Snow Angels Seasons One and Two

Snow Angels is a 10 part digital ebook by Jeff Lemire which is still continuing to be published. I have read Season One and Season Two of this post-apocalyptic story of survival in a harsh winter wilderness area. The area is called The Trench. It is an endless canyon carved into the ice where a few people have survived. However, the residents all know that something awful will happen if one of them leaves the trench. The inhabitants of the Trench do not know how they were settled there and they have survived by never leaving it. The plot follows the activities of two girls, Milliken, 12 and her younger sister Mae Mae. When their father took them on an overnight skate down the trench for a coming of age ritual to teach them how to fish in the frozen river and how to show respect to their gods, The Colden Ones, he woke up The Trench's deadly defender, the Snowman.  During a fight with the Snowman, their father was killed and the girls found themselves on their own.

I found the plot to be mediocre. It was hard to maintain interest in the comic but because I paid for it, I was determined to finish it. While the setting was magnificent, I did not connect with any of the characters. Neither of the girls interested me.  The father was the most compelling character because he carried the secrets of The Trench.  I wanted to know what those secrets were but he did not tell most of the secrets himself. After his death, the girls wandered and eventually discovered what all of the secrets were but this came at the end of the story just about on the last page. There was no lead up to the discovery which could have created some suspense. It fell flat. The illustrations were good and reflected the icy conditions of this wilderness area.  Illustrator Jock added iciness to the pages of the comic by the use of dark, dreary blues that really looked like ice and complimented the setting.

These stories are either hit or miss.  This one was a miss for me. 2 out of 5 stars.

Double Walker

I found Double Walker confusing while I read it. The author states at the end of the book that is a story based on his fears and anxieties. The story opens with Cully and Gemma, a couple who are watching their carefree, childless days coming to an end. Gemma is pregnant with their first child. They decide to take one final trip before the birth and travel to the Scottish Highlands where a bizarre string of murders is occurring. What was confusing for me was the plethora of Scottish fairy tales discussed among the characters. It was hard to tell what was myth and what was really happening. The residents of the island spoke alot about the fairies as real people and the fairies taking babies away so that they can replace them. After I read a few reviews of the comic I understood the plot premise better and reread the book. It then made sense.  

My feelings for the book are mixed. Once I understood what was happening I liked it but the fact that I had to go online to figure this one out is a big negative for me. It's horror, fantasy and myth combination is not what I typically read, hence my confusion. However, I know that many comic fans are going to love it so I am not going to rate this book. You either like this genre or you don't. I will let you, the reader, decide.

What Makes a DNF Book?

What makes a "did not finish" (DNF) book? I try to finish every book that I am reading, mainly because I paid for the book and don't want to waste money. Some books are just too dull to finish though. I usually give a book 50 pages to get me interested and then I will reassess it.  If I took the book out of the library then I have no predicament. I stop reading. 

So, what makes a DNF book? Sometimes I am not in the mood to read at all and just want to work on my art. Other times my mood prefers a light read such as a cozy and other times my mood wants something different. Assessing how you feel can help a reader determine whether the book should be saved for another day. 

The next issue is whether to review the book or not. I try to be fair but have been known to write punishing reviews on occasion. If a book is not in a genre that I like, I will review the book and state that I don't like the genre. I will also say what type of reader will enjoy it and give an "objective" review of the plot and characters. If there is anything about the book that I like, I will add that to my review.  I know that many bloggers do not review books that they don't like. I think it is more fair to your readers to know your true feelings.  Folks who read your blog do so because they have the same reading interests that bloggers do. I believe they will respect your views on a book that you do not like.

How do you handle those DNF books?

Sentient

Sentient is a science fiction story set in a comic book format. It is the story of the U. S. S. Montgomery, a space ship with both adults and children on board. The ship is traveling from an earth that is almost uninhabitable due to climate change to a colony located somewhere in deep space. One of the adults is secretly a separatist and she kills all the adults on board in a surprise attack. The separatists are a group that want the new colony to be completely disassociated from the earth's government. When the children find out that they have been left to finish the mission, they rely on their AI Valarie to learn new skills so that they can fly the ship to its expected destination. The kids have just barely learned their new skills when they are confronted with a dangerous force that threatens to doom them. They need to rely on Valarie in order to fight these forces but Valarie has only been programmed to complete minor tasks.

