Becky's Book Reviews

Friday, October 11, 2024

83. The Phantom Patrol

The Phantom Patrol (Billy Boyle World War II #19) James R. Benn. 2024. 352 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars] [adult historical; adult mystery; world war II]

First sentence: The night was cold, cloaked in a deep darkness brought on by a bank of clouds sailing in on the winds and vanquishing the moonlight. Dead leaves, crisp and brittle, swirled in man-sized cyclones on the cobblestones, one so dense that I mistook it for someone sauntering through the graveyard.

Premise/plot: Billy Boyle and friends return for their NINETEENTH mystery. This one is set in France in December of 1944. This mystery starts out as an investigation of art thieves, and, the body count quickly starts mounting. So in part this one is art-related but also espionage and war-war. It has some INTENSE scenes, for sure. All of the Billy Boyle books feature cameos (for lack of a better word) of real life men and/or women. This one features J.D. Salinger and David Niven...as well as Eisenhower.

My thoughts: I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the series. I do. If I didn't love the series, chances are I wouldn't still be incredibly eager and excited for each new release. Seriously, I start thinking about "the new Billy Boyle" book in mid-summer. (It always releases in the fall). I ADORE the characters. I am deeply invested in ALL of the characters--and there are MANY side characters. All that being said, I don't love all nineteen books equally. This one wasn't my favorite of the nineteen. However, I do love the characters in general. His writing is always compelling.

82. Great Expectations

Classic Retellings: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens ADAPTED by Tanya Landman. 2024. 120 pages. [Source: Library] [mg fiction, ya fiction, adapted classic] [3 stars]

First sentence: My story is a long one. There are many twists and turns in my tale. Many people. Many events. All of these will slot together in the end like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. But time is short. I will be brief. In this slim volume, I will focus on five people. Two men. One honest; one a criminal. Two women. One heartbroken; one who had no heart to break. And myself: Philip Pirrip, known as Pip, who loved them all.

This book is a condensed/adapted retelling of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. It isn't just abridged. No words of Dickens remain--for better or worse. You are looking at a very stripped down, bare-bones basic retelling--no thrills, frills, or flavors. It doesn't elaborate enough to be helpful for students looking to pass tests or write essays. Though to be fair, it might get the job done if it is a multiple choice quiz. Maybe.

Does this book have a purpose? Yes. Is it for me? No.

My background: I read Great Expectations once in high school--hated it; once in college--was indifferent; once as an adult decades later--loved it. While I can certainly relate to every single reader experience that hated it as assigned reading....the fact that it was assigned is not Dickens fault. I do think that this one takes some life experience and wisdom--some years behind you--to better appreciate the story. I don't think it's a good fit for assigned reading unless it is your goal to specifically turn generations against Charles Dickens. While not every adult will turn to Dickens for a good time, I do think that allowing readers the freedom to read Dickens of their own free will is best. Dickens has so many GREAT novels.

Wednesday, October 09, 2024

81. We'll Prescribe You a Cat

We'll Prescribe You A Cat. Syou Ishida. Translated by E. Madison Shimoda. 2023. 297 pages. [Source: Library] [novellas; international fiction; adult fiction; cats] [4 stars]

First sentence: Shuta Kagawa stood at the end of a shadowy alley, gazing up at a multipurpose building. After getting thoroughly lost, he had finally arrived.

Premise/plot: We'll Prescribe You a Cat is a collection of loosely connected novellas. Each story features a character that is a little lost, a little out-of-sorts. The character is seeking--though word-of-mouth recommendations--a Clinic for the Soul. Each character believes it is a mental health clinic with doctors and nurses, etc. But the prescriptions ALL turn out to be CATS. Some "patients" are prescribed a cat for a week; others for two weeks. The twist is that this location can *only* be found by those in need. Most people can't find it, or see it. (Think Twilight Zone).

