strange and random happenstance

A Life of Contrasts: An Autobiography by Diana Mitford
Published by: Gibson Square Books
Publication Date: 1977
Format: Paperback, 281 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Diana Mitford felt stifled in her life with her family. When she went to Paris she got a sense of the enormity of the world and how she was admired for her beauty and wit. As soon as she could she made a prosperous marriage to the heir of the Guinness fortune and started her life surrounded by artists and poets and writers to fill the void she felt in her life. Yet this wasn't her true calling. Her true calling was to Oswald Mosley, the dynamic and married politician who founded the British Union of Fascists. She left her husband for him and spent her life dedicated to his causes and his happiness. They did eventually marry in Germany with Hitler as one of the only guests at the ceremony, which was one of the reasons they spent much of the war in prison. In A Life of Contrasts, Diana finally tells us her side of the story that captured headlines and made her one of the most memorable to those very notable Mitford sisters.  

Frank Pakenham, the 7th Earl of Longford, had said of Diana in a review of her memoirs that she "lacked a dimension." I can think of no more perfect an insult than this for a woman who in her own writing comes across as a shallow, unfocused, self-centered, self-impressed, socialite. She is one dimensional, never bothering with anything below the surface. In fact, if you were to scratch her, I bet there would be more surface below the surface. Apparently being "the most glamorous Mitford Sister" means being the most superficial. Before reading about her life in her own words I wasn't predisposed to like her based on what I knew, but after reading Mary S. Lovell's book The Sisters, I was willing to give Diana the benefit of doubt. I was fully willing to let Diana surprise me with insights and details to the events of her life. To hear more about her feelings and thoughts on her marriages. But none of this presented itself. She had no depth coupled with a scattered writing style wherein she would change the subject every paragraph and sometimes every sentence. She never picked a thought and stuck with it unless it was to parrot Walter Mosley's ideologies to such an extent that I was made sick to my stomach and she literally disgusted me as a human being. I was left with the distinct feeling that the world would have been a better place without her in it, because really, what good did she ever contribute to society? Being pretty doesn't count, just FYI.

Diana's shallowness is evident in every line she writes in this book. Like minor celebrities she name drops like no tomorrow assuming that we will know who everyone is and be impressed with how much they love and adore her. Guess what Diana? Your day has come and gone and so have all your comrades in arms. Name drop all you want, all it shows is your own flaws in being needed to be validated by those around you because you had no inner life to sustain yourself. To need constant validation with artists demanding to paint her or draw her just made me want to smack her. The fact that Evelyn Waugh (one of the few celebrities I actually knew) was in love with Diana makes me not think more of Diana, but makes me think less of Evelyn.

Diana is also infuriatingly self-impressed, by all means Diana, don't translate all the French, Italian, and German for those who don't speak or read it to show us how worldly you are, I'm not going to bother to look it up on the assumption that it's just more of the same shit that came before. Also, with the book, she was given the chance to tell her side of the story, a story that has had many commentators and writers over the years, and she failed miserably. Her wedding to Bryan Guinness was glossed over in two seconds, as was her second marriage to Mosley. The fact that her sisters have written in more depth on her life shows that Diana has absolutely nothing to offer us.

Yet, it was this shallowness counterbalanced with bizarre political tracks that made me furious with her. You could feel at those times that it wasn't her voice by that of her master's, Walter Mosley. She was too shallow to have any true beliefs of her own so when she latched onto her idol Mosley, well, she took him all, even his opinions. Now that I've reached the "political tirade" section of my review, I firstly want to address the Hitler question. Diana has taken a lot of flack over the years for being unwilling to change her view of Hitler after the outbreak of war and his true desires and ambitions were revealed. Personally, I don't think that this in particular is what she should be criticized for. Hitler had to have been a charismatic and personable man in order to amass such a following and accomplish all that he did. I'm sure in a one on one setting he could be delightful. Therefore I don't blame Diana for being unwilling to take something back when her own experiences where different to public opinion. It was her opinion, one she is perfectly willing to stick to.

