Tesla, Tesla

The Last Days of Night is a newish release by Graham Moore, best known for his debut book, The Sherlockian. It explores the dawn of the electrical age by following the lawyer, Paul Cravath, who defended George Westinghouse in his battle with Thomas Edison over the lightbulb and direct versus alternating current. Because Nikola Tesla, after leaving the employ of Edison, spent some time working with Westinghouse and ended up selling him his AC patents, this ends up mostly being a tale of the relationships between Cravath, Westinghouse, and Tesla. There is also a love story for Cravath and a glimpse into New York high society.

At the end of the book, Moore calls it a "dramatization of history", a "Gordian knot of verifiable truth, educated supposition, dramatic rendering, and total guesswork". I thought it was fascinating and a fun read ... and it led me to finally pick up my next read from the TBR, where it has languished for years.

Tesla: Man Out of Time by Margaret Cheney is considered the definitive biography of Nikola Tesla. It is technical and mostly covers his inventions and patents but also veers into his social life and unique mental abilities. I only wish that it had been updated after the 1981 publication date because one of the most interesting parts was the discussion of how modern scientists are now putting some of Tesla's more "far-fetched" ideas to use. I know that there have been even more researchers and corporations in the last 35 years that have come to see the light about Tesla's ideas, so to speak, and it would have added even more strength to the narrative of his genius. Sometime soon I'll read Tesla's own short autobiography, maybe when I take delivery of my electric car later this year!

Plugging in to history,

K

Boys in the 80s

I forget where I saw a review or comment that made me think I needed to put The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak on my library hold list sooner rather than later but I saw it and I did it. It's the story of three boys that want to pull off the perfect heist of a Playboy issue. One of them is super into early computer gaming and so is the daughter of the store owner where they want to steal the magazine. This leads to an unexpected friendship and a lot of big decisions.

First, the good stuff. This story really felt true to the 80s. It made me remember early computers, crappy love songs, and old mall stores. Now the bad stuff. This story really felt true to the 80s. It reminded me of the horrible words that us 80s kids used to throw around, the casual sexism and racism, the shitty way single mothers were treated. I liked this story but I strongly disliked one of the boys and hated another one of them. The end is also a bit farfetched, although I did feel that the boy I disliked redeemed himself somewhat. All of the blurbs on the cover that use the words "sweet", "funny", "hilarious"? I'm not sure I read the same book that they did. I thought this was a dark but honest story. We may get nostalgic for the past but the day-to-day reality might not be as rosy as we remember.

My 80s itch wasn't fully scratched after that first novel so I picked up Jason Diamond's Searching for John Hughes. This book reminded me why I used to be (and need to be again) very, very picky about which memoirs I was willing to read. I did not like this guy much at all. I felt bad for him when he was a kid because both of his parents were HORRID but, ugh, how many times can someone claim to have recognized his privilege and then still go ahead acting the same way as he did before? How self-centered do you have to be to keep treating people like crap who are trying to help you and be friendly? He ultimately only gets his shit together because he is handed the job that becomes his career. This was not the love letter to the 80s that I was expecting. This guy wasn't even born until like 1980/81. Again, blurbs that use words like "hilarious" and "charm" don't make any sense to me after reading this book. It is dark and depressing and not a fun read.

So, now that I've read two books that weren't satisfying 80s reads, recommend me something about the 80s that I *will* like. (I am one of the ones that totally loved both of Ernie Cline's books, Ready Player One and Armada.) Please.

Looking back with distaste,

K

#RIPXI: 4, The Book of Speculation

I was hoping that The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler would be something special but, sadly, I found that it fell short in the details -- starting with the cover that is so strangely photoshopped. I feel like the impossible stack of books with two that should be different but aren't should have clued me in that this book was going to be slightly off. There are a lot of people who loved it and found it magical. I, however, was too distracted by impossible dates, improbable coincidences, and undefined magic to fall under its spell.

