Waiting on Wednesday: Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives ed. by Sarah Weinman

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My choice for this week is Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: Stories from the Trailblazers of Domestic Suspense ed. by Sarah Weinman due out August 27, 2013 from Penguin Books.

This is an anthology of 14 women writers from 1940s through the mid 1970s. Among those selected are Charlotte Armstrong, Patricia Highsmith, and Shirley Jackson. The website domesticsuspense.com  has more on the authors and why they were selected for inclusion.

From Goodreads.com:" One of today’s preeminent authorities on crime fiction, Weinman asks: Where would bestselling authors like Gillian Flynn, Sue Grafton, or Tana French be without the women writers who came before them?

In Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives, Weinman brings together fourteen hair-raising tales by women who—from the 1940s through the mid-1970s—took a scalpel to contemporary society and sliced away to reveal its dark essence. Lovers of crime fiction from any era will welcome this deliciously dark tribute to a largely forgotten generation of women writers."

I hadn't thought of Domestic Suspense as a genre until I came across this book. Sarah Weinman suggests that as a genre it exists (from domesticsuspense.com):

"To my mind, it’s a genre of books published between World War II and the height of the Cold War, written by women primarily about the concerns and fears of women of the day. These novels and stories operate on the ground level, peer into marriages whose hairline fractures will crack wide open, turn ordinary household chores into potential for terror, and transform fears about motherhood into horrifying reality. They deal with class and race, sexism and economic disparity, but they have little need to show off that breadth.

Instead, they turn our most deep-seated worries into narrative gold, delving into the dark side of human behavior that threatens to come out with the dinner dishes, the laundry, or taking care of a child. They are about ordinary, everyday life, and that’s what makes these novels of domestic suspense so frightening. The nerves they hit are really fault lines."

It sounds fascinating to me from a historical perspective and from an entertainment perspective. I suspect it will also appeal to fans of noir fiction.

Throwback Thursday: Eternally Bad by Trina Robbins

Throwback Thursday is about reviewing a book that's been out for a while. In this case the book has been out for quite a while. The hardcover edition that I have was released in 2001.

Eternally Bad: Goddesses with Attitude by Trina Robbins is about an assortment of goddesses with a few strong women thrown in. The book is divided up into topics:

1. The Evil Twin 
2. Tramps and Thieves
3. Bad Girls of the Bible
4. Sorceresses: Don't Drink That!
5. G.I. Janes
6. Goddesses Who Love Too Much
7. They Got Away With Murder!

Each goddess or woman has a brief biography or short story entry. My favorite was under the Tramps and Thieves heading, the story of Uzume and Amaterasu. "Uzume, the Japanese goddess of merriment, was the first exotic dancer. She invented the striptease to lure Amaterasu, the sun goddess, out of her cave." I particularly liked that Uzume is described as short and round and that she still does this uninhibited act.

Some of the other goddesses and women in the book are: Isis, Lilith, Jezebel, Kali, Freya, Pele, The Morrigan, Circe, and Artemis.

The book is written in a light, humorous manner. It is more of an introduction than anything definitive. As such, it is enjoyable. I give it 4 stars.

Review: Jim Henson's The StoryTeller ed. by Nate Cosby

Jim Henson's The StoryTeller edited by Nate Cosby is a collection of 9 short fairy tales and folk tales in a graphic novel form. It's rated E for everyone - meaning it contains material suitable for all ages and may contain minor violence.

The artwork and author for each story is different. This interrupts the flow a little, but I think ultimately it serves the book. The change in art helps to emphasize the jump to the next story, and the art fits whatever story is being told. Everyone who reads it will have their own favorite or favorites. For me, my favorites are "Old Fire Dragoman" by Jeff Parker illustrated by Tom Fowler which happens to be an Appalachian Jack tale, "Puss in Boots" by Marjorie Liu illustrated by Jennifer L. Meyer, and "The Frog Who Became an Emporer" by Paul Tobin illustrated by Evan Shaner.

If you enjoyed the series The Storyteller when it aired, you will like this book. Or if you just like fairy tales and folk tales, you will like this book. It's a good selection of stories, some shorter than others. Some with a moral, some are just enjoyable tales. I give this book 4 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Faceless One by Mark Onspaugh

"Waiting On" Wednesday" is a weekly event  hosted at Breakingthespine.blogspot.com that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. The Faceless One by Mark Onspaugh is my choice for this week's Waiting on Wednesday. It's due to be published October 28, 2013 by Hydra.

