Trickster's Point by William Kent Krueger

 

"All life is one weaving, one design by the hand of the Creator, the Great Mystery. All life is connected, thread by thread. When one thread is cut, the others weaken."

                -Henry Meloux, from the novel

Trickster's Point is book #12 in this series. I have enjoyed them all and intend to read on to the end. I count Krueger as one of my very favorite authors.

In this installment, Cork O'Connor is suspected of killing his old friend and gubernatorial candidate, Jubal Little. When Cork comes upon another dead body, some law enforcement folks are ready to accuse him of a second murder.

As a former sheriff and private investigator, Cork must find the real killer(s) in order to exonerate himself. He has a short list of suspects which he must rule out one by one. As the plot thickens, taking different twists and turns, Cork is in some danger and must protect himself and his family.

I am glad Cork has a new love, Rainy, the niece of Henry Meloux, one of my favorite non-O'Connor family characters. Henry is the old and very wise "medicine man" quoted in most of my Cork blog posts. I was amused that the Native American casinos are sometimes called "the new buffalo." Being a Fleetwood Mac fan, I liked the references to the hit song "Rhiannon." Also, I enjoyed Krueger's flashbacks describing some events of Cork's youth. All in all, I loved Trickster's Point. Rating: 5!

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

 

"Not just Horse...The horse. What you have here is the greatest racing stallion in American turf history."

-Dr. Catherine Morgan, from the novel

I had seen this novel on the NYT Bestseller List for some time and I have enjoyed others by this author, so I waited to get it from the library. With its 416 pages, it was a satisfying read compared to the last two I struggled through with over 600 pages each! Also, it took me back to my youth when I read every horse story I could get my hands on. 

In Horse, the author weaves a mixture of fact and fiction, past and present. In 2019 Theo is a graduate student in art history who finds a painting of a horse discarded by a neighbor which he takes to the Smithsonian to be refurbished and evaluated. He meets Jess, a scientist at the Smithsonian and they connect over a common interest in the horse featured in the painting. They learn the horse is called Lexington and the quote above tells you much of what you need to know.

In 1850 Jarret is an enslaved horse groom in Kentucky who forms a special bond with the colt who will become the illustrious Lexington. Jarret connects with Thomas J. Scott, an itinerant equestrian painter commissioned to do a portrait of the horse.

I learned much I did not know about the history of thoroughbred racing in America, the impact of the Civil War on African American jockeys and American equestrian art. The author's note is quite intriguing as she discusses how she came to write the book and what is fact and fiction in the story. I found the writing first-rate, the plot compelling and most characters likeable. I am giving Horse a rating of 3; I liked it, didn't love it.

Page Turners Book Rankings for 2022

 

Page Turners 

Book Rankings of 2022

January         The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett                                                      4.3

July               Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman                    4.3

August          Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe                                             4.2

February       The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee                                     4.1

June              The Good Earth by Pearl Buck                                                             4.0

October         This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger                                        4.0

May               The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis                                3.9

April              Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang                                                3.8

March            Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz                                               3.4

September      State of Terror by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny                          3.4

November      Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr                                               2.8

 

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

 

"Repository....you know this word? A resting place. A text---a book---is a resting place for the memories of people who have lived before. A way for the memory to stay fixed after the soul has traveled on."

       -Licinius to Anna, from the novel

If I were not going to be the leader of the discussion of this book, I likely would not have finished it. In fact, I probably wouldn't have lasted through the first several sections. It is amazing to me that it has a 4.3/5 rating on Good Reads and close to the same on Amazon and was on the NYT Bestseller List for 20 weeks. 

First of all, I had just labored through a 600+ page novel only to find this one was about the same length. I really prefer 450 or under. I couldn't even tell you what genre it is---it's like a mashup of mythology, sci-fi, historical fiction and fantasy. (At least two of those are my least favorites.) I stayed pretty confused through the first half, at least. Finally, I got to know the main characters, but it was the final 100 pages or so where I saw how the settings and characters intertwined and I liked it a bit better.

This novel starts with Konstance aboard the interstellar ship Argos in the future. Then alternating through the book, the reader learns separately of Omeir and Anna in 15th century Constantinople and Zeno and Seymour at a library in present day Idaho. Interspersed one finds excerpts of the almost indecipherable text of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Antonios Diogenes of ancient Greece. Maybe my favorite parts were the ones in libraries and having to do with the importance of books. I loved the sign on the Lakeport Public Library: "'OWL' YOU NEED ARE BOOKS!" (The book drop box is painted to resemble an owl.)

Good Reads calls Cloud Cuckoo Land "historically speculative and wildly inventive." I just think it's rather cuckoo! I really liked All the Light We Cannot See by Doerr so I haven't given up on him, but my rating for this novel is 2.

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The Page Turners met this week to discuss this book. Thirteen were in attendance. There were 5 ratings of 1 or 2, a rare occurrence. A few members DID like the book and the average was 2.8, lowest of the year. We could agree that the author is adept with words but many of us were confused with the multiple settings, both time and place. And some of us found the characters hard to like. One person said she read it twice and would likely read it again. A couple of members had NOT read the book and, after listening to the discussion. admitted they would NOT be reading it!

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

 "We hate Hed and Hed hates us. If we win every other hockey game throughout the season but lose just one game against, it feels like a failed season. It isn't enough for things to go well for us, things also need to go to hell for them, only then can we be properly happy."      -from the novel, a Beartown Bears fan

The quote above reminded me of football rivalries in the US such as Alabama-Auburn and Florida-FSU! You are qualified as a fan if you HATE the other team and always root for their opponent. (That coming from an Auburn fan who knows!)

I have really liked the few Backman novels I have read but not this one. I will rate it a 3 only because the writing is excellent---often humorous, sometimes profound. This one just had too much writing---over 600 pages---and the topic was hockey, a sport I know next to nothing about. I finished it only because I read far enough to want to know what happened to the characters. And there are many characters---some violent and some victims of violence, adding to the suspense. Backman is generous with his foreshadowing, as well.

I recommend this one to hockey fans!