What I do think Diana should be criticized for is her parroting of horrid antisemitism. Yes, she is entitled to this view, but that doesn't mean it makes me like her, accept her, or even settle my nauseous stomach at some of the things she said. I came to not only really dislike her on a human level, but I revolt against all her ideologies. She actually states that what happened in the Holocaust could have been prevented if the Jews had just left Germany. Apparently they had plenty of warning, so they should have just moved on. Forget that these people have homes and lives and families, if they had just got up and gone history could have been different. In fact, in her opinion, if everyone would just go back where they came from, everything would be better for her. She didn't even want immigrants in England! While she never really outright states that she hates those who are Jewish or Black, the fact that she wants everyone to go back to where they came from shows a severe xenophobia that appears to be the sole aspect of her personality that isn't about her appearance. Also, extra ironic seeing as she lived in France and was therefore an immigrant herself. So by all means, if you want to read about a narcissist who will occasionally expound vitriolically on Jewry, well, Diana Mitford Mosley is the Mitford for you. She definitely isn't the Mitford for me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Life of Contrasts, Antisemitism, Autobiography, Diana Mitford, Evelyn Waugh, Facist, Germany, Hitler, Mitford March Mach Deux, Oswald Mosley, The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family, WWII

Diana Mitford was the beauty of her generation. She was immortalized by many of the artists of the day and loved by all, especially Evelyn Waugh who had quite a tendre for her and dedicated two of his book to Diana. She made an early conquest the first year she was out, becoming engaged to Bryan Guinness, the heir of the Guinness fortune. Her parents objected because of her youth but eventually relented and she was the first of the Mitford sisters to be married. Many thought she had the ideal life, a devoted husband, two beautiful sons, everything she could have wanted, but then Oswald Mosley entered her life.

Oswald Mosley was a political lightning rod. His British Union of Fascists, known colloquially as the Black Shirts, would be a source of consternation for the British Government for years. When Diana and Mosley met he was married with three children and hadn't yet become so politically polarizing. While it might not have been the happiest of marriages due to Mosley's infidelities, he never planned on leaving his wife. Despite all this Diana divorced Bryan just to be near Mosley whenever she could as his mistress, scandalizing her family and society. Yet their love turned out to be true, their marriage would last all their lives and produce two beautiful sons.

Yet this couple cannot be viewed without an eye to their politics, which alienated much of their family and most of Britain. Mosley was fascinated with the success of Hitler and Diana and Mosley actually married in the Goebbels' drawing room with Hitler present. Because of these connections the couple spent most of WWII in prison without charge. After the war Mosley tried to reenter politics to no avail and the couple spent their time traveling and writing. Yet they remained a source of controversy all their lives, mainly due to Diana's instance of claiming Hitler a friend, no matter what horrors he wrought, she was unapologetic.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Black Shirts, Diana Mitford, Evelyn Waugh, Fascists, Goebbels, Guinness, Hitler, Mitford March Mach Deux, Oswald Mosley, WWII

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 11th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Mercy might be facing the worst monster she has come up against, her husband Adam's ex-wife, Christy. Christy's having a little problem with an over amorous ex of her own and she decides that the only safe place for her is with her ex and his pack. In fact, thinking things through, she might just want to be by Adam's side on a more permanent basis again. This delusion of Christy's rankles Mercy, but she knows that her and Adam are one and Christy is no threat to their love. So the only thing to be done is grin and bare it while solving Christy's problem with as much haste as is seemly. Of course things get complicated when Christy's stalker isn't your run of the mill human... but that's not something unusual in Mercy's world.

The problem with long running series is you reach a point that if you don't go back and re-read the earlier volumes there's something missing when you pick up the new book. Whether it's a running joke that has started to fade in your memory or if it's just that you're starting to mix up the characters, there's a point when you need to go backwards to keep going forwards. And I really need to go backwards for a little while. I'm still enjoying the books and the characters, but there's just something missing. I feel like I'm losing my connection to Mercy and I don't want this to happen. Of course the opportunity to sit and re-read seven books is a luxury I haven't had the time for yet, but I think I really need to make the time.

The aspect I love of Briggs's writing is that she won't stick to tropes. If there's a convention, instead of going the party line, she'll subvert it. Sometimes this works perfectly, and sometimes if doesn't. If I seriously have to read about yet another kidnapping in this series I might just go crazy. I mean, quite literally, can one person or one group of persons be kidnapped this much? Because it is in almost every single book now and it's getting really old. Though all my worries were more on the ex-wife showing up. With Christy arriving in the Tri-Cities and ostensibly making a play to get Adam back I was worried that it would play out like every ex-wife trope in every book, movie, or television show ever. Thankfully I was wrong.

