strange and random happenstance

Lovers' Lane: The Hall-Mills Mystery by Rick Geary
Published by: NBM Publishing
Publication Date: July 17th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 80 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

On September 14th, 1922, shots rang out near an old abandoned farm used by the New Brunswick locals as lovers' lane. No one went to investigate and it wasn't until two days later that the bodies of Edward Hall, an Episcopal priest, and Eleanor Mills, a member of the church choir, were found. They were staged side-by-side with their feet facing a crab apple tree. A hat obscured Edward Hall's face so only his calling card propped against his shoe gave a hint as to who the male victim was at first. While both victims were shot, the female multiple times, besides having her hand placed on Edward Hall's thigh her throat was also slit from ear to ear, it was later discovered that her tongue and surrounding organs had been removed as well. Around them their love letters were scattered, an apparent judgment from the killer on this adulterous couple. Edward Hall was a pillar of the community and a favorite with his lady parishioners, though he ended up marrying spinster Frances Noel Stevens, an older woman who happened to be an heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune and lived with a mentally handicapped brother. Yet most of the community knew of his affair with the talented chorister, who herself was trapped in a loveless marriage. The case soon became a media circus, yet almost everything was badly handled, like Edward Hall's calling card which was handed through the gathering crowd for scrutiny. The crab apple tree was even denuded of branches by souvenir hunters. But the crime baffled the police, who didn't even know who should investigate, the bodies being found in the next county from where the victims lived. But again and again the investigation lead back to Mrs. Hall. Could she, with the help of her wealthy family, have killed her husband just as he was ready to elope with his mistress? For now, the case remains unsolved.

It's a wonderful thing to discover a new author and realize you have their entire back catalog to work through. I was lucky enough to stumble onto Rick Geary one dreary day at the library. I wasn't feeling the best and I wasn't at my local branch, but they had such a lovely display in their graphic novel section featuring several books I'd been wanting to read, from Alison Bechdel to the history of the Carter Family. And there, in between Fun Home and The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song was Adventures of Blanche by Rick Geary. Needless to say I actually took the whole display home with me. Geary's style seemed vaguely familiar but I was soon lost to the narrative, Geary had taken his grandmother's old letters as a starting off point and then lovingly embellished them to be more dramatic and more of their time, with murderers running rampant and famous painters walking in and out of frame. I quickly finished this slender volume and went to look up Geary online. Having worked for both National Lampoon and MAD during my childhood back when I devoured those tomes it's no wonder his style was familiar to me with his people that all look like they have cat whiskers for jawbone definition. He was a part of my past and very soon he was to become a part of my present when I realized that he had written oodles of true crime graphic novels! Nine of which I devoured last year and I can't wait to finish the remaining few.

Here's the thing about me. I LOVE true crime. I went through a period where all I watched was police procedural shows from Homicide: Life on the Street to all the iterations of Law and Order and I especially worshiped Unsolved Mysteries. Because I realized I don't really like true crime that happens now, I like true crime that happened then. I am not joking when I say that if I had a time machine I'd just go back and see who all the famous killers and kidnappers were. Who was Jack the Ripper? What really happened to James Ellroy's mother that turned him into the writer he is today? I don't just want, I NEED to know! When I was in undergrad I saw a very interesting one man play about the kidnapping of the Lindbergh Baby. With all the new speculation about what really happened and Lindbergh's Nazi leanings I decided that the first book I'd check out in Geary's Treasury of XXth Century Murder would be The Lindbergh Child. I couldn't have been happier. This book, this series, combined two things I love, true crime and art. While many people might take issue with how simple his drawing style is, nothing more than line work, there is a place for ALL kinds of graphic novels in the world and this style suits the pared down, spare, clean way he lays out the crime and methodically analyzes it. Maps and cross sections of buildings make Geary the David Maccaulay of True Crime! In each of Geary's books I've read he has told and shown the crime more succinctly than any other author I've ever read. He has a gift for distillation and visualization that is remarkable.

But all this could apply to any one of his books I picked up from The Borden Tragedy: A Memoir of the Infamous Double Murder at Fall River, Mass., 1892 to The Murder of Abraham Lincoln. Here I want to talk about his handling of the Hall-Mills double murder that happened in the fall of 1922. This book just struck me so forcibly I can't quite understand why. It's almost as if I have a weird connection to the crime. It felt familiar somehow and yet, I'm sure I'd never heard of this crime before. While it lead to a media circus what I was drawn to was the more personal nature of this story. So many of the great unsolved crimes are serial killers who were never caught, yet here it's just an adulterous couple at the center of the media firestorm. Plus, the way the crime was committed, the removal of the organs that allowed Eleanor Mills to sing, plus having her favorite song removed from every copy of every hymnal in the church, I agree with the victim's daughter, it sounds like a crime committed by a woman. In fact, that's one thing I really like about this series by Geary, he shows that despite public opinion, women are just as capable of committing really heinous crimes. While this case was never solved, and was very much muddied by an attention seeker known as "the pig lady," Edward Hall's wealthy wife and family were tried and found not guilty. And yet the tale does have a sense of closure. Because a woman had to have committed the crime, and whether it was Frances Noel Stevens or another female parishioner whose advances were spurned by the priest, you have a handle on the probability of who the culprit was. Yes, Frances could have used her money to walk away from a crime she committed, she did act very oddly over the days following her husband's disappearance. But unlike Jack the Ripper, you can clearly see the motive if not the culprit.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adultery, Adventures of Blanche, Charles Lindbergh, Comics, Homicide, Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden, Lovers' Lane, Murder, Rick Geary, The Hall-Mills Mystery, Treasury of XXth Century Murder, Unsolved Mysteries

Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
Published by: Open Road Media Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Publication Date: July 14th, 2015
Format: Kindle, 148 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Julian Blake was a temperamental genius. His manager knew that if Julian stayed in his bedsit in London all summer he'd get no work done and mourn the death of his girlfriend Arianna who committed suicide. So Wylding Hall was let. Julian's British acid-folk band Windhollow Faire would secret themselves in the country for the month of August to work and reconnect. It was a summer that would produce an album named after the grand estate they stayed at that would be under everybody's Christmas Tree that December but would also lead to the disappearance of Julian Blake. A disappearance linked to a white haired girl who mysteriously appeared on the cover of the album whom no one remembered seeing. But then a lot of mysterious things happened that summer. Weird hallways and chambers that went on forever. A library that only two people ever found. A room with hundreds and hundreds of dead birds. A tune in the air that Julian couldn't help humming. And the walks in the woods that the locals warned them never to take. Yet the band and the other people who came in and out of their lives back in that summer in the seventies never compared notes, until now. Now there's a documentary being done about the album, inspired by construction that has unearthed discoveries at the house, and secrets are being revealed. The shape of things is starting to come into focus, but it doesn't seem possible. In the end it comes down to a photo in the local pub, a song Julian unearthed, and a half-naked girl with feathers on her feet.

Sometimes there's a confluence of events that come together just right that elevates an experience to another level. This occurrence started at a joint birthday party where fate decided the next book club selection would be Wylding Hall and ended in an extremely rare consensus that we all liked the book while we dunked fruit into delectable chocolate. But we all agreed, it wasn't just the book, it was something in the air. It's almost as if we were haunted and the book manifested itself for our entertainment. The waning days of summer had set in, mirroring the time frame of the events that happened to the members of Windhollow Faire as August drew to a close and their lease on the hall was up. Despite reality versus fiction and the present versus the past there was this connection that made the book almost real. It's such a short read, a mere 148 pages, and yet I just wanted their summer to be endless and for me to be able to live in this spooky yet somehow homey world. What aided the book so well was the suspension of disbelief was possible through Elizabeth Hand grounding the book in the real world. If she hadn't got the music scene of the time just right nothing else could have fallen into place, and yet she did it. Making this story of the real world yet somehow not quite of it, like the characters had walked through a fairy ring and everything was just slightly distorted. Like when Sergeant Howie ventures to Summerisle in The Wicker Man, the townspeople seem a little off, a little unwilling to talk, and pictures that might illuminate events are quickly hidden away. The balance between believability and the unknown is perfectly struck here.

