Review: Cards of Grief

Cards of Grief by Jane Yolen
Originally published 1984; republished 2012 by Open Road Media
Source: borrowed from the library

Jane Yolen's award-winning story about an alien civilization forever changed by the incursion of human social scientists and a mysterious ancient prophecy

The year is 2132 when members of the Anthropologist's Guild set down on the planet Henderson's IV, or L'Lal'lor as it is known to the native population. Charged with the nonintrusive study of alien cultures, the crew discovers a society containing no love or laughter. It is, instead, centered around death—a world of aristocratic and common folk in which grieving is an art and the cornerstone of life. But the alien civilization stands on the brink of astonishing change, heralded by the discovery of Linni, the Gray Wanderer, a young woman from the countryside whose arrival has been foretold for centuries. And for Anthropologist First Class Aaron Spenser, L'Lal'lor is a place of destructive temptations, seducing him with its mysterious, sad beauty, and leading him into an unthinkable criminal act.

Told from the shifting viewpoints of characters both alien and human, and through records of local lore and transcripts of court martial proceedings, Cards of Grief is a thoughtful, lyrical, and spellbinding tale of first contact. It is a true masterwork of world building from Jane Yolen, a premier crafter of speculative fiction and fantasy.

Sunday Summary: 6 December 2015

As I wrote yesterday, I was offline for a couple of weeks. Life suddenly got very complicated and blogging was the thing that had to go. I'm back, but just barely. I need to write and post three reviews for ARCs that I've read, and I want to keep up the two weekly posts of new books received and what's been going on in my reading life. Maybe during the holidays I'll blog ahead a little bit.

Where I've been reading

This past week I was working in Montreal. Such a lovely city and even more so with the Holiday decorations everywhere you look. It was cold—especially to this Texan—so I didn't spend any time out of doors. And, because I'm so conscious of how far behind I am in reading toward my goal of 200 books in 2015, I never turned on the television. Instead, I read from suppertime until bedtime. Wish I could make myself do this while I'm at home, but the hubby is a TV fan and I give in to the attraction.

 

Sunday Summary: 11 October 2015

I keep having to pinch myself to remember that it's really October. The year is flying to a close so quickly! This week I again completed three books, but that's one short of the number I need to read each week if I'm going to get to 200 by the end of the year. I should find a little more time to read next week since I have several flights and I'll be taking my suppers alone.

Where I've been reading

Ah yes! I've been in Florida. From Monday through Friday, I attended a conference in Orlando and then drove up to my sister's house just north of Orlando to spend the weekend. I enjoyed the conference very much. Many of the technical sessions were educational and I picked up some new information about the software that I use. I also enjoyed getting to spend time with various colleagues throughout the week.

 

What I've been reading: Completed this week

The Union Quilters
by Jennifer Chiaverini
Format: Hardback
Source: borrowed from the library
Completed: 4 October

★★★★☆

The Union Quilters is the 17th (of 20) books in the Elm Creek Quilts series. Set in the time of the U. S. Civil War, the women of Elm Creek Valley in Pennsylvania are left behind when their husbands, sons, and brothers are mustered into the Union Army. The Bergstrom women—Anneke and her sister-in-law, Gerta—join with their neighbors to make quilts and raise funds to support the troops from their community. Weaving the account of the company's battles in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia with the stories of the community they left behind, Jennifer Chiaverini has delivered a compelling account of a war that changed the very fabric of American life.

Review: The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan
Published August 2015 by Mulholland Books
Source: eGalley ARC from NetGalley

On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra inherits two unexpected mysteries.

The first is the case of a drowned boy, whose suspicious death no one seems to want solved.

And the second is a baby elephant.

As his search for clues takes him across the teeming city of Mumbai, from its grand high rises to its sprawling slums and deep into its murky underworld, Chopra begins to suspect that there may be a great deal more to both his last case and his new ward than he thought.

And he soon learns that when the going gets tough, a determined elephant may be exactly what an honest man needs...

Sunday Summary: 4 October 2015

As I write this, I'm sitting in the living room of a dear friend who lives in Auburn, AL. We're here to celebrate Homecoming, the annual gathering of alumni for parties, tailgaiting, and football. We have made it a tradition to get back to Auburn each year for Homecoming even though we now watch the game on TV instead of trekking to the stadium. We have BBQ planned for supper around half-time and lots of snacks for before and after. No one will leave here hungry!

Where I've been reading

You wouldn't believe my travel schedule this past week. I flew 7 segment in 3 days to get from Dallas to Poughkeepsie to Louisville and back to Dallas. This was to facilitate two back-to-back meetings in Poughkeepsie and Louisville, respectively. As soon as I landed in Dallas, hubby packed me into the car and we started cross-country toward Auburn. With all those flights, I did have plenty of time to read—when I wasn't dozing. I didn't take as much advantage of the time in the car because I was definitely sleeping to make up for the overnight flights on Tuesday night.

