125. Roach, Mary. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. 303 pages. 10.29.09.

Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Spook, hits the monosyllables once again with her latest publication, Bonk, which journeys through the world of science to see exactly what the field is doing with de Sade's favorite subject. Bonk is a thoroughly enjoyable romp through physiological research; Roach focuses on the scientific over the pornographic, making her work comfortable for wide audiences. Her voice is frank, and she jumps into her research feet-first, even to the point of participating in some of the studies she observes. Through it all her sense of humor shines through, and the entertainment value is high.

124. Andrews, Donna. Murder with Peacocks. 296 pages. 10.25.09.

The first mystery in Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow series, Murder with Peacocks is a laid-back and comfortable book, perfect for slow evenings after a long day. As an author, Andrews doesn't seem to ask much of her readers, and instead lets them drift along as she develops her story at her own pace. Murder with Peacocks doesn't "pop" like many mysteries do, but the style of the writing just adds to the slow enjoyment of the reader. I will certainly be pursuing the series in the future.

123. Clare, Cassandra. City of Bones. 512 pages. 10.23.09.

It's not often I come across a book with a plot as transparent as City of Bones. Clare seems to draw from a traditions of young adult and contemporary fantasy alike, with little altered to speak to her own creativity. While reading City of Bones I found myself waiting for the events and revelations I knew would happen, as opposed to enjoying the "plot twists" as they came along. This is not to say that the novel is entirely lacking in entertainment value, but the best audience for City of Bones is someone just stepping into the genre; the novel serves as a kind of "Cliff's Notes" for contemporary YA fantasy.

122. Pratchett, Terry. Unseen Academicals. 400 pages. 10.20.09.

For the cheeseboard!

Thanks to the "unfortunate" requirements of the trust that supports the university the senior wizards and staff of Unseen University find themselves in a precarious position when they discover that they are required to participate in a game of football at least once every twenty years in order to keep receiving the funds. Under the influence of Vetinari's subliminal suggests and trained by the mysterious candle dribber, Mr. Nutt, the members of the university team enter a world of physical activity and back-street politics as they approach the event that will guarantee the funds needed for their cheeseboard for the next two decades.

Reading Pratchett is like curling up with your favorite blanket on a chilly night; provided, of course, your favorite blanket nudges you in the ribs every once in awhile to make sure you're paying attention. Readings of Pratchett can be as shallow or deep as the individual reader desires, and I myself never tire of Sir Terry's brilliant and witty satire. Nothing comes out of his pages unscathed, and his latest publicat6ion offers not only a cast of brilliantly entertaining new characters, but deeper insight into some of his most beloved - or simply most familiar - Ankh-Morporkians.

I highly recommend Unseen Academicals to old Pratchett fans and new - he is sure to delight you once again!

121. Moore, Christopher. A Dirty Job. 387 pages. 10.14.09.

A friend sent me Moore's "Death Merchant" book to take to the hospital for something light and funny to read. In A Dirty Job, second-hand dealer Charlie finds himself experiencing several life-changes after the birth of his daughter and subsequent death of his wife. He has unexpectedly become a Death Merchant, and is responsible for collecting the souls of the recently departed so they can be passed on to the soul-less - and if he fails there will be hell to pay.

What I found most amusing about Moore's novel were his descriptions of newborns/children and parenting. He captures the complete cluelessness of new parents perfectly, and presents a modern and eclectic style of parenting that is at once charmingly awkward and oddly realistic.

The novel as a whole is enjoyable, if painfully obvious. His presentation of the superstition is the most unimaginative part of the novel, and I found myself glossing over passages about the Morrigan to get back to his modern characters.

A Dirty Job is good for a light read and a chuckle.

Thank you for all the well-wishes, everyone! Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day.


119. Armstrong, Kelley. [Frostbitten]. 339 pages. 10.5.09.

Fairly typical of Armstrong, but no less entertaining for it.


