Book Log 2020 #15: Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi

This isn't a completely new entry in the Old Man's War series, but a retelling of the previous entry, The Last Colony, from the viewpoint of Zoe Perry, the adopted daughter of John Perry and Jane Sagan. It does fill in a lot of gaps, and helps to explain Zoe's role in the events of that book. The book also marks the series transition away from the main characters and towards a broader story about the warring factions trying to claim parts (or all) of the universe.

I liked the book, and appreciate the transition to a different focus for the storytelling. If you like this series you should like this installment.

 Book Log 2020 #14: The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan

The main thesis of this book is that the east-west exchange fostered by the Silk Road - the trading routes between Asia and Europe - played a much larger role in the development of Western civilization than normally credited, and should be thought of on par with the influence of Greece and Rome. Or to riff off of another book about global interconnectedness, the world was flat well before Thomas Friedman came along.

I gave this book three stars on Goodreads, so there was something I found a little off about this book, but I don't know what it was. The book comes in at over 600 pages, so maybe I found it a bit repetitive? Or maybe I just wasn't a fan of Frankopan's writing style. Or I found the idea that Europeans were influenced by Persia and peoples farther east to not be that surprising. Don't know. It's probably worth a read (a 2018 update adds coverage of China's Belt and Road initiative).

 Book Log 2020 #13: His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet

I apparently had a thing going for fiction presenting as fact in 2020. In this example, we are presented with "found" documents relating to a 1869 triple murder in a Scottish village. There's no question that the killer is local teen Roderick Macrae. The real question is why he did it - did Roderick kill to take revenge against the constable that made his life a living hell, or did he have some sort of mental or moral defect that led him down the path to murder?

The documents provide various views of the motives for the crime, most notably the narrative penned by Roderick himself.  They also tell the story in a unique way, once that provides plenty of room for different interpretations of motive, as well as room for doubt as to the veracity of the narrators. It's also notable that the time the novel is set in is not that long after the development of the M'Naghten rule, a jury instruction developed in cases where an insantiy defense is given. This tension between crime as a moral failing or a sympton of illness adds to the conflict at the heart of the book.

This was short listed for the Booker Prize (it lost to Paul Beatty's The Sellout), and is apparently the best-selling book to be shortlisted (though I wonder if it was passed by The Testaments). It's easy to see why it became so popular, between the gripping murder story and the thorough depiction of grinding poverty in rural Scotland. Very much worth reading for fans of crime fiction or even true crime.

 Book Log 2020 #12: The Last Colony by John Scalzi

The third book in the Old Man's War series, we find former solider John Perry and his family settled down, at least until they're given an offer to lead a new colony, made up of residents from other previously colonized planets.

Only problem is that the Conclave, an alliance of races seeking to limit human expansion into the universe, discovered the location of the planned colony, forcing the Colonial Union to send the homesteaders to a new planet. Which they have to settle as damage to their ships prevents them from going home. And which they have to settle without the use of current technology, so the Conclave won't find them. 

And eventually, as you'd expect, the Concalve does find the colony, and it becomes embroiled in the politics between the Concclave and the CU, leading to an inspired - but possibly treasonous - solution.

As with most series, if you've liked previous books you'll like this one.

 Book Log 2020 #10: Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

On Valentine's Day 1900, the students and some of the staff at an Australian girls' school go on the titual outing, which ends in tragendy. Several girls and one of the teachers have gone missing.  The search for the missing takes place on a backdrop of suspicion and mistrust, which as you might imagine wind up taking a toll on the school and those associated with it.

The book is written as if the events may actually be true, and most of the locations in the book actually exist. This, combined with the disappearances going unsolved, led to a bit of a national phenomenon with speculation over what happened to the missing women. This was answered by the eventual publication of the book's excised last chapter in 1987, which detailed what actually happened. That it was followed shortly by another book where other writers depicted their own alternate endings gives you a sense of how attached people in Australia were to this story.

I did not develop the same sort of attachment. The book is fine, I just never got that swept into the mystery. I also found the Victorian era manners and attitudes a bit irritating, but I suppose people of the age did as well.

 Book Log 2020 #9: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

This sequel to The Handmaid's Tale is set 15 years after the original book, and tells of the beginnings - and end - of that theocratic state through the stories of three women. Two are younger and have little to no functional knowledge of a time before Gilead. The third, Aunt Lydia, tells of the beginnings of the state and how she earned her role within it. Their stories interact with each other - and with the history of the first book - leading to a world-changing conclusion.

I did re-read the first book before the sequel, and I think it's a worthwhile move if you haven't read it in a while. The original book felt a lot more personal to me - which I guess makes sense as it's one woman's personal story rather than the wider-ranging narrative of the sequel - but both are told powerfully and are very much worth reading, even if you've been watching the TV show.

 Book Log 2020 #8: Broken Harbor by Tana French

Once again a member of the Dublin Murder Squad has to balance an active murder investigation with events from their past. Here it's "Scorcher" Kennedy, who is investigating the deaths of a man and his two children, while their wife/mother is in intensive care. It appears to be a case of the man snapping under financial strain - the family lives in a development that's half-finished, a casualty of the Great Recession - but as Kennedy and his rookie partner look into the case, they find that it's not so open and shut.

The past comes in the form of Kennedy's sister Dina, who is prompted by the new case to dredge up an incident from their past that Kennedy believed he had under wraps. 

If this feels familiar it's because most (if not all) of the books in the Dublin Murder Squad series have this sort of set-up, where the main character is investigating a case that dredges up part of their past and brings it into the present. In lesser hands this would get formulaic, but French brings enough difference (both in terms of the narrative and the main character's persona) that the recurring framework doesn't feel old.

I think I've pretty enthusiastically recommended the books in this series in the past, and do so again here.

Book Log 2020 #7: The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin

This fitting climax to the Broken Earth trilogy sees the mother and daughter orogenes (humans who can control earth processes like quakes) square off in their plans to save or destroy Earth.  I won't go into details (mostly because I'm writing this up a good 2+ years after reading the book), but will say that this book was incredibly satisfying both on a storytelling level and on wrapping up lingering questions about the world of the Stillness. 

If for some reason you've not read these books you should do so at your earliest convenience.

 Book Log 2020 #6: The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal

Humans have established a foothold on the moon, and are now looking to make the jump to Mars. The first mission is being planned, but the powers that be have left women off of the crew, not wanting to put them in harm's way during such a dangerous mission.

This leaves the popular "Lady Astronaut" Elma York at her current job, flying between the Earth and the moon. She wants to go to Mars, but isn't sure how to get herself - never mind women in general - included. She's also not sure if she should go in the place of other astronauts, who like her have been passed up for not being a white male. On a more personal note, she's also trying to balance advancing her career against starting a family, as she'll definitely be grounded once she's pregnant.

It's interesting to see all of these challenges play out over the planning and eventual execution of the mission, though at times the issues feel more contemporary than those prevalent in the 1960s (though the international make-up of the astronaut corps and the looming planetary disaster would give some explanation for that).

I did like this book, and appreciated how it furthered the story and characters without being too obviously working to set up the third book. 

 Book Log 2020 #5: The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters

A local widow has given her home to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, but on the condition of an annual rent payable to her of a single white rose from the house's garden. Which isn't normally a problem except for the year 1142, when the man renting the house returns from a job to find the rose bush hacked away at its base, and a young brother from the abbey (who had been asked to be released from his vows due to his feelings for the widow) dead beside it.

Just as Cadfael and the sheriff start their investigation, the widow who owns the house suddenly disappears. Both events appear related, and engineered to void the charter that rented the house to the abbey. Cadfael follows the clues and the consideration of who would stand to benefit from these events, with the expected results.

I generally liked this entry in the series, but it does have what may be the cheesiest ending of them all. Almost cheesy enough to put me off of the book. Be forewarned.

