Book Log 2013 #12: The Man in the Empty Suit by Sean Ferrell

The premise is simple enough: a man who has figured out time travel celebrates his birthday every year with all of his other selves from across time at a party that is always the same. At least until the man turns 39, at which point the party changes, and one of his selves ends up dead. How that happens - and how to prevent it, with the help of his older selves and a mysterious woman - makes up the bulk of the story.

And it's not a bad story per se, but I found myself hung up on the time travel aspect and its details (such as how various versions of the man become "untethered" as things change) at points that took away from my overall enjoyment of the book. I'd also have liked a little more background on whatever calamity has befallen the planet (or at least New York) in the man's timeline. It's not necessarily important - though the mostly abandoned city does allow the party to go on year after year - just something that niggled.

Anyway, it's certainly worth a gander, and you may like it more than I did if you can get past the things that I couldn't quite get my head around.

Book Log 2013 #11: A Study in Revenge by Kieran Shields

Anyone waiting for Caleb Carr to return to the plucky band of New Yorkers who solves murders in The Alienist and The Angel of Death will find some solace in the adventures of Portland, Maine police detective Archie Lean and his unofficial partner, the criminalist Percival Grey. In this outing, Lean and Grey are called in to help solve a killing with an apparent occult twist, one that pulls them back into the ambit of an old and powerful nemesis. Both parties are looking to find the same object, one which promises great power and, in the wrong hands, great danger.

Historical mysteries set in New England are always going to be of interest, though I wish I hadn't jumped quite so quickly to read this one. It is the second book with these characters, and the first, The Truth of All Things, is referenced frequently. This isn't such a bad thing if you just want to get up to speed, but if you have a light case of OCD about reading a series in order it's a problem. I'm still going to go back and read the first book, but it'll be less of a mystery.

Back to the Carr comparison, there are some comparisons to be made between Grey and Laszlo Kreizler (both highly intelligent, practicing in new fields and personally set apart from society based on a physical trait), as well as between this book's main female character and Sara Howard (both also highly intelligent, feisty, and less observant of traditional women's roles).

Anyway, I do recommend this book, but only after reading the first book.

Book Log 2013 #10: The Audacity of Hops by Tom Acitelli

Not surprisingly, given my taste in beer, I really enjoyed this history of craft brewing in America. Starting with Fritz Maytag getting involved with Anchor in the '60s and running through the contractions and rebounds in recent times, Acitelli puts together the story of how a handful of brewers used their passion and knowledge to reverse the trend in brewery consolidation and inspire other brewers to join them in building a small but significant niche among America's beer drinkers.

The book also clearly demonstrates the obstacles that craft brewing had to overcome (and in some cases is still overcoming), from finding capital to getting shelf space to trying to survive the pressure put on craft brewing by industrial brewers to just what exactly craft brewing means (is the Boston Beer Company, which is a top 10 brewer that contracts the work to other breweries, a craft brewer?).

One idea that came up, and is worthy of greater exploration, is craft beer's place in the wider development of quality American food and drink. The 1970s were a banner decade for this, between craft beer, improved California wines, and restaurants like Chez Panisse that emphasized local, quality ingredients. There are good books on each topic, but something synthesizing things would be a pretty good read, too.