Snow Day Reading

5. 
Title: [The Darkest Secret]
Author: Gena Showalter
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 23, 2014
Rating: ***1/2

I find a great deal of consistency throughout this genre: paranormal warriors (both men and women), epic quests unknown to the general population, often hot romance, and personal doubt that leads to new revelations.  I have a few personal qualms with elements of the genre that will probably keep me from rating the books as five-stars (the speed with which characters fall in "love," for example, or the similar speed with which they can forgive terrible actions...), but I appreciate the evenness of certain authors, and that I can rely on them to provide just the entertainment I am looking for.  Though Gena Showalter and her Lords -  keepers of the demons of Pandora's box - are not my favorite of the genre, I enjoy her character building and attempts to balance action and romance.  In The Darkest Secret Amun, keeper of Secrets, finds his voice and his place, and the idea of enemies and righteousness are explored.  This was just the entertainment I was hoping for on yet another snow day.  


6. 
Title: [Incubus Wolf]
Author: Bonnie Vanak
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 23, 2014
Rating: *

Boring, and completely unsatisfactory conclusion. 

7. 
Title: [Seduced By the Wolf]
Author: Bonnie Vanak
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 24, 2014
Rating: *

Bleh. 

Well, that's one author I won't have to bother with in the future. 

8. 
Title: [The Darkest Surrender]
Author: Gena Showalter
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 27, 2014
Rating: ***1/2

It seems like Gena Showalter reads Kresley Cole; in The Darkest Surrender (2011), Harpies gather for battle games against other clans, engaging in challenges and conflicts only immortals could survive ... much like the Valkyries, and the yearly hunt that sets the scene for Cole's No Rest for the Wicked (2006).  The similarities don't stop there, but there is one big difference between Showalter and Cole: the former is much less interested in the rape-and-forgive plot that drives much of Immortals After Dark.  So, bonus points for that. 

True Story

3. 
Title: [Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants]
Author: Alison Maloney
Genre: Wikipedia television Nonfiction
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 20, 2014
Rating: **

Alison Maloney's Life Below Stairs has one goal: to capitalize on the popularity of "Downton Abbey."  Not only does Highclere Castle grace the cover of the book, but she frequently cites the show as a source.  For anyone who has neither seen the show nor read anything related to Victorian and Edwardian servitude, this book may hold some new insight.  However, the book is neither "full" nor "complete" as the back cover suggests, and one would likely find greater research from a tertiary encyclopedia.  Not recommended. 

4. 
Title: [The Ghost Map]
Author: Steven Johnson
Genre: Nonfiction
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 20, 2014
Rating: ***

 
I desperately wanted to love this account of cholera outbreaks in Victorian England; nineteenth-century science and medicine fascinate me, and the book comes very highly recommended from readers I trust. I desperately wanted to lose myself in this book, but I couldn't. There are, in fact, several chapters I find very engaging and interesting, most notably the accounts of Dr. Snow and his efforts to thwart the miasmists. Unfortunately, distractions come in the form of purple prose, which ultimately render my response fairly neutral. The weakest moments are when Johnson strays from the history, and waxes eloquently about imagined lives, which do not always logically follow. Long passages describe the aggressive, malignant, and sentient decisions of bacteria, which read as a lack of focus and unity for the whole as opposed to bolstering the romance of the subject. When passages like these become arduous to the reader, other errors become more prominently irritating, including one which I am very guilty of myself: unnecessary repetition. The same purple prose or anecdotal associations are repeated verbatim over a few pages, detracting from the writing.

The research certainly seems strong, and Johnson demonstrates great interest in his subject, but I wasn't able to rise to the same jubilation. It is, however, far superior to the other nonfiction book I've just completed - Life Below Stairs - and the comparison works to show the superior research and integrity of Johnson, adding a star to my initial review.  Ultimately, recommended. 

January New Author: Natsuo Kirino

2. 
Title: [The Goddess Chronicle]
Author: Natsuo Kirino
Genre: Myth and fantasy
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 15, 2014
Rating: *****
January Resolution Book.

The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino tells a tale of fate, expectations, and the dangers of being a woman in love.  Namima is just five when her six-year-old sister Kamikuu begins training to be the next Oracle of their poor island, and her life is changed forever as she is first identified as "the defiled one."  It is not until she is sixteen that Namima understands what the villagers believe her fate to be - as the yin to Kamikuu's yang, Namima is expected to become the priestess of the dark, and live isolated in the island's graveyard, tending to the dead, and quietly killing herself when her sister dies.  Namima has other ideas, and her choices lead to the telling of myth, a sharp criticism of fate and unchanging cultures, and the roles women play in the creation of life.

Kirino's writing is breathtaking and simple, weaving an epic story from just a few moments.  Parallel narratives are deftly drawn together, confirming the yin and yang of life and story, and finally revealing Kirino's grand plan.  As a partial narrator and protagonist, Namima is compelling and sympathetic, and the reader rages against her fate and feels her heartbreak, even when she loses her own sense of pity.  This is a story about myths and story as much as the characters themselves.  Highly recommended.

One of my resolutions was to read a "new" author each month; as I intend to further broaden my reading horizons, I am defining "new" as beyond the traditional English canon, and outside of my most frequently read genres.  Kirino has set me off to a very strong start.  

Advanced Eyelash Fluttering

1. 
Title: Etiquette & Espionage
Author: Gail Carriger
Genre: Steampunk, or "Historical Fiction" according to my local library
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: January 7, 2014
Rating: ****
Review: Sophronia, the youngest daughter in the Temminnick family, is in great need of polish and refinement, and a family friend recommends Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, despite being assaulted by a trifle during a bungled dumbwaiter spying incident.  What Mrs. Temminnick doesn't realize is just what her daughter will learn at this finishing school, and in her first session Sophronia finds herself learning quadrilles, fan ettiquette, and how to only poison half of one's dinner guests.  "Finishing" takes on an entirely different context in the school dedicated to teaching "Ladies of Quality" the finer points of Etiquette and Espionage.

This novel, introducing Sophronia Temminnick and Mademoiselle Geraldine's floating school, is good fun and frivolous entertainment.  There are several familiar faces, albeit in very unfamiliar forms, sporting diversion, and conflict overcome by cunning and mechanicals.  This series is not "The Parasol Protectorate," but holds great promise on its own, and makes for a fun start to the year. 

2013 In Review

Based on a scale of one * to five *****, and rated within genre only.

Unrated for varying reasons
Papers Graded, by 100 Students.  4.30.13.  1400+ pages.
The Norton Anthology of Short Stories, The Oxford Book of Essays, etc.  11.27.13.
Papers Graded, by 114 students.  11.27.13.  1,500 pages.

*****
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.  Fiction.  1.31.13.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.  Contemporary Gothic.  2.15.13.  *****
The Truth by Terry Pratchett.  Satire.  3.8.13.
Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs.  Urban Fantasy.  3.11.13.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  YA Dystopian.  3.15.13. 
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  YA Dystopian.  3.14.13. 
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.  YA Dystopian.  3.18.13. 
Beowulf trans. Seamus Heaney.  Anglo-Saxon Epic.  4.11.13.
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells.  Scientific Romance.  4.18.13.
The Midwife by Jennifer Worth.  Memoir.  5.5.13.
The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell.  Fiction.  6.10.13. 
 Dead Men Do Tell Tales by William R. Maples.  Nonfiction.  6.11.13. 
Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper.  Fiction.  7.5.13.
Othello by William Shakespeare.  Drama.  10.7.13. 
Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf.  Satire.  10.7.13.
Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare.  Drama.  10.21.13.
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles.  Drama.  11.3.13.

****1/2
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.  Drama.  11.15.13. 

****
Pride Mates by Jennifer Ashley.  Paranormal Romance.  1.4.13.
Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn.  Urban Fantasy.  1.15.13. 
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Fantasy.  4.4.13.
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.  Nonfiction.  5.14.13.
How to Murder a Millionaire by Nancy Martin.  Cozy Mystery.  6.28.13.
Dead Girls Don't Wear Diamonds by Nancy Martin.  Cozy Mystery.  6.30.13.
Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton.  Urban Fantasy.  7.4.13. 
Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology, and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Jenna Miscavige Hill.  Autobiography.  7.13. 
Some Like it Lethal by Nancy Martin.  Cozy Mystery.  7.13. 
Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die by Nancy Martin.  Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too by Nancy Martin.  Cozy Mystery.  7.13. 
 A Crazy Little Thing Called Death by Nancy Martin.  Cozy Mystery.  7.13. 
Murder Melts in Your Mouth by Nancy Martin.  Cozy Mystery.  7.31.13. 
The Hen of the Baskervilles by Donna Andrews.  Cozy Mystery.  8.4.13. 
Gulp by Mary Roach.  Nonfiction.  8.24.13.
The Lady Submits by Chloe Cox.  Romance.  9.1.13.
The Wolf's Captive by Chloe Cox.  Romance.  
Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews.  Cozy Mystery.  11.3.13.
No Way to Kill a Lady by Nancy Martin.  Cozy Mystery.  11.24.13.
Little Black Book of Murder by Nancy Martin.  Cozy Mystery.  11.25.13.

