Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik: In this sequel to Her Majesty’s Dragon, the Chinese have claimed Temeraire as rightfully theirs, because he is a special and rare Chinese breed. The leaders of the British government, fearing war with China, try to get Laurence to give Temeraire up. He refuses. But, as a compromise, Laurence and Temeraire agree to travel with the Chinese delegation back to China. The journey, taken by sea, is a long one, and China is a big country, so there’s ample opportunity for enemies to attack, and they do. My reading experience: Maybe it was because I was reading the book in small doses, but the story seemed to drag, and for me the threat of Laurence losing Temeraire hung too heavily over everything. After the story’s end there was a preview of the next book in the series. It sounded interesting, and I may decide to read it eventually. Just not now.
Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman. This is a Romeo-and-Juliet type of story set in a modern, alternate-reality Britain in which lighter-skinned folks (Noughts) are discriminated against by darker-skinned ones (Crosses). Callum (a Nought teenager) and Sephy (a Cross teenager, slightly younger) grew up together and are good friends, maybe even more than friends, but society will do everything it can to keep them apart. My reading experience: The societal reversal struck me as so obvious as to be ridiculous, and I would never have read the book were it not on the BBC list. There was a lot in the book that was equally obvious or broadly telegraphed in advance, which annoyed me at the time, but in retrospect I wonder if obviousness is a plus in a book intended for a teen audience. Told in alternating first-person chapters, Callum and Sephy’s story was compelling, and the ending, at least, took me by surprise.
So Much by Trish Cooke and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury: This was such a pleasure to read. Family members keep arriving at a toddler’s house, and each relative spends time with the child in a different way, to his delight. It beautifully captures the joys of growing up in a tight-knit family.
No Kisses for Mother by Tomi Ungerer: I read this book, my first by Tomi Ungerer, because it was on the BBC list. In this story, a kitten behaves very badly, getting into fights at school, smoking cigars, and refusing to let his mother kiss him, among other things. But, at the end he does something nice for his mother, after which we readers are presumably supposed to go, “Aw! What a sweet child!” I did not. I don’t think we should teach our children that it’s fine to act badly most of the time as long as they occasionally do something nice. No praises for this book.
The Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer: This book, also by Tomi Ungerer, is also on the BBC list. It starts with a frightening description of three robbers, their weapons, and their violent acts of thievery, and it ends with the robbers doing nice things for orphans. On my first reading, I felt that the happy ending didn’t make up for the dark beginning. Reading it a second time, I’m undecided.
The Moon Man by Tomi Ungerer: This book is not on the BBC list, but I read it because I had become sort of fascinated with Tomi Ungerer, thinking that he was clearly a popular author and, having written 100+ books, he must have written at least one that I’d like. In this story, the Moon Man (who is “curled up in his shimmering seat in space”) looks down upon the Earth and sees people dancing, and he wants to experience such fun. He hitches a ride to our planet on the tail of a falling star. Soon he finds out how aliens are treated here (poor Moon Man!). Things start to look grim, but no worries–it’s just a phase. My reading experience: This one was OK. As with The Three Robbers, I liked it a little better the second time through.
I Am Papa Snap and These Are My Favorite No Such Stories by Tomi Ungerer: This is collection of short, silly stories. The anthropomorphized animal characters all have funny names, and each story ends in an unexpected way (bizarre moral, non sequitur, etc.). For example, a wealthy bird couple buy a ready-made nest which turns out to be junk, and at the end the male bird muses, “Well, that’s what happens when you start spending money.” It’s a little dark and at times a tad offensive (by modern standards), but I liked it. One story even made me laugh out loud. I would consider buying a copy. So I guess I was right–Tomi Ungerer did write at least one book that I like.
I stayed up late last night so that I could finish reading Becky Chambers’ A Closed and Common Orbit, which I hope to write about later. I don’t have any books going at the moment, and soon I will need to choose two (one from the BBC list, one not). Contenders include The Owl Service by Alan Garnder, Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson, Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde #3) by Heather Fawcett, Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson, Beethoven in the Bunker: Musicians Under the Nazi Regime by Fred Brouwers, and The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah.
