Books 6-10: George RR Martin, Cat Winters, Grisham

6) In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters.

Sixteen year old Mary Shelly Black, named after the writer of Frankenstein, is shipped from Portland to her aunt in San Diego in 1918. Author Cat Winters picked a dark time in American history when a collision of events to showcase fear and desperation. Through Mary Shelly's eyes we see her first love Stephen head off to war, we witness the national prejudice against Germans, we sense the fear over the Spanish flu pandemic, and we see the ridiculous logic that led some to believe women (and teen girls) are weak because they're simply women (or teen girls). Stephen and his brother Julius have taken up their late father's photography business. Stephen leaves Mary Shelly two pictures -- a butterfly and a lightning strike, which take on new meaning after Stephen is killed in battle and Mary Shelly is, about the same time, struck by lightning.  Julius stays in San Diego as a spirit photographer; his images show posed relatives with the unseen spirits of recently departed loved ones floating around them. Mary Shelly's view on the spirit world changes. Following the lightning strike, compass points follow her, and she believes she can hear Stephen reaching out to her from the dead. The novel includes a number of photographs from the era, similar to Miss Peregrine's Home for Troubled Children. This is suitable for middle and high school readers, although it is a bit gruesome toward the end. In the Shadow of Blackbirds, published in 2013, has been selected as a Missouri Gateway Readers nominee for 2015-2016. High school students will vote on the statewide winner in March, 2016.

7) A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin. 

I decided to read 115 books in 2015, then picked up a 1,200 page book.  So it goes. The thing I've enjoyed about the Game of Thrones novels is how easy it is to fall back into that fantasy realm, to root for the Starks and question whether Tyrion is a bad good or a good guy, and marvel at how human nature doesn't really change at all regardless of the setting. What I'm left with at the end of this third book is surprise at how many characters die throughout the novels yet the story continues strong, as well as an urgent desire to rent the HBO series to see how my visual depiction of the stories compares to the cinematic version. Recommended for mature readers.

8) Alaska: Tour of America's Great Land by Bob Devine.

A few weeks ago the Alaska tourism board (or something like it) sent me a very nice 20ish page enticement to come visit. The next day, this coffee-table sized tour of Alaska by Bob Devine was sitting on the new release table at the local library, and I took it as a fortuitous coincidence. As the title suggests, the book is an in-depth look at America's largest state. Devine details some of the state's history and provides key statistics to add perspective. For instance, the state's population is smaller than that of Albuquerque, New Mexico, yet its size is larger than the entire Midwest. Stunning photographs help tell the tale of sights not many will ever see. A wonderful book, and one that strengthens my hope to spend a long time in the state someday soon.

9) The Empire Striketh Back: William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher. As was the case with the first book (Verily: A New Hope), Doescher takes George Lucas's Star Wars and sets it to iambic pentameter. A wonderful diversion for Star Wars fans and Shakespearean buffs with a sense of humor, which I have to think would be most true Shakespeare fans (but nay, not those stuffy ivory tower university types).

10) Gray Mountain, John Grisham

Grisham's novels, especially of late, have a political activist bent to them. The little guy takes on the big corporation and, against all odds, the little guys win the day. That's not exactly the case here, although the political activism is certainly here in full force. With the 2008 election looming and the financial markets collapsing, corporate attorney Samantha Kofer finds herself furloughed from her Manhattan law firm. Her only lifeline is the possibility of being rehired in a year or more if, and only if, she agrees to work pro-bono at one of a number of non-profits far, far from her beloved New York City. Samantha eventually lands at a firm in rural Appalachia, a world about as far from the hustle of the big city as she can imagine. In small town Brady, Virginia, Kofer teams up with Mattie, who runs the legal aid clinic that provides free legal assistance to the small town's mining community. Here, coal is not only king, it's the only game in town: and Samantha quickly learns that Big Coal will do almost anything to get its way. Gray Mountain is less of a page-turning legal thriller than it is the story of a young woman looking to re-establish her place in the world, even though that world is continually shifting beneath her feet. Like many of Grisham's recent works, the narrative is full of information about the topic of the day -- this time the evils of Big Coal -- which, while potentially useful in raising awareness of what is happening, makes the narrative feel forced.  The star of the novel, Samantha Kofer, has potential to appear in future novels, although Grisham isn't typically a writer who brings characters back for multiple books. Perhaps that will be a welcome change, for there are many strings left dangling at the end of Gray Mountain and I would be interested to know what happens in Samantha's next chapters. On its own, though, Gray Mountain does not stand tall.