This is a dual narrative book, moving back and forth between the present and the late 1700s. The two are connected by a book, a journal that was kept by Peabody, the owner of a traveling show. The book ends up in the modern-day hands of Simon, an orphan with a home on the northern coast of New York's Long Island, a house that is in imminent danger of falling off a cliff. The house is symbolic of Simon's life as he's about to lose his job and his whole sense of reality. The truths that are held in the book--the facts about people that may be Simon's ancestors--are not easy to deal with but do explain some of the things he knows/fears about his own family.

I really did want to love this story but I found myself getting stressed and/or annoyed far too often. From the spoken and internal dialogues that were written in a confusing way to the impossibility of the timeline based even on generous generational spreads, I had to fight through the rough stuff to see the glimpses of good. I love magical realism but this one had very little rhyme or reason to the magic. Last night was the worst though when I started complaining about plot details to the husband and it perfectly mirrored what was annoying us about the season 4 episodes of Gilmore Girls that we had just watched. It was off-putting and made this original tale seem a bit predictable.

I know I tend to be overly critical of RIP reads. I save some of them for months and months and I can only read so many of them and so I put pressure on the poor books to be stellar. Some will only be perfectly fine, which would be okay at other time of the year. This one was indeed fine -- but not for me, not right now.

Traveling on,

K

RIP X: 8, House of Thieves (New Release)

I'll admit that I initially ran hot and cold on the idea of House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure. I am not always a fan of gangs and mobsters because they tend to be a bit too violent for my tastes. But I am happy to report that this story is much more than its seedier elements.

John Cross is a successful architect with a wayward son. George Cross, a recent Harvard graduate, has very hefty gambling debts and they have been called in by New York City's most ruthless crime boss, James Kent. As there is no chance of George paying up, Kent holds him ransom until he can extract a promise from his father -- to assist Kent in robbing his wealthy clients by using his inside knowledge of their homes and buildings.

The main plot of this story is exciting and unputdownable. Make no mistake -- Kent is definitely an evil and formidable villain. But there is a hidden surprise in the side stories about John's other two children. It balances out in a way that gives the reader a rest between suspenseful moments. The ending is a bit fanciful and tidy but, while caught up in the excitement of the story, I didn't mind it. And if you need more inducement to pick up this book, this story is set to become a television series (miniseries?). As it is quite picturesque--full of beautiful buildings, colorful underworld characters, and society grandeur--I'm sure it will make a thrilling show!

Hiding the valuables,
K

New Release: The Map of the Sky

One of the books that I finished last year but didn't have time to review was The Map of the Sky by Félix J. Palma, sequel to 2011's The Map of Time. I was a bit conflicted in my thoughts about that first book but many of my issues (the chief of which was the first person narrative style) were solved in this one and, though not perfect, was a much more enjoyable read.

As with the first novel, I don't want to say too much about the plot of this story. It's a tangled mess that slowly unravels into a story that's incredibly inventive and part of the joy of it is the element of surprise. I don't think it would be necessary to read these books in order but many things would make more sense and have more meaning if you were to follow the order in which they were written. Then again, there is a secret kept throughout this book that is basically one of the plots of the original story so if you were reading this one first, you would likely be shocked when you went back to the first novel. Confused yet? Well, with an ocean trip to the Antarctic, an alien invasion, an appearance by a young Edgar Allan Poe and another bizarre adventure for H.G. Wells, this story will likely confuse you and excite you in similar proportion.

According to Palma's website (and if my Spanish isn't too rusty), the third book in the trilogy is currently being written and will focus on Wells' The Invisible Man (The Map of Time is built off of The Time Machine and The Map of the Sky uses The War of the Worlds as its inspiration). I'm definitely looking forward to Palma's final Victorian flight of fancy.

