Month: September 2016

Book Review: A Crack in the Line

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science FictionLeave a comment

I’m carrying on my parallel universe reading with A Crack in the Line by Michael Lawrence, featuring one of the more unusual alternate life scenarios.

Sixteen-year-old Alaric lost his mother two years earlier in a train accident, following surgery where she had a 50-50 chance of survival.  One day he slips into an alternate version of his house…but in this life his mother survived.  But something else also changed earlier: Alaric meets an alternate version of himself.  Naia is as close to being Alaric as possible–except she’s a girl.  Alaric and Naia begin to explore the differences between their lives, how the parallel worlds work, and mysteries in their family’s past.

This read was a mixed experience.  I liked the concept a lot, and in some places the emotional impact was very well done.  I didn’t mean to read two parallel universe books involving grief in a row; that just kind of happened.  Alaric’s grief over his mother, and the extremely complicated feelings of knowing she’s alive in another universe were well-explored.

I liked the parallel universe mechanics here.  This follows the basic idea of shifts in the key events in the past causing a different present/future.  A lot of versions of that emphasize choice, but this one emphasized even odds.  There’s at least one example where a conscious choice changed things, but the main things (the mother’s survival, Alaric/Naia’s gender) wasn’t really under anyone’s control.  It was just a case of even odds, so universes formed where each option happened.  (It does open the question of whether universes exist for every individual to be gender-swapped…but that’s a bit much to encompass.)  I also liked that it explored multiple changes, instead of just one.  There are at least three key differences between Alaric’s and Naia’s universes, so different results kept happening at different times. Continue reading “Book Review: A Crack in the Line” →

Blog Hop: Setting Goals

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop2 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: When you set a yearly reading goal, do you set it high to force yourself to meet that goal or do you keep it low and normally go over that goal any way?

When I tell people about my reading goals, especially if I’m saying all this out loud, I’m sure it sounds like I set very high goals.  And I do set something that I have to put some effort into reaching…but I always set goals I feel are very attainable.  If it gets stressful, that just defeats the whole point of reading.  My intention in setting a reading goal is always to encourage myself to read books I really do want to read, I just don’t think about.  If I said I vaguely wanted to read more parallel universe books, it might happen (but probably not); if I set a goal to read twelve in 2016, I have to pay attention but it’s pretty easy to do!

Classic Review: Banner in the Sky

On By cherylmahoneyIn Historical Fiction, Juvenile, Reviews1 Comment

Somehow or other, rock-climbing has come up in a few different conversations recently.  I respect people who want to try that, but I’m not one of them.  But when I do find myself with any urge to climb a mountain, I have a favorite go-to book I pick up instead.

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I want to begin this review by saying that I have never been mountain-climbing.  Nor do I ever plan to go.  The truth is, I don’t even like steep hills (which, believe me, can be a problem if you live in San Francisco).  I can walk very happily for miles on flat ground, but give me a hill and it’s all over.  But this is why I love books.  I love that they let me live lives I would never actually live, whether that involves casting magical spells, visiting a distant planet, or climbing a mountain.

That last brings me to Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman.  You’ll notice I have a picture of Third Man on the Mountain.  Walt Disney changed the title for his movie version, and then they reprinted the book with the new title.  I like Banner in the Sky better–for one thing, I’m not sure what Disney’s title is even supposed to mean!

With either title, the book is about Rudi Matt, and about the Citadel.  Rudi is a teenager living in a small village in the Alps in the 1800s, and he dreams of climbing the Citadel.  It’s the one unconquered peak, the one no man has ever reached the top of.  No one has tried for years, since the failed expedition that killed Rudi’s father.  Rudi’s mother has forbidden him to become a mountain climber (and I do understand her viewpoint!) but when an Englishman comes determined to lead an expedition up the unclimbable mountain, Rudi is determined to go.

The book is as much about Rudi’s growth as it is about the mountain.  He learns that there’s more to climbing a mountain than just scrambling over rocks, learns about things like trusting others and never leaving a comrade.  He learns to follow his father’s footsteps in more ways than one.  My best guess on Disney’s title is that Rudi becomes a man on the mountain, rather than a boy–but I can’t quite figure out how Disney calculates him as the third one.

This makes it all sound like it’s deep and reflective, and occasionally it is–but there’s also plenty of scrambling over rocks, and getting caught on ledges, and even an avalanche or two.  It’s an exciting story as well as a meaningful one.

It reminds me a little bit of stories about Scott’s expedition to the South Pole.  Not because of the snow similarity, but because they’re both about men trying to achieve a feat that has been considered unachievable.  They’re about pursuing the impossible dream.  And while I personally don’t have any desire to climb a mountain or ski to the South Pole, when the story is told right, I can get very enthused about someone else’s dream.

Why does someone climb a mountain?  “Because it’s there” is always a good answer.  Because it’s there to be conquered.  For Rudi, it’s because he wants to take his climbing staff and his father’s red sweater, and plant them as a flag at the top of the Citadel–a banner in the sky.

Even though I need a good reason to climb a steep hill and can’t imagine climbing a mountain, Banner in the Sky makes me believe in Rudi’s dream, makes me see it as vital and important for him, and makes me want to see him succeed.

Blog Hop: Shelves or Stacks?

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop2 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you have books stacked in every room of your house or are you strictly a believer that books belong on bookshelves?

I had to think about this to decide just what my beliefs around book storage are.  Books that are not currently “active” belong on bookshelves, and that’s where all of mine are.  Except for my overflow L. M. Montgomery books that are stacked next to my (small!) L. M. Montgomery bookshelf.

The “active” ones are in stacks—books currently out from the library (or my own that I plan to read shortly) are in one stack.  Books that are currently being read are in a stack by my bed (not a very tall stack, but there are generally at least two).  Books that have just been read and need to be entered into my book journal wind up stacked on the corner of my coffee table.  And books that are due to be donated are in a stack in one corner of the living room.

But in terms of permanent placement, bookshelves.  I’d worry about tripping over stacks and breaking something—myself or the books!