43. 
Title: [Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Pages: 62
Genre: Gothic
Medium: Paperback, Norton Critical
Acquisition: Purchased for work
Date Completed: May 15, 2012
Rating: ****

I'd write a review, but I just finished an essay analyzing the theme of alternative reproduction in this text and two others ... so I'm a bit brain-dead at the moment. 

I will say that I detest contemporary representations of the Jekyll/Hyde dynamic, although I saw a fascinating image from "Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde" in the Norton critical edition...

42. 
Title: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Author: Alan Bradley
Pages: 306
Genre: Mystery
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:  Library Loan
Date Completed: May 13, 2012
Rating: ***

Flavia de Luce is the third and youngest daughter of an old English family.  Having lost her mother at a young age, it appears that Flavia has largely been left to raise herself, which she has done through extensive reading and an obsession with Chemistry.  Indeed, it is this interest that most defines Flavia, as she responds to emotional stress and strain by imagining what poisons she can cook up in her lab as revenge.  Confident and intelligent with a strong dislike for authority, Flavia is just the sort of girl I would have adored at eleven, and just the sort of over-confident character that I find tedious as an adult. 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie seems to be an excuse for Bradley to write about pet subjects - chemistry, for example, and stamps - and the lectures on these subjects frequently lead the narrator away from the narrative.  For one who is interested in these subjects these asides would be an excellent diversion, and would not likely detract from the novel; however, the discussions related to philately were so dull that I frequently found my mind wandering, and had to force myself back to the narrative.

I, for one, do not find that my own reading lives up to the hype. 

41. 
Title: "Beauty: An Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Outtake"
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Pages: 33
Genre: Erotica
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition:
Date Completed: May 9, 2012
Rating: ***

This short story, which is essentially a teaser for the upcoming Kiss the Dead, embodies what Vintage Blakers detest and Progressive Blakers want: smutty vampire smut.  This erotic short contains what early Anita Blake novels are missing - sex, comfort, and contentment.  One Amazon reviewer labelled it as a "novella" because calling it a "story" offended her sensibilities because of a purported lack of plot (although why calling it a novella of 33 pages makes that better, I'm not sure), and another bemoaned charging for what other authors would likely release for free on personal blogs.  These responses are now typical for Hamilton's work, and I believe readers will need to consider their own motivations and desires before pursuing any Anita Blake novels.  I, for one, enjoy the sexually-satisfied Anita far more than the conflicted and haunted Anita, and purchased Beauty because I was in the mood for a bit of erotica - and that is exactly what Hamilton delivers in this short, nothing more, nothing less. 

40. 
Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Author: Mark Haddon
Pages: 226
Genre: Fiction
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Ebook
Date Completed: May 5, 2012
Rating: ****

In Mark Haddon's fascinating and anxiety-inducing book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, fifteen-year-old Christopher begins writing a book on the suggestion of his teacher.  Christopher doesn't like fiction because he believes it's just a series of lies, but because he enjoys the mysteries of Sherlock Holmes he decides that it will be acceptable to write a mystery of his own, which he begins after finding a neighbor's murdered dog, and briefly coming under suspicion himself.  What makes this novel intriguing, of course, is not the death of the dog Wellington, but Christopher himself, who is autistic.  My knowledge of the condition is only passing, but from my unlearned perspective Haddon's use of Siobhain, Christopher's teacher, as a catalyst for his motivation helps create a cohesive and credible story.  Less intrigued by the story itself, I was fascinated by the explanation of comfort and Christopher's particular behavior, and I cheered his ability to accomplish tasks that his condition renders near-Herculean.  The Curious Incident shares an interesting perspective from a sympathetic narrator, and is a great way to pass an afternoon. 

38. 
Title: Broadmoor Revealed
Author: Mark Stevens
Pages: 107 pages
Genre: Nonfiction
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Free Amazon Download
Date Completed: May 3, 2012
Rating: ***

As one could deduce from the page count, Mark Stevens' Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum is only a brief glimpse into one of England's Victorian-era asylums.  Idyllic in setting and home to as many sane criminals as deranged artists, Broadmoor is an interesting subject for study, but by no means unique.  Although a number of crimes are discussed in relation to the patients, what I found most interesting were the details of the escapes attempts, and how the Board responded - or failed to, as was frequently the case.  Although I would have preferred greater depth, Broadmoor Revealed is a nice snack for those interested in Victorian crime or mental institutions. 

39. 
Title: Death Comes to Pemberley
Author: P. D. James
Pages: 220 pages
Genre: Mystery
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Library Ebook
Date Completed: May 4, 2012
Rating: *

Death Comes to Pemberley is trite and wooden.  The plot itself is lost in the pedantic text, which lectures as opposed to narrates. James uses dialog to introduce every detail, which leads to cumbersome and often ridiculous conversations, in which Character A reminds Character B that they met the good Doctor five years ago at that dinner party, and that the Doctor now suffers from gout and enjoys a comfortable estate, but went on that dreadful trip last year and is now nursing a sore hip and oh yes is not married and has no intention of seeking matrimony; he'll be here within the hour.  Oh yes, and candlelight merely enhances the darkness and gloom, and Darcy wonders, generally speaking.

Anyone with any knowledge - even passing - of Austen and/or the long nineteenth century will be better off avoid this cumbersome narrative. 

