Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: 3 Short Reviews; Or Reading through the Polar Vortex

The best part about the cold, cold weather is the need to stay inside, which means more time to do fun things. We've been working on a jigsaw puzzle, playing lots of rummy, and catching up on a few television shows.

I also managed to finish three books. I'm still reading The Six and have started The Hazel Wood, both in print. I'll be starting a new audiobook today, but I haven't decided what I'll listen to yet.

I received a couple of gift cards for Christmas (neither for a bookstore), and I'm having fun trying to decide what to buy.

What I Read Last Week

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore (Kathy Dawson Books, Sept. 2017): I was hesitant to read Jane, Unlimited because I didn't love Cashore's Graceling series, but after reading a couple of reviews, I decided to give it a try. I wanted to read this novel in print (apparently there are a couple of helpful maps in the book), but I was about 10th on the library waiting list, so decided to listen to my review copy of the audiobook instead. Here's the basic premise: Jane is invited to spend some time at a friend's family mansion on a private island. Upon arrival, she enters the foyer and meets several people and the dog, after which she decides to go with Ivy, a staff member, to explore the house. As the two young women move through the many rooms, Jane observes some strange goings-on and gets involved with some of the owners' drama. After a few days, Jane is once again newly arrived at the house and leaves the foyer with a different person. This happens five times, making the book (as one reviewer said -- I forget who) a kind of pick your own adventure story. I thought the novel was fun, and I enjoyed seeing how a seemingly benign decision (whom to befriend) determined Jane's experience at the mansion: will she be caught up in magic, in solving a mystery, or in a love affair? Good reading if you can buy the premise. Rebecca Soler performed the audiobook (Listening Library, 14 hr, 37 min) with good pacing and clear characterizations. She verges on the theatrical, but that approach fits the novel well. Note, though, if you listen to the book you'll miss out on the maps, I think the maps would have made me like the book even more.

Wonder Valley by Ivy Pochoda (Ecco, Oct. 2017): This novel starts out with a bang: In 2010, a naked man is spotted running against traffic on the 101 during LA's morning rush (or stalled) hour. This sets off a series of events that have their roots in the heat of the California desert, four years earlier. The novel is made up of the interwoven stories of a handful of diverse people who have a brief shared experience at an isolated ranch run by a cult healer in 2006. We meet teenage twin boys, a college student who lost her tennis scholarship, two drug dealers, earnest cult followers, a street artist just released from juvie, and others both on the ranch and in the city. Although there is action (and some disturbingly violent scenes), Wonder Valley is an intense character study of people trying to find their way in the world and learning to live with the choices they made, whether intentional or not. It takes a while for the story to develop and to learn how the characters' lives intersect, but my attention never wavered. The audiobook (Harper Audio; 10 hr, 40 min) is read by Will Damron. My first take on his performance was that it was too singsong-y, but quite quickly I began to appreciate his approach, which emphasizes the rhythm of Pochoda's prose. (My full audiobook review will be available through AudioFile.)

Very, Very, Very Dreadful by Albert Marrin (Knopf Books for Young Readers, Jan. 9). This year marks the 100th anniversary of the great flu pandemic, which killed more people worldwide than any disease ever recorded in human history. I've always been fascinated by this disease and its concurrence with World War I. People who lived through both must have felt as if death were everwhere. I've read a couple of other nonfiction books by Marrin and love his approach to history. Although he writes for tweens or young teens, Marrin's work is in no way childish. Very, Very, Very Dreadful explores the complex factors that lead to the pandemic, discusses how flu viruses attack the human body and why that particular strain of flu was so deadly, and traces the virus's journey across the globe. He also makes it clear how vulnerable we are to another such deadly outbreak -- the question is not if it could happen again but whether we can save more lives when it does happen. Politics, war, trade, religion, and contemporary medical practices all played a part in the spread of the flu, and the flu, in turn, affected them. The book is illustrated with maps, historic photos, and more. It's hard to imagine whole cities brought to their knees and the sheer number of people who died. As some of the soldiers in the trenches realized, their families, despite being far from the cannon fire and mustard gas, were daily facing more death than they were. Highly recommended for readers of all ages. I listened to about an hour of the audiobook (Listening Library; 5 hr, 44 min) so I could keep reading while running errands. Jim Frangione's expressive performance was engaging, and I especially loved how his performance was in tune with Marrin's style: the book may be accessible to young readers, but the material is serious and adult.