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. 

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.

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.

"To tell people what to read is, as a rule, either useless or harmful; for the appreciation of literature is a question of temperament not of teaching [...]. But to tell people what not to read is a very different matter, and I venture to recommend it as a mission..." - Oscar Wilde, "Letter to the Pall Mall Gazette on the Subject of 'The Best Hundred Books'" (qtd. Wright, Built of Books, 317).

39.
Author: Oscar Wilde
Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Publication: Paperback, Norton
Pages: 184 pages
Genre: Gothic
Acquisition: Work Text
Date Completed: May 13, 2010
Rating: 7 stars out of 5

It is difficult for me to review The Picture of Dorian Gray because of my shifting, yet everlasting, love for the novel. I first fell into infatuation with Lord Henry's wit, grew irrevocably attached to the horror that is Dorian Gray himself, wept over Basil and sympathized with his greatest needs, and shifted through a series of fascinations as I read the novel year after year.

This year I have chosen to focus on the parallel narratives of Dorian Gray, introducing both the primary Gothic tale and the secondary satire of Victorian London society. Alas, I will be abandoning Mr. Wilde next semester, as I feel that we just don't have as much time as I would like to devote to the novel.

Starting next semester I will be "auditioning" replacements, starting with We Have Always Lived in the Castle. But my devotion to Wilde remains: my children are Brooks DORIAN and Maxwell HENRY, and my right foot will be forever tagged by Wilde's penmanship. And that's just the way I like it.

80. Harris, Charlaine. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse. 240 pages. 6.29.09.


81. Wilde, Oscar. An Ideal Husband. 96 pages. 6.29.09.

Despite my deep and resounding love for Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey (for which I have given my sons the middle names Dorian and Henry), I have come to realize I have read shamefully little of his other work. Today I resolved to sit down with one of his well-known plays, and chose An Ideal Husband. The play is everything I've come to expect from Wilde; while the dialog doesn't sound particularly natural, it is infused with the wit and charm of Wilde's satirical authorial pressence, which carries the work well. I appreciated the parallel established between politics and marriage, and enjoyed the ever-present commentary on gender, fashion, society, and art (especially the aesthetic correlation established between Wilde's characters and known artists/styles). I look forward to reading more of Wilde's work - both drama and short stories - in the near future.

50. Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. 184 pages. +

I'm at a loss as to how to actually review The Picture of Dorian Gray. When pressed to name a favorite novel, I usually give Wilde's work in response; I enjoy it enough that I gave my son the middle name of "Dorian." I admire the wit and charm, and take great delight in the gothic elements. But to me the story is much more than just Dorian and his plight - it is the story of aestheticism, of 19th-century English culture, of the evolution of art, satire, and human relationships.

One of the things I have asked my students to focus on for our reading of the novel is something Wilde himself said about the book in a letter dated February of 1894: "I am so glad you like the strange coloured book of mine: it contains much of me in it. Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be - in other ages perhaps" (Gillespie ix). In truth, I believe this statement not only speaks to the creation of the principle characters (and throws an interesting light on the events of the novel), but speaks to the complexity of the ideas themselves.

My students are nearly as enthusiastic about the novel as I am, but it's such a joy to discuss in the classroom.