Back to write reviews, because the holiday is over and now I can.

104.
Title: [Moving Pictures]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: December 18, 2016
Rating: ****

Moving Pictures is the first in the "industry" sub-genre of Discworld, and satirizes the rise and fall of a HollywoodHoly Wood
empire.  The Alchemists have learned how to turn light, not lead, into gold, and set out into the desert, away from the oppressive gaze of Wizards who may call it magic, to do just that.  Around the Discworld others feel the pull and draw of Holy Wood, and set out to fill their niches.  What none realize, however, is that the untimely death of a hermit priest, who never found time to train a successor, has released an unusual magic into the social sphere, and its this menacing force which is luring people out and into a world of fantasy.
The sarcasm and satire of Moving Pictures carries a narrative of forgettable characters, and serves as a solid stand-alone book for those who enjoy old Hollywood, and Pratchett's brand of snark.


105.
Title: [The Reptile Room]
Author: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Children's
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: 12.19.16
Rating: ****

After the discovery of Count Olaf's nefarious theatrical plans, the orphans are withdrawn from the proffered peace of a life with the Judge, and instead taken out into the countryside to another very distant and hitherto unknown relative.  They are relieved to find that this relative is rather well suited to their emotional and intellectual care, as a portly scientist who is rather fond of movies. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny feel almost guilty in their relief and happiness, and look forward to the expedition on which they are scheduled to depart with their cheerful new guardian.

That is, until the new assistant arrives.

The second installment of Unfortunate Events is perhaps even more charming than the first. Reading much like a short story to an adult audience, the pacing is strong, the narrative voice is compelling, and the predictability contributes rather than detracts from the story's overall success.

106.
Title: [Hyperbole and a Half]
Author: Allie Brosh
Genre: Graphic Memoirs
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Library
Date Completed: 12.20.16
Rating: ****

Even readers who are unfamiliar with likely know the work of Allie Brosh, if only for the saturation of meme culture and the use of her "All the Things." 

The Original:


And homages/appropriations:
 

Brosh's book is a collection of short essays and narratives, most (if not all? I'm not entirely sure) available on her blog, but perhaps more satisfying in physical textual form for reasons only my nerdy-lizard-hind brain understands. Her self-awareness and self-deprecation serve as both a point of sympathy and understanding for the reader, and as a defense mechanism for the author, and the end product is a collection of narratives which turns discomfort into something ultimately positive.  No knowledge of her blog is necessary to enjoy Brosh's writing, and it may make an interesting segue into the world of graphic texts/memoirs for those who are not traditionally fans of the genre.

107.
Title: [A Christmas Carol]
Author: Charles Dickens
Genre: Ghost Story
Medium: Hardback
Acquisition:
Date Completed: 12.22.16
Rating: *****

In deference to long nights, foreboding weather, and a general desire to cozy up to their fellows, the Victorians enjoyed a publication tradition perhaps a bit unusual today, but one which I would love to see revived: they marketed ghost stories for Christmas.  Literary magazines would publish special "extra" editions in December, and featured both serialized and whole works of fiction of the gothic or horrific bent, like Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Body Snatcher," published in December of 1884. The popularity of the macabre is a well-known nineteenth-century cultural institution, and as they invented Christmas as we largely understand the celebration today the Victorians maintained their investment in the cult of mourning, the macabre, and a hyper-awareness of the tenuous nature of life.

Charles Dickens' short novel A Christmas Carol is a fantastically constructed cultural capsule, delightful in its prose, familiar in its story, and charming in its narrative. It is the Christmas Victoriana known and assumed today, and while Victoriana is itself far more complicated than this, one could do worse than Scrooge, ghosts, and a Dickensian Christmas.  I attempt to read the book every December, and it's no laborious task - and I'm not one who generally enjoys Dickens.