Starlight Book Review – Witi Ihimaera’s The Whale Rider 🇳🇿

Cover of The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera on a “Bondi Blue” background | Image Source: Goodreads

World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – New Zealand

3.95/5 New Zealand holds a top spot of places I want to someday visit. This probably dates back to girlhood when “Good Morning America” shot episodes from the Land of the Long White Cloud. Also, seeing the Lord of the Rings filmed there just increased the itch. While “Middle Earth” remains a leap list destination for me, I thought traveling there via literature would suffice. I searched high and low for a book in my libraries (yes, plural) that might just possess a book by a native/resident New Zealander. Ultimately, I selected Witi Ihimaera’s The Whale Rider and read it with my ears as voiced by Jay Laga’aia.

Learn more about this SRC by clicking here.

“Eight-year-old Kahu craves her great-grandfather’s love and attention. But he’s focused on his duties as chief of the Maori in Whangara, New Zealand—a tribe that claims descent from the legendary “whale rider.” In every generation since the whale rider, a male has inherited the title of chief. But now there is no male heir—there’s only Kahu. She should be next in line for the title, but her great-grandfather is blinded by tradition and sees no use for a girl… Kahu will not be ignored. And in her struggle she has a unique ally: the whale rider himself, from whom she has inherited the ability to communicate with whales. Once that sacred gift is revealed, Kahu may be able to reestablish her people’s ancestral connections, earn her great-grandfather’s attention—and lead her tribe to a bold new future.”

I took my time reading The Whale Rider as I also read other books. I purchased the copy I read most from Audible. Laga’aia’s reading satisfied my curiosity of how to pronounce a number of unfamiliar to me terms. Kahu’s story, as told by her uncle, fascinated me. Of course, I rooted for Kahu to be accepted into her rightful spot as the chief, the whale rider. As other reviewers mentioned, the snippet of Māori music played on repeat jarred me enough that I had to work to get back into The Whale Rider but, otherwise enjoyed slipping into Uncle Rawiri’s view as he spends time in Australia and Papua New Guinea to grasp his own understanding of his Māori identity.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – E.L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Cover of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg on a purple background | Cover Image Source: Goodreads

Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge – 1960s

Published 1967

4.15/5 I enjoyed reading a work of Children’s Literature so much for the previous decade in the Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC), I decided to continue in this fashion for the Turbulent Sixties. One of my colleagues recommended E.L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler as my 1960s read for this SRC. While I watched a screen adaptation, I never read this book and decided to change that.

“When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully. She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation. And she would go in comfort-she would live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She saved her money, and she invited her brother Jamie to go, mostly because be was a miser and would have money. Claudia was a good organizer and Jamie bad some ideas, too; so the two took up residence at the museum right on schedule. But once the fun of settling in was over, Claudia had two unexpected problems: She felt just the same, and she wanted to feel different; and she found a statue at the Museum so beautiful she could not go home until she bad discovered its maker, a question that baffled the experts, too…The former owner of the statue was Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Without her-well, without her, Claudia might never have found a way to go home.”

I enjoyed From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The whole situation seems rooted in a bygone era. In fact, the copy I read provided Konigsburg’s note upon the anniversary edition of the book. She stated that the Kincaid siblings could have pulled this off in 1967, a time not only before 9/11 but also before the World Trade Center itself. I appreciated the kids’ sense of wonder and felt Konigsburg understood the stark, black and white views of children. I questioned the point of view and sometimes the author talked down in a condescending way about Claudia and Jamie, coming off as didactic. My rating reflects that yet I appreciated reading From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler at this time for this SRC.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Dodie Smith’s The Hundred and One Dalmatians

Cover of The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith on a gray background |
Cover Image Source: Goodreads

Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge – 1950s

Published 1956

4.1/5 After some serious, thought-provoking reads for the Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC), I determined I wanted lighter fare. I discovered that Dodie Smith’s The Hundred and One Dalmatians hit shelves in the 1950s. I saw a Disney adaptation of The Hundred and One Dalmatians as a child but had yet to read the book. I determined to remedy that by reading Smith’s book to satisfy my Back in the 1950s entry for this SRC.

