Hardly Getting Over It

Paul Tremblay is at his best when he’s making you question what’s actually happening in his novels. Was the teen girl in A Head Full of Ghosts really possessed?  Was it really the apocalypse in The Cabin at the End of the World?  That’s what he’s doing here in The Pallbearers Club; a story about a friendship that starts in the late 1980s and lasts until the present day. He first peppers you with the main characters recollections only to refute them a few pages later.  You will go back and forth about the character of Mercy Brown until the very last chapter.

Art Barbara is a skinny, acne prone teen who sleeps in a back brace and listens to hair metal. As if he weren’t already uncool enough, he decides to start The Pallbearers Club; an after-school group that acts as pallbearers for poorly attended funerals. Although the club itself isn’t successful (shocking, I know), he meets a seemingly effortlessly cool girl named Mercy Brown. They form a tight friendship throughout high school, drift apart and then come back together over the next few decades. This is not all that unusual for your average teenage friendship except Art doesn’t stop contacting Mercy because he’s too busy at college or starting a family. Art comes to believe that Mercy is a vampire.  At some point in the 2000s Art begins to write down his recollections of this strange relationship in a memoir (or novel, depending on what you believe).  The Pallbearers Club is Art’s manuscript which includes notes from Mercy herself as she as she drops in to tell the story from her point of view.  Is Mercy a vampire? Is Art blaming his best friend for his own health and personal issues?  You won’t know until the end of the book.

I listened to this on audiobook, and I highly recommend this if audiobooks are your thing.  The actors voicing both Art and Mercy are a great fit for the characters.  Art as the nerd turned punk musician and Mercy as the mysterious, too cool for school commentator.  She frequently takes aim at Art’s prose which can be a bit navel-gazey at times.  It’s an interesting gimmick that could be annoying and hard to read in the wrong hands but Paul Tremblay is more than able to keep the story moving forward to it’s conclusion.  This would be great to listed to (or read on paper, if you must) as we approach spooky season.

I Just Can’t Get You Outta My Head

Black Water Sister is a standalone book written by the Zen Cho, the author of the Sorcerer to the Crown series.  It may qualify as a sort of urban fantasy or a modern-day folk tale.  It takes place in modern day George Town which is the capital of the island of Penang in Malaysia.  It involves vengeful gods, sacred shrines, a dead grandmother speaking to her granddaughter and lots of shady corporate dealings.  It’s also a story about a family and about the relationships between mothers and daughters and the secrets they keep from each other.

Jessamyn Teoh has a lot going on right now. She’s recently graduated, unemployed and broke. She’s extremely closeted and her girlfriend is in another country. She’s just moved back to Malaysia, a country she hasn’t lived in since she was a toddler, living with her parents, an aunt and uncle along with lots of visiting relatives asking her what her plans are. As if all that weren’t enough, her estranged dead grandmother Ah Ma starts talking to her. It seems Ah Ma has unfinished business on the corporeal plane.  A local business tycoon has done something to offend one of the gods and Ah Ma wants to stop him and maybe exact a little vengeance as well.  Unfortunately, Ah Ma is very insistent and is not above taking over Jess’ body when it suits her.  Soon Jess finds herself running afoul of local gangsters, corporate thugs, and powerful gods all while trying to navigate her complicated family life, find a job and salvage her relationship with her girlfriend. 

I have not read Zen Cho’s other books though they come highly recommended.  But I know that this is a departure from her more “high fantasy” selections.  It has a lot to offer including family drama, a glimpse of Malaysian culture and a grandmother so salty she could garnish a margarita. There are a couple of parts where the action drags a bit and I would like to have seen more about Jess’ relationship with her girlfriend. Aside from that, Black Water Sister was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

A candy colored clown they call the sandman

I’ve actually read Preludes and Nocturnes multiple times since I was a wee 90s teen but I decided to give it a reread since the Netflix series dropped. I’ve been waiting for an onscreen version of Sandman for actual decades so a little refresh was in order so I could pick all the nits in the series. I have to say overall it does a great job of bringing Morphus and The Dreaming to life in a way that would not have been possible in a live action series until very recently. At least I think so. My copy of The Doll’s House, which covers the second half of the season is currently missing in action.

For those that didn’t have a minor teenage obsession with this comic, Morpheus aka Dream is one of The Endless. The endless are the personifications of different aspects of humanity; Death, Dream, Desire, Despair etc. While weakened and returning from a long journey, Dream is captured and imprisoned by magician Roderick Burgess and his son for seventy years. Upon his escape, Dream sets out to retrieve his tools (a bag of sand, a helm and a ruby) which have been stolen and lost over the decades. The final chapter introduces Death, Dream’s older sister who gives him some much-needed advice. Sandman was originally released as a horror comic and it’s evident in the art and writing. Many of the gorier aspects of this were eliminated in the screen adaptation. It also includes cameos by many other DC characters (John Constantine, Martian Manhunter, Etrigan the Demon) because in the late 1980s Neil Gaiman was an unknown commodity that needed a little help from his comic brethren.

