Book Review: The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot

Title: The Tale of One Bad Rat
Author: Bryan Talbot
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
 Publication date: 1995


Helen Potter is a runaway following the steps of Beatrix Potter whom she holds an affinity  to because of sharing both first and surnames.  Her troubles with being touched by males and her sexuality combined with the mental stigma and shame she feels as a survivor of incest has her constantly on the move and leery of trusting anyone.

Her traveling companion starts off as a pet rat saved from a school biology lab.  As she travels north her reliance on the rat as a companion becomes more prevalent after a tragedy drives her to continue North.  Helen finds her way to the Lake Land District, home of Beatrix Potters house Hill Top. Helen finds friends in the owners of the Herdwick Arms pub who help her after she collapses in the rear of the building, and who offer her safety in a job, a place to sleep, and eventually in support in facing her parents.

This is a tough story to read. The subject material is uncomfortable, and you can see the research and the pain and suffering that the author conveys in the subject. He quotes Miriam Saphira from The Sexual Abuse of Children "The first step towards prevention and to provision of supportive services for the girls who've been abused is bringing abuse into the open... Incest is not taboo. It seems that talking about incest is the real taboo."

 This was such a moving little story about finding the strength to stand up to the person abusing you and finding your strength as a person despite the mental stigmas  that plague your thoughts and opinions of who you are. The artwork in this book is absolutely stunning. I don't know that I would have picked this up on my own, though it is the story driven type of graphic novel I adore.  This was shared with me by bookcrosser HI77 I'm sad I wasn't able to fit it into my manga and graphic novel book box. I'll have to think on a place to share this book with the world.

Book Review: Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland

title: Luncheon of the Boating Party
Author: Susan Vreeland
Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: 2008

There are paintings throughout history that are very well known by everyone. Pierre August Renoir's painting Le Déjeuner des canotiers also known as The Luncheon of the Boating Party is one of those paontings that helped make the Impressionism movement as well known as it is today. Author Susan Vreeland has taken this painting and the creation of it and written a narrative that takes readers back to Paris in the 1880's when Renoir undertook the large scale creation of a painting that he envisioned showing in the yearly salon. In this painting, he had fourteen friends model for him on the terrace of the restaurant La Maison Fournaise. Bt including a mixture of men, women, and high society as well as working class men and women in his painting, Renoir showed the changing ideals of Parisian society. The author  draws her readers into the life of Renoir and life in Paris after the Prussian War in a beautiful and engaging way.

I adored this book, personally. I grew up in a home that adored the Impressionists. My artists father had prints of many of Monet's paintings hanging up. I spent much time as a child in the Impressionist gallery of the Art Institute as a child and teenager looking at the paintings on display by Monet, Renoir, Mary Cassualt, Georges Seurat, Édouard Manet, and Edgar Degas. I still have a love of this art movement and it's influence on future movements such as the post impressionists and the Neo-Impressionists.

 I started with an audio copy which has a wonderful reader. However,  and I I ended up switching to a print copy as I was having trouble keeping characters and events in mind and the book let me easily flip back to remind myself of events and people. I found this to be an interesting narrative of the composition and execution of this painting. I really feel like I got a glimpse into Renoir's life and mind while he was painting.

Book Review: Spring Pearl The Last Flower by Lawrence Yep

Title: Spring Pearl The Last FlowerAuthor: Laurence YepPublisher:Pleasant Company PublicationsPublish date: August 21, 2003

Twelve year old Chou Spring Pearl's life is in upheaval. Recently orphaned, she is taken in by the family of her scholarly father's friend and benefactor Master Sung. Raised in a bamboo hut located in the "rat's nest' poorer neighborhood of Canton Spring Pearl has been raised in an unorthodox manner for girls of her time. The daughter of a scholar who was known for his paintings she knows how to read , and write, and can speak some English, due to her father's business with British and other foreigners before they were pushed out of the city, but does not know how to sew, embroider, or play music. Spring Pearl's home was humble compared to the home of the Sung family and her foster sister's and the servants tease her about her humble beginnings.

However, during her time in the Sung household, Spring Pearl finds herself slowly being accepted as a part of the family. Her dedication to reviving the fading garden in the compound and her honor and loyalty to Master Sung show her to Mistress Sung in a more favorable light than that of the "leech" the mistress had thought of her when she first came into the household. Caught in a place where she isn't a servant, but also isn't one of the wealthy family, Spring Pearl fights to find her place in the household she has become a part of. When Master Sung is arrested for treason, and the French and British attack Canton again will Spring Pearl be able to use her talents and knowledge to help the family that took her in to stay safe and keep their home during the turmoil?

Spring Pearl the Last Flower is one of the Girls of Many Lands book series produced by the American Girls company between 2002 and 2005. This line of books and dolls was aimed at older girls and spanned several countries and time periods. I picked this book up from bookmooch to add to the books I was leaving at a little free library near the school I student taught at last spring. However, I hung onto the book to read because I thought it looked interesting and was written by the author of Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate which I read years ago when my younger sister cleared out her book collection prior to a move and had enjoyed very much. I found this book to be an interesting one that takes place at the start of the second Opium War in China. Spring Pearl is a positive strong heroine and would be a good role model for any tween. The book itself might be a little hard at times to read, there is a lot of historical detail included, and Spring Pearl's behavior is not what a modern reader might expect.