Traveling through time and space,
K

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

A couple of years back, we took a family vacation up to Victoria, BC and I was lucky enough to meet up with a fellow blogger at the gorgeous Munro Books. I didn't buy many books there though because they cost so much more in Canada than in the US (even though the currencies are almost equivalent right now). But, they had this UK version of Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay on the remainder table and I liked the cover more than the standard paperback in the US and so I grabbed it. It's a book I knew I should read but it took me until now to want to read it. Now I fully regret waiting so long because it's a masterpiece and is not just for comic book fans (though there are fun tidbits in it for those fans).

This is the story of Sam Clay (Samuel Klayman) and his Hungarian cousin, Joe Kavalier (Josef). Following them from childhood through middle age, these cousins who become close friends and brothers, are the creators of the superhero The Escapist. But Joe is never free from the feelings of obligation toward the family he left behind in Prague at the start of WWII and Sam is never free from the weight of his absentee strongman father.

This is simply an incredibly well-crafted novel. Though its subjects and locales are diverse, I think there will be some aspect to speak to almost any reader. I never felt that I couldn't relate to these boys whose lives were so incredibly remote from my own. In fact, I felt that I learned a lot about the Jewish experience in New York during the War and about the history of comic books and about magic and art and so many other things. The blurb on the front of my copy from Tom Payne (Daily Telegraph) says "Perfection. There are perhaps four other books I've loved this much, and none that has made me cry more." I was feeling a bit cheated because I didn't cry while reading the book and I'm quite well-known for getting emotionally involved in stories. But then, on page 633 of 636, there was one single line of dialogue that had me weeping because it revealed one of the inevitabilities of parenthood, one that I think about sometimes with sadness. This connection is one I hope to find again the next time I read Chabon.

In awe of amazing,
K

Late RIP Post: The Poisoner's Handbook

The last book I read for the RIP Challenge (and finished hours before my wrap-up post but didn't bother to go back and change it) was the thoroughly awesome The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum. I loved this book. I don't say that very often but this was the perfect read for me. It had the right amount of history and science and murder to fit right in the niche that my brain is happiest in.

This book won't be for everyone. As you can tell from the title, the birth of forensic medicine is going to include a lot of details about gory (yet fascinating things) -- autopsies, brain tissue disintegration for testing, examination of lung tissue after poisoning and all sorts of other bloody tests. There's also no avoiding the animal testing that had to happen at the time to measure the effects of various toxins in order to have reliable data, the kind necessary to secure convictions and send murderers to the electric chair.

I'm mostly against animal testing and possibly against the death penalty and certainly against murdering family members but I still found every aspect of this book fascinating. It made me regret that I didn't take those three extra classes to get a minor in chemistry. My scientific background helped me through the book but I don't think one is necessary to understand what Blum is presenting. Her love for chemistry also comes through in her writing and I thought it was refreshing and highly readable.

On cloud nine,
K

New Paperback Release: 31 Bond Street

Recently out in paperback, 31 Bond Street is first time novelist Ellen Horan's imaginings of the story behind and around the real January 1857 murder of Bond Street dentist Dr. Harvey Burdell. Burdell's housekeeper, Emma Cunningham, was tried for the violent crime based mostly on the fact that she was left-handed and that she was secretly married to the victim.

I enjoy stories like these that expand on lesser-known historical events. You have to read them as fiction because it's hard to know without research what is fact and what is simply the author's creation. Nevertheless, in most cases, the research process seems to help the author build a more believable and tangible setting and this novel was no exception. Mid-nineteenth century New York is a popular time period right now and I thought that Horan did a good job with the setting, characters and language. I also felt that the plot elements that she added were in the realm of possibility.

My favorite character in the book was Henry Clinton, the lawyer who came forward to defend Emma Cunningham. He was a good man and a successful and thoughtful lawyer. I wouldn't mind if Horan's next book was about another of his cases. And yet, this book is also filled with a host of unsavory characters -- Burdell himself, Cunningham, Coroner Edward Connery and District Attorney (and later Boss Tweed associate) Abraham Oakey Hall, among others. The wide range of characters, politics and motives makes this an interesting read based on a case that was of great public interest in its day.

