The Starless Sea

by Erin Morgenstern

498 pgs

I believe most people who pick up Erin Morgenstern's latest book, The Starless Sea, do so because they read and loved her very popular first book, The Night Circus. which makes me confident I'm in the minority, since I've yet to read that one. But having heard about it, and having had it recommended to me by numerous people, I had pretty high expectations for this new one. 

The book is a combination of stories, which Morgenstern intertwines together with varying degrees of success. The story revolves around Zachary Ezra Rollins, the son of a fortune teller, ho loves books and is a graduate student studying video games. Zach comes across a unique book in the school's library, which appears to have been misshelved, due to its apparent lack of authorship. The book is called Sweet Sorrows, and as Zach begins reading it, he discovers it contains an account of an experience from his childhood.

The experience involved a painted door that he turned away from, but which the book reveals would have taken him to a mysterious otherworld called the Starless Sea. Zach becomes obsessed with the book and where it came from and sets out on a journey to try to find the Starless Sea once again. 

It sounds exactly like the type of story that I'd love, but unfortunately, I found myself struggling with the book throughout. Part of it could have come from the fact that I listened to it instead of read it, which made it harder to follow Morgenstern's ambitious and unique way of telling the story. She switched back and forth between Zachary's journey and the mythology of the book, which included Zachary as well. And I often felt confused about where I was in the story. I also felt like the book wandered around a lot, without an ultimate destination and resolution in mind. 

I will give Morgenstern credit here she's due though. The book was beautifully written, enough so that there were many times I was listening to it and enjoying the writing enough to not care that I was feeling lost with what as going on.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

 

Bird Box

by Josh Malerman

293 pgs  (Bird Box series #1)

Most of the time, having really high expectations for a book means I'm going to be disappointed, at some level, with it when I read it. But sometimes a book comes along that is able to meet and even exceed my high expectations. Josh Malerman's Bird Box was one of those books. 

I haven't seen the Netflix movie based on the book, but I had definitely heard about it. So I had a pretty good idea of what the premise of the story was before I even read the cover flap. And the premise is what had me so excited to read the book. 

Malorie is a young mother in a post-apocalyptic future in which creatures exist that drive everyone who sees them to go violently insane and kill themselves. Malerman never makes it known where these creatures came from, what they look like, or what it is about them that causes such a deadly reaction.

It takes everything Malorie has just to survive every day and keep the two children alive. And the only way she's able to do that, is to black out all of their windows and wear a blindfold anytime she has to venture outside the house.

Bird Box the type of story that should be experienced for oneself and not spoiled by a review, so I won't say much more about it. Suffice it to say, it's intense and scary, in a way that will make the soles of your feet sweat. 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

To Green Angel Tower

 by Tad Williams

1083 pgs  (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series #3)

To Green Angel Tower concludes Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, which he "finished" almost thirty years ago, but which he recently elevated to a series, with the publication of two new installments within the past couple of years, with a third yet to come. This has been a series I have thoroughly enjoyed so far, and which I look forward to continuing after a little bit of a break. It's a series George R.R. Martin has said inspired him to write his A Song of Ice and Fire series, which alone should be enough of an incentive to read Williams' books.

To Green Angel Tower picks up right where Stone of Fareell left off. The small band of forces led by Prince Josua Lackhand, which includes the newly-knighted Simon and the troll Binibik, have made it to the Stone of Farewell, where they hope to successfully raise up an army to defeat the followers of the undead Sithi Storm King. Included in their plans is the finding and bringing together three magical swords: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, which they believe represent their only chance of ultimate victory.

This book and the series so far are excellent examples of everything that is great about the fantasy genre. They are Tolkienesque, but stand categorically on their own merit. There is great action, fantastic characters, political machinations, and just enough sorcery and magic included to appeal to the stereotypical readers of the genre, the ones rarely exposed to direct sunlight and vegetables that aren't sold in a bag coated with cheese dust.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Splendid and the Vile - A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

by Erik Larson

585 pgs

Erik Larson's latest, The Splendid and the Vile - A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz offers an interesting and thorough look at the leadership of one of the most successful and influential leaders of our time. It also provides a timely reminder of just how valuable a great leader can be during challenging times of uncertainty and hardship.

Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain in May of 1940, when his predecessor resigned due to poor health. Churchill was a fairly unpopular figure at the time, within both his own Conservative Party as well as with the Labour Party, and he took over as Prime Minister at a very tenuous time in Great Britain's history.

Operation Dynamo, the operation that successfully evacuated over 300,000 Allied servicemen from Dunkirk, was only days away and France would soon surrender to Germany, which gave Hitler's army the ability to mobilize only a few miles from the coast of England. The nightly bombing campaign of London and other cities known as the Blitz would begin about four months later, which lasted over a year. But throughout it all, England and its citizens remained defiant, never faltering or wavering in their certainty that they would eventually be victorious, a conviction that was in large part a result of Churchill's leadership and ability to bring the country together under a common cause.  