 Book Log 2020 #4 Even the Dead by Benjamin Black

Pathologist/amateur detective Quirke is back on the case, or cases, as he gets pulled into investigating the suspicious death of a young man (whose death is made to look like an accident or suicide) and the disappearance of a pregnant woman who is a friend of sorts of Quirke's daughter, Phoebe.  Quirke pairs up with police inspector Hackett to look into these cases, which appear to involve some old foes from the Catholic church. The involvement of the church also provides a personal connection for Quirke, whose time in an orphanage - and the treatment he received there from the priests running it - has led to medical issues as he moves further into middle age.

I like this series best when it delves into the power structure that ran Ireland in the mid-20th century, as I don't think the average reader would really understand how ingrained the Church was in the running of the country at that time. Those power structures also provide a more engaging - and often enraging - foe for Quirke. 

 Lentorama 2020: Forty Days of Food

Day 15: fanesca

I wrote about fanesca last year when talking about Easter traditions in Ecuador, it's a grain-based soup that's so popular during Lent that there are competitions between restaurants to see who makes the best version.

For this post I was going to write about this year's competition, except that there wasn't one. Covid-19 forced the closure of pretty much all of the restaurants. What this did lead to is a growth in people making the soup at home (note: the page is in Spanish). This also had some challenges, as people were restricted as to when they could go to the market, and the markets had to implement their own procedures to keep shoppers safe. The pandemic also made it hard to get some ingredients due to disruptions in the supply chain, but the prices of the ingredients were often lower than usual because the restaurants weren't buying them. Such are the connections between food, public health, and religion.

 Lentorama 2020: Forty Days of Food

Day 14: pinca

Pinca is a bread made in parts of Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia (Istria and Dalmatia primarily). It's made with an enriched dough, and using eggs and sugar means it's not repentant enough to be eaten until the end of Lent. 

It's kind of like a cross between a large hot cross bun and soda bread, with the dough being more like a hot cross bun and the preparation more like soda bread (loaf-sized and with a cross cut through the top). 

This page gives a short history of the bread and links to several recipes. It looks like the Easter bread is commonly flavored with citrus, and might have some alcohol added in for extra flavor.  You don't get the dried fruit, icing, or nuts that you can get with hot cross buns, but a version made for Christmas is likely to have raisins (or more properly sultanas, based on the recipes in the link). 

There are a number of regional names for the bread, one of which, pogača, is also the last name of the winning cyclist from the 2020 Tour de France (note: this was written after the race; if I actually knew about this in March I would have hit the betting shops hard). I imagine he got some grief from the other kids about this growing up.

 Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 13: colomba di Pasqua

There are a lot of breads specific to Easter, don't know why but I'm guessing it's something to do with making something that's risen. In any case, colomba di Pasqua is an Italian bread made at Easter, a springtime cousin to panettone or pandoro.

The reciepie for colomba di Pasqua is actually pretty similar to panettone, as far as the dough goes. The Easter bread uses candied peel rather than raisins, and it's topped with almonds and pearl sugar. It's also shaped into a dove (the name translates into English as Easter dove), rather than panettone's tall shape. 

This article from Eataly goes a little deeper into the history of the bread, and notes that it's something that's more often store bought than attempted at home. It mentions that the dough takes 30 hours to rise, which would certainly send me to the bakery for a loaf.  

 Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 12: sárgatúró 

Sárgatúró is a Hunarian dish whose name literally translates to "yellow curd cheese," though I think it's open to debate how much like cheese it really is.

To make it, you combine eggs, milk, and sugar, and boil until it starts to clump and resemble a curd cheese. You then add vanilla, and any other items you may want in it (other spices, raisins, etc.). You then put the solids into a cheesecloth and force out as much liquid as you can. After that, you hang it so the mass comes together, and to get more liquid to seep out.

Once it's in one solid piece, you can slice it and eat it with ham, bread, or whatever part of the Easter meal you'd like. Most of the web pages about sárgatúró are in Hungarian, but this page in English talks a little bit about it, has a recipie, and a good picture of the finished product. And by good I mean the quality of the photo; the actual appearance of the dish looks, to me, like a loaf of scrambled eggs.

 Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 11: hot cross buns

Hot cross buns have a long been traditional at Easter, when buns were made without dairy throughout Lent.  It's not clear when they were first made, at least in some form that we would recognize. There's some record of buns being made going back to the 6th century in Greece, while the English have an origin story that goes back to the 14th century at an abbey in St. Albans. 

Regardless of where they were first made, the buns do share a distinctive cross pattern, that could be put into the buns using shortcrust pastry, a paste made of flour and water, or just cutting the cross into the dough. All of these methods seem to have to have taken a back seat to sugar icing, which is a bit more acceptable if you have your buns at the end of Lent rather than during.

While early buns don't appear to have been flavored, over time various spices were introduced, with the idea that they represented the compounds used to prepare Jesus for entombing. This has also changed in more recent times, either with the addition of dried fruit or various flavors (like sticky toffee, apple cinnamon, chocolate, and so on). 

I have to admit that I'm pretty ambivalent about hot cross buns, and find the iced ones too sweet.

 Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 10: aquavit

Aquavit is a Scandinavian spirit brewed from grains or potato, like gin or vodka, but is flavored with various herbs and spices, with caraway typically the dominant flavor (this Eater article gives a good overview on aquavit and suggests a number of brands to try). I never associated it specifically with Easter, but it's apparently very traditional in countries like Norway and Denmark to have a glass with your Easter meal. It's just that it's also traditional to have it with your Christmas meal as well. Or any meal, really.

One thing I did know about aquavit is that there's a type called line aquavit, which is made by putting casks of the stuff on a ship and then sending it to Australia and back (the line in the name refers to the Equator). The conditions on the ship provide a specific character to the aquavit, which is not present in varieties aged on land only. There's been some attempt to recreate this process on land with machinery to mimic changes in humidity, the ship's motion, etc., but without success.

 Book Log 2020 #1: Clyde Fans by Seth

Before getting into Clyde Fans, I should note that I started 2020 by re-reading Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle and Cryptonomicon (which I had previously re-read in 2013), and I actually did read them chronologically this time around (which just means reading the cycle books in order and Cryptonomicon last), and I do think I was better at connecting people and references between the four books. I don't know that I liked any of the books any better this time around, but the rise of cryptocurrency did lend something to the Cryptonomicon re-read.

So my first new book of the year was Clyde Fans, a graphic novel about a pair of brothers who inherit the family's fan business after their father abandons them. Abe is the more natural businessman, and winds up more or less running the business on his own when Simon, after a failed business trip, becomes a recluse. The family's highly dysfunctional dynamic - between Abe's belittlement of Simon and Simon's co-dependent relationship with their mother - adds emotional weight to the eventual failure of the business.

I don't read a lot of graphic novels, but the format definitely enhanced the story, between the striking graphics and the moody (and often depressing) blue and grey colors of the art. I also found it interesting that Seth based the novel on an actual business (or the remains of one) in Toronto, where he saw a picture of two men, made an assumption that they were brothers, and developed the story from there over the course of several years. It's a sad and occasionally difficult story, but was worth the read.

Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 9: simnel cake

The English love their fruitcake. The traditional Christmas pudding is a fruitcake, as is the traditional wedding cake. The simnel cake is Easter's fruitcake. Though it wasn't always for Easter.

The simnel cake was originally made for Laetare Sunday, or Refreshment Sunday. The fourth Sunday in Lent, on this day the fast and other restrictions of the period are relaxed. Priests can wear rose colored vestments, flowers can appear on the altar, and the people could enjoy foods that they'd otherwise avoid.

Over time, the British holiday Mothering Sunday would also be held on the fourth Sunday in Lent, and the simnel cake became associated with that day as well.

The cake itself is a light fruitcake (I assume the lightness is relative to other fruitcakes), two layered with marzipan between the layers and on the top. The cake is decorated with 11 or 12 balls of marzipan (often shaped like eggs), representing either the apostles alone or Jesus and the apostles, in both cases without Judas. The cake is baked, and will spend some time under a broiler or grill to brown the marzipan.

