strange and random happenstance

Hopefully by now you all know of my love of Theodosia Throckmorton. If not, I love Theo! Was that good for you? She's smart, funny, has an awesome cat and is an Egyptian Curse breaker. She is easily a young adult's version of Amelia Peabody and everyone should read these books they are that awesome. Yes, kids to grannies, everyone! Anyways, the highly anticipated (certainly by me) 3rd book, Theo and the Eyes of Horus is coming out in April. To whet you appetite, Robin posted the cover up on her website today. I love it! All yellow and shiny and beautifully done by the talented Yoko Tanaka. Can't stand the wait now that you have the cover? Well lucky for you Robin's publishers have let her put the first two chapters up on Theo's website, so head on over and enjoy a little time with Theo. Plus if you haven't read any of the books yet, there's plenty of time before April!

Also she unveiled the cover for her second Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist book. The first was a really fun quick read (review to be posted soon!). So another book to look forward to from the pen of Robin... it's going to be a great 2010! This book is slated to drop in June.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:30 PM 2 comments  

Labels: Beastologist, Kelly Murphy, Nathaniel Fludd, R. L. Lafevers, The Baslilisk's Lair, Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus, Theodosia Throckmorton

Crocodile Tears: An Alex Rider Novel by Anthony Horowitz
Published by: Philomel
Publication Date: November 17th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 352Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It's just another day in the life of an average kid. If you're Alex Rider, that is. A con artist has realized there is big money in charity-- the bigger the disaster, the greater the money flow! So that is what he will produce: the biggest disaster known to man, all thanks to genetically modified wheat that can release a virus so potent it can knock out an entire country in one windy day. But Alex Rider will face whatever it takes--gunfire, explosions, hand-to-hand combat with mercenaries-- to bring down his most dangerous adversary yet.

Often imitated, never equaled, the series that triggered a reading phenomenon is back, exhilarating and addictive as ever."

Last night's Masterpiece "No-Longer-Theater" presentation of Collision not enough Anthony Horowitz for you? Watched all the episodes of Foyle's War currently available? Went through all the episodes of Midsomer Murders and Poirot he wrote and even broke into Crime Traveler, conceivably the worst named show ever, according to my brother? Need another hit? Well, lucky for you a new Alex Rider novel is out this week! The seventh book in the extremely popular book series (it did fail as a movie after all so I can't really claim popular franchisement...) by Anthony Horowitz is finally available. Pushed to pre-Christmas publication to cash in on the meager amount of money people will be able to spend this holiday season, it's sure to be on the top of a lot of reader's lists. I love Anthony Horowitz, omnipresent and obviously OCD, he literally writes all scripts for his shows. Plus if you head on over to his website, you can't believe the amount of research and travel he devoted to his newest book just to make sure everything was right. I don't think I could say that about many Young Adult author's books... He's also on tour for this book, the cities have been announced but I have no further information other than I'm bitter it's nowhere near me! Boston, Detroit, St Louis, Raleigh, Atlanta and Washington DC are all on his itinerary... go check out this genius in the flesh if you have time or frequent flier miles to cash in...

Shadowland by Alyson Noel
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: November 17th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 368Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Ever and Damen have traveled through countless past lives—and fought off the world’s darkest enemies—so they could be together forever. But just when their long-awaited destiny is finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon Damen…one that could destroy everything. Now a single touch of their hands or a soft brush of their lips could mean sudden death—plunging Damen into the Shadowland. Desperate to break the curse and save Damen, Ever immerses herself in magick—and gets help from an unexpected source…a surfer named Jude.

