94.
Author: Carrie Fisher
Title: Wishful Drinking
publication: paperback
Pages:
Genre: Autobiography
Acquisition: Couldn't resist
Date: December 6, 2011
Rating: **1/2

Carrie Fisher is a woman born for the spotlight; with two famous parents she didn't even need to become a cultural icon to find her way into cultural history. However, thanks to a minor film series she's not only a cultural icon, but a shampoo bottle, PEZ dispenser, and even a sex doll (as she is quick to point out herself). And while I believe she is a great storyteller, that unfortunately does not make her a great author.

Wishful Drinking the stage show would be much stronger than Wishful Drinking the book. As a text, however, Fisher's story falls far short of the mark, lacking coherency and development. Full of excessive exclamation points and lacking in organization, the book did not live up to its promise. There's a reason why one of the cover-reviews suggests finding someone to "read this book out loud" - it must be better than reading it to yourself.

93.
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Title: The Valley of Fear
publication: paperback
Pages:
Genre: mystery
Acquisition: work text
Date: December 5, 2011
Rating: ***1/2

The Valley of Fear is published by Conan Doyle in 1914. Feeling shackled by the character for which he is best known, Conan Doyle's writing of the famous eccentric shows his narrative burden; Holmes himself is literally absent for over half of the book, as Part II explores the background of a particular character from Part I. This shift in genre is not entirely successful, as it does not seem to manage the expectations of the established audience; however, both narratives are enjoyable when read as separate bodies of work, and I would argue that they would be most successfully read as such.

92.
Author: Lorna Barrett
Title: [Sentenced to Death]
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: cozy mystery
Acquisition: Necessary baby-feeding ebook
Date: December 5, 2011
Rating: ***1/2

I have apparently missed a book or two in my reading of this series, but my understanding was not hindered by the oversight.

My reading of Sentenced to Death is mixed. I appreciate Barrett's acknowledgement of the difficulties all cozy authors must face: most importantly, how librarians/booksellers/bakers/candlestick makers keep coming across bodies in an otherwise "perfectly safe" environment. Barrett's characters readily recognize the growing crime rate in their community, and proper concern is mixed. This seems to be a flag for the end of the series, as the murder rate will soon outgrow the constraints of a small tourist town.

What I found most difficult about the novel is the murder itself; while Barrett eventually justifies such an outlandish act, the details of the murder are still so extraordinary that it's dificult to believe the murderer could even get it right.

This is one for fans of the series, but probably not one worth picking up for readers not already invested in Tricia and her community.

91.
Author: Marsha Altman
Title: The Darcys and The Bingleys
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: I don't know the official genre of these kinds of sequels
Acquisition: Free on Austen's birthday
Date: November 25, 2011
Rating: ***

Take a moment and picture Pemberly. Now, take another moment and try to picture this: a Scotsman in kilted glory swinging in on a chandelier from out of nowhere - in Pemberly - to land beside a swashbuckling Darcy.

Yes.

The Darcys & The Bingleys, upon first inspection, is the sequel that all Austen fans truly hunger for; what does happen after the collection of unlikely but highly romantic proposals? With that premise, the novel begins well, but quickly veers off into extremely awkward sexual territory, and by the novel's conclusion has devolved so greatly that the characters and setting are not only unrecognizable, but can really only be accepted as rather unflattering satire (similar to a "work" like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

While it's far from being the worst thing I've read this year, I really can't recommend it to fans of Austen.

88.
Author: Samuel Beckett
Title: [Waiting for Godot]
publication: Paperback
Pages:
Genre: Drama
Acquisition:
Date: November 19, 2011
Rating: *****

89.
Author: Shakespeare
Title: [Othello]
publication: Anthology
Pages:
Genre: Drama
Acquisition:
Date: November 20, 2011
Rating: *****

Yup, again

90.
Author: Sophocles
Title: [Wicked Plants]
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: Novelty
Acquisition:
Date: November 20, 2011
Rating: **

I picked up Wicked Plants for the novelty read it really is, and I've been slowly reading it in the middle of the night when I'm up with Doc. I found it to be a bit careless and unprofessional. The Kindle edition, at least, is rife with typographical errors (anyone else know of Rorneo and Juliet? No?), and the writing itself just didn't appeal to me. A horticultural manual would have been far more entertaining than half-narratives strung together with terrible graphics and sheltered under Latin names.

