The Witch of Lime Street

When the 1920s are mentioned, most people think of flappers, jazz and Prohibition, not seances and mediums. Yet it was also the revival of Spiritualism, as people dealt with the losses from WWI and the Spanish flu. One of its greatest defenders at the time was none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, father of Sherlock Holmes and victim of the Cottingley Fairies hoax. On the other side, we have the debunkers, led by Harry Houdini himself, who never tried to pass his act as magic.

The central theme of the book is a prize offered by Scientific American to the psychic whose powers would withstand the scrutiny of a panel of juries, including Houdini and several respected scientists. Several mediums face up to the jury only to be debunked, until Mina Crandon. Mina is a respectable society wife, who finds her "talent" out almost by accident and doesn't receive money for her seances, unlike all other contestants. Of course, the clash of egos between the juries, Mina's husband and assorted others doesn't help things to go smoothly.

Despite this, the book meanders through Houdini's life story, other cases of mediumship, Sir Conan Doyle's story and many, many other dusty corners. It is intriguing but, at the same time, it can be confusing and wearing. Mina Crandon, despite being the titular witch, doesn't make her entrance until about a third of the book and her testing takes even longer to be described. It would improve through some more aggressive editing, tightening up the story. A bibliography and references are also missed, despite the recommended reading list.

The Witch of Lime Street is a fascinating book, specially for those curious minds that will revel in the side stories and characters of the time.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

The World Before Us

I received a review copy from the publisher in return for this fair and honest review

The World Before us by Aislinn Hunter

There are books that are "love it or hate it" and this is certainly one of them. As is often the case, this book has beautiful language and descriptions, meandering lines of thoughts and unconventional narrators. It is slow and takes its time to develop the mystery and to show how things connect. Not every question is answered. This can either fascinate the readers or bore them to death and insanity (quite fittingly).

From the short synopsis, this wasn't what I expected. Had I gone in knowing all this, I would have enjoyed it more, instead of getting frustrated with a book that seemed to go nowhere for a long time. Expectations...

The Marriage of Opposites

This book was provided by the publisher, in return for a fair and honest review

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

Telling the story of "common people", "looked over people", "people surrounding a famous person", "insider view told by a family member", etc, has become a popular genre. From lesser known biblical characters to forgotten painters, it seems that every possible angle is being explored in order to tell a story with a celebrity hook. In this case, the plot revolves around Rachel Pome Petit Pizzaro, whose connection to fame is her son, Camille Pissaro, dean of Impressionism.

Rachel is seen as a headstrong, outspoken, unpleasant woman (the reader will tend to agree, specially as the book progresses). She grows up with her best friend, the family servant's daughter, and eventually accepts a marriage of convenience to help her father's business. Eventually widowed, she falls in love with her husband's nephew, which is forbidden by the Jewish faith. Of course, this doesn't stop her. Eventually, one of her sons (her favourite, of course) goes to France to become a painter. Interwoven are the story of Justine and her daughter, family secrets and mistaken impressions.

That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the book let me down. The characters are often barely sketched out (just try to describe her second husband, for example). The story often jumps several years, leaving the poor reader confused. And it both foreshadows to the point of obviousness (come on, who didn't know Justine's parentage a third of the way in?) and springs things completely out of the blue (Isaac's background). Hoffman also wants to be poetic and literary, using and abusing the symbolism (such as changing a historical character's background to fit).

That sounds pretty harsh but the book is better than that. The first part is an amusing read and most of the faults are concentrated in the second half. I felt as though Hoffman suddenly realized she had to get to a certain point before ending the book and started axing sideplots and minor characters. For example, near the end one of Rachel's child is extremely ill. There is no build up: the narrator just informs the reader of the fact, even though we had seen no sign of Rachel's worry until this point.

Would I recommend this book? Not really. There is better light reading out there.

Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World

This book was provided by the publisher, in return for this fair and honest review

Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World by Rachel Swaby

This book is a light but interesting read. Organized by the main branches of science, it dedicates a few pages to each of 52 scientists who were women. Yes, that is an awkward phrase but I feel I need to highlight that they are being judged as scientists, first and foremost. Not one of them felt out of place, picked simply to round off the list. Each one made major contributions to their fields. Some won Nobel prizes while others were passed over for their colleagues. All of them worked hard and produced amazing results.

Often, science seems to have been made by men, with the occasional token woman thrown in. Women are usually the assistants, the secretaries, the support staff, the ladies doing grunt work while the real thinkers arrive at the brilliant results. This collection shows that this isn't the whole truth. Many women fought to break barriers, overcome stereotypes and often were unpaid, unrecognized and unwanted.

XKCD nails it, as usual
https://xkcd.com/896/

However, this isn't a feminist book. Most of all, it is a celebration of good science despite everything that got in the way. The clear language will help any reader to learn more about medicine, genetics, bugs, physics, chemistry and the life in the lab.

The Belles of Williamsburg by Mary Maillard

I read a review copy of this book provided by the publisher, in exchange for this fair and honest review.

