SERENITY: THOSE LEFT BEHIND -- Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews

Graphic Novel
Dark Horse Books -- tpb
Milwaukie, OR -- ©2006 -- 104pp
ISBN: 1-59307-449-2
art: Will Conrad
colors: Laura Martin
letters: Michael Heisler
front cover art: Adam Hughes

The ragtag crew of Serenity take on a scavenger mission with the hopes of earning enough dough to disappear for a while. Only too late do they realize the whole gig is orchestrated by an old enemy eager remake their acquaintance with the help of some covert-operatives known only as the Blue Gloves.

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Having greatly enjoyed the short-lived television series, and having somewhat enjoyed the movie, I was looking forward to another adventure of the Serenity crew, particularly since it was written by the creator and series author, Joss Whedon. Unfortunately, the story is stale and not at all rivetting.

The art is decent, but I was sure expecting much more story and/or character development.

JOHN DILLINGER SLEPT HERE -- Paul Maccabee

Minnesota Historical Society Press -- tpb
St. Paul -- ©1995 -- 362pp
ISBN: 0-87351-316-9

This book is based on more than 100,000 pages of FBI files and wiretaps, prison and police records, and mob confessions. Interviews with 250 crime victims, policemen, gun molls, and family members of criminals bring these public enemies to life. Crime historian Paul Maccabee takes you inside the bank robberies, gangland assassinations, and police intrigue of St. Paul's 1920s and 1930s gangster era. You'll also find Crooks' Tour maps and more than 130 rare FBI, police, and family photographs.

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Loaned to me by my uncle, this is not the kind of book that I would ordinarily pick up to read on my own. However, I did find it rather interesting to learn that the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul were havens for some of the most notorious underworld figures in history.

I felt that the book was trying hard to find a new angle on reoprting of Minnesota's ganster past, but because of that, it lacked a cohesion that might have kept my interest a little better. Just as I was finding a narrative interesting, it seemed to zoom to the end and then on to another criminal. The "selling point" to the book is the listing of the addresses where certain crimes occurred with the intent that those interested would walk/drive around the Twin Cities to see these locations.

Interesting, but not engaging.

THE SCARECROW AND HIS SERVANT -- Philip Pullman

Alfred A. Knopf -- hc
New York -- ©2004 -- 229pp
ISBN: 0-375-81531-7
illustrated by Peter Bailey
jacket illustration by Kevin Hawkes

After being struck by lightning, a scarecrow, with a turnip for a head, comes alive and proceeds on many fabulous adventures, with an orphaned boy, Jack, as his servant.

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This really is a wonderful fairy tale. It has all the good qualities of a classic fairy tale -- imaginative, journeys, adventures, colorful characters, and bad-guys who are obviously bad.

The young boy, Jack, has sense enough to know that everything is quite odd -- what with his master being a turnip-headed scarecrow -- but has the youthful imagination to go along with it.

If there is a down-side to this book, it's that it did get to be a little long. Perhaps one too many adventures for the scarecrow. Did he really need to become a Captain in an army? Did it serve any purpose to the rest of the story, or was it just a further adventure. If anything, I thought the army portion of the story was the least effective, particularly when both the scarecrow and the boy had had negative experiences with soldiers earlier in the book.

Still, not many authors are writing wonderful tales of this sort, and it definitely adds to my respect for Pullman, the author.

A fun romp, worth the read.

THE HISTORIAN -- Elizabeth Kostova

Little, Brown and Company -- ©2005 -- hc
New York -- 642pp
ISBN: 0-316-01177-0
Signed by Elizabeth Kostova

A long history, using academic historians as the principle protagonists, in search of Vlad Dracula and his actual burial place.

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The book could have used some trimming or serious editing!

I was engaged with the story in the beginning, and I was caught up again as I approached the last 100+ pages, but the 300+ pages in the middle became a morass of verbiage which did little to nothing to advance the plot, nor did it set mood or location.

Something I've seen only one other reviewer mention is the confusion over who is narrating any particular chapter. Imagine my surprise after a hundred pages, thinking my narrator was a woman (and I'm sure it was when I started), and to suddenly have someone refer to the narrator as "Paul."