Yet the way Elizabeth Hand chose to tell the story was an interesting one, yet it did present problems. She goes the route of many a documentary with each of the characters telling their part of the story, therefore capturing that feeling of reality, we've all seen this before. We could be watching a VH1 Behind the Music special about Windhollow Faire after all. Yet given the brevity of the book I had issues with the dramatis personae, it took awhile for their character traits to come through and in the interim I was lost. They were written too similarly and what was odd in my mind, there wasn't a hint of unreliability and their stories all synced up. Maybe I'm just too used to unreliable narrators and Agatha Christie trying to pull one over on me. There was just a sameness to them as Elizabeth Hand quickly cut from one POV to another. It took me quite awhile to realize that Lesley was a female, and seriously, can authors NOT use two too similarly named characters, like Jonathan and Julian? I'm not proud of this but I totally stereotyped the characters to remember who they were, the folklorist, the girlfriend, the dead guy, you get my drift... and not all of them were flattering monikers, just something so I could quickly tell who was who. A really good writer is able to distinguish the different characters enough with their voices that this shortcut of mine wouldn't be a necessity. I felt like it lowered the book. But you could argue that Elizabeth Hand wanted to sew confusion from the start. That she wanted her readers to not get a firm grip on anything. If that was the case? Good on her! See, I'm totally willing to see the other side of things because books are fluid, what the writer intended and what the reader gets could be different, but that doesn't mean both aren't true at the same time.

Though what enchanted me most was the era. Ghost stories just seem to work better when set in a time before technology ran rampant. But I've come to realize that for a ghost story or supernatural spookfest to really catch me there has to be something I connect to. More and more this isn't character driven Victorian stories but more modern pieces set in the not-too-distant past. Like the 70s and 80s. There's a reason why The Conjuring series is doing so well and has so many spinoffs and why so many people have embraced Stranger Things. These are eras that have a distinct look and feel, a time when to get a hold of your friends you had to hope they got your message left with a family member on the one phone in their house or you'd just show up and pray their parents knew where they were. A time when plans couldn't be easily changed. A time when I was innocent and to see that innocence turn malevolent, there's something supercharged about that. Here it's the 70s, and it's perfect. Not just for the distant haze that memory has given me about the decade in which I was born, but because of this insidious supernatural phenomena creeping around the familiar. We have the isolated house, one lone phone, and this kind of golden haze and heat hanging over the events. Therefore when there are clouds or cold, you know something is going to go wrong. There's strange things happening in the house, it's rambling and easy to get lost in. A library that almost no one has found. Yet all of it could be explained away. Everything could be just too much indulgence, until there's proof that this isn't the case. Proof that comes almost at the very end.

Yet that ending is really abrupt. The whole book is kind of a summer idyll interspersed with supernatural phenomena. There's a laziness to it, not in that it's badly written, but in the luxurious pacing. You just want to inhabit the story but then they leave the house, put out the album, and then this interview happens years later... and as for Julian's fate... well, we aren't given anything concrete, we aren't given anything really. That throwaway line about one of the band members maybe seeing him years later doesn't count in my mind. I became invested in these characters lives and I didn't just want the story about THAT summer and their one "hit" album, I wanted to know what came after. How did Lesley become a star? How did Nancy, the girlfriend, end up a professional psychic in Florida? But more importantly, these interviews are all happening not just because of some anniversary for an album that achieved cult status but because there is work being done at the house. Work that uncovers artifacts of archaeological as well as personal interest to our characters. There seems to be a momentum throughout the book that they will all reunite and return to Wylding Hall and yet that never happens. It felt as though right when Elizabeth Hand was about to bring all the different threads together she decided instead she'd finished and just cut the work off prematurely. This is a three-quarters finished story. There is no final act. And THIS was the only bone of contention me and my fellow book clubbers had. Where is the resolution? Where is the final chord?

Because if we are to compare this to a song, they all have a beginning, a middle, and an end. All stories do too. But this one apparently won't. Yes, I have to accept this. I have to concentrate on that which worked so well. What I'm talking about is the purpose of fables and myths and epic songs, all that which goes into folk music. All these tales were told not because they were used as entertainment, but to impart warnings. "These are songs that have been around for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. They existed for centuries before any kind of recording was possible, even before people could write, for god's sake! So the only way those songs lived and got passed on was by singers." These songs were things that needed to be remembered. Things that needed to be known so that danger wasn't stumbled into blindly. While the Brothers Grimm might have gone a little too far with the moralizing, all tales that are passed down are done so with intent. There's a reason the locals get their backs up when these musicians come in asking about what shouldn't be talked of. Though logically IF the locals wanted them to behave perhaps some truth about the village and it's local legends could have warned them off. But that's not the purpose of villagers in these stories, their purpose is to see the strangers blithely walking into danger and keep their mouths shut. The danger that lies in the woods and lures Julian away with the fairies. It's this root of what folk music and folklore is that grounds the entire book in the human experience of tradition. So while it may falter, it still resonates.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 70s, Agatha Christie, Behind the Music, Brothers Grimm, Elizabeth Hand, Folk, Going Gothic, Gothic, POV, Resolution, Stranger Things, Summerisle, The Conjuring, The Wicker Man, Windhollow Faire, Wylding Hall

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Date: April 8th, 2008
Format: Hardcover, 104 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Lee Scoresby has set his balloon north in the hopes of finding some work. He's recently become an aeronaut, having won the balloon on a hand of poker. Though teaching himself has been a little hairy, something his hare daemon Hester would agree with, what with the balloon coming with only half a copy of The Elements of Aerial Navigation. One day he will find an intact copy of that valuable guide, until then as he lands in Novy Odense his number one goal is to line his pockets, which are perilously empty. And in a town built on every kind of oil imaginable not to have enough for a drop to fix his pistol feels downright shameful to Lee, so he sets out in search of some job leads. Stowing his balloon he walks to the nearest bar to look for employment and to wet his whistle and realizes he's walked into a town in the midst of an upheaval. There's to be an election that week for mayor and the incumbent looks to lose to the ex-senator Poliakov who's taken a strong anti-bear stance. Poliakov is a cunning man who is working with the powerful Larsen Manganese mining company which has supposedly just struck it rich in Novy Odense. All this Lee learns from a rather chatty poet, Sigurdsson, who happens to make his money as a journalist. While all these political machinations should be of some concern to Lee he's more interested in a distressed sea captain in the bar. Lee's interest in this man will put him in the center of all Novy Odense's problems and unit him with a powerful ally, the armoured bear, Iorek Byrnison.

While I picked up Once Upon a Time in the North when it first came out almost a decade ago I couldn't bring myself to read it because at the time this slim volume was THE END. This would be it from Philip Pullman with regard to his magnum opus, His Dark Materials. There were rumors and whispers that there would eventually be more but until the announcement this spring I just couldn't bring myself to read this story about when Lee and Iorek first met. I couldn't take the heartbreak that their story was over even if this was just the beginning chronologically. But what's odd is I'm really glad I waited. The book isn't just a great read, it's so relevant now that it is shocking. I mean it couldn't be more timely and it made me wonder, does Philip Pullman actually have an alethiometer? To so accurately depict the political climate almost a decade in advance is spooky. There's an election with Russians causing havoc, there's a charismatic leader whose entire platform is the removal of illegal immigrants taking jobs from the community in order to secure his win while really he's there to aid big business and the military industrial complex and line his pockets all the while having thugs working for him behind the scenes with his own personal army and the press in his pocket. I mean, seriously!?! Russians! Poliakov/Trump! Bears/Mexicans! Novy Odense Courier and Telegraph/Breitbart! It's spookily accurate. But what this does is rise the book from not just a story with bears and balloons into a fable for our time. Fairy Tales are there to teach people lessons, and I think the lessons shown here are ones that need to be taken to heart so we never end up in this situation again.

