strange and random happenstance

Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: April 26th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Agent Eliza Braun lives for field work. Agent Wellington Books lives for his archives. Both working within The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, a secret agency within Queen Victoria's government, they never have had much time for each other. Eliza was always off on some dangerous mission, hopefully involving dynamite, while Books had his files and artifacts and tea, deep within the bowels of  "Miggins Antiquities." That all changed when one day, Books was Eliza's mission. He had been kidnapped by the enemy and whisked away to a secret base in Antarctica. Eliza arrived guns a blazing and rescued Books, returning the two of them to jolly old England. Only, she didn't follow directions, per se.  Doctor Sound had ordered Wellington to be decommissioned, in the most final way possible, in case he had let any secrets be spilled. Yet Eliza knew that Wellington hadn't been compromised, deep in her bones.

Her penance for such belief in Wellington? Being demoted from field agent to assist him in the archives. Both of them view this as the worst kind of hell imaginable. Wellington doesn't like interlopers in "his" archives. Early morning hours and the complete tedium of filing isn't what Eliza thinks of as a good time either. Though the archives do hold some interest for her... deep within the darkest reaches there are unsolved cases. One of those cases involves her ex partner, Harry. They had been investigating a series of gruesome murders together when Doctor Sound told them to abandon the case. Yet the files indicate that Harry kept working the case secretly, until his disappearance and subsequent reappearance in Bedlam.

Eliza will not let this rest. Slowly she convinces Books that it's in their best interest to continue Harry's investigation. She'll investigate it with or without him, so Books might as well come along. Soon there's buildings blowing up, high speed carriage chases, fights during the opera and secret societies. Working side by side, Books and Braun have to learn to trust each other and believe in their new partner. Yet for Eliza, relying on an agent, untrained in field ops, while being deep undercover could be the riskiest decision she ever made. For Books, leaving the archives was his riskiest decision.

I think I have quite probably found my new favorite series. The mystery, the chemistry, the humor are all perfectly balanced to create one of the best reads out there, Steampunk or otherwise. The polar opposites of toffy, British to the bone, Books and trigger happy, dynamite loving New Zealander Braun can easily go down as one of the best pairings since Mrs. Peel and Steed, Maddy and David, Sam and Diane, Castle and Beckett. They just fuel each other to new levels of ingenuity and snarky, witty banter. They are the chemical equivalent of dynamite, a comparison I know full well Eliza would love. There's a part of me that spent the entire book just hoping they'd get together, and another part of me just loving this long tease... I trust in the writers that everything will be worth my wait and the payoff will be sublime.

Almost a Victorian version of The Avengers, I find that with the artifact nature of many of the investigations, that the book can be favorably compared to one of my favorite series, Warehouse 13. I would not be surprised if at any moment HG Wells popped up and asked for a little help from Books and Braun, creating the best fan fic mash-up of the Victorian Era. Everything about the book just worked. The mystery changes directions many times throughout the lengthy story, yet I enjoyed every minute of the ride and the denouement brought everything back together. The Steampunk elements fit in the story and never once felt out of place or forced, which is a hard thing to do with techno babble. Just wonderful worldbuilding on the parts of Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris.

The authors where even able to take a trope that I've come to hate and make it fresh. The Hellfire Club. Anything Victorian or Regency, or really, any time they can in anything slightly period or historical in a British setting, or British Coloney, the Hellfire Club will rear it's head. Heck, they even did it in The Avengers. Yet the Phoenix Society, while having the debauchery of said predecessor, goes beyond just the wanton lust of what came before. They have a secondary agenda too, yet that isn't what made it work. What made the society work was that the way the authors set up the weekend of loose morals was by creating the perfect British Country House weekend and then skewing it. Like a very dark Gosford Park. Personally, I adore mysteries in a Country House setting. Therefore by adding this level of aristocratic sheen and typical behaviour over the atypical club, I never once was raising my fist going, "Damn you Francis Dashwood and your Monks! Damn you to a real, not intentional hell. Devils poking you... oh wait, you'd probably like that."

Also, as is my way, sometimes when reading a book I totally see one actor in my head immediately. Obviously, the agent Bruce Campbell, would be played by Bruce Campbell, that isn't up for negotiation. For Books I was trying to think of someone stuffy, but who could kick ass and be menacing when need be. The obvious choice is Alexis Denisof as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later Angel. Can't you just picture his stammering and lecturing of Eliza? I sure can!

Here is "Books" in lecture mode, disgruntled lecture mode, hence the tie being loose, when he has had one too many problems with Eliza. Once again trying to explain the taxonomy of the filing and how work starts not near lunch or in the afternoon but in the morning.

Yet, he can totally bring the "dapper" for a night out at the opera to enjoy some Macbeth or to infiltrate a Country House Party that has nefarious undertones.

For Eliza, I wanted someone young and plucky, who looks like they are a little cherubic, until they pull a gun on you. While she is The Doctor's next companion, it was Jenna Louise Coleman's performance in the Titanic miniseries by Julian Fellowes that shows she has Eliza's competence, quick wit and sharp tongue.

Also, she can bring the glam, but that reinforced corset might need some adjustments...

Moste Importante Steampunkery:
While there are many great Steampunk inventions in the book, many designed by Books himself, the prize has to go the Mad McTighe's coin-operated Combobula Bar. Lord McTighe was a gallant nutter who disliked women having to be bar maids because "women shouldna be pawed by drunk patrons!" So he invented the Combobula Bar where you can listen to "Onward Christian Soldiers" while waiting for the machine to mix and serve you drink. Yet what makes this shiny brass-and-wooden bar stand out is that it can somehow sense a bar fight and close in on itself, protecting the machinery, but, more importantly, the booze.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bruce Campbell, Buffy, Eliza Braun, Hellfire Club, Jullian Fellowes, Ministry of Peculiar Occurances, New Zealand, Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris, The Avengers, Victorian, Warehouse 13, Welling Books

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
Published by: Delacorte
Publication Date: January 15th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the spirit of Loving Frank and The Paris Wife, acclaimed novelist Melanie Benjamin pulls back the curtain on the marriage of one of America’s most extraordinary couples: Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements—she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States—Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Drawing on the rich history of the twentieth century—from the late twenties to the mid-sixties—and featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, The Aviator’s Wife is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriage—revealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure."

