Reading Report: Late September

Posted on 09/30/2021 by chick
  • The Broken Hours: A Novel of H.P. Lovecraft by Jacqueline Baker, B+: Arthor Crandle is down-on-his-luck, homeless, and looking for work. He manages to find a job as an assistant to a mysterious and reclusive author in Providence, Rhode Island. It’s not the most appealing job, but it beats starving on the streets. The author is, as the book’s subtitle suggests, H.P. Lovecraft, and naturally Lovecraft’s home and circumstances are suitably weird, complete with a ghost or two. It wasn’t the Lovecraft angle that drew me to this novel (I have never read any of his work), but rather the creepy cover and the historic Providence setting. I enjoyed the writing, the atmosphere, and the dialogue enough to nearly give the novel an A-level grade. But, I didn’t enjoy the characters or the ending so much, and there was little in the way of action. Though I didn’t give it the highest overall grade, I think it’s a memorable book, and I am interested to read more of Jacqueline Baker’s work in the future.
  • The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, B-: This is a Hunger Games prequel. Specifically, it’s the origin story of Panem’s president, Coriolanus Snow. Had I realized that before reading, I wouldn’t have bothered. But, once invested, I took the effort to finish the novel. Unfortunately, for a story to work well, you have to care about the main character, but Snow is an evil bastard. Nothing ever happens that he doesn’t consider from the standpoint of his own well-being. He does a few good things, but the moment you start to care about him, he does something atrocious so that you can’t forget that he’s a sociopath. As for how this story relates to the other Hunger Games novels, the action takes place during the run-up to and fallout from the 10th Annual Hunger Games. Coriolanus and his classmates are the first mentors, and Snow is the one who comes up with the ideas of betting on the Games and sponsorships for the tributes. His tribute is Lucy Gray from District 12. She’s a Covey (basically, a Gypsy). She sings. A lot. And we’re supposed to draw a connection between her and Katniss Everdeen, I guess. She and Coriolanus develop a strong bond, which is problematic for him, given the whole Hunger Games situation. Along the way, the author attempts to answer the question of how and why the Hunger Games are effective in controlling the districts, but I still don’t believe that it would work. That was always a weakness of the series, and putting a spotlight on it was a bad judgment call. The writing is so-so, and Collins keeps a cool distance between the characters, as well as between us and the story. I don’t think this novel would work at all as a standalone. In the context of the series, it isn’t horrible, but it’s not very good either. Recommended for die-hard (ha-ha) Hunger Games fans only.
  • I also finished The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens, which is the second book in a 3-book series. I will write about it when I finish the third book.
  • Currently I am reading The Star-Spun Web by Sinead O’Hart. It’s not bad, but it’s reminding me a lot of The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, and that comparison may not ultimately work out in its favor.
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