Eden's Last Lady Keeps Water; El tapiz Underneath Lois; Effective White Soloist Gatekeepers

[maribou]

Eden's Outcasts, by John Matteson
Very engrossing historical biography discussing Louisa May Alcott, her father Bronson, and their general circle (Transcendentalists like Emerson and Thoreau). This won a well-merited Pulitzer - the writing is wonderful and the research is painstakingly documented. Big thumbs up.
(115/300)

Last Legends of Earth, by A. A. Attanasio
This is really weird and it frequently made my brain hurt, but all in the service of awesomeness. If machine intelligences that function simultaneously as ship parts and as gods, and evil soul-sucking spiders, and human reincarnation as bait for a trap, sound more interesting than irritating to you, you should give this book a try. It had very pulpish qualities but it was much smarter than most of the pulp I've read. Sometimes TOO smart, but I felt challenged rather than put off. The content and plot-logic of my dreams are frequently similar to the content and plot-logic of this book.
(116/300)

Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key, by Kage Baker
Swashbuckling novella about piratical adventures. Not her most brilliant work, but still enjoyable. There were a couple of brilliant touches - like how the loas are worked into the story.
(117/300)

Water Song, by Suzanne Weyn
Retelling of "The Frog Prince" set during WW1 England, thus involving one of my favorite fairy tales and one of my favorite historical settings. Nothing amazing, but it was fun. Top of the midcard sort of thing.
(118/300)

El tapiz de Abuela, by Omar Castaneda
Charming story about a little girl helping her gramma to sell a handmade rug at the market. Sadly my Spanish was not really sufficient unto this book and I was too lazy to get a dictionary. But what I *did* understand was nifty, the pictures were gorgeous, and I still think I learn more when I puzzle stuff out that when I look stuff up.
(119/300)

The Underneath, by Kathy Appelt
If there was ever a time in my life when I would've been more of a sucker for an illustrated children's book about a stray cat, her two baby kittens, and the ole hound dog that loves them - and their Scary Adventures - I'm sure I don't know when it was. I swooned.
(120/300)

Lois on the Loose, by Lois Pryce
Wisecracking adventure narrative - Brit working for the Beeb dumps job, takes her 250cc Yamaha from Alaska to Peru (ish, I forget exactly). Quite funny, page-turner, very occasionally profound.
(121/300)

The Soloist, by Steve Lopez
Newspaper columnist befriends homeless man who studied at Juilliard, complications ensue. I loved this book actually; if you are interested in schizophrenia or classical music or homelessness, I would imagine you would like it too.
(122/300)

White Mary, by Kira Salak (ARC)
This novel about a woman penetrating into deepest Papua New Guinea in search of her supposedly dead hero made me wonder how much of it was based on true experiences, considering the author's background as an adventure writer.... It was a very good novel; I was surprised by how much I ended up liking it, but I suspect I will like the author's non-fiction more. My main gripe was that I absolutely hate the use of present tense in novels. I mean, her use of it made sense, I just couldn't help but be irritated every time it came up, and since it wasn't consistent throughout, I would relax into past tense and then BLAH more present tense would occur. Not the author's fault really, it's just one of those silly things...
(123/300)

The Servants, by Michael Marshall Smith (ARC)
Short and simple ghost story / kid coming to terms with his parents' divorce story / kid coming to terms with a parental illness story. Distinguished by the spareness of the prose - a lot of details were deliberately left out - which made it sort of dreamlike and floaty. Quite good, really.
(124/300)

The Highly Effective Detective, by Richard Yancey
Charming little mystery novel narrated by a very thought-wandery protagonist. I was hoping it would be as completely AMAZING as the author's non-fiction Confessions of a Tax Collector, but it was sadly not quite that awesome. Good enough that I'm looking forward to the sequel though. Interesting twists.
(125/300)

The Gatekeepers, by Jacques Steinberg
More than you might've imagined there was to know about the admissions process at Wesleyan. Very well-written, lots of personal detail to liven up what could've been a dry subject, would imagine anyone who has stressed over college applications or who works in an academic environment would be interested in reading it. Excellent vacation book, good for plane rides, hotel rooms, waiting in line for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, etc.
(126/300)