***1/2
Megan's Mark by Lora Leigh.  Paranormal Romance.  2.?.13.  ***1/2
The Queen is Dead by Kate Locke.  Steampunk. 3.2.13.  ***1/2
A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth's Castle by Liza Campbell.  3.21.13. 
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg.  Early Reader.  4.14.13. 
Housekeeping vs. The Dirt by Nick Hornby.  Column Collection.  5.1.13.
Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell.  Nonfiction.  5.17.13. 
Daughters of Darkness by L.J. Smith.  YA Horror.  5.20.13. 
The Smoky Corridor by Chris Grabenstein.  YA Mystery Horror.  5.22.13.
Sold to the Sheikh by Chloe Cox.  Romance.  9.13.
In a Witch's Wardrobe by Juliet Blackwell.  Cozy Mystery.  9.29.13.

***
Hard Mated by Jennifer Ashley.  Paranormal Romance.
"Saint's Curse" by Lee Brazil.  M/M Paranormal Romance.  1.3.13.
 Primal Bonds by Jennifer Ashley.  Paranormal romance.  1.?.13. 
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn.  YA.  1.30.13.
Redwood Pack Volume 2 by Carrie Ann Ryan.  Paranormal Romance.  1.30.13.
"Purr" by Paisley Smith.  f/f Paranormal Romance.  3.4.13.
Bound in Death by Cynthia Eden.  Paranormal Romance.  4.22.12. 
Forever Bound by Cynthia Eden.  Paranormal Romance.  4.27.13. 
Ever After by Kim Harrison.  Urban fantasy.  5.26.13.
Death on Demand by Carolyn G. Hart.  Cozy Mystery.  6.13.13.
Priceless by Shannon Mayer.  Paranormal Romance.  6.20.13.
Marked by Elisabeth Naughton.  Paranormal Romance.  6.22.13.
A Mating Dance by Lia Davis.  Paranormal Romance.  6.24.13. 
Seduced by Innocence by Kimberly Kimrade.  Romance.  8.25.13.
Dark Wolf Rising by Rhyannon Byrd.  Romance.  9.13.
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins.   YA Fantasy.  10.20.13
Club Sin by Stacey Kennedy.  Romance.  12.2013.
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
.  YA Science Fiction.  12.24.13.


**1/2
Girl of Nightmare by Kendare Blake.  YA Horror.  1.18.13.
Redwood Pack Volume 1 by Carrie Ann Ryan.  Paranormal Romance.  1.28.13.  **1/2
When She Woke by Hillary Jordan.  Fiction.  2.5.13.
Gracefully Insane by Alex Beam.  Nonfiction.  4.2.13.  
A Bit of Bite by Cynthia Eden.  Paranormal Romance.  4.19.13.
Citizen Vince by Jess Walter.  Fiction.  5.24.13.
Night of the Living Deed by E.J. Copperman.  Cozy Mystery.  11.17.13.

**
Blurred Expectations by Carrie Ann Ryan.  Paranormal Romance.  1.30.13.
 "Night Crow" by Paisley Smith.  Paranormal Romance.  3.4.13.  **
Hedging His Bets by Mina Carter.  Paranormal Romance.  4.15.13.
Wicked Sexy by R.G. Alexander.  Romance.  9.3.13.
Mistresses: A History of the Other Woman by Elizabeth Abbott.  Nonfiction.  12.10.13.
Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond by Kim Harrison.  Urban Fantasy.  12.30.13.

*1/2
"Bitten in the Big Easy" by Delilah Devlin, Paisley Smith.  f/f Paranormal Romance.  3.9.13. 

*
"Orion's Way" by DC Juris.  M/M Paranormal Romance.  1.3.13. 
"Gabriella" by Celia Kyle.  Paranormal Romance.  7.7.13. 
Control by Lucia Jordan.  Romance.  9.13.

78.
Title: [Night of the Living Deed]
Author: E.J. Copperman
Pages: 336
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library Book
Date Completed: November 17, 2013
Rating: **1/2

A (bitter) divorcee and her young daughter buy an old Victorian on the Jersey shore with the hopes of running a sustainable guesthouse, and soon find that the previous owner and a detective haven't quite made a full exit.  As a whole, the novel is one-dimensional, and there is no shred of sympathy to be had for any of the characters.  I was hoping for another crossover between my favorite genres, but this series will not be it. 