120. Verne, Jules. Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. 279 pages. 10.8.09.*

A mysterious creature is haunting the seas, and Professor Aronnax is determined to discover the origins of the beast. However, the encounter brings more than he ever expected, as he is captured by the strange and withdrawn captain of a submarine ship and whirled around the world's oceans. The aquatic wonders he experiences thrill his academic soul, while the actions and motivations of his host leave him questioning both the individual and civilizations at large.

Verne's underwater adventure is the latest novel I have read to my toddler at bedtime, and is far from my favorite. As we finished the third Verne novel we have approached I found myself lamenting a brilliant story bogged down by careless prose; I found that the language was flat and uninspired, and the sentence structure was unbelievably choppy. The failings of the writing itself took away from what would otherwise have been a book full of wonders, and I believe we will leave Verne buried once and for all.

Grahame-Smith, Seth. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. 25 pages. 10.4.09.

I have been resisting the occasional urge to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies since it first hit shelves, but decided to pick it up recently because I thought it might be a fun work to include in a class on satire. However, within just a few pages I realized that Grahame-Smith's atrocity is never something I would want to introduce in the classroom - not because of the content, which is about what you can expect from the title - but because the writing is so atrocious. While I expected a quirky tongue-and-cheek rewriting of Jane Austen's novel what I found was a dull, repetitive, and obnoxious farce. The writing is so poor that it is impossible to even see the humor that the author supposedly intended; the original material is awkward and tedious, and Grahame-Smith is in desperate need of a decent thesaurus.

I had every intention of seeing the thing through to the end, whether or not I decided to include the work on my syllabus, but I just can't force myself to do it.

117. Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 327 pages. 10.3.09.

Introducing one of English literature’s most infamous characters, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a feast of a novel that delights both those with a taste for horror, and those without. While modern readers will recognize much of the Count that they have come to know through popular culture, the original novel holds much more than suave aristocrats and women in negligees.

The epistolary form of the novel – which comes into vogue in the 18th-century – allows Stoker to create a sense of suspense and complexity as he navigates several different narratives that prove essential to the successful relation of his vampire story. Although modern films have simplified the narrative to fit their own format, Dracula would not be the novel it is without the myriad of voices that Stoker utilizes to establish his story, and would certainly lose much of its power and seduction if left to a singular narrator.

When reading Dracula for analysis (as oppose to personal pleasure) it is important to remember that Stoker's work is actually a fairly late addition to the evolving body of English vampire literature. Authors such as Keats, Coleridge, Byron, Polidori, and Le Fanu all raise their voices to contribute to the emerging rendition of an ancient figure, and have their influence in Stoker's creation of his iconic Count. What Stoker does is not create the vampire myth - nor the English vampire story - but rather uses it to very 19th-century English ends.

In the wide scope of Gothic monsters, the vampire is one of the more recent members. While witches haunt medieval manuscripts and werewolves stalk Renaissance dramas, the vampire does not appear in English literature until relatively late.* Stoker himself is responsible for many characteristics that have now become standard for the modern vampire figure, and contemporary authors and artists owe much to Stoker’s conception. What I find most interesting, however, is how Stoker himself manipulates the standards of his time to give life to the character that has so permeated public consciousness. Dracula moves beyond the traditions of horror and Gothic and becomes a piece of social commentary and exploration that contains radical examinations of gender, sexuality, and reproduction. Under the guise of Gothic, Stoker is allowed the freedom to challenge traditional roles established by Victorian society, and pushes against traditional institutions under the cloak of "horror".

Dracula has earned its place in the English canon, and remains an important and influential work of literature that is sure to delight readers for centuries to come.


*According to Montague Summers, demonic creatures that possess certain characteristics attributed to vampires by modern audiences can in fact be found in manuscripts as early as the 14th century, but these distinctions and identifications are all made several centuries after their original composition.




118. Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard book. 307 pages. 10.3.09.
A sweet ghost story that delivers on all of its promises.