Ms. Hen reviews The Ten Thousand Doors of January

 

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Alix E. Harrow

Hatchett Book Group

2019

Ms. Hen happened to buy this book because she was perusing science fiction books online, and this one popped up. When she bought it, she didn't realize that it was written by the same writer who wrote one of her favorite books last year, A SPINDLE SPLINTERED, the one about Sleeping Beauty. This book is longer, and it took more time to read, but Ms. Hen thought it was worth it.

This novel is about a young girl named January who lived in a house in Vermont with her guardian, Mr. Locke, whose father travels the world looking for unusual objects for Mr. Locke, or at least that's what January believes for a long time. 

When January is seven, she goes to Kentucky with Mr. Locke, and she is in a field, and finds a door that leads to another world. She steals a coin from this world, and keeps it, and does not tell her guardian that she has it. There are many doors, or Doors, to various worlds that January is yet to discover. She finds her true family history, and much more on her journey.

This novel reminded Ms. Hen of several others she has read, such as THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, THE WIZARD OF OZ, and ALICE IN WONDERLAND.  It's like these novels, but much darker, and this novel is not meant for children. The idea of a different world behind a door, or another object, is a running theme through children's literature, but not usually for adults.

Ms. Hen loved this novel. She thinks it's a perfect book to escape the darkness of the world. It's about finding home, love, and the truth. Poor January was deceived her whole life, and when she discovers the truth, it's like a veil is lifted from in front of her eyes. She's braver than she imagines, and Ms. Hen wonders if there will be more books in this series. She thinks the end is open-ended, and a possibility exists there could be more...

Ms. Hen wasn't planning on reading this novel right away, but it's January, and the title has January in it, so she thought it was appropriate. Even though most of the novel is not a winter novel, Ms. Hen adored being whisked away to places behind doors that she didn't know could exist. Anything could be behind a new door, and Ms. Hen would like to find all the beautiful new worlds if they exist.

Ms. Hen reviews Mexican Gothic

Mexican Gothic

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Jo Fletcher Books

2020

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she read an article about the best sci-fi books. It was the same article in which she found the previous book she read.

This novel is a gothic romance novel set in Mexico. The protagonist, Noemi, is a socialite and a party girl. She is sent to the house where her cousin, Catalina, lives with her husband to see what is wrong with Catalina. Noemi's father received a strange note from Catalina that makes him worried. When Noemi arrives at the house, she realizes that it's very strange, and a little haunted. Catalina's husband, Virgil, lives there with Florence, Francis, and Harold, and some servants. There is little talking in the house, and Florence lays down the law. Noemi doesn't realize what she's getting herself into, and neither did Ms. Hen because she became very confused.

Ms. Hen did not love this book. She found the Noemi shallow, and unlikeable, and also, she could not get into the story. She didn't believe the story, if that's possible. She thought it might have been something someone made up, which a novel ultimately is, but she couldn't bring herself to sink into the novel like others she has read. When she read her previous book, THE PAPER MENAGERIE, she got into every story, even though they were short stories, and she believed them. How does a reader believe a story? That's a question for the ages. Also, the end of this novel got very confusing and ridiculous, and weird, and even though Ms. Hen likes weird things, this was unbelievably weird, which she didn't like.

Ms. Hen doesn't recommend this book. Instead, if you want to read a Gothic romance, read REBECCA, which this book aspires to be, but falls flat in the attempt.

 

Ms. Hen reviews The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

 

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories

Ken Liu

Saga Press

2016

Ms. Hen decided to read this collection of short stories, because she looked up a list of the best science fiction books, and this book appeared, so she decided to give it a try.

This collection of short stories encapsulates many different spheres. Ms. Hen was astounded how each story seemed to be an entire world. Great worldbuilding exists in these stories, and Ms. Hen was sad when each one was over. She thinks that a lot of them could be novels unto themselves.

"The Regular," is a sci-fi detective story about a young woman who is murdered and how solving the mystery unfolds. "All the Flavors," is historical fiction about Chinese men who travel to the United States, ending up in Idaho, and make a life there. "A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel," is alternate history about a tunnel dug underneath the Pacific Ocean, that brought the United States out of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The story, "The Paper Menagerie," is about a young boy whose mother makes him origami animals that come to life. He becomes ashamed of his mother when he gets older, but the he finds the animals again, discovering his mother wrote him a note on one of them. "The Man Who Ended History: a Documentary," will haunt Ms. Hen for a long time with its graphic descriptions of the Japanese torturing the Chinese during WWII. This story is depressing, but it cheered Ms. Hen up because it made her realize that her life isn't really that bad...