My thoughts: I love the premise of this one. It is a collection of novellas. The first story by far is the best story (in my opinion). I really was LOVING the first two-thirds of this one. The last two or three novellas, however, left me a bit puzzled and confused. I certainly seemed to be missing the plot in making sense of the story. Perhaps because they were going for a reincarnation theme???? I honestly don't know. I really don't. But the premise is strong. There are cats everywhere. Certainly a good read.

Monday, October 07, 2024

80. The Dead and the Gone

The Dead and the Gone. Susan Beth Pfeffer. 2008. 336 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars] [YA dystopian; YA Science fiction; YA Fiction]

First sentence: At the moment when life as he had known it changed forever, Alex Morales was behind the counter at Joey's Pizza, slicing a spinach pesto pie into eight roughly equal pieces.

The dead & the gone is the companion novel to Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It. While Miranda's story--set in Pennsylvania--chronicles her life from May through March of that decisive year, Alex's story--set in New York City--chronicles his life from May through December. Both are family-oriented. Miranda's life being closely tied to her mom and two brothers; Alex's life being closely tied to his two younger sisters, Brianna and Julie. But Alex's story is stronger in many ways. For Alex is the head of the family--for better or worse. Alex is the one making life-and-death decisions. His mom vanished on May 18th--the day the asteroid struck the moon. His dad may or may not have survived the first terrible week. Having been in Puerto Rico for a funeral, he's unable to make contact with his family. And, well, the coasts were hit hard--again and again. So even surviving the first tsunamis might not mean much in the long term. His older brother, Carlos, is in the Marines. He was far from home when it happened, and while he's able to send word--by phone or mail--a few times throughout the book. He's not the one in charge. He's not the one responsible for making the tough decisions on how to best survive. So while Miranda has to grow-up, it is a gradual growing into adulthood. She still has her relaxed moments. There is never one moment for Alex to relax. He carries a heavy weight day and night.

I enjoyed rereading Life As We Knew It and the dead & the gone back to back. There are things I love about both books. Things I appreciate about both books. One thing that makes the dead & the gone a very different story is the focus on faith and community. The dead & the gone is faith-oriented. Alex and his family are Catholics. They all attend Catholic school. They all regularly attend mass. They take their faith, their spirituality, their religion very seriously. The words mean something. The faith means something to them. Something real. Something personal. While each of the siblings has their own reaction--response--to the crisis, none loses their faith, none lose hope completely. I loved seeing this Catholic community in action. I loved seeing the Catholic church reaching out in love and compassion--with great hope and faith--to their community, to their parishioners. There were so many great scenes of this faith-in-action. Where people were responding with their hearts in faith as opposed to acting out of fear and anxiety. It's courageous and wonderful.

The dead & the gone has a broader outlook as well. While the electricity isn't reliable on a day-by-day basis in the dead & the gone, it is certainly more stable than in Life As We Knew It. Alex is connected to the larger world. He hears--for better or worse--more about the world at large. He is more aware of what is going on in other states. While Miranda and her family may go weeks or months without contact to other survivors, Alex is out of the house most days--at least before the flu epidemic comes. He's not as isolated as Miranda. Does not being so isolated help him cope? Maybe. But every day, every week is a struggle. Alex does things he'd NEVER thought he'd be doing.

Is Alex more of a hero than Miranda? I'm not sure that is exactly fair. Miranda has her courageous moments too. (I'm thinking of the woodstove mishap.) But. Alex's story has power no doubt about it.
I would definitely recommend both books.