Weighing the evidence,
K

This novel is currently on a TLC Book Tour. You can see other reviews at the following sites:

Bibliophiliac
Jenn's Bookshelves
The Lost Entwife
Rundpinne

Other reviews will be listed at the tour page throughout this month.

Support our site and buy 31 Bond Street on Amazon or find it at your local library. We received a paperback copy for this book tour.

Book v. Movie: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

I put off watching Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist for the longest time because I was annoyed that they copied the names of my beloved Nick and Nora from The Thin Man movies. Then one night I was awake far too late, nothing else was on and so I stayed up for hours longer watching this movie. It's not an all-time favorite but there are things about it that I love (like Kat Dennings and the Yugo). It's a story of second chances, accidental love-at-first-sight and choosing your best future. I've watched it once or twice more in the wee hours of the night/morning (because I can't stomach the whole Caroline and her gum thing when I'm fully awake) and enjoyed it each time. Then, inevitably, I figured out it was a book.

In fact, I figured that it was probably the type of book that wasn't really for me -- me being stodgy and married and from the opposite coast and all. And then I saw the book for a dollar at Half Price Books and couldn't resist. I breezed through the short novel--written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan as alternating chapters between the titular Nick and Norah--and have made it through relatively unscathed and of the opinion that this book was actually more for the adults than the kids. It's quite full of profanity and sexuality and was surprisingly lacking in music. The kids talk like they're in their twenties instead of like teenagers. Money keeps magically appearing for these kids who don't seem to have jobs. And yet, it made me a bit nostalgic for the problems of teens -- the wondering, the firsts, the fights, the friendships. That's why I think that adults might ultimately find it more interesting than teens.

The movie and the book turned out to have little in common and, though I appreciated the book, I have to say that I prefer the movie. I like the story line that they created, the different direction the characters took at times and the more dastardly exes. It was more of The Odyssey and less of The Breakfast Club.

Verdict: These are both decent stories about teen adventure and love. If you want more New York City landmarks, angst and f-bombs (hundreds of them), read the book. If you want more of a dramatic teen adventure comedy (yes, I'm having trouble classifying it!) with that special something that you always get from Michael Cera, watch the film.

Looking back on my relatively quiet teen years with relief,
K


Support our site and buy Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (the novel) and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (the movie) on Amazon or find them at your local library. I watched the movie on cable and bought a copy of the book.

New Release: The Death Instinct

The Death Instinct follows doctor and former Freudian psychoanalyst Stratham Younger and police captain James Littlemore through a harrowing time in U.S. history as they witness the September 1920 bombing of New York's Wall Street and subsequently delve into the seamy political underbelly of the city and the nation.  They also become entangled in the fate of a young Frenchwoman, Collette Rousseau, who is a student of the famous Marie Curie.  This novel explores a historical mystery that was never actually solved and expands it to truly dastardly proportions.

Almost a year and a half ago, I read Jed Rubenfeld's first book, The Interpretation of Murder which I fully expected to love and instead came away from with mixed feelings. I just looked back on my thoughts on the book and, not surprisingly, could easily copy a portion of that review and paste it here for his second book and sequel, The Death Instinct. I say "not surprisingly" because even though I had forgotten most of the first book, as I was reading the second book, I started remembering having the same feelings before.

"I was having trouble getting through it over the past few days and I decided to power through just to find out what happened. There are many good things about the book but it just wasn't quite there for me."

"This book had a few flaws that kept me from totally enjoying it, even as easy reading. First, the characters, on more than one occasion, use sarcasm. The problem with this is that it's hard to read sarcasm."

"Finally, I just felt that the book needed some more editing ..."