“When Missis and Pongo’s puppies go missing, the two Dalmatian parents know the scary Cruella de Vil has had something to do with it. After all, she adores furs, and the Dalmatians have such beautiful coats… The dogs’ pets, Mr and Mrs Dearly, don’t understand them, so it is up to Pongo and Missis to rescue their pups.”

I consider The Hundred and One Dalmatians a charming delight. I imagine readers in the 1950s loved the whimsy of dogs possessing fantastic infrastructures and humans lacking. I enjoyed how The Hundred and One Dalmatians resolved, too. Cruella de Vil dazzled in a deliciously wicked way as the demented villain of this piece. If Smith wrote this book in the 2020s rather than the 1950s, I think she might approach some of how Pongo’s talk and address of Missis in a different way. I deducted a partial star for some parts that took the “scenic route” through this canine caper fantasy but regard this a a worthwhile classic to read in the Twenty-first Century.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls

Cover of For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway on a light blue background |
Cover Image Source: Goodreads

Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge – 1940s

Published 1940

3.65/5 A few years back, I found myself on a massive “literary/classic kick.” Among the writers on this bookshelf of mine happened to be the incomparable Ernest Hemingway. His sparse, nearly taciturn prose dazzled me. During this kick, I acquired a copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls and said copy hung out on my To Be Read (TBR) Shelf for various reasons. I noticed that this book hit shelves in 1940 and picked it up again for the Back in the Day Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC). Also, I thought a pre-World War II (WWII) work might diversify my reading for this SRC.

“In 1937 Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from “the good fight,” For Whom the Bell Tolls. The story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain, it tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. In his portrayal of Jordan’s love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of El Sordo’s last stand, in his brilliant travesty of La Pasionaria and his unwillingness to believe in blind faith, Hemingway surpasses his achievement in The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms to create a work at once rare and beautiful, strong and brutal, compassionate, moving and wise. “If the function of a writer is to reveal reality,” Maxwell Perkins wrote to Hemingway after reading the manuscript, “no one ever so completely performed it.” Greater in power, broader in scope, and more intensely emotional than any of the author’s previous works, it stands as one of the best war novels of all time.” 

A Gnomie reviewed For Whom the Bell Tolls on Goodreads, wishing she could rate it with 3.5/5 Stars. I admit, for the most part, I agree with her. I believe this may be the longest Hemingway work I have read! I didn’t much care for Robert Jordan, particularly in the beginning, but I discovered a bit of sympathy for the character alongside Pilar and Maria. The Old English writing style (thee, thou, thy, etc) threw me off at the beginning of my read, this seemed so distant and long ago. I reminded myself throughout that this book was written in less equitable times as well. Yet, I understand that these characters spoke in Catalan. One nod I loved though was a passing mention of Corpus Christi, Texas, the hometown of some of my grandparents and great grandparents.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Jack McDevitt’s Ancient Shores (Ancient Shores #1)

Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge — Spot #51 — North Dakota

3.9/5 Gnomies, you may have noticed I don’t log much Science Fiction/Fantasy in my Starlight Book Reviews (SBR). Yet, with the help of Gnomies who do enjoy these books and the need to read something set in North Dakota for the Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC), I came across Jack McDevitt’s Ancient Shores. Since I pose SRC to expand horizons, I thought I should read this book for my Peace Garden State entry.

“It turned up in a North Dakota wheat field–a triangle, like a shark’s fin, sticking up from the black loam. It was the rudder of a 42 foot sailboat. Tom’s wheat field had once been on the shoreline of the great inland sea, but that was a long time ago–then thousand years ago. The discovery o a mysterious buried structure called the ‘Roundhouse, complicates matters even further.”