But why is it called a simnel cake? No one really knows. There's a theory that the word has something to do with the fine, white flour made to make the cake. It does not appear to be related to the pretender to the throne Lambert Simnel, as the word first appeared a couple of centuries before his birth. This page from Anglican Way magazine gives various theories, and if the Anglicans can't sort this out no one can.

Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 8: hollow chocolate Easter bunny

While it didn't quite stack up to Christmas morning - then as now the gold standard for childhood nervous energy - Easter morning had its own excitement, not the least of which was the Easter basket. Full of sweet treats and the occasional present, the crowing glory of most baskets was a chocolate rabbit. You'd unwrap it from its shiny foil, take a big bite... and it would be hollow. Why would chocolate makers play such a cruel trick?

Simple. Hollow bunnies are easier to eat than solid ones.

As noted in this article, there is a point where chocolate can be too thick to eat easily, especially for kids. Hollow bunnies are easier to bite through and break apart as needed, which is a much more positive experience. The manufacturer also benefits from being able to make larger bunnies with less chocolate, which entices the eater. Even if it winds up being a lie.

Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 7: figolli

Malta has a few baked goods associated with Lent and Easter, but figolli are the most festive. With roots apparently going back to pagan times, modern figolli are filled with marzipan, iced in festive colors, and often given holiday-appropriate shapes (fish, lambs, etc.). They are topped with half a chocolate egg, still wearing its foil wrapper.

It's common for kids to bring figolli to church to be blessed, and they're also often given as gifts.

Here's one of several recipes for figolli that are out there, which I include as it has links to two other Maltese Easter foods, a Lenten cake and a fish soup.

Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 6: zurek

Unlike yesterday's entry, which in its early days was considered a "dry soup" to start a meal, today's entry is an actual soup from Poland. While it's possible to find it year round now, it is most associated with Lent and Easter.

Unlike soups that use a meat or vegetable stock as its base, zurek uses a liquid made by soaking rye bread in water, creating a started called zakwas (check here if you want to take a shot at making it yourself). Traditionally the soup includes sausage, herbs, and hard boiled eggs, though that can vary depending on when you serve it (no meat on Fridays during Lent, of course).

According to this list of Polish Easter foods, zurek is often consumed with herring, another common Lenten food in Poland. There's also a tradition of having a funeral for zurek after Easter is over, either by burying a pot of it or dumping it on the ground. This reminded me a little bit of the fish funeral in Ireland, as people are sick enough of eating something to want it gone and buried.

Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 5: capirotada

Capirotada is a bread pudding commonly served in Mexico during Lent and on Easter, though it appears to have roots going back to Moorish Spain, where it was served as a savory dish before the meal, rather than as a dessert as most of us would expect from a bread pudding. The main spices in the dish - cinnamon and cloves - were also found in savory dishes cooked in the region at the time. Even today, when the dish is mostly served as a dessert, there are versions that include ingredients like tomato, onion, and (when permitted) meat.

Unlike standard bread pudding, capirotada uses a sugar syrup to hydrate the bread, rather than milk and eggs. The cinnamon and cloves are used to flavor the syrup, which also darkens it. This lends to a Christian interpretation of the dish where the bread represents Jesus, the syrup his blood, cinnamon the wood of the cross, and cloves the nails used in the crucifixion.

Fruit (often dried, though fresh pineapple or banana is also used) and nuts can also be added, while some versions also include a cheese (not sure if this is the Mexican Easter cheese I've seen referenced in a few places or something more like queso fresco).

This article (which I've liberally ripped off for this entry) includes a recipe, not sure how authentic it is. This one may be better, as the writer has personal experience with the dish.  Or you could go with Rick Bayless. Really, there are a ton of recipes online if you want to give it a go yourself.

Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 4: Cadbury Creme Egg

The history of this confection - a milk chocolate egg containing a white and yellow fondant yolk - goes back to the 19th century, when John Cadbury and Joseph Fry had competing chocolate companies in the UK.  The companies pushed each other to create new treats, with Cadbury putting out the first filled egg in 1875 (though it was filled with other candies rather than a candy yolk).

The two companies merged in 1921, and in 1923 started to produce creme-filled eggs, though eggs like those you get today weren't made until the 1960s. Since then the eggs have become an Easter staple in the UK and other parts of the English-speaking world (and beyond). Adding to their appeal is their seasonal availability, although there have been versions made for other holidays (like a "scream" egg for Halloween).

Cadbury's purchase by Kraft in 2010, and its spinning off of its confection businesses as Mondelez International in 2014 led to changes that were not always welcome. There was an attempt to make the chocolate shell using powdered cocoa, which saw a drop in sales. Mondelez also moved production out of established factories in places like Ireland and New Zealand in favor of places like China and Brazil, where costs are lower. Not sure if that changed the product, but there was outcry over moving the production of such a traditional product to non-traditional locations.

Personally, I don't care for these eggs. Too sickly sweet for me. My wife loves them, and I'm happy to leave them to her.

Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 3: Peeps

Much like candy corn at Halloween, there is little to no middle ground when you ask people about whether or not they like this iconic Easter candy.

(Though I have to admit, I may be in that middle. I don't hate Peeps the way that I hate candy corn, but I don't exactly look for opportunities to eat Peeps either.)

Peeps are a marshmallow candy shaped, originally at least, as chicks (with their name coming from the distinctive sound made by chicks). They've been made by the Just Born company since the mid-1950s, when they bought the company that originally produced them. The folks at Just Born figured out a way to make what was a hand-formed candy into something that could be mass produced, and they quickly became ubiquitous at Easter.

The chick was joined by a rabbit in the 1960s, and new shapes, colors, and flavors would be added over the years. The company would later create Peeps merchandise (with products from lip balm to nail polish to plush toys and pillows), and even open some Peeps-branded retail outlets.

But going back to the original Peep, why is it so divisive? Part of it is the flavor; the marshmallow taste isn't that strong, and I find the coloring adds a bitter note (or at least I did the last time I had one). There's also a texture question, as Peeps can go stale quickly, though there's a notable segment of Peep eaters who specifically want them to be a little stale so there's a little firmness and crunch. But they're cheap and handy to fill out an Easter basket, so I don't think Peeps will be going away any time soon.

Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 2: lamb

Unlike the relatively recent adoption of ham as an Easter food, eating lamb was adapted from tradition that pre-dates Christianity. The use of sacrificial lamb's blood to mark doorways on the original Passover led to lamb becoming part of the seder (though there is some disagreement as to whether or not lamb should be eaten at Passover).

As Christianity grew and the lamb became a symbol for Jesus, it's not surprising that lamb would continue to be a part of the meal celebrating Easter.  At some point in the middle ages the pope included lamb as part of his Easter meal, which cemented its place on tables worldwide. That practice continues today, though animal rights groups have asked Pope Francis to end it.

It's the ashiest of Wednesdays today, meaning it's time to kick off Lentorama 2020:  40 Days of Food

The theme this year is food that one might eat during Lent, inspired by the number of food-related traditions that came up last year. Expect to see some (or all) of those foods again this year. But to start, a food that's not specific to Easter but is an Easter favorite.

Day 1: ham

Ham is kind of a strange choice of meat to celebrate the resurrection of the world's most famous Jewish person, but it came about from practicality.  Early Christians living in more temperate climates would most often have lamb at the center of their Easter feast (more on that in a later post). Once the religion moved into more temperate climates, where spring wasn't always in full bloom at Easter, lamb was not always available.

What was available was ham, which had been curing during the fall and winter. There's some evidence that ham was enjoyed at Easter as far back as the 6th century (and may have already been the entree at pre-Christian spring feasts).

I ran across one page claiming that ham is an Easter meat due to a pig killing the Mesopotamian god Tammuz (or Dmuzid). The source also said that a 40 day mourning period set by his wife, Inanna (or Ishtar) was the foundation of Lent. I'm not sure about either of these stories, as most sources that I found have Tammuz being killed by demons, and don't mention a 40 day mourning period. But there are also apparently a number of alternative stories around the death of Tammuz, so I could have just missed the one involving pigs.

