Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union

I am going to say this right out in front - I do not think that I have enough general knowledge of Jewish religion and culture (particularly Yiddish culture) to have gotten full meaning and value out of this book. But I did enjoy it anyway!

The novel is set on an alternate Earth, where after WW2, the new Israeli state failed. The US set aside a part of Alaska for a new Jewish homeland for some sixty years. When the story begins, the sixty years are nearly up, and the millions of Jewish people who live around Sitka are living in fear over what the future holds for them, and their future as part of the state of Alaska rather than the Federal District of Sitka.

A divorced police detective named Meyer Landsman has a lot of problems - especially since his new boss in homicide is the only love of his life - his ex-wife, whom he feels he let down in the worst possible way. His beloved sister died in an accident. He is working on drinking himself to death. He really doesn't want to investigate the murder of a bum living at the same seedy hotel as himself.

But the investigation starts to get interesting when he discovers that the murdered man just may have been that generation's messiah; that the victim had ties to the most important and corrupt people in Sitka; that there might have been an international conspiracy centered around him; that there might even be ties to his sister's death...

Now if only Landsman can survive performing the investigation...

A really interesting genre bender!

Tags: Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen's Union

more recent reads (still working my way through the stack)

Still working my way through the stack of books I read this summer, in order to give brief reviews...

Tales from the Detroit Tigers Dugout by Jack Ebling. This is a book detailing the 2006 Detroit Tigers AL championship season - with plenty of anecdotes about the managers and players. It also has a decade by decade history (more than a hundred years) of the team and its greatest and/or most colorful players. Did you know that Ty Cobb once had an unassisted double play from the outfield? Neither did I, until I read this book.

Glasshouse by Charles Stross was one of this year's Hugo nominees for best science fiction novel. I try to read the nominated novels each year, and I approached this one with trepidation, as I strongly disliked last year's nominated novel by Stross, Accellerando. I was very relieved that this one was much better - particularly that it did not have a graphic and disturbing rape scene and subsequent long term romantic and  disturbing relationship between the rapist and the rapee. This one borders on cyberpunk, a genre I tend to dislike, but it was still fairly enjoyable.

Sometime in the far future, following a time of war, Robin wakes up in a clinic with most of his memories missing, and soon finds out that people are trying to kill him - probably for something his earlier self knew. Trying to find a good hiding place, Robin volunteers to be art of a unique experiment that will isolate him from society at large. The experiment randomly assigns new identities to the volunteers and has them live in a primitive culture (in this case - one a lot like ours). But Robin does not realize that his hiding place will be a trap which will put him at the mercy of the experimenters, his fellow volunteers - and his own unhealthy mind...

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge is another of this year's Hugo nominees - the winner, in fact, though it was the one I liked third best out of the five.  I thought that this one was a lot of fun - but lacking in depth. In the near future, they have discovered a way to bring back Alzheimer's patients to full health - but then the former patients have to go back to high school to get the remedial high tech skills to be able to function in society.

Robert Gu, a former world class poet, is one of those former patients. While he was renowned for his poetry, he was a complete creep to his family, to say the least - emotional abusive and a first class arrogant jerk. But now he has to start over, with less than the skills of a high school student. And then he gets sucked into a conspiracy involving UCSD and the high tech labs associated with it - by a mysterious being named Rabbit.

Will Robert ever be able to be a poet again? Will the challenges Robert faces turn him into a nicer, better person? Is Rabbit the avatar of a real person, or is Rabbit an artificial intelligence, a sort of God for a new culture and new society?

Fast paced, fun, and fluffy...

Tags: Jack Ebling, Tales from the Detroit Tigers Dugout, baseball books, sports books, Charles Stross, Glasshouse, science fiction novels, Hugo nominees, Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End, Hugo winners

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs is the second book in her Mercy Thompson fantasy series, following Moon Called. Mercedes (Mercy) Thompson is a hard working small business owner - she owns and works in a small garage which fixes German imports. She is half Native American, and inherited something pretty interesting from the father who died before she was born - she is a walker - which means she has the ability to change forms between human and coyote at will. She was born this way - she is not a were of any sort - and it is not dependent upon the moon.

Mercy has friends and neighbors and customers who have other supernatural abilities - though none of them are walkers. Some are fae, others werewolves, and some are vampires.

Now then, when vampires first came to North America from Europe, they warred against the walkers. Walkers apparently had some sort of abilities (of which Mercy is completely ignorant) that made them very dangerous to vampires.

So when a huge threat arises against the local vampires - a demon possessed sorcerer which some vampire has been stupid enough to turn - Mercy's friend Stephan asks for Mercy's help.

What results will bring huge danger to everyone - from the humans to the vampires to the werewolves - and especially to one little coyote lady...

Tags: Patricia Briggs, Blood Bound, Mercy Thompson series, fantasy books

yesterday was a pretty good day

Went into town early, went shopping for Steven's school supplies (and also got myself some very cute ballet flats that were on sale at Target). Met Dan for lunch at the Noodles & Company at Arborland Mall. Work was busy, but that wasn't so bad. Did not have to clean up any dog messes until I got home - he was pretty good yesterday.

And - best of all - it is autumn now! Nice and chilly! Great sleeping weather! I had to pull a comforter out from under the bed last night when I got home.

Today I think I will also leave a bit early. I will drop by the bookstore for a couple of short mysteries, then hit the salad bar at Whole Foods.

Thank God it is my Friday.

Tomorrow, on actual Friday (and my day off), we will head to Riverview to see Steven play soccer. On Saturday, I will do laundry and work on cleaning the house some more.

 

already another one of those days

Haven't even gone to work yet, but it is already another one of those days. The poor old dog has diarrhea once again (three times last week, first time for this one).

I am beginning to think that extreme old age is like pregnancy - the physical discomforts get you ready for the next stage. In the case of pregnancy, it is the horrible pain of labor and then a wonderful baby. In the case of extreme old age, it would be the mystery and journey of death. But when every moment of every day is spent in discomfort, after awhile you are ready to move on.

I know that the dog cannot help it - if he were human he would probably be well up into his nineties. After all, he is a Labrador retriever who is over fourteen years old now. But the daily grind that the last few months have become - the daily cleaning up of multiple accidents of both pee and poop - the constant stench and mess of it. Not being able to go on a vacation, or leave the house without at least one human present for more than an hour or two...it is just really starting to get to me. And no matter how much I scrub the floor, the house still smells. Bill has promised me that he will rent a power washer and clean the floors really well for me once the dog passes, as well as hauling every inch of carpeting to the dump, and I only hope that even something that extreme will work.

Listen to me. I am just so worn down now...both physically and emotionally.

Doesn't help that it is Sept. 11 - and like most Americans, I think I will feel sad on this date every year for the rest of my life.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this book, going by the awful and ugly cover. But many people at Amazon were raving about it, so I decided to take a chance.

I am very glad that I did, as I found it to be very enjoyable.

Mercedes (Mercy) Thompson is half Native American, and has an interesting legacy from her father - she is a walker. This means that she is a shape changer and can can change between human and coyote forms at will. While she is supernatural, she was born that way - she is not any sort of were, and her abilities are not tied to the moon.

She is a small business owner, and works hard. She owns a small garage in eastern Washington state, where she repairs imported cars, primarily German brands.

She lives a quiet a life as possible, given that some of her customers and neighbors are werewolves and vampires. She attends church regularly, though she dislikes the symbolism of the crucifix (as a form of torture and execution), and wears a necklace with a sheep pendant rather than a cross - for the Lamb of God.

She is working away at her garage one day, when a polite runaway teenager wanders in, looking for a temporary job. He also happens to be a werewolf. When she decides to help him out, she has no idea that this will involve her in quite a mess...

Tags: Patricia Briggs, Moon Called, Mercy Thompson series, fantasy books

well, at least the Jeep is fixed

Today rather than throwing up from stress, I only had my usual diarrhea.

Work was busy.

I did a lot of housework, but as usual, the house still looks filthy.

In a few minutes, I will take a shower and head to bed.

But at least the Jeep is fixed (it ended up needing a new battery).