Play Ball! Part 2: Lessons from Moriarty

This past year I read a good book by Liane Moriarty.  Actually I read every book by Liane Moriarty after being wowed by Big Little Lies.  The story relevant to this discussion, however, is What Alice Forgot - the tale of a woman with amnesia who finds herself jumped forward in her life 10 years, sorting through what her life has become and struggling to understand how she has come to be where she is.  As she picks up the reins on the life of her older self she is at times dumbfounded by the choices she seems to have made, by what she has allowed to happen. Without great thought she acts to corrects Older Alice's blunders.  After a single afternoon watching her oldest child's misery at sport practice she removes the child from the team.  She will [spoiler alert] remember it all.  She will recall why enforced sports participation seemed like a good idea; however, in that moment it is a simple straight forward matter and it is obvious what needs to be done.

I am not sure when I let youth sports become My Battle.  I am sure of one thing, though -- it is a simple straight forward matter and it is obvious what needs to be done.  Yes indeed, Mr. Gaiman, Alice did provide not just an escape, but a meaningful and educational one.

This past Fall my youngest played youth football and my oldest sat with me on the sidelines.  The world did not end.  He chose to try soccer instead where he had fun and struggled.  At times the struggling outweighed the fun.  His particular place on the autism spectrum means he has many real challenges to success with physical activities.  Now that he is getting older he is actually noticing, "Hey! Everyone else is doing better than me!".  He feels the frustration of working just as hard as everyone but yielding poor results.

Physical activity is still important.  I'm not giving him permission to do what his heart most desires and become a total couch potato.  I am acknowledging, however, that baseball with all its fine motor intricacies is not the smartest place for us to put our energies.  And I know that my younger self would say, "Duh."

Of Shadow & Stone : They can't all be great books

My last three book reviews were glowing and I have to admit it's been making me nervous.  It's hard to have credibility when all you ever say is "Great job!"  The problem is that I hate reading mediocre books and I carefully pick what I spend my precious little reading time on.  Hence when I was sent an advanced reading copy Of Shadow & Stone along with works by tried and true favorites it's not really surprising that I got to it last.  Eventually, though, its day did come and alas, my 5 star review streak has come to an end.

Of Shadow & Stone by Michelle Muto is not terrible.  I've read worse.  I've read worse just this year.  Most of the book feels like a better than average set up for a new series.  The main characters, Kate and Ian, are likable and Shadow Wood is mysterious and intriguing. 

This story suffers from premature resolution unfortunately.  By the end everything is tied up neatly.  Too neatly, too soon. 

Fantasy writing requires a certain amount of world building and back story in an introductory piece -- the author is giving us a new world and we must be made to understand it. A certain amount of character casting is also required -- the author is giving us new characters and we must be made to care about them.  It feels like Muto was just accomplishing those two things when suddenly everything is fixed and the story is done.  

Of Shadow & Stone gets many things right but ultimately doesn't live up to its promise.  

Skull Throne : more great reading

I received an advanced reading copy of The Skull Throne, the 4th book of Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle series. What follows is my honest review.


My first impression of this book is that it was very, very long.  I routinely digest large volumes but this story was just so incredibly big. Fortunately it was equally entertaining.

As in previous books the point of view jumps around, this time spending relatively little time with the original protagonist, Arlen.  Some might find this egregious but the time spent with the other main characters is very enjoyable.  The addition of new characters breathes fresh life to the story.  Four books and countless pages deep into this story Brett still surprises and delights, still keeps us caring, and still leaves us with great cliffhanger endings.

This series has grown to remind me of the great work of Robert Jordan.  The shifting points of view, the antiheroes, the feminism, the fight for all of mankind -- the Demon Cycle shares much with the Wheel of Time.  With additions as strong as Skull Throne I can only that hope that Brett is equally prolific.

Vision in Silver starts my literary year off right

I was beyond thrilled to receive an advanced review copy of Anne Bishop's Vision in Silver.  Her series The Others stands out as top tier fantasy fiction and this third installment was on my short list of books that I most looked forward to in 2015.

