Ponder: Smoke & Bone, Blood & Starlight

Daughter of Smoke & Bone ©2011 by Laini Taylor is the first book in a trilogy whose demographic audience is young adults. It is a fantasy novel packed full with visually imaginative creatures: angels, seraphs, chimaera (so-called "monsters" spliced together with human forms), and oh yes, humans. 

Karou is a teenage girl, ostensibly an art student in Prague. Her sketch book is filled with images of hybrid creatures. She is best friends with fellow art student, Zuzana and they share typical teenage angst over boys and similar adolescent topics. Karou has azure blue hair and does not know what type of creature she is truly is or from whence she came. She has been raised by four chimaera and lives with them. She is sent on errands by Brimstone, the head creature, to fetch teeth, traveling through magical portals to other worlds or to far reaches of the earth. Why does she fetch teeth? Why does Brimstone string them? To answer these questions would be a spoiler.

Karou falls in love with an angel Akiva. Inter-creature relations are considered taboo by many. To enjoy this book, the reader must truly suspend disbelief and enjoy the fantastical ride. It is the unknown that keeps arousing the readers' curiosity and drawing them page by page through the book.

The final words in Daughter of Smoke & Bone are,

"That the name Brimstone had given her was more than a whim. That this was not the end. ... to be continued"

"Days of Blood & Starlight ©2012 by Laini Taylor is the second book in the trilogy. Karou now knows who and what she is and from whence she came. She meets another of her own kind. Akiva the angel has a half-brother Hazael and a half-sister Liraz. The relationships grow and morph. It is these interactions that keep drawing me on into the book. The extent and number of battle stories and can be gruesome. I would not want to watch the depiction of these scenes in a movie but reading them is fine for me. The allegiances and betrayals are hard to track, but are engaging none the less.

In some ways the unveiling of the action in this book reminds me of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, those books which are battle packed. The creatures rival the bar scene in the Star Wars IV: A New Hope

The final words in Days of Blood & Starlight are,

"Tonight, they let themselves look at each other, for just a little while.
... to be continued"

Aargh!!! I need to forge ahead and finish the series even though each book is over an inch thick and 400 to 500 pages each.

I am on the waitlist at the library for the third book but I was concerned that I might forget the characters and the plot in the three weeks or so before it would be available to me. I ordered the cheapest, used version of the third book I could get from Amazon, and should have it in a few days. I will write another post on Dreams of Gods and Monsters ©2014 after I have read it.

I give the Daughter of Smoke & Bone and Days of Blood & Starlight four stars each. I got next to nothing done in the three days total it took me to read them. I could not put either one down.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

The Song of the Nightingale

On Sunday, May 14th, Frank and I went with Alex to see "a musical fairy tale" at the Firehouse Arts Center in the neighboring town of Pleasanton. I had never heard of the musical, so I was curious to learn about it and was pleased to see a description in the program.

Internet searches about the musical gave little information other that The Song of the Nightingale has had limited  performances in China and in California. The relatively small cast comprises exclusively of Asian American actors. Per https://www.minkahng.com/nightingale

PRODUCTION HISTORY

• Apr-May 2023: Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre, Firehouse Arts Center, Pleasanton, CA

• May 2021: Beijing City International School, Beijing, China

• Sep-Oct 2017: Town Hall Theatre, Lafayette, CA

• Oct-Nov 2013, World Premiere: Altarena Playhouse, Alameda, CA

LICENSING INFORMATION
The Song of the Nightingale is available for licensing!

Cast: 13+ Asian American Actors (2 Female Leads, 1 Female Dance Lead, 3 Male Leads, 1 Child, Ensemble w/ featured roles)
Music: 3-piece score (Piano, Flute/Clarinet, Percussion)
Duration: 2 hr 15 (including 15-minute intermission)

The dancing was awesome, the characters were quite engaging, the plot was simple enough to follow. Although the song lyrics were not always crisp enough to be understood entirely, the gist of the story was clear. The punchline of the interspersed jokes were certainly enunciated well enough to evoke laughs throughout the audience. Alex remained engaged and clapped periodically to show his delight.

The performance we attended on May 14th was the last of the three weekends that ran April 29 - May 14. My guess is that the final show had the highest number of the actors' family and friends. Afterward the lobby was jam-packed with folks bearing congratulatory hugs, kisses, and bouquets of flowers. I clumsily climbed up on nearby upholstered bench to take an overview photo of the ensuing cacophony, nearly toppling over in my ascent. A nearby gentleman, observant of my propensity to tumble, offered me a hand on my way down, averting an further embarrassing catastrophe on my part. I did succeed in getting a photo for my blog, though!

The Firehouse Arts Center is a uniquely designed facility featuring a 215-seat theater. It is an intimate setting in a renovated fire station. Frank, Alex and I had three seats in the very center of Row A, closest to the stage. We truly had an up-close and personal experience.

Should the show be presented on a wider geographic region, I would recommend taking the opportunity to see it. It is appropriate for children and not too saccharine for adults. We definitely enjoyed our afternoon outing.

