Weekly Mews: My Bookish Mewsings On The Bandit Queens and Station Eleven (And Please Vote in my TBR Poll!)

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

I hope your January has gotten off to a good start. I had Monday off from work, but was back for the rest of the week. There was a last minute training scheduled, but other than that, it was business as usual. We had a little excitement Friday with a minor earthquake (4.2 magnitude) that shook the house. What have you been up to this week? 

This past week I read The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff (see my thoughts below). My before bed read continues to be The Witch With No Name (The Hollows #13) by Kim Harrison. It's been quite a tense read so far! I am also reading The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan, which is proving to be a poignant and emotional read.

What are you reading at the moment?

My TBR List was the idea of Michelle at Because Reading, and while Michelle has not been hosting this monthly event for some time now, it's one of my favorite traditions that I cannot bring myself to give up. It's just too much fun! The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books from my TBR pile I am considering reading and let you vote for my next read during that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

When I went to my TBR shelves this week to see which three books to include in this month's TBR List Poll, I found four for consideration. So, I enlisted the help of my husband and daughter to narrow it down to three. Of course, they both chose a different book to remove. And they each had solid reasons for their picks. I assured them I still plan to read all four--someday--but for now, these are the three that are in this month's TBR List poll.  Maybe the unchosen book will make it into next month's poll! 

Which of these three books do you think I should read next? Have you read any of them? If so, what did you think? 

Legends & Lattes (#1) by Travis Baldree

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed. [Goodreads Summary]

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

A woman able to communicate with spirits must assemble a ragtag crew to pull off a daring heist to save her community in this timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves together African American folk magic, history, and romance.

In the summer of 1925, along Washington, DC’s “Black Broadway”, a malevolent entity has begun preying on Negro residents. Twenty-three-year-old Clara Johnson is determined to discover what’s going on in her community. Using her natural ability to talk with spirits, she begins to investigate, but a powerful spirit tasks her with a difficult quest: steal an ancient, magical ring from the finger of a wealthy socialite.

When Clara meets Israel Lee, a supernaturally enhanced jazz musician also vying for the ring, the two decide to work together. They put together an unlikely team including a former circus freak, a pickpocketing Pullman Porter, and an aging vaudeville actor to pull off an impossible heist.

But a dangerous spirit interferes at every turn and conflict in the spirit world is leaking out into the human world. With different agendas, even if Clara and Israel pull off the heist, only one of them can truly win. [Goodreads Summary]

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls "an animal rights organization." Tom's team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on.

What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at least. In an alternate dimension, massive dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world. They're the universe's largest and most dangerous panda and they're in trouble.

It's not just the Kaiju Preservation Society that's found its way to the alternate world. Others have, too--and their carelessness could cause millions back on our Earth to die. [Goodreads Summary]

Thank you for voting!

The women were arguing. ~ Opening of The Bandit Queens

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff 

Ballantine Books, 2023

Fiction/Suspense/Thriller; 342 pgs

Source: Purchased for Self

I fell into The Bandit Queens very quickly and had a hard time putting it down. This darkly humorous novel is about an outcast Indian woman whose husband disappeared five years before. Rumors abound in her small village that she killed him, and she has since developed a reputation, some even referring to her as a churel, similar to a witch but more of a demonic ghost of a wronged or vengeful woman. Even children fear her. Despite this, Geeta has created a life for herself, one in which she is a "self-made" woman, earning her own money and controlling her own life. When one of the village women comes to her for help to get rid of her abusive husband, Geeta at first refuses. She has no real experience in killing anyone, no matter what they think. However, she is soon convinced she has little choice but to aid in his demise. And, unfortunately for Geeta, that won't be the last time someone asks her for help in getting rid of a bad husband. 

Geeta is as resourceful and fiercely independent. I loved her as a character and really felt for her in her situation. Marital status and having children is highly valued in her community. She and her husband were not able to have children, and with him now gone, she suffers the judgement of those around her. I especially like seeing a character grow over the course of a novel, and it was no different with Geeta. She becomes more self-confident as the story progresses. She begins to assert herself more, stand up for herself, and realize she deserves good things in life too. 