As The Death Instinct features the same main character as the first book--Stratham Younger--and he was the one who frequently employed sarcasm, this remained a problem for me. His awful opinions of women also made it impossible to care for his fate as the main character. Again, I thought that the book could have been edited down more and that the historical and plot elements didn't flow together well. There were large information dumps in various parts of the novel. I found the information quite interesting but the way it was presented took me out of the story too often. This was a fascinating historical event that I knew almost nothing about.

I definitely appreciated the amount of research that must have been done to craft this story and part of me wishes that Rubenfeld had written a non-fiction about this incident instead. I gave this author a second chance with this novel because I had mixed feelings on the first one and hoped for an improvement but I think this will be it for me. I love the settings and events that he chooses but not the novels themselves.

Reluctantly moving on,
K

This book is currently on a TLC Book Tour.  You can read reviews with a different opinion than mine at The Lost Entwife and Rundpinne.  Other reviews will be linked up at the tour page over the next month.

Support our site and buy The Death Instinct on Amazon or find it at your local library. We received a copy for review from the publisher and have posted this review as part of a blog tour.

New Release: Roast Mortem

Last year I reviewed, Holiday Grind, the eighth coffeehouse mystery by Cleo Coyle.  Now the ninth book, Roast Mortem, has just been released  and it's another suspenseful outing full of fragrant aromas and danger.

Clare Cosi is a divorced coffeehouse manager who continually finds herself in hairy situations.  This time, it's an explosive fire at a friend's cafe -- an incident where an employee and Clare's former mother-in-law are hurt and the elderly cafe owner is almost killed.  Clare is certain that it was not an accident and she uses her excessive curiosity and tenacity to lead her to the culprit.  But the path to discovery is not an easy one as it heads through a local firehouse with some unique personalities including the cousin of Clare's boyfriend who has a thing for Clare and a strong hatred of her boyfriend.  Can Clare navigate a web of loyalty and bravado to get to the truth?

This was a pretty standard mystery.  Its strengths are in the very detailed New York City setting and some vivid descriptions of Clare's cooking and baking.  I'll admit to liking Clare a bit less than I did in the last book in the series.  This time she seemed a bit more cranky and rude.  However, I liked her ex-husband and her boyfriend more than in the last book!  I would still like to go back and read the first seven books in the series when I have a chance.

This book has recipes in the back and I couldn't resist trying one of them, especially since there's a scene in the book where Clare is baking these Doughnut Muffins.  They are meant to have the texture of an old fashioned doughnut and are topped with cinnamon sugar.

They looked great but we all know that there's only one way to measure baking success ...

I didn't get quite the right cake doughnut texture with these muffins (probably the fault of my less than stellar oven) but they were definitely tasty!  After all, they have fresh nutmeg in the cake mix.  Yum!  There are also some savory recipes in the back and I would love to try the penne mac n' cheese.  Next time I will probably try and enjoy the recipes while reading the book for a special experience.

Enjoying a little sweet companion to the bitterness of murder,
K


Support our site and buy Roast Mortem on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We received an advance review copy from the author.

New Release: A Fierce Radiance

There seems to be no shortage of books set in World War II these days.  And yet each one manages to explore and expose the conflict from a different perspective.  Lauren Belfer's A Fierce Radiance is set in New York City and touches on a variety of issues -- the role of photographers in a time of tragedy, the changing roles of women, the difficulties of parenting during wartime and the development of antibiotic drugs, just to name a few.  Each is presented in a bleak but honest light and one cannot help but want to explore many of these issues in a deeper way after finishing this strong novel.

The main character of the book is Claire Shipley, a staff photographer with Life magazine.  She is a single mother, living on her own in New York City.  When she is asked to follow the story of a patient at the Rockefeller Institute who is one of a few penicillin trial patients, the story hits a deep chord for her.  She lost her own daughter to an infection almost eight years earlier and this is a drug that would have saved her life -- and if successful will indeed save the lives of millions around the world.  However, when her story is not printed, she questions why and finds out that the government has taken over the penicillin project for the war effort.  Eventually she becomes deeply involved in the penicillin web -- through ties of love, blood and patriotism.

