Library Thing Early Reviewers

I snagged another Early Reviewer this month, after a couple-month dry spell. This month I'll be getting All Other Nights by Dara Horn. This book looks fantastic, and I can't wait to read it!

Women of the Revolution by Robert M. Dunkerly

I have realized that when it comes to non-fiction, what really floats my boat is history. I am also fascinated with Southern history (this is where the Mississippi girl in me shows her face), so it's no surprise that the subject matter of this book, Women of the Revolution: Bravery and Sacrifice on the Southern Battlefield, attracted me.

Unfortunately, I can't give a glowing review of the book. While, yes, the subject matter was interesting, the book was not well-written. To me, it read like a stack of notes that were thrown into book format. What bothered me the most about the book was that there were sections (sometimes even separated as entire chapters) where basically all it said was "I'm sure there were women involved in this part of the war, and this is the type of things they probably did, but we don't have any personal accounts to share." Interspersed with these sections, were some accounts of actual women and varying accounts of their stories, and I thought those were very interesting. I started the book assuming that it would be full of these actual accounts, and I was disappointed to find otherwise.

The author indicates that there is very little recorded about actual women involved in the Revolutionary War, which, of course, explains the lack of accounts in the book. But I wonder, if so little is available, why is it necessary to publish an entire book full of speculation? I noticed that there are other books on the topic; it seems that a chapter on the involvement of Southern women in a larger book might have worked better.

Another thing that bothered me a bit was the inclusion of photographs of reenactors portraying 17th century women. I would have preferred to see paintings or drawings. The photographs seemed (and were) staged; the women seemed too clean and tidy. Also, some of the photographs were repetitive - how many pictures of women sewing in camp do we really need to see? The one place in the book where I found the photographs to be a welcome addition was in the section devoted to clothing. I enjoyed seeing actual photographs of bedcoats, short gowns, etc. 

All in all, this book was disappointing. It, however, was very short, and I did learn a few things, so I don't feel that it was an overall waste of my time.

The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson (a guest review)

I recently received a copy of The Pluto Files as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. While I have every intention of reading this eventually, my reason for requesting this book was so that, if received, my husband, who teaches astronomy at the high school level, could read it and review it. He did, and here is what he had to say.

"Astronomers of all ages and levels of skill are benefiting from an explosion of knowledge on topics ranging from possible life on Mars, to the influence of dark matter on the universe, to frequent reports about newly discovered exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars). The deluge of data has resulted in a whirlwind of new ideas and the inevitable changes to the scientific status quo. Pluto's recent change of planetary status and the cultural and scientific turmoil that led up to its demotion stem directly from our attempts to get a handle on the latest discoveries.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's book "The Pluto Files: the Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet" does a wonderful job of putting all the scientific and cultural issues into a fun, well-balanced and very readable volume. The science in the book is easy to follow and presented in a very balanced way. Dr. Tyson presents the facts in the context of culture and history throughout the tale of the beleaguered Pluto. It is an approachable book and very readable. The inclusion of many humorous comics and images of the prominent players in this tragic drama makes it seem more real. You get a sense of the human element. After all, this is a story about how humans react when science and sentimentality don't get along.

Dr. Tyson makes his opinion very clear, but he is willing to admit that the topics bear more discussion. What about Sedna, Eris, and the other "new planets" that make the inclusion of Pluto a sticky problem for planetary scientists? In the end he suggests the issue isn't whether or not Pluto should be a planet, but that astronomers should do a better job of attempting to handle the newcomers to our celestial party. Can we really do science by committee? Is science meant to be a democracy? Shouldn't careful science be the way things are done? Perhaps we have all been too hasty in taking sides on the issue of Pluto's planethood. Maybe we should have a few more planets in our list or leave the number at 8. Either way, we need to understand how all the parts of the solar system work, regardless of what classification we use.

Yes, it is true that Pluto clearly doesn't fit with the terrestrial planets of the inner solar system nor with the gas giants of the outer solar system. But it matters less what name we use to describe Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Sedna, and the others yet to be discovered and more what we do as a culture with our new information. After all, Pluto's story is our story regardless of what label we use to describe it.

So even if you are not a fan of Pluto or an astronomy buff, go out and get a copy of this delightful book, and I promise you will laugh and likely learn some fun stuff, too."

Thanks, Jimmy, for letting me post your review here!

Library Thing Early Reviewers

I finally got matched with another LT Early Review copy, after several dry months! I'll be getting Gladiatrix by Russell Whitfield. You can read the first chapter via the link. This sounds like it could be really good or supremely bad!

Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan

I received Love Marriage from the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. The book started out strong, and I was sure I would give it at least 4 stars, even halfway through the book. But after finishing it, I think I have to give it 3.5 stars. Here's why.