I expected greatness and that is exactly what was delivered.  Bishop demonstrates once again that she is a master of her craft.  Her world and the characters in it feel real.  The things her characters do are believable and the things they say are credible.  The conflicts and growing pains they experience feel genuine.  The suspense she imbues keeps the pages turning and the payouts she delivers are satisfying.  

In this book, as in the previous two, Bishop takes us to some dark places.  What stands out about this installment is the feeling of hope. Not hope for a rosey rainbow perfect world where everyone lives happily ever after but hope that good things can happen for our heroes.

Vision in Silver is suspenseful, dark, sweetly hopeful, poignant and at times laugh out loud funny. This is sure to be one of the best books this year. 

where art meets heart

This was an epic year of reading for me and it ended on a high note.  I had set aside something special that I knew would be wonderful.  To put it in terms Hubby would understand, it was like the last chocolate I had been saving, hidden away, and this December it was finally time to enjoy it. The "it" in this case was Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb.  Technically it's the first book of a new trilogy, but in reality it's the 7th book to follow this set of characters and the 10th book set in this particular fantastical world.  While Fool's Assasin starts a new story these characters are old friends.

[Read no further if you wish to avoid spoilers]

So far our hero has faced war, assassination plots, witches and dragons.  This 7th book finds our hero now facing...the reality of having a special needs child.  Yes, there are still dragons, murders and other intrigue, but the primary drama of the majority of this book is the relationship between our hero and his youngest child, Bee.  Bee, who from the beginning is different. Bee who finds eye contact difficult, who is over-sensitive to stimuli, who develops speech late, who perceives the world around herself in such a different way than other children.  She is not autistic, she is magically extraordinary in a different way, but Hobb makes her as close to a spectrum child as possible.  

I expected an excellent addition to the fantastical story of Fitz and the Fool and I was not disappointed. I did not expect to find an insightful and heart-rending account of both what it is to be the parent of a special needs child and what it is to be that extraordinary child.  Epic fantasy meets autism in a meaningful and thought provoking way. 

This book has earned a very special place in my heart.  That one of my favorite authors took one of my favorite characters and explored what it means to be the parent of a non-typical child and what it's like to be that child -- it is an unexpected gift that I treasure beyond words.  As the parent of a special needs child I feel like she nailed down many different aspects of it.  I simply love this book.

bookahol

My preferred method of reading is from cover to cover with short interruptions for food and water.  I am not a chapter-a-day kind of person.  Or rather, I am not a willing chapter-a-day person.  I have small children and usually, to my immense frustration, that is just how it works out. Having a Kindle has greatly improved the situation - Baby Boy can cuddle on my lap, slowly waking up and I can read.  When he is older Baby Boy will be a huge coffee drinker but in the meantime he likes 10-15 minutes on Mommy's lap while he adjusts to the waking world.  

Baby Boy is almost 3 now (yeah, he really needs a new blog name) and there are no longer numerous stretches of lap time for feeding and he only needs wake-up cuddles twice a day.  Luckily, there is this device called a television and with it I am able to achieve some more satisfying stretches of reading - the entire length of Cars, Toy Story or Lady and the Tramp if I am lucky.  I try to use this magical device sparingly, but every so often a long awaited book is released or received.  Or it is my birthday week.  Or I'm watching the kids by myself while Hubby is on a trip with his best buddies.  Since all 3 of these things happened last week I felt pretty justified in deploying the television and it's soldiers: PBS, NickJr and DisneyJr.

Alas, my birthday week is over.  Hubby is back from his trip.  I have two Ilona Andrews ebooks left unread but if I redeploy the soldiers now I will face a severe case of The Guilt.  So my bender is over and now I need to be a mature adult and put the books down before my family is forced to stage an intervention.  It is back to a half hour a day of much interrupted reading.  I'm a pretty fast reader so that should be at least a few chapters a day.  Self discipline, I hate you.