Mini-review clearance: Fiction

In a comment on my last post, Thomas of My Porch suggested that I just make a clean slate of it and not worry about reviewing the books I read in 2012 or else it would be a chore. I think he’s probably right and I’ve seen others do the same. So I’m going to take the compromise route I’ve seen others take: in one two fell swoops, I will mini-review the remaining books read in 2012. Here goes:

Fiction

The Shunning by Beverly Lewis

My co-worker was curious about the huge popularity of so-called “bonnet books”, that is, fiction about the Amish. I hadn’t read one either, so three of us from work decided to read this very well-known one. None of us expected it to be good, and it wasn’t. It’s a melodramatic story about a young woman named Katie who discovers a family secret before her wedding to a widowed bishop. The book makes some troubling assertions about why Katie is the way she is. It was definitely “telling” and not showing with its emotional beats (e.g. “But what happened next was more eloquent and heart wrenching than anything she could have said.”) It became a joke with my co-workers how much I was disturbed by a description of one character as having “blueberry eyes” (it just made me think of the creepy button-eyed people from Coraline). Perhaps Lewis improved with her later books as The Shunning was one of her first books for adults. But I am not that interested in the genre to find out. Final word on this book: we liked the movie better.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

This is an atmospheric little novel about two sisters with a scandalous past featuring mysterious deaths in their family, the Blackwood family. It’s funny how Jackson gets you to root for the clearly crazy main character, Merricat. I was like, yeah, don’t let anyone keep you from burying stuff in the yard, Merricat! The truth about the family past can be guessed at early on, but Jackson wisely doesn’t try to pass off that revelation as the story payoff. There’s a real payoff regarding the final relationship between the remaining Blackwoods and the outside world.

Also, I discovered that a band I like wrote a song inspired by this novel and it’s quite good:

Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis

This is a hilarious collection of stories about an orphan (named Patrick) and his eccentric aunt who has weird philosophies of child-rearing. I’m not sure of my favorite story, but perhaps the one where Patrick gets engaged to a snobbish debutante named Gloria Upson who has expensive taste and a bigoted family. The satirical depiction of the Upsons is superb and the climactic dinner table scene is both funny and oddly touching.

Shoot to Thrill (Monkeewrench #5) by P.J. Tracy

I don’t know whether this was just a dud on its own, or if I’m getting tired of this mystery series. The incessant switching of point-of-view among almost all of the characters became annoying. Also, my favorite characters have always been the guest-appearing cop characters – the ones from Wisconsin who were in #1 and #3 and the brand-new sheriff from the fourth book – and they weren’t in this book.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

It was so refreshing to read a book that truly transported me. There had been some great books read in 2012, but few managed to immerse me in their worlds as much as this one. The novel begins with a detailed account of one summer day in the life of bookish and observant Francie Nolan, an 11-year-old girl living in poverty in Brooklyn. Then it zooms back to a portrait of her parents at the time of their meeting and proceeds chronologically from there until Francie is sixteen. The book is a collection of well-chosen vignettes with some stories lingered over more than others. Francie’s experiment with a diary picks up the narrative at one point. In a different passage, Francie imagines a scene of triumph over her English teacher and it’s written in the form of a play.

Smith’s classic novel drew upon the author’s own childhood experience and it shows: Francie Nolan, her family and her community became about as real to me as characters can get. I especially loved Francie’s relationship with her brother Neeley, particularly near the end of the book. I grew very attached to all of them and was sorry for the story to end.

Looking back at 2012 and contemplating 2013

Greetings to all readers and a happy new year! This is the point where it is natural to reflect on the year past and think about the year ahead.

In June 2012, I moved to a new apartment and for whatever reason, this coincided with a drop in my posts to this blog. I thought the opposite would be true. With my move, my commute was considerably shorter and also, I had no roommates. I had more free time. I thought I would post more but instead I posted less. I was still reading and would even mentally outline reviews in my head, but when it came down to it, I balked at the actual writing of them. It usually takes me several hours to write a review and that began seeming like ‘work’ to do, and not much like fun.