85.
Author: Keri Arthur
Title: [Darkness Unbound]
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: Supernatural
Acquisition:
Date: November 1, 2011
Rating: ****

I've had a love/hate relationship with Keri Arthur's Riley Jensen series, although I've enjoyed the later books more than the previous, which probably explains why I was tempted to pick up the spin-off series, Dark Angels. In the first, Darkness Unbound, the reader is introduced to a grown Risa - the daughter of a cloned clairvoyant werewolf first introduced in the Riley Jensen series. Risa is an odd character for this style of book, as her primary characteristics include her wealth and her lack of connection to the major races in Arthur's world. The plot itself was a bit chaotic at times; it's obvious that Arthur is leaving several threads she can pick up as the series develops. Not bad for the first in a series, but not overly compelling, either.

86.
Author: Shakespeare
Title: [Othello]
publication: Anthology
Pages:
Genre: Drama
Acquisition:
Date: November 1, 2011
Rating: *****

87.
Author: Sophocles
Title: [Oedipus Rex]
publication: Anthology
Pages:
Genre: Drama
Acquisition:
Date: November 1, 2011
Rating: *****

Yes, again - my ESL course is reading it later than my other courses. Othello will make another appearance on my reading list when I read it again in a couple weeks.

84.
Author: Keri Arthur
Title: [The Darkest Kiss]
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: Supernatural
Acquisition:
Date: October 26, 2011
Rating: ****

83.
Author: Edith Wharton
Title: Ethan Frome
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: Classic
Acquisition:
Date: October 18, 2011
Rating: ****

I have long intended to read Edith Wharton, and when I read a review of Ethan Frome here I decided it would be a strong place to start, and downloaded a copy for my Kindle. And, surprise of surprises, I actually managed to get around to reading it.

What I find most striking about Ethan Frome is not the story itself, which is fairly simple, but Wharton's ability to inspire such strong emotions in the reader. Like the narrator, I found myself captivated by the stooped figure of Ethan himself, and I, too, soon felt a burning desire to discover the "mystery" of his condition. When faced with Ethan's life I was horrified, repulsed at times, and ever grateful for my own existence. I felt nearly instant loathing for Zeena Frome, and suspense every time Ethan set out - sure that this would hold the answer. The conclusion startled me, but did nothing to alleviate the negative emotions the narrative itself inspired, leaving a lasting impression on me as a reader.

82.
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Title: No Mercy
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: Supernatural Romance
Acquisition:
Date: October 11, 2011
Rating: **

The plot is clumsy and lackluster, and the book as a whole is awkward and amateurish. I can accept the formulaic nature of the genre, but it seems like the author isn't even trying.

81.
Author: Jenn Bennett
Title: [Kindling the Moon]
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Acquisition:
Date: October 6, 2011
Rating: ***

Kindling the Moon is another in the countless urban fantasies flooding booksellers thanks to the success of YA of the same genre. In this particular novel, the reader is introduced to Arcadia Bell, a magician (because no self-respecting practitioner would ever call herself a witch, she says) with rare abilities thanks to a spell cast by her parents at her conception. When Arcadia is a teenager her parents are labeled as serial killers, splitting the family and sending everyone into hiding. And eight years later the grave dust is kicked up again.

Kindling the Moon is not a fantastic book, and is certainly not the best of the genre I've read this year. However, it was a comforting read for one with a great interest in the genre, and it beat the hell out of some of the horrible fantasy/romance crossovers I've read in recent months.

79.
Author: Kim Taylor
Title: [Bowery Girl]
publication: Kindle
Pages:
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Acquisition: Recommended by Linda (Whisper)
Date: October 2, 2011
Rating: *****

Bowery Girl is a heart-breaking narrative of the life of Mollie Flynn, a "Bowery Girl" who supports herself as a pickpocket in New York City. She spins her world around her friend Annabelle Lee, a young prostitute, who saved her from sleeping on the streets when Mollie was just a girl, and gifted her with both her name, and a dream to make it to Brooklyn for a better life. As they wait for the bridge to be built between New York and Brooklyn they dream, they scheme, and they fall victim to their own lives. Mollie is an engaging protagonist, and she carries well the story of poverty that haunts her neighborhood. Highly recommended.

80.
Author: Ken Kesey
Title: [One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]
publication: Paperback
Pages:
Genre: Fiction
Acquisition: Work Text
Date: October 3, 2011
Rating: