24.
Title: Timeless
Author: Gail Carriger
Pages: 416 pages
Genre: Fiction
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Preordered
Date Completed: February 24, 2012
Rating: ****

Two years after her birth, Prudence is largely what a reader would expect: precocious, energetic, opinionated, and able to steal the immortal traits of any of her supernatural caretakers during nocturnal hours. The Maccon/Akeldama have their hands full, and seem to be enjoying it every minute. But when the vampire Queen of Alexandria calls for an audience with "the abomination," the Maccons realize that they feel an absence of something more, and decide to honor her request, each for his or her own reason. What follows is typical (and, five books in, slightly-stale) Carriger antics as various collections of characters run into various foreign problems.

There are three things that make this book worth considering: a relationship finally blossoms for characters who desperately need companionship, the condition of Queen Marakata, and the conclusion itself.

Don't let the unfortunate photograph on the cover turn you away (what happened to the wonderfully elegant fashions and models from the first three? Oh, so unflattering) - fans of the series will want to read this conclusion.

23.
Title: [One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]
Author: Ken Kesey
Pages: 320 pages
Genre: Fiction
Medium: Penguin special edition
Acquisition: Work Text
Date Completed: February 21, 2012
Rating:

I still love it, and it's still received very well in the classroom.

22.
Title: [Wither]
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Pages: 384 pages
Genre: YA Dystopian Fiction
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: February 21, 2012
Rating: ****

The dystopia of Lauren DeStefano's Wither is at once alien and strikingly familiar. In a world suffering the consequences of human development (including genetic manipulation, for one thing), it is rumored that only the former North American continent has survived natural disasters - and the population is dwindling as new generations die in their 20s. s

In this world young girls are frequently kidnapped as "brides" for the young and wealthy, and are forced to live in polygamous households working to produce future generations in the "hopes" that a cure will be found and society can recover.

Wither is appropriately bleak, and the protagonist is (usually) sympathetic, although I quickly found that the most appealing characters did not include Rhine. While not as energetic as The Hunger Games, Wither is worth a try for fans of dystopian literature.

21.
Title: [Born Wicked]
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Pages: 272 pages
Genre: Historical Paranormal Fiction
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: February 14, 2012
Rating: ***

I had hoped to win a copy of Born Wicked when it was available as part of the Early Reviewers program, so when I came across it as a recommendation on Amazon I hopped on it. The premise is one I find highly appealing: an alternative history focusing on eighteenth-century "America," re-visioning Puritan control as the Brotherhood, whose intention is to suppress and eradicate the original race of settlers, the witches. Against this backdrop, Spotswood introduces the reader to Cate, a witch, who struggles with the need to protect her witch sisters against society, as she promised her dying mother.

Really, it is all very promising. But I found the novel to be rather forgettable. Literally, as it turns out, since I had forgotten I finished a book for a handful of days. While there is an attempt at intrigue and suspense, I found that the major conflicts were not developed to what I would have felt was the full potential. In a sense, I really just wanted more: more character development, more relationship development, and a greater involvement on the part of the antagonistic Brotherhood.

Born Wicked is entertaining, but it's not a series I will be actively pursuing.



I'm currently suffering through a free kindle download right now - Stained - and I'm about ready to turn it over for something more rewarding. Life is too short to read unsatisfying books.

I gave up another free download - Conquering Darkness - just a few pages in because of the terrible writing. While I am still very intrigued by the idea of a memoir written by the wife and daughter of a convicted serial killer (I want that side of the story!), the writing was so atrocious that I couldn't even give it a chance.

19.
Title: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
Author: Anne Fadiman
Pages: 162 pages
Genre: Essays
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: February 10, 2012
Rating: ****

Anne Fadiman's collection of short essays on reading and literacy has won a LibraryThing stamp of approval, and I don't believe I can say anything that hasn't already been said. I found Fadiman's text to be good fun, and, as many other LT members, could certainly sympathize with much of what she says.

My particular delight, however, came in proofreading for the copious errors in her text immediately following the chapter on her compulsive proofreading...

20.
Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 400 pages
Genre: Science Fiction/ Fairytale Retelling
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: February 11, 2012
Rating: ****1/2

Marissa Meyer's retelling of "Cinderella" in Cinder is without a doubt my favorite fairytale retelling to date. Casting the protagonist as a cyborg in a plague-cursed futuristic world allowed Meyer to remain faithful to all of the traditions of the story while introducing her own creative elements. There is nothing surprising in the text - her "twists" can be spotted in the first fragment in which they are introduced - but the narrative remains interesting nonetheless. Cinder is good fun for anyone with an interest in fairytale retelling.

18.
Title: [Oedipus the King]
Author: Sophocles
Pages: 100 pages
Genre: Greek Tragedy
Medium: Anthology - [Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, & Writing]
Acquisition: Work Text
Date Completed: February 7, 2012
Rating:

It never loses its charm.

17.
Title: Lothaire
Author: Kresley Cole
Pages: 506 pages
Genre: supernatural kidnapping/rape fantasy "romance"
Medium: kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: February 3, 2012
Rating: *

Lothaire, a vampire known as "The Enemy of Old," well-deserves his reputation among the Lorean: his actions prove again and again that he is truly evil. Though he forms an odd bond with a young Lorean in a previous book, this broken "Friendship" is the one positive relationship the vampire seems to have. So, casting Lothaire as the male protagonist in her latest supernatural romance is both intriguing and thrilling, and suggests great potential for the narrative.

The product is what may be called the "Cole Special": abduction, imprisonment, rape and abuse, and a healthy case of Stockholm syndrome called "love."

The adjective that most frequently came to mind while reading Lothaire was "repugnant." I, who generally have very few quibbles with nontraditional sexual and romantic relationships, was repulsed by the "romance" between Lothaire and Ellie. Ellie is a victim time and time again, both at the hands of a "vampire goddess" whose murders land Ellie on death row, and then at the hands of Lothaire himself. He is physically and emotionally abusive to an extreme degree, even after the couple's "fated love" is confirmed. At times it seemed as if Cole was attempting to rectify and repair the damage that Lothaire had created, but it only got worse. The conclusion of the novel is a justification of abuse, a kind of "he did it for her own good" suggestion that rankles.

Oh, but she's his "fated Bride," so it's all ok. If she can get over it, then we should, too.

I've had enough; "good" sex does not make up for extreme abuse, whether it is kidnapping and threatening one's family for compliance and oral sex, kidnapping and dissection while one is alive, or rape followed by kidnapping (all actual plots in the series). I just can't accept that controlling sadists can make good partners.

And a minor quibble compared to the basic content of the novel: I loathe laziness in writing. Specifically, the use of generic descriptions such as "old fashioned." They wore "old-fashioned" clothes, hhmm? Old-fashioned as in ... oh-so-1992? 1950? Renaissance? Medieval? Mammoth-skin? If your own vocabulary and research is so lacking, you can at least go with generic descriptions! Is she wearing a bodice and full skirt, or a long fitted gown? Is he wearing a stiff collar and boots to his cod piece? Or is it too difficult to imagine anything other than manually ripping one's hymen because it's in the way?

I'm amazed at myself that I even bothered to finish the book, but I wanted to give it the chance to recover. It never does.