Always been fascinated by Lindbergh... and this was before I found out he went to the same college I did and lived a block from where I live now!

Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin
Published by: Reagan Arthur Books
Publication Date: January 15th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"John Rebus returns to investigate the disappearances of three women from the same road over ten years.

For the last decade, Nina Hazlitt has been ready to hear the worst about her daughter's disappearance. But with no sightings, no body, and no suspect, the police investigation ground to a halt long ago, and Nina's pleas to the cold case department have led her nowhere.

Until she meets the newest member of the team: former Detective John Rebus.

Rebus has never shied away from lost causes - one of the many ways he managed to antagonize his bosses when he was on the force. Now he's back as a retired civilian, reviewing abandoned files. Necessary work, but it's not exactly scratching the itch he feels to be in the heart of the action.

Two more women have gone missing from the same road where Sally Hazlitt was last seen. Unlike his skeptical colleagues, Rebus can sense a connection - but pursuing it leads him into the crosshairs of adversaries both old and new.

Rebus may have missed the thrill of the hunt, but he's up against a powerful enemy who's got even less to lose.

On the twentieth anniversary of Ian Rankin's first American publication comes a novel bursting with the vitality and suspense that made its author one of crime fiction's most dazzling stars. STANDING IN ANOTHER MAN'S GRAVE is the triumphant return of John Rebus, and a riveting story of sin, redemption, and revenge."

Look ma, Rebus is back! She's really excited I'm sure (no truly, when she was first reading the books she had me get maps of Scotland for her so she could see the lay of the land). Also, her love of Ian Rankin was made stronger by his appearing as a character in Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street Series.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 44 Scotland Street, Alexander McCall Smith, Charles Lindbergh, Ian Rankin, Melanie Benjamin, Rebus, Standing in Another Man's Grave, The Aviator's Wife

Hell's Belles (Brenda and Effie Book 4) by Paul Magrs
Book Provided by Headline Publishing
Published by: Headline Publishing
Publication Date: 2009
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy
Whitby is abuzz. The approach to Halloween usually means the town is deep in preparations for the annual Goth Weekend. But this year brings even more excitement. Whitby is to be the location for the remake of Get Thee Inside Me, Satan, which will film it's climax at the ruined abbey on Halloween night. The movie that was filmed in the sixties and has been wiped off the face of the earth because of the curse that lives within the film. Death and destruction have followed in this films wake. Yet one day at the local thrift store, Penny, Robert's new assistant up at the Hotel Mirramar, finds a copy of the film on DVD. How is this possible? This film should not exist in any form. Penny can't help herself. The coincidence is too much and she buys the film. She needs to see the original, see if it's true that the film holds pure evil, see if it's true that the star, Karla Sorenson, hasn't aged a day as she readies to film the remake, see if she, Penny, can survive watching it with her sanity intact.

Meanwhile, Brenda has been off gallivanting with her husband Frank, but she is returning for Goth Weekend. Her B and B will be filled to the rafters. Though she knows in her water that the filming in Whitby is bad news when she confirms that Karla Sorenson is there. Brenda was there, in the creepy quarry in Wales, all those years ago when the original film released evil into the world. And Karla remembers her. With mysterious arrivals in town and evil afoot, the film's curse looks as if it could bring all of Whitby to hell. Unless Brenda and Effie with their posse can bring a stop to Karla and her enrapturing ways as well as the mysterious Brethren.

Their is something primal about horror films. Everyone remembers their first real horror film that brought nightmares for years to come. That might still give you nightmares! The mere mention of the film brings chills to this day. For me it was The Legend of Hell House. Britain dominated the making of low budget B grade horror films in the sixties and seventies, Hammer Films being the most prolific and well known. While The Legend of Hell House wasn't a Hammer production, it had all the hallmarks of British cinema at the height of horror; a few "name" stars with Roddy McDowell and Michael Gough, a house steeped in evil where no one makes it out alive, and implied psychological horror versus too much on-screen gore.

I can still remember the morning I first watched the film. It was August the second, 1996 or 1997. Our house had just been tpeed, with over 167 rolls of toilet paper. It was a grey day, where it feels like it's constantly twilight or dawn out, you just can't tell; wet and humid, where your clothes stick to you no matter what you do. We spent hours and hours cleaning. When we cleaned up as much as we could, I was so exhausted I just came in the house and sat on the couch and turned on AMC. The Legend of Hell House was just starting. I have never been the biggest fan of scary movies, but that day I stayed my hand on the remote. I was a fan of Roddy McDowell and Gayle Hunnicutt, who I loved on Dallas was also in it. I don't know if it was just the exhaustion or the subject matter, but this movie freaked me out beyond belief. Weird possessions, mysterious deaths, nothing really scary, just the feeling of the whole. The movie come through my mental barriers and has forever haunted me.

Therefore, a film, albeit imaginary, but of the same school, thought to be actually possessed by the devil doesn't seem that far fetched to me as I think back to that fateful day in August. Paul was able to use his story to tap into my preexisting fears to create a delicious and scary read. While I was curled up in a comfy chair on a hot August day, I was also on that lumpy couch with my clothes plastered to me watching The Legend of Hell House for the first time. While I've enjoyed and loved Paul's writing in the previous Brenda and Effie books, I had never felt so connected with his writing as I was with Hells Belles. You could feel his love of this tacky genre and it made the book shine. He created something magical and luckily I was just drawn into the pages of a book, not into a quarry in Wales in the sixties.