It has crossed my mind to stop blogging, but I still want to give it a go, and the beginning of a new calendar year still is enough sometimes to rejuvenate my interest in dormant projects. I want to change-up how I review books in some way that makes it more likely for me to post frequently, and the only idea so far is quite simple: write shorter reviews. This will be hard. When I was on my middle school newspaper staff, my contributions to the advice column answers were easy to pick out for how much longer they were than the others. I realize that it’s not every bloggers’ goal to write shorter reviews, and I do like reading the long reviews from other blogs, but if you have tips on writing shorter reviews, I’d be glad to hear them.

With that said, there are a number of books I read in 2012 that I never reviewed. I may still try to review some of them, but in case you are curious, here is a list of the unreviewed books I read in 2012: The Dam Committee by Earl Smith, Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne, The Shunning by Beverly Lewis, Ox Travels: Meetings with Remarkable Travel Writers, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum, Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis, Shoot to Thrill by P.J. Tracy, Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

Including re-reads, I read about 46 books this year. It’s definitely less books read than the past couple of years, but includes some chunksters.

I read some great books this year, but there are four that especially stand out:

Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Tiina Nunnally

- This was definitely a transporting reading experience, thanks to Andersen’s storytelling gifts and Nunnally’s accomplished translation.

Here is Your War by Ernie Pyle

- An account of American troops in North Africa during World War II, written by the legendary war correspondent, Ernie Pyle.

Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne

Several years ago, Newsweek included this book in its list of “50 books for our times.” I’ve been meaning to read it ever since. I know many people – family and friends – for whom belief in the literal interpretation of the biblical creation account is considered essential to Christian faith.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A classic novel that depicts the coming-of-age of Francie Nolan in early 20th century Brooklyn. The poignancy of this story is unforced, and the sense of place is palpable.

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

I hope to be catching up on other blogs’ end-of-year lists but feel free to describe your favorite reads from 2012 in the comments or include a link to your post on that subject.

King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard

1885. Modern Library. Paperback. 304 pages.

From: the public library

In a nutshell:

An experienced big-game hunter named Allan Quatermain is hired by a wealthy Englishman – Sir Henry Curtis – to help Curtis find his long-lost brother in what is now South Africa. The brother was said to have gone in search of the fabled King Solomon’s Mines, so that is where Quatermain, Curtis, and Curtis’ friend Captain Good set their sights. Curtis also hires a couple of native African men, including one by the name of Umbopa, who seems to have his own mysterious reasons for joining their quest.

Review:

When I worked at my college’s writing center, we tutors knew to expect a wave of first-year students with papers comparing the film adaptations of King Solomon’s Mines. I had little desire to see the films myself on their own, but even less after reading a bunch of papers on the subject by somewhat apathetic freshmen. The book didn’t come to my attention until my sister and dad read a couple of Haggard’s books and were discussing them at Christmastime a few years ago.

I remember many of the essays, if not all, focused on comparing the films’ depiction of race. I find myself wanting to focus on the same thing with my book review. I think Heart of Darkness is the only other 19th century book that I’ve read set in Africa and that was a while ago. I was definitely curious about how Haggard would depict the African characters.

Certainly, the story’s narrator, Allan Quatermain has prejudices regarding African people. He has set ideas about their ‘station’. For example, when Umbopa speaks boldly to Sir Henry Curtis near the start of the quest, Quatermain is displeased and angrily demands that Umbopa be more subservient. But it is pretty clear from Curtis’ early respect for Umbopa that we are not to find Quatermain’s opinions to be authoritative in these matters. As the oldest person in the hunting party, Quatermain seems to represent the old guard’s way of thinking, and throughout the story, he has to begrudgingly admit that he’s wrong about Umbopa, among other things.

Indeed, Umbopa becomes a brother-at-arms when their group becomes entangled in a tribal conflict. They throw in their lots with his. The quest for Curtis’ brother becomes almost an afterthought.