Ms. Hen thinks this book is fantastic, and it took her a long time to read. The print is very small, and she's glad it took time to read it, so she could live in each world for a time.

Some chickens and hens appeared in this book, which Ms. Hen always enjoys. Her favorite moment with a chicken is in the story, "All the Flavors," when Obee and Logan are in court, and Logan wants Obee to dip his hand in the blood of a hen to make an oath to swear the truth, "The blood of the hen dripped into the bowl until the hen stopped kicking in Ah Yan's hands." Ms. Hen thinks this is the perfect way to make a vow.

Ms. Hen loved this book. She thinks it's a great way to start her year. The world is weird, and it keeps getting weirder, and books like this help Ms. Hen feel better about her place in the wild, weird world.

Ms. Hen's Top Ten

Ms. Hen would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Last year was challenging for her, but rewarding at the same time. There is often positive with the negative. Ms. Hen is looking forward to the New Year to see what adventures it brings. She hopes that you have success and happiness next year, and you can find ways to laugh, any way to laugh, because that is one of the important things in life, and what makes being on this Earth bearable.

These are Ms. Hen's top ten books she read last year, in no particular order:

The Pull of the Stars

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/01/ms-hen-reviews-pull-of-stars.html

The Testaments 

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/03/ms-hen-reviews-testaments.html

 

Klara and the Sun  

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/04/ms-hen-reviews-klara-and-sun.html

The Midnight Library

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/06/ms-hen-reviews-midnight-library.html

If I Had Your Face

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/07/ms-hen-reviews-if-i-had-your-face.html

Constance 

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/09/ms-hen-reviews-constance.html

No Gods, No Monsters

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/10/ms-hen-reviews-no-gods-no-monsters.html

Spindle, Splintered 

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/11/ms-hen-reviews-spindle-splintered.html

A Thousand Splendid Suns 

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/12/ms-hen-reviews-thousand-splendid-suns.html

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine 

http://mshenreviewsthings.blogspot.com/2021/12/ms-hen-reviews-eleanor-oliphant-is.html

Ms. Hen and I say thank you, and happy reading and everything else!

Best,

S.O.

Ms. Hen reviews Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Gail Honeyman

Viking

2017

Ms. Hen first became aware of this novel a few years ago while she was working in a doctor's office. A patient left this book in the waiting room, and Ms. Hen picked it up, read the back, and thought it sounded like something she would like to read. She wanted to take it home, but the patient called asking if the book was there. She said she would come back for it. Ms. Hen didn't know how long this person had to travel back for this book, but Ms. Hen thinks it's a book worth a trip back to the doctor's office.

She wanted to read the book, but she never got around to it until now. She found it at a Little Free Library near her house. When she learned about this novel, she thought it fell into the category of "sad woman books," and that's true, but that's not all it is.

This novel is about Eleanor Oliphant, a thirty-year-old woman who is alone in the world. She has a full-time job, but does not have any family or friends. Throughout the course of the novel, she makes friends, and tries to have a better life. She is a little bit touched, in a way that she is not exposed to a lot of society, and the way that people interact with each other. She becomes obsessed with a local musician, and drinks vodka by herself, and makes friends with one of her co-workers when they rescue a man who passed out on the sidewalk.

Ms. Hen thinks this is a typical woman's novel without the Cinderella ending, which she does not enjoy. It reminds her of novels by Elinor Lipman and Suzanne Strempek Shea that she has read and liked years ago. Ms. Hen has gotten away from reading women's fiction, because she thinks some of it is trite and tedious. But this novel is different.

This novel is a great example of first person narrative by an unreliable narrator. Eleanor is quirky to the extreme; since she is so isolated, she doesn't know how to handle herself in most situations. She thinks she is the butt of jokes at work, and she doesn't care about the ordinary aspects of life that most people do, such as Christmas parties or clothes. Ms. Hen was expecting that Eleanor imagines a part of her life, and she does. Ms. Hen feels sorry for Eleanor, but she knows that she will be okay.

This novel takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, and it took a few pages for Ms. Hen to figure that out. The characters call Eleanor "hen" sometimes, and Ms. Hen wasn't sure why. She did some research, and discovered that in Glasgow "hen" is slang for honey or sweetheart that people say in other places. Ms. Hen had never heard this before, but she likes it! She doesn't like when people call her honey, especially strangers, but she would like to go to Glasgow so people would call her hen.