Everything else was just icing on the cake. The introduction of new characters, from Penny Danby (that last name is so going to be important), the run away housewife Goth, to Michael, the mysterious Irish lad, to Karla the unaging vamp and the thrift store ladies who have other things in mind than "saving the kiddies." The final reveal of Mrs. Claus's secret, which has been building up and hinted at for quite some time, to the return of someone instrumental to Brenda's past. All of this is just extra wonderfulness on top of this horror movie framework. Next please!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brenda and Effie, Dallas, Frankenstein, Get Thee Inside Me Satan, Goth Weekend, Halloween, Hell's Belles, Horror, Paul Magrs, Roddy McDowell, The Legend of Hell House, Whitby

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham
Published by: Vertigo
Publication Date: November 6th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 144 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
(different edition than one reviewed)

The adversary has run the Fables out of their homelands. Snow White is one of the refugees. She has helped establish a colony on the island of Manhattan as a safe haven. Hoping to form a unified front, Snow is sent to negotiate with the Arabian Fables. Yet the appearance of a women as envoy offends the Fables she has been sent to treaty with. She is able to save her life by acting as Scheherazade, and filling the nights with stories of the Homelands the Fables hope to one day return to.

Snow dwells much on her own shadowed past, from Snow's earliest days in her marriage with Prince Charming, and what really happened to those dwarves, her fleeing with her sister Rose and how their kindness brought back a diabolical witch, who would eventually become one of their greatest allies, Frau Totenkinder. Snow's eventual husband, Bigby, The Big Bad Wolf, also makes a few appearances. From foxes using guerrilla tactics and pies to thwart the enemy, to how the happiness of the Frog Prince was forever shattered by the Adversary, Snow beguiles away the nights and saves her life for one more day. Eventually she returns home, alive, but still without a true alliance, that will take a few hundred years more to get right.

For years people have been telling me to read the series of Fables comics by Bill Willingham. Me, being a contrarian, kind of ignored this, despite the fact that their essence of retelling and twisting of old fairy tales is right up my ally. I finally broke down and have since been devouring them at a most prodigious rate. They are very hit or miss for me. The overall worldbuilding I find fascinating, as I do the conceit of storybook characters living amongst us. Most of my gripes revolve around the art and sometimes the narrative not quite coming together right.

Also there is all this backstory, this history that exists, what with the character being basically immortal, that we have yet to see. That's where this volume comes in. Not only does it start to flesh out the world and show the connections or first meetings of many of the characters, it helps explain so much of what has been going on in the comics. This history was always there for the writers, but until now we where ignorant of it. The fact that Frau Totenkinder is really the witch with a certain house made of candy, whose hunger for children had more to do with her magic and her desire to appear young, then in thinking that children where delicious snacks. Also, the first seeds of Snow White and Prince charming falling out of love are all here.

But the story that really made this collection work for me was that of Ambrose, The Frog Prince. He has always been a melancholy little character as a janitor, known by the nickname Flycatcher. Back in the homelands he had his happily ever after, even if he still had a nervous disposition to occasionally revert to amphibian form... which leads to a tragic turn of events when the Adversary arrives... poor Flycatcher.

Yet what drew me to this volume more than anything else is the art. Instead of having the regular mundane drawings reminiscent of Prince Valiant, or the like, they had many artists and let them have free reign. The emotion and depth to which theses works of art, because they are works of art, add to and enhance the story makes me want to beg Willingham to do this for every issue. James Jean's work, whose covers have always stood out, looked amazing complimenting Flaycatcher's tale. Tara McPherson and Esao Andrews also deserve special shout outs as well, even if Tara's drawings of people with heart shaped holes in them freak me out a little! Going from this back to the normal run of the mill issues is like the biggest let down in the world. You see the heights to which they are able to reach, only to have them go back to the same old same old... sigh, it breaks my heart.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Bill Willingham, Esao Andrews, Fables, James Jean, Prince Charming, Snow White, Tara McPherson, The Frog Prince

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles Book 1) by Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Cinder is the only source of income for her family. Her adoptive father died and she is left with a step-mother who hates her and two step-sisters. Worst of all is that being a cyborg, she is not just a second class citizen in her home, but is viewed as a second class citizen by all the residents of New Beijing. Yet she is lucky in that her deformities are easy to conceal with clothes and her job of a mechanic means that she can wear gloves to hide her hands, the most obvious sign of what she is. Yet one day everything changes. Prince Kai comes to her stall in the market to ask her to repair his robot. All the world is in love with Kai, yet Cinder feels an instant connection. She can't wait to go home and tell her sister Peony and her best friend Iko, who is a robot. That night though, Peony contracts the plague. The scourge of the world that could wipe out humanity. Cinder's step-mother blames Cinder and volunteers her for medical research. Not to save Peony, but to destroy Cinder.

Yet Cinder is surprisingly resilient to the plague. She might be a hope for a cure. Also, there's the added benefit that she must be constantly at the palace for the research, and if she gets to see more of Kai, that is all right by her. Yet the political machinery she is being drawn into is dangerous. The Lunars, people from the moon whom the earth greatly distrusts, want to form a marriage alliance with Kai. In return the Lunars will give the world a cure for the plague. It is what the world needs more than anything, an end to the suffering. But can two people falling in love put aside their dreams and do what must be done for the world?