The Belles of Williamsburg by Mary Maillard is a collection  of letters exchanged between Eliza Fisk Harwood and Tristrim Lowther Skinner between 1839-1849. They met when Skinner lodged with Eliza's foster mother (her childless godmother) while studying at William and Mary College. The correspondence was kept up over 10 years, from their friendship up to their marriage. During this period, Eliza grows from a young teen (13) to a young woman, chronicling her debut, period as a belle and their engagement.

Part of this story is uncomfortable for modern day readers: Skinner has decided he wants to marry the 13 year old Eliza and keeps up the correspondence while waiting for her to reach courtship age. From the letters, it isn't clear what attracted him to the young girl, though it wasn't unusual at the time, considering that other 13 year olds were already engaged. 

It is also good to have some previous knowledge of the time period. Eliza and Tristrim are keeping in contact with each other, not writing for future generations. They don't bother to explain conventions of their time or to introduce the people around them, since both are familiar with Mrs Galt or Mr Thompson.

Overall, it is an interesting collection but reading it is long, slow and often boring. It does show how the young couple related to one another and it is very interesting from that perspective. The foot notes and excerpts from a contemporary novel add details and explanations for the reader. It isn't a narrative, though, where an editor mercilessly slashes out everything not related to the main plot, etc. It will be priceless to those interested in mid 19th century society. I doubt it will be of much interest to most readers, who may prefer a more condescend version, with more contextualization and using excerpts from the letters, instead of the whole text of them.

The Realism Challenge by Mark Crilley

I read a review copy provided by the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.

The Realism Challenge by Mark Crilley

I first saw Mark Crilley's work on Youtube. I was amazed to see him building up a hyper realistic drawing of a crumpled piece of paper and of egg shells. When I saw this book, I was immediately curious to understand his methods.

Straight off, let me state that this isn't a book on how to draw. It assumes the reader already knows the basics (lines, shading, blending, colouring, etc) and focuses on doing hyper realistic drawings from very simple still lives. If you don't draw, don't expect this book to teach you how. If you already draw, Mark will show you how to capture the smallest details and to do a perfect layout.

I am not a drawer, unfortunately, and, even so, I was fascinated by the step by step pictures. I hope to apply his techniques to my technical sketches, to make them more enticing and realistic.

Rain - a Natural and Cultural History

I read a review copy provided by the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.

Rain - a Natural and Cultural History by Cynthia Barnett

How often do you think about rain? Unless we are caught in a downpour or in the midst of a drought, the answer is usually "not much". A rainy day may be the perfect excuse to curl up with a book and tea (not that I need an excuse) or ruin a day at the beach. But we all recognize that rain is vital.

This little gem of a book is all about rain and human relationship with rain. It covers mythological views, historical incidences, meteorology and rain making, literature, charlatans, visionaries and more cases of the influence of rain than I could have imagined. Each topic has just enough meat to satisfy but not too much to bog down the reading.

In the end, the text reminds us of just how essential rain is and how long we've tried to coach it down, push it away and control it. A delightful and easy read with ideas that will linger in your mind.

Woodstock finally takes the limelight!

This book was provided by NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review. I couldn't be happier with it!

Woodstock: Master of Disguise by Charles Schulz

I have a huge grin just thinking back on this book. It is Woodstock in the limelight! For a small bird that doesn't talk (but communicates quite clearly), he certainly says a lot. And along with Woodstock, of course there is a good dose of Snoopy as well. There is even a little flip book illustration Easter Egg!

The comics are funny, sweet and bittersweet. Woodstock and Snoopy's relationship is at the heart of it, which isn't surprising since Snoopy is not only his best friend but also his defender (kicking Charlie Brown's behind for accidentally knocking Woodstock off a tree), his boss (Woodstock is secretary, caretaker, right wing bird and more) and his translator. How can we not smile as they alternate sleeping times, so one is "always awake in case of vampires?" or  when Snoopy lets him fill in all the blue skies in the colouring book?

I expect younger kids may find it boring but it is perfect for adults. I love this little guy!

The Woman in the Movie Star Dress

This book was provided by NetGalleys in return for a fair and honest review.

The Woman in the Movie Star Dress by Praveen Asthana is described as a young woman's journey of self discovery, as Genevieve (aka Daisy Bear) overcomes her insecurities through the ability to pick up the personality inprinted on old clothing by their past wearers. Lucky for her, she works in a second hand clothing shop specialized in Old Hollywood movie costumes.

The heroine is supposed to be the adorably awkward, girl next door, overlooked in love lady that we identify with and cheer for. She comes across as insecure, irresponsible (late for work, complaining if the boss asks her to do something) and only interested in men. Not mention judgmental of other women to the point of calling a Marilyn Monroe impersonator a slut for recreating the swooshing white dress for tourists. She also has the habit of treating store inventory like her personal wardrobe, even wearing one of the showcase items (a Grace Kelly dress from High Society) to a party and adopting a hat as her own.