Book Log 2019 Extra: Popsugar Reading Challenge

In past years I've kind of done the Popsugar Reading Challenge, but rather than make an actual attempt (or use it to pick books whenever I remember), I decided to take the 2019 list and see how well what I actually read fit the challenge topics. As I've done in the past, I will count a book more than once if it meets more than one (which seems fair as I'm doing this after the fact).


A book becoming a movie in 2019
A book that makes you nostalgic
A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction)
A book you think should be turned into a movie - We That are Young by Preti Taneja
A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads

A book with a plant in the title or on the cover - A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury

A reread of a favorite book - Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson (not really a favorite, but it's the only re-read I have in 2019)

A book about a hobby

A book you meant to read in 2018 - The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (which I'd been meaning to read in 2018, 2017, 2016...)

A book with "pop," "sugar," or "challenge" in the title

A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover - Slaying the Badger by Richard Moore

A book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore - The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

A book published posthumously

A book set in space - The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

A book by two female authors - Seeing Further, edited by Bill Bryson (probably not what was intended, but there are several essays written by women in this collection)

A book with a title that contains "salty," "sweet," "bitter," or "spicy"

A book set in Scandinavia - The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz

A book that takes place in a single day

A debut novel - Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

A book that's published in 2019 - Fall, or Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson

A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature - Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

A book recommended by a celebrity you admire

A book with "love" in the title

A book featuring an amateur detective - Holy Orders by Benjamin Black

A book about a family - Faithful Place by Tana French (book 3 in the Dublin Murder Squad series)

A book written by an author from Asia, Africa, or South America - Death's End by Liu Cixin

A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title
A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie

A retelling of a classic - We That Are Young by Preti Taneja (based on King Lear)

A book with a question in the title

A book set on a college or university campus - The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwan

A book about someone with a superpower - Fall, or Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson

A book told from multiple character POVs - Slaying the Badger by Richard Moore (which looks at the 1986 Tour de France from the viewpoints of several of the people involved, including legendary cyclists Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond).

A book that includes a wedding

A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter - The Quiet American by Graham Greene

A ghost story - Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

A book with a two-word title - Unnatural Causes by P. D. James

A novel based on a true story - The Throne of Caesar by Steven Saylor

A book revolving around a puzzle or game

Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

Advanced:

A "cli-fi" (climate fiction) book - The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemesin (this is a bit of a stretch, I suppose, but there's a climate angle in there)

A "choose-your-own-adventure" book
An "own voices" book
Read a book during the season it is set in - Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel (based on the part of the book set in the present)
A LitRPG book
A book with no chapters, unusual chapter headings, or unconventionally numbered chapters
Two books wit the same title
A book that inspired a common phrase or idiom (e.g. Big Brother from 1984)

A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent - The Cloister by James Carroll

 Bok Log 2019 #55: Seeing Further by Bill Bryson (editor)

This collection of essays was compiled for the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of the sciences. Each of its authors goes into detail about a specific topic or area of scientific inquiry, looking mostly at where things stand today and what the future may hold. 

While there is some historical writing, this book is not a retrospective on how the Society furthered the cause of science over the last three and a half centuries. Which is probably in keeping with the idea of the Society and its promotion of learning and discovery.

Some of the essays are pretty heavy, and I'll admit to doing some skimming along the way. From what I've read this is probably something you'll want to tackle in print, as it's got a number of illustrations that, based on my experience, didn't translate well to an electronic format. 

Book Log 2019 #54: Slaying the Badger by Richard Moore

It was hard to follow the Tour de France in the US in the 1980s. You'd get an hour or so of coverage on a Sunday afternoon, getting what CBS thought was the highlights of the week. Even with this limited access, I was taken with the race pretty much the second I learned it existed. Which made it all the more exciting when an American - an American! - won the race.

This book covers that 1986 race, where Greg LeMond became the first non-European to win the overall title, besting teammate (and five time winner) Bernard Hinault (the Badger of the title), whose pledge to ride in support of LeMond was not apparent in the actual racing. The book follows the race and the growing animosity between the riders (which of course spread throughout their whole team), and then catches up with the riders in the present for their recollections and thoughts about what happened.

This probably isn't LeMond's best-known Tour win to Americans (that would probably be the 1989 win where he made up a 50 second deficit to Laurent Fignon on the last day's time trial into Paris), but for history and drama it's hard to top. Anyone with an interest in competitive cycling should read this. There is also a 30 for 30 documentary by the same name which I've not watched but will hopefully get around to someday.

Sadly, Moore passed away unexpectedly in March 2022. 

 Book Log 2019 #53: Faithful Place by Tana French

A teenaged Frank Mackey (who we met in The Likeness as the main character's handler in the Dublin police) makes plans to run away to London with his girlfriend, but on the night of their planned departure she never shows. Thinking she dumped him due to his family, he leaves home (on the titular Faithful Place) and never returns.

At least not until two decades later, when Mackey's sister calls him out of the blue to say that a suitcase was found behind a fireplace in the abandoned house where Mackey and his girlfriend were going to meet. That bring Mackey back to the old neighborhood, and into an investigation as to what actually happened to his girlfriend.

This might be my favorite novel in the Dublin Murder Squad series, due to how the case and Mackey's family history intertwine.  While all the cases to this point had a personal element to them, this one is the most personal, and that may be what elevates the story for me. As with Rebus, this is a series you should be reading if you aren't already (although be forewarned that it's a very different series in terms of tone and emotional impact).

 Book Log 2019 #52: Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin

Old and new cases entwine, as John Rebus picks up a 40 year old murder that has connections to an attack on Darryl Christie, the apparent new underworld boss in Edinburgh. As Rebus again teams up with Siobhan Clarke and Malcolm Fox to investigate the cases, he has to deal with his personal health and long-time nemesis Gerald "Big Ger" Cafferty, who may not be as retired as he seems.

At this point I'm just happy we're still getting Rebus novels. Start reading them if you haven't already.

 Book Log 2019 #51: Milkman by Anna Burns

A girl growing up in Troubles-era Northern Ireland attracts the attention of a paramilitary member known as "milkman," though she is resistant to his advances as he's older and married and she has a kinda-sorta boyfriend. As the interest turns into stalking, the girl has to face increased gossip about her relationship with milkman, which also hurts her familial relationships, most notably with her mother. The story plays out in a very Troubles sort of way, though the ending does offer a bit of a surprise as to how the girl is able to return to a normal life (or as normal as could be during the Troubles).

I see I only gave this three stars on Goodreads, and I don't remember why. I do recall a feeling of annoyance at how the plot was driven by rumor and gossip, but that's probably true to how things would have gone at the time. I did like the book overall, so it could be my middle aged man's point of view that's the problem.

 Book Log 2019 #50: Unnatural Causes by P.D. James

Adam Dalgliesh is on holiday, spending some time in his aunt's cabin on the Suffolk coast. But of course someone has to turn up dead, and in this case it's a local crime writer. Suspects abound, from the local literary circle to the family of the deceased, and when the evidence points in contradictory directions, Dalgliesh is compelled to help the local detectives figure out whodunit.

Three books in and I'm still not really feeling this series. I may re-read the Morse novels again before moving on to the next installment here.

Book Log 2019 #49: Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

This is Mandel's first novel, and if you've read other books by her prior to this one you'll feel comfortable with the transient and somewhat mysterious female protagonist Lilia . A criminal act committed by her father when Lilia was young leads to a life in motion, one which continues into her adulthood. This seems almost needless, except that a detective hired to find Lilia is still trying to find her, having become obsessed with finally finding her.

One night in New York, Lilia decides it's time to leave again, but in doing so her boyfriend Eli decides he needs to track her down to figure out why she left. As you might have guessed from the title, all parties wind up in Montreal, where things come to a head.

While the main character here is similar to those in later works, this is a very different book from Station Eleven, so adjust your expectations accordingly. I did enjoy it, although I was often at odds with the idea that the detective and Eli were both so committed to finding Lilia. Maybe I just don't understand obsession that well.

