Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. I loved this book! It was even better than herUprooted, and that was a book so good I was jealous not to have written it myself. This one has some similarities, in that it is very fairy tale-esque. Novik takes from Rumpelstiltskin the bit about the girl having to turn straw into gold and runs with it. What she ends up with is this wonderful story of strong women who save their town, country, people, selves using their own smarts and bravery. Miryem is the daughter of a poor money-lender in a small village. Her father is too nice to be a good money lender, and when her mother gets sick, Miryem decides she will collect the debt owed to her father. She becomes so successful at it, that she catches the eye of the king of the Staryk, a winter people who live in a parallel universe to Miryem. The king sees Miryem making money and wants her to change his silver into gold. There’s also Wanda, a servant who Miryem helps, and who helps her and her parents in return, and Irina, a princess who has to defeat a demon and save her kingdom. It’s wonderful! It was such a fun and compelling read – I plan to give it to my nieces with November birthdays. J
Calypso by David Sedaris. I had been warned that this book was a bit more melancholy than some of his previous work, but I liked it the better for that. Sedaris is always funny – and he continues to be so in Calypso – but he is also an excellent writer, and I think his writing skills were highlighted in this book where his topics tend more to the bittersweet. As always, he is a master at the turn of phrase, and weeks later I am still laughing to myself at his wording. I recommend.
Holy Ghost by John Sandford. I’m a big fan of John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers mysteries, although I can’t quite articulate what it is I like about them. They are ordinary, yet entertaining, and it is fun to watch the smart, Virgil Flowers, who is a secret thinker who doesn’t take himself too seriously, piece together another Minnesota mystery. This one takes place in Wheatfield, MN, a town that has recently had two Virgin Mary sightings in their church. The sightings have revitalized a dying town, and so when a sniper starts shooting people, the town both wants to apprehend the murderer and keep their new tourist business intact. Virgil sets to figuring it out.
Transcription by Kate Atkinson. Kate Atkinson and Pat Barker are two of my top-five favorite authors, and both have new novels out. The whole time I was reading this one, I kept thinking I was reading the new Pat Barker – it is very Pat Barker in theme and tone! It was a really interesting read and, like I often do with Atkinson’s novels, I plan to read it again very soon. Her writing is so good and has zero clutter, so I think it is often easy to miss details I’d like to note. Transcription is a spy novel that takes place during WWII and in the decade after. Juliet Armstrong is a wonderful main character! She’s smart, and brave, with a really wry sense of humor. She works for MI5 as a transcriber during the war. She types conversations that occur in an adjacent apartment between another spy and British supporters of Hitler. She’s also occasionally sent into the field, as it were, as a young third Reich supporter, Iris Carter-Jenkins. This is half of the book. The other half, interspersed with the war scenes, are in the 1950’s when Juliet is working for the BBC putting together educational radio programs. She had her own share of trauma during the war, and is finding that it is hard to completely leave the MI5 – there is always one more favor she can do for them. It was a fascinating read and, as always with Atkinson (and Barker!), well done.
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