A Week with My Sister in NC

Wednesday April 26 - Tuesday May 2, I flew east to North Carolina to spend a week with my sister. We had a mini staycation at the Embassy Suites, just north of and adjacent to the Raleigh Durham International Airport. I took the hotel shuttle from the airport and Maxine met me at the hotel which is a 25 minute or so drive from her home in Cary. Our suite surprised us with a pair of bunk beds to the right of the door as soon as we entered. As two senior ladies we were relieved to realize that we did not have to use them; the adjacent bedroom had two queen beds. The sitting area had a couch and two chairs and a huge TV, so large that the people on it had heads bigger than ours. There was a large round table that we used for fun activities such as games and puzzles and dessert devouring.

Our suite was on the eighth floor, the highest one, and we had a great view of the planes flying by and the traffic below. Sometimes we just sat and watched. Yes, we could hear the planes if we paid attention, but they were not obnoxious. 

The folder for our electronic room key listed a reminder that every morning we were welcomed to a free breakfast. Every evening there was a reception in the lobby with snacks 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm and each of us had coupons for two free drinks, each reception. I would have a Strawberry Daiquiri (or two) with whipped cream. Maxine was more diverse with a Screwdriver or a Fuzzy Navel. We each have a penchant for fruity drinks.

The wall at the end of the hallway on our floor had a queue of tall slender people. It was almost like a welcoming committee each time we approached the door to our room. They also kind of stood there somewhat judgmentally when we went down for drinks. Or maybe that was only my inner guilt at possibly becoming a lush.

On Thursday, my first day there, Maxine took me to the Cary Quilting Company. It is an enormous shop, brightly lit with the natural light from the sunshine streaming in at all the windows. I browsed for an hour and a half (Maxine claims two hours) while she relaxed in a white rocking chair near the front of the store and struck up conversations with the staff and other shoppers. I told the clerks repeatedly what a beautiful store they had but also told them that, regretfully, my suitcase weight 38 lbs and so I had room for only 12 lbs of purchases. More about my purchases at the store can be read in my other blog at DianeLoves2Quilt, post for 5/16/23.

We went back to the room Thursday night, admired my fabric and pattern purchases, and then had dinner at the Embassy Suites. It was so convenient to go down in the elevator, grab a seat by the window, and eat without having to drive anywhere. The "no driving" was fortunate since we had both imbibed our free drinks. We repeated dinner at our hotel Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, and Monday nights which was nice and convenient with no driving necessary.

Friday night Maxine had purchased tickets for us to see a local production of the musical Fiddler on the Roof at the Cary Arts Center. So as not to be rushed or late, we ate dinner at a local IHOP to be close to the theatre. I voiced a  bit of dismay that IHOP had recently changed/updated the menu. I could not order "my usual" but actually had to read the menu and re-decide. One thing for certain, we shared a large piece of luscious chocolate cake for dessert. 

After our decadent dose of chocolate, Maxine drove us back to her house. From there her husband Bob drove us to the Cary Arts Center, about three miles away, and would pick us up afterward since parking could be an issue. We had aisle seats in row J – a great view and easy access to the bathroom (important at our ages). The players did a fantastic, energetic job and did justice to the songs and dance numbers of Fiddler. Maxine and I enjoyed it immensely.

Saturday afternoon we drove to visit the home of Maxine's youngest son Dean and his family in Matthew, NC. From Maxine's house in Cary to Dean's house in Matthews is just under a three hour drive. We enjoyed dinner there and they held an impromptu birthday party for Maxine for her 84th. 

After dinner we played a few games of SkyJo with the family. Then, to round out the evening, after others had gone to bed, Maxine and I watched a hockey game on TV. The Devils is the team of choice for Maxine's oldest son's family in NJ. Unfortunately they lost.

We returned to Cary Sunday morning, stopping about an hour out from Cary to get a Domino's pizza for a late lunch. In the afternoon and evening at the hotel on Sunday and throughout the day Monday Maxine and I continued to relax in our room with low-key activities or just talking. Maxine found the movie Pretty Woman on the TV one afternoon so we both enjoyed watching it. We know all the best parts by heart and were waiting for them to come up. Free movies on TV are often edited to shorten their run time and make room for commercials; one of our favorite parts of Pretty Woman had been edited out. When that scene was skipped we both simultaneously cried out our indignation. It is the opera scene where Julia Roberts claims the opera was so good she nearly "peed her pants" and Richard Gere quick-wittedly covers up for her, by saying instead that she like it better than "Pirates of Penzance". I did locate that scene on the internet in this YouTube clip.

Throughout our stay we played Scrabble, Sequence, and did a 300 piece jigsaw puzzle. The chocolate torte we shared from the hotel kitchen was not so big in size, but it was very big on flavor. We relished every gooey, luscious bite.

Maxine left to go to her home Monday night. I took a final evening selfie of the two of us. I also took a selfie of me with the people down the hall as a sort of farewell to them, too. I would be taking the hotel shuttle to the airport 8:00 am Tuesday morning.

The unique lighting in the bathroom merited a photo or two, also. The mirror had a donut of light all around it that made our eyes look weird, like something from a horror flick. I tried to capture the spirit and essence of the mood. Note the glow around my pupils and my attempt at a diabolical grin.

