The soul of Oscar Wilde's scandalous and captivating novel is alive and well in 2010. The latest film version of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" took my breath away. It is a different beast from Wilde's original novel, but it is no less majestic for its transgressions. The decadence is captivating, and the artistic expression is superb. Oliver Parker has shaped a masterpiece, manipulating an unforgettable tale and perfectly adapting it to film. What is important about Parker's film is that it projects the sensationalism and sensibility of the 1890 gothic story into the contemporary world, while remaining faithful to the culture that inspired the original manuscript. Yes, many aspects are unfaithful to the narrative as it is published under Wilde's name, but Dorian is not frequently known for his loyalty.

I truly cannot praise this film enough. As a faithful Wilde devotee, I highly recommend all others with even a passing interest seek out this visual, musical, and narrative masterpiece.

68.
Author: Beth Fantaskey
Title: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side
Publication: Kindle Edition
Pages: 384 pages
Genre: young adult, horror, vampires
Acquisition: Suggested by LT user elliepotten
Date Completed: August 23, 2010
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is a light and frothy young adult novel that follows the current trend of vampire romance. Ellie Potten compared the book to the Disney "Princess Diaries" films, and she calls it spot-on. What I enjoyed most about Fantaskey's take on the popular Cinderella variation is her portrayal of Jessica's emotions; Jessica reads like a typical teenager (albeit in a supernatural position), and her evolution throughout the book seems natural and believable. Lucius is not nearly as interesting as the protagonist. As the love interest, he fulfills all the requirements that readers will expect from the genre. However, I felt his epistolary endeavors to be less than sincere, and I felt that his letters flattened Lucius as a character, rather than developing the character for the audience. His inner monologue is shallow and contrived, and his use of "quotations" is more than a little ridiculous. Still, the book was good fun, and I'd probably seek out Fantaskey in the future.

67.
Author: Alison Rattle and Allison Vale
Title: Mad Kings & Queens: History's Most Famous Raving Royals
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 152 pages
Genre: nonfiction, history
Acquisition: Purchased August 21, 2010
Date Completed: August 21, 2010
Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Mad Kings & Queens is exactly what one would expect from a Barnes and Noble bargain history book, but I am nonetheless disappointed. I was prepared for the lackluster writing and the lack of development, but I was not prepared for the prejudice and judgment that guided the choices made by Rattle and Vale. It is no secret that royal lines have long been plagued with mental instability, and the "inbreeding" of European royal families has lead to a long list of unfortunate offspring. This progeny makes up a strong portion of the book, which is seasoned with famous figures such as Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory (named as Erzsebet Bathory, accent marks missing).

What I found distressing was the long list of monarchs who were dubbed insane for, well, enjoying sex. Some of these royal figures are even included for simply enjoying sex with their lawful partners. Others, of course, include queens who had a number of affairs, and rulers who indulged in homosexual desires of varying degrees. While I understand that contemporary politics, religion, and cultural stigmas would likely influence the subjects of these royals to recoil in horror, does a strong libido really mark a historical figure for entrance into a collection of Mad Kings & Queens? I would argue that a king who engaged in sexual congress with his wife late into his seventies deserves a little more indulgence than the tsar who ran naked through the streets stabbing citizens.

Interested in naughty kings and queens? Eleanor Herman is a lot more fun - and a lot less judgmental.

66.
Author: Oscar Wilde
Title: The Critic as Artist
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 113 pages
Genre: Classics, dialog
Acquisition: Work text
Date Completed: August 21, 2010
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

My own response to this text is long, and likely tedious, so I will save my "review" for the classroom. In place of a personal response I would like to share the response of Ernest from page 112:
You have told me many strange things to-night, Gilbert. You have told me that it is more difficult to talk about a thing than to do it, and that to do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world; you have told me that all Art is immoral, and all thought dangerous; that criticism is more creative than creation, and that the highest criticism is that which reveals in the work of Art what the artist had not put there; that it is exactly because a man cannot do a thing that he is the proper judge of it; and that the true critic is unfair, insincere, and not rational. My friend, you are a dreamer.

