Kaseys Korner

The Scribe of Siena

If 'Outlander' is the gold standard by which readers rate time travel books, this one falls a bit short in comparison. I mention 'Outlander' only because it's touted as appealing to fans of that series. Thank goodness we could start and end this piece of fiction in one book versus multiple tomes.

One of the biggest takeaways from the book (for me) is learning about how immensely Siena suffered from the Plague (or Black Death,) than did her neighboring cities. I had absolutely zero knowledge about this before I started reading. Though 'The Scribe of Siena' is described as a sweeping love story, I viewed it more from the mystery angle of why it was decimated so badly and the authors attempt to solve that puzzle. The protagonists brother (who remains largely a mystery as he's never fleshed out as a character) began uncovering clues then unexpectedly died leaving our heroine, Beatrice, to carry on. If you don't get hung up on the details of how a neurosurgeon effortlessly switches into the role of historian, then shifts 600+ years back in time on a thought then it's an interesting premise to think a power hungry family from nearby Florence had something sinister to do with it.

Putting the underlying mystery aside, the love story aspect of the book was pretty much a non event. I definitely didn't get caught up in the allure of Gabriele Accorsi like I did Jaime Fraser but then neither was there much of a build up between Beatrice or Gabrieles characters or frankly much interaction between them at all. I can only say don't expect to be swept away in a romance.

Lots of difficult things to believe in the book, the main one being Beatrices' transport between centuries. The author suggests it's a person in another period that calls the character there. I found that much harder to buy into than a portal (like the Stones were in Outlander.) If only it were that easy... Also a bit of a stretch that anyone could go so far back in time and fit in so easily.
Beatrice lucked into a job, a place to live and a support system almost instantaneously. It is a fictional work tho so do we give all the incongruities a pass on that count???

If you have interest in medieval Italy or historical fiction in general, maybe this one is for you?
There are interesting tidbits throughout the pages but on the whole it was a bit slow and left a lot of unanswered questions. Maybe it was too ambitious for the author to think she could cover so much ground in one book??

Harry's Trees

What a strange dichotomy between science (I feel like I just took a crash course in Forestry 101 ~ just don't quiz me!) and the world of fairytales ~ i.e. think modern day twist on 'Little Red Riding Hood.' In the latter, insert gold for the food basket and we have all the components (the big bad wolf, the sweet little girl, the woods, etc.)

It's also a beautiful story of grief and healing. When it started, I fretted that it was going to be too depressing. Fret not, it's wasted energy. Instead it perfectly demonstrated how people deal with loss. Multiple losses, from multiple points of view. I found it a refreshing take on the sadness we'll all experience in life ~if we haven't already.

As with all fairytales, there's also a happy ending. Win/win.

The Lady and the Unicorn

Mixed feelings about this book. I was interested in reading it because of the famed medieval tapestries by the same name. I've never seen them in person but photos of them are just incredible and the craftsmanship involved in creating them absolutely phenomenal. I've never woven anything but it seemed the author had knowledge or researched the process pretty thoroughly. It was a laborious process and done upside down, in mirror image of the finished project. So incredible especially considering the amount of detail involved. These tapestries tell a story using the five senses, which is another amazing aspect. They aren't just beautiful but give the viewer a lot to ponder about the how's and why they were created when looking at the women and scenes depicted in them. I ended the book with huge respect for the master craft of weaving.

I started out thinking the author might have delved more into the Le Viste family, especially the head of the family who would have been the authority who ordered them. Instead very little time was devoted to him ~ was that because little is known & the author didn't want to put suppositions on him?? I wish she'd shown the same constraint with the character she created as the artist behind the tapestries. He was a lothario of the first order and portrayed as the complete opposite to what the unicorn means spiritually. Very little likeable about him except his apparent painting skills.

I'm still deciding if the book does justice to the creation of the tapestries or not? Made that many years ago, their conception is open to interpretation but somehow the book left a more sordid taste about these works of art than I ever expected to feel.

Comfort Me With Apples

Not my cup of tea.

However, so short (novella??) that I don't consider my time too wasted by reading it.

A fairytale (esque) rendition of the Garden of Eden that comes with a twist of horror. Not so much horror that my squeamish self was terrified, just an uncommonly gruesome way to think of how Eve came to exist with Adam.

The Lincoln Highway

Okay, to start with, it's a book by Amor Towles ~ it's not going to be crap! We all know that. But this was definitely not the book I "thought" it was going to be. I mean the title is "The Lincoln Highway" so that leads one to believe the characters might be cruising along ON said highway. Ha. Not so. In actuality, the time spent on the Lincoln Highway could be condensed to perhaps ten minutes of reading. Honestly tho, whether we were going to be reading about a cross country trip on the Lincoln Highway, building the highway, planning it, whatever, it was a no brainer for me to download it. The author has just made a fan out of me in that way.