I am a sucker for retellings of fairy tales. After all, fairy tales are the building blocks of what stories are. The adversity, the handsome prince, the happily ever after... though sometimes not in the darkest of tales. Cinderella was never one of my favorites. My mother would probably site the fact that when the mice appeared the first time I saw the movie I started crying uncontrollably and had to be removed from the theatre. In all fairness, I don't remember this and remember more the Jungle Book tantrum of my brother that made me never know the ending for over ten years. That all said, there are really two kinds of retellings, those that just flesh out the story more but keep it similar in feel to the original, or those who throw everything out the window and go for something fresh and new. Cinder threw everything out the window. We have strange beings from the moon, we have cyborgs, we have a post apocalyptic world that has the feeling of Bladerunner and Firefly. We have a princess that is very un-princess like. We have the start of a series that looks very promising and then pissed me off greatly by ending on a cliffhanger. The fact that it pissed me off shows that I was invested enough in the characters that I didn't want to book to end.

The world building is fabulous. There's political intrigue, new space age mechanics, new terminology, yet never are you overwhelmed by this. Everything flows naturally from the strong and vibrant characters of Kai and Cinder. You feel their pain and joy. The fact that I almost lost it and started crying when something happened to Iko, who is a robot mind you, that just goes to show that every character, human and otherwise is suffused with this wonderful life. Never once was I pulled out of the world that was made and now I wait, rather petulantly, for the next installment. The ball that is the end of Cinderella really is a launching platform for the rest of the epic story to come for Cinder. Sometimes when the fairy tale says "happily ever after" it is really just the beginning.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Bladerunner, Cinder, Cinderella, Cyborg, Fairy Tales, Firefly, Marissa Meyer, The Lunar Chronicles

Ashenden by Elizabeth Wilhide
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: January 8th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey, a beautifully atmospheric novel about an English country house and the people who inhabit it, upstairs and downstairs, over the course of 240 years.

“The house contains time. Its walls hold stories. Births and deaths, comings and goings, people and events passing through. For now, however, it lies suspended in a kind of emptiness, as if it has fallen asleep or someone has put it under a spell. This silence won’t last: can’t last. Something will have to be done.”

When brother and sister Charlie and Ros discover that they have inherited their aunt’s much-loved house, they must decide if they should sell it. Moving back in time, in an interwoven narrative spanning two and a half centuries, we meet those who have built the house, lived in it and loved it, worked in it, and those who would subvert it to their own ends, including the original architect as he directs the building of the house, the big Victorian family who happily live there for forty years, the maid who thinks her problems will be solved if she steals a small bibelot, the soldiers who are billeted there during World War I, the speculator who holds a treasure hunt there during the Roaring Twenties, the young couple who restores it during the 1950s, and the house’s final owner. A novel about people, architecture, and living history, Ashenden is an evocative portrait of a house that becomes a character as compelling as the people who inhabit it."

Apparently, all you have to say is Downton Abbey to get me interested in a book!

The Painted Girls  by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Published by: Riverhead
Publication Date: January 8th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A heartrending, gripping novel about two sisters in Belle Époque Paris.

1878 Paris. Following their father’s sudden death, the van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without his wages, and with the small amount their laundress mother earns disappearing into the absinthe bottle, eviction from their lodgings seems imminent. With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant seventeen francs a week, she will be trained to enter the famous ballet. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds work as an extra in a stage adaptation of Émile Zola’s naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir.

Marie throws herself into dance and is soon modeling in the studio of Edgar Degas, where her image will forever be immortalized as Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. There she meets a wealthy male patron of the ballet, but might the assistance he offers come with strings attached? Meanwhile Antoinette, derailed by her love for the dangerous Émile Abadie, must choose between honest labor and the more profitable avenues open to a young woman of the Parisian demimonde.

Set at a moment of profound artistic, cultural, and societal change, The Painted Girls is a tale of two remarkable sisters rendered uniquely vulnerable to the darker impulses of “civilized society.” In the end, each will come to realize that her salvation, if not survival, lies with the other. "

Well, first there's the art, then there's the Belle Époque... so I think I'm fully sold on this.

The Bughouse Affair by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini
Published by: Forge
Publication Date: January 8th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In The Bughouse Affair, this first of a new series of lighthearted historical mysteries set in 1890s San Francisco, former Pinkerton operative Sabina Carpenter and her detective partner, ex-Secret Service agent John Quincannon, undertake what initially appear to be two unrelated investigations.

Sabina’s case involves the hunt for a ruthless lady “dip” who uses fiendish means to relieve her victims of their valuables at Chutes Amusement Park and other crowded places. Quincannon, meanwhile, is after a slippery housebreaker who targets the homes of wealthy residents, following a trail that leads him from the infamous Barbary Coast to an oyster pirate’s lair to a Tenderloin parlor house known as the Fiddle Dee Dee.

The two cases eventually connect in surprising fashion, but not before two murders and assorted other felonies complicate matters even further. And not before the two sleuths are hindered, assisted, and exasperated by the bughouse Sherlock Holmes.

Fans of Marcia’s Muller’s bestselling Sharon McCone novels and Bill Pronzini’s Nameless Detective series will applaud this and future exploits from the annals of Carpenter and Quincannon, Professional Detective Services."

I am a sucker for anything set in San Francisco, no, truly I am! Add in the fact it's a period piece AND has a former Pinkerton operative, and I can't wait to read this new book!

Paper Valentine by Breanna Yovanoff
Published by: Razorbill
Publication Date: January 8th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Paper Valentine is a hauntingly poetic tale of love and death by the New York Times bestselling author of The Replacement and The Space Between."

Personally, this one is all about the cover lust. Look at that cut paper look... wish they hadn't added a photo, takes away from the graphic awesomeness.

Chu's Day by Neil Gaiman and Adam Rex
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: January 8th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 32 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Chu is a little panda with a big sneeze.

When Chu sneezes, bad things happen.

Will Chu sneeze today?"