This is an awesome story. It has all the tension and character development that you would see in a novel length book within its 163 pages. The pace was fast and the plot premise was fascinating. The main characters are Val and the two oldest kids, Lill and Isaac. All three have tremendous growth in the story. Val becomes more of a parent than a machine but her machine capabilities allow her to learn the particular language that the kids speak. Lill is the most stubborn character and she gets the group into some trouble when she wants to leave the ship to explore a docking station where the Montgomery stops to refuel. Isaac is a tech prodigy who learns more and more about how the ship operates as the needs of the space ship develop as each day goes by. 

Great comic!  5 out of 5 stars.

Sara

In the cold winter of 1942, the second winter in the siege of Leningrad, Soviet sniper Sara and her seven female comrades are fighting against the Nazi invaders. At this point in the war the Russians are losing the battle. As the fighting intensifies, Sara's squad wonders if they can survive the turbulence of war. As women they know what will happened to them if they are taken prisoner and all of them vow not to be taken alive. The women try to make headway in the war by effecting one kill at a time. Sara is the undisputed best sniper. She has become a legend in the minds of the Nazis, which the sniper team learned about from a German prisoner of war. The Germans say she has killed over 300 soldiers but Sara disputes the number. 

This is a classic war story told in comic book format. The book combines six issues of a comic by the same name and it is based on a true story. We see the horrors of war here with our heroine booby trapping dead Nazi soldiers with grenades. When the Nazis find these bodies they will turn them over, activating the grenade and killing themselves. It's an easy way for Sara's kill numbers to rise.  We also see the Sara character changing as the war continues during the year.  When the village that her family resides in is destroyed by the Nazis, she becomes totally focused on killing as many of them as she can. She becomes a ruthless and efficient killer. We also see Sara talking to herself as she focuses her gun on the Nazi soldiers that she plans on killing. She takes her time before firing to ensure that her position is not spotted by Nazi snipers and becoming a target herself. 

Sara is an impressive narrative of soldier's lives fighting for survival on the Eastern Front in WWII.  5 out of 5 stars.

Dear Abigail

Dear Abigail is a biography of Abigail Adams and her two sisters. The author reviewed correspondence between them to paint a picture of their lives.  Given that they lived during the American Revolution their stories are important to our American history. Their letters are a snapshot of what life was like in colonial times.

The sisters were the daughters of a poor Congregational minister and his wealthy wife. Their correspondence began when the oldest, Mary, married and left the family home. Abigail was the next to marry but Betsy was much younger than them and didn't leave the house until her parents had passed. By that time Mary and Abigail had been married approximately 17 years already. Their letters to each other were frequent. The discussed their pregnancies, children, husbands, social lives as well as their political ideas. All supported freedom from England and were advocates for educational equality of the sexes. 

Much has been written over the years about Abigail's suggestion that her husband "remember the ladies" when he was involved with the writing of the Constitution. Current thought is that she was a feminist seeking complete equality of the sexes. Nothing could be further from the truth. During this era, women were so subjected to men that they would not have even been able to think about becoming equal to men. However, they desired to be educated in the same manner as the men were educated. They were successful in this endeavor. Educational equality was granted at the end of the Revolutionary War. The men agreed to this because they believed that their children would be educated well if their mothers were educated well.

The book covers the lives of the sisters from 1766 until 1801. Abigail's letters were, naturally, more prominent as she was the wife of our second president John Adams. All three of the sisters, though, led lives that were progressive for the era. Mary was basically in charge of running her village and Betsey co-founded a school that taught both girls and boys. 

