Book Review: The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” by Alan Light

Book #252 of 2017:

The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” by Alan Light

An interesting slice of music history, detailing how an obscure track from an obscure songwriter grew over time to become one of rock music’s most-covered songs. Author Alan Light recounts the sequence of events that fed the growing “Hallelujah” avalanche, but he also delves deeply into the tensions and ironies inherent in the lyrics, exploring how the same song can seem secular or sacred, a hymn of triumph or of tragedy, depending on each singer’s emphasis. The many diverse interpretations of Leonard Cohen’s words have helped drive it to its unexpected success, and Light’s interviews with some of its more famous performers represent a fascinating kaleidoscope of perspectives on this modern classic.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix

Book #251 of 2017:

Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix (The Keys to the Kingdom #3)

This third volume in Garth Nix’s seven-part Keys to the Kingdom series is the least formulaic so far, which is a welcome change from the one before. I’m still not super invested in the story or these characters – still waiting for that Garth Nix magic I’ve loved in his other books – but this was a decent yarn with some nautical Dawn Treader flair. I’ll probably keep going with the series at some point.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Book #250 of 2017:

Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (Enchanted Forest Chronicles #2)

Even more so than the book before it, this second novel in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles is cute and fun and absolutely hilarious. Author Patricia C. Wrede’s wry comic tone has been honed to perfection here, and I especially like all the classic fairy tales that she lovingly tweaks a la Into the Woods or Shrek. I would have loved this book as a child, and it’s no less delightful to encounter as an adult.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

Book #249 of 2017:

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

College dropout Jane is at a crossroads in her life when she accepts a wealthy friend’s invitation to come visit her family’s island manor. While there, the result of one small decision leads Jane off into different branching and genre-hopping adventures, which author Kristin Cashore presents sequentially as the book goes along. In one thread, Jane investigates the theft of a priceless painting. In another, she’s haunted by a malevolent spirit. In yet another, she travels aboard a rocketship under attack by space pirates.

It’s an interesting idea, especially since readers can recognize the other threads playing out in the background of each current story, suggesting that all of these plots are happening in the house at once, no matter which one Jane gets caught up in. But the build-up to this is delayed – the book is 40% through by the time the action first resets – and Cashore doesn’t ever really explain why we’re seeing these particular possibilities unfold or give any greater resolution to Jane’s story. There’s potential in this novel, but the version in this reality feels pretty inert.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Book #248 of 2017:

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

This Pulitzer-winning novel speaks powerfully of all the ways that people can be boxed in and abused by society, particularly poor black women in the rural south. Its epistolary format is ideal for carrying the raw emotion of its heroine as she struggles to find beauty and meaning in her life, and author Alice Walker’s use of dialect is a bold choice that pays dividends in establishing her character throughout the book. (I personally could have used some quotation marks, as it’s sometimes hard to track which character is speaking at any given time, but Celie’s letters do feel more authentic without them.)

There are so many layers and facets to this narrative, but I was particularly struck by the subtle ways that Walker builds up Celie’s attraction to women, which in many ways the character doesn’t even have the language to express. It’s an instant classic, and quite rightfully so.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Book #247 of 2017:

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I have such mixed feelings about this book, which essentially aims to be Black Lives Matter: the novel. It’s important, and I’m so glad that it exists and has become a bestseller. I love that it’s going to introduce some readers to the widespread injustice of police shootings and provide insight into how a person and their wider community might react to an innocent friend getting gunned down in front of them. Fiction is a great tool for getting inside someone else’s mind, and I can fully believe there are some young readers out there who won’t really understand the tragedy behind all the hashtagged black names until they see it from the inside of a novel like this.

With that being said, I think the book is more important for what it represents than it is a great story in its own right. There are too many exchanges that feel like didactic preaching rather than natural dialogue, especially between the narrator and her clueless white classmates, and too many character arcs that just boil down to a person becoming more woke. It also seems like the ripped-from-the-headlines angle boxes the author in, to the point where there’s practically a checklist of things that have to happen and not enough space for the story to really surprise us. In the end I still liked it, but it was not nearly as revelatory as I had hoped.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Shardik by Richard Adams

Book 246 of 2017:

Shardik by Richard Adams (Beklan Empire #1)

I loved this 1974 story of a Stone Age civilization treating a giant bear as the incarnation of their god, a sprawling feat of worldbuilding that feels wholly different from the author’s better-known classic Watership Down. It’s slow but engaging, and I appreciate the ambiguity that its title animal can be read as either a divine agent or not. This is a fantasy story with no overt magic, set in a prehistory so deep it may as well be another world, and it carries an epic feel as though it really were a surviving relic of those times. The prose can be a little clunky to modern ears, and the story could certainly have been tightened up, but this is a tome that really rewards readers for falling into its world.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey

Book #245 of 2017:

The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey

Among the great strengths of author M.R. Carey’s The Girl with All the Gifts are its unique viewpoint character and the gradual way that it eases readers into some key realizations about her world. But given those strengths, it’s hard not to feel let down by this follow-up prequel The Boy on the Bridge, which is far more conventional and straightforward while echoing many of the overall plot points from the original novel.

Reading these books in chronological order would rob The Girl with All the Gifts of some of its impact (especially given the short epilogue to The Boy on the Bridge that jumps forward in time to after that other book), but reading them in publication order just makes this one seem like a weaker copy. Perhaps a third novel would alter that dynamic, but for now, The Boy on the Bridge feels pretty inessential.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston

Book #244 of 2017:

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston

Fiction about rape can easily turn maudlin, but E. K. Johnston has written a tightly-focused story of a high school cheerleader who refuses to consider herself a victim, even as she struggles to overcome the trauma. It’s a tricky balance, and sensitive readers may wish to give this book a pass, but its strong female friendships and nuanced understanding of the different ways people can respond to an assault help elevate the material. Reclaiming a feeling of power can be an important aspect of the healing process, and Johnston explores that with great compassion.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

Book #243 of 2017:

La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman (The Book of Dust #1)

A fairly underwhelming prequel to Philip Pullman’s classic His Dark Materials trilogy, La Belle Sauvage consists mainly of characters trading custody of the baby Lyra Belacqua like a tiny squalling MacGuffin. There’s too much focus on setting up the events of the original series (and presumably the rest of this new trilogy, which will reportedly take place after His Dark Materials), and not enough effort to tell a compelling independent story in its own right. It’s still Pullman, so it isn’t awful, but it all feels pretty inessential nonetheless. If lightsabers and blasters were enough to make you like The Phantom Menace, alethiometers and dæmons will likely have the same effect here, but such trappings largely fail to recapture the magic.

★★★☆☆

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