Fire by Kristin Cashore

   Fire is the second installment in the Graceling trilogy although it doesn't actually have much to do with the first book. It is a prequel of sorts, set in an adjacent world. In this world instead of Gracelings there are monsters. Monsters are beautiful creatures whose beauty mesmerizes humans, making it easier for monsters to devour humans. Fire is the last human monster. She is not only beautiful beyond reason, she possesses the power to read and influence people's minds. Men are particularly susceptible to her, repeatedly professing their love for her upon seeing her. Fire resists using her power after seeing her father who had the same power use it cruelly.

As far as plot and tension go, there is an impending war as two kingdoms begin making moves to overthrow the king. In between battles and war planning there are various semi-romantic plots. I say semi-romantic because many of these plots involve men falling in lust with Fire. Nearly every man she comes in contact with wants to possess, use, or harm Fire. It is distressing and annoying in the worse way.

The only connecting character between this book and the first is Leck, the villain in the first book. We get something of his backstory here but it doesn't matter much in the long run. And more to the point, Leck is not character I wanted to learn more about anyway. The book could have done without his story line. The only useful thing Leck provided was an incomplete explanation of how these two different lands exists - one where Gracelings are a thing and another where monsters are a thing - and how these two lands do not know about the other's existence. I wonder if the next book in the series will bring these two lands together somehow.

I am struggling as to whether or not to recommend this book. On the one hand, if you read Graceling and loved it you might love, or at least like this too. On the other hand, the two stories are really not connected.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

  

Little Fires Everywhere begins with actual fires. Dressed only in her bathrobe, Mrs. Richardson watches her family's home burn to the ground. The description on the flap of the hardcover of Little Fires Everywhere emphasizes the dispute over a custody case. A White couple tries to adopt a Chinese baby over the objections of the baby's biological mother. The case splits the town of Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland where everything is perfectly planned. But really, the custody case  is not the most important part of the story, at least not in my opinion.

Long before the custody case erupts there is Elena and Mia. Elena was born, raised, and always dreamed of raising her own family in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. It is an affluent community where things are carefully planned. Perhaps it isn't perfect, because no place is, but for Elena it is pretty close. A happily married mother of four, with a big house, and a job as a reporter at the local paper that is rewarding without being too demanding, Elena has worked hard to build the kind of life she wants. She firmly believes in rules and order and her successful life evidences her prudent choices.

For Mia and her daughter Pearl, Shaker Heights is the latest of a long list of cities they have called home. Mia, a photographer, lives for two things: her art and her daughter. She and her daughter move from city to city because different landscapes inspire Mia's art in different ways. If she can, Mia sells her photos through her New York agent. When making art is not profitable enough Mia takes odd jobs to make ends meet, as a waitress or house cleaner usually. Mia could probably make more money if she took portraits or other types of commission, but that's not what matters to her. She makes the art she wants to make, and if she has to scrub a few toilets in order to put food on the table and pay the rent, so be it.

Mia confounds Elena. What Elena doesn't understand, what she finds contemptible is how content Mia is with her life. To Elena Mia's life is one broken rule after another and Elena does not like rule breakers. Unfortunately, for Elena she has a rule breaker of her own living in her own home. Izzy, Elena's youngest daughter is no more a rule follower than Mia. In Mia Izzy finds a kindred spirit. Meanwhile Pearl begins to build friendships with Elena's three other children - Lexis, Trip, and Moody.

I really enjoyed this. Celeste Ng's writing is beautiful. I don't know how to explain it other than to say it flows. She has a way of getting to the root of what makes a person tick and how they work, or don't work, with others and why. I tore through this book. The plot is relatively simple but the characters are deeply drawn. I highly recommend.

January Roundup

At the end of the December I chose my reading challenges for 2019. Many years I plan these challenges and then end up reading up other books. This year I had planned to spend January working specifically on the challenges so at least I would get off to a good start. Things didn't quite go as planned but I did read quite a few books and and most of them were pretty quite good.

Books Finished in January

• Kitchen Confidential 
• Sinner
• A Princess in Theory
• Once Ghosted, Twice Shy
• Ballet: The Definitive Illustrated Story
• Graceling

DNF (Books started but not finished)

• Prep - I've read two other books by Curtis Sittenfeld, but this one I just couldn't get into. Perhaps I will try again someday.

For February I hope to make more headway on my challenges.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

  Graceling is a young adult fantasy with a bit of romance. In the world author Kristin Cashore has created there are seven kingdom with seven kings. Some people in this world are "graced" with a special gift or ability. For instance a person might be a gifted cook or swimmer. Katsa, a young girl from the Middluns kingdom, is graced with fighting skill (or so she has been told).