 Book Log 2019 #48: The Quiet American by Graham Greene

I haven't read a lot of Greene's work, but picked this up remembering how much I liked Our Man in Havana. This is a very different book from that one, but I enjoyed it just as much, just in a different way.

The book is set in the early days of the Vietnam War, in that time where the French were beginning to fade out but before the US started sending troops. A British journalist makes the acquaintance of a CIA agent, whose goal is to get Vietnam to fall under a "third force" that is neither capitalism nor communism, but a form a rule that combines local custom and tradition with a Western style government. The tension between the jaded journalist and true believer spy plays out both in how they experience and influence the war and in their common love for a local woman.

The book was inspired by Greene's time in Vietnam, and displays a good understanding of the country and its people, as well as an uncanny sense of how the war would wind up going. Reading it now, so many years after the war's end, makes it an even stronger indictment of the idea of American exceptionalism. It also makes me wish that more of the people who've been in charge of US wars over the last 30 years had read this. 

 Book Log 2019 #47: Fall or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson

I was not a huge fan of REAMDE, so I wasn't too thrilled that this novel brought back Richard "Dodge" Forthrast, the gaming company billionaire. But it turns out his presence in the novel is relatively short - sort of.

(Spoiler alert, inasmuch as you can have spoilers on a book three-plus years after it came out.)

Dodge winds up brain dead after a routine medical procedure goes sideways (when doctors tell you not to eat before going under, you should listen to them), and before taking him off life support his brain is scanned to create a connectome, a full structural mapping. Years later, a grandniece loads this connectome into a server and is able to reboot Dodge.

And it is a reboot. Rather than picking up where he left off, this new Dodge starts more or less from scratch, though over time it's clear that there are some memories (or something akin to memories) that help the cloud-based Dodge (now going by Edgod) develop a sense of self and a new world based on meatspace.

From there the book follows both the development of this new online world (and the introduction of new connectomes to it) and the struggle for control of the new world (which takes place both online and in physical space).

The novel ties together both the REAMDE and Cryptonomicon timelines, with characters from both making appearances (several of whom wind up in the cloud). I'm assuming this puts an end to this universe, which is a little disappointing if true (I would rather have had two more novels with the Waterhouse/Shaftoe family than the two Forthrast books).

I also wish this book was at least 200 pages shorter. At some point lush detail becomes overkill, and this book reaches that point several times. On the other hand, there was a decent ending to the book, which isn't always a guarantee for Stephenson. 

 Book Log 2019 #46: A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury

I picked this up so I'd have something to read while on jury duty (while waiting to get called, not during actual jury duty), and it was a good choice inasmuch as a short story collection is easier to get in and out of when you might have to stop reading on short notice. 

As for the stories themselves, it's a mixed bag. There are 32 stories, so it's not shocking that some of them aren't great. But with that many stories, you can easily pass on one of it's not working for you and move on to the next. All of the stories are typical of Bradbury's writing, so if you're a fan you may find the overall collection more to your liking.

This collection was originally published as The Golden Apples of the Sun.

 Book Log 2019 #45: The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker

An agricultural research station just outside of Saint-Denis burns, with suspicion turning to local environmentalists who oppose its work on GMO crops. While local police chief Bruno investigates that, he also has to deal with the public outcry over a California winery's plans to buy up as many local vineyards as they can to create a larger, more industrial vineyard.  While Bruno tries to handle both events with his trademark informal investigating, a couple of bodies turn up, increasing the pressure on him to get everything back to normal.

I really do enjoy this series. Bruno is an excellent character, and the descriptions of the Dordogne region will make you want to visit. Or move there for good.

 Book Log 2019 #44: The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

The sequel to Old Man's War, it introduces us to the Ghost Brigades, the special forces units of the Colonial Defense Forces. Where their regular troops are elderly, living people who get their mind transplanted into young, new, enhanced bodies, the Ghost Brigades are created from the DNA of dead people, and optimized for combat. 

I won't go into too many plot details to avoid spoilers, but suffice it to say that creating new beings out of DNA doesn't always go as planned. 

Kind of funny that I read this after The Obelisk Gate, as they're complete opposites in many ways, but they both excel at the sort of reading experience they're aimed at giving, so maybe it's not that odd?  

 Book Log 2019 #43: The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

I read this book two and a half years ago (I'm backfilling the Book Log, the publish dates are the finish dates I have on Goodreads), and I don't remember much about it, other than I really liked it. I'm also wondering if there was a lot of time between reading this and the first book in the trilogy, The Fifth Season (which I've not logged here as it looks like I didn't add start or end dates in Goodreads, so it's not showing up in the chronology of my read books), as I recall having to refresh myself a bit on characters and events. Anyway, you should read the trilogy if you haven't yet.

 Book Log 2019 #42: The Likeness by Tana French

Cassie Maddox - who we met in the first Dublin Murder Squad novel - has left the squad, but gets pulled back in due to a very unusual circumstance. Turns out that a body turned up that not only looks strikingly like Cassie, but has an ID with the same name the Cassie used in an undercover case. In order to find the killer - and figure out just exactly who the victim actually is - Cassie agrees to go undercover as the victim, an especially challenging role given that she shares a house with several other people. One of whom is most likely the killer.

I really enjoyed this, and if you've not read anything in this series (and are interested in contemporary murder mysteries) I'd highly suggest you start reading these.

 Book Log 2019 #41: The Fallen Architect by Charles Belfoure

At what should have been a highlight of his career, the theater designed by London architect Douglas Layton suffers a collapse. After serving a prison sentence for the deadly results of the collapse, Layton finds a new job in the theater - scene painter - but soon becomes involved in a series of murders which seem to be connected to the theater collapse. Layton thus begins to look for the killer, thinking that if he catches that person he'll also catch the person responsible for the theater disaster.

I thought Belfoure's first book, The Paris Architect, was good for a first novel, and was glad to see that this book didn't repeat some of the things that I thought detracted from the first one. I'm also still taken with the use of architecture in the mystery/thriller genre, and hope that future works will blend the two as well as this book (and the first one) did.

 Book Log 2019 #40: The Girl Who Takes and Eye for an Eye by David Langercrantz

The fifth book in the Millenium series, and second penned by Langercrantz, sees Lisbeth Salander in prison, where she protects a Bangladeshi prisoner from other inmates who want to do her harm. She also has a visit from her former guardian, who gives her information on her past. Salander was part of an experiment that took exceptional children and put them in different circumstances to see what effect it had on their growth. Salander asks journalist Mikael Blomkvist to investigate this, and if you've ready any of the previous books in this series you have an idea of what sort of hell this winds up unleashing.

I did like this book better than Langercrantz's first entry in the series, but I do agree with some of the criticism that the book focused too much on new characters and had a marked absence of Salander. Hopefully Langercrantz will return to the more established characters for the next book, which he's announced is his last in the series.

 Book Log 2019 #39: The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

A meteor hits the US right by Washington DC, demolishing the capital and leaving the country more or less without a government. This would be bad enough, but it's not long after the strike that scientists realize that the planet will eventually become uninhabitable. This leads to a worldwide effort to colonize space in an effort to save humanity, an effort that requires all hands. Including those of Elma York, a former WASP pilot and mathematician who just may become the first American woman astronaut.

There's a lot here that reminded me of Neal Stephenson's Seveneves, from the climate implications of an astronomical event to the role that women could play in saving humanity. In that book, though, the current day setting allowed for a much for technology-focused story than this one, which focuses much more on the people involved and on issues such as gender, race, mental health, and family. I'm assuming there's an impulse to attribute this difference to the genders of the writers, but I tend to think it's at least as much due to the timing and the nature of the emergency in this book. 

Anyway, I did enjoy this book and definitely recommend it, if only for the chapter about using a toilet in space (the research for which turned into a memorable Twitter thread).

 Book Log 2019 #38: A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre

This is a very engaging retelling of the Kim Philby spy case, enhanced by the personal storyline of how Philby's friends - most notably fellow spy Nicholas Elliott - kept supporting Philby, even while the web of lies he created to hide his double cross became increasingly tenuous.