65.
Author: Mark Twain
Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Publication: Hardcover
Pages: 300 pages
Genre: Classics, bedtime stories
Acquisition: Max's book
Date Completed: August 16, 2010
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Whew! Another tongue-twister of a bedtime story for my monsters. I feel out of breath just thinking of Jim's dialog, and my head is still reeling a little bit. I suppose Huck Finn is a classic for a reason, but I personally did not enjoy it nearly as much as I enjoyed reading the boys Tom Sawyer. Now I'll have to wait a few years to hear what they think.

64.
Author: Louise Penny
Title: A Fatal Grace
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 334 pages
Genre: Fiction, mystery
Acquisition: Purchased August 6, 2010
Date Completed: August 12, 2010
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

The second novel in the Inspector Gamache Three Pines series is just as elegant and breathtaking as the first. Penny's writing style defines traditional genre stereotypes, and the second in the series matches the first in careful construction and execution. For Penny, it seems the conclusion is not the point of the narrative. Rather, it's the journey through life,and the language that carries the reader there.

63.
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Title: Waking the Witch
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 309 pages
Genre: Fiction, horror
Acquisition: Purchased August 6, 2010
Date Completed: August 8, 2010
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Armstrong had me until page 278. The novel that had the potential to be the most satisfying in a summer of genre-flops suffers from a rather unfortunate series of concluding twists. Prior to a rather jarring shift in the narrative, Waking the Witch is an entertaining look at Savannah Levine, all grown up and "on her own" as she tackles a case without supervision. The twists are numerous, and the mystery involved is enthralling ... right up to the Great Revelation. Still, fans of the series are likely to enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to the next one, which is apparently due out this November.

62.
Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Title: The Palace of Illusions
Publication: Paperback
Pages: 360 pages
Genre: Fiction, mythology
Acquisition: Recommended by richardderus of LibraryThing
Date Completed: August 6, 2010
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

In a time of rich spices, jeweled saris, and everyday magic - a time of curses, vengeance, and the power of the heart - a girl stumbles out of the flames that have already produced her twin brother, carrying with her the thread and promise of change. In Divakaruni's masterful hands the myth of Panchaali takes shape, and the reader leaves behind the contemporary world for a society that carries far too many parallels to our own.

On its own, the narrative is majestic, but it is Divakaruni's character development that truly brings The Palace of Illusions to life. Panchaali herself is capable of invoking a sea of emotional responses, and the power to invoke sympathy, hatred, admiration and condemnation within the space of 360 pages speaks volumes of her author's narrative capabilities. The inhabitants of The Palace of Illusions are far from two-dimensional characters moving through a storyline: they breathe through the pages and welcome the reader into their mysterious world. In short, the novel is simply magical.

61.
Author: Neil Gaiman
Title: Odd and the Frost Giants
Publication: Hardback
Pages: 117 pages
Genre: Young adult, mythology, bedtime stories
Acquisition: Purchased for Brooks
Date Completed: August 1, 2010
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The little Norse boy named Odd does everything with a smile on his face. Odd smiles when he's scolded, and doesn't lose the smile when he hears of his father's death. Odd smiles when he cripples his right leg and foot, and he smiles when he meets a trio of talking animals claiming to be gods. Odd even smiles when he comes face to face with a Frost Giant, and the giant threatens to crush him.

Odd and the Frost Giants is a delightful mock-epic in which Gaiman writes a crippled young boy into the world of the Norse gods. With little more than his (not so) simple understanding of human/god nature Odd conquers feats that leave the more-powerful themselves crippled, and with quiet perseverance he pursues a life more welcoming than the one in which he lives.

Despite Gaiman's never-ending love affair with comma splices, his young adult novel is quite charming. I would recommend it to young readers and parents alike.