Although she and Jude have only just met, he feels startlingly familiar. Despite her fierce loyalty to Damen, Ever is drawn to Jude, a green-eyed golden boy with magical talents and a mysterious past. She’s always believed Damen to be her soulmate and one true love—and she still believes it to be true. But as Damen pulls away to save them, Ever’s connection with Jude grows stronger—and tests her love for Damen like never before…"

The next book in the popular Immortals series by Alyson Noel. Ashamed to say I haven't read these yet, and they look so good... hmmm perhaps I should go to that while all the faithful are out devouring this newest installment...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:41 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Alex Rider, Alyson Noel, Anthony Horowitz, Collision, Crime Traveler, Crocodile Tears, Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders, Shadowland, The Immortals, Tuesday Tomorrow

For fans of Martin Amis' novel of eighties capitalism, Money, you have a lot to look forward to. The BBC adaptation is being written by one of the writers of Ashes to Ashes, so we are sure to get the same quality of eighties greed and excess with a smoking soundtrack. Filming for the 2 part BBC Drama will begin in mid November with a cast set to make any fan of the BBC and cult films scream with joy. Nick Frost will star with an amazing supporting cast. But really I just hear Nick Frost, the lovable gun loving Mike from Spaced who tried to take over EuroDisney, and I'm excited. Of course they then drop in Emma Pierson, the conniving chorus girl sister of Little Dorrit and add a dose of Vincent Kartheiser from Angel, or more importantly, from Mad Men, because pre Don Draper and Pete Cavanaugh, who would have thought he could act, I certainly didn't, and you've made me one happy viewer.

There is also some nonfiction being adapted by the BBC. I mean, I know we are disappointed they're giving money to non Austen dramas or perhaps adapting another Anthony Trollope (you really have to rectify the lack of Trollope right now BBC controllers, nothing since He Knew He Was Right! What are those rumors about the Andrew Davies' Pallisers, if it isn't fact, make it so!) Anyways, the BBC is doing a new one off on the life of Miss Anne Lister, a Yorkshire landowner who, despite living at the time of Jane Austen and the Brontes, defied convention by living with her female lover. Utilizing the diaries of Anne Lister, they are bring the life of this extraordinary women to the small screen in your living room! Maxine Peake is to star, that BBC staple, most recently known for her chilling performance in Little Dorrit as Miss Wade. But I'm more excited about Anna Madeley, who's been in more and more BBC dramas of late, most importantly in the staring role in The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton. And of course what BBC drama is complete in this day and age if Dean Lennox Kelly didn't show up. He is becoming more omnipresent then his costar in The Invisibles, Anthony Stewart Head! Having appeared in Cranford, Doctor Who, Being Human, The Invisibles, Robin Hood and Collision, where will we see him next year aside from this show, tentatively titled, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister? Perseonally I'd put money on him being in Cranford's Christmas episode, as well as perhaps an episode of Lark Rise to Candleford, as well as Ashes to Ashes final season, or perhaps that last one is just a plea for me to see him square off against Gene Hunt...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 1:21 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Angel, Anna Madeley, Ashes to Ashes, Dean Lennox Kelly, Little Dorrit, Mad Men, Martin Amis, Maxine Peake, Money Money, Nick Frost, Spaced, Vincent Kartheiser

Odd and the Frost Gaints by Neil Gaiman
Published by: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: September 22nd, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

In ancient Norway (Midgard) there lives a boy, Odd. His name is not odd, but he himself is a little, with an infuriating smile he loves to wear. Odd has had some rough times of late. His father, a gifted woodcarver, died on a pillaging trip. His mother, who feels alone in town because she is from Scotland, remarries a man who has his own kids and doesn't like Odd. Odd himself has become crippled. All of this Odd could deal with if only spring would come. Only this year spring isn't coming for some reason. Odd decides to run away to the wood cutting cabin his father kept deep in the forest. Once there he finally feels safe and secure, but he stumbles upon some interesting characters, a fox, an eagle and a bear. This being the Norway of myth and legend, they of course aren't want they seem. They are in fact Gods, fully animal and unable to change back, because they were banished from Asgard by a Frost Giant who tricked them. Odd says he will help, his mother used to sing him songs, and the boy always is able to defeat the giant. Once in Asgard it takes all that Odd has in him, even that which he didn't know he possessed to attempt to defeat the giant. But if Odd does succeed what will he do? He can't go home can he?