Seeing as this is Neil Gaiman, it's an automatic buy. But I'm excited by the cover, which looks like those old Golden Books, and knowing Neil, it's subversive in some way, so I'm very excited about that. Plus, who doesn't love pandas?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 4 comments  

Labels: Ashenden, Chu's Day, Degas, Downton Abbey, Elizabeth Whilhide, Neil Gaiman, Pandas, Paper Valentine, Paris, San Francisco, The Bughouse Affair, The Painted Girls

So last year I did this end of year/beginning of the year tally to see what I've read, and also, what I remember and it turned out to be a ton of fun, so therefore, new tradition! As Terry Pratchett has said, twice equals tradition. Because the true strength of a book is not the impression right after you read it, but the impression that remains. You might think that a book you read yesterday was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but a month, or even a week later, you can remember nothing. So, without further ado, my 116... reads of 2012, and yes, that means I did reach my reading goal and beat last years total of 114 books! Yeah for sticking to at least one New Year's resolution! Sure it meant reading more than eighteen books in December, but I was game.

Also, stay attuned to this site, because for the rest of January I'll be counting down my best reads of 2012! That's right, you will get to read about the cream of the crop, the best of the best. The ones you can skip ahead and read and avoid all the really bad reads of the past year... because you can't have awesome books without a few bad ones, at least in my experience.

1) Something Borrowed, Brenda and Effie Book 2 by Paul Magrs: Loved that it expanded on Brenda's past and while I loved the more episodic nature of the first book, this style shift made room for a longer running series with more overall arcs.

2) Death Comes to Pemberly by PD James: So bad! I was hoping for some Wickham death, and what did I get? A live Wickham and hundreds of pages of Regency rural procedural law, snore.

3) The Adventures of TinTin Volume Two by Herge: So far, I'm not really seeing the appeal of TinTin... and why does a "kid" have a gun to thwart all these people who want to kill him? And why do they want to kill him? Just weird all around.

4) Cinder, Lunar Chronicles Book 1 by Marissa Meyer: Cinderella meets Firefly! I think I'm in love! Though boo for a cliffhanger I have to wait a year to get resolution to. Also, I have a feeling each book will be a cliffhanger till the forth and final book, so a few years of this to come. Also I got to meet Marissa this year and she's really nice.

5) Sweet Revenge, A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery Book 1 by Andrea Penrose: I thought it was a fun little Regency romp with yet another broody, drug riddled man to reform. Not sure I liked the interruption of the story with modern day chocolate recipes, but it's a current fad and they're easy to skip over. Will totally be picking up the second book.

6) The Girl Who Played with Fire, Millennium Book 2  by Stieg Larsson: Still not getting why these where such a hit. Plus, the only reason to read them is for Lisbeth, and she was MIA for, oh, the entire book, which ended on a cliffhanger I might add!

7) Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamourist Histories Book 1 by Mary Robinette Kowal: Jane Austen with magic! But so much more. I adore the world that Mary Robinette Kowal has created and how she has devised and explained her world's magic. I have high hopes for this series.

8) And Only to Deceive, Lady Emily Book 1 by Tasha Alexander: Since I was finally going to meet Tasha (yeah, Tasha is awesome), I figured I'd better get to work and read at least one of her books. I really enjoyed how much antiquities played into the story and I really really really wanted her husband to not be dead.

9) A Poisoned Season, Lady Emily Book 2 by Tasha Alexander: Tasha does a French themed version of Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone.

10) Bunny and Biscuits, A Very Dorrington Valentine's Day by Lauren Willig: Fabulous, and it felt like it was written just for me. Side note, I won the naming competition for this, and then name did influence a few things in the story, so yeah, it was like it was written for me! BEST VALENTINE'S GIFT EVER!

11) Timeless, The Parasol Protectorate Book 5 by Gail Carriger: Great ending to the series. So happy that Gail didn't drag it out and flog it like a dead horse. Also, love that it was in Egypt and that Prudence is like the cutest little monster in the world.

12) A Storm of Swords, A Song of Ice and Fire Book 3 by George R R Martin: Easily my favorite book in the series, aside from the random Lesbianism. Also Joffrey dies!

13) Silent in the Grave, Lady Julia Book 1 by Deanna Raybourn: Another Victorian series with another widow heroine? Please no.

14) Fables Volume 1: Legends in Exhile by Bill Willingham: Everyone's been telling me to read these Graphic Novels about Fairy Tales in the real world for years... kind of a shaky start.

15) Tintin in the Land of the Soviets by Herge: Ok, not as over the top evil Soviets as Eloise in Moscow, but still, easy to forget how scared we where of them for so long, even in the comics!

16) The Sandman Volume 5: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman: OK, am I just missing the boat here? I mean EVERYONE is always going on about how awesome The Sandman books are and I have yet to even slightly like them, and in most cases am freaked out or disturbed by them.

17) Fair Game, Alpha and Omega Book 3 by Patricia Briggs: While no Mercy Thompson this year (sigh) at least Briggs delivered a strong story set in the same world, and firstly, really gripping serial killer story, secondly, the last few pages, man, that's going to throw this universe into turmoil. I can't wait!

18) Chi's Sweet Home Volume 8 by Kanata Konami: Whenever I'm in need of a kitty fix, this is where I go. Meow.

19) Soulless the Manga Volume 1 by Gail Carriger: Great manga adaptation of Gail's first Parasol Protectorate book, also great recap if you're starting to get a little fuzzy on the details.

20) A Feast of Crows, A Song of Ice and Fire Book 4 by George R R Martin: Ok, so better than I remembered, because, well, mainly I was just pissed last time that I only got half a book.

21) Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie: The thing I find interesting about Christie is that you are always in the moment with the book, totally loving it and following all the twists and turns, but a short while later, you've totally forgotten it, so you can re-read it at leisure.

