Here Lies Arthur - Philip Reeve

From the outset, I have to confess that I love stories about King Arthur, and have read every version that I can get my hands on. But this one left me cold.

It was well written, and very readable, but it was author's take on the legend that I didn't care for. Arthur is portrayed as a small-time ruffian with his band of followers, pillaging and raping at will; Gwenhwyfar is a bit of a cougar (in the modern usage of the term); there is no round table and the building built to house the round table has a straw roof and collapses; and Merlin is a teller of tales and a petty conjurer, who is spreading his vision of who Arthur should be rather than who he really is.

I do appreciate the value of different perspectives on legends, but I could have done without this version. All of the magic, chivalry, and questing nature - everything that I love about the Arthurian legend - are gone. This is not going to make my re-read list, and I am going to have to try very hard to forget it.

Out of Africa - Karen Blixen

I picked this book out of my TBR pile a few weeks ago, and it has served me well during this busy time as a book that I could pick up at bedtime and read a chapter at a time.

It is a book that I have planned to read for many a year (though I have never seen the movie); especially since moving back to Canada from Africa. I am in mixed feelings about this book, as I had expected to be.

What I didn't like: the colonial attitude, the racism (though the author seemed to pride herself on her lack of racism and relationship with the "natives"), the use of multiple random languages without a translation. I managed OK with the French and Swahili, but the German was beyond me! I was also frustrated by the lack of personal details - it was only by doing my own research after finishing the book that I learned about the authors marriage, separation, divorce, and affair with Denys Finch-Hatton; which were all going on during the period that this book takes place.

What I did like: the beautiful descriptions of the countryside so that I could imagine myself there. I am currently trying to write out some of my experiences in Tanzania, but after reading this book, I have to ask myself why bother - it has already been written and far better than I could write it. A sample: "One year the long rains failed. That is a terrible, tremendous experience, and the farmer who has lived through it will never forget it. Years afterwards, away from Africa, in the wet climate of a northern country, he will start up at night, at the sound of a sudden shower of rain, and cry, 'At last, at last.'"

About the language, I am quite fluent in Swahili, and it was nice seeing it used in a book, but I found some of the spellings and usages to be strange. I don't know if it is archaic usages because of the almost-90-year gap between when Karen Blixen learned the language and when I learned the language, or a difference between Kenyan and Tanzanian Swahili (though they are both lumped together as East African Swahili as compared with Congolese Swahili).

But overall a good read, and I'm glad that I read it!

Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

I can't remember how old I was when I first read this book. I suspect that I was probably around 12 years old. I do remember that my mother gave it to me; and as neither of my sisters have read it (I think), I suspect that it may have been in order to introduce me to a new series of books that would keep me in the realm of childhood, rather than reading the "adult" novels that I was starting to discover. I can't remember how many of the books in this series I eventually read - I think that I made it through 4 or 5, and then our little rural library didn't have the rest of the series.

I don't think that I have re-read it since reaching adulthood, that random line which I draw either at the point when I went away to university or the point when I graduated and started working. Anyways, point is that I haven't read it in a long time, and yet somehow my copy has travelled with me every time that I have moved, and been filed away in my bookcase.

Last weekend was Easter weekend, and as a church musician, it is probably the busiest week of the year for me. On Good Friday, I was looking for something to read that wouldn't involve too much brain power, and my copy of Swallows and Amazons leapt off the shelf at me. (I have to admit that I was browsing the Children's bookcase in my library!)

It was a very enjoyable re-read. All that I could remember of the plot is that it was about 2 families of children sailing and camping out in the Lake District of England. It was well written and so kept me engaged and guessing about the plot; while not being too taxing on my tired brain. Plus it made me long for summer when the ice will be off the lakes and I can get my canoe on the water again. It is definitely going to stay on my shelf for re-reads in the future!

The Wife's Tale - Lori Lansens

OK - after a week or so of re-reading, I polished off the new book by Lori Lansens in 4 days flat. Admittedly, two of those days were weekend days, but they were busy weekend days! I loved her first novel, Rush Home Road, and quite liked her second novel The Girls (though it didn't stay with me the way that Rush Home Road did). I'm not quite sure yet of my verdict on The Wife's Tale.

At first, I was completely drawn into the story, as well as the characters, but as time went on, some shades of disillusionment crept in. The plot ticked along just a bit too neatly. And then I was not happy with the ending. It was almost as though the publisher told the author, "Thou shalt not exceed 375 pages," and so the book just ended with no resolution of any of the plot lines or characters. What the...?!

Backing up a little, the book is the story of Mary Gooch, a morbidly obese woman whose husband leaves her the day before their 25th wedding anniversary. But it is really the story of Mary's life - her childhood, teen years, and married years are all woven seamlessly into the story of her trip down to California from rural southern Ontario in search of her missing husband.