Instead of being a typical threat, as in making a rift develop between Mercy and Adam, she is a threat because of her stalker. I am so glad, firstly, that Briggs didn't try to put a wedge between Mercy and Adam and that there love is as strong as ever, but secondly, I loved that it was Christy bringing the threat. So not only was she unwelcome but she was also a danger. Yeah, she's a really bad ex-wife and it makes me smile. But in how the pack and Adam treats Christy it shows the strength of their characters. Instead of just fobbing her off and telling her to save herself they decided to help her. To rise above all the crap and still view someone as family and worthy of help, that just makes me love all these fictional people all the more. Though I will qualify that I don't want to be in their pack because seriously, I don't think I could survive the day.

As I've said before what is helping this series in it's longevity is that instead of like in the earlier books when the threat would alternate between the Fae and the Vampires Briggs is bringing "others" into the mix. We already have had the appearance of Coyote, a mythological figure that turns out to be very real in this and previous installments. But here we get a God! And not just a nameless faceless God without motive, we get a God we can understand and feel sorry for. To make evil somewhat sympathetic or at least understandable is a great feat, and Briggs does it flawlessly. But then again, this is a woman who was able to make a walking stick perhaps one of my most favorite characters in a book ever, so should I be surprised with what she can do with real "people"? No, I shouldn't.

But there's a part of me who now has to play devil's advocate. With all of the Mercy-verse, I'm including Charles and Anna's series too here, how long can it really last? Charles and Anna are able to switch it up with different locations and characters in each installment, but Mercy is at the mercy (haha) of being with her pack in the Tri-Cities. How much longer can this go on without becoming stale? Because truthfully, while I love the cast and the pack there's a threshold of how many kidnappings I can take, hint, we've already passed it; and there's only so much pack politics I can take before I get bored. The little switch ups she tried to add, like having Adam's POV, haven't really worked. So while we don't get a new Mercy next year, maybe that's a good thing and will give Briggs time to think about the long term and how to keep this series fresh and exciting. Long live Mercy (as long as the quality is maintained)!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alpha and Omega, Coyote, Exs, Fae, Gods, Kidnapping, Mercy Thompson, Night Broken, Patricia Briggs, Tri-Cities, Vampire, Walking Stick, Werewolves

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 11th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from a stalker. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.

Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.

Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s stalker is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart."

A new Mercy book two years in a row!?! Be still my heart!

The Edge of the Water by Elizabeth George
Published by: Viking Juvenile
Publication Date: March 11th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A mysterious girl who won’t speak; a coal black seal named Nera that returns to the same place very year; a bitter feud of unknown origin—strange things are happening on Whidbey Island, and Becca King, is drawn into the maelstrom of events.

But Becca, first met in The Edge of Nowhere, has her own secrets to hide. Still on the run from her criminal stepfather, Becca is living in a secret location. Even Derric, the Ugandan orphan with whom Becca shares a close, romantic relationship, can’t be allowed to know her whereabouts. As secrets of past and present are revealed, Becca becomes aware of her growing paranormal powers, and events build to a shocking climax anticipated by no one.

Acclaimed author Elizabeth George brings her extraordinary talents to this intriguing story that blends mystery and myth."

The Killing has kind of got me addicted to islands where weird things happen...

The Lost Sisterhood by Anne Fortier
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: March 11th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter: "From the author of the New York Times bestseller Juliet comes a mesmerizing novel about a young scholar who risks her reputation—and her life—on a thrilling journey to prove that the legendary warrior women known as the Amazons actually existed.

Oxford lecturer Diana Morgan is an expert on Greek mythology. Her obsession with the Amazons started in childhood when her eccentric grandmother claimed to be one herself—before vanishing without a trace. Diana’s colleagues shake their heads at her Amazon fixation. But then a mysterious, well-financed foundation makes Diana an offer she cannot refuse.