Two interesting facts emerged from Abigail's letters. During Washington's presidency he left Philadelphia where the new nation was based to stay in Haverhill where Elizabeth lived. People came out in one of our coldest winters to hear him speak. They all got sick and their ailment was commonly known as the "Washington Cold." Also, when the new Executive Mansion was built there was an oval room constructed on the second floor. It was built in reverence for George Washington. When Washington lived in Philadelphia during his term in office he had an oval room in his home. It was his favorite room. We now call this oval room the "yellow oval room" in the White House. I am presuming that the Oval Office in the West Wing where modern presidents work was also constructed out of reverence for our first president.

When I picked up this book I knew I would relish the history within its pages. I read slowly to savor the words and I was not disappointed. I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars!

Return to the Big Valley

This book shares three novellas about Amish women and their boyfriends. The stories take place in Big Valley, PA where the Brides of Big Valley novel occurred. Each story is a standalone and is written by a member of the Brunstetter family. Wanda wrote Wilma's Wish, her daughter-in-law Jean wrote Martha's Miracle and Wanda's granddaughter Richelle wrote Alma's Acceptance. Each one is about 120 pages long and are easy reads. 

In Wilma's Wish we see engaged couple Israel Zook and Wilma Hostetler struggling to care for Israel's five nephews. The boys are orphans and a little rambunctious. Israel has decided to adopt them but is not sure if Wilma will still marry him. The boys do not get along with her and are trying to discourage her from marrying Israel by behaving badly. Martha Yoder, of Martha's Wish, is an unusual Amish girl. She prefers hunting and fishing to cooking and cleaning. Her parents worry that she will never find someone to marry her if she continues in her tomboy ways. In Alma's Acceptance, Alma Wengerd is a widow after only one year of marriage. She decides to visit a friend in Big Valley where she lived when she was younger. There she reunites with a friend who she once thought of marrying  Elias also wanted to marry her but never got up the courage to ask her out. All of these stories deal with grief, romance, and those wonderful, always caring parents. 

I enjoyed Wilma's Wish and Alma's Acceptance. Martha's Wish was too simplistic and the characters were not interesting. There was no tension in the plot and I got bored reading this story. I would have to say, though, that all three stories were lacking the usual amount of tension and character development that readers are used to seeing with full length Amish fiction.  However, the book as a whole was a relaxing read and I will rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

The Pull

The Pull is a sci-fi comic book series written by Steve Orlando. It contains comics 1 through 6 in this one graphic novel format. The Pull is part of TKO Studios' third wave of complete comic book miniseries that they published in November, 2020. Artist Ricardo Lopez and colorist Triona Farrell also contributed to this comic. 

When the unstoppable cosmic force of the Undoer threatens the existence of Earth, Brenton Demm, a disgraced government agent, must shake off a lifetime's worth of regret if he is going to save everyone. Demm is one of Earth's thirteen super-science police, and with his ex-wife Gayano Tith, they are Earth's only hope for survival. With days left until the Undoer swallows the Earth, Tith can stop the Undoer as long as Demm can keep her alive. However, there is a catch. Ever since Demm's glory hounding caused a disaster that killed hundreds and put Earth on the Undoer's radar, he's been clinically incapable of giving a damn. Disaffected, corrupt, but still looking for a glint of hope in his last days, Demm finds it when Tith tells him the world doesn't have to end. Demm just has to get back to work. 

There is a political message here. The story concerns what happens when people refuse to deal with the effects of fossil fuels on our planet, referred to as "hard heat" in the story. Demm, as one of the thirteen police officers, is empowered by a newly discovered energy source called marbleite. Tith finds out that the energy marbleite releases will undoubtedly attract the attention of the Undoer, who wants to end all life on earth. Tith's father cannot handle the dread of annihilation so he forms a doomsday cult and makes plans for the cult to commit mass suicide.  Demm tries to stop the plan but is unable and he is traumatized by the experience. The story then picks up one year later when the earth has six days left before the Undoer ends life as we know it. The characters in the story discuss whether they can continue forging a future given the current dark times and with street drug usage at an all time high. Of course the street drug in this story is a little funky and is called the "big finish."  The drug brings about a "sexual euthanasia that brings user's lives to a climactic end." The characters are, essentially, f'ing themselves to death.