 

Review: Fires of Invention by J. Scott Savage

Fires of Invention by J. Scott Savage
Published September 2015 by Shadow Mountain Press
Source: eGalley ARC from NetGalley

Trenton Colman is a creative thirteen-year-old boy with a knack for all things mechanical. But his talents are viewed with suspicion in Cove, a steam-powered city built inside a mountain. In Cove, creativity is a crime and “invention” is a curse word.

Kallista Babbage is a repair technician and daughter of the notorious Leo Babbage, whose father died in an explosion—an event the leaders of Cove point to as an example of the danger of creativity.

Working together, Trenton and Kallista learn that Leo Babbage was developing a secret project before he perished. Following clues he left behind, they begin to assemble a strange machine that is unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. They soon discover that what they are building may threaten every truth their city is founded on—and quite possibly their very lives.

Review: Fated by Sarah Fine

Fated by Sarah Fine
Published September 2015 by 47 North
Source: eGalley ARC from NetGalley

Aislin Ferry and Jason Moros have only days until they will be called to account before the Keepers of the Afterlife. Yet as they race to restore order and make their case, their worlds fall into total disarray.

Mutiny within the fractured Ferry family threatens Aislin’s hold on power and role as Charon. Meanwhile, the fearsome Lord of the Kere has family trouble of his own. Someone is unraveling the fabric of fate, and Moros suspects one of his supernatural siblings is behind the terrible bid to unleash Chaos.

Now unlikely allies, Aislin and Moros each need the other to escape the wrath of the Keepers. As the stakes rise, it becomes clear that protecting their respective empires is not the endgame. With the fate of all humanity dangling by a thread, Aislin and Moros must surrender completely to one another if they are to fight their common enemy. And as time runs out, someone must make the ultimate sacrifice.

Sunday Summary: 27 September 2015

I started this past week having lunch with hubby's parents. They're both in their early nineties, and I hope I'm as “with it” when I reach that age. They live in the house they've occupied for over 20 years and Dad still drives, so that makes them totally independent. Mom is an avid reader and we've shared many books over the years. She's not reading as much right now because it's baseball season! Once the World Series is over, her reading pace will pick up. I'll be researching books from her favorite authors and seeking out new authors who write in a similar style.

Where I've been reading

This week's travel was a leisurely trip to San Antonio. It's only a one-hour flight away and I flew down on Monday morning and home on Thursday afternoon. I was very busy all week long and didn't have time for a lot of reading. (That's the down-side of those short flights!) I did, however, have time to relax and rest up for the frenzied travel that is scheduled for next week.

 

Sunday Summary: 20 September 2015

Where I've been reading

This week was marked by a business trip to Raleigh. All-in-all it was an easy excursion with non-stop flights on Monday and Wednesday. I used my in-flight time well, reading for most of the trip. Unfortunately, I found very little time to read the rest of the week. I listened to another couple of hours of Fire with Fire while I was in the car, but otherwise, I made little progress reading until I returned home.

 

Review: The Oncoming Storm

The Oncoming Storm by Christopher Nuttall
Published 15 September 2015 by 47 North
Source: eGalley ARC from NetGalley

In the year 2420, war looms between the galaxy’s two most powerful empires: the tyrannical Theocracy and the protectionist Commonwealth. Caught in the middle sits the occupied outpost system Cadiz, where young officer and aristocrat Katherine “Kat” Falcone finds herself prematurely promoted at the behest of her powerful father. Against her own wishes, Kat is sent to command the Commonwealth navy’s newest warship, Lightning.

Determined to prove she has value beyond her family name, Kat struggles to earn her crew’s respect and find her footing as the youngest captain in naval history. She soon discovers the situation on Cadiz is even worse than anyone in power anticipated. War isn’t just a possibility—it is imminent. Yet the admiral in position to bolster defenses refuses to prepare for a fight. Can Kat find a way to investigate the enemy, alert the Commonwealth, and whip an entire fleet into fighting shape before the Theocracy’s war machine destroys everything she holds dear?

Blog Tour and Review: Destiny Rising

This is my stop during the blog tour for Destiny Rising by Siobhan Davis. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 1 till 21 September, and you can view the complete tour schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.

Destiny Rising is the third book in the True Calling series. The two prior books are True Calling (True Calling #1) and Beyond Reach (True Calling #2). There are also two novellas: Lovestruck (True Calling #0.5) and Light of a Thousand Stars (True calling #2.5).

Sunday Summary: 6 September 2015

In this post, I begin my second year of weekly Sunday Summary posts.