Reading this book again reminded me of why I loved this series so much. As an adult, I’ve noticed more of Gaiman’s early shortcomings. He’s not always great at giving his side characters inner lives, which the show compensates for. But damned if Dream and the world he inhabits aren’t so much fun to immerse yourself in. Definitely pick this up if you never have before. It adds some context to the Netflix series and it’s a wonderful read.

For Petra, without whom I wouldn’t be reading this

The Grief of Stones is the third book in the Goblin Emperor series and the second book in The Cemeteries of Amalo series by Katherine Addison. The Cemeteries series follows Celehar, a secondary character in the first Goblin Emperor book who played a pivotal role. Celehar serves as Amalo’s Witness for the Dead, which means he can detect the thoughts of the recently deceased. As you can imagine, this often leads him down some very dark roads.

Like its predecessor, The Grief of Stones doesn’t focus on just one mystery but multiple cases which sometimes connect in unexpected ways. It begins with the suspected murder of a Marquise, the investigation of which sends Celehar first to a local foundling home and then into the seedy underworld of Amalo. To add to this, Celehar has been given a prelate to train as a new Witness. This story takes a much more emotional toll on our protagonist. Fortunately, his once non-existent circle of friends is growing into a loyal support system.

If you haven’t read any of the books in either of these series, I highly recommend you pick up The Goblin Emperor and sink your high fantasy, court intrigue loving teeth into it. It’s one of those books that requires a map and a glossary. Having read it on audiobook I can’t say if it does or not. However listening on audiobook does have the advantage of not requiring the reader to stumble over the various names and titles.

Beware: At war Or at peace, More people die Of unenlightened self-interest Than of any other disease.

Octavia Butler’s sequel to Parable of the Sower is no less prophetic than its predecessor. The language is raw and unsparing but never revels in the pain the characters go through. It is also not without its small moments of joy. The found family of Earthseed is put to the test in this book and though they do not come away unscathed they manage to survive because of their strong bonds of community and love for one another.

The story picks up five years after Parable of the Sower concluded. The community of Acorn is thriving and slowly gaining new members. Unfortunately the world outside is changing and a new president who promises to “make America great again” has set his sights on anyone who does not conform to his white Christian standards. It’s not long before Acorn is attacked and its residents are put through a worse hell than any of them can imagine. Somehow through all this Lauren manages to continue to write and journal her experiences. Alongside this narrative is a new one; that of her child. This person has a very different view of Lauren and Earthseed for reasons that will become obvious as the story continues.

Like the first book, Parable of the Talents can be difficult to read. Our main characters’ experiences are brutal and ugly. But as the world we currently live in shifts to look like Octavia Butler’s imagined future, this book and its predecessor are as essential as Orwell and Atwood.

Well I certainly couldn’t…

It’s not an easy thing to make you laugh and fill you with incoherent rage but this book manages to do just that. Written by late night host Amber Ruffin and her sister Lacey Lamar, You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacy is a series of stories of the everyday racism dealt with by Lacey, who lives and works in Omaha, as told to her sister Amber who now lives in New York. Obviously this is not to say that there is no racism in NYC but as Amber says she is “no one’s first black friend” living there. Add to that the fact that Lacey seems to be the type of person that people just think they can say anything to and well, you can imagine. Actually you can’t imagine. I thought I could imagine but I was sorely mistaken.

Despite the subject matter the tone is fairly light and the sisters are both very funny. I highly recommend the audiobook, which is read by both Amber and Lacey. The stories are frequently cringe-inducing, sometimes frustrating and occasionally enraging but overall they are relatively low stakes. I was never worried for anyone’s safety while reading this book. The fact that both sisters are here and thriving and laughing at all this bullshit helps the reader to laugh along with them while simultaneously shaking their head with consternation.

A lot of books dealing with racism can be emotionally difficult and they should be, but not all of them have to be. They also don’t all need to have life and death stakes involved. Sometimes they can just be about a smart, good humored black professional woman moving through a mostly white world and dealing with the utter cluelessness of her white coworkers about the wider world. It might also be a good gift for those of you that have a clueless white relative (and let’s face it, what white American doesn’t?) to broaden their understanding of racism in this country.

“Who carved a mountain into a cathedral”

If you are missing the political machinations and betrayals of Game of Thrones and aren’t sure if GRRM is going to finish the last book before he shuffles off his mortal coil, you should definitely check out The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. It has all of that AND it’s a finished series so no waiting for the next installment. This book is the first of a trilogy, plus a novella and a book of short stories. The story follows Yiene, whose mother was the heir to the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms but abdicated to marry Yiene’s father, the ruler of Darr, a far flung nation of matriarchal warriors.