Yet the book wasn't all relevant to today, after all Lee Scoresby is a cowboy and a Texan through and through so Once Upon a Time in the North also deals lovingly with all the wonderful western tropes we've come to love to this very day. There's a reason Westworld would work in the real world as well as on the screen. Lee has a soft spot for the ladies yet he's honorable, giving advice to lonely women while not tarnishing their virtue. He's a crack shot, when his gun actually works. He has a weakness for gambling, but luckily with Hester by his side she'll keep him on the straight and narrow. He does what is right even if it gets him into a whole heap of trouble. Plus, there's something about a cowboy in a situation that is so beyond his ken that calls to me. Like Ethan Chandler on Penny Dreadful, he's without a home and in a foreign land and falling into a dangerous adventure but his moral compass will steer him right. There is also a villain from Lee's past! Poliakov has one Mr. Morton in his pay, an assassin from America whom Lee had a previous run-in with, though he knew him by the name of McConville. They had a set-to in Dakota Country that had elements of Deadwood and more than a dash of Pinkerton justice gone wrong. Like Dashiell Hammet's Red Harvest, there's a trail of bodies in this man's wake, friends of Lee, and Lee isn't about to let him get away this time. With the politics and the vengeance I feel that this book actually can stand on it's own. In fact, I think that not only can anyone read it, but that this would be a good starting point for anyone considering reading Philip Pullman's work. Yes, there are some spoilers, but the microcosm of characters is so rich that I would recommend Once Upon a Time in the North to anyone. Even those skeptical of fantasy.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Different Kind of P and P, Armoured Bears, Cowboy, Dashiell Hammett, Elections, His Dark Materials, Iorek Byrnison, Lee Scoresby, Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman, Pinkertons, Politics, Red Harvest

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him--and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself."

Holly Black going back into the realm of fairy? Yes please!

The Outcasts of Time by Ian Mortimer
Published by: Pegasus Books
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author described by the London Times as "the most remarkable historian of our time” comes a stunning, high-concept time-travel adventure that is perfect for fans of S. J. Parris and Kate Mosse.

December 1348. What if you had just six days to save your soul?

With the country in the grip of the Black Death, brothers John and William fear that they will shortly die and suffer in the afterlife. But as the end draws near, they are given an unexpected choice: either to go home and spend their last six days in their familiar world, or to search for salvation across the forthcoming centuries – living each one of their remaining days ninety-nine years after the last.

John and William choose the future and find themselves in 1447, ignorant of almost everything going on around them. The year 1546 brings no more comfort, and 1645 challenges them in further unexpected ways. It is not just that technology is changing: things they have taken for granted all their lives prove to be short-lived.

As they find themselves in stranger and stranger times, the reader travels with them, seeing the world through their eyes as it shifts through disease, progress, enlightenment, and war. But their time is running out―can they do something to redeem themselves before the six days are up?"

Oh, time travel from the perspective of someone from 1348? Yes! 

The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The unforgettable story of Alexander Pushkin’s beautiful wife, Natalya, a woman much admired at Court, and how she became reviled as the villain of St. Petersburg.

At the beguiling age of sixteen, Natalya Goncharova is stunningly beautiful and intellectually curious. At her first public ball during the Christmas of 1828, she attracts the romantic attention of Russia’s most lauded rebel poet: Alexander Pushkin. Finding herself deeply attracted to Alexander’s intensity and joie de vivre, Natalya is swept up in a courtship and then a marriage full of passion but also destructive jealousies. When vicious court gossip leads Alexander to defend his honor as well as Natalya’s in a duel, he tragically succumbs to his injuries. Natalya finds herself reviled for her perceived role in his death. In her striking new novel, The Lost Season of Love and Snow, Jennifer Laam helps bring Natalya’s side of the story to life with vivid imagination―the compelling tale of her inner struggle to create a fulfilling life despite the dangerous intrigues of a glamorous imperial Court and that of her greatest love."

Anyone else think that a cold January day is perfect from some Russian intrigue? 

Death Makes a Prophet by John Bude
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2018
Format: Kindle, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"'Small hostilities were growing; vague jealousies were gaining strength; and far off, wasn't there a nebulous hint of approaching tragedy in the air?'

Welworth Garden City in the 1940s is a forward-thinking town where free spirits find a home-vegetarians, socialists, and an array of exotic religious groups. Chief among these are the Children of Osiris, led by the eccentric High Prophet, Eustace K. Mildmann. The cult is a seething hotbed of petty resentment, jealousy and dark secrets - which eventually lead to murder. The stage is set for one of Inspector Meredith's most bizarre and exacting cases.

This witty crime novel by a writer on top form is a neglected classic of British crime fiction."

Nice wordplay in the title in this re-release of some classic British crime fiction!

Scones and Scoundrels by Molly MacRae
Published by: Pegasus Books
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The new mystery in the Highland Bookshop series, bringing together a body outside a pub, a visiting author determined to find the killer, and a murderously good batch of scones...

Inversgail, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, welcomes home native daughter and best-selling environmental writer Daphne Wood. Known as the icon of ecology, Daphne will spend three months as the author in residence for the Inversgail schools. Janet Marsh and her business partners at Yon Bonnie Books are looking forward to hosting a gala book signing for her. Daphne, who hasn’t set foot in Scotland in thirty years, is . . . eccentric. She lives in the Canadian wilderness, in a cabin she built herself, with only her dog for a companion, and her people skills have developed a few rough-hewn edges. She and the dog (which she insists on bringing with her) cause problems for the school, the library, and the bookshop even before they get to Inversgail. Then, on the misty night they arrive, a young man―an American who’d spent a night in the B&B above Yon Bonnie Books―is found dead outside a pub.

Daphne did her Inversgail homework and knows that Janet and her partners solved a previous murder. She tries to persuade them to join her in uncovering the killer and the truth. To prove she’s capable, she starts poking and prying. But investigating crimes can be murder, and Daphne ends up dead, poisoned by scones from the tearoom at Yon Bonnie Books. Now, to save the reputation of their business―not to mention the reputation of their scones―Janet and her partners must solve both murders. And Daphne’s dog might be able to help them, if only they can get it to stop howling..."

Scotland, books, and murder? Some of my favorite things!

The Pyramid of Mud by Andrea Camilleri
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2018
Format: Paperback, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The latest in the New York Times bestselling series has Italy's favorite detective uncovering corruption and mafia ties in the world of construction and public spending.

On a gloomy morning in Vigàta, a call from Fazio rouses Inspector Montalbano from a nightmare. A man called Giugiù Nicotra has been found dead in the skeletal workings of a construction site, a place now entombed by a sea of mud from recent days of rain and floods. Shot in the back, he had fled into a water supply system tunnel. The investigation gets off to a slow start, but all the evidence points to the world of construction and public contracts, a world just as slimy and impenetrable as mud.

As he wades through a world in which construction firms and public officials thrive, Montalbano is obsessed by one thought: that by going to die in the tunnel, Nicotra had been trying to communicate something."

While I adore Penguin and all the covers for their Montalbano books, anyone else annoyed by the word placement of "of"? 

For Audrey with love by Philip Hopman
Published by: NorthSouth Books
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 32 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When two young rising stars—Hubert de Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn—cross paths for the first time—it's magic . . . literally, the perfect fit!

All the famous ladies want a Givenchy dress—actresses, opera singers, princesses and the wife of a president. When Audrey Hepburn has to figure what to wear for her next movie, she approaches Givenchy, but he's too busy to design something just for her. When encourages her to try on clothing from within his collection, they're both stunned by what they discover.

Philip Hopman brings us a stylish and compelling picture book about fashion and friendship that fits like a glove!"

Adorable!

Winterhouse by Ben Guterson
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: January 2nd, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An enchanting urban fantasy middle-grade debut―the first book in a trilogy―set in a magical hotel full of secrets.

Orphan Elizabeth Somers’s malevolent aunt and uncle ship her off to the ominous Winterhouse Hotel, owned by the peculiar Norbridge Falls. Upon arrival, Elizabeth quickly discovers that Winterhouse has many charms―most notably its massive library. It’s not long before she locates a magical book of puzzles that will unlock a mystery involving Norbridge and his sinister family. But the deeper she delves into the hotel’s secrets, the more Elizabeth starts to realize that she is somehow connected to Winterhouse. As fate would have it, Elizabeth is the only person who can break the hotel’s curse and solve the mystery. But will it be at the cost of losing the people she has come to car for, and even Winterhouse itself?

