Book Marks, Take III

For most of 2007, I read an average of one book every two weeks, until that is, early September.

After looking at it on my bookcase for a few months, I finally picked up a book written by a former co-worker, and, truth be told, it was tough to stay with the story. It took me seven weeks to finish it. It had its good moments, but I spent more time shaking my head and thinking, "What the ... ?" I liked the concept, but I thought it was way too descriptive. Every time someone's eyes or hair were mentioned, the narrator also gives the color, such as "She shook her brown hair," "Her brown hair flowed in the wind." "She looked down and her brown hair fell in front of her face." And, "He opened his blue eyes." "His blue eyes focused on the talisman." "As he woke up, his blue eyes registered shock." (Those are not direct quotes.)

And over-describing is not limited to eyes and hair. It applies to the curtains, the cafes, the streets, the carpeting, yadda, yadda, yadda. I think that with a decent editor, the book would've been half as long, but twice as readable.

There were also a few things that the characters conveniently forgot that seemed unforgettable, like what company they work for, because remembering those tidbits sooner would've prevented the author from furthering the plot the way she wanted. Plus, one issue in particular was brought up, but then never addressed again. That whole chapter could've been eliminated, in my opinion.

I would include the title of the book and the author here, but, on the one in a trillion chance that she stumbles across this blog, I'm not divulging that information. She wasn't my best friend or anything, but I still wouldn't want to hurt her feelings, which is why, by the way, I did not use direct quotes from the story a couple of paragraphs back.

But here are a few reviews for books written by authors I have never met, and therefore have no fears of hurting their feelings, but of course, it's easy not to worry about hurting someone's feelings when you have few if any negative comments to make. All three books were great reads, and all three authors really know their history.

Shell Shaker by LeAnne Howe
Grade: A
There's nothing like a little history mixed in with a narrative. I loved this story, which switches back and forth between past and present as the spirit of an 18th century Choctaw shell shaker comes to the aid of her 20th century descendants after the murder of a popular chief sparks division within the tribe. There is a lot of history and culture in this novel, and mixed in with that is a captivating story that had me wishing there were a sequel novel using the same characters. The details -- such as a scene in which one of the ancestors talks about how the tribe, which before removal was based in southeastern swamps, was not afraid of alligators and the traditional burial -- made the story even more alive for me. One of the landmarks (the name of which I can no longer remember, and because I borrowed this book from the library, cannot look it up) intrigued me so much that I spent some time Web surfing to find out more about it. All in all, an awesome story that I highly recommend.

The Freshour Cylinders by Speer Morgan
Grade: A-
Set in the 1930s when the Spiro Mounds in eastern Oklahoma were being looted, this tale of corruption and the theft of tribal artifacts is packed with history. I thought it was very readable, and I loved Morgan's idea that there might've been tribes in less-populated, travel-inhibitive areas of the U.S. that were able to live outside the scope of the U.S. government and its anti-American Indian policy. I think the story kind of meanders some toward the end, but it still held my interest. Speer Morgan is man I'd like to meet someday, though, and ask him some questions about this novel, such as:
1) How long did it take to do all of that research?
2) As someone who has toured the Spiro site, I know that there are actually several mounds at the Spiro site. Is there a reason it is referred to singularly in the book?
3) A few years back, my husband and I went to Woolaroc, a tourist site started by the founder of Phillips Oil, in northern Oklahoma, and saw some items taken from the Spiro Mounds at the Woolaroc museum. Is the connection to oil in the book a reference to this, or is it just a reference to the fact that there was an oil boom under way at Oklahoma at the time?

The Whipping Boy by Speer Morgan
Grade: B
I read "The Freshour Cylinders" and "The Whipping Boy" out of chronological order. "Whipping Boy" was both written and set prior to "Freshour," but honestly, I'm not positive I would've read "Freshour" if I had read "Whipping Boy" first, and the reason is probably going to make me sound like a prude, but I don't care. I thought that the sex scenes in "Whipping Boy" were incredibly drawn out. However, I kept reading because I had read "Freshour," which made me hopeful that there was a bigger story here other than a teenage boy and his affair with an older woman. Luckily, I stuck with it, because, like "Freshour," this book was rich with historical detail, and I love being transported completely to another place and time. This novel takes place before Oklahoma had achieved statehood. This book focuses on a plot to steal land from the tribes. Slow start, but also an interesting read.

Book Marks, The April 14 edition

I recently finished a couple of books, for which I'll post reviews in upcoming weeks, but I thought I'd clear out some that I had written and saved some time back in 2007.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Grade: C+
This story of four daughters and their mother dragged to the Congo by their preacher father on his mission to spread the word of God to the natives had my attention for about three-fourths of the book. Through the eyes of the women, the narrative recounts the hardships the family faces in the jungle due to the differences in the terrain and wildlife, as well as the differences in the culture. At the same time, the father -- who echoes the same degree of one-sightedness that made the father in The Mosquito Coast by Paul Thereaux so frightening -- is so determined to convert the locals to Christianity that he lacks understanding of their culture and refuses to learn anything about it, which results in even more grief for his family. I couldn't put the book down as long as they were in the Congo, but once they left, it felt like I was reading a different book entirely. Time speeds up tenfold, and one character in particular becomes so political-minded that, even though I might agree with many of her sentiments, I became exhausted just reading her narration. I finished the book, but it literally became a chore to read.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Grade: A
I had never read Gaiman before, other than an article or two a friend had forwarded to me, and anything that begins in prison is not usually something that's going to pique my interest, but the cover, with its greenish hue and its bolt of lightning striking a two-lane road, enticed me to give it a shot. (I like storms.) It begins with convict Shadow getting an early pass from prison after his wife dies. With his wife gone and no home to go to, he accepts a job offer from a mysterious man named Mr. Wednesday, who seems to know an awful lot about him. Then, Shadow and Mr. Wednesday travel a path paved with humor, tragedy, the mysterious, the mythical, the past and the present, as the cross the country seeking support for a coming battle.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Grade: A+
Still in awe of American Gods, I headed off to the bookstore to find more by Gaiman. In Neverwhere, meek Richard Mayhew, after helping Door, a girl whom most people would overlook, literally falls through the cracks of London society, into a world with warriors and floating markets and Rat Speakers and a whole cast of characters not usually seen by "normal" people. Richard lends Door a hand on her quest to find out who killed her family, and finds he's not as meek as he thought he was. It took me a little bit to get into this book because it feels a lot more like fantasy than anything I have read since I read A Wind in the Door back in grade school, but by the end, I had to rate it even better than American Gods.