There's also an interesting class angle here, as there was an assumption that Philby, who went to the right schools, knew the right people, and had the right background, couldn't be working for the Soviets. This assumption allowed Philby to operate for nearly 20 years, and underscores why the old boy network isn't a great operating principle.

Very much worth reading if you're into this sort of thing. You may want to squeeze this in before the TV version hits screens, with Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce in the starring roles.

 Book Log 2019 #37: Holy Orders by Benjamin Black

Dublin pathologist Quirke is back to investigate another murder, and this one is semi-personal as the victim was a friend of Quirke's daughter Phoebe. The victim was also a journalist, and apparently working on a story that put him against the Catholic church, whose sway in 1950s Ireland was substantial.

Between the personal connection and the chance to take the church down a peg, it's not surprising that Quirke would take this case on, even though his last case involving the church left him much the worse for wear. As the case progresses, we get as much (if not more) background on Quirke and his youth spent in a Catholic home for orphans, which was about as dour as you might think. In many ways this case is less about the actual whodunit as it is about getting Quirke to revisit his formative years and examine what sort of lasting effects that time had on him.

I like this book a little more than some of the earlier ones, as it did help to fill in some gaps about Quirke and why he is the way he is. It still doesn't explain his appeal to women, but that's a mystery that may never get solved. Maybe the next book will give us that answer.

 Book Log 2019 #36: Claws of the Cat by Susan Spann

When a samurai is killed in 16th century Kyoto, ninja Hiro Hattori is given three days to solve the crime, otherwise the geisha accused of the killing and Father Mateo, the Jesuit priest Hattori is sworn to protect, will be put to death. Hattori and Mateo delve into the samurai's life and find no shortage of suspects, though there seem to be even more people who want to thwart their investigation.

I liked this book quite a bit, both for the unusual setting for a murder mystery and the relationship between the ninja and the priest.  It reminds me vaguely of Brother Cadfael, though that may just be the religious aspects of the two series making a connection in my brain. 

 Book Log 2019 #35: The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth

This book chronicles Booth's 2000 mile trek from Soya, located on the northernmost point of Hokkaido, to Sata, located in the southermost part of the Home Islands. Having spent most of his life living in Tokyo, Booth's journey is mostly spent in the countryside, where he gets to see a very different side of his adoptive homeland.

For every experience Booth had with lovely vistas and helpful locals, he also seemed to have trouble with finding a place to sleep, fighting with cars for room on the road, and questions from people who couldn't understand why he didn't just drive. Having everything go his way wouldn't make for a very interesting story, but there were times where I wondered why he didn't just pack it in.

Still, it's an engaging travelogue and worth reading to get a period picture of Japan. 

 Book Log 2019 #34: Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr

Barr, the grand nephew of M. F. K. Fisher, one of the best known American food writers of the 20th century. In 1970, Fisher was in Provence at the same time as a number of other figures in American gastronomy - Julia Child and James Beard most notably - and they spent their time together eating, drinking, and discussing the state of food in France and America. Barr reconstructs these meetings through the journals and letters of Fisher, Child, and Beard, with embellishments of his own memories of Fisher.

While the jacket copy makes it sound like this period was pivotal in the history of American cuisine, I think the book is really most successful in the way it portrays how good food and lively conversation build on each other, leading to memorable moments that endure well after everyone heads home. It also makes me wonder why we all don't just live in Provence, enjoying the fruits of the farm, orchard, and vineyard during long evenings at a farmhouse.

If you have any interest in food you should read this, and probably seek out some of Fisher's writings as well (which I have admittedly failed to do, but will hopefully correct soon).

 Book Log 2019 #33: The Raven in the Foregate by Ellis Peters

There's a new parish priest for the people of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul foregate, but his austere look and brusque manner makes his flock uneasy. Within the space of a week he's alienated pretty much everyone with his approach to pastoral affairs (which tends to involve the word 'no' and a stick).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new priest soon turns up murdered, with no shortage of suspects, including a young man who was attached to the priest who isn't what he first appears to be.  As usual, Brother Cadfael steps in to help solve the murder while sorting out romantic and political entanglements.

Another solid outing for our favorite monk-detective.

 Book Log 2019 #32: Maeve in America by Maeve Higgins

I first encountered Maeve Higgins on the NPR show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, where her wit and humor far outpace her knowledge of current events (it's kind of a running joke that Maeve will finish last, even if she's not in last place going into the final game). From those appearances I decided to read her book, which is loosely based on her podcast of the same name.

I say loosely because most of the material in the book is apparently not from her podcast at all (admittedly I have not listened to it), but rather mixes essays on topics related to her podcast (like immigration and her decision to leave Ireland and move to New York) with personal and cultural reflections. On the whole it works really well, and I got a much better sense of who Higgins is and what challenges she's faced in her career, as a single woman, and as an immigrant. I also got to read the essays with her delightful accent in my head, which just added to the enjoyment.

 Book Log 2019 #31: The Malta Exchange by Steve Berry

You may remember that, in the past, I've said that the Cotton Malone series should return to Europe as the US-based books weren't that great. Well, be careful what you wish for.

In this installment, a papal conclave, the Knights of Malta, the Donation of Constantine, and a pair of scheming twins all come together to put the world in peril, and only Cotton Malone can stop things. It's all a bit clunky and unnecessarily complex, which is too bad as I'd think there's enough actual history to mine for a good thriller. I also thought that it wasted Malta as a setting, as the country's unique culture and history should also be able to help flesh out a good thriller.

For completists only.

 Book Log 2019 #30: A Mind to Murder by P. D. James

Adam Dalgliesh is back on the case, looking to solve the murder of an employee at a private psychiatric clinic. There are plenty of possible suspects between the clinic employees and patients, and as he begins to investigate he finds that there are plenty of goings-on at the clinic that could drive someone to murder.

I still kind of feel like Dalgliesh doesn't do much in the course of his investigations, and had a hard time really getting into the book. I have to say I'm not particularly compelled to continue the series, but may go back to it after a while. I did read some of the books that come later on and enjoyed those more, so it could just be me.

 Book Log 2019 #29: We That Are Young by Preti Taneja

This book takes King Lear and puts it in present day India, where the founder of a large and prosperous company suddenly calls it quits and pledges the leadership of the company to two of his daughters (a third daughter is missing). The book follows the two daughters, and the two sons of the father's right hand man, as they start to wield power and face conflict from an unexpected direction. Or wholly expected, if you are familiar with King Lear.

Which I was not, at least not in anything beyond a cursory understanding of the story. You really don't need to know anything about the play to appreciate and enjoy this book. I do think that the setting is perfect for such a retelling, with India continually straddling the line between tradition and modernity. It's a long book but well worth the investment of time.

 Book Log 2019 #28: Old Man's War by John Scalzi

The colonization of space is on, but the other races we've discovered along the way are less than happy that humans are claiming planets left and right. The ongoing war requires that the Colonial Defense Force find a new source of soldiers, which they do in an unexpected place: senior citizens. Through the magic of bioengineering and a mind-transfer process, humans who reach their 75th birthday can be transplanted into a new, young body, the idea being that the combination of years of wisdom and experience paired with a body made for battle will result in superior soldiers.

The catch: you can never return to Earth. If you survive your enlistment, you'll be given a homestead on a new planet. Even with that restriction, it's a winning deal for many, including John Perry, whose experience as a new CDF soldier make up this novel.

I really enjoyed this book, which is much more in the vein of pulp science fiction rather than, say, The Three Body Problem. It's nice to remember that not all science fiction needs to be a somewhat dire philosophical meditation on Big Issues. 

 Book Log 2019 #27: Into the Woods by Tana French

In 1984 Dublin, three children go missing, and in the ensuing search only one of them is found. He's in the woods, sneakers soaked with blood, and no memory of what happened. 