Traveling to North Africa, Diana teams up with Nick Barran, an enigmatic Middle Eastern guide, and begins deciphering an unusual inscription on the wall of a recently unearthed temple. There she discovers the name of the first Amazon queen, Myrina, who crossed the Mediterranean in a heroic attempt to liberate her kidnapped sisters from Greek pirates, only to become embroiled in the most famous conflict of the ancient world—the Trojan War. Taking their cue from the inscription, Diana and Nick set out to find the fabled treasure that Myrina and her Amazon sisters salvaged from the embattled city of Troy so long ago. Diana doesn’t know the nature of the treasure, but she does know that someone is shadowing her, and that Nick has a sinister agenda of his own. With danger lurking at every turn, and unsure of whom to trust, Diana finds herself on a daring and dangerous quest for truth that will forever change her world.

Sweeping from England to North Africa to Greece and the ruins of ancient Troy, and navigating between present and past, The Lost Sisterhood is a breathtaking, passionate adventure of two women on parallel journeys, separated by time, who must fight to keep the lives and legacy of the Amazons from being lost forever."

One of my book buddies really loved her first book and this one looks pretty dang awesome too.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anne Fortier, Elizabeth George, Mercy Thompson, Night Broken, Patricia Briggs, The Edge of the Water, The Killing, The Lost Sisterhood

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell
Published by: W. W. Norton and Company
Publication Date: March 17th, 2003
Format: Paperback, 640 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

The Mitford sisters were the most dynamic family in England during the 20th century. They were front and center for world events, two of them even being so reviled in their own country that they were the subject of public scorn and debate in the houses of parliament. Despite a slightly unconventional upbringing with no medical care, little schooling, and constantly moving houses due to monetary issues, all six of the sisters would leave their mark on the world. Nancy as a great author, Pamela as a loving aunt, Diana as a notorious fascist married to Oswald Mosley and imprisoned with him, Unity who was in Hitler's inner circle and tried to kill herself when WWII was declared, Jessica who became the red sheep of the family with her Communist leanings as well as a noted journalist, and then Deborah, the Duchess of Devonshire.

Such a clash of personalities and all in one family couldn't help capture the attention of the world. But this book explores not just the public image, but all the horrors of their lives; the marriages (7), the divorces (3), the children (14), the miscarriages (7+), the stillbirths (3), the lost children (2), the abortions (2), the deaths in the war (2), the attempted suicides (2), Cancer (2), the list goes on and on; because once you look into a person's life, you realize the sadness that is masked by the joie de vivre and the sparkling wit.

Very rarely have I experience this phenomena, but I am reading a book and I start to notice things, really just little things, but soon they gain momentum. The text is uneven, but obviously skewed purposefully. One section is lavished with attention, the littlest details are lingered on, while other sections are rushed through like an oncoming train, speeding past important details to get back to that other subject. The more you read the more obvious it becomes that the author doesn't love what they are writing. Why would you write something that you didn't love? Yes, I could go into contracts and all that here, but I won't. Instead, perhaps it's because there is one small aspect that they are fascinated with and were sadly saddled with the rest. They are not writing the book they want to write, and it shows.

The most obvious example I have is the book Fear of Music by Jonathan Lethem. This book is part of the 33 1/3 series that has an author cover an album track by track. Lethem did the Talking Heads album "Fear of Music." You can see that he loves this band, but you get the distinct impression that this isn't the album he wanted to write on. What happened with Fear of Music is that, aside from being the worst book I've ever read, is that there was this imbalance, like in The Sisters, where you could feel the author's discontent and it resulted in your discontent, which eventually escalated into rage, and then you and your book club are coining the phrase "rage reading" to signify how the book made you feel as you pushed through to the bitter end.

An unhappy author leads to an unhappy reader. Letham loves Talking Heads but didn't love the album he was saddled with, much like Mary S. Lovell loves Unity Mitford, while the remaining five sisters she couldn't care less about. Look at it this way, for 200 pages occupying 10 years of the 20th century, roughly 40% of the book, Unity is front and center. This book covers 106 years but 40% is in the war years. Yes, a lot did happen to the Mitfords during this time... but still... this leads to decades of Jessica and Nancy's lives being glossed over and we hardly know what Pamela was up to! If this book was equal in weight Unity should have only occupied about 16% of it. In simpler terms, Mary S. Lovell really needed to just write a biography on Unity and not have disguised it as a biography on "The Sisters." Therefore right from the start, the author was not the ideal candidate to write this book because she didn't have a love of the subject.