Mystery, adventure, and beautiful writing combine in this exciting debut richly set in a hotel full of secrets."

Middle School me demands I buy this book. The cover, the concept, all of it, sold!  

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:01 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Audrey Hepburn, Ben Guterson, Death Makes a Prophet, Holly Black, Ian Mortimer, Inspector Montalbano, Jennifer Laam, Molly MacRae, Scones and Scoundrels, The Cruel Prince, The Outcasts of Time, Winterhouse

I think I jinxed myself when last year I said that 2017 had a lot riding on it... because it decided to turn into the biggest dumpster fire you can imagine. Yes, suck it 2017, may I NEVER have a year like you ever again for as long as I live. I know a lot of you probably feel this way as well, but after multiple family deaths and all the chaos and cleaning that followed, I felt like most of my time wasn't my own, except when I could escape into books. Therefore once again I have to say thank you to literature, without you I wouldn't have kept my sanity, or at least kept a small sliver of sanity. So now let's look back on what I read in 2017 and see if I remember any of it!  

1) No Wind of Blame by Georgette Heyer: I read this book solely so I could read the sequel which is supposedly a really great Christmas murder mystery. This was NOT a great murder mystery and in fact I was rage reading near the end, which is when the murder finally happened and sadly was only one of the many unlikeable characters. 

2) Creature Comforts by Charles Addams: It's Charles Addams, he's my go-to happy place. Don't judge me that my happy place is dark and macabre, because it also has a wicked sense of humor. 

3) The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde: Interesting fact, I still haven't finished this series. Could it be because the first book is the best and it's all downhill from there? Yes. Yes it is. 

4) Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu: I can totally see why everyone is talking about this series. Not only is the art amazing with the anthropomorphized animals, but the mythology is wicked cool. Can't wait to read more because I have a feeling once I'm more in the world I won't be as confused as I was on this first reading. 

5) The Pirates!: In an Adventure with the Romantics by Gideon Defoe: It's the Pirate Captain! It's Mary Shelley and her obsession with monsters! It's just awesome. Read it. READ ALL OF THEM! PS, Gideon Defoe, I need more.

6) The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab by Gideon Defoe: This was a re-read to write a review because this second adventure was all about whales and seafaring jokes and I loved it so much it was one of my top books of 2016!

7) Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie: Don't trust old ladies. Except Miss Marple. But Miss Marple isn't supposed to be in this one, grumble stupid TV adaptation, so read the book don't watch the TV movie, and don't trust old ladies!

8) Lumberjanes, Vol. 5: Band Together by Noelle Stevenson: Who knows what happened in this one, hijinks and bad spelling and grammar errors is my guess. 

9) We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: I had MEANT to finish this re-read back in October, but I kept forgetting, so this wonderfully atmospheric re-read didn't get finished until 2017.

10) A Treasury of XXth Century Murder: The Lindbergh Child by Rick Geary: This was the first and SO not the last of the crime graphic novels written by Rick Geary which I just fell in love with this year. While I don't agree with his conclusions, I really liked HOW he told the tale.

11) Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie by Anne Martinetti: All I really remember about this is that a young Agatha was reading The Hound of the Baskervilles at the same time I was, so it was neat synchronicity.

12) Serenity: No Power in the 'Verse #4 by Chris Roberson: A whole comic "season" of Firefly that could have easily been one episode.

13) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: A House Divided (Season 11, #3) by Christos Gage: Dragons, government, blah blah blah.

14) Squirrel Power (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, #1) by Ryan North: Squirrel Girl is AWESOME! Mainly because she deals with baddies with psychology and only slightly kicking butts, but with eating LOTS of nuts. 

15) Squirrel You Know It's True (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, #2) by Ryan North: But THE BEST thing about Squirrel Girl is how she trolls Tony Stark on Twitter. 

16) The Hound of the Baskervilles by Artur Conan Doyle: Really, if you read one Sherlock Holmes story ever, make it this one. It's a classic for a reason.

17) Angel: Out of the Past, Part 1 (Season 11, #1) by Corinna Bechko: Bugs, Fred, Angel, traveling through the past, whatever. Season 11 has been pretty lame.

18) The Carter Family: Don't Forget This Song by Frank M. Young: While a great grounding in the Carter family, I felt that it didn't do a proper job of showcasing their legacy. So in other words, a second volume is needed STAT!

19) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré: I think this is easily the most overrated spy novel of all time. It's dense and oblique and confusing, and seriously, not much happens. Maybe for my next le Carré I'll try The Night Manager. I loved that adaptation, so who knows... but if that book sucks to I don't think I'll ever read le Carré again.  

20) The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Volume 3: Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now by Ryan North: Is anyone else just really annoyed with the fan mail being included? It's just so intrusive to the narrative AND just seems to be too self-congratulatory.

21) Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: It's amazing that, given how many times I've read this book that it still hooks me and makes me totally worried that Catherine and Henry won't get their happily ever after.

22) Sunny, Vol. 1 by Taiyo Matsumoto: Bleak graphic novel about kids in foster care. I'm glad the library didn't have any more volumes because I might have felt obliged to read them.

23) Tony and Susan by Austin Wright: Ugh, how did this book get published? Just bleak death and more death. Also, it was weird in how the book wasn't a hit in the US but was in the UK so when it was republished here to coincide with the movie based on it that they kept all the Anglicizations in.

24) Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson, #10) by Patricia Briggs: OK, who else was totally psyched that Mercy got out of the US AND got to meet the Golem of Prague!?!

25) The Uninvited by Cat Winters: Weird WWI tale about a small town where basically everyone died but they didn't know they died so they're going about still trying to live their lives. I didn't like it. 

26) Clean Room, Vol. 1: Immaculate Conception by Gail Simone: I literally have no idea what I read here, it was weird and dreamlike and I think I need to read the next volume to even get a grasp on it. 

27) DC Comics: Bombshells, Vol. 2: Allies by Marguerite Bennett: Yeah, the Bombshells aren't doing much and it's just all jumbled. Shows you can't write a series based on pinups of Superheroes... 

28) Angel: Out of the Past, Part 2 (Season 11, #2) by Corinna Bechko: Angel has sucked (haha) ever sense the writing team that made season 9 so good left to write Buffy. 

29) Serenity: No Power in the 'Verse #5 by Chris Roberson: Again, this could have easily been told in a far more concise manner.

30) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Desperate Times (Season 11, #4) by Christos Gage: Interment camps, magic is dangerous, too much politics, it's like The Initiative in season four, just too much real stupid shit, I read comics to escape. 

31) Angel: Out of the Past, Part 3 (Season 11, #3) by Corinna Bechko: More blah Angel. 

32) A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) by V.E. Schwab: Regency England and magic!?! You KNOW I'm down for this!

33) The Saga of the Bloody Benders by Rick Geary: Oddly enough I had heard about these murderous innkeepers before... what I didn't know is how their "inn" was basically a spare bed in their house or that they literally just disappeared.

34) The Mystery of Mary Rogers by Rick Geary: The murder of a young New Yorker and how it grabbed people's attention. This sure grabbed mine.

35) Lovers' Lane: the Hall-Mills Mystery by Rick Geary: There was something about this murder of an adulterous couple in New Jersey that seemed so familiar to me. What really struck me was the destruction of the bibles in the church.

36) The Case of Madeleine Smith by Rick Geary: IF you're going to poison someone, be a little more clever about how you get your poison OK?

37) The Borden Tragedy: A Memoir of the Infamous Double Murder at Fall River, Mass., 1892 by Rick Geary: What I have found interesting is that in the last year or so there's been a real shift toward Lizzie Borden being innocent. This graphic novel makes a compelling argument for a different killer. 

38) A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2) by V.E. Schwab: And this series went downhill fast. I feel like she was told only trilogies sold and just made up this very long and boring magical duel to fulfill her contract.

39) Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4) by Ursula K. Le Guin: Yes, I got sucked into Earthsea this past year... of the back end of the cycle this was easily my favorite focusing on Tenar's new life, but the ending was too rushed and sloppy for me to give it my full seal of approval.

40) Tales from Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #5) by Ursula K. Le Guin: Ah, short stories, what a mixed bag... as in some I liked and some were just WTF did I just read.

41) The Murder of Abraham Lincoln by Rick Geary: I totally didn't know that Lincoln had a dream that he was going to die. In fact this graphic novel would be great for schools, because I learned more about Lincoln's assassination than I knew before.

42) The Other Wind (Earthsea Cycle, #6) by Ursula K. Le Guin: Time for magic to change, women to get power, and people to turn into dragons... OK...

43) Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: Again, how can I become so invested in Austen knowing the outcome? What's interesting to me is how each time something else strikes me, this time it was that the "old man" Colonel Brandon was about my age!

44) Giant Days, Vol. 4 by John Allison: College trials, blah blah blah. Giant Days is amusing in the moment but easily forgettable.

45) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: What's interesting about Pride and Prejudice is that I think the book entirely hangs on Mr. Collins. He is the humorous glue that holds the whole book together.

46) Baltimore, Vol. 2: The Curse Bells (Baltimore, #2) by Mike Mignola: I don't remember how many Baltimore comics I read this year... so this might have been the one with vampire nuns, but I can't be sure...

47) A Treasury of Victorian Murder Compendium: Including: Jack the Ripper, The Beast of Chicago, Fatal Bullet by Rick Geary: Oh look, proof that H.H. Holmes IS everywhere. Though oddly it was the assassination of Garfield and the creation of air conditioning that I found most fascinating.

48) Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: Seriously, I don't know why this is Austen's most maligned novel. It's seriously one of my favorites and I related to it on a whole new level as I'm suffering from Caregivers Syndrome.

49) The Circle by Dave Eggers: If Google had more nefarious plans... the parody of tech was spot on, and that ending packed a punch, but that doesn't save it from being a very uneven book.

50) Serenity: No Power in the 'Verse #6 by Chris Roberson: Again, this story is going on too long. 

51) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Desperate Measures (Season 11, #5) by Christos Gage: I believe this is in the camp for magical people...

52) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Back to the Wall (Season 11, #6) by Christos Gage: And this is Buffy being a cop in that camp...

53) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Disempowered (Season 11, #7) by Christos Gage: And then having her power removed so that she could get out...

54) Angel: Out of the Past, Part 4 (Season 11, #4) by Corinna Bechko: I can only justify buying these comics for their amazing covers, because what's between the covers is barely worth reading. 

55) Angel: Time and Tide, Part 1 (Season 11, #5) by Corinna Bechko: Cover lust, that is all. 

56) Haddon Hall: When David Invented Bowie by Néjib: While I take issue with the title, because David was already calling himself Bowie at this point, there were things I loved, like the house being the narrator and how David took care of his mentally ill brother, the one who eventually killed himself. I'd actually like to read more of this, as in follow the house, not the people. Though I did read a book like that once and the house lacking a voice made it a slog.

57) Lumberjanes, Vol. 6: Sink or Swim by Shannon Watters: I'm assuming this is when they went to sea and it was all selkies and seafaring and rather meh. 

58) Harrow County, Vol. 4: Family Tree by Cullen Bunn: OMG! Emmy's family has totally taken this series to another level. Their "home" is like some Twin Peaks Black Lodge that comes and goes and they are all freakin' insane and evil! I. AM. LOVING. THIS!

59) Emma by Jane Austen: Huh. Last time I read Emma I wanted to beat her to death, this time I enjoyed it... which is why people should always re-read books! They change depending on who we are and our circumstances at the time.

60) Angel: Time and Tide, Part 2 (Season 11, #6) by Corinna Bechko: Angel/Angelus, I bought it for the cover.

61) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ordinary People (Season 11, #8) by Christos Gage: Buffy is powerless and yet I still think she'd have a little more power than this... she's been trained to fight almost all her life and even without the magical strength she still has her training!

62) The Daughter of Odren (Earthsea Cycle, #6.5) by Ursula K. Le Guin: I can literally remember NOTHING of this short story... 

63) Tales of H.P. Lovecraft by H.P. Lovecraft: OK, I get why he's considered a master now. While the more famous stories didn't grip me, At the Mountain of Madness kind of left me cold, some of his shorter stories are so memorable I think I'll never forget them. Especially The Rats in the Walls and The Shunned House. Though they do get a little repetitive. 

64) Black Dahlia by Rick Geary: While I thought I knew about the Black Dahlia from various things I've seen or read over the years, this added a lot of new detail I didn't know, such as her having different military men to lean on...

65) Persuasion by Jane Austen: Seriously, so good. How was Austen able to balance the truth of love and life with such humor. Again it's these humorous characters, AKA ALL Anne's family that make this book so perfect.

66) Angel: Time and Tide, Part 3 (Season 11, #7) by Corinna Bechko: Blurg, more Angel that I basically feel compelled to read at this point.

67) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Great Escape (Season 11, #9) by Christos Gage: I think this was Buffy and Willow going to get their powers back...

68) The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! by Mo Willems: Pigeon is kind of a dick who doesn't want to share now does he? The best part of the Pigeon books are the front and end papers are different showing how he has progressed through the story.

69) The Pigeon Needs a Bath! by Mo Willems: The best part here is when Pigeon finally gets in the bath we have a montage of how he never leaves it and all the fun he has. 

70) The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems: Duckling annoys me with the over cute and sweet disposition. Maybe Duckling is secretly a serial killer? One can hope.

71) The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! by Mo Willems: This is the one I related to the most. Because my cat LOVED horses, but I think he thought they were like an inch tall. The scene where Pigeon meets a puppy is EXACTLY how I always thought Spot meeting a horse would go.

72) Nanette's Baguette by Mo Willems: It all rhymes! Also it's 3-D with the drawings and assemblages, but in the end it felt too try-hard.

73) A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet, #1) by Madeleine L'Engle: God, this book really has no plot. The preview for the movie made me basically go, "I know I've read this book many times and yet I have no idea what happens." So I picked up the book and realized how shit it is. What annoyed me the most you ask? Aside from there being no ending? That Meg's stupid ass little brother would NEVER talk like that. I spent July hanging out with my friends kids who are that age and he's too unrealistic to bear.

74) There is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems: I'm guessing there was a bird on Gerald's head?

75) We Are in a Book by Mo Willems: I love the meta nature of this one with breaking the fourth wall and talking to the readers. Too cute. 

76) Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems: I might relate a little too strongly to Gerald who spends so much time debating sharing his treat that it melts and he has no treat to even share.

77) I'm a Frog! by Mo Willems: Piggie thinks she's a frog... and that's about all I remember, what I can gather from the front cover.

78) Waiting is Not Easy! by Mo Willems: Yes, waiting isn't easy. At all. 

79) The Thank You Book by Mo Willems: Why did the Piggie and Elephant books ever have to end? 

80) The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville: Yeah, this wasn't a good book to introduce me to Miéville. He came across as so smug with how he knows so much about abstract expressionism and art and then humble brags later that he doesn't really. It could make a wonderful little animated film with the two leads wandering through a shelled out Paris with their artwork come alive. But as for a book it's a fail. 

81) Snotgirl, Vol. 1: Green Hair Don't Care by Bryan Lee O'Malley: Trying too hard to be woke. Also, I'm missing Bryan's drawings. It doesn't feel like his voice is coming through with just the writing. It's making me question if I really like his writing...

82) Snotgirl #6 by Bryan Lee O'Malley: Starting to like the characters, but still, more forward momentum needed, less just wasting time. Especially as this comic only comes out every other month they should at least try to make an effort at advancing the narrative.

83) The English Wife by Lauren Willig: Best part of this blog? Getting to read books, like Lauren's latest months early! It's twisty, it's turny, it has shades of Du Maurier, and this January when it comes out is the PERFECT time to read it!