I've also come to expect Mr. Towles to write in the diamond style he had Abacus Abernathe describing (the author of Billy's big red book of heroes.) He always starts at one point then goes wide with his tangents and characters before narrowing back in (normally) to a startling, unexpected conclusion. Let's just say he went REALLY WIDE here. So many, many, MANY characters and POV's. Were they all really necessary?? What did we get out of Sally?? or Paster John?? or all of Duchesses childhood acquaintances?? Just to name a few... It's hard to even think of Emmet as the main character when all the other people we were introduced to along the way received equal time.

It might be best to settle back and read this book like you would drink a fine whiskey; unhurriedly, savoring every note (i.e. character) and with infinite patience to see where it leads. Definitely don't expect anything fast paced.

The ending was not as satisfying to me as I wanted or expected it to be. I almost felt the author had Emmet commit murder (knowing Duchess could not swim) which would be totally out of character for the young man we came to know. Did anyone else feel that way?? Wasn't it hard to remember he was only 18??

I'm perfectly certain I'll never remember all the people in the book but I will remember the Lincoln Highway, why it was built, that there's a lot of statues of Abraham Lincoln in strategic locations along the route, etc., etc. It was illuminating in that respect. Was that the purpose and everything else just filler??? or perhaps it was reinforcement that life's a journey and never goes as planned....

Crossings

The concept is what reeled me into this book. It's fascinating. The idea of a consensual swapping of minds/souls = most intriguing. It would be the ultimate way to experience another life or to know someone in the most intimate of ways. The feeling when the soul starts to lift from the body (as interpreted by the author) was beautiful and makes me hope to experience something similar when my life is over. It's described as a tingling feeling then a lightness like bubbles rising effervescently and pure freedom. Who doesn't find that appealing??

Overtaking another person without their knowledge/consent, not so cool and how the whole story begins.

This is the first book I've read that gave the reader the choice of how to read it. The conventional "front to back" method or by the "Baroness Sequence" which sends the reader flipping all over the book. Of course, I chose the latter method. (what do they say about curiosity??) Now I wonder if I would have liked it better if I'd just read it straight thru?? If only I had the interest, I'd put it to the test. 'Crossings' is a mere 384 pages but it felt like it could have been quadruple that. It didn't help that I couldn't get into it so I would put it to the side and literally dread picking it back up. That should have told me to put it in the DNF pile but I forced myself to the end thinking something extraordinary had to happen.  Ummmm, don't hold your breath!

On the upside: very inventive idea. In a nutshell, it can be described as a very convoluted account of the lives two people live to get back to each other. Unfortunately, where I expected to dive in and be instantly caught up, it just did not capture my interest in that way or very much of ANY way.

 

Portrait of a Scotsman

Couldn't wait to read Hattie's story.

Loved her in the first two books of the series where she had a fantastic flair for fashion, a love of tea cakes, and a desire to channel her inner rebel.

Where did that woman go????

She meets the most bad ass man in London, had instant combustible chemistry with him, then wanted to take affront at the means in which she came to be married to him?? ugh. Total train wreck. It's like the author deviously thought she could insert a different character into the story in place of our heroine and we'd all buy it. No, no, no and NO!!!

and don't even get me started on the ending. Ruined the whole book for me. I should have stopped reading after 75% of it. I can't even imagine the man we were introduced to (in book two) as the darkest, most dangerous & formidable shark in the city, accepted a separation???? Seriously Evie Dunmore?? I think the pandemic addled your mojo. That separation was pure B.S. Lucian revealed his tortured, twisted rise to being a financial kingpin and almost became a milksop over Hattie and she needs time to come to the marriage as an equal???? Puhlease! He had it right when he called her a spoiled brat. She needed time alright ~ to grow up! But this unconventional twist to a historical romance was not appreciated.

I do have to admit I've learned a lot thru this series about issues pertinent to women a couple of centuries ago. The books are weightier reads than typical HR's.

As abominable as the last chapters were, you can believe I'll BE THERE for the final book in the series. I'm counting on the author to redeem herself...

Cloud Cuckoo Land

** spoiler alert ** I'm pretty sure my feelings about this book will be in the minority. It looks like it's been getting good reviews and maybe once an author has proved himself, those follow no matter the material??

I'm feeling like I could go off on 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' ~ let's see how well I restrain myself?!
Maybe you've noticed I've been trying to keep my reviews on the shorter side lately??  But that seems impossible to do here. If the message was to demonstrate how words, stories and texts transcend centuries, cultures, etc., I received it. But holy cow was it ever a convoluted, unsatisfactory way of getting there. So many questions remain about the stories.