So the depiction of race was more complex than I expected from a Victorian novel. I think I get surprised by older book’s depictions of race, sex and class because present-day movies and books usually paint historical societies as being simplistically prejudiced in their views with little modulation. This is not to say that King Solomon’s Mines doesn’t participate in prejudiced views at all. One of the most obvious examples is in the descriptions of the (fictional) Kukuana people. The women are described as handsome – because:

They are tall and graceful, and their figures are wonderfully fine. The hair, though short, is rather curly than woolly, the features are frequently aquiline, and the lips are not unpleasantly thick as is the case in most African races. But what struck us most was their exceedingly quiet dignified air.

And the villain, Twala, is described as:

It was that of an enormous man with the most entirely repulsive countenance we had ever beheld. The lips were as thick as a negro’s, the nose was flat, it had but one gleaming black eye (for the other was represented by a hollow in the face), and its whole expression was cruel and sensual to a degree.

It is possible to argue that it is, again, only Quatermain’s views on display here, and not necessarily the author’s, but I am more inclined to believe that these descriptions of what is beautiful/good and what is ugly/evil are equivalencies of the author’s. Indeed, colorism is still very much an issue today.

King Solomon’s Mines of course was not intended to be read as a time capsule of its times and views. It was a very popular adventure novel in its day. I could see how modern adventure tales descend from it, with its hidden treasures, skeletons discovered in caves, ancient maps, and men dragging across deserts parched with thirst. It’s got a sense of humor too. It’s the kind of tone you find with Indiana Jones movies.

I have to admit that I found the climactic battle scenes to be a bit of a slog. I’m sure there are battle scenes that I have enjoyed in the past, but the detailing of battle strategy with its columns of men, vanguards, regiments and armor just doesn’t readily engage me. I much preferred their adventuring endeavors.

I hope you don’t mind my lengthy digression about one aspect of the book, but I read King Solomon’s Mines a few months ago, and its depiction of race still remained the aspect I most wanted to discuss.

Excerpts from others’ reviews:

Chamber Four – “Unfortunately, coincidence plays far too large a role in this book. Haggard is not a subtle plotter at all. I won’t spoil the surprises, but it became a reasonable expectation while I was reading that each perilous situation that arose as the adventure moved from one place to the next would be resolved in part by fortune, usually of the most convenient variety.”

Man of La Book – “This is a sim­ple tale, filled with swash­buck­ling adven­tures and explo­rations galore. Some of the book sim­ply drags, other parts are offen­sive in today’s terms (which I don’t hold it against the book) and some parts are sim­ply funny. I espe­cially found the pompous atti­tude of some of the char­ac­ters (mostly Quater­main) hilarious.”

Wet Asphalt – “But still, Allan Quatermain, African explorer, is considered one of the great adventure characters of nineteenth century literature, and I can’t help but feel disappointed at him turning out to be the cowardly, lying, hypocritical and, yes, racist schmuck portrayed in this book.”

Joining the Classics Club

Photo from the State Library of Victoria Collections

The first year I started blogging, I joined all sorts of reading challenges. They were fun to make lists for and I read some great books due to joining those challenges. I haven’t done much of that since my first year, but I’ve had my eye on The Classics Club challenge for several months now. Basically, to join the Classics Club collection of bloggers, you set the goal of reading 50+ classics over five years. (For more information on this, see: http://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/how-to-join/). I like the long-term nature of the challenge and I also greatly enjoy reading classics.

In my own mind, I began this challenge in September when I read King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard. So September 2017 is my goal date in which to complete the challenge.

And now to my favorite part, the list! I’ve included a little more than 50 books on this initial list, and may add or subtract along the way. One thing I tried to make sure and do is include some nonfiction classics, especially travel writing classics. Also, I incorporated the remaining unread books on my 19 Books Older than Myself challenge that I created for myself in 2010.