79.
Title: Student Essays
Author: 114 Students
Pages:  1,500
Genre:
Medium: Electronic
Acquisition:
Date Completed: November 21, 2013
Rating:


80.
 Title: [The Importance of Being Earnest]
Author: Oscar Wilde
Pages: 
Genre: Drama
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Work Text
Date Completed: November 15, 2013
Rating: ****1/2

This was my first semester teaching The Importance of Being Earnest, and my first time in a long while teaching Wilde.  Generally, my students had been complaining about the number of tragedies we read, and most appreciated a turn to comedy.  It went over fairly well, and I focused on an argument of vanity as part of our class analysis, emphasizing that the characters are essentially replicas, that all speak in the voice of Wilde, and that the work is an expression and act of vanity in itself. It was very interesting to read it in the context of his immediate trials, too. 

81. 
Title: The Norton Anthology of Short Stories, [The Oxford Book of Essays], Literature: An Introduction, Pratchett, Roach, and a Poe in a Pear Tree. 
Author: Several
Pages:   38 short stories and articles, 16 poems, misc. chapters on grammar and rhetoric
Genre: Varied
Medium: Electronic
Acquisition:
Date Completed: November 27, 2013
Rating: 

82. 
Title: [No Way to Kill a Lady]
Author: Nancy Martin
Pages: 368
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: November 24, 2013
Rating: ****

When dynasties fall, colorful characters - and deeds - come out of the woodwork.  In No Way to Kill a Lady the reader is treated to a skeezy cousin, a crumbling castle, and a body in an elevator.  This is one of the more compelling mysteries in the series, with satisfying family melodrama to accentuate a rather curious murder victim. 

83. 
Title: [Little Black Book of Murder]
Author: Nancy Martin
Pages: 384
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: November 25, 2013
Rating: ****

The most recent book in the Blackbird Sisters mysteries is a bit of a mixed bag.  There is conflict in Nora's job that challenges the suspension of disbelief, and creates a position greater for her than one could believe she has.  However, Martin offers wonderful personal resolution on several fronts, making the novel satisfying in the long run.  

84.   
Title: [Mistresses: A History of the Other Woman]
Author: Elizabeth Abbott
Pages: 512
Genre: Nonfiction, memoir
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: December 10, 2013
Rating: **

 From the title, I assumed it would be a history of the position of mistresses, looking at laws, social expectations, and the changes in affairs throughout history.  Abbott does address much of this, but through encyclopedic memoirs of historically known mistresses.  What begins as an enthralling look at the lives of women who, by choice or (more often) force, find themselves in the beds of married or emotionally unavailable men, becomes as odious as the mechanical sexual chores by the time Abbott reaches Hitler - and there's still another half to go.

Though I have no qualms with the research, which seems thoughtful and as complete as it can be, Abbott's writing is sophomoric, as she uses repetitive catchphrases to describe the same individuals (for example, repeatedly calling Jackie Kennedy "the world's most eligible widow" in the space of a few pages).  The text systematically dismisses wives - unless they becomes mistresses themselves - and shows little sympathy for the men in these relationships, unless it is to reveal them as foolish for their parts in the affairs. 

These stories - from Hagar to Eva Braun, through Marilyn Monroe and on to Simon de Beavoir - are already well known, so much so that the text as a whole is shallow for not giving the reader something more.  Additionally, Abbott butchers the mistresses of literature, writing Cliff's Notes to pad out a chapter that discusses everything from Jane Eyre to The Scarlet Letter, which contributes little and confuses the previously-established focus of the book.

Although some chapters were very interesting, the book as a whole was a chore to read for someone who is already familiar with most of the material.   

  
85. 
Title: [Claimed: Club Sin]
Author: Stacey Kennedy
Pages: 239
Genre: Erotica
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: December 2013

86. 
Title: [Scarlet]
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 464
Genre: Science Fiction, YA, Revised Fairytale
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: December 24, 2013
Rating: ***

Initially, I was greatly disappointed with Scarlet; I did not find the novel to be nearly as compelling as the first, and I found the character of Scarlet to be forced and awkward, as the association with the fairy tale is clumsy at best.  However, once the parallel plot sequences involving the emperor and Cinder become more developed, the novel shifts, and becomes much more cohesive and thus entertaining.  I was pleased to see Cinder gain a few allies, and to see not only some of her past, but a plan for the future as well.

87. 
Title: [Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond]
Author: Kim Harrison
Pages: 528
Genre: Urban fantasy, short stories
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: December 30, 2013
Rating: **

This is a book for the uberfans, of which I am not one; Into the Woods is a collection of short stories, many of which detail how Rachel and her friends come to be. The stories themselves are sentimental and lacking strong development, providing some detail and intrigue for those who are deeply invested in the Hollows characters, but with little to interest those who may be less enthralled.  In this case, the low rating is indicative of audience: I am not the reader for whom Harrison is writing this collection.