Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

In Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell discusses Hawaiian and American history, with an emphasis on the New England missionaries who went to Hawaii to convert the natives in the early 1800s. They were some of the most influential “unfamiliar fishes” referred to by minister, educator, and historian David Malo: “If a big wave comes in, large and unfamiliar fishes will come from the dark ocean, and when they see the small fishes of the shallows they will eat them up.  The white man’s ships have arrived with clever men from the big countries.  They know our people are few in number and our country is small, they will devour us.”

This is not a traditional history book. Vowell mingles information about her research, notes on outings with her family, commentary on the food she is eating etc. while laying out Hawaiian history. Some readers will not like her snarky tone, but I found the book extremely funny and educational. For example, she writes, “all missions are inherently patronizing to the host culture. That’s what a mission is – a bunch of strangers showing up somewhere uninvited to inform the locals they are wrong.” I agree with this completely; others may find it misguided or offensive.

Like the histories of all native peoples, it’s a sad book. I’ve been to Hawaii twice and it is a beautiful place, weirdly Americanized yet not at all “North American” way out there in the middle of the Pacific. Although the book cannot be described as unbiased, it is balanced; the author does not paint the Hawaiians as blameless in the Americanization of their islands and culture.

It is clear that Vowell did an immense amount of research while writing Unfamiliar Fishes. It introduced me to a lot of new information and I’m glad I read it. Two of the library's book clubs had lively discussions about it.

A Woman of Consequence by Anna Dean

I greatly enjoy Anna Dean’s Dido Kent series of mysteries. Set in England during the same time period as Jane Austen’s works, they feature Dido Kent, a single woman in her thirties who has a talent for solving mysteries. Considered a spinster at her “advanced” age, Dido nonetheless has a widowed admirer who does not quite know what to make of Dido’s intelligence and unusual spirit.

A Woman of Consequence dragged a bit in the middle compared to the first two books in the series, but the author is a good writer and it didn't take me long to get through the slow part. I very much like Miss Kent and look forward to developments in her romance with Mr. Lomax. If you are a fan of Jane Austen or gentle historical mysteries, this series is definitely worth a look. The first book in the series is Bellfield Hall, which the library owns in both regular and large print.

The Ruins of Lace by Iris Anthony

Lace can be a thing of beauty, threads intertwined in intricate and often delicate patterns. Yet the history of lace has an ironic dark side, no less intricate, but tainted with corruption, smuggling and the harsh labor conditions of those who made it. Ruins of Lace takes place during the reign of Louis XIII of France in the 1630s. Lace was outlawed by the king and smuggling of it, across the border from Flanders, became a dangerous, lucrative business. Anthony weaves information regarding the making of lace and its illicit path to France with the interwoven lives of her characters. Each chapter is told from the viewpoint of the character. The characters even include a dog which was one of thousands used to smuggle lace. The chapters narrated by a hapless border guard are engaging and wryly told. There are characters with whom one feels compassion and others who create disgust. In the end, one realizes that while the non-living thing, lace, is considered to be of great worth, each of the people, living beings, is struggling to find his or her worth, in their own eyes and in the eyes of others. Each has a past, sometimes interconnected, that influences their present stories. While the book comes to an exciting conclusion, the reader is left with a little uncertainty. Perhaps the author is leaving her options open for a sequel. All in all, it was a light, entertaining book that also educates the reader about lace and its dual nature.

Dark Companion by Marta Acosta

Submitted by Sharon, teen reviewer:

After coming to Birch Grove Academy from Helmsdale, Jane thinks she might actually be in less danger.  Everyone there compares her to the scholarship student before her, who mysteriously left to live with an unknown uncle.  With the help of Lucian and Jack Radcliffe, Jane discovers a more tragic and scarier truth than she ever thought she would.  Dark Companion was well plotted and the turns were so well planned, I thought.  Marta Acosta did a really, really good job, in my opinion.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

         Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is a book separated into three parts. Each part slowly reveals more details about a domestic crime that leaves a small town caught in the middle of a high profile case revolving around the disappearance of a woman, Amy Elliott, who may or may not have been murdered by her down on his luck husband, Nick Dunne. The book centers around the married couple who have been suffering problems ever since they both lost their jobs as writers, and left the bustling city of New York to move back to Missouri in order for Nick to be closer to his parents, who are both suffering from various illnesses.

