An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew (Annejet van der Zijl)

An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew , Annejet van der Zijl, (20`5), translated by Michele Hutchison (2018)

I left the following review on Goodreads:

A fascinating look at high-society and old money meets new at the close of the 19th century, in New York and Pittsburgh, focused on the life of Allene Tew of Jamestown, NY who went on to make the society pages in the 20th century and marry an actual prince (among others) in the course of a turbulent life that weathered two world wars, a market crash, the Depression, and the start of the Cold War. Through it all, she persevered.

Not the kind of book I normally read. It was a suggestion from Amazon (World Book Day). I didn't know at first that it was a biography of an actual person -- I'd never heard of her, but I have heard of many of the names that were dropped. Even more surprising was I thought it would be more about Europe because the author in from the Netherlands. (The author has done a book on Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, who has a connection with Miss Tew. (I won't share her full name -- spoilers)

Fascinating who this woman was and the lives she led, especially since it opens with her dying days in a small house so far from where she was born.

I was going to give this book 4 stars, but I couldn't think of a reason why I shouldn't give it five.

Go (Kaneshiro)

Go: A Coming of Age Novel , Kazuki Kaneshiro (2000), translated by Takami Nieda (2018)

Not a review. Just a reminder of what I read recently.

I probably would not have read this were it not for Amazon's World Reading Day. As I did last year, I downloaded a bunch of free books from around the world. Last year, I only read two of them (so far).

Once again, I read a book by about a Korean living in Japan, but unlike A River in Darkness, Go wasn't anywhere near as depressing. That said, it wasn't particularly cheery either. The book was from 2000, which is something to keep in mind whenever there are mentions of technology or pop culture. Some references become dated.

The story follows Sugihara, whose family in Korean. When the North Korea had been founded, Koreans in Japan had to choose to register as North or South Korean. The book opens with his parents deciding to switch nationality to South Korean, so they'll be able to go to Hawaii. (At first, I thought they were moving there, but it's just a vacation.) Sugihara takes this opportunity to get out of Korean school and attend a Japanese school.

School life is rough, but Sugihara has an undefeated record beating up all challengers who would make his life miserable. (Not to mention the ones who think that they could make a name for themselves if they get in a lucky punch that takes him down.) Since Sugihara was taught by his father, a one-time professional boxer, who also slaps him around a bit, he isn't easy to take down.

One of his friends is Katou, whose nose Sugihara breaks. No hard feelings, though, because that gives him the excuse to get a nose job. Katou's father is a member of the Yakuza, and he respects Sugihara. Katou throws a big birthday party, and Sugihara meets Sakurai, a bit of mystery girl.

His closest friend in Jong-Il, from the Korean school.

It's a story of love, loss and finding your place in the world, and what nationality has to do with any or all of that. I enjoyed it.

Mermaid Precinct (DeCandido)

Mermaid Precinct , Keith R.A. DeCandido (2019)

Not a review. Just a reminder of what I read recently.

I was lucky enough to be at the book launch party for Mermaid Precinct at Heliosphere in Tarrytown, NY recently. I was even luckier to already have a copy of the ebook from winning a flash fiction contest at eSpec Books, the publisher. The plan was to buy the Tales of book to get signed since I can't sign my ebook.

(Sidebar: my winning story was The Feast of Groggry the Cronaut. )

This is the first one three books to be written for eSpec Books. To expand the series, DeCandido expanded the town. This book takes place a year after Gryphon. In that time, there was a fire in Barlin, and many refugees flooded Cliff's End. As a result, a new neighborhood was built, and while the official name is Albinton, everyone calls it "New Barlin". This neighborhood has been designated Phoenix Precinct. Also, there is now a prison barge offshore, which has been designated Manticore Precinct.

Guess what the next two books will be called. At a sit-down with Keith, I heard that Phoenix should be the next book to be written. It hasn't been started yet, so it'll be a while before I continue this series.

Gryphon Precinct (DeCandido)

Gryphon Precinct , Keith R.A. DeCandido (2013)

Not a review. Just a reminder of what I read recently. Read this a month or so ago.

Spoilers from previous books in the very first paragraph.

The end of Goblin Precinct was marked by the death of Dru's partner, Lieutenant Hawk, as well as the Lord Albin, who had been sick with more than allergies.

Albin's son, Lord Blayk comes in and immediately starts making changes. First, he gives both Captain Osric and Lt Iaian full pensions to retire. Then he makes Grovis the new Captain based purely on his status as the son of a Cliff's End banker. Blayk expects Grovis to be his mouthpiece and do whatever he's told. This doesn't play well with Torin, Danthres, Dru or even the new lieutenants.

Blayk splits up Torin and Danthres, so they can take each train new partners. He also doesn't want them investigating Albin's death. However, his mother overrules this and wants Danthres to investigate.

The entire castle is being upended, and Torin and Danthres figure out why. Grovis, in the meantime, realizes what a pickle he's been put in, to the point that he finds a retired Iaian, living alone now that he bought a nice house for his wife, to talk out his problem. Iaian has always hated Grovis, but can't argue one piece of logic: Grovis can't talk to anyone in the department about what's going on, but he needs to talk to someone who understands the department. That's Iaian, who tells him, basically, keep his head down and mouth shut if he wants to survive. That's how Iaian survived.

Verdict: an improvement over "Goblin".

Goblin Precinct (DeCandido)

Goblin Precinct , Keith R.A. DeCandido (2012)

Not a review. Just a plot summary, for future reference. Read this a couple months ago.

The third book in the series brings us to another precinct. The book opens with a former aristocrat in Elven society, one who had been close to the Elf Queen and who fled when the end was near, is now a poor beggar in Cliff's End, having never found a new way to support himself. In the end, he gives in and tries a new drug called "Bliss", which makes the user happy beyond belief. He's instantly hooked, but the high never lasts as long, and it's a short matter of time before he overdoses.

Not exactly murder. And not something that would merit the involvement of the Castle Guard detectives. However, when another Elven aristocrat shows up looking for the first one to try as a war criminal. Using his credentials, he forces the Castle Guard to find the body and prove cause of death, to make sure it wasn't a politically motivated murder. (Note: the reader already knows that it was not.)

The investigation uncovers the fact that the drug, Bliss, was created through magical means. Now the Brotherhood of Wizards will have a problem with this. In fact, the "Brotherhood" will have a bigger problem by the time the whole thing is over.

Among the other revelations, Danthres discovers that Sorlin, the city she sought refuge in as a half-breed, has disbanded because the purity laws elsewhere have been repealed. (In Unicorn, Torin ban Wyvald's father had shown up to bring him home to Myverin. We should be out of homelands now.)

No spoilers for anyone accidentally finding my blog, but there will be staffing changes by the end of the book.

Final take: Goblin suffers from lack of a murder, and from knowing the cause of death from the beginning without any real twist. There is one twist regarding the magical creation of the drug, and even that isn't resolved as well as it should have been.