A lack of love can lead to many problems. Mainly you wouldn't care if you fudged the details, got some things wrong, moved space and time, because if it wasn't about that one slightly deranged Nazi loving Mitford, what does it matter right? Well, to us readers who wanted to read about the Mitfords, it matters a lot. Also it brings into question the whole idea of accuracy. If I can find errors in this book, big, obvious glaring errors, how can I trust anything that she is telling me? The first warning signal was when the author said that the Mrs. Simpson affair with the King was all the newspapers were talking about. NO! People might have been talking about it, but out of loyalty to King and country the story didn't break in the newspapers till literally DAYS before the abdication, not months, not early in the year, I believe the author hints at February, but DAYS before it happened, in DECEMBER! So right there, anything that she says might be a lie or wrong.

The author also distorts facts into her favor. She's loosey-goosey with dates having things timeslip to when it suits her. In the chapter about the year 1938 she has moved events that happened in 1937 to better fit her narrative (just check the footnotes to see what I'm talking about). Past, present, and future apparently can all happen when Mary S. Lovell decrees it. Borrow a bit from the future, add bit from the past and viola, this certain year was made a little more interesting, but a lot more inaccurate. Not to mention her other foibles of how she refers to herself in the footnotes... pick first or third person, stop switching it up already! Or that she assumes you know every minor celeb from the day, you know what they say about assuming... only, you're the ass Mary, not me.

So, I'm guessing by now I've pretty much turned you off reading this book, so my work here is done. The Sisters is a flat, skewed history that lacks the sparkling wit and vivacity of any of these amazing sisters. Yes, I might have learned a few new things about them, but I don't know if I can trust the source at all so it's really all hearsay. But then again, reading up on the Mitfords, they had a tendency to mythologize their own lives, so can anything we learn about them be the whole truth? Well, one thing is certain, you're not going to get any sort of truth in this book. And for such a literary family, it's a sin to pick up secondary source materials. If you want to know more about them read Nancy's books, pick up Decca's or Diana's autobiographies, choose from the vast books of Debo's. Why bother with anything else when you can get a first hand account? Sure they might be trying to make themselves look better or exaggerating a story for laughs... but it's how they would have wanted you to know about them, not through some hack writer, but through their own words... which Mary S. Lovell borrows freely to pad her book, which makes her own writing appear even more wane.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Biography, Deborah Mitford, Diana Mitford, Jessica Mitford, Jonathan Letham, Mary S. Lovell, Mitford March Mach Deux, Nancy Mitford, Pamela Mitford, The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family, Unity Mitford

Unity and Pamela are possibly the most diametrically opposed of the Mitford sisters, with Unity being the most notorious for her relationship with Hitler, and Pamela being the most unobtrusive, settling for a life out of the limelight with her horses. The warrior and the woman.

Unity Valkyrie Mitford was ironically conceived in Swastika, Ontario, where her parents would occasionally work a gold mine they owned. Later when she became involved with the Third Reich she would take this as a sign that she was destined to be with Hitler. By the time Unity was debuting in society her family had already made quite a ruckus, with her sister Diana leaving her husband, the heir of the Guinness fortune, for Oswald Mosley, the head of the British Union of Fascists. Unity was never the wit or the beauty of the family and seemed to set herself apart through her shock value. She notoriously would bring her pets to balls and when things got a little boring she would spice them up by saying her rat or snake was on the loose. She longed to find the perfect tease and initially she thought she had found it by joining the BUF and setting up against her younger sister Jessica and her fervent communist beliefs. But Unity's tease seems to have become real devotion, if a bit fanatical, to fascism. 

Unlike her sisters she didn't want to be "finished" in France and begged to go to Germany. Her parents relented and soon Unity found her place in the world and in history, dubious though it may be. She became obsessed with the Nazis and worshipped Hitler, spending months and months figuring out his routine and how she could cross paths with him. Her months of stalking paid off and she soon became a confidant of Hitler's, one of his inner circle. No one knows the extent of their relationship, but they were frequently in each others company. There is every chance that it was just true friendship and not salacious at all, but their closeness as war loomed on the horizon made Unity one of the most reviled women in England, along with her sister Diana. As war seemed more and more inevitable those close to Unity worried about her because she began to make cryptic messages about not being around if there was war because she couldn't face the two countries she loved fighting. On the day war was declared between England and Germany Unity shot herself in the head, but survived. She would live to see the end of the war in a bizarre infantile state brought on by the brain damage the bullet wrought. She would never make a full recovery and contacted meningitis and died before she was even 34 years old.