Ms. Hen thinks this is a wonderful book to end her year. Eleanor Oliphant surprised her, because she didn't think she would like this book as much as she did. She laughed, and almost cried, but it was like reading about someone's tragic life that she would be acquainted with. She is glad she spend time getting to know Eleanor, because Ms. Hen likes quirky characters, since she considers herself one as well.

 

Ms. Hen reviews Noor

 

Noor

Nnedi Okofafor

Daw Books, Inc

2021

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she read about it in an article about science fiction for the holidays, so she decided to get it from her library. When she went to pick up the book, the library was closed for an election, but she went back on a day she did not have to go to the city to retrieve this book. She thinks it was worth the extra trip.

This novel is Africanfuturist, or science fiction about Africans or African Americans. Ms. Hen does not remember reading another book like this before. 

This is about a woman who calls herself AO, or Artificial Organism, who is mostly robotic. She was deformed when she was born, but her parents decided to have her augmented. When she was fourteen, she was in a car accident, and was injured further. She has two artificial legs, an artificial arm, lung, and neural implants.

The novel starts when AO is in the market in her town in Nigeria, buying items to make soup because she's depressed her boyfriend broke up with her. A man comes up to her and says, "What kind of woman are you?" And she goes berserk and kills the men around her. She leaves the city because she is afraid.

She meets a herdsman in the north named DNA who tells her a story of how part of his tribe was killed. They travel together to find out what happened. A company named Ultimate Corp, which Ms. Hen thinks is similar to another company that's around that starts with an "A", controls all of the commerce in Africa and beyond. AO finds out the secret of her origins and is angry. She finds she has power that she doesn't know she has.

This novel is many faceted. It's a female power novel, about a woman who has been wronged, but finds she has the strength to take control of her life. It's also about the prejudice against a woman who is mostly machine. AO can't help what she is, but people are afraid of her. It's also a love story, and about dysfunctional families. Mostly, it's an adventure tale.

This novel reminds Ms. Hen of THE ODYSSEY by Homer in the way that it's about a quest to find a place in the world. It's also similar to THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ because it's about traveling on a journey, and finding friends, and discovering a peaceful place in the middle of a maelstrom.

There are some chickens in this novel, which doesn't surprise Ms. Hen, because chickens spice everything up. There's a part when AO mentions hens, "Something similar happened again with hens last year. I'd been walking home with two friends, and we'd cut through someone's yard. There were five chickens there and they'd blocked my way to the point that my friends both started laughing." The hens knew that AO was special.

Ms. Hen thinks this is an important novel, and one that everyone should read, but she doesn't think that it is everyone's cup of tea. It's about a company that dominates commerce, and ruling people's lives, and one woman who suffers the consequences. It's also about taking power over your own life, and finding personal strength which is what AO does. 

Ms. Hen reviews The Fifth Child

 

The Fifth Child

Doris Lessing

Grafton Books

1989

Ms. Hen picked up this book at a Little Free Library near where she lives, because she had read another book that the author had written, THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK. She read the back of the book, and it seemed familiar to her, but she wasn't sure if she had read it. She decided to take it because she is running low on books to read.

This novel is about a couple who initially want to have a big family. They are old-fashioned for the Sixties, and they purchase a large house to fill it with children. They have four children, and every Christmas, Easter, and during summer, their family and friends come to visit, and have fun. Then their fifth child is born.

There's something wrong with Ben from the time he is in his mother's womb. He is born, and he's not like the other children. He's violent, and kills a cat and a dog, and the other children are afraid of him. The couple sends Ben away to an institution, but the mother goes to rescue him because she feels guilty. She thinks that Ben is like a goblin or a troll, but there is no explanation why he is this way.

Ms. Hen found it difficult to figure out the point of this book, even though she liked it. It's about a couple that wants to be happy, but their happiness is sidetracked by their unusual child. There might be a moral to the story, that you shouldn't want to be too happy because it's selfish, or that family life isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Ms. Hen thinks Ben might have been autistic, but that is not explained in the book.

Ms. Hen thought she had read this book before, but it reminded her of a book called THE TIME IS NOON by Pearl S. Buck, which she read many years ago. Even though Ms. Hen liked THE FIFTH CHILD, she thinks it's strange, and difficult to figure out. This book teaches that you can't always have what you want, and if you get what you want, you might realize that you didn't want it in the first place.