I've long enjoyed the Dracula mythology and looked forward to this book. I struggled to stay interested in it, and I'm not sure that my valiance paid off in the end.

This is one book that may actually be served well to have a Reader's Digest Condensed Version.

COLD COMFORT: LIFE AT THE TOP OF THE MAP -- Barton Sutter

University of Minnesota Press -- ©1998 -- hc
Minneapolis, MN -- 210pp
ISBN: 0-8166-3259-6
Signed by Barton Sutter

A collection of essays.

Homing: An Introduction
"Dull and Out of It"
" 'A Citty upon a Hill' "
"The Bridge"
"God"
"Park Point"
"Sister City"
"April Fools"
"Tisher Creek"
"Ghost of a Good Bad Man"
"Barber Poles"
"Existentil Basebal"
"Hawk Ridge"
"The Cider Man"
"The Season of Death"
"Disorganizzed Hockey"
"The History of Snow"
"Hibernation"
"Jangle Bells"
"A Christmas Card"
"Afterthoughts on Christmas Trees"
"Finlandia at Fourteen Below"
"Cross-Country"
"The Overcoat"
"Map Fishing"
"God's Own Ice Rink"
"Boundary Waters Canoe Park"
"Dream Canoe"
"The Next Best Thing to Nobody"
"Falcon, Eagle, Snake"
"The Shrink-Wrapped Campfire"
"Dieback"
"Family Car Camping"
"The Duluth behind Duluth"
"Emil's Place"
"Blueberry Country"
"Eating the Landscape"
"I Am Not a Duck Hunter"
"Lake Addiction"
"Epilogue: The Backroad to Ely"

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This was a quick read, but I enjoyed most of it. I'm not sure how much it would appeal to those who aren't already familiar with Northern Minnesota, but Sutter captures the feel of the community quite well.

I would agree with the reviewers on the dust jacket who say that his attempt at being curmudgeonly doesn't seem totally accurate, but he is forgiven for this with his reflections on nature, the seasons, and the people who endure both.

Sutter will never reach the popularity of Sigurd Olson, but his book is worthy of sitting on the shelves of all those who enjoy nature writing, essays, or books about Minnesota.

REFUGEES FROM AN IMAGINARY COUNTRY -- Darrell Schweitzer

W. Paul Ganley, Publisher/Owslwick Press -- hc
Buffalo, NY/King of Prussia, PA -- ©1999 -- 232pp
ISBN: 0-932445-64-0
Illustrated by Stephen E. Fabian
Bookplate signed by Darrell Schweitzer and Stephen E. Fabian
Dust Jacket illo: Stephen E. Fabian

A collection of Darrell Schweitzer's short stories.

"Savages"
"On the Last Night of the Festival of the Dead"
"The Outside Man"
"Minotauress"
"Malevendra's Pool"
"Angry Man"
"The Sorcerer Evoragdou"
"The Strange Rider from the Far, Dark Land"
"The Mysteries of the Faceless King"
"Runaway"
"The Knight of the Pale Countenance"
"One of the Secret Masters"
"Climbing"
"The Death of Falstaff"
"King Yvorian's Wager"
"Going to the Mountain"
"The Last Dangerous Lunacy"
"Last Things"
"Refugees from an Imaginary Country"

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This is where Darrell Schweitzer shines -- the short story. The novels that I've read and reported on in this blog did not hold my interest, but these short stories were completely engrossing, and reminded me why I enjoy the genre.

I don't think it would come as a surprise to anyone to report that Schweitzer writes more for tone, or feeling, than he does for character or plot, but he does it well enough that you can forgive him for it. So many of these stories were memorable, even if the endings were anticipated. "Minotauress," "The Sorcerer Evoragdou," "The Mysteries of the Faceless King," "The Knight of the Pale Countenance," "The Death of Falstaff," "Refugees ..." all have stuck with me, and I recall them fondly, even if , in some cases, I knew exactly how it was going to end. (And some ended in surprising ways.)

I had some mixed feelings, going in to this collection, having read the two novels not so long ago, but this was a welcome return to the "weird" genre, and reminds me why I recalled Schweitzer's name as fondly as I did.

Recommended for anyone looking to read something that was representative of magazines such as Weird Tales.

THOR'S WEDDING DAY -- Bruce Coville

full title:
Thor's Wedding Day: by Thialfi, the Goat Boy, as told to and translated by Bruce Coville
Harcourt, Inc -- hc
Orlando, FL -- ©2005 -- 137pp
ISBN-10: 0-15-201455-1
Illustrations by Matthew Cogswell

Thor's magical hammer, Mjolnir, has been stolen by the giants of Jotunheim, and Thor, his brother Loki, and Thialfi (the human) must use trickery to get it back.

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Bruce Coville is an incredibly talented writer, and one of my favorite authors. He writes for kids, which is good for kids, but not so great for adults who are missing out on his works.

This book can easily be read in an afternoon, but that doesn't mean it isn't good -- just brief. Because of it's shorter nature, there are some questions I have -- mainly, what was Loki's purpose in the story. He is set up as being quite the trickster, we are set to wondering why he insists on attending Thor on his journey, we learn that the dwarfs who actually stole the hammer have a grudge against Loki ... and that's the end of it. Ir definitely had the feel as if something more important was intended to happen, but never did.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this read. Perhaps it's just "kismet" that I happen to be reading other Scandinavian tales (Saga of the Volsung) at this time as well, but the setting, characters, and mood sit very well with me.

A highly recommended read.

NOISY OUTLAWS, UNFRIENDLY BLOBS, AND ... -- Ted Thompson, ed

full title:
NOISY OUTLAWS, UNFRIENDLY BLOBS, AND SOME OTHER THINGS THAT AREN"T AS SCARY, MAYBE, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT LOST LANDS, STRAY CELLPHONES, CREATURES FROM THE SKY, PARENTS WHO DISAPPEAR IN PERU, A MAN NAMED LARS FARF, AND ONE OTHER STORY WE COULDN'T QUITE FINISH, SO MAYBE YOU COULD HELP US OUT
edited by Ted Thompson, with Eli Horowitz
McSweeney's Books -- hc
San Francisco -- ©2005 -- 207pp
ISBN: 1-932416-35-8

An odd collection of stories, maybe aimed at younger readers, and then again, maybe not.

Introduction -- Lemony Snicket
-- Illustrated by Brett Helquist
"Small Country" -- Nick Hornby
-- Illustrated by David Heatley
"Lars Farf, Excessively Fearful Father and Husband" -- George Saunders
-- Illustrated by Juliette Borda
"Monster" -- Kelly Link
-- Illustrated by Shelley Dick
"The Contest at Cowlick" -- Richard Kennedy
-- Illustrated by Jan Van Der Veken
"Each Sold Separately" -- Jon Scieszka
-- Illustrated by Lane Smith
"Seymour's Last Wish" -- Sam Swope
-- Illustrated by Heinrich Drescher
"Grimble" -- Clement Freud
-- Illustrated by Marcel Dzama
"Spoony-E & Spandy-3 vs. The Purple Hordes" -- James Kochalka
"Sunbird" -- Neil Gaiman
-- Illustrated by Peter de Seve
"The ACES Phone" -- Jeanne DuPrau
-- Illustrated by Rachell Sumpter
"The Sixth Borough" -- Jonathan Safran Foer
-- Illustrated by Barry Blitt
Crossword Puzzle -- David Levinson Wilk
dust jacket story starter -- Lemony Snicket

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This is how a book should be put together! The actual, physical property of this book is beautiful. The binding is strong and firmer than most hardcovers. The cover (not the dust jacket) itself is an illustrated work. Lavishly illustrated in full color! All books should aspire to this kind of quality.

The stories themselves are rather uneven. As one might suspect, the stories by Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman are among the best, but the others vary in quality. "Spoony-E & Spandy-3..." is a cartoon/comic which is so strange that I get the feeling that I'm not part of the inside joke. The Scieszka "story" feels as though it was a little something he had hanging around that he couldn't sell anywhere else.

"The ACES Phone" was quite interesting and unlike anything I'd ever read, and "Grimble" was interesting as well.

I'd like to support McSweeney's Books based solely on the physical properties of this book, but it wouldn't hurt if the inside contents were a tad more consistent.