Unlike Unity, Pamela was quiet and retiring, the rural Mitford. She was called "Woman" by all her family members for her domestic aptitude and her love of home and hearth, becoming "Tante Femme" to her various nieces and nephews whom she adored. Pam also loved the horse and hounds life even though she had problems with one of her legs due to a case of polio as a child, which would trouble her more and more as she aged. She married and divorced without making waves and spent several of the war years caring for her sister Diana's children while Diana was in prison, but was sadly not blessed with her own children, suffering several miscarriages. Living for years on the Cavendish estate in Ireland, she eventually settled down in Zurich where she lived with an Italian horsewoman, Giuditta Tommasi. Much like Unity and Hitler, there was much speculation even among the other siblings about the relationship between Pam and Giuditta. Pam was still living an active life till the end, not letting age (and considerable age at 86) slow her down. On her deathbed her main concern was "Who won the Grand National."

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: BUF, Diana Mitford, Fascists, Germany, Hitler, Jessica Mitford, Mitford March Mach Deux, Oswald Mosley, Pamela Mitford, Suicide, Tante Femme, Unity Mitford, Woman, WWII

Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop
Published by: Roc Hardcover
Publication Date: March 4th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard—Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader—wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat.

As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all."

Yes please, I want to read!

Exposure by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs
Published by: Putnam Juvenile
Publication Date: March 4th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Another thrilling Virals adventure from New York Times bestsellers Kathy and Brendan Reichs.

When twin classmates are abducted from Bolton Prep, Tory and the Virals decide there’s no one better equipped than them to investigate. But the gang has other problems to face. Their powers are growing wilder, and becoming harder to control. Chance Claybourne is investigating the disastrous medical experiment that twisted their DNA. The bonds that unite them are weakening, threatening the future of the pack itself.

The Virals must decipher the clues and track down a ruthless criminal before he strikes again, all while protecting their secret from prying eyes. And everyone seems to be watching."

Another Virals book and me woefully behind...

Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: March 4th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Alex Price agreed to go to Ohio to oversee a basilisk breeding program and assist in the recovery of his psychic cousin, he didn't expect people to start dropping dead. But bodies are cropping up at the zoo where he works, and his girlfriend--Shelby Tanner, an Australian zoologist with a fondness for big cats--is starting to get suspicious.

Worse yet, the bodies have all been turned partially to stone...

The third book in the InCryptid series takes us to a new location and a new member of the family, as Alex tries to balance life, work, and the strong desire not to become a piece of garden statuary. Old friends and new are on the scene, and danger lurks around every corner.

Of course, so do the talking mice."

Just looks so fun.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anne Bishop, Brendan Reichs, Half-Off Ragnarok, Katy Reichs, Murder of Crows, Seanan McGuire, Virals

Last March I finally was able to get around to doing my long planned "Mitford March." I had so much fun delving into the lives and loves of this eccentric family that I decided to do it again! Well, that's stretching the truth a bit, the fact is when I made up my reading list last year I realized I had more books then would fit in one month (yes, I have a lot of books by and on them, would you expect anything less?) So I thought, just perhaps, if it works the first time, I might do it again. Huzzah! It worked and I'm back with more (worked as in, didn't bottom out with you, my readers, like February always does, you fickle fickle audience, I love everyone of you).

Last spring, while mentioning all six of the sisters raised in such an unorthodox manner to make Anglophiles sqwee with joy and historians of the bright young things generation pant, I concentrated on the most, not literate, but most proficient literaryily speaking, those being Nancy, Jessica, and Deborah (go Debo). That meant I kind of left poor Diana, Unity, and Pamela by the wayside... well two of them were Nazis, so history has labelled them the losers and therefore they must wait. So this March, not only am I concentrating on the less popular of the sisters, as well as some more from Nancy, seriously Vintage publishing has got to stop putting dents in my pocketbook, but the group of sisters as a whole... that's right, it's time to start bringing in the outside biographies! So here's to March! Here's to Debo's 94th birthday! And here's to the Mitfords!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Debo, Deborah Mitford, Diana Mitford, Jessica Mitford, Mitford March, Mitford March Mach Deux, Nancy Mitford, Nazis, Pamela Mitford, Unity Mitford