WHICH BRINGS ME TO YOU: A NOVEL IN CONFESSIONS -- Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill -- hc
Chapel Hill, NC -- ©2006 -- 300pp
ISBN-13: 978-1-56512-443-1
Autographed by Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott

Meeting at a wedding and nearly completing a sexual encounter in a coat-check room, a man and a woman decide to correspond by mail and confess their loves and sexual past to each other before they make love.

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I'm a tremendous fan of Almond's writing and really looked forward to this new book ... bumping it up my reading list just so I could devour it, but I found it sadly lacking. It is the fault, I believe, of the format of this book.

A series of letters detailing one biased perspective of a lost love and/or sexual encounter, is hard to build excitement and climactic moments.

In the beginning, I felt that it was nothing more than some short stories that were loosely converted for the book, and by the end, I felt that there was nothing new in any of them, and quite frankly, I didn't care if these two people ever got together. (And if you don't care about your "heroes" then what's the point of reading about them?)

This could slip Steve Almond's popularity back a notch a two and he's really going to have to come up with some great short works to over-come this.

Go read My Life in Heavy Metal instead.

MY TEACHER GLOWS IN THE DARK -- Bruce Coville

A Minstrel Book -- tpb
New York -- ©1991 -- 137pp
ISBN: 0-671-72709-5
illustrated by John Pierard

After discovering that his teacher is an alien, a young boy begs to be taken aboard an intergalactic space ship, where he becomes Earth's last chance at survival.

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Although I really like Bruce Coville books, I had put off reading this because I thought, from the title, that it was going to be one of his silly books. Instead, it was some pretty serious, youthful, sci-fi, and I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting. The book actually deals with a young boy's perceptions of loneliness, friendship, and girls all within the environment of space, aliens, and the end of the world.

I'm sorry, now, that I didn't read the other two books in the series first.

Recommended.

THE CEMENT GARDEN -- Ian McEwan

Anchor Books -- tpb
New York -- ©1978 -- 153pp
ISBN: 0-679-75018-5

First their father died, and then their mother passes away in the bedroom, and four children are suddenly free of all restraints and free to explore life as only orphans alone can.

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I feel so unclean.

The writing is so strong in this short novel that I felt as though I could smell the filth of the characters and their house.

I was caught up in the story, even though I didn't really want to visit this place. I would read, hoping for the best, but not expecting it.

Strong writing, but a story that made my flesh crawl in all the worst ways (not horror, but revulsion). I'd certainly like to read some other works by McEwan.

EAST, WEST -- Salman Rushdie

Vintage International -- tpb
New York -- 1994 -- 211pp
ISBN: 0-679-43965-x

A collection of short stories.

East
"Good Advice is Rarer Than Rubies"
"The Free Radio"
"The Prophet's Hair"

West
"Yorick"
"At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers"
"Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship (Santa Fe, AD 1492)"

East, West
"The Harmony of the Spheres"
"Chekov and Zulu"
"The Courter"

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This is my first crack at reading Salman Rushdie and I am left feeling somewhat ambivilent. There was nothing wrong with any of these stories. In fact, as I look a the titles I can recall each of the stories rather clearly, but not one of them touched me. I never connected with any of the characters. I couldn't relate; I never felt drawn in to the stories -- even "Chekov and Zulu" which is Star Trek themed!

The closest I came to 'enjoying' a story was "The Prophet's Hair" in which I could understand the father's panic at not wanting to own, but not wanting to give back, a religious relic. The response of his children seemed extreme and removed me from the story.

Not a great collection, but I am willing to give Rushdie another try. Any recommendations, anyone?

THE ICE SOLDIER -- Paul Watkins

Henry Holt and Company -- hc
New York -- ©2006 -- 341pp
ISBN-10: 0-8050-7867-3

After a tragic experience in World War II, a mountain climber has settled in to his life in academia until another tragic event forces him and a close friend in to making a treacherous climb.

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I think that Paul Watkins is one of the finest writers of today. His writing brings to mind the style of Hemingway, and his characters have the same kind of inner machismo, though without boasting of it.

It is very easy to get caught up in the prose and the characters that Watkins brings to life, but this book leaves something to be desired with its plot. While I fully understood the main character's lonesomeness and even later understood why, I never believed his desire for a certain young lady was anything but a mere physical attraction that would (or even should) develop into something more.

Too, one of the main protagonists was well set up as being the object of conflict, but we never see him again in the last 140 pages of the book. There, the conflict is the final climb and the mountain itself. In this sense, the book is as uneven as the terrain on which "Auntie" and Stanley make their journey

Still, I would much rather read a book by Paul Watkins that is lacking in some story, than most books by other authors.

An author worth reading, but not necessarily this particuar book until you've read a few of his others.

MOONGOBBLE AND ME #3: THE EVIL ELVES -- Bruce Coville

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers -- hc
New York -- ©2004 -- 71pp
ISBN: 0-689-85756-x
Illustrated by Katherine Coville

With the help of his friends Edward, Urk, Fireball, the Rusty Knight, and Arfur, Moongobble the Magician must complete his Third Might Task ... retrieve the Queen's Belly button.

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As always, Bruce Coville writes an entertaining yarn for young readers. My 9 year old son loved the series as much as I did.

Highly recommended.

THE TURQUOISE RING -- Grace Tiffany

Berkley Books -- hc
New York -- ©2005 -- 358pp
ISBN: 0-425-20248-8

In 1568, twenty-one-year-old Shiloh ben Gozán flees the Spanish Inquisition to live openly as a Jew in Venice. He brings with him a baby daughter and an oddly made turquoise ring, given to him by a woman he cannot forget. The ring also becomes entangled in the fortunes of five women: Leah, Shiloh's first love; Jessica, his rebellious daughter; Nerissa, a maidservant; Portia, an outrageously rich and alarmingly intelligent heiress; and lastly Xanthe, a Spanish refugee who alone can unlock the secret of his past.

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This book did not quite reach to me, as I had hoped it would. The book is supposedly "about" Shiloh (aka Shylock) and a specific ring, but as it's told through the story of five women, the focus is muddy. Two of the women's stories' are intriguing, one is incredibly dull, and the others rather bland.

They read more like romance novels rather than passionate drama as one might expect from a tale told of Shakespeare (with the one exception).

Sadly, not recommended.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL -- Arthur Tofte

Scholastic Book Services -- pb
New York -- ©1976(by Roger Elwood) -- 156pp
includes photos from the film
"A full-length version of the short story upon which the world-famous film was based."

An alien and his robot land on earth to deliver a message or warning and advice.

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And so, this is not the original story, nor is it a novelization of the film, but something in between.

It is strange, is what it is.

It bears almost no resemblance to the film (though I can see where, if this were a short story, one might get the idea for the film) and so it seems like lying to have it bear the same title and include photos from the picture.

What it makes me think of the most, is someone (Elwood?) capitalizing on the renewed (in the mid-1970's) interest in the film.

Don't bother searching out this hackneyed tripe.