Where I've been reading

This week I've been mostly at home. I made a very quick business trip to Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday. My flight from DFW took off at 6am and I arrived back in Dallas at 6am on Thursday. The travel comprised four flights: Dallas to Phoenix to Portland and then Portland to Los Angeles to Dallas. Lots of time to read, but also plenty of time to sleep! On the red-eye flight from Los Angeles, I slept most of the way.

 

What I've been reading: Completed this week

The Raven in the Foregate
by Ellis Peters

Format: eBook
Source: borrowed from library via Freading
Completed: 30 August

★★★☆☆

A year ago, in the very first Sunday Summary post, I was reading the first book in the Brother Cadfael series, A Morbid Taste for Bones. This past week, I completed reading the twelfth book, The Raven in the Foregate. I'm still entranced with Ellis Peters' masterful descriptions of medieval life and with her leading character, Brother Cadfael, a aging Benedictine Monk.

The war between King Stephen and Empress Maud is still going on. For now, Stephen is prevailing and Maud is gathering her forces to make another try for the throne. Although the political scene is relatively calm, things at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul are not going well. Abbot Radulfus has returned from Winchester with a new priest for the parish church—a priest whose rigid manner has earned the dislike of one and all. When Father Ailnoth is found drowned in the nearby mill pond, Brother Cadfael must find out how and why he died. Was it an accident, or was he murdered?

Sunday Summary: 30 August 2015

With the return to work this week, the number of books I completed dropped a little bit. I'm still staying on schedule—barely—to meet my goal of reading 200 books this year. I'm having to push to make this goal and I'm thinking that I'll drop the goal just a little bit in 2016.

Where I've been reading

But, the return to work also meant a return to travel. My week started very early with a 6am flight to St. Louis. I then drove to Columbia, Missouri, where I worked until Thursday evening. Returning to St. Louis on Thursday afternoon, I then flew to Des Moines, Iowa—by way of Chicago. After a morning of business in Des Moines, I flew home to Texas. Hubby met my plane and we had dinner at a favorite restaurant near the DFW airport.

You'd think all of those hours on the airplane would mean a lot of reading getting done, but I found myself dozing from time to time. And dozing meant some re-reading each time I awoke.

 

Review: Blanche Passes Go by Barbara Neely

Blanche Passes Go by Barbara Neely
Published August 2015 by Brash Books
Source: eGalley ARC from publisher via NetGalley

The fourth, ground-breaking mystery featuring African-American maid and amateur sleuth Blanche White by Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award winning Author Barbara Neely

Blanche White returns to Farleigh, North Carolina for the summer to help her best friend with her catering business. It’s a homecoming rich with the potential for new romance and fraught with the pain of facing the man who raped her at knife-point years ago but was never prosecuted for the crime. Shortly after Blanche arrives, a young woman is murdered and the clues point to the rapist. Blanche investigates, determined not to let him get away with another crime...nor is she willing to let his money-hungry sister marry a sweet, mentally-challenged man for his wealth. With her usual persistence, feisty wit, and indomitable spirit, her quest for the truth reveals the racism and sexism that still permeate the new south, but also the conflicts that divide her own family...and that might prevent her from accepting the love she so richly deserves.

 

My Thoughts

Sunday Summary: 16 August 2015

I didn't think about it until just now, but all the books I read this week were library books. Most were eBooks, but one was a hardback edition. I've said this before, but I am so excited that my library offers eBook lending.

Where I've been reading

This past week, I was in Orlando—actually down by Disney World—attending a technical conference. As is usual at conferences, the days were long and the evenings filled with conference-related activities. So I had to squeeze in reading time on the Sunday before everything started and then on Friday and Saturday after it was all over.

 

Review: Master of Formalities by Scott Meyer

Master of Formalities by Scott Meyer
Published July 2015 by 47 North
Source: eGalley ARC from NetGalley

Even when finding oneself engaged in interstellar war, good form must be observed. Our story is set thousands of years after the Terran Exodus, where two powerful, planet-dominating families—the elegant House Jakabitus and the less refined Hahn Empire—have reached a critical point in their generations-long war. Master Hennik, the Hahn ruler’s only son, has been captured, and the disposition of his internment may represent a last and welcome chance for peace.

Enter Wollard, the impeccably distinguished and impossibly correct Master of Formalities for House Jakabitus. When he suggests that Master Hennik be taken in as a ward of the House, certain complications arise. Wollard believes utterly and devotedly in adhering to rules and good etiquette. But how does one inform the ruler of a planet that you are claiming his son as your own—and still create enough goodwill to deescalate an intergalactic war?

My Thoughts

Review: X by Sue Grafton

X by Sue Grafton
Published August 2015 by Penguin Putnam
Source: Penguin First to Read

X: The number ten. An unknown quantity. A mistake. A cross. A kiss.

