Try Something New: Rachel and the Hired Gun

I'm plugging away on the Take a Chance Challenge, and I've knocked off #6 -- Genre Switch-Up. I don't believe I've ever read a western romance before, so Rachel And The Hired Gun (Zebra Historical Romance) by Elaine Levine was a fun read for me. I've read some westerns (mostly L'Amour) and some romances (mostly regency) and the blending of the genres amused me enough to finish the book in a day.

Rachel was a bit of a moron, but her actions made sense so it wasn't too annoying. Hearing her inner thoughts revealed her innate ditziness, but she found herself a western bound wagon train, seamlessly took over cooking for her dad's large ranch population, and seemingly effortlessly parried all the social darts hurled by the region's evil matriarch, who of course was the mother of the man she is supposed to marry. Her seduction of the bad-man-turned-good-by-her-love Sager was accompanied by increasingly silly artless explanations ("I'm lonely! Can you sleep in my tent with me tonight?"), and when they finally got down to the deed she never once thought of pregnancy.

The good people were solid, and the bad people were relentlessly evil. This was handled lightly enough not to be too annoying, but lead to some rather strange scenes, such as the reconciliation between the step-brothers (because they are both decent people). The cause of the strain between them? One man's beloved mother had paid to murder the brother's adopted mother and sister, had him kidnapped, seduced him at age fourteen, spent ten years trying to poison any contact between him and his father, and then hired more assassins to kill him and his girlfriend. On the other hand, he had been a real grouchy presence in the family, and he apologized for being such a downer for his step-brother. They both forgave each other handsomely. And I liked when the western plot stopped in its tracks so the romance could introduce some people to be couples in the sequels.

The writing was energetic, and the plot silly enough to be entertaining. I might pick up another of Levine's books. B.

Family in Books: Oath of Fealty and Irreligion

Elizabeth Moon writes fantasy and science fiction of the competence-porn variety; her characters tend to spend pages developing skills and rewarding competence. It grounds even her fluffier books with a strong sense of reality, whether the characters are rich clowns in space or sheep farmers turned fighters in a D&D style landscape. Her Deed of Paksennarrion is the sheep farmer story, infused with the sense that Moon probably does know how to train up recruits into an effective mercenary force.

Now, twenty years later, Moon wrote Oath of Fealty, which returns to the world of Paksenarrion to see what happens next. She has broadened her focus; instead of mainly staying with Paks on her journey from farmer to paladin, she hops about following the friends and comrades whose lives changed because of Paks's ascension. This is good, because Paks isn't as interesting now that she is minor god Gird's BFF. But Duke Phelan, Captains Arcolin and Dorrin, and Sergeant Stammall all get their own plot threads, spread across the world that Paks wandered through. It's not a complete book; most of the threads only pause at the end, but I'm willing to wait for the rest. Moon's strength is in the multi-sensory descriptions which she works into her text, making the lives of her characters real and important.

I'm sure Elizabeth Moon would be astonished to hear that she is my Doppleganger, but it is true. A double dopple -- we share both initials and a name. So I score another Take a Chance Challenge, as well as a tick of my self-imposed Spring Challenge. Go me!

I noticed that I can round my family out with dopplegangers. I already finished Gift of the Unmage, and I plucked Irreligion, by John Allen Paulos from the library recommended shelf because of its dopplegangerish properties. It's a short book by a mathematician that reviews the common logical proofs for the existence of God, and shows the illogic in each of them. It's a fun book from a logical point of view. I think that belief in God should never rest on logic but on faith, so I don't see it convincing anyone away from their religion, but maybe it will shorten some unwanted conversion discussions.

Fiercely Recommended: Fire & Fire

This is a two-fer review, for the Take a Chance Challenge #9: Same word, two books. I managed to find two books that I'm eager to read and that conveniently share a title:

Fire by Kristen Cashore AND Fire by Robin McKinley & Peter Dickinson

Cashore's book is about people fiercely determined to do the right thing, even when it is costly. Her first book, Graceling, won acclaim and glory and I really liked it, so I put down my name at the library for this one. While not quite as great as Graceling, this book also delivered a powerful and honest story. I like book with the characters want to do good, where they sometimes don't live up to their expectations but they do have high ideals for themselves. I guess that's one reason I like YA and kids books; they aren't as full of unpleasant people. Books about people fiercely determined to do the right thing. Fire is a fantasy about a land plagued by monsters, fiercely attractive versions of animals that are supremely dangerous. Fire is one of the few human monsters, and she fears herself almost more than others fear her. There's lots of action as well as characters you can care deeply about. Highly recommended.