It is hard to talk about the other characters since they are so flat: the boss is supposed to be tough (because she dislikes tardiness and asks her employees to actually work instead of sitting around talking all day), the coworker is nosy and man mad, the guys are all similar, the brother is a damaged soul (might it be because of that family secret?!) and the alcoholic father.

The plot resembles the second hand clothing store, except without the glamour of mostly fake Hollywood dresses. You can find every style and cliche in fiction history in there: a murder mystery, a family secret, a love triangle (square, actually), the girl who is too shy to deal with men, a supernatural ability, etc. At the same time, a lot of pages are wasted on endless conversations about men, speculation about men ("top shelf men" - really?), etc. The plot could have been tightened up, the extra material removed and the trite situations rewritten. Sorry, it is hardly convincing to have the point of view character thing about "the thing that changed everything" (or similar phrases) and still string the reader along before telling the horrible secret.

The editor could also have reworked a lot of bad sentences like the previously mentioned "top shelf men". Or "there was something about him that stirred something in her."

Overall, it is a weak book. Between the unconvincing characters and plodding plot, I felt like giving up a third of the way through.

Make ahead Bread

After all that Chinese culture and philosophy, I turned to some home comforts. What is cozier than warm bread straight from the oven, some tea and a nice book?

I've recently started trying to master making bread. While I can make quite a good loaf of plain bread, I wanted to increase my repertoire and I jumped on this book when I saw it on NetGalleys (who provided my review copy). Making ahead seemed like the perfect solution: prepare the dough and then bake it when I want to (ie, when the last slice of the previous food was eaten).

Now, I confess I have never had much luck with sour dough. My starter tended to be a finisher, the dough tended to mold instead of rising, etc. I found the introduction and the first chapters of this book, describing how to grow the yeast, clear and direct. No flowery language but plenty of floury descriptions (sorry, I will restrain any further puns). The recipes are interesting and varied. At the moment, my starter is growing nicely on all the water and flour. It should be ready to be used by the weekend and I can hardly wait.

However, I am not thoroughly pleased with this book. "Making ahead" doesn't mean preparing the dough when I have time and baking it when I have need. It means that most recipes require two or three days of advanced planning, allowing the dough to rest overnight, etc. While the total work time required isn't terrible, I found it hard to fit into my real life. Thinking "I will need bread two days from now so let's get started" isn't very practical. My life tends to be more: "Hmmm, running out of bread for dinner, let me bake another loaf". So I love the yeast heavy, two hours raising time recipes (King Arthur's Blitz Bread is great!).

If you want to do sour dough, however, get this book first!

Trying not to be a philosophy book

Trying Not to Try by Edward Slingerland is described as a self help book, promising to show readers how to use ancient Chinese philosophy to attain the state of "flow" and to have a more harmonious, effortless life. Yadda yadda yadda.

That is a disservice to this book. More than anything, it is an introduction to two concepts from Chinese philosophy: wu-wey, the state of effortlessly doing, and de, the attraction we have to people who are in wu-wey. It is centered on the age old question of human nature (are we naturally good or do we have to work hard to be good) and shows how two opposing philosophical schools (Confucianism and Taoism) approach the question and how a third school tries to reconcile the differences into a actionable view. From there, Slingerland connects with more contemporary culture, showing how these concepts are related to "flow" and even to the Force. 

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is a very approachable introduction to Chinese philosophy and culture, showing how the idea of effortless perfection and the exhaustive training necessary to reach it developed. However, if I wanted a book that would help me implement those concepts, I would have been sadly disappointed. It seems that the editor decided that self help sells more than philosophy and adjusted the marketing plan to suit.

Book Review - The Porcelain Thief

For BloggingForBooks,com

The Porcelain Thief: Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China by Huan Hsu

The book is a mixture of family narrative, personal story and Chinese history, told by an American born Chinese (ABC), Huan Hsu. The main focus of the book is Hsu's attempt to find his great great grandfather's hoard of fine china, buried during the fall of Imperial China. During his journey, he finds out more of his family's story from that point to the present day and narrates some Chinese history, as relates to the porcelain.

First off, I greatly disliked the author. It never becomes clear why he wants his family's china collection - he doesn't appreciate fine porcelain (in fact, he doesn't know the most basic facts about it), he doesn't really care about his family history (he argues with his grandmother, since she is telling him all about her experience and the family's situation, instead of just about the hoard) and is not above using people (like his cousin, from whom he mooches quite a lot). His disdain for China and Chinese people drips off the page and he couldn't care less for the culture. He even sets off on his grand adventure without bothering with the least amount of research, even though he is a journalist!

Having said that, some parts of the book work better than others. The best part is the family narrative and seeing it get pieced together is interesting. Chinese history is fascinating and varied but it is hard to make sense of the splotches of historical facts spread out through the text. The author's own story had me face palming quite frequently because of his obvious social blunders, cultural blindness and self centered views.

My recommendation would be to pass this book and look for better sources about China.