X: The shortest entry in Webster’s Unabridged. Derived from Greek and Latin and commonly found in science, medicine, and religion. The most graphically dramatic letter. Notoriously tricky to pronounce: think xylophone.

X: The twenty-fourth letter in the English alphabet.

Sue Grafton’s X: Perhaps her darkest and most chilling novel, it features a remorseless serial killer who leaves no trace of his crimes. Once again breaking the rules and establishing new paths, Grafton wastes little time identifying this sociopath. The test is whether Kinsey can prove her case against him before she becomes his next victim.

My Thoughts

Review: Dodger by Terry Pratchett

Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Published September 2012 by HarperCollins
Source: freebie from Summer 2015 SYNC program

A storm. Rain-lashed city streets. A flash of lightning. A scruffy lad sees a girl leap desperately from a horse-drawn carriage in a vain attempt to escape her captors. Can the lad stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not, because he's...Dodger.

Seventeen-year-old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he gleans a living from London's sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl—not even if her fate impacts some of the most powerful people in England.

From Dodger's encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens and the calculating politician Benjamin Disraeli, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.

Beloved and bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett combines high comedy with deep wisdom in this tale of an unexpected coming-of-age and one remarkable boy's rise in a complex and fascinating world.

Review: The Secret Abyss

The Secret Abyss by Darrell Pitt
Published July 2015 by Text Publishing Company
Source: eGalley ARC from NetGalley

When the world's deadliest assassin, the Chameleon, escapes from prison, Jack begins his most dangerous investigation yet.

With only the scantest of clues, the team travels from London to New York, a bustling metropolis filled with airships, steam cars and exciting new ideas.

Here they uncover a terrible plot that threatens the president's life and brings the nation to the brink of civil war. Can Jack track down the Chameleon in time? And just what is the mysterious whip of fire that has the power to wreak destruction across the world?

Mini Reviews: Kris Longknife: Defender and Murder Simply Brewed

Title: Kris Longknife: Defender Author: Mike Shepherd Genre: Science Fiction Page Count: 386 Rating: 4/5 ★★★★☆

Format: eBook Source: borrowed from library via Overdrive Completed: 21 July

Kris Longknife: Defender is book 11 in Mike Shepherd's military SF series. In the previous book, Kris returns from exile and convinces her great grandfather to send her on a mission to guard the planet with the bird-like inhabitants from the marauding aliens. There's an ulterior motive here: the hostile aliens refuse to communicate and blow their own ships up if they are damaged. They fired on the life pods ejected from the ships in Kris's fleet in their first encounter. It's imperative that the aliens don't backtrack the humans to their home planets. So, Kris and her new fleet are drawing a line in space and are determined to keep the aliens from taking any more inhabited planets.

In a single novel, Kris experiences a series of rapid promotions and leads another fleet into battle against the aliens. This time they are the defending fleet and can set up ambushes to give themselves a better chance of surviving an attack by the moon-sized mother ships and the hundreds of accompanying ships of an alien advance force.

I borrowed this book from the library through the Overdrive subscription. As I mentioned in this week's Stacking the Shelves, I was surprised that the library got a copy so quickly after I requested it. I read it in just a couple of days, requested that the library get a copy of the next in the series, and it has already arrived. I'm thoroughly enjoying the books in this series and am thrilled to find out that a new volume is scheduled for October and yet another for sometime in 2016.

 

Title: Murder Simply Brewed Author: Vanetta Chapman Genre: Cozy Mystery Page Count: 358 Rating: 3/5 ★★★☆☆

Format: eBook Source: purchased May 2015 Completed: 23 July

One of the first books I received from NetGalley was Murder Tightly Knit, the second book in Vanetta Chapman's Amish Village Mystery series. Then, I received and reviewed Murder Freshly Baked, the third book. Having enjoyed both of them, I knew that I wanted to go back and see how the series started, and when I saw that Murder Simply Brewed was on sale, I immediately hit the “BUY” button.

Amber Wright is the general manager of the Amish Village and Inn, a retail complex in the small town of Middlebury, Indiana. When Ethan Gray is found dead in the coffee boutique that he runs, the police call it a heart attack—“natural causes”—and that seems to be it. Except Amber is convinced that Ethan was murdered. And, there seems to be someone who has a grudge against Amber and the Amish Village. Several acts of vandalism have gotten everyone on edge. Are they related to Ethan's death or not?

This was an engaging read. I suspect that the series will end with only three volumes. I'd love to see yet another outing for Amber, Hannah, and all the characters at the Amish Village shops. But, if that's not to happen, there are quite a number of books by Ms. Chapman that I haven't yet read.