Here goes, by order of title:

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner [1930]

Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis [1955] (currently reading)

Bab: A Sub-Deb by Mary Roberts Rinehart [1916]

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery [1926]

Brazilian Adventure by Peter Fleming [1933]

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann [1901]

The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes [12th century]

Dispatches by Michael Kerr [1977]

Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope [1858]

Dubliners by James Joyce [1914]

East of Eden by John Steinbeck [1952]

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym [1952]

Faces in the Water by Janet Frame [1961]

Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway [1929]

Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope [1861]

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck [1931]

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens [1860]

The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux [1975]

High Rising by Angela Thirkell [1933]

The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling by Henry Fielding [1749]

A House is Not a Home by Polly Adler [1953]

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison [1952]

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott [1819]

Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau [1964]

King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard [1885] (review)

I Am A Cat by Netsume Soseki [1905]

The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope [1867]

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo [1862]

The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson [1941/1945]

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis [1920]

Mariana by Monica Dickens [1940]

Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman [1947]

The Oresteia by Aeschylus [458 B.C.]

Original Letters from India by Eliza Fay [1925]

Penny Plain by Anna Buchan [1920]

The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon [11th century]

The Priory by Dorothy Whipple [1939]

Saplings by Noel Streatfeild [1945]

A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby [1958]

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion [1968]

The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope [1864]

The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen [1978]

So Big by Edna Ferber [1924]

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury [1962]

Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers [1930]

Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi [1958]

This House of Brede by Rumer Godden [1969]

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome [1889]

A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor [1977]

To the North by Elizabeth Bowen [1932]

Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck [1962]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith [1943]

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson [1962] (read, not yet reviewed)

Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell [1934]

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell [1865]

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard [1922]

A few quick reviews

Hello November! Here are a few mini-reviews to usher in the new month:

 The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

2011. Bantam. Hardcover. 273 pages.

From: the public library

I read the entirety of The Peach Keeper during a three to four hour car ride this summer from Maine to Logan airport in Boston. Sarah Addison Allen’s books may be quite similar to each other (Main character Willa Jackson reminded me strongly of Julia Winterson friom The Girl Who Chased the Moon) but I never fail to be entertained by them. Like her other three published books, The Peach Keeper is romantic, lightly magical and threaded with humor. A new book by Allen  – Lost Lake – will be released in the early part of next year. According to her website, in 2011, Allen was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. She has been cancer-free for about a year now, which is great news.

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

2008. HarperCollins. Paperback. 328 pages.

From: the public library

Recommended by: Eva’s Compendium for me

This book was everywhere when it came out years ago. Look elsewhere for a long synopsis, but basically main character Aislinn has the ability to see faeries (runs in the family). When the Summer King faery picks her out as his new candidate for queen, Aislinn must figure out a way to save herself from the evil Winter Queen.

The best way to describe my reaction to this book is approval. I wasn’t thoroughly entertained by the book myself, but if a teenager of my acquaintance loved this book, I would approve. Aislinn is a smart character and I admired how she figured out a way to claim her own life path in the face of circumstances beyond her control. I loved how the book calls out The Summer King (whose name is Keenan) for his stalker ways. For me, the book felt somewhat flat – not disagreeable, but not engrossing either.

 Something About You by Julie James

2010. Berkley. Mass Market Paperback. 307 pages.

Recommended by: Linda Holmes, of NPR’s Monkey See pop culture blog

I enjoy listening to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast and have picked up a whole host of recommendations (mostly film and TV) from Linda Holmes and the podcast’s other contributors. In one podcast, Holmes recommended romance author Julie James, and I decided to give her a shot. I don’t read romance novels often, but from my small experience I have realized that I tend to like contemporary romance novels that have a sense of humor. I guess Something About You is in a way romantic thriller: attorney Cameron Lynde is a witness to a high-profile murder and FBI agent Jack Pallas is assigned to the case. They have a contentious history but are obviously attracted to each other, etc. But the attraction of the book isn’t really the suspense, but the fact that it is genuinely funny, sexy and very light on angst. (Saying that randomly makes me think of a scene from Firefly where Inara teases Jayne by saying that she has funny stories from being a Companion: “funny and sexy too. You have no idea. And you never will . . . A Companion doesn’t kiss and tell.”)