I wish that this line of books and dolls hadn't been so short lived. I love the range of countries and ethnicities included in the series. While this book looks at China in the late 1850's other books introduced Tudor England (1592), 18th century France (Pre Revolution),  Yup'ik Alaska (1890), and Partition era India (1939).

As an adult reader I found this book to be fairly easy and informative historical fiction reading. I think it would be great for middle school aged readers with an interest in historical fiction.

Books wild released in August 2013:

1.)  One Wish  by Linda Lael Miller on 8/1/2013

2.)  The Greedy Auctioneer: Church Choir Mysteries  by Evelyn Minshull  on 8/8/2013

3.)  Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples  on 8/8/2013

4.)  A Fistful O' Dead Guys   by Shane Lacy Hensley  on 8/8/2013

5.)  Star of Wonder Anthology  by Jo Beverley, Kate Freiman, Alice Alfonsi, Tess Farraday on 8/12/2013

6.)  Clockwork Fairy Tales: A Collection of Steampunk Fables  by Stephen L. Antczak, James C. Bassett on 8/17/2013

7.)  At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon  on 8/17/2013

8.)  Westward Weird by Martin H. Greenberg, Kerrie Hughes  on 8/23/2013

9.)  Sizzle and Burn  by jayne ann krentz on 8/23/2013

10.)  White Lies by jayne ann krentz on 8/23/2013

11.)  Once a Princess   by Johanna Lindsey on 8/23/2013

12.)  Abhorsen by Garth Nix  on 8/28/2013

13.)  The Well of Shades by Juliet Marillier on 8/28/2013

14.)  Darkwitch Rising: Book Three of The Troy Game  by Sara Douglass on 8/28/2013

Books Wild Released in July 2013:

1.)    The Celery Stalks At Midnight  by James Howe on 7/3/2013

2.)    Seraphim  by Michele Hauf on 7/3/2013

3.)    The Fallen Man  by Tony Hillerman on 7/9/2013

4.)    Sam's letters to Jennifer  by James Patterson  on 7/10/2013

5.)    Shoot the Moon  by Billie Letts  on 7/10/2013

6.)    October Song  by Beverly Lewis on 7/13/2013

7.)    Thinner  by Richard Bachman on 7/16/2013

8.)    The Bridge of Peace  by Cindy Woodsmall on 7/16/2013

9.)    Star: A Novel   by Pamela Anderson  on 7/18/2013

10.)  Sarah's Key  by Tatiana de Rosnay on 7/23/2013

11.)   The Poisonwood Bible  by Barbara Kingsolver  on 7/23/2013 Caught!

12.)   The Templar Legacy: A Novel  by Steve Berry on 7/23/2013

13.)    Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest  on 7/23/2013

Books Wild Released in August 2012

1.) The Going-To-Bed Book by Sandra Boynton on 8/1/2012
2.) The Partner by John Grisham on 8/2/2012
3.) Men Made In America #49, Starstruck, Wisconsin by McAllister Anne on 8/2/2012
4.) Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles on 8/2/2012
5.) Rebel Worlds by Poul Anderson on 8/2/2012
6.) Curfewed Night: One Kashmiri Journalist's Frontline Account of Life, Love, and War in His Homeland on 8/6/2012
7.) Love Is The Key (Harlequin Presents) on 8/10/2012
8.) A Grandmother's Guide to Babysitting: Times-Have-Changed Practical Advice and Space for Important Information (Capital Ideas) on 8/10/2012
9.) Animal Babies on the Farm on 8/13/2012
10.) But Not the Hippopotamus on 8/13/2012
11.) Spot Counts from 1 to 10 on 8/13/2012
12.) One Little Sheep on 8/13/2012
13.) Haunted Highways: Spooky Stories, Strange Happenings, and Supernatural Sightings on 8/16/2012
14.) The First Thing Smoking on 8/16/2012
15.) Till Murder Do Us Part on 8/21/2012
16.) Bloodline on 8/22/2012
17.) Scones & Bones on 8/24/2012
18.) Driftwood Summer by Patti Callahan Henry | on 8/24/2012
19.) Sinbad's Guide to Life: Because I Know Everything by Sinbad on 8/27/2012
20.) SNAKE RIVER, THE (Rivers West, Book 8) by WINFRED BLEVINS on 8/27/2012
21.) Smiley's People by John le Carré on 8/29/2012

Books Wild Released in February 2012

1.) My Cat's Not Fat, He's Just Big-Boned by Hollander on 2/3/2012
2.) Shadows by John Saul on 2/10/2012
3.) Let Me Call You Sweetheart by Mary Higgins Clark on 2/10/2012
4.) Shibumi by Trevanian on 2/13/2012
5.) City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams on 2/13/2012
6.) Dune By Frank Herbert on 2/13/2012 Caught!
7.) Freaky Deaky by ELMORE LEONARD on 2/21/2012 Caught!
8.) Code To Zero by Ken Follett on 2/23/2012
9.) Testing Miss Toogood by Stella Cameron on 2/23/2012
10.) Children of the Dark by Charles Veley on 2/24/2012
11.) Murder List: A Novel by Julie Garwood on 2/28/2012