From Amazon and Goodreads:

"From a brilliant new voice in horror comes a riveting nightmare of ancient evil unleashed—and the bravery and sacrifice of those called to combat it.

In 1948, when he was just a boy, Jimmy Kalmaku trained with his uncle to be the shaman of his Tlingit village in Alaska. There he learned the old legends, the old myths, the old secrets. Chief among them was that of a mask locked in a prison of ice, and of the faceless god imprisoned within: a cruel and vengeful god called T'Nathluk, dedicated to the infliction of pain and suffering.

Now all but forgotten in a Seattle retirement home, Jimmy finds his life turned upside down. For when an unwitting archaeologist pries the mask free of its icy tomb, he frees T’Nathluk as well. Stuck in spirit form, the Faceless One seeks a human to serve as a portal through which he can enter our reality. The Faceless One can control—and mercilessly torture—anyone who touches the mask, which means there is no shortage of slaves to ferry it across the country to its chosen host.

Yet the Faceless One has foes as well: Stan Roberts, a tough New York cop whose pursuit of justice will lead him into a dark abyss of the soul; Steven, Liz, and Bobby, the family of the doomed archaeologist; and Jimmy Kalmaku, who must at last become the shaman of his boyhood dreams."

Review: Return to Fender by Virginia Brown

Return to Fender is book 4 in the Blue Suede Memphis Mystery series by Virginia Brown. This series stars Harley Jean Davidson as a sleuth that mostly accidentally solves cases. It's not that she doesn't have a good head on her shoulders, it's that there seem to be a number of people who would like to separate it from her shoulders. Or maybe bury her alive. Or drop her off the side of the Peabody hotel.

Jordan Cleveland likes to dress up as Diana Ross in his spare time. Unfortunately, someone is trying to kill him and not limiting it to his spare time. He begs Harley to help him. Harley figures she will be safe, after all she's not the one they're after. (Can you say famous last words?)

Her friends and family and cop boyfriend are all appalled that she could possibly involve herself in a situation like this after some of her past experiences. Despite their cautions, and in some cases begging, she continues to involve herself with Jordan. And the danger begins.

The story is good. It's a whodunit/ who's-doing-it.  And I couldn't guess who it was right up 'til the end. It's also a humorous mystery. Would make good vacation reading.

I loved the characters. I especially liked her parents. The author did a great job of giving enough backstory when introducing the characters that you didn't feel you needed to read all the other books in the series to understand the one in your hand,

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Friday Reads: Cobweb Bride by Vera Nazarian

I Just finished Return to Fender by Virginia Brown and will now be starting Cobweb Bride by Vera Nazarian. There’s not much I can say about it right now other than what the website and Goodreads or Amazon has to say about it. It looks like a good book. It’s been on my To Be Read list for a little while now, and I feel blessed to have an advance copy to check it out. 

From Goodreads.com: 

Cobweb Bride is a history-flavored fantasy novel with romantic elements of the Persephone myth, about Death’s ultimatum to the world. 

In an alternate Renaissance world, somewhere in an imaginary “pocket” of Europe called the Kingdom of Lethe, Death comes, in the form of a grim Spaniard, to claim his Bride. Until she is found, in a single time-stopping moment all dying stops. There is no relief for the mortally wounded and the terminally ill….

And one small village girl, Percy—an unwanted, ungainly middle daughter—is faced with the responsibility of granting her dying grandmother the desperate release she needs.

As a result, Percy joins the crowds of other young women of the land in a desperate quest to Death’s own mysterious holding in the deepest forests of the North…

And everyone is trying to stop her.

Waiting on Wednesday: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Brokenspine.blogspot.com, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My choice for this week is Between the Devil and the Deep  Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke.  The book is due to be released August 15, 2013.

From Amazon: 

You stop fearing the Devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery…who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

A gothic thriller romance with shades of Stephen King and F. Scott Fitzgerald, set against a creepy summertime backdrop—a must-read for fans of Beautiful Creatures, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and Anna Dressed in Blood.