearly.

And same goes for the book itself, trying to go back to review some of these books from months ago. This was an exciting read, but it didn't leave a lasting impression. The twists are intriguing and make for a good story. For free multi-week entertainment, this hit the spot last summer.

While the theme is dark, I'm not sure it was really a thriller. There are some events that are hidden from the reader and some of the characters, but I felt like the action mostly happened in the past. I didn't mind the shifting in time and point-of-view.

Thinking back on it and remembering bits and pieces of the plot again, I'm recalling some really sad moments in this book. Definitely feel for the characters after reading.

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Review: The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye

The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an eBook I received as a perk for being a platinum IHG Rewards member.

This inspired me to start watching the AMC show, which I thoroughly enjoyed. This is the only volume of the comics I will probably read, but the differences between the comics and the show even in the first volume are pretty significant. As I remember it, the ending of the comic has quite a punch, which didn't exist in the TV show. I don't know if I think this is a good decision or not on the part of the TV show writers.

As with the majority of comics, it is a very quick read and a lot happens. I am generally a fan of the genre and enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away. I'm sure if I kept reading, I would be happy I did, but in this case, I'm also happy to just let the TV show be the primary way I consume this franchise.

Speaking of franchise, I am very interested in playing The Walking Dead pinball table again now that I've seen the show (I played it perhaps in 2017 in Portland), and to play the Telltale Games based on The Walking Dead as well.

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Review: みーんなかめ

みーんなかめ by としお ふくだ
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I purchased this book at The Cherry Door Thrift Shop in Tarrytown, NY. It had a surprising number of foreign books. I noticed the Japanese books, of course, but this one especially caught my eye because my brother-in-law has a tortoise.

This is a very cute children's picture book where a newly hatched turtle encounters various species of turtles, each indicating that they are the true turtle. The title translates to "Everyone's a Turtle!" so you can see where this is going. At the end of the book there is an explanation of each species that the characters are based on.

The nice thing about this picture book is that each turtle has a distinctive way of speaking that is identifiable. Some turtles speak like and old man, while others speak like a motherly lady. If I ever have a child, it would be nice to be able to share the nuances of this language and encourage their love of animals at the same time.

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Review: The GaMERCaT Volume 1: Press Start

The GaMERCaT Volume 1: Press Start by Samantha Whitten
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this as a gift from Sean and Allison.

A very quick read as comics invariably are. Really sweet and cute references to video games, of course. There are several that I've never played, so I didn't really understand it, but the extensive Pokemon and Zelda ones are nicely done. I also love when Pixel calls out GaMERCaT on being snobby about his gaming.

I totally didn't see the adoption message with the pet profiles at the end coming. Very nice touch. I was a very proud cat parent for a little less than a year when a friend needed a place for her to stay while he lived with a highly allergic person. Turns out my husband is also pretty allergic, but we were able to take her back to her original owner cross country. The comics were a nice reminder of the time that Davide lived with us, and we now have a bunny! Maybe there will be non-cat characters in the future?

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Review: Speaker for the Dead

Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the third time reading this book for me, and I find it ever more beautiful every time I read it. Hence my shift from four to five stars after this third read. I read Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow before I read this, but this was the first I found truly captivating. And yet I've yet to seek out the next book in the series. Maybe soon.

There is so much compassion in this book in the heartbreaking situations the characters are faced with. So much is foreshadowed if you are a perceptive reader or if you're reading. I think there was too much time between the first and second time I was reading it (over five years) to catch most of it, but between the second and third time was just over a year, and I still remembered much of the plot. I think this helped me appreciate the book so much more.

I also really appreciate the Introduction at the beginning: "You will make of my story what you need it to be, if you can." I think this is such a giving and generous sentiment for an author.

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Review: The Passion According to Carmela

The Passion According to Carmela by Marcos Aguinis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was one of the ebooks I received for free from Amazon's World Book Day 2019. There seem to be a lot of books this year with authors and settings from different countries, with an Argentinian author and an almost entirely Cuban setting. I like that World Book Day introduces me to books I would otherwise never find on my own.

I feel like this book has a pretty slow start. I found the first two-thirds a little dull, but the last few chapters are exciting. I mostly found the characters flat and uninteresting. It was very interesting to see Gabriel García Márquez appear as a character, though!

It seems from the Author's Note and the title that the romance between Carmela and Ignacio is supposed to be the center of this book, but I didn't find it to be compelling. I didn't really believe in their love despite the switches to first person that should have been more convincing.

I had just recently listened to a snippet of a podcast that my husband was listening to where they analyzed the successes of revolutions. One of the "ingredients" for success was nonviolence, which of course directly contradicts a quote from this book: "Revolution without violence is no revolution at all." I am glad I now know a little more about the Cuban revolution than the zero knowledge I had before.