The following photo was my view at Raleigh Durham Airport, Gate A5, Tuesday morning when my 10:25 flight arrived. I boarded my flight to my connection in Denver.

I feasted on an informal dinner in Denver. What else is there to do during a three hour layover?

Maxine and I had packed a lot of visiting and relaxing into six days. It felt good! Frank came into the terminal at Oakland to pick me up instead of me waiting curbside with my luggage. It also felt good to be pampered. I'd had a great time, but I was glad to be home.

Ponder: The End of Your Life Book Club

The End of Your Life Book Club ©2012 is a non-fiction novel, a genre I rarely read. The title is somewhat morbid and yet I was inspired to read it by one of my usual sources for book suggestions ... possibly the Reese Witherspoon Book Club or Amazon Editor's Choice? No matter, I decided to investigate it and was glad I did.

In it the author Will Schwalbe tells of the final months of his mother's life as she is dying of pancreatic cancer. Mother and son form a book club of two members and use reading and discussion of what they've read to pass away the long hours during her chemotherapy infusion treatments. The author's YouTube description of the book, explained of he and his mother that , "We didn't read only great books, we read casually and promiscuously and whimsically." The brief trailer, quite worthy of a listen, summarized it very aptly, "Reading is not the opposite of doing; it is the opposite of dying". The six page long appendix at the end of the book lists all the books they read or referenced. Many are too heavy and dark for my taste, several I have already read, some I would not want to read, but many were very enticing, indeed. The pithy excerpted passages they shared from many of the books were thought provoking.

Overall though, I was very impressed with the humanitarian and altruistic work Mary Ann Schwalbe did in her lifetime. Per wikipedia, as well as serving as Associate Dean of Admissions at Harvard University,

Schwalbe was a supporter of refugees cause in Thailand and later in Afghanistan. She was involved with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and was the Founding Director for the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, now known as the Women's Refugee Commission. During this time she also served as an electoral observer in the Balkans. She also raised funds for a library in Kabul and traveling libraries for Afghanistan.

I cared about the books they read together and the life lessons absorbed, but also I cared deeply about the impressive women and her close relationship with her son, the author, Will Schwalbe. Granted I skimmed rapidly through some portions of the book that were too heavy for my taste, but overall it was an educating and absorbing read. Because I did speed read through some passages, I oscillated in my rating between three and four stars. I did engage with the characters, resonated with the precepts, and highly respected the dying woman, and so I decided upon four stars.

★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

Ponder: Point Last Seen

Point Last Seen by Christina Dodd ©2022 is categorized as a thriller romance. That is an odd genre I had never experienced so I decided to give it a try. The suspense in the beginning of the book is strong, raising many questions, urging me to read on. One setting is near Big Sur, California along a sweeping picturesque portion of the California Pacific coastline in a small town called Gothic, City of Lost Souls. A second more minor setting is on board a scientist-laden exploration vessel out at sea. The two main characters, Adam a loner making a living as metal sculpture artist, and Elle, a yet to be described woman, meet in an extremely unconventional way. Her limp body washes up on the beach. She has strangulation marks on her throat, screams uncontrollable when the memory of how she got those bruises washes over her, yet has amnesia about the other circumstances of her life. The story takes off as how to assess and treat her injuries, mental and physical. The role, if any, that the ship and its crew play, is a niggling distraction in the background, but one the reader cannot dismiss as irrelevant.

Yes, this book has suspenseful portions, but I think the majority is more of a mystery, learning the background of both key characters. The romance portion of the book involves the budding relationship between the two of them. I liked the affect Elle had on Adam. She was strong and upbeat despite her travails; she was not a ditsy, clingy female like those portrayed in so many romance novels. Other supporting characters native to the town of Gothic, are plentiful but initially hard to follow and absorb – a local vet, a psychic, a psychologist, an actress and her entourage, a teenage girl, a garrulous old man, a wealthy town land-owner/landlord. All characters have their quirks that lend a bit of whimsy to the novel, especially the fortune-teller/palm-reader. Another oddly good aspect of this book is short chapters. Point Last Seen has 481 pages and 81 chapters which are conducive to an interrupted reading scenario. Per Wikipedia

Christina Dodd is the best-selling American author of suspense and regency historical romance. She is a recipient of the RITA Award.

Perusing the Amazon reviews of her works, many comments alluded to this novel as not being representative as the best of her works but still averaging a 4.4/5 rating. 

I read Point Last Seen on two plane flights and during hours in airport terminals before and between flights. Just like with movies, I think reading in travel situations detracts stars from a book's rating. On the other hand, I did not regret having this book to help me while away the hours. Sometimes a book can be so bad, you rue your choice for travel, and you'd rather nap than read. This novel held my interest though it did seem rather long; but, to be fair, it was probably the flights and layovers that were rather long. This is the first of her books that I have read and I give it 3 stars. Fellow local library readers also gave it an average rating of 3 stars. Despite my mediocre rating, however, I am not deterred from giving this author another try.

★★★☆☆ Better than average; not a waste of time