            The first part of the story places the readers inside the unreliable mind of Nick who admits he has lied to the police numerous times since the start of the investigation began on his missing wife, and is clearly hiding something, and also allows readers glimpses inside of his wife’s diary, further solidifying that Nick is not the person he says he is. He comes off as a sleaze, but is he rotten enough to kill his wife? As the book continues on it answers some of these questions while raising others, and eventually reveals details that Amy was not the saint she was shown to be either. Was Amy murdered, and if she was did Nick do it? If she was murdered, did she deserve to be?

            This book is centered on characters and settings that reflect an era of job loss and home foreclosures. Gloria Flynn channels the suffering that many home owners have felt in recent years due to a changing economy and raises questions that have to do with the American society as a whole, as well as individuals within this society. Each of the characters in this book have their flaws, and most of them are very unlikeable as a whole, but Flynn has a way of getting the reader to sympathize and root for characters that were not likeable in the least. Nick comes off as arrogant and guilty, but by the second part of the book she has managed to create a situation where Nick is not redeemed, but he may seem to be the lesser of two evils. She makes the reader think, and she brings up interesting perspectives about the institution of marriage, the economy, and even if there is such a thing as true love. The plot draws the reader in, but the novel is not all cheese, and brings up topics that can be digested long after the twists and turns are revealed.           

            Gone Girl starts off seeming like a run of the mill crime novel, but evolves into a race against the clock plot that leaves the reader turning the page constantly to find out what will happen next. The book channels Stephen King at points, perhaps because it is a book about writers, and also brings to mind suspense novels from the author Dennis LeHane. It can be frustrating at times because of how unlikeable most of the characters are, but Flynn still manages to make the characters relatable so that the reader identifies somewhat with them. I give this book four out of five nails in the coffin!

        Here is an excerpt from the beginning of the book if you want to see if it grabs your interest: http://www.npr.org/2012/05/14/152289627/exclusive-first-read-gone-girl-by-gillian-flynn

             

             

The Red Chamber by Pauline A. Chen

An epic novel set in eighteenth-century Beijing, this book deals with the lives of three women and describes in detail what life was like for them. At first I was intimated by the names I couldn't pronounce, but that ceased to be an issue as I read further. The author does a splendid job of describing the customs of that time, and I learned a lot about the Chinese culture. I was amazed by the family traditions and this has encouraged me to learn more about this facinating people. We are first introduced to a young woman who lives a simple life in the provinces and has travelled to the big city to meet her relatives, who are very wealthy. This is where we meet the entire family, and the author spends the right amount of time developing each character. It is an interesting study of family dynamics, so when things take a turn for the worse, we get to really see what these characters are like. If you have ever wanted to learn more about eighteenth-century Beijing in a fine storytelling format, this would be a great book for you!

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks

Budo, the main character of Matthew Dicks' third novel, isn't real.  He is an imaginary friend, conjured up in the mind of eight-year-old Max Delaney.  Max is on the autism spectrum (presumably with a form of Asperger's Syndrome, although I'm not sure the book ever formally gives a diagnosis), and as such has some difficulty connecting with his peers and navigating changes in routines.  Budo provides Max with companionship and support through these challenges. And when a staff member at Max's school goes unhinged and abducts Max off of school grounds, Budo has to go above and beyond to try to save his friend.

Overall, I didn't love this book.  The human characters seemed one-dimensional and formulaic, and the central kidnapping plot felt so far-fetched that I had a hard time getting upset by it.  I did, however, enjoy the kind of parallel universe Dicks creates for Budo and the other imaginary friends. It's a clever concept, this idea that there are tons of imaginary beings coexisting with humans, all of which are limited only by the imagination of the kids who create them for friendship.  Some are imagined to look like fully-formed humans, some are odd human-animal hybrids, and one is even a spoon with eyes.

If you enjoyed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, you'll likely enjoy this one.  Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend comes out August 21st.