I arrived at Ancient Shores expecting something akin to Close Encounters of the Third Kind but I didn’t hold fast to it once I cracked open the cover. McDevitt asks the question “What would happen if this unusual object appeared in a place with absolutely no context?” I could see most people reacting this way once farmer Tom Lasker and his son, Will uncover this yacht. Tom’s friend Max Collingswood and Collingswood’s colleague, April Cannon, try to learn more about this odd structure. With their findings, the government becomes involved. In some ways, the ending seemed predictable but, in others, I appreciated the pondering of McDevitt’s question… Someday, I might read the next in the series — Thunderbird. Time will tell.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Lee Child’s 61 Hours (Jack Reacher #14)

Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge — Spot #46 — South Dakota

4.10/5 As a public librarian and an avid reader, the names Lee Child and Jack Reacher ring a slew of bells. Many patrons seek out the latest installment in the Jack Reacher Series. Yet, I never checked out nor read a Jack Reacher book. That all changed in late 2021 as I discovered a Reacher book took place in South Dakota. I thought this might be a great solution for my Mount Rushmore State read in the Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC). As 61 Hours (Jack Reacher #14) arrived before other South Dakotan books, I selected this book for this SRC.

“Jack Reacher is back.
The countdown has begun. Get ready for the most exciting 61 hours of your life. #1 “New York Times” bestselling author Lee Child’s latest thriller is a ticking time bomb of suspense that builds electric tension on every page.
Sixty-one hours. Not a minute to spare.
A tour bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she’s going to live long enough to testify, she’ll need help. Because a killer is coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses.
Reacher’s original plan was to keep on moving. But the next 61 hours will change everything. The secrets are deadlier and his enemies are stronger than he could have guessed–but so is the woman whose life he’ll risk his own to save.
In 61 Hours, Lee Child has written a showdown thriller with an explosive ending that readers will talk about for a long time to come.”

I liked how I as I reader was able to join Reacher and visit ice cold South Dakota. I did grin when Reacher described other characters in Bolton, SD as looking too much alike to tell the difference. Some parts of the story had me guessing all along and this story was fast-paced. Without spoiling anything, I liked some of the characters beside Reacher and would love to see these folks prominently featured in other episodes of the Jack Reacher Series. A few other reviews of 61 Hours mentioned how these books jump along Reacher’s life’s timeline. 61 Hours is not for the faint of heart; readers should be prepared for a great deal of violence and a total thrill ride.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Janet Evanovich’s Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum Between the Numbers Series #3)

Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge — Spot #40 — New Jersey

3.75/5 Gnomies, I considered numerous books for my New Jersey entry for the Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC). Per usual, various books didn’t work for various reasons. Then, I remembered the Stephanie Plum books which I hungrily read during the Aughts. I knew Evanovich’s adventurous bounty enforcement agent mostly worked in the Garden State. So, I selected Stephanie Plum Between the Numbers Series #3 – Plum Lucky – as my read for this SRC.

“Looking to get lucky?… Stephanie Plum is back between-the-numbers and she’s looking to get lucky in an Atlantic City hotel room, in a Winnebago, and with a brown-eyed stud who has stolen her heart… Stephanie Plum has a way of attracting danger, lunatics, oddballs, bad luck . . . and mystery men. And no one is more mysterious than the unmentionable Diesel. He’s back and hot on the trail of a little man in green pants who’s lost a giant bag of money. Problem is, the money isn’t exactly lost. Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur has found it, and like any good Jersey senior citizen, she’s hightailed it in a Winnebago to Atlantic City and hit the slots. With Lula and Connie in tow, Stephanie attempts to bring Grandma home, but the luck of the Irish is rubbing off on everyone: Lula’s found a job modeling plus-size lingerie. Connie’s found a guy. Diesel’s found Stephanie. And Stephanie has found herself in over her head with a caper involving thrice-stolen money, a racehorse, a car chase, and a bad case of hives… Plum Lucky is an all-you-can-eat buffet of thrills, chills, shrimp cocktail, plus-size underwear, and scorching hot men. It’s a between-the-numbers treat no Evanovich fan will want to miss!” 

One thing I must say for Stephanie Plum; she’s so much fun! I feel I get the lowdown on Trenton with each read. In Plum Lucky, much of the action took place in Atlantic City, another New Jersey spot. Of course, Stephanie also reintroduced Diesel and other uproarious friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Some of the descriptions made me cringe but this book was a nice, light-hearted romp. Oh, and I completely ship (root for the relationship of) Stephanie and Ranger. I wish Ranger appeared more often in this episode but it’s all good. While this was mostly a joyride, I recommend this book for more mature readers. Many things are alluded to or happen offstage in any Stephanie Plum book. I

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.