2025 #27 Let Only Red Flowers Bloom (Feng)

 

Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping's China by Emily Feng
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In her acknowledgements, Emily Feng thanks NPR for being a place "where creative storytelling and sharp news reporting are valued in equal measure" (274). To be sure, that describes Let Only Red Flowers Bloom. Feng lived in China for seven years and the book gathers together stories, using a tale of one or two to reflect the many. Each chapter has a focus, e.g. "The Lawyer" or "The Businessman" or "The Detained", but certain "characters" become threads that tie the chapters together. Kenny, for example, we meet first in "The Protestor" (Chapter 9) as a youthful idealist who is one of approximately 40K demonstrators in Hong Kong who believe they are peacefully protesting an extradition law. Kenny protests at night, unbeknownst to his parents, committing to a highly organized, underground network, that includes volunteer doctors and medics, as injured protestors were getting arrested when taken to the hospital. Kenny then has a new identity in Chapter 10 -- The Fugitive.

These stories serve as a mere primer on just *some* of the basic conflicts in China: the attacks on the Uyghurs and Mongolians, ethnic minorities of all stripes on the mainland, the battle for identity and sovereignty in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and much more. I chose this book because I realized I had a knowledge deficit when it comes to China, and I wanted to know more. Feng's narrative is compelling, well-researched, and wide-reaching--the final chapter, "The Diaspora," pulls back the curtain on the "long-arm" of the Chinese government but also the complexity of more than 5 million Chinese living in the U.S.

There are a few places where more careful editing might have curtailed some unnecessary repetition, especially in Chapter 11, but most of the book skillfully weaves in and out of the present and past, weaving with the cast of characters and their stories to ultimately express large questions. Feng herself had plenty of exposure to danger as well, but she instead choses to center the stories of those she interviewed, and does not inject her own challenges at the border or otherwise with any kind of dramatic hyperbole. If anything, her unadorned self-narrative is all the more chilling, as with her description of a high-speed chase wherein Feng and her driver are tailed after leaving the airport. After being detained, she notes:

"He [the driver] drove me back to the airport in silence. He gestured at his torso, then held a single finger up to his lips, motioning me not to speak. He had been bugged." (152)

The book is a powerful testament to storytelling as truth-telling, and it puts many human faces on complex issues that are reduced to inadequate headlines and social media blurbs in mainstream culture here in the U.S. A worthwhile read to remind us of the human spirit and how it has to endure in all sorts of contexts, all over the world.

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2025 #26 Children of Anguish and Anarchy (Legacy of Orïsha, no. 3)

 

Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In my review of Children of Virtue and Vengeance, the second of the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy, I wrote: "I am still invested. I want to know where they are headed. I want to be invited back to the world of purples and golds. But I hope that the third book will let me stay awhile before the fighting begins. There's more to say about what lies behind the strife. There's more to tell us about what will be lost before we actually lose it. "

I'm sad to say that the long-awaited book did not fulfill this wish. If anything, there's even more fighting, and less substance. We have new enemies: King Baldyr and The Skulls and new allies: New Gaians. We barely get any time on Orisha to even care about what is happening in healing old wounds. There's a formula applied to the four main characters: Zelie, Tzain, Inan, and Amari -- each has regrets, each thinks about those who have passed, each cuts down and fights enemies...but there's not a lot else that is happening. We see hints of the deeper character studies present in the wonderful first installment, Children of Blood and Bone, particularly with Zélie teetering on the edge of her power being usurped for evil or for good, and there is one particular scene with Tzain, who is going through a similar struggle, that invests in the deeper themes. The book is too short to really get into too much world-building, so the net effect is one of a passive interest in the mythologies and theologies that seemed so crucial in the first book.

I don't know what it is to write a trilogy, and I imagine the creative commitment is immense. Is it still a good read? Sure, and if anything one might benefit more if they haven't read the other two (although I also want to recognize I probably should have gone back and reread the other two books because I was a bit iffy on some of the details). Adeyemi's descriptive writing is a pleasure, and her skill with it enlivens this particular book, especially in how she captures the Green Maidens, Mae'e, and Zélie's transformation(s).

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2025 #25 The Extinction of Irena Rey (Croft)

 

The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The premise--a translation of a story about translators and translation authored by a translator--is clever, yes. What I didn't expect was the humor that springs up like an unexpected mushroom in a field of moss. That gives it a 3. 75 for me.
There are moments of meta-translation like:
"Her face was the white of a freshly laundered sheet that someone other than me had laundered. (My laundry always turns out beige or gray.)" In this humble offering from Emi, we see how imagery in translation always connects to experience in one way or the other (remembering that the text we are reading was in fact written in Spanish, and we are reading it translated into English). Croft skillfully uses the slightly askew simile to call out some of the challenges of translation. But this is all operating on a deeper level, and occasionally detracts from surface-level enjoyment of the book.