Anyway, three short reviews of three fairly light reads. Coming down the pike, I’ve got some reviews of nonfiction reads (science, history and travel) as well as some classic fiction (H. Rider Haggard, Shirley Jackson).

Weekends at Bellevue by Julie Holland

 Weekends at Bellevue: Nine years on the night shift at the psych ER

2009. Bantam. Hardcover. 312 pages.

From: the public library

Recommendation from: Maphead’s Book Blog

In a nutshell:

For nine years, Julie Holland worked the weekend shift as a physician at Bellevue Hospital’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program – in other words, the psychiatric ER. Patients are sometimes prisoners, sometimes people recently arrested, sometimes injured people referred to the psych doctors from other hospital departments. There are also patients who walk in for help, or maybe to fake their way into getting a bed for the night. Dr. Holland’s job was mainly to perform a sort of mental health triage, trying to determine if a person should be admitted or discharged, or trying to determine if a person is fit to stand trial.

Weekends at Bellevue chronicles Holland’s experiences at Bellevue, with particular focus on her own behavior and attitude. Holland sports a brash attitude that at times compromises her professionalism, and she works with a therapist to get to the root of her own issues. A large part of the book details Holland’s friendship with one of her mentors, Lucy, who also works at Bellevue until breast cancer claims her life. Holland also has a combative relationship with another doctor, Daniel, who is close to Lucy as well, which adds complications.

Review:

I think I was expecting something else from Weekends at Bellevue, maybe a marshaling of anecdotes to paint a broader picture of mental illness in our time. And there are definitely plenty of anecdotes, but the overarching theme of the book is Dr. Holland’s personal journey as a person and a doctor. There is nothing wrong with that focus, but when you have a psych doctor chronicling her own state of mind, the anecdotes tend to come with a thick layer of self-analysis. This meant that many anecdotes about patients seemed to be less about the patient and more about how the patient affected Holland. Thus there was a flavor of self-absorption to the book, which is, granted, always a risk in the memoir genre.

I will give Holland plenty of credit though for being brutally honest about herself. She doesn’t gloss over her mistakes and failures. With patients and even colleagues, she can be too aggressive, too detached and too cavalier. Holland feels compelled to show others that she is tough and can take anything that is thrown at her, but finds there is a cost. The following is an excerpt from the book, shortly after Dr. Holland has heard from one of the residents, Desmond, that one of the neurology patients jumped out a hospital window and died.

[Desmond:] “There’s some controversy over whether he smashed the window with an IV pole or whether he just hurled his body against it. But the window looks just like a body went through it.”

“Like a cartoon?” I ask.

Desmond looks at me witheringly, pityingly, and walks away.

What the hell is the matter with me?

Desmond is the poster child for Karuna, the Buddhist concept of infinite compassion. We both want others’ suffering to cease, and yet we go about it in completely different ways. Should I be more like Desmond, with his limitless undying love? My patients would be better off if I could stay opened up and available, giving and understanding, yet my remoteness resurfaces routinely in my work at the hospital. It is my protection, like a hazmat suit, and it’s been effective, so it’s hard for me to move beyond it, even though I’m trying.

p. 187

The stories about patients were probably the best aspect of the book. Also, I liked the chapter where Holland discusses the issues she faces in her private practice as a psychopharmacologist.

It takes some getting used to, the idea that a little pill, swallowed daily, can provide such substantial belief. Some people adjust to this new fact of life, and others fight it. I encourage my patients to stay on their medications for at least six months, to get comfortable with being comfortable. Many people feel better than they’ve ever felt, and that feels awkward. Whether it’s okay to stay medicated or not is a thorny issue.

p. 244

I wouldn’t have minded reading more about Dr. Holland’s perspective on psychiatric medications, informed as she is by observations of her own patients.

Quite a bit of the middle chapters are devoted to the fraught interpersonal relations between Dr. Holland and her ailing mentor, Lucy, and her colleague/rival Daniel. No disrespect meant toward the people involved, but this was the least engaging part of the book for me. I never felt that I had a good handle on Lucy as a person. Holland told the reader how much Lucy meant to her, but I never really ‘felt’ this closeness or the eventual loss.