36. 
Title: Waiting for Godot
Author: Samuel Beckett
Pages: 100 pages
Genre: Drama
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Work Text
Date Completed: April 26, 2012
Rating:

37. 
Title: Simon Said
Author: Sarah R. Shaber
Pages: 220 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Borrowed from Amazon Prime
Date Completed: April 27, 2012
Rating: ***

Simon Shaw is the perfect protagonist for a cozy mystery; unlike other cozies, which dump corpses behind bakeries or in bookstores, Shaber deposits a 70-year-old corpse in the middle of an archeological dig at a college, where a depressed and socially awkward professor of history is happy to take up the research to put a name to the skull, and a name to the bullet inside of that skull.  As an amateur detective, Shaw utilizes his skill set as an academic and researcher, and pieces together the mystery in a way that is purposeful and conceivable.  While one of the two mysteries of the text isn't quite so meticulous, Shaw's own efforts are strong.

So why just three stars?  Shaw himself is repugnant, albeit far less so than some of his colleagues.  Emotionally crippled by the departure of his wife, Shaw is initially presented as a wounded animal, and lacks sympathy (when Shaw himself analyzes his failed marriage he can understand how his actions and decisions lead to the separation, and so can I).  However, such emotional frailty could be overlooked if Shaw himself wasn't such blatant a sexist.  Although a colleague in the history department is labeled a sexist, it is Shaw himself who proves far more demeaning and critical: the colleague dismisses women as a waste of time, while Shaw criticizes the "love interest's" choice of clothing, eating habits, and choice of beverages in a way that exerts his superiority over an independent and successful woman.  To Shaw, she lacks autonomy and instead functions as an inevitable addition to his life - after all, once she works through her far-more-complicated emotions he will be there to indulge in the relationship of his choosing. 

As much as I enjoy Shaw as an amateur  detective, his personal life is enough to keep me from pursuing the series.

35. 
Title: At Home
Author: Bill Bryson
Pages: 592 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Library book
Date Completed: April 21, 2012
Rating: ***

At Home is not the book I had hoped it would be; focused primarily on the home developed by the Victorians, the book is a brief history of inventions and biographies loosely related to the domestic life we now enjoy.  While I had hoped for more of an evolution of homemaking, what Bryson has produced is very much so in line with A Brief History of Nearly Everything - and as such much more focused on who invented the television and first thought to drill for oil than how people made their beds in the fourteenth century.  Bryson's style is easy to comprehend and his tone gives his books a wonderful personality. 

The Washington Ballet's "Alice (in Wonderland)"

Now that I have your attention.


This Sunday I took First Born to see the Washington Ballet's production of "Alice (In Wonderland)." Given the above promotions for the event, it promised to be a spectacle and a wonder, and we were very enthusiastic about attending the show. I am, admittedly, more familiar with the Disney film than I am the original novel, so from an audience perspective I had few expectations in terms of storyline, and was open to interpretation.

While the costumes are just as glamorous and breathtaking as the advertisements suggest, the wonder of the performance stops there.


Initially, the staging seemed magical, but when Alice falls down the rabbit hole the ballet quickly falls into gimmick. It seems that Septime Weber really wanted to get his money's worth out of the aerial harness, and awkwardly foists Alice (and other dancers) into the air a number of times. The aerial display (while not spectacular) is not itself the problem, but rather the rather awkward amount of time it takes to get each dancer harnessed - on staged - and then unhooked once the piece is over. There is an attempt to mask this by using chorus members in identical costumes to do the actual rigging, but the whole thing came off as rather trite.

In light of the unprofessional effects (and really, dance is magical enough without this, I say), the rest of the ballet took on a likewise unprofessional feel. Many of the dances seemed under-rehersed, and often "forced" as they tried to replicate the sense of wonder a child would experience when seeing the film for the first time. There was little fluidity to many of the dances (specifically those with Alice herself, who was not played by the actress pictured below for my showing), and the whole production felt more like a modern art experiment than a captivating ballet.

I was absolutely gobsmacked by the production of [The Great Gatsby], so I'm holding out hope that this fall's production of [Dracula] will hold some of the same magic of the Fitzgerald piece, and none of the gimmicks of "Alice."

34.
Title: Hexed
Author: Ilona Andrews and others
Pages: 336 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Library book
Date Completed: April 5, 2012
Rating: ***

I borrowed Hexed from the library as an introduction to authors I had been intending to try - Ilona Andrews and Yasmine Galenorn specifically. Like many collections of this sort, it seems that fans of these individual series will enjoy the stories more than those going in cold, like myself. The writing styles and worlds vary fairly widely, and there is something that will likely appeal to an equally wide range of fantasy readers. However, most of the content fell a bit flat for me, largely because I had no previous attachment to the protagonists to fall back on. I am not sure I will seek out any of these authors in the future.

33.
Title: Dirty Little Secrets
Author: C.J. Omololu
Pages: 224 pages
Genre: Fiction
Medium: Ebook
Acquisition: Recommended by Faith
Date Completed: April 5, 2012
Rating: ****

Compulsive hoarding is a disease I both understand and fear; while I have no desire to keep all of our garbage, for example, I can sympathize with the panic and anxiety that inspires one to keep "x" because it might be needed one day, or the similar fear of forgetting that leads people to collect things like receipts. Thankfully, my own compulsive disorder drives me to streamline and organize as much as possible (I guess you could say I hoard electronically, since I scan all paperwork/children artwork/photos/etc instead of keeping it in hardcopy), but in the absence of that kind of drive people with similar anxieties just tend to ... keep. Unfortunately, it seems in many cases that one's hoarding doesn't just impact the hoarder's life, but it has a detrimental effect on those around them - most tragically their children.

I picked up Dirty Little Secrets because of my own interest in the show "Hoarders," which attempts to help hoarders recognize their anxieties and problems. Omolou's book focuses on the real victim of this kind of household - the child of a hoarder. The protagonist has fought with her mother's hoard for her entire life, and suffers great emotional and psychological problems because of it. I found the narrative to be both compelling and realistic (from my own perspective, mind), and I could feel my own anxiety and OCD rising just reading about her living conditions. And I have to admit - I found the conclusion to be a relief.