22) Coraline by Neil Gaiman: Re-read for school (I know, sometimes homework is so awesome). Also, the book throws into stark relief how bad the movie was, story wise. You just don't mess with the perfection of a Neil Gaiman story (at least a Neil Gaiman story that is perfect, like this one is.)

23) Fables Volume 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham: Getting better, though I could do without the headless pig... just saying...

24) A Dance with Dragons, A Song of Ice and Fire Book 5 by George R R Martin: Five years and this is what I get!?! You're dead to me GRRM, hear that? No resolutions, just more mysteries and you are so never finishing this. So therefore, you are dead to me. 

25) Glamour in Glass, Glamourists Histories by Mary Robinette Kowal: Awesome! Just the way Mary Robinette Kowal has continued to build her world and also create not just the most romantic couple out there, but a loving couple that works together and takes care of each other. Also, the heroine kicks some serious ass. The French history and all that is just an extra awesome bonus.

26) A Bride's Story Volume 3 by Kaoru Mori: The problem I have with this series is that quite literally all the characters look the same, and therefore I get horribly confused. So the story may be awesome... it just requires a more dedicated person than me. I mainly by them for the hilarious afterwards now.

27) The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim: Hated it. Oh, everyone's life is so hard at this magical villa that makes everything perfect in the gorgeous Italian seaside. Poo on you all.

28) Fables Volume 3: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham: Snow White hooking up with The Big Bad Wolf... interesting, not sure if I by it.

29) Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed: I still don't get why this book was so popular. It was a quick read, but if I wanted to read about a woman who cheated on her husband, did heroin and had an abortion and then ended up eating her own mothers ashes... I wouldn't have picked up a book about HIKING! Bait and switch and eww. Also, changing her last name to Strayed... seems a bit too, "I'm a precious artiste" for me.

30) Start and Run a Graphic Design Business by Michael Huggins: Mildly boring but mostly helpful guide to working as a freelance graphic designer, and yes, I read it for school, how did you guess?

31) Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Dirk Gently Book 1 by Douglas Adams: Amazing how little I remember of this book, which I picked up as a re-read after my interest in Dirk was rekindled by the amazing new tv series. Thanks for cancelling that stupid BBC.

32) Dead Reckoning, Sookie Stackhouse Book 11 by Charlaine Harris: Obligatory re-read of the previous Sookie book to prepare for the new one... fairies are up to something... some other things happen... Eric is engaged, right? See, at this point, it doesn't really matter.

33) Deadlocked, Sookie Stackhouse Book 12 by Charlaine Harris: I like the clearing of the decks mentality of this one. All unnecessary supes and characters dead or gone. Come on happy ending with Sam! Also, so happy that there's only one more book, sometimes a series just needs to end.

34) Introducing Aunt Dimity Paranormal Detective: The First Two Books in the Beloved Series by Nancy Atherton: The first book was so blah I couldn't understand why people liked it, but the second was far more entertaining and kind of like British Gothic mystery light in Cornwall with some Du Maurier overtones. Don't know if I'll read more though, especially if the rest star the protagonist of the first dull as dishwater book.

35) Fables Volume 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham: Wooden soldiers that are just as creepy as Pinocchio... at least his creepy level in this series I should say.

36) Princess Academy by Shannon Hale: Loved the re-read to prepare for the sequel, which I still have to get around to reading. I love when a book is just as good or better than second time around.

37) The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose: So, so stupid. Firstly, the title is impossible to say, secondly, just totally invalidate everything your book set out to do in the last page and give us no ending. Oh, and don't forget the steamy shower sex scene, with the hero... with just the memories of sandalwood and jasmine. That's right, time for some sexy masturbation with memories of your past life love. Eww.

38) Some Girlfriends Can by Stephanie Burgus: Boring and stupid story about a girl whose boyfriend's ex is a Greek goddess and how this makes said girlfriend feel inadequate. Lesson, just don't date anyone still into their ex, especially if they where a goddess. Ok, note taken.

39) The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones: Was so excited when this took a supernatural bent, but then it went on too long. Would have been a great novella or short story, look to Shirley Jackson and editing.

40) Seriously, Just Go To Sleep by Adam Mansbach: Not funny. The "cleaned up" version of Mansbach's hilarious book was just dull.

41) A Discovery of Witches, All Souls Trilogy Book 1 by Deborah Harkness: I really liked the beginning of this book with a kick ass independent heroine into books and rowing, then she became all damsel in distress and it was like an adult version of Twilight... so, things to love and hate about it. 

42) The Sandman Volume 6: Fables and Reflections by Neil Gaiman: Again, still not digging The Sandman.

43) Fables Volume 5: The Mean Seasons by Bill Willingham: Bigby's back!

44) Fables Volume 6: Homelands by Bill Willingham: The Fables' homelands are a little more interesting to me than their new community in our world.

45) Fables Volume 7: Arabian Nights (and Days) by Bill Willingham: Blah. Could have been interesting but came off kind of racist.

46) Fables Volume 8: Wolves by Bill Willingham: Bigby's dad, while not really a nice guy, is awesome, mainly because his dad is the North Wind!

47) Phoenix Rising, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Book 1 by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: So so awesome. New series to love. I just love the hero's book nerdiness that covers his past of hard military training and a harsh life with no love, couple with the feisty heroine, perfect combo, hope the writer's play out their relationship right...

48) Tales from the Archives Collection 1, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: Mixed bag, several very awesome. Wish there was an appendix for all these extra agents.

49) Tales from the Archives Collection 2, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: More of the same.

50) Tales from the Archives, Sins of the Father, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Tee Morris: Wellington's father is not nice, end of story.