Moving smoothly between plot lines of science, romance, business and espionage, this novel takes the reader on an emotional journey through the trials of Americans during the war.  There are the boys sent off to fight and the families left at home.  There are the women left to work and make do with what they can gather despite rationing.  There are the scientists who are trying to save lives while under the constraints of a government that is currently in the business of ending them.  When this all comes together, it is a rich story that leaves one with the obvious conclusion that there are very few lives that are left untouched by war.  There are very few who are not forced to confront demons -- either within or without.  This is a powerful narrative that succeeds in providing a glimpse into these lives.

Seeing everything now in shades of grey,
K


Support our site and buy A Fierce Radiance on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We received an advanced review copy from a publicist.

New Release: The Swan Thieves

After loving The Historian a few years back, I couldn't wait for Elizabeth Kostova's next novel. Though it is about quite a different subject (Dracula versus Impressionist painters), I enjoyed The Swan Thieves as well. This is a novel with multiple narratives, one in the past and one in the present. While some other recent novels that used this technique have suffered from one weaker story, I felt that there was more of a balance of quality in this novel.

Andrew Marlow is a psychiatrist and amateur painter who has taken on a new patient as a favor to a friend. The man, semi-renowned painter Robert Oliver, was caught right as he was attacking an Impressionist canvas at the National Gallery of Art. Though Marlow's talent lies in getting people to talk, Oliver's decision to not speak a word foils his treatment. Instead, Marlow has to figure out for himself what events led up to Oliver's art-defiling outburst. Through interviews, research and a bit of luck, he not only reveals the demons haunting Robert Oliver but also solves a mystery from the past.

Told mainly through letters and interviews, I enjoyed the flow of this novel. I thought the story in the past was strong and touching. I haven't mentioned it in the summary because I think it is best experienced without any spoilers. All I will say is that it is the story of a female artist in late nineteenth century Paris. I thought the language and actions seemed authentic. I also thought the writing in the modern story was strong although some elements of the plot were not. It was hard to believe that a professional psychiatrist would realize that his actions were unhealthy and most likely unethical and yet continue with his choices. There was nothing he did that was terrible but I just found myself annoyed in a few places. Overall, though, I thought this was a good read but not as strong as The Historian. I will definitely be looking forward to Kostova's next novel and hoping that the wait is less than five years long this time!

Remembering to stop and stare at the canvases,
K


Support our site and buy The Swan Thieves on Amazon or find it at your local library. We received a review copy from the publisher.

New Release: The Puzzle King

I need to be more adventurous when it comes to choosing books. I saw Betsy Carter's The Puzzle King in an upcoming releases list but decided against reading it because it touched on the Holocaust. I thought it would be sad and depressing. However, I received an unrequested copy for review and decided to pick it up immediately. The short of it -- I really liked this book.

This is the story of Simon Phelps, a young boy who came to America by himself when he was nine years old and also the story of his bride to be, Flora Grossman. Flora and her sister came to America from Germany in their teens while their mother and sister stayed behind. Simon is an artist and we see his growth from a young immigrant into a successful businessman. He invents the cardboard puzzle and becomes very wealthy. Yet he is always haunted by the fact that he can't find any evidence that his family in Latvia survived after he left. Flora has to deal with the fact that her sister, brother-in-law and niece could be in danger because they are German Jews. This novel is about love, loss and the ways in which we redeem ourselves by saving others.

Carter has written this novel based on her family history and it is an incredibly sweet and touching story. Even at the saddest moment of the book, I had no tears because I felt like destiny was running its course. None of the characters are perfect but you feel that most of them are trying to be the best they can be.

This novel has just been released by Algonquin Books. The hardcover artwork is beautiful, isn't it?

