Book of the Day Roundup: December 26-30, 2022
Desert Creatures
Kay Chronister
Erewhon Books
Hardcover $26.95 (352pp)
978-1-64566-052-1
Buy: Amazon
In Kay Chronister’s dystopian novel Desert Creatures, a hardened young girl finds hope where she least expects it.
Magdala was born with a clubfoot. After being banished from her home, she and her father travel across a punishing landscape whose environment is harsh and whose resources are scarce. They search for a place to settle, but contend with challenges, including corrupt religious leaders in a distorted version of Las Vegas wherein false saints peddle false promises and the fact that, in many of the places they stop, a Wild West mentality rules, bringing out the worst in everyone.
In Magdala’s time, people commit horrific acts in order to survive. Their desperation following the breakdown of society is made manifest in the “desert sickness,” whereby the desert gets inside of you. Once infected, people become mad; they morph into desert creatures, a mishmash of human, prickly pear, javelina, and coyote parts.
Magdala endures heartbreaking losses and hardships in the course of her three-part story. Each portion of the book represents a crucial point in her development: she is at first innocent and dependent on those around her; she becomes a wayward youth, hoping to find her way; she winds up as a criminal-turned-hero. Those whom she meets help her, including an excommunicated priest whose perspective gives insight into the ways in which religion has been used to betray travelers into believing in miracles from false saints. He also offers a complicated look into how Magdala’s struggle to be “good” is compromised by the less-than-good things that she thinks she has to do to get what she wants. Later, Magdala protects a small girl whose story mirrors her own.
In the dystopian novel Desert Creatures, a rejected girl takes a wretched journey whose inward dimensions hold the potential for healing.
JENNA JAUREGUY (October 27, 2022)
Lulu the Beaver
Bethany Gano
Bunny Books
Hardcover $18.99 (48pp)
978-1-73614-726-9
Buy: Amazon
Onomatopoeic lines and bright bursting colors relay the story of a little beaver who wants to do more than merely chomp wood. She loves the rhythms of the world and cherishes her forest neighbors—but she also dreams in color and yearns to chew stumps into shapes. Her imagination is wide; she just knows she’s meant to be an artist. Ebullience ferries this inspiring tale forward, and the revelation of Lulu’s beautiful differences is a triumphant moment for all.
MICHELLE ANNE SCHINGLER (December 22, 2022)
Stories No One Hopes Are About Them
A. J. Bermudez
University of Iowa Press
Softcover $17.50 (168pp)
978-1-60938-863-8
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
The haunting stories collected in A. J. Bermudez’s Stories No One Hopes Are About Them comment on qualities of the Anthropocene and center apathy’s hand in violence. Volleying between the beauty of final moments and the thrill of crimes, these stories are not to be ignored.
Each story is a reminder that humans are capable of terrible deeds, but that does not mean that humans are terrible. No character in the book is outright lovable; many make questionable decisions. But they are written in a way that allows for reflection. When Marta steals money from her employer and spends it on an extravagant trip in “Obscure Trivia of the Antarctic,” a moral gray area is created because said employer treats her poorly. In “The Lady Will Pay for Everything,” a mother’s apathy on vacation causes destruction in a heartbreaking ending. Other similar dark stories indicate that people can actively choose to change their lives.
Gruesome and gory details—as in “Orphan Type,” where it seems that orphaned children are trained in newspaper work, until Ruthie goes missing—may require a pause before proceeding. That said, the message of each story is clear despite creepy moments. Bermudez has compiled stories that both stand on their own and that build on one another, resting between humanity and horror. A young woman touching up her makeup only to sleep with a man who has slept with all of her coworkers in “Octopus,” and the suggestion that someone has been murdered in “Cain vs. Cain,” are reminders that details can be just as powerful as what remains unsaid. Each story works together to create a narrative about the imperfections of humans, sometimes to the extreme.
Stories No One Hopes Are About Them collects startling tales that beg human beings to care and to take action for what they care about.
ADDISSYN HOUSE (October 27, 2022)
The Spirit Phone
Arthur Shattuck O’Keefe
BHC Press
Hardcover $28.00 (300pp)
978-1-64397-322-7
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
In Arthur Shattuck O’Keefe’s mystery novel The Spirit Phone, historical figures try to prevent an otherworldly monster from entering the human world.
When Aleister Crowley teleports into the hotel suite of Nikola Tesla, it is a surprise to both of them. Crowley knows it must be for some purpose, so he convinces Tesla to join him in searching for meaning to the evil presence that he has recently become aware of. They learn that Thomas Edison invented a spirit phone to communicate with the deceased, and they decide that the timing of such a device, which blends Tesla’s engineering skills with Crowley’s esoteric knowledge, cannot be a coincidence. This clue starts them down a path of discovery that takes them through time and across dimensions in what turns out to be a quest to save humanity.
In addition to Tesla, Crowley, and Edison, historical figures including medium Edgar Cayce, alchemist John Dee, and architect Stanford White appear in the book. These details, combined with descriptions of the hotel that Tesla lives in, the locations that he and Crowley visit, the labs that Edison and Tesla work out of, and the people whom they interact with build a solid, recognizable foundation for the outlandish plot. Its turns blend spiritualism, adventure, mystery, science, technology, fantasy, and occultism, but in this wild mix, the characters always find a way to explain what is happening.
The story is filled with twists that are impossible to predict, but for those who can suspend all disbelief this unpredictability is a delight. As Crowley and Tesla race across the sky in an airship in search of a colony of clones while simultaneously fighting off astral attacks by an unseen demon, there is nothing to do but enjoy the ride.
The Spirit Phone is an inventive novel that’s moved by mysteries and magic.
CATHERINE THURESON (October 27, 2022)
The Flowering Wand
Rewilding the Sacred Masculine
Sophie Strand
Inner Traditions
Softcover $18.99 (208pp)
978-1-64411-596-1
Buy: Local Bookstore (Bookshop), Amazon
Sophie Strand’s insightful spirituality book The Flowering Wand gives men an alternative to toxic masculinity by mining the myths and legends of the past.
Strand notes that the treatment of masculinity in contemporary society is flawed. The patriarchy, she writes, devastated the environment and left men with a very limited way to live in the world. To fix the problem, her book examines the different faces that men have worn throughout time, celebrating masculine energy that leads to diversity and relationship building.
The book uncovers alternative masculinity narratives in ancient myths, legends, and symbols. It includes tantalizing hints of other masculinity models that enable men to be lovers, dancers, and dream-makers. These old stories, Strand says, are a path for men to become whole once again.
Each chapter presents a new vision of what a man might become if they are willing to explore a different path. Here, Dionysus shows that men might be lovers first, instead of killers. Conversely, Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey model is dismissed as a limited idea whose time has come and gone. In its place, a new quest is introduced, drawing on “Sleeping Beauty”; its goal is to wake up the sleeping world and allow dreams to become reality. These are fascinating explorations of the alternative paths available to men—echoes of what’s been considered possible in the past. And, Strand suggests, should men take up these different approaches to life: the world and the environment might benefit.
The Flowering Wand is a hopeful spirituality text whose mythic models of masculinity have the power to free men from painful cultural mindsets by embracing old narratives anew.
JEREMIAH ROOD (October 27, 2022)
Barbara Hodge