51) Tales from the Archives Collection 3, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: More mixed bag.

52) Tales from the Archives, A Swan in Siam, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by PJ Schnyder: All I remember is I didn't like this one.

53) Tales from the Archives, Women of the Empire, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by JR Blackwell: Really stupid one which is all about vibrator jokes... lame.

54) Tales from the Archives, The Emperor's Fist, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by JR Murdock: Was this the one with the monkey? Sometimes reading a lot of short stories in succession isn't the best because you forget things.

55) Marine Biology by Gail Carriger: Such a cute story about a young gay werewolf finding his place in the world. Extra love because it's in the same "world" as Gail's series!

56) Ender's Game, Ender's Saga Book 1 by Orson Scott Card: Hated! Racist, hate spewing doggerel with Scott Card's own homophobic feelings exuding from the pages. It was hard to even finish it. Also, boring.

57) Jack of Fables Volume 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham: Why does Jack get a spin off? He's such a boring character. Also, I'm sorry, but I don't think Jack and the Beanstalk could ever get a Lord of the Rings like following... just saying.

58) The Janus Affair, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Book 2 by Philippa Ballantine and Tee Morris: Totally let me down. High hopes, but if they are coming stateside, I don't think I will like it...

59) Everyone's Reading Bastard by Nick Hornby: Stupid and pointless short story about a jackass and how his ex exploits him in the media. Also ended very abruptly.

60) Tales from the Archives, The Wrong Camera, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Catherine Ford: I kind of want a camera that can show the future... only kind of mind you.

61) The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter: So good I forgive Terry for blowing up my home town. Also, I can't wait to see where this goes, as this was kind of an introduction to the world Terry and Stephen have created.

62) A Midsummer Tights Dream, The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey Book 2 by Louise Rennison: Gaw. I need to stop. I thought these would be good, but they're falling prey to the same faults of Rennison's first series only faster. Also, again, only a few weeks for the story... she needs to write more mature and longer material. Make it substantive!

63) The Arctic Marauder by Jacques Tardi: Ok, I read this because of his shout out in his other series where he was obviously pissed that no one bought this. I get why no one bought it, it's a boring story about an iceberg that is really a ship, the end, nothing else happens.

64) Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham: So amazing! I have always thought that the failings of the Fables comics was in the traditional and boring handling of the interior artwork. Here other artists where given free reign and it is a work of art. Words and images in perfect synch. LOVE.

65) Shadow of the Night, All Souls Trilogy Book 2 by Deborah Harkness: Unlike most people, I liked this more than the first. I enjoyed the history and was interested, though I could have done with a few less icky sex scenes.

66) Fables Volume 9: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham: Um... don't really remember this one, was the war starting?

67) Conjugal Rites, Brenda and Effie Book 3 by Paul Magrs: Frank is back for Brenda, and it doesn't go how anyone expected, making it all the more fun!

68) Jack of Fables Volume 2: Jack of Hearts by Bill Willingham: Vegas, Gary and his disappearing/reappearing mustache using lady luck, who is real and not figurative. So don't cheat at slots, because fables get mad at you.

69) Fables Volume 10: The Good Prince by Bill Willingham: About the Frog Prince, Ambrose, who is one of the more interesting characters in these comics.

70) The Shrinking of Treehorn by Florence Parry Heide: Ok, if my kid started shrinking I would take him to the hospital, not ignore him.

71) Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides: So well written, but just all the different varieties of stories and how sometimes each section was wrapped up too fast ended up turning me off the book. Dare I say it might have worked as different volumes or as a longer book?

72) Warehouse 13 Graphic Novel by Ben Rabb: Horrid. Everyone out of character and not looking anything like the actors. One of the, if not the worst graphic novel from tv series I've ever read. That's including all the bad Dr Who and Kevin Smith stuff I've read.

73) Boneshaker, Clockwork Century Book 1 by Cherie Priest: Ok... not that I had a fear of zombies before, but I think I might now. Amazing worldbuilding, and totally claustrophobic.

74) The Guild: Knights of Good by Felicia Day: More fun! Don't know why they didn't include the Fawkes one-shot though.

75) Hell's Belles, Brenda and Effie Book 4 by Paul Magrs: Horror films with curses plus Brenda and Effie equals their best book yet!

76) Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell: Funny and cute and really not as dull or full of death as the miniseries made it appear.

77) My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell: So long and boring, I didn't need a treatise on every member of Lady Ludlow's staff or a couple hundred pages on the French Revolution. Pick one and stick with it. And pick the Revolution, because the servants are dull as dirt, Julian Fellowes you aren't.

78) Tales from the Archives, A Trick of Strong Immagination, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Alyson Grauer: Write a rip off of The Night Circus only 1000 times worse, why not, I'll never read it again.

79) Chi's Sweet Home Volume 8 by Kanata Konami: Kitty!

80) Mr. Harrison's Confessions by Elizabeth Gaskell: Wow, Mr. Harrison is full of himself and really annoying. So far improved for the miniseries, which I find shocking.

81) Glitches, Lunar Chronicles Prequel by Marissa Meyer: Backstory on Cinder! So interesting seeing her first interactions with her "evil step-mother". Oh, can't wait for the next book!

82) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Awesome. Also, re-reading, you can see so much foreshadowing about Marco and Celia's fate that I'm shocked I didn't see it the first time.

83) The Affinity Bridge, Newbury and Hobbes Book 1 by George Mann: Didn't expect to love it so much, but I did. Also I never ever want robots or cyborgs or any kind of automaton ever, thank you. 

84) The Bride That Time Forgot, Brenda and Effie Book 5 by Paul Magrs: Brenda goes B.C. in a very camp way. Not my favorite, but still a ton of fun.