So I had doubts about this book working at first, most of them related to the quote on the back of the book: "inventive, short, yet perfectly formed novel." Who reviews a book on it's brevity but then has to mention, oh, that's not bad, it's "perfectly formed." Like it's being judged on its structure, like an essay you write for school. Of course they turned out to be right, but I still think that's going to turn some people off the book. A book is however long a book needs to be to fully tell the story, no more or less. This is such a sweet little compact and funny novel I think everyone should read it. What I love about this book is that while it's about Norway and Scandinavian gods, Neil Gaiman makes them seem so human and real, people you'd want to be around and not some mythical beings who you can't relate to. Oh, and they're funny.

But of course, underneath all the humor and myth there are also profundities. Beauty, wisdom and want, and what happens when you get what your heart's desire. And of course, Gods. While I didn't like Gaiman's American Gods, I liked his thoughts on the nature and behavior of them. I have read some reviews that felt this book was almost written as research for American Gods. I heartily disagree, and not just because temporally that's absurd. This book, while dealing with some of the Gods who will figure into his earlier work, is more of a little meditation of the nature of Gods, versus an all out treatise with a battle at the end. And of course he's fascinated with similar topics, we like familiarity, but it's the genius of Gaiman to bring us something that while it feels old is still so new. A sweet little fairy tale of the boy outwitting the giant, again, but gaining wisdom in the process. These people Odd has befriended are Gods, and the nature of Gods are they are timeless, unchanging and eternal. In American Gods they are forced out, made to change, while in Odd and the Frost Giants, they are as they always were and ever will be. This has all happened before and it can happen again. But Odd sees that now. I wouldn't mind spending time with this new Odd, and as Gaiman says in his hilarious bio at the back of the book, he "thinks there are more stories about Odd he would like to tell." I for one hope it's true.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 5:33 PM 2 comments  

Labels: American Gods, Asgard, Book Review, Gods, Midgard, Neil Gaiman, Norway, Odd, Odd and the Frost Giants

Sorry this is up later than usual, I was in Chicago today at the Art Institute for a class field trip. Pictures to come!

<br/><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/season-3-episode-10-the-return/y0399vb1?fg=sharenoembed" target="_new" title="Season 3 - Episode 10: The Return!">Video: Season 3 - Episode 10: The Return!</a>

Posted by Miss Eliza at 10:53 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Felicia Day, The Guild, The Knights of Good

Under the Dome by Stephen King
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: November 10th, 2009
Format: Kindle, 1092 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

One fall day a dome mysteriously appears around the town of Chester's Mill, Maine. No one knows how or why. Over the preceding week tensions rise and the death toll mounts. Jim Rennie, the local second selectman with a Napoleon complex has spent his life constrained somewhat by the laws of the United States. It hasn't stopped him creating the biggest Meth empire in all of North America, but it has stopped him instituting martial law and making himself the town's benevolent dictator. The arrival of the dome is a dream come true. With his megalomania unconstrained, he orchestrates the events in Chester's Mill like a gifted composer. With Rennie working against the rest of the town trying and praying to be released, will the situation stay firmly under his control, or will his sins come to claim his so that he will be eating at the Lord's table by dinnertime?

Back in 2009 when this book came out I was super excited. I had just gotten a Kindle for my birthday back in August and I viewed this book as made for my Kindle. I mean, the book is over a thousand pages and could easily kill someone, even in paperback form. So a Kindle purchase it was. And there it sat. It's easier to neglect books on your Kindle then on your bookshelves because they aren't staring at you every day. It sat as a little electronic file in a little folder that says "Stephen King" that, as time went on, got pushed further and further back because of my Kindle's ludicrous need to keep files in order of when they were last opened verses the logical alphabet! Also, you know what, while I like that the Kindle has ease and access to out of print books, it just somehow has never drawn me in as much as a real book.

