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The Map of Time by Félix J. Palma

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ah, where to begin...

Perhaps with Jack the Ripper, whose murder of Mary Kelly sparks the suicidal despair of young Jack Harrington which opens the novel. Perhaps with H.G. Wells, whose novel The Time Machine plays a pivotal role not only in saving Jack Harrington's life, but in saving literary history. Perhaps with Gilliam Murray, who was inspired by Wells to market his own method of time travel to the London public. Perhaps with John Merrick, or Bram Stoker, or Colin Garrett of Scotland Yard, or any number of other players, both historical and fictional, that populate this sweeping steampunk portrait of Victorian England.

It's virtually impossible to synopsize this story without giving away its twists. So let me just say this: between the covers of this book you will two love stories, a murder mystery, a fabulously complex swindle, clanking steam-driven automatons, a tale of African adventure, a discussion of the contradictions and paradoxes of time travel, and much bouncing about through time to witness future events or set past events right.

I began reading this book late one Friday evening. I stayed in bed reading it the following Saturday morning...in fact, it was nearly 12:30 PM when I finally looked up after consuming nearly 400 pages. Yes, it's that good. The remaining 200+ pages were sped through the following Saturday morning, and left me wanting more more more.

Buy it. Read it. Love it.



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Salvation City by Sigrid Nunez

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Before we get started, let me clarify the two-star rating....Salvation City is not poorly written, has believable characters in believable situations, and is an interesting way to spend several hours. But ultimately -- and given the way ratings criteria are defined -- two stars and "it was okay" is all the enthusiasm I can muster. I'd read a three-star "I liked it" book again. I have no desire to read this one again.

In the near future, 12-year-old Cole Vining has been orphaned by a flu pandemic more devastating than the 1918 outbreak. After a stint in the hellhole of a public orphanage, he is taken in by Pastor Wyatt and his wife Tracy and brought back to Salvation City, Kentucky, the small evangelical Christian enclave where they live. The overt religiosity of his new surroundings is completely foreign to Cole: his father was an atheist and his mother was a non-practicing Jew; as a result, Cole has had no religious training whatsoever. Emotionally fragile after his own illness and loss, in this new atmosphere, Cole questions everything his parents had ever taught him about the world.

Cole suffered memory loss as a result of his illness and, as his memories gradually return, he wrestles with a multitude of overwhelming emotions: loss, anger, bewilderment, confusion...but chiefly guilt. He feels guilty he survived, guilty he can't return the obvious love Pastor Wyatt and Tracy express for him, guilty and disloyal at feeling any kind of affection for them, guilty for wondering if his parents went to Hell as his new knowledge of religion teaches. On top of all this, he has entered puberty with its attendant urges and feelings, and he develops an unrequited crush on his erstwhile cousin Starlyn. Cole's journey through this morass of guilt and emotion to arrive at a peaceful self-understanding and sense of place is well-drawn and satisfying.

Again, this is not a bad book, and not a waste of time. The pacing is leisurely, almost majestic. It's beautifully written, with a spare elegance and delicate touch. Nunez portrays the fundamentalist Christian community with grace and compassion, seeing it almost entirely through Cole's adolescent eyes. I enjoyed reading it, but not enough to keep it around for a re-read.

Many thanks to Goodreads Giveaway Program for the opportunity to read this book.



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READ IN 2009

1. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
   
2. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
   
3. Fragment by Warren Fahy
   
4. Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
   
5. A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester
   
6. Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
   
7. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
   
8. The Plague Maker by Tim Downs
   
9. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
   
10. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
    
11. The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society by Beth Pattillo
    
12. The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs
    
13. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
    
14. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
    
15. The Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke
    
16. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
    
17. In the Woods by Tana French
    
18. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
    
19. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
    
20. Fool by Christopher Moore
    
21. Eight Great Tragedies: King Lear by William Shakespeare
    
22. Best Friends by Martha Moody
    
23. Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels
    
24. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
    
25. The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
    
26. God Came Near by Max Lucado
    
27. Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends by David Wilton
    
28. The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr
    
29. Mildred Pearce by James M. Cain
    
30. A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

Twice as many as last year! And I still got a lot of knitting/crocheting done. Balance: it can be achieved. Except, I think I bought more books than I read. Mt. TBR has not been reduced one iota.


(Books without links were borrowed from spouse's online store or from a member of my book group.)

I just finished reading The Book Thief.

I'm too close to it right now to write any kind of review, so all I'm going to say is, once I turned the last page and set the book down on the table, I curled up in a ball on the sofa and sobbed for ten minutes.

I seem to remember doing this particular list, or something very similar, a couple of years ago....

( So, how many of these have YOU read? )

Total read: 40
Total TBR: 9

I finished Deathly Hallows this evening.
You may now comment freely.

The boxed Harry Potter set arrived today!

I'm starting at the beginning of #1 and not stopping until the final page of #7. Back in a few days. (As martip's icon says, if you need me, I'll be in my book fortress.)

Today is my niece's 4th birthday. The package containing her present went out Monday, and I kept my fingers crossed that it would arrive today. It did. And she called me to say thank you. Okay, she's four, so my mother dialed the phone for her. I talked to the birthday girl for about 30 seconds, because that's as long as she'll ever stay on the phone. She's much too busy playing to waste time talking to someone she can't see. *grin*

Anyway, spouse and I sent her books (of course) -- a whole bunch of books! About 15 or 20 Little Golden Books, like The Poky Puppy; and some pop-up books; maybe a Dr. Seuss or two...I can't remember everything I stuck in that box. Lots and lots of books. Mom told me my SIL was just shocked, because J kept pulling more and more books out of the box; my brother's reaction? "That's Angela..." Mom said, "He knows you pretty well." Well, um, yeah. I've had a book in my hand throughout his entire life.

I told Mom to tell J I'm glad she liked her books, and that I was sorry I couldn't be there to read them to her. Mom said she was sorry I wasn't there, either, because she was going to end up being the reader most of the time.

Mission accomplished.

Ever said that to yourself?

I said it last night while reading Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. Makes me glad I tackled this itty-bitty novel rather than taking on Gravity's Rainbow or some such. Oh, I like the story, and I'll even finish it, but there's so much going on beneath the surface that I know I'm missing nuances galore.

I just ran across a list of every book Art Garfunkel has read since 1968. I liked seeing how his interests evolved and deepened. And, amid all the classics, history, and philosophy, I was most gratified to see some popular fiction like The Shining and The DaVinci Code. Take a look yourself! Clicky.