What a treat this was to read! There were so many things I loved about this book, the first being Katsa. Katsa is a machine. When she fights, nothing seems to be able to stop her, not even an army. But I didn't just like her because she was a physically strong female character. I liked her because she knew who she was and what she wanted. She doesn't want to get married or have children. She doesn't want to be someone's puppet. She wants control over her own life and she fights to make it so. She is strong willed and a sense of right and wrong that she comes to on her own.

I also loved Prince Po, the man who brings changes to Katsa life (but does not change her). Like Katsa, Po is a gifted fighter but he is no match for Katsa. He readily admits this without any ego. I'm still thinking this through but one thought I had while reading this book was that in some ways Katsa and Po have switched the usual gender roles. Katsa is the bold, strong fighter, while Po is the one who is emotionally intelligent, able to sense people thoughts and feelings and acting accordingly.

I also enjoyed the different portrayals of power. There are seven kings but only three really factor into the story. One king is what I think of as the gangster king. For years he compelled Katsa to be his muscle, sending her to maim or kill people who owed him money or who otherwise disobeyed or disrespected him in some way. Then there is the mad king who physically and mentally abuses his people. Finally there is a king who "looked at his people, instead of over their heads." This king might never consider doing any kind of manual labor, but he could have a sincere conversation with a manual laborer about that person's work and his or her dreams and aspirations.

I was visiting a friend and she thrusts this book in my hands, insisting I read it. I'm so glad she did.

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole

Naledi Smith is a young woman juggling graduate school and multiple jobs in New York City. After being shuffled from home to home as a foster kid Naledi, or Ledi for short, is as used to being self-sufficient and as she is to being disappointed. She doesn't remember much about the parents who died when she was four, and she doesn't care to. Ledi is focused on the future and on becoming an epidemiologist. She certainly doesn't have time for the silly emails she keeps getting from someone pretending to be an African prince.

It is time for Prince Thabiso to start thinking about marriage. As children Ledi and Prince Thabiso were promised to one another, but then Ledi's parents took their young daughter and fled the country. It's been twenty years of so since they've seen each other but Thabiso has never stopped hoping he would see young Ledi again. Finally he finds her in New York. He's all set to reclaim his bride when Ledi mistakes him for Jamal, the new waiter that was supposed to start work at the cafeteria where Ledi works. Thabiso decides to play along for the moment. But then one moment leads to another and soon Ledi and "Jamal" are falling for each other. But of course, such a lie cannot last. How will Ledi react when she discovers Jamal's true identity and her own?

First all, thank you Alyssa Cole for giving me something I didn't even know I needed - a Black princess story. I've grown up reading and watching stories about princes from made-up European countries finding their princesses (who are blond more often than not) among the commoners. It's a classic trope and I love it. For the first time, I got a story about a Black prince from a fictional African country finding his princess. It was amazing and strangely I felt validated even though the story is obviously fictional.

What exactly did I love? First, the characters, especially Naledi. She is a fully fleshed out character who was believable as a real person. I always like when romance heroines have more going on in their lives besides looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend. Naledi has plenty going on. She's a former foster kid with attachment issues. She's a poor graduate student juggling her studies with a lab assistant job and a server job so she can afford to pay rent on her studio apartment. She's a Black woman in science who has to deal with a White male boss who mistakes her for the maid, mansplains scientific concepts to her that she already knows, and who gives her grunt work while giving her male colleague the opportunity to do actual science. She keeps two mice as pets and has best friend named Portia who can be sweet but who can also fail to understand how hard Ledi's life can be at times

While not as captivating as Ledi (but really who could be), I also loved Prince Thabiso. He is the typical prince in a romance story. That is, he has grown up knowing that one day we will responsible for the kingdom. Though he cares about his people and genuinely wants to do the best he can for them, he is also a man who has grown up with people serving his nearly every need. He is not used to be told no or having people truly question him.

The only thing I would have changed about this book, what I wanted more of, was the kingdom of Thesolo. Ledi eventually travels to Thesolo to learn more about the country where she is born. We get glimpses of the culture but not enough. I wanted to know more about the different regions of the country. (There is a mountainous region but what else?) I wanted to know more the religion which seems to be female based. (They pray to a goddess). The country has innovative technology in some parts (heated sidewalks that melt the snow which is then recycled) but in other parts the characters had to travel by donkey. I have so many questions. Most of the story takes place in New York but despite its name, New York isn't new. Tell me more about Thesolo.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if this were turned into a movie? Movie gods, please make this happen ASAP!

Sinner by Sierra Simone

 

So good! Sinner is the second in what God willing ends up being a trilogy or maybe even a tetralogy. Priest, the first book in the series, centered on Tyler Bell, the second of the four Irish Catholic Bell brothers. They had a sister who committed suicide year earlier after being assaulted by a priest. Most of the Bell family left the church and turned away from God after that. Except Tyler. Tyler still had faith and wanted to reform the church from the inside out so he became a priest. While he loved serving God and his community, he had doubts about whether a life of celibacy was really for him.