The book is complex, sometimes overly so, and the narrator becomes increasingly unlikeable in her high-school level emotional intelligence (this is, however, somewhat soothed by the occasional footquips (as opposed to footnotes) from the translator (Alexis), who is somewhat of an arch-nemesis figure for the author (Emi) throughout most of the book (although the reason why is never totally clear, save for Emi's need to assign blame somewhere)). Apologies for the excessive parentheses in the previous sentence. The descriptions of nature and fungi are beautiful, but we are quickly yanked out of any idyll of the primeval Polish forest toward a speculative fiction that resembles Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. There's a lot of ideological whiplash and flights of fancy that did not enrich my experience of the book, clever thought it is. There's a mystery too -- the titular Irena Rey goes missing-- but I stopped caring too soon in the book.

I am glad I read it, and there were definitely parts of the book I thought were glorious in prose and imagination. But at the end I felt I had finished putting together a piece of furniture, and found myself looking at several screws and bolt or two that were "left over."

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2025 #24 The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (McCall Smith) - No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #13

 

The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After a fairly long hiatus from this series, I'm not sure if absence made the heart grow fonder or what, but this installment had everything I was looking for. I missed Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi's shoes, Mma Potokwane, and all the sundry characters. This volume is particularly rewarding for devotees of the series, with a guest appearance of some significance (it is on the blurb on the back, people, but I'll not be blamed for spoilers). Mma Makutsi and Mma Ramotswe seem to have (mostly) comfortably settled in as ... associates, and this story shows how friends can band together, laying aside petty differences. The most charming and touching aspect of the book comes at the end, where we see that Mma Ramotswe's true gift is to find the value in most people and things -- maybe not Violet Sepotho, however. :-)

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2025 #23 The Martian (Weir)

 

The Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I may be in the minority, but I actually enjoyed Project Hail Mary just a bit more than The Martian. I violated my general "rule" that I don't see movies before reading the book, but I barely remember seeing the movie (vague recollections of Matt Damon and a lot of potatoes), so it is almost as if I was tabula rasa.

The "sciency" monologue is far greater in The Martian and frankly, it is hard to beat Rocky from PHM. Mark Watney and Ryland Grace share a similar sense of humor, and while that was comforting in some respects, I had hoped the two protagonists would be more different. Still, the overarching theme of human endurance and the will-to-overcome makes both books great palate cleansers for our current state of affairs.

I'd like to recognize Mindy Park for best supporting character -- Weir does this really well. The strongest parts of the book for me were when characters were interacting with each other, and everyone loves the narrative of the "un-noticed" becoming a hero in their own way. So, cheers to Mindy, for sure. That she actually gets character development too, is a nice contrast to Mark, who joke-nerds his way through his predicament basically throughout the book, until we get the post-narrative diary entries.

And...as with PHM...yes, I cried, dear reader. Even having seen the movie, I cheered along at the parts worth cheering. The Martian and PHM are both studies in human isolation in their own way, and I think that the vastness of space invites this inward inquiry: when faced with an expanse beyond our complete comprehension, we indeed might question our life's purpose if we are just blips on the radar screen of the cosmos.

Wil Wheaton's reading is excellent, and to be fair, I'm sure its similarities with Ray Porter's delivery in PHM made the two books seem even more similar to me. I will say that Porter pulled me in to more of science, however, whereas Wheaton had more of a "yada yada yada" delivery for those of us not invested in the intricacies of surviving in space.

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2025 #22 St. Peter's Fair (Peters) - Brother Cadfael #4

 

Saint Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Perhaps fairs just aren't my thing, but this particular installment in the series felt like a real slog. It did not hold my interest, but I'm too stubborn to DNF, so thank goodness my library does automatic renewals. I'd be tempted to give it two stars, but I want to honor the writing here, which is, as always, excellent. Only the last 30 pages or so sparked my interest (no pun intended and that is a very weak spoiler). Emma made for an interesting character at the end -- a good balance to the angelic Aline.

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2025 #21: Her Last Moment (James) - Jake Cashen #5

 

Her Last Moment: Jake Cashen Crime Thriller Series, Book 5 by Declan James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I seem to be invested in Worthington County, although I think Alexander Cendese's readings are half of it. Poor Jake still doesn't have a longer story arc to save his soul, but we get a clearer sense that he is a ticking time bomb in terms of his pent-up trauma and anger regarding his father. As I listened to the preview when I finished Red Sky Hill: Jake Cashen Crime Thriller Series, Book 4, I was prepared for who the victim was. It felt a bit of a shame -- it isn't like a TV series where they have to write someone off the show. We hardly knew ye...But truly, it made me care less about her secrets since we had to get her entire backstory posthumously.

Things felt a bit formulaic without the interesting characters of the previous installment -- deadbeat ex clichés abound. This one brings back wrestling, albeit in small doses, so I found it tolerable. While I'm glad Birdie and Jake haven't gotten together (I was worried after Kill Season), the former also hasn't had much of a storyline either. In fact, everyone in Blackhand Hills is pretty much where we left them -- Jemma is about the only one with something new and interesting in her life. Grandpa Max gets to be a bit more than grouchy, semi-senile, and obsessed with dinnertime in this one. Meg Landry doesn't shine as much. Zender is starting to bore me.

Still-- a fun read, enough of the usual suspects to feel a comfortable familiarity, and a few new ones that I would hope would return but probably won't (go Grandma!!).



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