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Review: The Story of Jumping Mouse

The Story of Jumping Mouse by John Steptoe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my absolute favorite children's picture book. I loved this as a child and had to get a copy, but it really isn't readily available in stores anymore. Good thing the internet makes old books easier to obtain.

The illustrations are amazingly beautiful. The titular Jumping Mouse is depicted both realistically and adorably. Having had a pet mouse, this story is even more special now that it reminds me of my dear Gatsby.

When I found this book again as an adult, I was surprised at how much text there is on every page. I just didn't remember how much of a story there was. There is also plenty going on in the black-and-white pictures on each page.

I wish I knew how old I was when I first read this book, but I'm glad I have it in my collection now.

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Review: The Name of the Rose

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first read this book in 2014. David, a friend of my husband, lent this to me, and I fell in love.

At first, I couldn't believe this would be an entertaining book. It had a lot of strikes against it: it takes place in the 14th century, the main characters are monks, and there are lots of descriptions of the political and religious climate of the time. But I never give up on books, and only a short way in, I discovered that I found this book a very exciting read.

It reminded me a little of the Nero Wolfe mysteries, with Adso being the narrator Archie Goodwin, and William being the insightful Nero Wolfe. I haven't really read much Sherlock Holmes, but I imagine there is a similar setup there. There must be something about it that makes it work, to be a witness to the good detective rather than a third person narrative or first person from the detective's perspective.

There are plenty of rather boring passages, and a lot of Latin which I mostly skimmed, but I definitely enjoyed the story.

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Review: An American Princess

An American Princess by Annejet van der Zijl
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was one of the ebooks I received for free from Amazon's World Book Day 2019. Appropriately for World Book Day, this is a biography of an American written by a Dutch author.

I really didn't find this book very engaging or interesting. It seemed like a very straightforward account of Allene Tew's life, but that is really it. I don't really get a sense of why I should care about her story.

I appreciate that this is a translation, but I somehow doubt that what I dislike about this book wouldn't exist in the original. I have read plenty of non-fiction in general and a number of biographies, but this feels very lacking. I can't imagine that this could be from lack of material either, since she lived not very long ago.

In short, it reads like a boring textbook.

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Review: Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History

Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ever since I read The Panda's Thumb some years ago, I've considered Stephen Jay Gould as one of my personal heroes. Every time I go to a second-hand bookstore, I look in the Science section for some of his books. I picked this one up at Second Story Books near Dupont Circle along with The Lying Stones of Marrakech, which is next on my list to read.

One of the aspects of Gould's writing that I absolutely love is how he uncovers "the other side" of stories that most people don't contemplate. Of course, I don't know what he was like as a person, but the impression I get from his writing is that when he finds that he disagrees with someone, he would truly listen to the other person and try to understand where the disagreement comes from. I feel like this characteristic is something that we should all be trying to cultivate these days.

This paragraph from Essay 29 "Shields of Expectation--and Actuality" is a great representation of what I love about Gould's essays:

"These extreme positions [extreme realism vs. extreme relativism], of course, are embraced by very few thinkers. They are caricatures constructed by the opposition to enhance the rhetorical advantages of dichotomy. They are not really held by anyone, but partisans think that their opponents are this foolish, thus fanning the zealousness of their own advocacy. The possibility for consensus drowns in a sea of changes."

Though Gould is talking about scientific realism and relativism, I feel this applies to any highly divisive topic, and I try to keep this in mind any time I am thinking about these topics.

A small complaint: I feel like there is an error in Essay 30 "A Tale of Three Pictures." Gould writes:

"Agassiz placed Cephalaspis as the first side branch from his central stock of the most "primitive" group--the ganoids (sharks and their relatives)."

I appreciate Gould placing the word "primitive" in quotes as that is another often misunderstood and misapplied adjective in the context of evolution - that's not my concern. I did a double-take at the parenthetical. Ganoids are definitely NOT sharks and their relatives. The figure Gould refers to looks to be in French, but I can tell that the sharks and relatives are in a completely different group from (the right-most, if you have a copy) labeled "Ordre des Placoides" with subgroups like Chimerides (chimeras), rayes (rays), squalides (dogfish), and ...cyclostomes? That last definitely doesn't belong, but makes sense in the historical context.

The group labeled "Order des Ganoides" contains acipenserides (sturgeon), but that's really the only subgroup I recognize as a ganoid. The group names suggest that Agassiz classified the fishes into four groups using the type of scales they have, but I guess there wasn't as much close study on the scales of some of these other subgroups he considers to be ganoids.

I wonder if it was actually Gould who put that in or some editor who felt an explanation was necessary? I'm sure he would have received plenty of letters pointing out this error before the compilation of his essays into a book. Or maybe I am missing something?

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