Jump forward to today. That boy is now a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad, and he's just been assigned a case with a number of similarities to what happened in 1984. Only his partner knows about his past, and if the higher ups learn about it he'll be taken off the case. Complicating matters is the very close relationship between the partners - they're not romantically involved, but everyone assumes they are. All of these personal and professional entanglements are pushed to the brink over the course of the investigation, with life-altering results.

This is the first of the Dublin Murder Squad series of novels, and if the others live up to this initial entry it's going to be a very good series indeed. It's one of the few books of this type that works as both a murder mystery and a psychological thriller.

 Book Log 2019 #26: The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson

Nombeko Mayeki, born and raised in Soweto, seemed fated to a short and miserable life. But her natural intelligence allowed her to succeed where other orphaned children did not. But it also landed her in some unusual situations, forcing her to find ways to outwit and outlast the people behind South Africa's secret nuclear weapons program, the Mossad, domestic terrorists, and a potato farmer, and eventually save the King of Sweden.

It sounds a little crazy, and it is, especially told with the book's great humor. I don't often audibly laugh when reading, but did so at least a couple of times with this book.  There are parts where being able to suspend disbelief comes in handy, but by and large the comedy supports and advances the story. It's very much worth reading.

 Book Log 2019 #25: Blood & Ivy by Paul Collins

In 1849, Dr. George Parkman went missing after making a visit to the Harvard Medical School. While the search focused on where he may have gone after the visit, the school's janitor had the thought that Parkman may have never left the school. What followed is a classic true crime story, complete with the sort of investigative twists and legal drama that helps flesh out the whodunit.

I enjoyed this more than expected, possibly due to the case being local and thus involving locations and people with which I have some familiarity. It's well-paced and doesn't delve into hyperbole as some true crime books do. If you're interested in historical crime it's worth picking up.

 Book Log 2019 #24: The Throne of Caesar by Steven Saylor

All good things must come to an end, as the saying goes, and this book represents the last case of Gordianus the Finder, the Roman detective who has been involved in most of the major events in the last years of the Republic. Fittingly for the last book in the series, this one is set during the assassination of Julius Caesar.

At this point Gordianus has moved into a kind of semi-retirement, and is about to be made a Senator. He is summoned by Caesar a few days before the Ides of March to see if there are any plots brewing, and while Gordianus does get the sense that trouble is brewing, he (spoiler alert!) doesn't uncover the full conspiracy, with the history-making results we all know. 

This isn't a mystery in the same vein as the previous Gordianus books, but rather the assassination story as seen through Gordianus and his investigations. This is an effective approach to the killing, as you can't change what happened, and any case created to run parallel to events would always pale in comparison.

I was surprisingly moved by finishing this series, sad that I would no longer enjoy the exploits of Gordianus and his family. I had been hopeful at one point that the finding would be taken up by Diana, Gordianus' daughter, but that wasn't to be. This series gave me great joy over nearly 30 years (!) of reading, which I suppose I can only recapture by starting the series all over again.

 Book Log 2019 #23 Masyryk Station by David Downing

It's 1948, and postwar Berlin is still unsettled. Still occupied by the four Allied powers, there's a sense that this arrangement can't last much longer, and that if it does collapse it will be in favor of the Soviets. Journalist and spy John Russell continues to play the major powers against each other by working for both the NKVD and the new CIA, trying to keep both at bay while he tries to figure out a way to free himself from both.

Aiding him in this quest is his Soviet handler, who appears to be looking for his own way out. Together they put together a plan where they gain the sort of intelligence that will buy their freedom from one service and the silence of the other. 

This is the last book of the series, and is a fitting finale. 

 Book Log 2019 #22: The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian

If it wasn't enough that Jack the Ripper is back on the streets, there's now a second serial killer working in London, putting maximum pressure on Scotland Yard's Murder Squad to capture both. This gets Walter Day back on the case after being deskbound due to an injury. Neville Hammersmith isn't quite so lucky, as he's off the force, but as a private detective he enlists his own motley crew of helpers in the pursuit of Jack.

I had mixed feelings about Jack the Ripper making a reappearance, and was further concerned about grafting a second high-profile serial killer onto the existing story, but it turned out better than expected. At least for me as the reader; it's a decidedly mixed bag for Day and Hammersmith. 

 Book Log 2019 #21: Cover Her Face by P.D. James

A summer church fete and the personal intrigues of the family whose manor hosts the event combine when, on the day after the fete, the fiancée of the family's son turns up dead. With the locals a bit overwhelmed at investigating a murder, they call in Adam Dalgliesh, who uses his powers of detection to solve the case.

This is the introductory novel for Dalgliesh, and to be honest it's a little underwhelming. I didn't feel like he did that much detecting, but waited until the pressure on the family caused enough of the truth to come out that he just needed to finish the job. It's not a bad book per se, it was just a little surprising when compared to someone like Morse, who seems much more involved in his cases.

 Book Log 2019 #20: Through Darkest Europe by Harry Turtledove

In this alternative history, changes in both Islamic and Christian theology see the Islamic world become what we would consider the First World, while Europe stagnates and becomes a breeding ground for fundamentalist groups. Into this, a couple of investigators go to Rome to protect an Italian duke and the Pope in the hopes of keeping the violence common in their part of the world from spreading into the Middle East.

There's not much to recommend about this book. The plot isn't particularly interesting, and while the investigative duo are entertaining they don't do that much actual investigating. It's all a bit ham-handed and clumsy. You'd be much better off reading The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (which I apparently read before starting the Book Log), which approaches a similar idea with much better results. 

 Book Log 2019 #19: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

In 1862, 11 year old Willie Lincoln died after contracting typhoid fever. He was interred at a cemetery in Georgetown, and Abraham Lincoln reportedly visited his crypt often. It's from this start that we get a story of how Willie's soul is in peril, and may be potentially stuck in this transitional space between death and whatever comes after death known as the bardo.

I don't think any explanation I can give here is going to do this book justice (not to mention it's been too long since I've read it to comment on it accurately). So I'm just going to recommend it highly.

 Book Log 2019 #18: Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker

Benoit Courreges, known to all as Bruno, is a former solider who has returned to the Perigord, an area of southwest France, to be the police chief in a small town. He enjoys coaching rugby, having great meals with his friends in town, and hanging out with his dog. He doesn't wear his gun, and will take the extra time to work out disagreements rather than arrest someone.

But when an elderly immigrant from North Africa is murdered, Bruno has to team up with an ambitious (and attractive) officer from Paris to investigate if the killing may be terror-related. 

While this does suggest the trope of small town cops who don't actually enforce the law, the book takes a more nuanced approach. Bruno has no problem with his job, but he sees greater value in maintaining harmony among the townsfolk and preserving the area's way of life when he can. The story is entertaining, with good characters who fit the setting. It also made me think for a hard second about moving to the Perigord. A strong start for what will hopefully be a fun series.

 Book Log 2019 #17: The Cloister by James Carroll

A young priest caught out in the rain takes shelter in The Cloisters, a New York art museum that specializes in medieval art and is designed to look like, well, a cloister. While there he meets a young French woman who works at the museum, and they strike up a friendship over time. The woman's father was a scholar in France who was trying to prove that medieval scholar Peter Abelard was the author of some anonymous works sympathetic to Judaism, which put him at odds with the Nazis after they invaded France.

The book uses three timelines to examine religion, politics, and the limits they can place on intellectual pursuit. There's also a fair amount of introspection by the priest, who is trying to figure out if the religious life is for him. 

Carroll is a former Catholic priest who has written extensively on the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, and is successful at weaving that knowledge into a fictional setting. It's very much worth a read if you're into this sort of thing.

 Book Log 2019 #16: The Bishop's Pawn by Steve Berry

This is last of the Cotton Malone novels to take place in the US (for now, at least), and that's probably for the best. A prequel, we get a lot of backstory about Malone's personal and professional life, notably how he winds up working for Stephanie Nelle and the Justice Department. The actual case (his first for Nelle) involves the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination, and you'll be surprised to learn that what the public thinks happened is not what actually went down.