84) Harrow County, Vol. 5: Abandoned by Cullen Bunn: The best stories are when things happen that you didn't in the least expect. Holy shit! She's had family nearby all along!?! 

85) Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand: I didn't expect to like this little Gothic tale about 70s folk artists so much. Yes, it ended abruptly and awkwardly, but it was the perfect book to read in the waning days of summer.

86) Angel: Time and Tide Part 4 (Season 11, #8) by Corinna Bechko: Eh, more Angel. 

87) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Crimes Against Nature (Season 11, #10) by Christos Gage: Was this when Buffy took her power back from the other slayers? Because that is easily my most favorite part of this season! 

88) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: I hate Offred. Really, she's not a nice person. BUT I find the story itself about women losing all their rights eerily relevant and I just keep thinking about it more and more.

89) The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) by Philip Pullman: The best of the original trilogy. Full of snow and magic and armored bears! You can see why this book captured so many peoples imaginations. There's something about it that made it an instant classic.

90) Kill or Be Killed, Vol. 1 by Ed Brubaker: Guy kills other bad guys in order live because otherwise a demon that saved him will destroy him. But is the demon real? Now THAT is what I'm most interested in at the moment. Our antihero's mental state.

91) Giant Days, Vol. 5 by John Allison: Is this the one where they move off campus? Because having never lived in a dorm, this is more the college life I can relate to!

92) Once Upon a Time in the North (His Dark Materials, #0.5) by Philip Pullman: Lee Scorsby's first meeting with Iorek! But that doesn't happen until the end of the story. Before that we have manipulative politicians, interesting characters, and the true gentleman that is Lee Scorsby!

93) The Collectors (His Dark Materials, #0.6) by Philip Pullman: Two cursed artifacts in our world from another. I liked how this shed light on the differing timelines between worlds, but more importantly, while Mrs. Coulter was evil, with her daemon she had an everlasting bond that is almost sweet in how sinister it is. 

94) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Revelations (Season 11, #11) by Christos Gage: Buffy now fighting the baddies? I think that's what is going on now... also, the Big Bad as what, secretary of state? Lame.  

95) Angel: Dark Refelections, Part 1 (Season 11, #9) by Corinna Bechko: Angel tries to change his past. Don't be stupid Angel. But then again, Angel was always kind of dumb, Angelus was the smarter of the two.

96) Clean Room, Vol. 2: Exile (Clean Room, #2) by Gail Simone: Confusing, jumbled, bad people trying to take over the world, but is there redemption, it's very muddled, and yet I can't stop reading it!

97) Truths, Half Truths and Little White Lies by Nick Frost: I NEVER want to read about a kibbutz EVER again. Because while Frost's stories about his family are great as are his later stories about meeting Simon Pegg and how they shot to stardom together, there's just so much boring routines on a kibbutz in between that it drags down the narrative. Though his ghost story is top notch and makes up for a lot of failings. In fact can we get a book of just him and Simon ghost hunting? Or maybe a TV show!

98) In The Pines by Erik Kriek: Taking old murder ballads and making them into a graphic novel? I would have been like, I don't think it will work, and I would have been wrong. This was just so well done, and dark, and showing that grim glimpse of Americana. Everyone should read this. EVERYONE.

99) Jessica Jones, Vol. 1: Uncaged! by Brian Michael Bendis: So Jessica is now being dragged into that whole stupid Hydra/Captain America thing? No thanks. This is where I and the Jessica Jones comics forever part ways. They're nowhere near as good as the TV show anyway. And not just because of David Tennant.

100) Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez Gomez: A girl's drawings come to life as nightmares who want her to draw more? Seriously, I am not joking that if I had read this as a young kid I would NEVER have drawn again. It's nightmare inducing, that's for sure.

101) Harrow County, Vol. 6: Hedge Magic by Cullen Bunn: OK, so I read this after getting my flu shot, so my memory might be even more fuzzy, but this was more about Emmy's friend and how she balances Emmy in Harrow County. Just please, let them stay friends and fight evil together, not each other!

102) Harrow County #25 by Cullen Bunn: Read the same day as the TPB so not quite sure what part of the narrative this covered...

103) Harrow County #26 by Cullen Bunn: But I know this covered that bitch Kammi coming in and deciding to kick Emmy's ass for killing her.

104) How to Talk to Girls at Parties by Neil Gaiman: The drawings in this were so weird. The characters looked like overly garish glam rock stars who don't know how to pluck their eyebrows. As for the story... I haven't read the original short, but there was hardly any dialogue. Exactly how did they make this into a film?

105) The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, #2) by Philip Pullman: I don't like how Will kind of forces his way into being the protagonist with Lyra taking a backseat. But there are so many moments that are amazing that I am able to forgive a lot. Though Lee Scorsby's death STILL haunts me.

106) Thornhill by Pam Smy: Half the story is diary entries and half the story is drawings and all the story is lame. It's too obvious what's happening, the foreshadowing is so heavy handed that I felt like Smy was bashing me over the head with that Susan Hill poster. Those who are bullied can become bullies and become evil. Thanks for that uplifting message Smy.

107) The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3) by Philip Pullman: And so, for now, Lyra's journey comes to an end with most of the story being about Wheeler like creatures, and I HATE Wheelers. 

108) Lyra's Oxford (His Dark Materials, #3.5) by Philip Pullman: What I love SO MUCH about this little short story is how Oxford as a city looks to protect Lyra from whatever harm might come her way.

109) La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust, #1) by Philip Pullman: I tried to rein in my expectations for this book and I really didn't need to. Pullman has delivered the BEST book he has written about Lyra yet. It was so perfect, from Malcolm and his lovely life with his boat, to the spycraft of those working against the Magesterium. If it wasn't for all the Austen I read this year this book had a chance at the best read of the year. Though it is still totally on my longer list!

110) Buffy the Vampire Slayer: One Girl in All the World (Season 11, #12) by Christos Gage: And Buffy gave the other slayers their power back!?! NO! ALL THE NO IN THE WORLD! One Girl! ONE GIRL! They had finally got it aligned back up with Fray and now this!?! NO! PS, I am OK with Faith having her powers because she has really redeemed herself in the comics, probably because I don't have to actually listen to Eliza Dushku.

111) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Vol. 1: The Crucible by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa: This was just odd. It wasn't really spooky or weird and had lots of random cannibalism. I will be interested to see how Netflix makes it into a series though.

112) Angel: Dark Refelections, Part 2 (Season 11, #10) by Corinna Bechko: Angel and Ilyria!?! NO! NO! NOPE! She would never. NO!!!!!

113) Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood (Monstress, #2) by Marjorie Liu: Oh, the story is getting more interesting. Off to a mysterious island to learn the truth about gods!?! Yes, it's coming together nicely, though not so nice for me is that I've caught up! There's no more to read until the end of January!!!

114) Monty Python's Book of Silly Walks by David Merveille: Pointless book. A drawing of John Cleese in one of his silly walks poses in different situations. Also there was a MAJOR typo in the sparse text.

115) Snotgirl #7 by Bryan Lee O'Malley: It's always difficult merging different groups of friends, sometimes they hate each other, sometimes they get along, and sometimes they use their very embarrassing nickname for you in front of everyone and then you're forever screwed.

116) The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter: The main story, a retelling of Bluebeard was spot on, and was obviously such a source of inspiration for the movie Crimson Peak, the rest... the rest fell pretty flat. Again, why I usually don't like to read books of short stories, they are too uneven, and here kind of repetitive. 

117) The Secret History of Twin Peaks by Mark Frost: I HAVE ANSWERS! I know things now that the Twin Peaks cliffhanger left up in the air! Annie! Ed and Norma! Also, Laura really didn't die now! WTH, I SO want another season, but so many of the cast died and I don't think they can all be teapots.

118) Harrow County #27 by Cullen Bunn: Just fucking kill Kammi. KILL HER!!!