Excerpts from others’ reviews:

BookNAround – “Julie Holland seems to have had something to prove in writing this book and while I don’t know if she’s proved it to herself or her intended audience, this was ultimately an interesting read for those of us outside the psychiatric community.”

Caroline Bookbinder – “I found myself anxious for Dr. Holland’s safety at times, glad for her insights at others, and overall very happy to have been able to glimpse into a world I hope to never see even as a visitor, even if it was so thought-provoking that it was hard to go to sleep afterward.”

Maphead’s Book Blog – “Just as Dante had Virgil to serve as his guide to the hereafter, I had the luxury of Dr. Holland serving as my guide to that city’s world of the mentally ill. But perhaps more importantly, what impressed me the most by Holland’s memoir was her ability to learn and grow as a person.”

The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs

After Doomsday Book sucked me in and broke my heart, I was having a hard time getting into a new book. I had a non-fiction book I was slowly working through, but I needed a fictional story to settle me down. So I turned to re-reading a favorite series, the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs. There are currently six books in total and the above photo shows them in chronological order, with the first book on top.

This urban fantasy series features a Volkswagon mechanic named Mercy Thompson, who also happens to be a coyote shapeshifter. Raised by werewolves in Montana, she now calls the Tri-Cities area of Eastern Washington state her home. The area is heavily populated by various supernatural groups. Besides werewolves (and Mercy), there are vampires, fey and ghosts. Humans live there too of course. Some are Mercy’s friends, some are her enemies, and some are unpredictable.

I read the first book, Moon Called, in early summer 2008. It is a true fact that Moon Called was in the same library haul as Twilight, coincidentally another urban fantasy book featuring vampires and werewolves in the state of Washington. I started Twilight first, but when my interest lagged a third of the way through, I picked up Moon Called. I happily zipped right through Moon Called and didn’t look back.

This summer was the first time re-reading the series and let me tell you that a Mercy Thompson marathon is the way to do it. Over a period of several weeks, I read all six books in a row. This experience melded the individual books together, and I become much more attuned to the story arcs and character development spanning the entire series. For instance, in the first book, Mercy has friends but not really much in the way of family. Though she grew up with werewolves, she definitely didn’t feel like she was one of them. Her foster werewolf parents died when she was a teenager. She’s on good terms with her birth mother and her step-sisters and step-father, but they aren’t a regular part of her life. As the series progresses, we see her acquire a family in the form of the local wolf pack. It’s not an easy transition for her or for them, but in the later books, there is a definite sense that she belongs with them.

One of the things I love about the Mercy Thompson series is that Briggs creates platonic relationships that are just as interesting and important as the romantic relationships. Raise your hand if you’ve read several books where the romantic relationship trumps all, and all other relationships are perfunctory and filler. Not so here. The secondary characters of Briggs’ books are awesome, have their own concerns and stories, and Mercy’s relationships with them are not static, but also develop and change over time. At this point, I’m particularly interested in where the story is going for Ben, the British werewolf packmember with a troubled past; Stefan, a vampire who is incredibly loyal but also possesses flexible morality; and Jessie, Adam’s unsupernatural teenage daughter who has started taking on larger roles in the story.

Reading the series in a row helped me understand why I was slightly disappointed in Silver Borne (#5) the first time around. Its plot and emotional impact were greatly enhanced by fresh familiarity with the events of the previous books. While Briggs’ refreshes the reader’s memory with little expository tidbits, the best reading experience means not depending on those tidbits for full context.

I had forgotten some of the details and so I got to enjoy some of the twists and turns again, and some genuinely creepy moments. Vampires crawling up basement stairs, Mercy realizing a friend has turned into a zombie, monsters hiding in rivers. I’m just saying, could make for some great October reading. Wink wink.

Anyway, ignore the terrible covers (there’s a reason the photo is of their spines), and check this series out. This summer, as I finished reading them, I lent them to my friend Cindy who had never read urban fantasy before and she lapped them right up. My sisters are fans too. Looking forward to number 7 which is out March 2013.