Mary is such a well-drawn and believable character that I am sure that she will stay with me over time, I'm just not sure what I think of the story. I would be first in line to buy a sequel though, in order to find out what happens next! Does Mary maintain a healthy relationship with food into the future? What ever did happen to Gooch? What about those headaches that kept popping up at times? What about Ronni and the triplets? And did Eden hook up with Jack's friend?

Has anyone else read this book? What did you think of the ending? Am I missing something?

The Day the Falls Stood Still - Cathy Marie Buchanan

I have to admit that I was disappointed with this book. After reading Sailor Girl last week, a book that I would pick up in the evening to read a few pages before bed and then find myself an hour later, struggling to find a place to put it down; I found it very hard to get into this book.

I think that it was mainly the characters. Other than Tom, the "romantic lead", I found the characters (including the first-person narrator) to be very wooden and 2-dimensional. There also seemed to be no point to the book - after Tom spends his life fighting against the hydroelectric companies who are stealing water from the river to generate electricity, we are told at the end that Niagara Falls now only has between 25 and 50 percent of the original water flowing over. I guess that Tom lived and died in vain.

Was there anything that I liked about this book? I guess that I can say the historical aspect of it. The book is set between 1915 and 1923, and even though I was obviously never alive in that time period, this book made me feel that I was really there. I have read more books set in WW1 than WW2, and so that time period is very vivid in my mind. This book, describing the advent of electricity, and life in an increasingly urban setting, and ladies fashion (Bess, the narrator, is a dressmaker), sharpens my image of the period.

So a mixed review this time. Am I glad that I read this book? Yes. Will I read it again? Probably not. Will I recommend it to a friend? Again, probably not. I'm going to take a break from new books now, and re-read some old favourites this week!

Sailor Girl - Sheree-Lee Olson

This book first hit my radar when it came out 2 years ago, and I had always planned to read it, but never quite got around to it. Then last summer, I met Sheree-Lee Olson at the Sleeping Giant Writers Festival, and the first thing that she said when we introduced ourselves was "Oh, my heroine is named Kate - I should have no problems remembering your name!" So I knew that I would have to read this book!

My one regret is not reading it sooner - I just loved it. Kate, the 19-year-old heroine (who is nothing like me!) is running away from life in 1981 and gets a job on a laker, shipping up and down the Great Lakes.

What I loved most about this book was it's ability to draw me right into the moment and make it all seem so real and vivid. And as with the the best books, I was (almost) never aware of the author's voice, but was completely drawn into the narrator's voice. There are a few exceptions to this - one of the most ridiculous similes was a description of a storm on Lake Superior, "Undulating through the waves like a heifer swaying through a field of long grass;" however this was easily balanced out by the beauty of the description the page before, and the page after, and the page after that....

I have been fascinated by the lakers since I was little. Driving with my parents on the Skyway over the Hamilton Harbour on the way to visit Grandma and Grandpa, we would see the lakers gliding in and out, and docked waiting to be loaded or unloaded. Dad would tell us stories about how they would travel all over the Great Lakes carrying all sorts of loads.

Then in high school, I discovered the ballad "White Squall" by Stan Rogers, with it's tragic story of a young sailor swept overboard in a storm.

Later, I moved to Thunder Bay on the north-west corner of Lake Superior, and I can watch the same boats coming in and out of the harbour here, and think of how the same boats will probably end up in that harbour down in Hamilton. I had a chance to travel out to Isle Royale a few years ago by tugboat, and one of the memorable moments of that trip was passing by two lakers in the shipping lane on the way back to Thunder Bay.

And now, reading this book, I can put a picture to what life on the boats might be like.

One final note. Like The Golden Mean, the typeset in this book is beautiful. However, unlike The Golden Mean, the story was interesting enough that I didn't find myself distracted by the beautiful typeset!

The Sweetest One of All - Jean Little / Marisol Sarrazin

This beautiful picture book was bought as a present for my nephew (3 years) and niece (16 months) - I'm writing the review in mid-January, but won't post it until I know that the book has arrived to them, as I know that my sister occasionally checks out this blog.

The story is simple - each one of the barnyard animals has a baby animal that is just right for them (the sheep has a lamb, the horse has a foal etc), and ends with the mother telling her child that the child is the perfect one for her. A beautiful story about parent-child love (think along the lines of Robert Munsch's I'll Love You Forever) that had me crying, even though I'm not a mother.

The illustrations are also lovely - simple, clear, and colourful, with a couple of playful cats that appear on each page.

I hope that my nephew and niece enjoy this story, and I'm sure that their parents (my sister is a big fan of Jean Little) will enjoy reading it to them.