I liked that the book spent time filling in the past, but the actual historical conspiracy fell flat. Maybe there just needs to be more World Heritage Sites in the US for Malone to shoot up. 

 Book Log 2019 #15: Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin

John Rebus is once again brought out of retirement to help with a case, this time the killing of senior prosecutor that appears to be connected to a shooting at the house of crime boss "Big Ger" Cafferty. The shootings may also be related by the arrival of a father and son team of gangsters from Glasgow, who may be looking to break into Edinburgh.

All of the usual trappings of a Rebus novel are present, and his continued friction with pretty much everyone - but most notably Cafferty and internal affairs officer Malcolm Fox - is a continued source of entertainment. It's always great to see Rebus at work, and given his advancing age I fear that we may not have too many of these stories left.

 Book Log 2019 #14: An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters

The eleventh book in the Brother Cadfael series sees a pair of monks arrive at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul with bad news - the civil war has heated up again, with the fighting destroying much of Winchester, including their priory. The pair - one old and frail, the other young and mute - are given refuge. 

But as the pair settle in, it's clear that there's more to this pair than meets the eye, which piques Cadfael's interest. He then discovers who the older brother actually is, and things go on from there (while I won't go into detail, the story involves a canceled betrothal and the suspected murder of the potential bride).

It's another solid outing in the series, and different enough from the typical outing to keep things fresh.

 Book Log 2019 #13: How to Hide an Empire by Daniel Immerwahr

We never really think or talk about the US as a physical empire. We know that we have overseas territories, but not really about how we gained them, or what we've done there (with maybe the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, which we think about mainly in the context of World War II and statehood). This book examines how the US came to collect the various possessions that extended American presence from the Caribbean almost into Asia.

It's not always easy reading, as the history of how a country acquires territory (and then what it does with that territory) comes with a body count. Mostly of the locals. But regardless of how you feel about the imperial nature of our expansion, this book at least brings the topic into conversation. It helps that the book is well-written and engaging. 

Lentorama 2019: Resurrect My Globe!

Day 40: Easter Island

While the island may be named for the holiday, the locals on Easter Island do not share the sort of passion for it that their fellow Chilean citizens do. I suppose this shouldn't be a surprise, given the small population (just under 5800) and that the island is ethnically much more Oceanic than Hispanic (it's basically a 60/40 split between Rapa Nui and Chilean background, though even the Chilean fraction includes people of mixed Chilean-Rapa Nui ancestry).

There's not much out there about how residents of Easter Island (who are largely Catholic) celebrate Easter, but I did find this one account that makes it seem pretty low key. There's a mass, maybe some extra singing and blessing of foods, and then a communal meal afterwards (which appears to be common on holidays).

I suppose what makes Easter on Easter Island interesting are the ways in which Rapa Nui culture and mythology are worked into the church and the service. This page gives a good rundown on how the building's decoration reflects the local folklore, from the images that appear on the front of the church to the use of a Rapa Nui deity as the base of the baptismal font. Beyond decoration, the hymns appear to be sung in the Rapa Nui language, and (at least on Easter) local dress is also incorporated into the priest's ceremonial clothing.

While much of what makes Easter on Easter Island unique isn't specific to the holiday, it does reflect more generally those other countries we've seen that have taken local practice and found a place for it in Easter celebrations. Which really does make it a fitting place to wrap up this year's Lentorama.

I actually enjoyed this year's edition more than most (heck, this is the first year in a long time where it will actually be done before Easter!), and will hopefully find another good idea for next year.

 Book Log 2019 #12: The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

I don't know if I can add to what's already been said about this book, Wolfe's investigation into the test pilots who would bring the US into the Space Age and largely serve as the country's first astronauts. We get an idea not only of what drove these men to do what they did, how they internalized the danger, and how they functioned within the Mercury astronaut team.

Not that it's only about space flight. There's a significant chunk of the book about being a test pilot and the chase to break the sound barrier, and Chuck Yeager figures prominently even though he never became an astronaut. 

I really did enjoy this book, and found it especially compelling at a time when going into space seems kind of pedestrian. When you can send random billionaires and nonagenarian  actors into space, it's good to be reminded of the incredible peril that a handful of men endured in order to get there.

Lentorama 2019: Resurrect My Globe!

Day 39: France

Eggs are central to Easter, whether they're boiled and dyed, plastic and filled with jelly beans, or chocolate wrapped in foil.  It's likely that you'll buy more eggs around Easter than you would normally, which could lead you to have some left over. What to do with them?

If you live in Bessières, a town in southwest France, you make a giant omelette on Easter Monday. 

The story goes that Napoleon was passing through, and after enjoying a local omelette he asked for one to be made for his troops. And as you don't say no to the emperor, a giant omelette was made using all the eggs the locals could find.

Jump forward a couple hundred years, and the town brought the giant omelette back as part of a larger festival (though the official history suggests that the omelette tradition was kept alive by local kids, who would ask for eggs and then distribute the omelettes to the poor). The brotherhood that oversees the event does see it as a kind of charitable and cultural thing, and not only continue the practice of giving diners their eggs for free, but have established links with similar festivals around the world (if you're in the States like me you can stop by Abbeville, Louisiana, though theirs appears to be held in November).

Lentorama 2019: Resurrect My Globe!

Day 38: Iceland

A law from the 1920s in Iceland bans a large swath of public festivities on Good Friday, as it's a day for solemn reflection and worship (as you can imagine, the law was enacted during a time when the Icelandic government and the local Lutheran church had a pretty cozy relationship). While the law is not enforced with any real vigor, it is still on the books, and does cause a lot of closures across the island.

To protest the law, a local atheist's group organizes an annual bingo game on Good Friday (so it's more of an anti-Easter tradition, but a tradition nevertheless). No one's been arrested yet, and the games seem to be having some impact, as there's talk of changing the law.  At which point the thrill of breaking the law by playing bingo will be gone, but hopefully the games will persist.

Lentorama 2019: Resurrect My Globe!

Day 37: Luxembourg

While most of the Easter celebrations are similar to those of their larger French and Dutch neighbors, there are two traditions specific to Luxembourg worth mentioning.

The first is specific to the town of Vianden. On Good Friday, they celebrate a festival called Jaudes, which refers to a bouquet made by boys out of flowers, twigs, ribbons, or whatever is on hand (the name specifically refers to the dog rose, but it doesn't seem to be a required element of the bouquet anymore). At noon, boys will take the bouquets and burn them, as a symbol of their displeasure with Judas.

On Easter Monday you have the Éimaischen, or feast of Emmaus. This historically coincided with the annual celebrations of the potter's guild, and eventually this developed into a festival. It's most notable now for the Péckvillercher, a terra cotta bird that you can blow into, making a sort of cuckoo sound.

Lentorama 2019: Resurrect My Globe!

Day 36: Italy

There is no shortage of Easter celebrations in Italy, spurred on by its regional nature and being the home of the modern Catholic church.  But my favorite may be the most explosive: the Scoppio del Carro, or Explosion of the Cart.

The story starts about a thousand years ago, during the Crusades. The son of a prominent Florentine family is in Jerusalem, and is the first to scale the walls of Jerusalem and raise the crusaders' banner. To honor his bravery, the young man is given three flints out of the Holy Sepulchre. The young man brings his relics back to Florence, where they are invested in a local church. The Easter tradition soon starts that a torch is lit by these flints, and the torch is used to light candles around the city.

At some point, the torch is replaced by a large candle on a cart, and later still that candle is replaced by fireworks, which are still the focus of the tradition today.

The modern procession starts at the church that houses the flints. They're used to light the "holy fire" (now typically some coals), which is put on the cart along with the fireworks. The cart, pulled by two white oxen garlanded with flowers, goes through the city and stops in the square outside the cathedral. A wire is strung between the cart and the altar in the cathedral, where a dove (representing the Holy Spirit) loaded with its own rockets awaits. At a specific point in the mass, one of the celebrants lights the dove (using a flame started by the holy fire), and if all goes to plan it shoots along its wire and into the fireworks, setting them off in a loud and colorful display.