I enjoyed the story but did not like being preached to. Even though I agree with the political message, The Pull went too far with its spreading of the gospel.  3 out of 5 stars.

The Fourth of July

The Fourth of July was initially published in 2014 but my Amazon account states it was published this year.. Checketts is a new author for me. She usually writes Christian romance novels and this terrorist mystery was the first book she ever published. The story opens with eight parade floats exploding in Fourth of July parades across the U. S.  Agent Chris Harmer is tasked with finding the perpetrators before they strike again. However, his troubles are much more than terrorism. Chris falls in love with FBI analyst Alexis Osborne, a Christian woman. Chris has no real religious beliefs but finds it hard to resist seeing Alexis.

Let me start off by saying The Fourth of July was not my cup of tea. When I bought this book for my Kindle the book description only discussed terrorism. I was not aware that it was a Christian romance novel. I probably wouldn't have purchased it had I known. The terrorist part of the plot was well executed. The romance part seemed awkward. Alexis is a thirty-year-old woman but behaves like a middle schooler in her romantic life. It just didn't fit her character to be mean to a man she wanted to date while simultaneously hoping he would respond to her secret wishes and adore her. Alexis behaved this way throughout the story and it bothered me. How did she ever get a FBI job with her childish behaviors?

This one was a big miss for me. 2 out of 5 stars.

Revolutionary Mothers

I am so happy that someone wrote a book about the founding mothers of the United States. This history book has several sections devoted to the wives of famous patriots, the wives of loyalist men, slave women, Native American women, camp followers, general's wives, and other heroines of the American Revolutionary War. Author Carol Berlin discusses their contributions before the war broke out, during the war and after the war.  

It was interesting that though these women managed their husband's businesses while they were gone from home and had to deal with both British and Continental Armies taking over their homes, they were still considered to be merely helpmates for their husbands. Their natural inclination was to obedience, industriousness and frugality and their natural function was to bear children. Women's destinies were dictated by the authorities in their world such as ministers and lawmakers and for the most part they followed what they were told to do. When the men determined to free themselves from British rule, it was up to the women to ensure that they handled their household's boycott of English products. Many had to learn how to spin fiber and weave clothing when English resources were cut off. The only advancement that women achieved at the end of the war was that they would be entitled to the same education as men. They still had no rights to own property or vote. 

I always thought it odd that women would follow the armies and camp with them. However, Berlin shows that this was the only way to ensure that they would have food to eat. If they stayed home food was scarce. Loyalist wives had it bad, especially when the war ended. The patriots punished them for not supporting independence and many left the colonies. Our famous founding fathers had difficulties communicating with the Indian tribes because they were matriarchal societies. They just could not handle having to deal with a female tribeswoman.  

This short, 166 page book is filled with the histories of all types of women and I highly recommend it.  5 out of 5 stars.

Stacking the Shelves #6

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! And audiobooks. In other words, if you can read it or if it can be read to you – no matter how you got it – it belongs in Stacking the Shelves. The Stacking the Shelves meme was originally hosted at Team Tynga’s Reviews. For the last few years it’s been co-hosted at Team Tynga’s and here at Reading Reality. Reading Reality became the one and only host of Stacking the Shelves when Team Tynga’s Reviews closed its virtual doors in 2021.

This past week I bought 2 new books to read: Dear Abigail and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur. Dear Abigail is a biography of Abigail Adams and her two sisters. Abigail Smith Adams, Mary Smith Cranch and Elizabeth "Betsey" Smith Shaw were the daughters of Reverend William Smith and his wife Elizabeth.  The book begins with the marriage of Mary to Richard Cranch presumably because that is when Mary left the family home and the sisters began writing to each other. If Abigail had not married John Adams their story may not ever have been told. 