Some of my favorite scenes in the novel were the interactions between Geeta and her fellow loan group members, all women who are trying to improve their life-circumstances, including her former best friend, Saloni. Even with their differences, when push came to shove, all the women were there for one another. Each of the women in the group were well developed as characters with their own backstories and life struggles. It's true most of the men in the novel were questionable, if not downright horrible. But there were some good men, including Saleem. 

Oh, but my absolute favorite scene in the novel is when Geeta rescues the dogs, including taking one home with her, however reluctantly. I don't want to say more for spoiler reasons, but it was heartwarming and funny even if tense. 

Even with its humor, The Bandit Queens has a more serious side, touching on topics related to women's issues (motherhood and women's rights) as well as the roles politics, patriarchy, poverty, caste, and class play in society. Parini Shroff also weaves customs, local superstitions, and folklore into her novel, which helped give the reader an overall feel for the village and everyday life. 

Throughout the novel, references are made by Geeta about her role model, the real life Bandit Queen, Phoolan Devi, an Indian woman who had become a politician and activist later in her life, before she was assassinated in 2001. Devi's early life was fraught with hardship; she was the victim of violence and assault many times over. She sought revenge on the men who mistreated and raped her. She became a hero to many, even as she served time in prison for her crimes. While Phoolan Devi's story is not an actual character in the novel, however, the idea of her, the way Geeta tries to emulate her, is ever present and was clearly part of the author's inspiration in writing this book.

I enjoyed The Bandit Queens quite a bit for the characters and overall story. The author does a good job of balancing the humor with the serious. This was a great book to start the year off with.

*

The king stood in a pool of blue light, unmoored. ~ Opening of Station Eleven 

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Knopf, 2014
Fiction/Science Fiction; 354 pgs
Source: Purchased for Self

I did not get a chance to share my thoughts on November's TBR List Poll winner, Station Eleven, before the year was out, but thought I would do so now. It is probably the most popular of Emily St. John Mandel's novels, but not my first by her.

Station Eleven was one of my favorite books read in 2023 for the writing and the way the author wove the threads of the characters individual stories together. The story is not told in a linear fashion, but goes back and forth in time, sharing the perspectives of multiple characters and their life experiences. The novel opens in a theater during a production of King Lear. The lead actor collapses on stage and a paramedic in training rushes to his aid. A young child actress looks on as efforts to save the man fail. That same night, a pandemic spreads rapidly across the globe and society crumbles. Fifteen years later, society is barely a shadow of what it once was. People are surviving as best they can. Our once young actress is now grown up and a part of the Traveling Symphony which roams across the wasteland, hoping to spread art and humanity from place to place. We also follow the man who tried to save the actor on stage that fateful night, the actor's first and second wives, and his oldest friend. There is an underlying tension within the novel as the threat of a self-proclaimed Prophet and his followers grows, and as troupe members from the Symphony begin to disappear.

This is very much a character driven story. It is less science fiction and more literary fiction, encapsulating the individual experiences of the characters and their daily lives. The pandemic wiped out about 99.9% of humans and those that remain are scattered all over. People are doing what they can to survive amongst the lawlessness. The sense of despair is all too real. There are those who remember the past--what time was like before and try to hold onto it as best they can--and those who do not remember at all. It was hard not to think of how much we take for granted as I read this novel. Flipping a light switch to turn on the lights, for example. Then there are the things or situations that seem big in the moment, but are meaningless when the world falls apart.

I would not have thought I would be invested in Arthur Leander's life as he rose from obscurity to fame as an actor, but I was. I think it was more because of the other characters and their connection to him. I was particularly taken with Kirsten, the young actress, and also by Arthur's best friend. And then there was the first wife, Miranda, whose story touched me most of all.

I cannot help but wonder how differently, if at all, this novel would have impacted me had I read it pre-real-life-pandemic. The fear and panic in the early days of our current Pandemic came back to me as I read Station Eleven. Fortunately, our world did not fall apart the way it did in this novel, but it is hard not to imagine that it could.

Have you read either of these books? Is so, what did you think? 

 I hope you have a great week ! Let me know what you have been reading!

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