"Give the scientists some time and they'll figure out what to do."
"This is too big for the scientists," Lorraine said. "Only God can save us now."
"Then He will," Alex said. (13)

God save their souls, Alex prayed. God save ours. It was the only prayer he could think of, no matter how inadequate it might be. It offered him no comfort, but he repeated it unceasingly. As long as he prayed he didn't have to think. He didn't have to remember. He didn't have to decide. He didn't have to acknowledge he was entering a world where no one had laid out the rules for him to follow, a world where there might not be any rules left for any of them to follow. (65)

"She says you've been having bad dreams."
"Aren't you?" Julie asked. "Isn't everyone?"
Alex burst out laughing. "Only sane people," he said. "Okay, maybe not Bri. But everyone else is."
"Are things going to get better?" Julie asked. "Is that why you listen to the news all the time, because someday things are going to get better?"
Alex shook his head. "That's not why I listen," he replied. "That's why I pray but not why I listen."
"Do you think God listens?" she asked.
"Bri thinks so," Alex said. "Father Franco thinks so." (81)

It was hard being alone in the apartment staring at an unringing phone, haunted by the food in the kitchen, which he wouldn't allow himself to touch, haunted even more by the image of his mother drowning in the subway that very first night. He tried reading. He tried praying. He tried push-ups. He tried counting the cans of soup. He listened to the radio, using up the twenty-dollar batteries. The world was coming to an end. Well, that was nothing new. (123)

"And what's so special about you that you deserve compassion?" Father Mulrooney said. "You have shelter. You have food. You have family and friends. I'm supposed to feel pity for you because of a cut cheek?"
"You don't understand at all," Alex said. "I have shelter for as long as no one thinks about it. Once they do, once they realize my father is gone, they can throw us out. I have food only if I get lunch here. We're down to almost nothing at home, and I have to make sure my kid sister eats. She is my family right now, because my parents are both gone and my older brother is in the Marines somewhere and I sent my other sister to live at a convent with strangers. My cheek was cut because I got caught in a food riot, with my kid sister, and we ended up with no food anyway. I'm not asking you to pity me. I pity me enough for the two of us. But when one of your students asks you for food, you shouldn't say no and feel righteous about it. That's not what Christ would have done, and you know it." (133)

"What do you have planned for tomorrow?"
Alex shrugged. "The usual," he said. "Checking on the elderly, studying theology, fighting for survival. Same old, same old." (151)

"I know it's wrong to feel that way about God and I know it's wrong to not feel anything. I hate it. I don't hate God. I hate not loving Him." (184)

79. The Hotel Balzaar

The Hotel Balzaar. Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated by Julia Sarda. 2024. [October] 160 pages. [Source: Library] [illustrated chapter book; magic realism; j fantasy] [4 stars]

First sentence: In March of that year, Marta and her mother arrived at the Hotel Balzaar. They were given an attic room that contained a bed, a sink, and a battered chest of drawers. The small room had a round window that faced east, and the sun, when it rose each morning, shone into the room with a beguiling brilliance--lighting up the bed frame, the porcelain of the sink, and the faded flowers on the wallpaper.

My thoughts (preview): I was NOT a fan of the first book in the "Norendy Tales" series). My expectations were low. Would I love it? Would I hate it? Would I be bored? Charmed? I can say that personally I liked it BETTER than the first book in this series. And that as far as I could tell, there was no real connection with the other book.

Premise/plot: Marta, a young child, lives a quiet, sheltered life. She's the daughter of a maid at a hotel. She's to be invisible, quiet and inoffensive. But one guest--an elderly woman (a countess) with a parrot--arrives and notices Marta, welcomes her, encourages her. Marta and the countess become friendly. Every day of her stay, Marta goes to her room to listen to a series of stories--fantastical stories. Marta hopes that there is some truth in these stories. That somehow, someway these stories will bring her father back to them.

My thoughts: I liked this one. The writing was good. The story had me intrigued. I wanted to keep reading. There were some great quotes.

Quotes:

Life always wins. Life and its crooked lines will always win.

Marta, I want you to know that war destroys everything, always. That is its intent, its only intent.

"It takes no courage at all to doubt, Marta," she said. "And we are not beyond rescue. We are never beyond rescue."

"The parents," said the countess, "loved the boy beyond all reason. They lived in fear of losing him. They were happy. They were terrified. This is what it means to love.