119) The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick: A true science fiction classic. Such a wonderful way to explore an alternate ending to WWII through the eyes of a few characters we grow to love. Plus the wonderful TV series that was based on it. Seriously, so much awesome has come into my life with this book.* 

120) The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley: The blurb doesn't do this book justice. It makes it sound stolid and boring, when it's about magic and myths still existing when you get off the beaten track. While I've never really wanted to go to Peru, this made me for sure never want to go, altitude sickness would kill me. I am not joking. 

121) The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero: I read this book in three sittings, and at each sitting the book got worse. It became less Gothic, more stupid secret society, until the ending was basically a whimper not a bang. Start strong, end strong, that's how a book should be. Also I was really looking forward to this author's new book, now... not so much.

122) Snotgirl #8 by Bryan Lee O'Malley: Time for the "girl" or in this case, "girls" to take a break and let the guys have an issue, wherein not much happened, but that's kind of the slow way this series is playing out... 

123) Angel: Dark Refelections, Part 3 (Season 11, #11) by Corinna Bechko: And they're back from all the time traveling and everything is still fucked. Stupid season eleven. Oh, can I send Eleven after the writers to kick their asses?

124) FukuFuku: Kitten Tales 2 by Kanata Konami: Oh, kitties! I love cats so much, but now the kitten is all grown up so there's no more adorable tales for me to read until Kanata Konami decides what to do in the post-Chi world!

125) Kill or Be Killed, Vol. 2 by Ed Brubaker: So, we're leaning towards crazy right? Right!?! Also, that new girlfriend had NO right to do that gallery show, even if it provided our antihero with his "oh shit" moment. Also, the whole manhunt seems to be played out IMO.

126) Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Vol. 1 by Ichirou Ohkouchi: Yeah, this was just so dumb I've basically forgotten everything and I literally just read it! 

127) Herding Cats (Sarah's Scribbles, #3) by Sarah Andersen: Sarah Andersen is a genius, a national treasure, she somehow is able to read my mind and my soul and make it into art. How does she do that!?! So TOTALLY be sure to pick up this book when it comes out later this year.

128) Bandette, Volume 1: Presto! by Paul Tobin: Like French Adam West Batman with the soul of Amelie. I adored this slim volume about a master thief and can't wait to read the next two volumes!

129) Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield: Why does this book have no plot!?! HOW WAS THIS BOOK PUBLISHED WITH NO PLOT!?! It's 100 pages of Bellman working in a mill, another 200 pages of him making his own "Mr. Selfridge's of Death" and then he dies. That isn't a book! No matter that it's bound and printed and all that, that isn't a book!!!

130) Harrow County #28 by Cullen Bunn: Kammi's dead let's do a dance of joy! Oh shit, Hester's back and I'm not getting a new issue for a few months!?! How will I survive!?!

131) The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2) by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling: After reading the first book I at least knew this series is more about the characters than the crimes, and I do genuinely care for Cormoran and Robin... the rest of it all? It dragged and in the end I couldn't care less who the killer was. But I still enjoyed reading it. Like the journey was better than the destination.

132) Bandette, Volume 2: Stealers Keepers! by Paul Tobin: Nice finish to the Finis storyline (see what I did there!) I'm seriously in love with this series I want it to last forever! 

133) Bandette, Volume 3: The House of the Green Mask by Paul Tobin: If I thought the first two volumes were awesome, they were NOTHING compared to the awesomeness of this volume. Secret societies, art history, chocolate! Everything a girl could want.   

134) Bandette #14 by Paul Tobin: Oh, a new adventure, and one involving art that was used to convey secret messages! It's like this series was written just for me. If only Pimento was a cat, not that I'd ever suggest to Pimento that he should be a cat!**

135) Bandette #15 by Paul Tobin: I don't really remember what happened here just because as I was about to write my review I found that Goodreads had removed my previous review for #14 and thrown down the "comics aren't books" gauntlet once again and I saw red.  

136) Brian Kesinger's Inked Tales by Brian Kesinger: Oh, how I love Brian's art, but here, reading this book, I had totally forgotten how obsessed I used to be with mermaids. I think mermaids are FAR more of a universal phase girls go through than ponies... All the little jokes, all the amazing varieties! Brian you are a genius, I can't wait until I get my hardcover copy this year!

137) Brian Kesinger's Penned Dragons by Brian Kesinger: How funny that I backed this project for the Dragons and yet it's the mermaids I was drawn to reading first... But I still totally want a dragon. Maybe I want to be a dragon? One with a nice big book horde...

138) Angel: Dark Refelections, Part 4 (Season 11, #12) by Corinna Bechko: And THANK Illyria that's over with. I mean, seriously, this was a BAD season. Nothing redeeming it. And the fact that the stuff they brought back with them was needed to destroy the creature? Lame. So they HAD to go back in time to then destroy it? Nope. Doesn't make sense to me.

139) Burn Bright by Patrica Briggs: While I love me my Mercy Thompson, I just relate more to Anna and Charles. Their newest adventure might just be my favorite. Not just because it's thankfully almost horse free, but because it digs into pack politics and also works on healing Anna's wounds. Also art and magic and witches! Seriously, I adore this series.

140) Giant Days Vol. 6 by John Allison: Daisy gets the girl! Sigh, this makes me very happy. Even if the girl is a crazy German...

141) Giant Days #25 by John Allison: Christmas! Very timely no? Also, Susan makes SO MUCH MORE SENSE when seen through the lens of her family.

142) Giant Days #26 by John Allison: Dean Thomas (no, not that Dean Thomas) finds love in a MMORPG! Of course things don't go according to plan. Hehe.

143) Giant Days #27 by John Allison: Esther gets woke. Which, yeah, it kind of works, but still, kind of unbelievable...

144) Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer: Start the year with a shitty Heyer, end the year with a great Heyer! Just what I needed to fit my holiday mood. A humorous and snarky holiday murder, where yes, I did see who the murderer was from a long way off, but the banter kept the story going for the most part. Perhaps a wee bit of editing could have helped and maybe gotten the book into my top ten... 

145) Clean Room, Vol. 3: Waiting for the Stars to Fall (Clean Room, #3) by Gail Simone: Huh. For a series which kind of prided themselves on being almost inscrutable this was oddly a clean and concise wrap up of the first arc. Though it oddly did give me nightmares. Literally.

*This is where my number count is off from Goodreads because The Man in the High Castle was in an omnibus where I didn't read the other three books. 

**This is where my number count gets even more divergent from Goodreads due to our continued disagreement on comics being books. I believe they are, they believe they aren't. I'm hoping time will prove me the victor, like it did with our Terry Pratchett numbering fiasco. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

The English Wife by Lauren Willig
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 9th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Bayard Van Duyvil has the perfect life. The sole male heir of an old Knickerbocker family he has a beautiful English wife, for whom he's recreated her ancestral home on the banks of the Hudson, and two beautiful children, three-year-old fraternal twins Viola and Sebastian. But there are rumors that everything isn't as perfect as it seems. Why would Bayard and his wife Annabelle hide themselves away in Cold Springs? A beautiful house is no excuse to being a recluse when New York society thirsts for your lifeblood. Soon New York society will get exactly what it craves when during a lavish ball to celebrate Twelfth Night Bayard is found with a knife in his chest and the name Georgie on his lips while his wife has disappeared. Everyone believes that the rumors about Annabelle and the house's architect at true. She has murdered her husband and absconded with her lover! The only one who doesn't believe the salacious lies all the newspapers are printing is Bay's younger sister, Janie. She is expected to keep calm and wait for the scandal to die down. But it pains her to see Annabelle's name dragged through the mud, they didn't know her like she did. A chance encounter with a reporter from The News of the World, a Mr. Burke, leads Janie to form a tenuous alliance with a man who represents the scandal rags that are pulling her world apart. Before too long Janie realizes that perhaps she didn't know Annabelle or even Bay. But with the tenacious and increasingly devoted Mr. Burke helping her she will get to the bottom of her brother's death and perhaps solve the mysteries of his life.