When we first meet our protagonist she is making her way to Sky, the seat of power of her maternal grandfather Dekarta. She has been called back from exile after the mysterious death of her mother. Shortly after her arrival the aging Dekarta makes Yiene one of his heirs. His two other heirs, siblings to one another and cousins to Yiene, have spent their lives plotting and scheming to ensure they get the throne and are none too pleased about this new wrinkle in their plans. Now she finds herself having to games of diplomacy and courtly intrigue not only to save herself but her home country. As an extra added complication, there are actual gods living in the palace with their own plans for the upcoming transfer of power.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The plot moves along quickly and Yiene must always be on her toes in this beautiful and brutal environment in which she finds herself. And it checks in at less than 450 pages which is another advantage it has over the Game of Thrones books. Despite this it is not lacking in plot or world building. You are constantly immersed in the world of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I need to pick up the second two books ASAP.

Darling it’s better down where it’s wetter

I listened to this book via the podcast Phoebe Reads a Mystery which is voiced by Phoebe Judge of the famed Criminal Podcast. She reads one to two chapters a day of a classic mystery (though I’m not sure if this most recent selection qualifies). This book follows a reluctant passenger aboard the Nautilus, a submarine which must have seemed truly fantastical the time of the book’s 1869 publication, and it’s secretive Captain Nemo.

French oceanographer Pierre Aronnax has, along with his faithful servant Conseil (pronounced con-SAY), have joined an expedition along with the US Nave to hunt down an elusive sea monster which has been harassing ships. When Aronnax, Conseil and gruff harpooner Ned Land are washed overboard during a confrontation with said monster, they find that it is in fact a giant submarine. Though Captain Nemo agrees to keep them on board, feed them well and even take them on amazing adventures he refuses to ever let them leave lest they tell of the existence of the Nautilus and all its secrets. Though Aronnax finds his time on the ship extremely fascinating and personally rewarding, he grows homesick and the restless Ned Land urges him to escape with him at the earliest possibility.

To the average contemporary reader, the sights in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea must have seemed unreal . I admit it does lose some of the awe and splendor when you can simply view these things from your living room via your streaming service of choice. But Aronnax’s wonder and excitement at seeing these things do keep the reader engaged even when they’ve seen it all before. Captain Nemo and his mysterious mission seem almost secondary to the sights and sounds of the world he inhabits. I highly recommend it on audiobook since it makes a nice soundtrack to house cleaning.

God is Change

Add this one to the list of books I wish I’d read in my teens rather than a butt load of Stephen King. Octavia Butler’s frighteningly prescient dystopian novel needs to be added to every high school curriculum. It is a story of economic and societal collapse, climate disaster and survival in the face of unspeakable pain and loss. It’s a difficult read but none of the horrors feel gratuitous. It comes with many trigger warnings; rape, harm to children, harm to animals and fires.

The book starts in 2025 when we meet fifteen year old Lauren Olamina who lives in a small walled-in community in California. Though they lack many of the comforts of our own modern life they are considered lucky living behind their walls with enough to eat and a roof over their head. Life outside the walls is precarious and ugly. Lauren has discovered her own religion which she names Earthseed, the basic concept of which is that the only ruling force in the universe change and that one can either be as prepared as possible to roll with it or be rolled over by it. She is also keenly aware that the safety and security of her small community cannot be maintained as those outside its walls grow more desperate. She intends to be as ready for it has she can be when the inevitable disaster comes.

Lauren has an intelligence and maturity that never feels precocious or unearned. She is simply a keen observer of the world around her. The violence on the page is stark and matter of fact but never lingered upon too long. In the world of Parable of the Sower stopping to long can get you killed. Though the book begins only 4 years from now, the world it portrays is terrifyingly plausible. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a bug out back to pack.

Note: I highly recommend listening to the Octavia’s Parables podcast hosted by adrienne maree brown and Toshi Reagon while reading this book. They take a deep dive into each chapter and ask the reader pertinent questions. The entirety of Parable of the Sower is now available to download and they will be starting on the sequel, Parable of the Talents in February of 2021.

The real bookstore was the friends we made along the way

A book about a bookstore is catnip for me. I’ve had this one on my shelf and I selected it randomly. The story follows Clay Jannon, whose tech job goes away during the Great Recession (2008 edition). Clay takes a job working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. Penumbra himself is a benevolently odd man who imposes very few rules on his employees. It soon becomes apparent to Clay that there is something out of the ordinary about Mr. Penumbra, his store and his clientele. He embarks on a quest, along with his friends, to unlock its mysteries and discovers a secret library, a nationwide collection of antiquities and lots of interesting new people.

I liked this book. It was a nice distraction from the hellscape that was the news in January of 2021. Though Clay’s quest (and I use that word intentionally here) literally went across the country things were relatively low stakes. Each of Clay’s friends brought their resources and talents along with them because this is as much a book about friendship as it is about a bookstore in San Francisco. Though I felt that the problems were a little too easily solved with the magic of Google in some parts (that is the corporation not just the search engine) this book was a fun journey that didn’t end up where I thought it would and for that I am glad. Sometimes a simple answer with a happy ending is all you need when the real world is a garbage fire.