ARTHUR & GEORGE -- Julian Barnes

Alfred A. Knopf -- hc
New York -- ©2005 -- 388pp
ISBN: 0-307-26310-x

Arthur Conan Doyle puts his Sherlock Holmes hat on, and works to overturn a miscarriage of justice against barrister, George Edalji.

This book was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize (which was won by John Banville's The Sea). It is, in my opinion, a much better and more readable book than Banville's winner.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, always anxious about what was going to happen next. I often thought that it read like a Sherlock Holmes story, with more information provided.

I will grumble a bit over the ending (**WARNING** Possible Spoiler Alert In This Paragraph!!), which concluded the story -- sort of -- with an almost notation, rather than a revelation. And even at that, we have no knowledge of the culprit.

Still, this is most definitely a recommended book.

THE EVIL B.B. CHOW AND OTHER STORIES -- Steve Almond

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill -- hc
Chapel Hill, NC -- ©2005 -- 233pp
ISBN-10: 1-56512-422-7

A collection of short stories.

"The Evil B.B. Chow"
"The Soul Molecule"
"Appropriate Sex"
"I Am As I Am"
"A Happy Dream"
"Lincoln, Arisen"
"The Idea Of Michael Jackson's Dick"
"The Problem Of Human Consumption"
"Wired For Life"
"Summer, As In Love"
"Larsen's Novel"
"Skull"

Ah...another Steve Almond collection.

I really do enjoy this man's writing, though I don't think this collection was a strong as his earlier, My Life In Heavy Metal, collection. Still, it was nice to read some short stories that were intelligently written, and not ponderous.

It's hard to pick a favorite, though the title story is quite good. "Summer, As In Love" was good, but I wanted more resolution.

"Lincoln, Arisen," did not work for me. Frankly, I didn't understand what Almond was going for here.

I will continue to look for new works by Mr. Steve Almond.

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: 1599 -- James Shapiro

Harper Collins -- hc
New York -- ©2005 -- 394pp
ISBN-10: 0-06-008873-7

In 1599, William Shakespeare wrote four of his most popular and best-received plays: Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and Hamlet. This book examines the society and events of the time which most certainly influenced the master playwright.

This is an absolutely fascinating read! It is NOT a biography of Shakespeare -- those are abundant, despite the meager information available about the man -- but rather a study of the significant events which most certainly influenced the writer.

While some of the information grew a little tedious for me (specifically the long chapter on Essex's battle with Tyrone of Ireland), I found much of the examination quite remarkable.

Most certainly I learned some things about Shakespeare and about his writing. I learned about why some things might have been much more interesting or humorous to the play-goer of 1599 but is lost on today's audiences.

Not exactly a "light" read, but not a work targeted solely to scholars, either.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone interested in history, theatre, and/or Shakespeare.

THE ULTIMATE X-MEN VOLUME 11: THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME -- Brian K. Vaughn

Graphic Novel
Pencils: Stuart Immonen Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger
Marvel Comics -- tpb
New York -- ©2005
ISBN: 0-7851-1659-1

On a privately owned island, a reality television show is being filmed in which mutants are hunted and killed.

Although it's been awhile since I've visited the world of mutants and X-Men, and there are a few new characters gracing the pages of this book, I really enjoyed this story. There are definitely some interesting relationships going on among the X-Men, and not just personal. This definitely made me want to read a little more (although the price on a graphic novel just seems outrageous to me [yes, I know that it's probably cheaper than the price of the individual comics, but then those seem even more outrageous]).

I really appreciated the story-line, which was NOT a "bigger, badder, more powerful than anything we've seen before"-foe kind of story, but story of ethics, justice, and international cooperation, mixed in with superheroes. Very cool.

The art was good, and had me wrapped up in the story.

A recommended graphic novel.

THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2004 -- Lorrie Moore, editor

Houghton Mifflin Company -- tpb
Boston -- ©2004 -- 462pp
ISBN: 0-618-19735-4
Series Editor: Katrina Kenison

A collection of short stories.