“I’m not a good man, and I’ve never pretended to be I don’t believe in goodness or God, or any happy ending that isn’t paid for in advance. What do I believe in? Money. Sex. Macallan 18.They have words for men like me – playboy. Womanizer. Skirt chaser. My brother used to be a priest, and he only has one word. Sinner.”

Sinner focuses on the eldest Bell brother, Sean. Sean is an unapologetic manwhore and millionaire. I was never quite sure what his job was but whatever Sean did, he made a lot of money doing it. He enjoyed it and he liked to celebrate work victories with a victory lap in bed. Sean likes to describe himself as a bad man or at least not a good one, but I never quite bought it. His mother is dying of cancer and of the four brothers, Sean is the one who most involved in her day-to-day of care. Not that the other brothers are bad sons, it’s just that as the oldest, Sean took on the role of caretaker. He is the brother who takes notes when doctors and nurses talk, the one who makes sure his parents make it to doctor appointments, and the one who orders groceries or whatever else his parents need to make home their life easier as they deal with living with cancer. 

The cutest thing about Sean is his love of a romance novels and the fact that he and his mother have had a two-person book club since he was a teenager. When his mother is too tired or weak to read, he reads to her. He even has a personal collection of historical romance novels that he categorizes by subgenre. How can a guy who shelves his romance novels based on whether they are set in the Regency or Victorian eras or the American West possibly be a bad guy? It's too adorable.

Sean is about to celebrate his latest work victory when he runs in to Zenny, his best friend’s little sister. He hasn’t seen her in years. Now 21, Zenny is working on her nursing and midwifery degrees. She’s also a preparing to become a nun! Sean can't quite figure out what surprises him most - the fact that Zenny wants to be a nun or that the girl he once babysat is now a smoking hot woman.

Zenny may be committed to God and helping others through her community service and social work, but even her mentor the Reverend Mother questions whether Zenny really understands what she is about to give up by becoming a bride of Christ. So the Revered Mother advises Zenny to take some time and explore the carnal world a little more before taking vows. Zenny really believes joining the sisterhood is her calling but she also hasn't had much sexual experience. She knows Sean and trusts him and decides to ask him to be her final fling before she takes her sisterly vows.

Sean is stunned by Zenny’s request but also tempted. Contrary to his bad boy persona, at heart Sean is a good guy. He worries Zenny is too innocent and given that he is 15 years older than her, much too young for him. But as his brother points out, Zenny is an adult capable of making her own decisions. She is also persistent and Sean has a hard time saying no to her. It is supposed to be a month of sexy fun and friendship with nothing deeper than that. But anyone who has ever read a romance novel, watched a romcom, or who simply has a heart can guess how that turns out.

Sinner is a sexy, sultry interracial romance. In addition to the romance and the sex, the characters deal with issues of faith and religion. Sean really struggles to reconcile the idea of faith in God with the reality of what happened to his sister. As much as he admires Zenny for her selfless commitment to helping others, he is largely mystified by her ability to believe in a God he doesn’t thinks exists. His struggle with his faith is almost as compelling as his sexy times with Zenny.

This is the second book I've read in 2019. So far my reading in 2019 has gotten off to a great start!

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

  Picking the first book to read in a new year is a big deal for me. I tell myself that the first read of the year sets the tone for the rest of the year. That's crap of course and yet I still spend the last days of December contemplating what book I'm going to open on January 1st. This year for reasons I can't recall I chose Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. I can't remember the last time I started off the year with nonfiction.

Of course, I had heard of Anthony Bourdain but I didn't know much about him beyond that he had shows on television about traveling the world and the food he found there. I have never seen any of Bourdain's shows but his legend looms large. I didn't quite know what to expect from this book which was good because this book wasn't one thing. It is partly a memoir, partly a peek into one corner of the professional cooking world, and partly something else that I can't quite put my finger on yet.

The cooking part of the book was interesting but not surprising but that may be because his book has infiltrated the culture to such an extent that I had absorbed his stories and advice (no fish on Mondays) without realizing it. I did come to appreciate just how hard kitchen staffs work. The hours, the speed at which one must work - I sure couldn't do it. I also appreciated how much he credits the people that one doesn't usually see when dining at a restaurant.

Usually by the end of a memoir I have a sense of who the author is. I can't say that after reading Kitchen Confidential. Bourdain's love of food comes through, especially in the beginning but beyond that he is a mystery. Although he walks the reader through how he got into cooking, he doesn't reveal too much about the rest of his life. I kept wondering how his admitted drug and alcohol abuse affected his cooking, or how he met his wife, or how he shifted into television and writing. Maybe another one of his books has those stories.

As a first book of the year, this was a solid choice.