Also, this is the second in a series, so it will be the first post in that challenge. Yay! A.

Peter Dickinson and Robin McKinley are two of my favorite fantasy kidlit authors, and I find it highly appropriate that they met and married after writing some

great stuff. Years ago they collaborated on Water, a book of short stories themed around that element, and they finally came out with Fire. Apparently they want to do a series of these anthologies, but McKinley keeps accidentally writing novels instead of stories, which is how we got the books Dragonhaven and Chalice. I only wish Dickinson had the same problem. (Her new book, Pegasus, indicates they are working on the Air book.) The stories are vivid and rich, including salamanders and dragons and the phoenix and other fiery things. Dickinson definitely writes for a more intellectual audience; some stories are more about tone and language than action, but I like that. McKinley's stories again have solidly competent people in them, a trait that was discussed at our last book club meeting, which featured all things McKinley. A.

2010 Take Another Chance Challenge

I enjoy deferring decisions. If I have six rooms to clean, I might roll a die to see which to start in. I choose music in the car by sending pre-literate kids off to the library CD shelves to bring back spoils. (Their selections are definitely changed now that they are, in fact, literate. I may need to start blindfolding them.) So this challenge seems right up my alley.

Find Your Next Book Here has designed 12 challenges in all, and all have you pick books in a sideways kind of manner, from Challenge one, based on books whose author's name echoes yours, through blogroll roulette (2), and books by members of the same family (11). This sounds like fun! I'll start out on the baby level, A Small Gamble (3 of 12).

Challenge Five looks pretty easy: Title Word Count. I pulled the number two out of the random.org generator, and top book on my library stack was a two-word title: Wanting Mor. I'm off!

I think I'll do Challenge 9 next: Same Word, Different Book. I have two books called Fire handy -- perfect!

* Fire, by Kristen Cashore

*Fire, Peter Dickinson & Robin McKinley.

Challenge 1 is also complete now, with Elizabeth Moon as my doppleganger. Oath of Fealty was a great continuation of the story begun in the Deed of Paksenarrion. That's the baby level! The next level, moderate, would mean three more.

Hmm, this is getting complicated. I'm going to list all the challenges on the bottom, and keep track up above.

Challenge 1: Read Your Doppelganger
Finished

Challenge 2: Blogroll Roulette

Challenge 3: 100 Best Book

Challenge 4: Prize Winner Book

Challenge 5: Title Word Count

Finished

Challenge 6: Genre Switch-Up

Challenge 7: Break A Prejudice

Challenge 8: Real and Inspired

Challenge 9: Same Word, Different Book
Finished

Challenge 10: Become A Character

Challenge 11: All in the Family

Challenge 12: Author Anthology Pick

Wanting Mor: Hard Times in Afghanistan

Rukhsana Khan's Wanting Mor's front jacket promised a journey of unremitting misery. It's not enough that the narrator, Jameela, loses her extended family to an American bombing raid, or that her mother dies of illness, or that her dad is a boozing loser. She also has a cleft lip. So it was with considerable trepidation that I opened the first page of this book, expecting an educational lesson in how bad life can get.

Khan's touch is much more deft than that though. Yes, Jameela's life is unimaginably hard compared to the cushy lives of my kids, but she doesn't see herself as a victim. Her voice is authentic and hopeful, striving to follow her ideals and her mother's code but not always succeeding. Her commitment to Islam rings true, as do her attempts to honor her father even when it's painfully obvious that he doesn't deserve it. I really enjoyed this book, and I'll look around to see if Khan has other books available. The dangers and heartbreak of war show clearly, but so does Jameela's individuality and strength of spirit. A-.

Challenges: Well, I feel quite accomplished. This book starts off the 100 Books Challenge, the A-Z Challenge, Support Your Library Challenge, Take Another Chance Challenge (#5), and the Young Reader Challenge. I'll come back and edit those as links when I get the challenge posts up.