Foreward
Introduction -- Lorrie Moore
"What you Pawn I Will Redeem" -- Sherman Alexie
"Tooth and Claw" -- T. Coraghessan Boyle
"Written in Stone" -- Catherine Brady
"Accomplice" -- Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum
"Screenwriter" -- Charles D'Ambrosio
"Breasts" -- Stuart Dybek
"Some Other, Better Otto" -- Deborah Eisenberg
"Grace" -- Paula Fox
"The Tutor" -- Nell Freudenberger
"A Rich Man" -- Edward P. Jones
"Limestone Diner" -- Trudy Lewis
"Intervention" -- Jill McCorkle
"Gallatin Canyon" -- Thomas McGuane
"Runaway" -- Alice Munro
"All Saints Day" -- Angela Pneuman
"What Kind of Furniture Would Jesus Pick?" -- Annie Proulx
"Docent" -- R.T. Smith
"The Walk With Elizanne" -- John Updike
"Mirror Studies" -- Mary Yukari Waters
"What We Cannot Speak About We Must Pass Over in Silence" -- John Edgar Wideman
Contributor's Notes
100 Other Distinguished Stories of 2003
Editorial Addresses of American and Canadian Magazines Publishing Short Stories

I enjoyed this collection moreso than the collection of essays of the same year. Some of these stories I even enjoyed quite a bit. However, even in this, none of the stories sits with me as I reflect back a month or more to when I read them. Once or twice I tried to take note of the author's name because I liked a piece, but I haven't yet found myself interested enough to seek out new works by any of these writers.

In one or two cases, I found the works to be rather pretentious -- writing more to a style for the age, rather than crafting an interesting story.

This was a good book to have on hand for the occassion when I was looking for a short work that I could read in one sitting, but not one that I will refer to time and again.

My local library will enjoy the donation.

THE COLONEL'S PHOTOGRAPH -- Eugene Ionesco

Grove Press -- hc
New York -- ©1967 -- 177pp
Library of Congress catalog number: 67-20347
originally published in France as La Photo du Colonel
translated by Jean Stewart (except "Stoller in the Air," translated by John Russell)

A collection of short stories by absurdist playwright, Ionesco.

"Oriflamme"
"The Colonel's Photograph"
"The Stroller in the Air"
"A Victim of Duty"
"Rhinoceros"
"The Slough"
"Spring 1939"

It was very interesting to read these stories, most of which are also plays by the author. It is not clear if the stories were written before the plays or afterwards, but according to the inside flap of the dust cover, Ionesco prefers writing fiction to drama. There is certainly a sense of wonder, in his characters, over the events that happen in these absurdist pieces, and the playfulness, particularly in "Stoller" comes through nicely. A work such as "Oriflamme" or "Rhinoceros" might work better on stage because of the shock value of actually seeing a growing corpse or people turning in to rhinoceroses.

"Spring 1939" was interesting. I'm not sure if it's actual fragments of a journal or a story to come off that way. It grew a little tedious, which makes me think it's truly a journal.

For me this was a real pleasure. There isn't much Ionesco that I haven't already read (in English), so to find something like this, which is new to me is an absolute prize.

I can't imagine too many people liking this as I did, so it doesn't get recommended, but it does get "thumbs up."

HIGH COUNTRY -- Nevada Barr

Recorded Books -- CD
unabridged -- 2004 -- 8 CDs
ISBN: 1402573669

National Park Ranger Anna Pigeon goes undercover as a waitress to try and learn the reasons behind the disappearance of four young people from Yosemite National Park.

I've said it before, and I'll repeat it here, I'm generally not a fan of the mystery fiction genre. I've read a few of the Nevada Barr/Anna Pigeon mysteries simply because I am a fan of our National Parks, and I liked the idea of using the Parks for literary series'. The fact that Nevada Barr is also a true National Park Ranger has made it more interesting.

I am also not in the habit of listening to a book rather than reading one, but because I knew I was going to be driving a good distance several days in a row, I quickly rushed to my library to look for a book on CD that I thought I might enjoy.

This has been my least favorite of the books I have "read" by Barr. I immediately sensed the "red herrings" and was sure I knew who was behind the trouble (I was right). The fact that drugs played a key role in the plot was a real disappointment. Didn't drugs figure in to another of her books? I believe so.

I guess, all in all, it really just seemed too easy. I didn't have to work much as a reader, and I didn't feel she had to work too hard as a writer -- stock characters and plot, and a wonderful setting that never really figured in to the story.

Not recommended.