Let me back track for a minute. This novel is told from FIVE different points of view. Yes, five. Anytime you get that many, it takes the reader more than a minute to get invested in each one. Then every time the stories alternate, it's another mental adjustment until halfway thru the book (hopefully) all the characters are cemented mentally. Interest waned and waxed for me about these characters/stories. There were times I could have thrown a few away. In the end I was invested the most in the story I first liked the least (Konstance.) But hers was also the one I wanted the most explanations about. It appeared she was involved in an abandoned experiment which brought up moral/ethical questions. Was the "ship" purposely infected so as to erase the inhabitants and not have to answer any questions that would eventually have to arise?? Because how else does a virus infect a hermetically sealed capsule?? Did Konstance's father outsmart the people who drugged them and placed them inside by saving her?? Mr Doerr has a lot of explaining to do....

I could appreciate the environmental message in the book that came with Seymours story. I seem to be reading a lot of books with similar messages lately and with the current state of our planet, I understand their increasing frequency. Seymour being upset about the clear cutting of the forest behind his home and the fact that everyone seemed complacent about it, very relatable. He had little to no guidance in his daily life and that combined with his issues (autism??) of not liking noise, being touched, etc. left him a loner. Classic recipe for trouble. By the end of the book, he's presented as having changed from troubled villain into a hero of sorts tho???

If I were editing the book, I would have clipped Zeno's whole trip to London. I mean, what the hell was the point of that?? I wanted more from Rex and well, basically more for both of them. As it was, the sole point of him being in Zeno's story was to teach him Greek. I guess it was worth it???  Same with Omeir's oxen. Did we have to kill them off just for his path to cross Anna's??  Mixed feelings about his story too except, in the end, he was the conduit in getting the ancient book from one point to another so I guess not pointless??

I just knew the stories were going to intersect into something brilliant.  I mean, they had to right?  Unfortunately I missed that part? Was I reading over my skill set?? Unless the purpose was to create independent stories showing a books passage thru time??  Now that I've written the question, maybe that IS the answer???

Having said all that, it remains that Anthony Doerr is undisputedly a beautiful writer. There were passages among the pages that were absolutely memorable. Like this one:

“Repository,” he finally says, “you know this word? A resting place. A text—a book—is a resting place for the memories of people who have lived before. A way for the memory to stay fixed after the soul has traveled on.”

How beautiful and meaningful is that? Perhaps read it just for those glinty nuggets and don't expect to be blown away by the book in its entirety...
Sadly, I won't be recommending this one, it just missed the mark for me.
2.5 stars

Once There Were Wolves

"When you open your heart to rewilding a landscape, the truth is, you’re opening your heart to rewilding yourself.” ~ Charlotte McConaghy

Ms McConaghy is genius. She cloaks serious messages about the state of our planet in very readable and riveting books. By entwining a mystery/murder with a particular environmental issue she's ensured she'll reach a wider audience than she ever would if she stuck strictly to writing about the depressing condition of our present day world.

In this novel, wolves were the conduit (remember in 'Migrations' it was Arctic terns??) and never did I think I'd be as reeled in by them as I was. Reintroducing wolves into the Scottish highlands is a very real, present day consideration. Will it happen? Who knows? If it does, I think the author has laid out an extremely realistic playbook about how it will go over. Before I read the book, I wouldn't have had an opinion on the topic but after reading, I understand the benefits to the natural world having them there. Ms McConaghy didn't ignore the push back from the opposition and this particular quote from the book resonated:

“You ever wondered why conservationists tend to come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds? They’ve got money. They don’t have to rely on the land to survive, they aren’t scraping by, one day to the next.”

But so did this one:

“If we’re talking about conservation, about saving this planet, we have to start with the predators. Because if we can’t save the predators, we’ve got no chance of saving anything else.”

'Once There Were Wolves' is darkly beautiful. The protagonist (Inti) and her twin were raised unconventionally and their story is as twisted as it gets. Be advised there is sexual abuse & violence covered in the content if that's a trigger.

I can't say I loved Inti but I did love the book and I know the message about wolves and their place in our ecosystems will stay with me and reverberate more than the other details of the story.

 

 

Versailles

I can only describe this book as artistic. The "details" of Versailles are what's displayed on these panoramic style pages. Gorgeous photography of rooms, cabinet knobs, tapestries, wig boxes, paneling carvings, busts, etc., etc. You get the idea. Everything conveys the opulence and lavishness of the Palace. The extravagance borders on the obscene but I guess that's exactly what makes it the marvel it still is today.

If you're looking for a history on the construction of Versailles or want in depth information on the subject, this is not the book for you. This is coffee table format, exquisite photography with light reading below each photo to provide background or descriptions of what the reader is viewing. You feel reverence turning the pages, viewing the rooms and artifacts of the palace as if on a private tour.

You close the book understanding why the French coffers were emptied for this project. You also can't help but be blown away by the extraordinary craftsmanship and splendor of Versailles. It's incroyable! A truly grand and resplendent masterpiece and this book points out many details that might be overlooked on a real life tour.

Owning a copy comes at a pretty penny but that seems apropos considering the subject is Versailles!!!