Learning through the lives of others,
K


Support our site and buy The Puzzle King on Amazon or find it at your local library.

"I was leaning against the bar in a speakeasy on Fifty-second Street, waiting for Nora to finish her Christmas shopping ..."

A few years ago the husband and I discovered the Thin Man movies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. We loved them for their wit and humor and also the strong detective stories. Powell and Loy are one of those classic Hollywood couples that have perfect on-screen chemistry. So when I was choosing books from the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die list, I knew that I would have to read the source, Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man.

This classic detective story stars Nick Charles, a private detective turned businessman, his darling wife Nora and their terrier, Asta. They are visiting New York for their Christmas holiday and they get involved in a murder investigation due to Nick's former profession. A woman is murdered and her employer is missing. The employer's family is a trio of lunatics and those around them aren't much better. The mystery is strong in this story but what really stands out is the writing. It's incredibly simplistic and plot-driven but at the same time the characters are witty and smart--and usually tight (drunk).

I'm very glad to have read this book for the 1% Well-Read Challenge. It's an amusing look into 1930's culture with visits to the speakeasy, lots of burly cops and some unique slang. This is my fourth book to count toward the challenge and so far, between Rebecca, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Pride and Prejudice and this one, I think that this challenge is really worthwhile. These are books that have taken root in our social consciousness and reading them has given me a better understanding of our own culture. I can't wait to continue with my list!

Wondering if I could ever have a drink before breakfast,
K


Buy The Thin Man on Amazon or find it at your local library.

New Release: Distant Waves

A couple of months ago this book caught my eye and I finally just got the chance to read it. I was attracted to Suzanne Weyn's Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic because it featured Nikola Tesla. While it turns out that Tesla is not a major character in the book--though he has a major influence on events--it has much more to offer readers.

Jane Taylor is the second of five sisters being raised by their widowed mother. When Jane is only four, her mother decides to move the family to Spirit Vale, a spiritualistic community near Buffalo, New York. Here Mrs. Taylor takes up as a medium and the girls grow up in a very unconventional way. The story picks back up when Jane is sixteen and decides she wants to be a journalist. She decides to enter a contest by writing about Nikola Tesla, whom the family met once. She finds out that he lives at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and she and her older sister Mimi sneak off to NYC hoping for an interview. This trip ends up being the beginning of a chain of events that changes these girls' lives forever.

This is a hard book to summarize because it really has a lot of different interlaced plot threads. It addresses spiritualism in the early 1900s, the work of Nikola Tesla and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the disaster of the Titanic. There are love stories, family conflicts and business deals. This makes for a very fast-paced book that certainly whets one's appetite to delve further into some of these events. My only problem with the book was that it didn't seem to be well edited. There were a couple of wrong words, some timing discrepancies (like changes in the age gaps between the sisters) and some continuity issues (Jane rides a train to New York when she is four and then gushes when she goes on her "first" train ride when she is sixteen). The initial dialogue in the book is also a bit strange with a four year old and a six year old having a discussion about postmarks. Their voices weren't written any differently than when they were teens. Despite these small flaws, this book was very interesting and I sped through it, waiting to find out what befell the Taylor sisters.

Looking forward to the next time I meet Tesla,
K


Buy Distant Waves: A Novel Of The Titanic on Amazon or find it at your local library.

New Release: Sherlock Holmes in America

It has probably been a decade since I read through all of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories so it was nice to revisit the character in the newly released Sherlock Holmes in America. With a foreward by Daniel Stashower and also including a dinner speech about America from Conan Doyle himself, this collection of short stories about Holmes is literally all over the map ... of America.

Some stories in this book feature Holmes by himself, some with Watson, a couple with his brother Mycroft and one story even stars a young Harry Houdini picturing himself as Sherlock Holmes. The stories take place in such varied places as San Diego, Salt Lake City, San Antonio and Boston. Some of the stories are based on previously written Holmes stories and others are completely new. Most of the mysteries are somewhat simple but the characters are complex and interesting. Even if you haven't read any Sherlock Holmes stories before, this book stands alone fairly well.