Having first read Lauren back in 2007 a short time after her third Pink Carnation book, The Deception of the Emerald Ring, had hit bookshelves I don't want to claim I'm an expert on her writing, but I have been along for the ride for a decade now. She's even one of the reasons I decided to start my blog! While I have loved reading every single one of her books, finding characters to love and to hate, ones to root for and ones that I long to see fall flat on their faces, the greatest joy was seeing her mature as a writer. When she wrote her first standalone, The Ashford Affair, back in 2013 she tapped into something new. Her writing started to move beyond the dual timeline narrative where despite troubles everyone gets a happily ever after. While I am a fan of this wish fulfillment in writing sometimes I feel that it's unsatisfying. That it doesn't actually reflect the world around us. Sometimes I don't want everyone to get a happy ending. This was very much showcased with That Summer, Lauren's 2014 standalone which might just be my favorite book she's written. Here Lauren had matured to a point that she was willing to kill off characters that we, the readers, had very much fallen in love with. Thankfully after going a little darker Lauren didn't reign it in. She continued this exploration of the underbelly of humanity in The Other Daughter and now in The English Wife. Sometimes good intentions lead to death. Sometimes love can't conquer all. Sometimes there are secrets that will out no matter what. As for me, I loved every second of the seedier side, it's like Gossip Girl 1800s.   

If there is one linking thread through Lauren's work it would be her love of Shakespeare. Of course, seeing as he helped forge the very language we all use he could be considered important to every book ever written, but with Lauren it's special. I dare you to count the number of times her characters have had their mouth's stopped with a kiss as Benedick does to Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. Here though we've reached a whole new level wherein Shakespeare seems another character in the story. Annabelle and Bay meet in London where she is working on stage in a musical evisceration of Twelfth Night at the Ali Baba Theater. If the play's the thing, Twelfth Night is the thing in The English Wife. Bay meets his death on Twelfth Night, their palatial recreation of Lacey Hall is renamed Illyria, and Bay and Annabelle's children are named after the hero and heroine of the play. But the references aren't just about infusing The English Wife with a bit of Annabelle's homeland via Shakespeare. The play itself is filled with confusion, merriment, love, gender, orientation, romance, and thankfully not a random lion like in As You Like It. These are themes that are all seen in Annabelle and Bay's story. Lauren has mined Shakespeare to help not only create a mirror to her story but to show the universality of it. I could quote Shakespeare here, but instead I feel like quoting Battlestar Galactica, "All of this has happened before and will happen again." Humanity has a basic universality to it. The building blocks are all the same. Shakespeare knew this and so does Lauren. Sure, everything is a tale as old as time, but it's how you go about telling it that makes it unique.

While Shakespeare is classic, there's another author to whom this moniker belongs that The English Wife shares some DNA with and that's Daphne Du Maurier. I'm going to say this right out, there is no one like Daphne Du Maurier. Therefore when any book that is mildly Gothic and has a house starts throwing around comparisons to this unparalleled author I just want them to shut it. Because whatever they have written will be a disappointment because comparisons are nothing more than a marketing ploy. The book won't deliver and you'll spend all your time wondering why you're just not re-reading Rebecca. When I read The English Wife back in August there were obviously no reviews yet. No one proclaiming that The English Wife is in the least like Du Maurier. Nothing to taint or sully my initial impressions. Therefore I was wonderfully surprised that the denouement of the book set during the inquest and a subsequent blizzard trapping our cast of characters at Illyria felt like a modern interpretation of Du Maurier. I'm not sure if Lauren purposefully set out to do this, because most attempts fail in the execution, and yet, here she is, bucking the odds. What I think helped is that instead of going for the big similarities, she started small, with Giles Lacey, Annabelle's cousin from England, who happens to share a name with Maxim de Winter's brother-in-law. Though THIS Giles would be mortified that I called him small! Instead of reminding me of Rebecca's former in-law, he reminded me of Rebecca's cousin Jack Favell, and in particular George Sanders's portrayal of him in the Hitchcock film. From there it snowballed into other similarities to the book and Hitchcock's adaptation, but always still being Lauren's voice. How Lauren has mastered this, I do not know, but she gets a tip of my hat.

Yet that isn't the only doffing of my hat that I must do in reviewing The English Wife! Now this isn't a brag, or even a faux humble brag, the fact is I'm just really good at figuring out plot lines. Be it a procedural show or a whodunit, I will solve it so fast that you won't know what hit you. A recent example of my weird "gift" was when I was watching Big Little Lies. Now I hadn't read the book but in a seven episode miniseries I was able to put ALL the pieces together and proclaim them as fact before the end credits rolled on the first episode. Six more wasted hours later and I was proven right. Sometimes to try to make things harder on myself I'll tune into a show halfway through and see if I can figure out what's going on without any exposition. Ironically Elementary has proven to be the easiest to crack. Now I think you can see why I like character driven stories that are quirky. Humor goes a long way to fill plot holes. So why am I going on about this bizarre quirk of my analytical brain? Because when someone actually pulls one over on me I feel this need to give them a standing ovation. In The English Wife I was so involved in two of the reveals that it's like Lauren smacked me upside the head with the biggest one and I didn't see it coming. At all. Bravo Lauren! It's like there were these shining motes of dust alighting on Bay and his wife and their marital woes and I was linking a to b to c and going ah yes, I see how it is, and yet I didn't see! It was there, looming right around the corner, and it pounced and got me. If Lauren were a lion I would be a goner.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Daphne Du Maurier, Gossip Girl, Hudson Valley, Lauren Willig, Maxim de Winter, Rebecca, Shakespeare, That Summer, The Ashford Affair, The English Wife, The Other Daughter, Twelfth Night, Willig Winter

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: 1926
Format: Paperback, 4256 Pages
To Buy

"Okay, so this doesn’t really count as research, per se. The Blue Castle is the story of downtrodden Valency Stirling, the awkward cousin and perpetual poor relation, who finally kicks over the traces and blossoms into her own person, horrifying her family and delighting readers.

Yes, yes, all very well, but what, you may ask, does a novel set in rural Canada have to do with a murder suicide in Gilded Age New York? (Aside from Anne of Green Gables’s feelings about puffed sleeves.)

Here’s the answer: there are two female narrators in The English Wife: Georgie, an actress, and Janie Van Duyvil, younger sister of the murdered man. My little sister always gives me comments on the early chapters of my books. This time, she took one look at those Janie chapters and said, “You do realize that Janie is Valency Stirling, right?” Actually, I hadn’t realized. But, as always, my sister was right. (She has a habit of being right about these things.) Janie Van Duyvil and Valency Stirling are kindred spirits, quirky characters who have been cowed into conformity by overbearing mothers, both of whom are freed by the catalyst of a traumatic event: in Valency’s case, thinking she has only months to live; in Janie’s case, the death of her brother, disappearance of her sister-in-law, and savaging of her family’s reputation. So that’s why The Blue Castle is on this list. Also because it’s one of my favorite books of all time and everyone should read it, right away." - Lauren Willig

The official patter:
"An unforgettable story of courage and romance. Will Valancy Stirling ever escape her strict family and find true love?

All her life, Valancy Stirling lived on a quiet little street in an ugly little house and never dared to contradict her domineering mother and her unforgiving aunt. Then she gets a letter―and decides that very day things need to change. For the first time in her life, she does exactly what she wants to and says exactly what she feels.

At first her family thinks she's gone around the bend. But soon Valancy discovers more surprises and adventure than she ever thought possible. She also finds her one true love and the real-life version of the Blue Castle that she was sure only existed in her dreams..."

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anne of Green Gables, Gilded Age, Janie Van Duyvil, L.M. Montgomery, Lauren Willig, Love, New York, The Blue Castle, The English Wife, Valency Stirling, Van Duyvil, Willig Winter

With what we've all gone through publicly and privately this year it's more important than ever to come together with those we love for a wonderful holiday season. I'm sending wishes for the best possible Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate because for all I know you think this is just the day we get new episode of Doctor Who, and yes, we're getting not only a new Doctor Who episode but a new Doctor this year! "Cthulhu bless us, everyone!" Wait... that doesn't sound right...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 12th Doctor, A Christmas Carol, Christmas, Cthulu, Doctor Who, Happy Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry X-mas, The 13th Doctor, Tiny Tim, X-Mas