The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I finished this about a week and a half ago, but this is my first opportunity to write a review.  I have steadily become very enamored with mysteries over the past few years, and I love when the sleuth is atypical. In this case, it's a ten-year-old girl with an obsession for chemistry, poisons in particular.  This book stands out because of Flavia's very unique point of view.

I am a big nerd. I won't even lie. I love trivia and I love science facts. While my interest is more biological science and medicine, I admit to a love of chemistry.  I connected to her in this way.    This young woman has set up her own chemistry laboratory and regularly does experiments with compounds based on her readings from her deceased relative Tarquin de Luce, whose laboratory she appropriated in her family's home.  Flavia has a sense of loneliness being the youngest daughter of three and so different from her older two sisters (and the fact that they are caught up in their own interests) and a father who is emotionally unavailable due to the loss of his wife and his war experiences.  Like many children who grow up surrounded by neglectful adults, Flavia is rather precocious and mischievous.  When a man is murdered in her garden, she takes it upon herself to solve the murder, especially when her father is accused of the crime. And she does an excellent job.

I liked Flavia's investigative process. She uses the tools in her arsenal and gets fairly hands on solving the crime. She displays a fearlessness that might put an older investigator to shame.  Flavia is observant and has an inquisitive and analytical mind that allows her to process the information she receives as she discovers clues about the man who was murdered and how it connects to her family and others in her small community.  And it makes that the world is a lot smaller than one would think.

At times, Flavia does come off as a bit bratty. But it's to be expected, considering that she is more or less ignored by her family.  I like that this book shows how family work.  Even good families have some degree of dysfunction, but in the end, the love of family members usually comes out.  I appreciated her relationship with her father's retainer, Dogger, a troubled man suffering from PTSD from being a prisoner of war, but very kindhearted and loyal.   Flavia's viewpoint touches on very adult issues in a hopeful, often humorous and essentially truthful way that I really appreciated.

I liked the backstory about her dad and how it relates to the mystery. It was sad and kind of disturbing at the same time.  You can see that the person behind the murder truly has no moral limits to what he'll do, and when Flavia ends up in his path, I truly feared for her safety.

This book is as much a coming of age story as a mystery. I love them, seeing life through the eyes of a child or teenager, as they learn that life is a lot more complicated that they previously thought, and how this narrative shows the resilience and inner strength and intuitive intelligence of young people. 

Flavia is a fun lead character. I'll definitely continue this series and see what mysteries of life and chemistry she'll encounter and solve next.



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The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars


Let me be transparent in advising readers to think twice about experiencing this book as an audiobook. I'm not sure it works that well.  It could be me. I am a very visual person when it comes to higher level concepts, especially mechanistic disciplines, such as geometry, architecture, and engineering.  The geometrical descriptions were hard to visualize and my mind started to wander at the beginning of each chapter when Sanderson uses the metafiction device of reading from a textbook of rithmatics.  Honestly, that was the major reason I didn't rate this book highly. Secondly, I didn't care for the narrator.  His voice was too bland, almost monotone or robotic.  I feel that if you are going to narrate a book, you need to give it a vitality, and this book lacked that.

On the positive end, I can see why Sanderson is a lauded author, and I can certainly see why he is qualified to teach writing.  I think that his craft is evident.  The characterization is sound, and instead of settling for thinly veiled archetype, he endows characters with added depth.  You know the ones that feel very familiar like the boy who grows up to be the hero, the spunky female sidekick, the mentor, and the dark lord? Thus he gives each one a distinctive life that works very well to make this more than just the typical coming of age fantasy novel.   Additionally, the idea of this story is intriguing.  A look at wizardry and coming of age school story becomes something different when the concept is built around a magical art of endowing chalk figure-drawing with life.

His view of the United States as an archipelago was interesting.  He doesn't describe why it's that way. It just is.  The story has a steampunk-light feel. Enough to give the vibe, but it doesn't take over or define the story. Instead, the focus is on the school and the low-level magic at work.