Ganeshananthan has a beautiful writing style, very mature for such a young writer (by my calculations, she's about 28). But the story jumps around too much. First it was just that it would jump from the narrator's present or recent past, to her family's past (early 80s), telling a part of different family members' histories. It was easy to tell who was being talked about, as most sections started with the name of the family member being discussed in that section, but sometimes it was hard to remember whose side of the family the particular family member was on (the inclusion of a family tree at the beginning was helpful in this aspect). But later on the narrator would literally switch from one paragraph to the next (this happened in a couple of spots where, I guess, Yalini would introduce a part of her uncle's story, and the narration would continue as if he were telling the story). This caused confusion several times and made it hard for me to focus on the story.

What did I like about the book? I learned more about Sri Lanka than I have ever known. I knew nothing about the ethnic tensions there, and nothing about the Tamil Tigers. I learned a lot about the Hindu marriage and funeral rituals, which was very interesting. But overall, the story left me feeling unfulfilled. Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. I enjoyed the book and feel that it is a very good first book by Ganeshananthan.

Other reviews:
Aarti at Booklust

LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Woo hoo! I snagged yet another LibraryThing Early Review copy! This time I'm getting Venetian Mask by Rosalind Laker. I've gotten really lucky with this program and have read some excellent books. I'm really looking forward to reading this one, too!

LibraryThing x 2

I'm so jazzed! I'm getting one of the LibraryThing bonus batch of Early Reviewers, too! I'm getting The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur, which looks fascinating.

LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Yay! I'm getting another Early Review book from LibraryThing! I'm getting Black Ships by Jo Graham.

Here's the Amazon description:

""Haunting and bittersweet, lush and vivid, this extraordinary story has lived with me since I first read it." --Naomi Novik, author of His Majesty's Dragon. The world is ending. One by one the mighty cities are falling, to earthquakes, to flood, to raiders on both land and sea. In a time of war and doubt, Gull is an oracle. Daughter of a slave taken from fallen Troy, chosen at the age of seven to be the voice of the Lady of the Dead, it is her destiny to counsel kings. When nine black ships appear, captained by an exiled Trojan prince, Gull must decide between the life she has been destined for and the most perilous adventure -- to join the remnant of her mother's people in their desperate flight. From the doomed bastions of the City of Pirates to the temples of Byblos, from the intrigues of the Egyptian court to the haunted caves beneath Mount Vesuvius, only Gull can guide Prince Aeneas on his quest, and only she can dare the gates of the Underworld itself to lead him to his destiny. In the last shadowed days of the Age of Bronze, one woman dreams of the world beginning anew. This is her story."

Doesn't that sound great?

Every Past Thing by Pamela Thompson

Every Past Thing is a very complicated book. I can’t say that I liked the book as a whole, but the more I read, the more I became wrapped up in the novel. This is not a novel to curl up with on a rainy day and get lost in. It is a very difficult read, at times painfully boring. Pamela Thompson’s prose is dense and challenging, but altogether beautiful. She is a very talented writer. She needs to be taken in small bites and savored, chewed on for a bit. By the end of the novel I cared very deeply for Mary and Edwin. Their discontent was palpable, so much that it made me uncomfortable at times.

One of the things I loved about this novel was the way Thompson revealed little bits at a time about Mary and Elmer’s past. You really didn’t learn the whole story about the relationship between Mary, Elmer, and Elmer’s brother Samuel until the very end.

I thought she handled Mary’s “search” for Jimmy Roberts, a man she had a brief relationship many years before, artfully. I quote “search” because I don’t feel Mary was really looking for Jimmy as much as hoping she might encounter him. And the near misses were brilliant.

Thompson’s inclusion of Emerson quotes throughout the novel delighted me, although I still find him very difficult to read.

When I first started this book, up until maybe 2/3 of the way through it, I thought I would never recommend it to anyone. So dry, so difficult. But something happened near the end. I now say, pick it up if you’re brave. Be willing to give it some time. Just bury yourself in it, and find Thompson’s rhythm. It might surprise you.

Double the good luck!

I found out today I'm getting one of the Early Review copies from the bonus batch in November, too! And best of all, it's the new Mary Doria Russell!, Dreamers of the Day. I haven't read anything of hers yet, but I have heard such glowing reviews of The Sparrow and Children of God that I just can't wait to read this one! I can't believe my luck!

LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Yes! I snagged another Early Review book from LibraryThing! I'm getting Becky by Lenore Hart, which is about an adult Becky Thatcher, of Tom Sawyer fame, telling her story. It sounds like a great read!

I'm making progress with my first Early Review copy, Every Past Thing by Pamela Thompson. I'll save my thoughts for a full-on review when I finish it. My feelings about it are quite complicated.