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur is the second novel in Alka Joshi's Jaipur Trilogy. The series is about henna artist Lakshmi Kumar. In this installment of the series Lakshmi arranges for her protege Malik to intern at Jaipur Palace. Lakshmi is now running the Healing Garden but most of the story is about Malik. Power and money still control Jaipur, evidenced by the police blaming a balcony collapse on an easy target. Malik senses the wrong person was arrested and seeks to uncover the truth.

Gone

Gone is a spellbinding novel about a mother and son who have been abducted at a gas station. The son is only four-years-old and has a severe form of epilepsy and autism. His mother Elizabeth manages his illness well while her husband is gone weekdays and night. She is a creature of habit, puts gas in the car on Monday, picks up prescriptions on Tuesday, etc... Her habits should make it easier for her husband to search for her. On one Monday morning, Elizabeth is buying gas for her car and has left her son in the passenger seat while she pays for the gas. While she is at the cash register she sees a man approach her car and get in. Elizabeth hurries to the car and is able to jump into the backseat as the car takes off, leaving her purse behind. The driver takes her to a hidden cabin in the woods where Elizabeth's husband will never find her. It is up to Elizabeth to figure out how to get herself and her son free. 

This psychological thriller kept me reading all night. The serious nature of the child's medical needs not being met after the abduction give the novel its suspense. The restricted life a person with epilepsy has is shown in detail and it is this circumstance that keeps the reader reading. I found myself routing for the boy and hoped he survived. I did not like his mother though. She was dependent on her husband for everything and got angry when he wasn't around to tell her what to do. She seemed whiny to me. As a feminist I wanted to shake her out of this mindset to freedom. It was odd that she only thought her husband would search for her, not the police. Doesn't everyone know that it is the police's job to look for missing people? Also, I wondered why she thought she couldn't handle her situation. Elizabeth did not really need her husband to help her care for her son. She did this almost daily on her own and was handling the abduction well.

Despite these concerns Gone is a mesmerizing story and I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Night Gate

The Night Gate is the final installment of Peter May's The Enzo Files series.  I have loved this series since it began and hate to see it end but I understand that authors need variety in their writing to keep it crisp. 

The publisher's summary:

"In a sleepy French village, the body of a man shot through the head is disinterred by the roots of a fallen tree.  A week later a famous art critic is viciously murdered in a nearby house.  The deaths occurred more than seventy years apart.  Asked by a colleague to inspect the site of the former, forensics expert Enzo MacLeod quickly finds himself embroiled in the investigation of the latter.  Two extraordinary narratives are set in train - one historical, unfolding in the treacherous wartime years of Occupied France; the other contemporary, set in the autumn of 2020 as France re-enters Covid lockdown. 

Tasked by the exiled General Charles de Gaulle to keep the world's most famous painting out of Nazi hands after the fall of France in 1940, 28-year-old Georgette Signal finds herself swept along by the tide of history.  Following in the wake of DaVinci's Mona Lisa as it is moved from chateau to chateau by the Louvre, she finds herself just one step ahead of two German art experts sent to steal it for rival patrons - Hitler and Goring. What none of them know is that the Louvre itself has taken exceptional measures to keep the painting safe, unwittingly setting in train a fatal sequence of events extending over seven decades.

The Night Gate spans three generations, taking us from war-torn London, the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, Berlin and Vichy France, to the deadly enemy facing the world in 2020."

I was disappointed in this novel.  There were many passages of writing that were not central to the solving of the crime.  For instance, there was a 40 page section on the military training of women who were going to be dropped into Nazi held France. In addition, the relationship of the characters who were mentioned in the beginning of the book was not explained.  I knew from past books in the series that they were related but could not remember exactly how.  I think the author should have explained who the characters were and what made them tick. There was no development of the characters during the story either so I expected a tighter plot.  I got neither.  As far as the settings descriptions are concerned, I did not feel that I was in Scotland, London, France or Berlin. In the earlier books in the series you could see the Scottish Enzo's semi-assimilation in France where he lived.

What a disappointing end to a great series.  2 out of 5 stars.