Flash forward to 2013 and summer's hottest new TV series, Under the Dome. Yep, before I even got to reading it it has become a TV series. I have always loved Stephen King TV series and special television events. They are tacky and over the top and above all fun in that guilty TV viewing way. So, seeing as I had a feeling I wouldn't pick up the book in the near future I started watching the show and got hooked. It's never going to be a favorite show or even one I will necessarily ever watch again, but, it is fun. When I heard it was picked up for a second season I realized that, what was fun and over the top, would leave me hanging and therefore invariably piss me off. I had read enough about the show and Stephen King's involvement to know that the show was going to drastically vary from the book, all with Stephen King's blessing, but knowing that it was to go beyond this summer I felt I needed some closure. I knew the book is a different ending so I figured, what the hell, I'll pick it up, finally, get some closure but not be spoiled at the same time. It was win win in my mind. And so I read the book, all thousand plus pages of it, and now I'm left with an odd sensation. The book didn't give me any closure and now I'm more pissed then ever that the show won't end this year.

The first thing I would like to say that this book taught me is that I would not survive under the dome. I don't keep enough food stockpiled. I have no weapons, no generator, no propane or batteries... I would be one of the first to die. But seeing as the death rate was insanely high in this book at least I would be one of the many not one of the few. Previous to this King book I had only read two of his other works, Misery and The Shining. Both these books have small, intimate casts with people isolated from society. The other end of the spectrum is books like Under the Dome and The Stand, which was a favorite miniseries of mine due to Corin "Parker Lewis" Nemec and Molly Ringwald, I mean seriously, the John Hughes girl all grown up and in a Stephen King miniseries, how could you not love this tack? Watching and reading are two different things though and the cast of Under the Dome was so large I just knew vaguely who they were, there were the "bad cops" and the "good cops," who can remember their names, I didn't, and then people in general categories based on where they usually where, like the "hospital people" and the "newspaper people." Also, when you have this many people, having a Ginny and a Gina both and the hospital, thank you Stephen King for giving me a headache. Add to that the fact that even the good guys were pretty unlikable, and well, who am I rooting for? Because personally, I think just having Junior Rennie and his posse (which is so Malfoy's posse from Slytherin) set loose on the town would have been funny and ended the book a lot earlier.

But let me get to the crux of my problem with the book, which wasn't the overtly hypocritical religiosity or the fact that I think the dome should have isolated them more like on the television show. I shall warn you that right now I'm going to give away the ending, because, let's face it, I was able to guess the ending five minutes in and it's not that shocking. Yes folks, it's aliens! Why? We don't know. This is a total cop out. At least explain something about it more then, "oh, they thought we were ants and it would be fun." Excuse me? They did it because they could? Well at least tell me more about the dome's properties? Like was the dome causing all these people to commit suicide? Because some of the animals were and, well, we are animals, so was that something the dome did or was it just based on people taking the easy way out? Explain! Also, you know, we've spent, a thousand pages with these people, maybe a few lines of how they handled life after they got out of the dome please? Now that you killed Benny did Joe and Norrie get together because she no longer had to choose? Anything Stephen, anything? Nope... ok. Guess I'll go sit in a fug over here. And by the way, having Jack Reacher show up was lame and a Lost reference, really? You should be better then this Stephen King.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Aliens, Chester's Mill, Corin Nemic, Jack Reacher, Jim Rennie, Kindle, Lost, Miniseries, Misery, Molly Ringwald, Slytherin, Stephen King, The Shining, The Stand, Under the Dome

Under the Dome by Stephen King
Published by: Scribner
Publication Date: November 10th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 1088 Pages
To Buy

Official patter:
"On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when — or if — it will go away.Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens — town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing — even murder — to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out."

Sure everyone's excited about the whole, Stephen King might have finally written a book to best The Stand (at least in length). Personally, as a graphic designer, I find the whole concept of the cover fascinating. Not only was Scribner willing to sink a ton of money into it, but it was also all from Stephen King's own wishes! A publisher doing the bidding of an author? How novel... but then again, if you're Stephen King... To perfectly create the town he created within the dome of their doom the cover had almost as much work done on it as a big blockbuster movie! From using photos to illustration to computer rendering to CGI, plus we must not forget the "big reveal," this cover has generated a lot of buzz. I think it turned out pretty well, I do like the full panorama going on.

Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith
Published by: Penguin Press
Publication Date: November 10th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A sparkling collection of Zadie Smith's nonfiction over the past decade.

Zadie Smith brings to her essays all of the curiosity, intellectual rigor, and sharp humor that have attracted so many readers to her fiction, and the result is a collection that is nothing short of extraordinary.

Split into four sections-"Reading," "Being," "Seeing," and "Feeling"-Changing My Mind invites readers to witness the world from Zadie Smith's unique vantage. Smith casts her acute eye over material both personal and cultural, with wonderfully engaging essays-some published here for the first time-on diverse topics including literature, movies, going to the Oscars, British comedy, family, feminism, Obama, Katharine Hepburn, and Anna Magnani.

In her investigations Smith also reveals much of herself. Her literary criticism shares the wealth of her experiences as a reader and exposes the tremendous influence diverse writers-E. M. Forster, Zora Neale Hurston, George Eliot, and others-have had on her writing life and her self-understanding. Smith also speaks directly to writers as a craftsman, offering precious practical lessons on process. Here and throughout, readers will learn of the wide-ranging experiences-in novels, travel, philosophy, politics, and beyond-that have nourished Smith's rich life of the mind. Her probing analysis offers tremendous food for thought, encouraging readers to attend to the slippery questions of identity, art, love, and vocation that so often go neglected.

Changing My Mind announces Zadie Smith as one of our most important contemporary essayists, a writer with the rare ability to turn the world on its side with both fact and fiction. Changing My Mind is a gift to readers, writers, and all who want to look at life more expansively."

Sometimes you just feel in the mood for some reading that's not a novel with an elaborate plot but a nice little article. But on top of that, it's sometimes such a hassle to find new writers. So what could be better than a writer you already know and love releasing exactly what you were craving? Nothing! Zadie Smith, the celebrated author of White Teeth has often contributed articles and other writing to the world of literature, but now they're all collected in one place. Ah convenience! Plus I love how the cover is designed to integrate into your "Zadie Smith Section" of your library, being reminiscent of the On Beauty cover. I love consistency...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 1:05 AM 0 comments  

Labels: British Comedy, Changing My Mind, E.M. Forster, George Eliot, Maine, On Beauty, Stephen King, The Stand, Tuesday Tomorrow, Under the Dome, White Teeth, Zadie Smith

I'd like to thank Mike Norman once again for stopping by for all hallows week and offering up a great prize for one of my wonderful followers. If you haven't yet be sure to check out his website and all his great books for a truly spooky time. But now onto the part I know you're all waiting for, you're just like wolves at the gates...so anyways, the winner of the signed and inscribed copy of Michael Norman's new book, The Nearly Departed is...princess...DarcyO! Congratulations Darcy, and I hope you are ready to lock the doors and turn on all the lights as you read about the supernatural forces at work in Minnesota!

Thank you all for entering and don't forget that as always, the next giveaway will be just as good if not better! It's a Miss Eliza guarantee! I should have a Strange & Random Happenstance seal of approval for just such occasions. A nice crest or seal...something neat and impressive but overall truly unique and me. Anyways, very shortly I will be offering up to my readers The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, Lauren Willig's new ARC, which won't be out till January, you know you want to read it earlier than everyone else! I'm also thinking of rewarding current followers a little more for each competition...I also went to my local library's book sale today and I found some amazing gems! Truly wonderful books, some of them brand new, and quite a few earmarked just for you, my lucky lucky readers. I almost feel a Kylie Minogue song coming on....

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:19 AM 2 comments  

Labels: ARCs, Contest, Halloween, Lauren Willig, Michael Norman, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, The Nearly Departed, Winner