85) 666 Charing Cross Road by Paul Magrs: I'm all for Helene Hanff parodies, but this sometimes dragged a bit. Like it was going to be more books and instead all these ideas where shoved in one. Also, apparently high fatalities...

86) The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery by Justin Richards: A book that is like reading River Song's mind. A MUST for all Dr Who fans!

87) The Ninnies by Paul Magrs: Evil Roald Dahl! LOVE IT!

88) The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens: Arctic expedition actually made interesting through creating a love interest and paranormal aspects.

89) Dodger by Terry Pratchett: Terry Pratchett perfectly re-creating Dickens's world with a very artful Dodger at it's center. Pure Dickens and pure Pratchett combined together wonderfully. I hope he writes more.

90) Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach: Mary Roach, despite at the end declaring herself a believer, seems skeptical and hostile to many people she meets, especially Allison Dubois, who the show Medium is based on. Also, you will NEVER get the images from the ectoplasm chapter out of your head. NEVER!

91) Speaking From Among the Bones, Flavia De Luce Book 5 by Alan Bradley: Another great Flavia installment, which was nicely twisty and turny and had a doozey of an ending.

92) Etiquette and Espionage, Finishing School Book 1 by Gail Carriger: Wanted to love it, ended up hating it. Just too cliched and... just not what I was expecting. Juvenile and blah.

93) Where's My Cow by Terry Pratchett: Because Sam Vimes teaching his son an Ankh Morpork version of "Where's My Cow" is awesome. Buggerit.

94) Tales from the Archives, The Cross of Columba, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Doc Coleman: Awesome Loch Ness monster story, made all the better because I read it with a kitty asleep on my lap.

95) The Warden, The Chronicles of Barset Book 1 by Anthony Trollope: Dull... not as dull as I thought it might be, but church minutiae is dull. Funny the cracks against Dickens that Trollope makes.

96) The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott: Boring tale of girl finding true love despite thinking she was a penniless orphan... I liked the tv movie better.

97) The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman: So cool how not only it's dark and bleak, but if you look carefully, there are so many awesome words starting with each letter in each section. Look for some shrunken heads and dead penguins!

98) Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something by Kaoru Mori: So odd. Many of the items where so random and oddly assembled, that I couldn't get any entertainment out of it.

99) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Book 1 by Douglas Adams: One of THE books that got me really into reading. Re-read it for book club and I can see that I don't think I'd recommend anyone to read it later than their teens, it loses something if it's not already a part of you.

100) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: I finally read something fully Dickens! And it was dull.

101) How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by Matthew Inman: Bobcats alone are worth the price of this book. Everything else is just awesome extras. MUST OWN for people who are the servants of cats.

102) Silent in the Sanctuary, Lady Julia Book 2 by Deana Raybourn: Ok, I was really digging the Christmas vibe but the fact that the ending played out exactly as I had guessed AND ripped off Agatha Christie pissed me off.

103) Tales from the Archives, In the Spirit of Christmas, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Tee Morris: A Christmas Carol parody! YES! I needed this after my first reading of A Christmas Carol and being bored to tears.

104) Jack of Fables Volume 3: The Bad Prince by Bill Willingham: Umm... I know I just read this, but it's just more of Jack being Jack... they where in the Grand Canyon right? Oh wait, this had the funny sword in the stone stuck through him!

105) Daughter of Smoke and Book, Daughter of Smoke and Book Book 1 by Laini Taylor: Really wanted to fully love it, came close, and did make me desperate for the sequel. Also, I want to be surrounded by friendly monsters.

106)  Fables Volume 11: War and Pieces by Bill Willingham: Finally, once we have the war we won't have to deal with it anymore right?

107) Jack of Fables Volume 4: Americana by Bill Willingham: Not what I was expecting, which was Jack in the olde thyme US, not a fable "homeland", so boo for that.

108) Jack of Fables Volume 5: Turning Pages by Bill Willingham: Wow, they are now having war over in this one too... war war war, too much war.

109) Tales from the Archives, Curtain Call, The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences by Shaun Farrell: Horrid, creepy and ick. Avoid.

110) Doctor Who: Devil in the Smoke by Justin Richards: Dr Who Victorian style, I love it! Also, Strax, last seen in A Good Man Goes to War, best comic relief ever!

111) Jack of Fables Volume 6: The Big Book of War by Bill Willingham: War again, sigh.

112) Fables Volume 12: The Dark Ages by Bill Willingham: War over... and now it's repercussions of war, sigh, new story line please.

113) Soulless Manga Volume 2 by Gail Carriger: Just as great as the first manga, but not my favorite, mainly because this is my favorite book and it just couldn't do it 100% justice. It's close...

114) Days of Blood and Starlight, Daughter of Smoke and Book Book 1 by Laini Taylor: I could not put this down!

115) Peter and Max by Bill Willingham: Just an amazing book set in the Fables world, but you don't need to have read those comics to get this awesomeness in your life. So amazing and gripping, like Fairy Tale serial killers!

116) A Friendly Game of Murder by JJ Murphy: The newest Algonquin Road Table book didn't fail to delight. What I loved about this was it was basically a locked room mystery in a locked room mystery all set on New Year's Eve with Arthur Conan Doyle as the guest start!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 8 comments  

So, a year has finally past. And what a year it's been, with many ups, many downs, and more downs, and well, let's put it this way, I'm very happy it has drawn to a close and that now with January there will be a fresh start. Health crises, friends moving away, you name it, it happened. But for all the sad, there was many a happy. New friends, friends having new babies, new books, school drawing to a close, which is whistful and therefore goes under neither category. Hopefully this year will be awesome and wonderful and I invite every one of you to come along with me as I continue blogging about my love of books and Brits and banalities... and yes, there will be good books this year, I can just feel it. A happy New Year one and all!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments