Read Harder Challenge 2017: Part 3

I finally finished the next part of my Read Harder Challenge.  I finished:

• Read a book about books.
• Read a book that is set within 100 miles of your location.
• Read a collection of stories by a woman.

Simon & Schuster

Starting out, I finished reading The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer, which details events beginning in 2012 when more than 350,000 manuscripts--many of which had been painstakingly collected by Abdel Kader Haidara--were endangered by Al Qaeda militants seizing control of Mali.  In his book, Hammer details how Haidara and other manuscript collectors managed to find, preserve, and rescue hundreds of thousands of manuscripts, before smuggling them out of the country under the noses of Al Qaeda.

As the summary attests, it's indeed a "brazen heist worth of Ocean's Eleven."  Personally, I found it fascinating to learn how Haidara became involved in the manuscript preservation business and how he and other librarians managed to steal away more than 350,000 manuscripts from Timbuktu.  I mean, the number is simply mind boggling.

Moreover, I was consistently fascinated by the history and culture of Timbuktu and Mali as a whole.  Hammer offers a rich variety of details, discussing the medical, cultural, historical, scholastic and artistic impact of Timbuktu.  Although his work can grow a little dry, every chapter offers fascinating insight into the history of Timbuktu and, more importantly, provides readers with an eye-opening portrait of the conditions faced by Mali's residents when Al Qaeda invaded.

Cipher-Naught

Next, I checked out Beauty and the Mustache by Penny Reid.  Set in Tennessee, Beauty and the Mustache is a short, sweet little romance--which kicks off the Winston Brothers series and continues the Knitting in the City series, both by Penny Reid--that brings together Ashley Winston and Drew Runous.  After spending more than 8 years away from home, Ashley is forced to return to Tennessee to help take care of her ailing mother.  Expecting the same rough treatment from her brothers as from years before, she's surprised to learn they've changed.  She's even more surprised to meet their friend Drew, especially when she realizes he's exactly her type.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Beauty and the Mustache.  Like I noted above, it's a short, sweet little romance and it's absolutely adorable.  It's sometimes bittersweet, sometimes tragic, but I immensely enjoyed reading Penny Reid's novel.  I found I connected to Ashley, our main character and narrator, on a personal level and I admired her sharp, sarcastic sense of humor, her intelligence, and her ability to go toe-to-toe with Drew's philosophical meanderings.

However, I will note I was bothered by one thing:  I did not like the setting.  I love the Smoky Mountains, don't get me wrong; however, I simply didn't like the narrator's inability to describe her surroundings.  I was incredibly disappointed by the setting descriptions, which were seriously lacking.  I wanted to hear more about the winding roads, the multitude of trees, the softly sloping mountains in the distance, or the way the hills fade against the horizon, deepening to a slate blue before disappearing altogether.

I wanted to hear about places I've known or seen, but, sadly, I didn't get that chance.  It was slightly disappointing.

Anchor

Last, I read Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood.  I think I might have fudged the challenge parameters with this one, since it's really just a single novel; however, as it's labeled with "Other Stories," I assumed it would do the trick.  It centers around one woman--Nell--but it's a compilation of many short stories from different points in her life.

It begins with "Bad News," toward the tail end of Nell's life, but it jumps through time with each story and catapults Nell into the past, showing readers glimpses of her childhood and her adolescence and, finally, her transition into adulthood.

Truthfully, I didn't enjoy reading Moral Disorder that much.  Atwood is a fantastic writer and her prose packs a punch when she wants it, but, personally, I found I couldn't always connect with the stories in Moral Disorder, I couldn't always connect to Tig and Nell.  Granted, when I did connect with one of these stories, it moved me deeply and I worried for Nell, like I'd worry for a friend; however, I found it was a rather unremarkable journey for me overall.

Beauty and the Mustache: A Philosophical Romance

Cipher-Naught

Beauty and the Mustache:  A Philosophical Romance
Penny Reid
2014

The Summary
"There are 3 things you need to know about Ashley Winston:  1) She has six brothers and they all have beards, 2) She is a reader, and 3) She knows how to knit.

"Former beauty queen, Ashley Winston's preferred coping strategy is escapism.  She escaped her Tennessee small town, loathsome father, and six brothers eight years ago.  Now she escapes life daily via her Amazon kindle one-click addiction.  However, when a family tragedy forces her to return home, Ashley can't escape the notice of Drew Runous--local Game Warden, reclusive mountain man, bear wrestler, philosopher, ad everyone's favorite guy.  Drew's irksome philosophizing in particular makes Ashley want to run for the skyscrapers, especially since he can't seem to keep his exasperating opinions--or his soulful poetry, steadfast support, and delightful hands--to himself.  Pretty soon the girl who wanted nothing more than the escape of the big city finds she's lost her heart in small town Tennessee."

The Good
I enjoyed this novel immensely.  Ashley was a quirky character with a foul mouth and an unexpectedly sharp, shining wit.  She's intelligent, she's sassy, funny and self-deprecating, and she's very relatable.  She was also clumsy and awkward, but she was willing to take charge of her mistakes--like nipple twisting Drew by mistake within the first two pages (how embarrassing)--and recovers quite well.

Moreover, she's so incredibly familiar.  I related to her on an emotional level, because I have often felt the emotions she's felt, good and bad:  overwhelmed by obligation, fraught with uncertainty and doubt, love for a parent, affection for siblings as I learn new things about them and, suddenly, become best friends, excitement and relief to find a new book.  It sparked an instant, personal connection that I appreciated.

Overall, it was a fun, emotional but unexpectedly feel good book.  I really enjoyed reading about Ashley and the various antics her brothers would get into, and I loved that there was a gradual strengthening in her family as she takes care of her mother and gets to know her brothers again.  It's bittersweet and, occasionally, tragic, but it's incredibly heartwarming.

The Bad
As I've lived in the area Ashley often describes, I was a little disappointed by the setting.  That is, I think much of the imagery I envisioned came less from the author and narrator, and more from my own memories.

Take her descriptions of the Smoky Mountains, for instance.  They were seriously lacking.  Where were the descriptions of the winding roads, the trees, the softly sloping mountains in the distance as the landscape slowly marched into a deepening blue, the haze on a cloudy day or the startling clarity of the sky when the sun shines?  I've seen some beautiful places in this area, so I really think the author missed out with her narrator.  She could have told us so much more about her hometown.

Also, I was really bothered by the country slang Ashley used.  For example, I have literally never heard anyone in Appalachia say "butter my biscuits" or "that's melting the butter on my biscuits" or anything of the sort.  I've known a restaurant called "Butter My Biscuit," but I have literally never heard anyone say it in earnest.  It was pretty laughable.

Some of the folksy, country-fried sayings Ashley pulled out were just a little too much for my tastes.

The Ugly
Cancer.

Grab your Kleenex folks.

Knit One, Kill Two

Image courtesy of
www.maggiesefton.com

Knit One, Kill Two

Maggie Sefton

2005

The Summary

When Kelly Flynn returns to Colorado for her Aunt Helen's funeral, she expects the police have found the killer and solved the crime of her aunt's murder.  But then she learns her aunt has withdrawn a surprising amount of money - twenty thousand dollars, to be precise - and Kelly knows something is amiss.

Plagued by the inconsistencies of her aunt's gruesome demise and missing family relics, Kelly decides to do some digging of her own - and she will find out a startling secret about her aunt.  A secret she never expected from her bright, sensible reality.

The Good

Maggie Sefton's mystery novel is a quick, easy read.  It's intriguing with a dash of dark scandal to make it scintillating.  You're curious, one way or another, to see how things turn out for Kelly Flynn as she hunts for a killer and looks to unravel an incredible secret in her aunt's past.

The Bad

Knit One, Kill Two is an easy book into which you can jump, but not necessarily a book that can keep your attention for very long periods of time.  It's simple and it has enjoyable moments, but it's a book that once you figure out the mystery and divine an answer from the clues provided, you're hard-pressed to actually finish.

Moreover, some of the subplots are left dangling at the end of the book.  There's zero resolution for the little side adventures Kelly has, and you're still left with a couple questions by the end of the novel.

Over all, it isn't a very memorable story and it doesn't beckon to be read immediately.  But, luckily, it's easy to finish in a day - maybe, even an afternoon - if you're set on finishing a book from cover to cover and it actually has a recipe for cinnamon rolls, so that's pretty rewarding if you like to cook.

The Ugly

Well, it is a "murder mystery," so murder is obviously involved, but there's very little otherwise to make it a chillingly grisly novel.