Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Todd A Fonseca]

Just finished reading Betty Wilson's novel - Mr. Jefferson's Piano and other central harlem stories. I have an entirely new respect for city property managers.

Full review below.

*********************



Mr. Jefferson’s Piano and other Central Harlem Stories – A Moving Fictional Memoir

Rating: 4 of 5

Author: Betty Wilson
Available: Paperback, Kindle

Melba Farris is a long way from Ohio where she grew up. Living in New York City in the late 1970s, she applies for a position managing the cities’ public housing units in Central Harlem. Given little to no training and without much supervision, she’s suddenly responsible for managing numerous buildings and tenants. Managers with drinking problems, building supers who meticulously sweep their streets, pistol packing tenants, crazy directives from the “suits” downtown, and touching stories of love and loss are part of Melba’s everyday life. Giving her all to her job, tenants, and buildings provides a sense of purpose and escape for Melba who, at home, is a victim of spousal abuse.

Though Betty Wilson’s Mr. Jefferson’s Piano is written as a fictional memoir, it is clear from the depth and detail of the 68 short stories that Ms. Wilson has leveraged her twenty years of experience as a New York City property manager. Similar to her novel’s heroine, Wilson herself was a Sloan Award winner for her public service. This is a uniquely written novel as it isn’t necessarily just a memoir. Wilson has added work memo’s, notes to file, and letters collected by her fictional character over the years and integrates them throughout Melba’s recounting of various experiences she’s had on the job. This adds such a sense of realism it’s hard to believe this is a fictional account.

One of the reasons I enjoyed this novel was the way Wilson has different characters come in and out of Melba’s life. Like Melba, we only see a glimpse of their lives without knowing necessarily how each of their stories resolve. This reminded me of what drew me to the first season of the television show ER where patients would come in and out of the emergency room and one never knew exactly how their stories resolved – just like in real life. Also, similar to an ER physician, Melba must cope with the frequent tragic lives she encounters on a daily basis. As a result, she occasionally comes off a little dispassionate. For those concerned they may be left frustrated by this method of story telling, Farris does close a number of these open arcs at the books conclusion.

Some stories are shocking, for example the drug user who has clogged his toilet with numerous needles requiring him to use his bathtub for collecting human waste. Others stories are touching, such as the one recounting the history of Mr. Jefferson’s Piano. After reading this novel, I have new found respect for the difficult, dangerous, yet rewarding social work undertaken by city property managers.

[naql]

I just finished Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks. I'm reading Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook now.

[BlackVoid]

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds - excellent 5/5
Morningstar by David Gemmel - good 4/5
The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. Robinson - good 4/5

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by naql

I just finished Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks. I'm reading Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook now.

And...how were they? Stinkers? Enjoyable? Boring?


Don

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds - excellent 5/5
Morningstar by David Gemmel - good 4/5
The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. Robinson - good 4/5

Are you recommending them? What was your reaction?


Don

[BlackVoid]

Yes, I am recommending them, look at the scores.
House of Suns is the usual realistic and very interesting sci-fi by this author. Its a standalone work (not related to his Revelation Space universe). AR remains my favorite contemporary SF writer. What I like most is that he is unpredictable, you have no idea what will happen next (most of the time). Another strong point of Reynolds is realism and I am not meaning the technology but mainly the choices and reactions of his characters. They are clever. In many books the characters are just plain stupid and do not think at all (especially the antagonists) - it kills the plot.

One book I gave up quite recently is The Descent by Jeff Long.
Would you go exploring in an underground cave on your own? I think not. Yet, this is what happens. Not only that, the main character (of the first 50 pages) goes on until his batteries run out totally, several hours into the cave. Yeah, right.

Morningstar is a good fantasy piece, but nothing extraordinary. It is a bit predictable, but saved by the attitude of the main character (not the narrator character). And yes, in the final battle the group splits up with the predictable disaster following...

The Dark Beyond the Stars - maybe I should have scored this as 5/5, it is a tale of a generation ship on a voyage lasting thousands of years. The frailty of human life is one of the main topics. There are some logical errors in this book though and that detracts a bit (like people going exploring on their own on a dangerous planet - that's just plain nonsense).

I really do not like spoilers, so I cannot say more about them without spoiling the fun. I dislike reviews that detail / reveal plot elements. If anyone wants to know more, there are plenty of reviews on Amazon (with the usual spoilers). I prefer just to start a book based on a recommendation / author or just the title and cover.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

And...how were they? Stinkers? Enjoyable? Boring?

The Black Company books are strangely fascinating. If you manage to get into the writing style they are very enjoyable. But I can understand why some people do not like them.

[yvanleterrible]

I'm right in the middle of the second book in the Millenium series by Stieg Larssen. Unfortunately it's in paper, I could only find the first in ebook form. Reading it in French too.

C-A-P-T-I-V-A-T-I-N-G!

[lilac_jive]

I'm trying to figure out what ebook to read next. Think I'm going to read "Persuader" by Lee Child, the freebie.

[YGG-]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

I'm right in the middle of the second book in the Millenium series by Stieg Larssen. Unfortunately it's in paper, I could only find the first in ebook form. Reading it in French too.

C-A-P-T-I-V-A-T-I-N-G!

Yessss! & the third one is the best :snicker-snicker:

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by YGG-

Yessss! & the third one is the best :snicker-snicker:

Thanks! I needed that.

[Sweetpea]

Just finished the Battle of Corrin. It took me some time to get really started, but about halfway, I couldn't put the book away anymore.

Now, on to the next book, Sandworms of Dune (or was it Hunters?) Oh well, whichever it is, it's been waiting in my library for some time... (I wanted to finish the original series + two prequel series before starting on the final series)

[JSWolf]

One eBook that I am reading that is a rather long one, but really good and a real page turner is By Order of the President by W.E.B. Griffin.

At an airfield in Angola, two men board a leased Boeing 727; then, once it is in the air, slit the pilot's throat and fly to parts unknown. The consternation is immediate, as the CIA, FBI, FAA, and other agencies race to find out what has happened, in the process elbowing each other in the sides a little too vigorously.

Fed up, the President of the United States turns to an outside investigator to determine the truth, an Army intelligence officer serving as special assistant to the Director of Homeland Security. Major Carlos Guillermo Castillo, known as Charley, is the son of a German mother and a Tex-Mex father, a Medal of Honor winner who died in Vietnam. A pilot, West Point graduate, and veteran of Desert Storm and the Special Forces, Castillo has a sharp eye for the facts-and the reality behind the facts. Traveling undercover, he flies to Africa, and there, helped and hindered by unexpected allies and determined enemies, begins to untangle a story of frightening dimensions-a story that, unless he can do something about it, will end very, very badly.

It is the beginning of the Presidential Agent series.

[YGG-]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Thanks! I needed that.

You're welcome

[naql]

Originally Posted by tompe

The Black Company books are strangely fascinating. If you manage to get into the writing style they are very enjoyable. But I can understand why some people do not like them.

I've been having a hard time putting the book down. The writing style feels a bit inconsistent to me but the story is really interesting.

Use of Weapons was excellent. I still think Excession was the best of Banks's Culture novels but this one was really good. I wasn't expecting the ending at all.