2014 Reading, Books 124-126

124) Manga Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream adapted by Richard Appignanesi and illustrated by Kate Brown

This one didn't work quite so well for me as the manga Much Ado About Nothing because the adaptation choice seemed to fight with the glorious language rather than enhance it--a sort of classical yet futuristic version of Athens that just didn't quite work for me. Still, Shakespeare.

125) All the Truth is Out by Matt Bai

I was a teen when the Gary Hart scandal broke in 1987, too young to vote still but more than old enough to pay attention. The scandal horrified me to the depths of my young Baptist soul--I didn't have any idea then just how commonplace adultery was among the powerful throughout history.

Now...what would appall me as a wife I can tolerate as a voter. Hart was certainly no worse morally than earlier politicians whose affairs were ignored by the press (Kennedy, etc.), or than later ones who survived scandal and were forgiven by enough voters to win elections (Clinton, etc.). He was just caught at the exact point in history WRT journalism, mass media, and celebrity culture to be destroyed by it, and we probably lost a capable president in the process. At the very least, the last quarter century or so would look very different if Hart rather than Bush Sr. had been elected in '88.

Bai also makes a case that we've lost something in how the Hart scandal led to much more packaged and trained candidates--it makes it easier for shallower, less competent men and women to win high office, because anyone can learn the right sound bites, and it's probably easier for someone who isn't that intelligent, thoughtful, or insightful to stay "on message" and consistent.

126) Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Rift Part 3 by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru

The final book in a trilogy and therefore interesting to fans of the series but utterly obscure to anyone else. I enjoyed this outing for a glimpse into the kind of mature avatar Aang became and some more hints at the roots of the technological and political changes that led to Korra's world decades later.

2014 Reading, Books 121-123

Ah, the joys of a long holiday weekend with plenty of time to read!

121) A Countess Below Stairs (aka The Secret Countess) by Eva Ibbotson

A fairytale of a historical romance originally published in 1981. By fairytale I mean that the good people are too good to be true while the villains are cartoonishly evil, but the writing is so elegant I was able to accept the story on its own terms and enjoy it thoroughly. If you enjoy stories set in Britain during the interwar period (this one is in 1919-20, so immediately after WWI), give this one a try.

122) Manga Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing adapted by Richard Appignanesi and illustrated by Emma Vieceli

A fun adaptation of my favorite of Shakespeare's comedies. The graphic novel format works well with the sheer exuberant absurdity of the story and with Beatrice and Benedick's banter.

123) Eight Tiny Flames by Crista McHugh

Yesterday afternoon I chose to read the Hannukah novella from this holiday historical anthology. Set in 1944 with a nurse heroine and a doctor hero sharing the celebration of Hannukah just a few miles from the front lines in WWII Belgium, it's a well-executed, romantic take on an unusual setting.

2014 Reading, Books 22-24

22) Coriolanus, by William Shakespeare.

Yesterday I saw Tom Hiddleston as Coriolanus in the Donmar Warehouse production that's being shown at various art-house cinemas. Because, Tom Hiddleston. And also Shakespeare. It was a beautiful thing. In any case, I thought it behooved me to read the play first, the better to follow the action on screen.

I can see why this isn't one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies. To me Coriolanus (the play and character alike) doesn't have the heft of a Hamlet or Macbeth or Othello. He felt more like a caricature than a person on some levels--though, that said, he's a caricature of a recognizable type, namely the brilliant, arrogant leader who feels like his accomplishments should speak for themselves and disdains the political game of appealing to the masses. I've encountered such leaders in history and even in modern politics, and in subtler form I even tend to like them--they're better than smooth-talking demagogues, at least! And now that I've seen the performance, Coriolanus as played by Hiddleston did feel like a person--a young, arrogant aristocrat gifted at war but in over his head in politics. A recognizable type indeed.

23) The Witness Wore Red, by Rebecca Musser with M. Bridget Cook.

I've always felt a certain horrified fascination for the FLDS polygamist cult, and I've read several memoirs of women who've escaped. This was a particularly fascinating account of the young woman who in her late teens became the 19th wife of elderly cult leader Rulon Jeffs, only to decide to escape after his death when his son Warren became the leader of the group and made it even more restrictive and insane. She was a key assistant to the Texas police and witness in the trials that resulted from the raids on the YFZ Ranch a few years ago.

24) The Stolen Luck, by Shawna Reppert.

This male/male fantasy romance is a lovely, well-balanced, well-paced story. The human hero, James, wins elven slave Loren in a game of cards. Even though he is morally opposed to slavery, he needs the elf's help to win back the stolen "Luck" of the title--a talisman that ensures the productivity of his lands and therefore his family and dependents' future. He swears to free Loren so he can return to his own lands and people...but only when the Luck is back in his hands. Attraction and trust very gradually grows between the two men, but neither is willing to act on their feelings while Loren remains a slave.

I love the subtlety of this story. The fantasy world feels lived-in and plausible without a lot of extraneous detail. While the stakes are hugely important to the characters--James needs to save his estates and Loren longs to be free--this isn't a Save the World! story. I enjoy a Save the World! story as much as the next reader, but I also like variety. And I love that James and Loren never let their feelings for each other get the better of their integrity and honor.

2014 Reading, Books 19-21

19) The War that Ended Peace: the Road to 1914, by Margaret MacMillan.

One of the many, many books on WWI coming out of late because of the war's centenary, this one looks at the twenty years or so leading up to the war, how the alliances among Britain, France, and Russia and between Germany and Austria-Hungary were built up and hardened to the point that fighting any one became fighting all, and the many crises that could've led to war but somehow just missed it. It still seems almost a uniquely pointless war, but I feel like I have a better understanding now of the tensions and instabilities that made it, if not inevitable, very difficult to avoid. That said, it could've been shorter and still gotten the point across--my eyes were starting to glaze over by the end as yet another not-competent-enough foreign minister of one power or another was introduced.

20) Shakespeare's Restless World: A Portrait of an Era in Twenty Objects, by Neil MacGregor.

This relatively quick read looks at a series of objects found in England around the turn of the 17th century--a rapier and dagger set, a glass goblet, a communion chalice, a clock, etc.--for how they illuminate the world of Shakespeare's plays. I enjoyed it and thought it gave interesting insights into the lives and mindsets of the English people as they were beginning the transition from a kingdom somewhat on the fringes of Europe to a great seafaring empire.

21) Rita Book #6: An entry I dreaded based on the cover art and back cover blurb that turned out to be the best book I've judged so far because it took tropes that normally leave me rolling my eyes and made them work.