I liked Joel a lot as the main character.  He is the kind of hero you end up rooting for.  He's normal and the underdog, and you want him to buck the system.  Sanderson does something pretty clever here, in that the hero doesn't get his dreams come true. Instead, he's going to have to work for what he wants. That felt more realistic, and also strayed away from the expected archetypes of fantasy where the lead is the one who has the unexpected greatest power of all time.   Melody is a fun character.  She won me over with her love of unicorns and pegasi. Her feelings of being a failure and feeling forced into a mold she doesn't fit resonated with me. Yeah, she felt like someone I know, maybe myself, and I could feel her youthful angst to a nearly uncomfortable level.  It was such a cute touch how her abilities end up being strengths that were taken for granted. I also loved Professor Fitch. His nervousness was rather endearing, and I do have a fondness for nerdy professors.   

The chalkings were fairly unnerving and the accompanying villainous element was quite effectively sinister. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first, but as I listened, I was drawn into this world and it became very real. The end has a very good twist, well, I should say two piled on each other.  Sanderson surely got me!

I feel bad because I am likely underrating this book.  But I have to say that the choice of medium was a big factor in affecting my reading experience, so I have go with what I know for now.  I will probably continue this series because it was an interesting read. I think I'll go with the print version of the next book.

Overall rating: 3.75/5.0 stars.




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Among Others by Jo Walton

Among Others by Jo Walton
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Among Others is kind of like a love letter to bibliophiles, especially those who fell in love with books as a youngster, finding solace and comfort between the pages of so many different stories. In some ways, Mor's character tapped me on the shoulder, reminding me of myself as a preteen. I went through some physical problems that made life very difficult for me. In fact, (view spoiler)[ I had a hip problem that caused me to walk funny and had to use crutches before and after surgery, and people accused me of faking, as if you'd fake an injury so you could have attention you really didn't want. I also remember sitting in the library during gym hour (which was awesome since gym was always my least favorite class because all the bullies seemed to be in gym class). It was one of the few things I liked about having my hip problem, that and having a couple months out of school. I hated school, not the books but the system. But most of all, being in one of my favorite places in the world for an uninterrupted hour of reading. Whatever good books I could find in the school library. The possibilities were great, if not exactly endless, because I did eventually run out of books that I wanted to read. (hide spoiler)] I also identified with how Mor saw her life through the lens of fiction. I think that people who spend so much time reading do tend to analyze life and books in that manner.

I found myself wanting to write down all the book titles, and even looked some up on my Kindle Fire as I read. I am not a heavy science fiction reader, but I did read tons of fantasy and some sci-fi when I was younger. This book makes me want to investigate sci-fi with a renewed interest. It seems to have much to offer Mor, and perhaps I will find the same appeal with further reading. As Mor did, I read all the ones my library had, and then some of the adult books at that point. I remember that joy, which I still have, of going to the library and bookstores and finding what new books I could read. There never seemed to be enough books. The identification factor was very strong with Mor in this regard. Also having divorced parents, and how that opens a wound inside you that doesn't ever seem to heal. Lastly, a sister I love dearly. Now, my mom wasn't an evil witch. Nor was I gifted with magic powers and the abilities to see fairies (although I would love to see fairies, to be honest. I guess I'm on the wrong side of the ocean for that).

In some ways, this book has a surreal flavor. Many times I wondered how much of Mor's magic-sensing abilities and magical frame of reference was just part of her imagination's way of dealing with some events that a young person doesn't know how to handle. But, then, I think that there is too much reality to the magic here to come to that conclusion, ultimately. At any rate, I liked how at times you couldn't tell.

This lovely book is a piece of fiction that feels so intimate and personal to me. I can only believe that the author poured her own love of books and some of her own experiences with books into this book. That kind of intense realness cannot be faked. Books are such a pleasure, one that never pales. You can find so much joy and pathos in a book that it literally is like opening a door to another world, where you can escape from your own little problems enough to gain courage to face another day. Whether that's a school full of mean girls, or parents who fight more than they show affection. Or physical problems, loss, loneliness, you name it. As an adult, that allure of books hasn't palled for me. I like to think that a grown up Mor finds just as much joy and solace in her books. And I can't fault her for it. I'm the same way.

Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars



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