Pietro’s father loves the mountains as an escape from Milan. So one summer the family rents a little house in the village of Grana in the Dolomites. There his father would go into the mountains like a man on a mission, climbing headlong, racing uphill. Stopping was forbidden, as were complaints about hunger or cold. Yet Pietro longed to climb with him, to win his approval. But it just wasn’t to be. Pietro had altitude sickness. So Pietro became friends with another lonely boy, a local boy, a cowherd. The family returns every year and the boys develop a close friendship, become brothers . As the years pass we get glimpses of the boys growing up, becoming men. Even as their paths diverge, Pietro living all over the world, Bruno staying in the mountains, their friendship remains strong. This is a beautiful book with descriptive, lyrical writing. A simple story, yet moving. It is the winner Italy’s 2017 Strega Prize. I enjoyed it very much.
eGalley review Publication date 3.20.18
From the publisher, “Petty criminal Zara Cole has a painful past that’s made her stronger than most, which is why she chose life in New Detroit instead moving with her family to Mars. In her eyes, living inside a dome isn’t much better than a prison cell.
At one time, when Rain was a little child, she had a home and a mother. Then she and her father lived in a car. Now, they live in a tent in the woods outside of Seattle where they have been for several years. Rain has learned to stay quiet and hidden to not bring attention to herself and the others who live in the woods. One day, the city puts up notices that everyone will be banned from the woods and Rain’s future is more unsettled than ever.
It was lovely to be back in Edinburgh among the folk of Scotland Street, and to catch up on what has been happening. Let’s see . . . Pat is tempted to get involved with Bruce again, Matthew and Elspeth are looking for help with the triplets, Bertie (dear, sweet, Bertie) is coping with life, Domenica and Angus are settling into married life, Big Lou is Big Lou. The big surprise involves Stuart and Irene. I love these people. They cope with the sort of trials we all have. Nothing traumatic happens. I can relax and read, knowing that everything will be all right in the end. It helps to have read the previous books, but one can enjoy the book without the back stories.
From the publisher, “It is Earth year 2223, but the Earth, along with the entire solar system, is gone.
The government assisted-passage scheme designed to meet the needs of Australians for domestic help seemed heaven sent to Lily, an excellent way to leave her past behind. And Lily wasn’t the only one trying to escape the past. Her shipboard friends, Americans Eliza and Max; gentle, sweet Edward; Maria, a troubled Jewish refugee; and loud, boring, fascist, George, also had reasons to run and hide. This is a beautifully written novel. I was totally drawn in from the opening chapter, a scene from the end of the voyage. It is 1939, Sidney, Australia. A striking figure dressed in a fashionable green velvet suit, with a slim skirt, green leather shoes, fir stole, green hat with a veil covering the face, is being led down the gangplank, shackled, escorted by two policemen. And so, we know that a crime will be committed on the voyage. All through the book I was examining the characters, looking for motives, trying to figure it out. The descriptions of life aboard ship, the rooms, food, entertainment, separation of classes, were vivid and were so unlike a modern cruise ship. I was totally drawn into the scene, saw and felt what the characters saw and felt and could not put the book down. I highly recommend this book.
Dr. Margaret Campbell is a total disaster. Sleep deprived after a long flight to Beijing, totally unaware of local customs and courtesy, the welcome banquet did not go well. And things went downhill from there. Margaret, a forensic pathologist, has come to Beijing for a series of lectures at the university, hoping to find distraction from her life in Chicago. Because her expertise is burn victims, she was asked to help with the autopsy of a burned body found in a city park, and then to assist police detective and newly appointed Section Chief, Li Yin, in the investigation. The culture clash between the two is monumental. This is the first book in an early series by Peter May, originally published in 1999, so if you are one of his fans, don’t expect the depth and atmospheric feeling of the Lewis Trilogy. That being said, I enjoyed it and look forward to the next book. It will be interesting to see his writing gradually mature.
December, 1348. John and William are slowly making their way home through a Devon countryside devastated by the black plague. Death is everywhere. The world is dark, bleak, without hope. John and William are infected and are without hope. They will surely die soon and fear they will pay for their sins in the afterlife. But they each hear a voice giving them a strange choice. They can go home and live their last 6 days with loved ones or choose to seek salvation through the centuries, living one day each 99 years. They choose to see the future. This is a rather strange book, with a tiny peek at the changing world every 99 years, seen through the eyes of a bewildered pair. Each day is painted in great detail, noting the changes in clothing, speech, technology, manners. I enjoyed the book, but I’m still trying to decide what to make of it. I suppose it is a morality tale, or maybe not. It surely is a new way to look at history.
From the publisher: Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
From the publisher: In the kingdom of Sempera, time is currency—extracted from blood, bound to iron, and consumed to add time to one’s own lifespan. The rich aristocracy, like the Gerlings, tax the poor to the hilt, extending their own lives by centuries.
From the publisher:
1917 was a pivotal year in the lives of both Lenin and Wilson. These two, so very unlike, shaped the world in which we now live. Wilson’s Pax Americana saw a world living in peace, countries willing to cooperate for the good of all. Lenin saw violent revolution as the way to solve the problems of the people. Both men wanted the rest of the world to see things as they did. Both failed. This was an absorbing account of the final throes of World War I, with some interesting speculation about how things might have been different with just a few little changed outcomes, some “what ifs” to think about. The book reads like a fast paced novel, never dry and dull history. I enjoyed a new look at this war that never really came to an end.
Everyone knows about the early life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. After all, the books she wrote were mostly autobiographical, weren’t they? Well, it seems that they were mostly fiction, polished and edited. Her childhood was darker than portrayed in the books, filled with abject poverty, hunger, cold, one disaster after another. And her early adulthood was not much better.
The world is coming to an end, or maybe not. It is certainly changing. Evolution seems to have reversed itself. Plants and animals seem to be reverting to earlier incarnations, maybe not reverting, maybe going sideways. Who knows? Cedar Hawk Songmaker is an adopted child of Ojibwe parents. When she learns her real name is Mary Potts, and she is not unique, not an Indian princess as she fantasized as a child, she is a bit disappointed. But with the realization that she is pregnant, she decides to visit the Potts, to find out more about them, and to see if there are any genetic problems or talents she should know about. But soon she is struggling to save her baby and herself from an all-seeing government that seeks total control. This is not the usual Louise Erdrich. It is a dystopian novel set in the near future. The book written in first person by Cedar, is a diary to her unborn child. It begins slowly, in a fairly optimistic mood, but gradually becomes dark and disturbing. Soon it was compelling and I couldn’t put it down. I finished it days ago, and it still haunts me.
Oh Boy! I did love this book, in spite of the fact that only one of the stories , The Bird, is new. I just can’t get enough of Jane Yolen. Her stories are unique, from her quirky retelling of children’s stories and myths, to imagining the inner workings of famous people. This collection spans decades, from 1985 to the present. The novella, Lost Girls, a feminists’ Peter Pan, is one of my favorites, as is Sister Emily’s Lightship. But the very best is the final chapter which contains the story notes and poems. If you have never read Jane Yolen, this is a great place to start. And if you have read a great deal of her writing, the story notes and poems will make you happy.
YA Lit Ramblings 
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