As it just so happens, I finished reading the book the day after the first "Presidential" debate between Trump and Biden took place here in the U.S., and I couldn't help but reflect on the glaring contrast and deficiencies that exist between the quality of both of those men when compared with Churchill. Admittedly, Churchill was no saint, and his proclivity for wearing pink silk underwear and nothing else at times while conducting the business of Britain is questionable at the very least. But it's pretty easy to overlook the odd and slightly unsettling aspects of a leader's personal nature, when he's successfully navigating a country through the uncertain times it's facing. Unfortunately, the best we can hope for in this country right now, is a mediocre replacement for the disaster we've had for the last three and a half years.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

 by Hank Green

449 pgs  (The Carls series #2)

Hank Green's A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor picks up about six months after An Absolutely Remarkable Thing left off. April May, the young woman who skyrocketed to unprecedented fame overnight with her documentation of the first of the Carls (10-foot tall alien samurai robots that suddenly appeared scattered all over the world) died at the end of the latter, but her body was never discovered. At the time of her death, all the Carls disappeared as quickly and inexplicably as they had appeared, taking with them the common dreams they had implanted on people all over the world. Six months later, April's friends, along with most everyone else, are still grieving over the loss of both April and the Carls.

Peter Petrawicki, who was indirectly responsible for April's death, has built an offshore research company that uses technology tied to the Carls, and is now worth billions. But with his company's success come changes that threaten to forever change the world, and not for the better. His company, an amalgamation of Facebook, Second Life, and a Bitcoin-type data-mining company, has the potential to destroy the economies of the world and usher in a form of dystopia never contemplated before.

This book took me longer to get into than its predecessor, and for the first half of it I wasn't sure whether it would end up representing a sophomore slump for Hang Green. Thankfully, by the end, I remain a big fan of Green and his storytelling.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Body: A Guide for Occupants

 by Bill Bryson

450 pgs

Bill Bryson cut his literary teeth by writing entertaining, and oftentimes, hilarious travel memoirs through The United States, Great Britain, and Australia. More recently, his books have dealt with history and science. With The Body - A Guide for Occupants, Bryson takes us on an interesting and entertaining journey throughout the human body.

He covers every aspect of the body, from the cellular level, on up to the tissues, organs, and systems it's comprised of. He provides anecdotal and fascinating explanations of how doctors and scientists' understanding of how the body works has grown over time, and how they often gained their knowledge accidentally, or through the pain and suffering of patients and experimental subjects.

He covers what it takes to keep the body functioning at its best, as well as why it eventually wears out, succumbs to diseases, attacks itself through cancers, or simply quits.

I found the book both fascinating and enjoyable. I'm a big fan of Bryson's books, and would most likely read anything he ever decides to write, regardless of subject matter or critical reviews. The book didn't make me laugh as frequently as many of his others have, but that was okay with me. I still felt like I was being entertained while being educated.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The Last Kingdom

by Bernard Cornwell

333 pgs  (The Saxon Chronicles series #1)

The Last Kingdom is the first book in Bernard Cromwell's The Saxon Chronicles series, and the inspiration for the Netflix series of the same name. It's set in the ninth century in what would eventually become England, but what was then the kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia. Alfred, the son of Aethelwulf, King of Wessex, will soon become king and will be instrumental in laying the groundwork for a united England, but will spend most of his life defending Wessex against Viking attacks.

The book begins in the year 866 A.D. and centers on the life of a Saxon named Uhtred, son of Uhtred, Lord of Bebbanburg in Northumbria. At the age of nine, Uhtred is captured by the Danish Earl Ragnar the Fearless during a raid in which his father was killed. He's now the rightful heir of Bebbanburg, but instead, spends his formative years being raised as a Dane.

Eventually Uhtred finds favor with Ragnar, and as he grows up, is taught to become a skilled warrior. As a young man, he accompanies Ragnar during the conquests of Mercia and East Anglia, but during the battle for Wessex, Uhtred is once again taken captive, but this time, it's by the Saxons, bringing him back to where they believe he belongs.

The Last Kingdom is by itself a great story, but it also sets the stage for the rest of the series that follows. Uhtred, born a Saxon and raised a Dane, seems destined to play a pivotal role in the struggle to unite England and defend it from the conquering Danes.

Years ago, I watched the first season of the series when it originally aired on BBC America. I remember enjoying it but forgetting about it when it moved over to Netflix. Reading this first book in the series has piqued my interest in revisiting the series there, while continuing to read Cornwell's books.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