One of the prevailing themes is that America is a country of action and of survival. In Conan Doyle's words:

These things are the romance of America, the romance of change, of contrast, of danger met and difficulty overcome, and let me say that we, as your kinsmen, upon the other side, exult in your success and in your prosperity ...

This book is chock-full of award winning American writers and the variety of styles and themes is refreshing and fun.

Enjoying the marriage of two worlds,
K


Buy Sherlock Holmes in America on Amazon or find it at your local library.

"Lightning first, then the thunder."

If you are in the mood for a historical fiction that is much heavier on the fiction than the history, try Samantha Hunt's novel about Nikola Tesla, The Invention of Everything Else. If you aren't familiar with Tesla, he was a very prolific scientist who, among other things, worked with electricity and had an awesome lightning lab in Colorado Springs. A version of the lab was featured in the Christian Bale/Hugh Jackman movie The Prestige with Nikola Tesla played by David Bowie.

This book incorporates Tesla's bizarre love of pigeons, his obsessive-compulsive disorder and his friendship with Samuel Clemens into a story about a man coming to terms with death. We also see a little bit of the rivalry with Thomas Edison, Tesla's former mentor. This story is actually focused on a young woman, Louisa, who is a maid at the Hotel New Yorker where Tesla lives at the end of his life. Louisa is a young woman always living in the shadow of her father's love for her dead mother. She goes to clean Tesla's room and starts reading his biographical papers and becomes interested in his past. This story took off in some pretty bizarre directions (think time travel) and was rather disjointed but it has inspired me to learn more about Tesla so I will be picking up a book that Hunt suggests -- Tesla: Man Out of Time by Margaret Cheney.

And for your viewing pleasure, here is the man himself, supposedly quite a favorite of the society ladies at the time even though he saved himself for science.



Inspired but left wanting more,
K


Buy The Invention of Everything Else and Tesla: Man Out of Time on Amazon or find them at your local library.

"The fog crept in at four o'clock."

My reading list of late is full of books set in Victorian times. My most recent read, The Spiritualist by Megan Chance, is set in New York in 1856. It's a murder mystery involving an "upper ten" family, a New Orleans spiritualist and a host of upper and lower class characters. This story was engaging and well-written but I was a bit annoyed by the plot. After a short while, I started wondering if she was going to take the predictable route as to whom the murderer would turn out to be and I was right. I won't go into details and spoil the plot for future readers but if you have read this, let me know if you felt the same way.

This was still an enjoyable book despite the necessity to shout "I knew it!" and I have read some good reviews of An Inconvenient Wife so I will definitely read that at some point.

Rapping three times for yes,
K


Buy The Spiritualist: A Novel on Amazon or find it at your local library.

"Gentlemen: Your ad in the Saturday Review of Literature says that you specialize in out-of-print books."

Recently, in all of the talk about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, another book was mentioned that I have wanted to read and so I picked it up at the library. That book was 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. This is a collection of letters between New Yorker Hanff and the employees of the Marks and Co. bookstore in London, especially with one Frank Doel. For twenty years, Hanff orders old and rare books from London and becomes friends with Doel, his co-workers and his family. She sends them care-packages of meat and eggs when they are suffering through rations after WWII. She sends friends to visit the bookstore when they travel abroad. But unfortunately Hanff is never able to save enough money to take her own trip to England to meet these friends.

This is a very short book, only 97 pages, but it is so incredibly sweet and funny that it is worth the time reading it. It gives insight into some everyday lives that we otherwise would never know about. I highly suggest reading this book if you haven't yet.

Wanting to find the England that I dream of,
K


Buy 84, Charing Cross Road on Amazon or find it at your local library.