The Magical Hour
My Doggie!
So, daylight savings time went into effect this morning. I got an extra hour of sleep and I am WAY too excited about it! My doggie and I had a nice lie-in until it was time to get ready for work. Did you all do anything awesome with your extra hour? Unless you live in Arizona, then you didn’t get a magical hour this morning. But, then again, you don’t loose an hour in the spring either, so I suppose it balances out.
Last weekend I was away at the ACTFest theater competition in Wetumpka, AL. I was stage managing ‘William the Bard’ for the Park Players. It was lots of fun, but it kept me busy. And then it was Halloween! My favorite holiday. We gave away books at Little Prof and it was pretty awesome. We also had candy because as Neil Gaiman says, candy is important! I may have overdosed on Cool Mint Oreos.
My personal challenge to read 100 books I’ve never read is going well! I just finished book #94 – My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland. I got it in Audible’s Shock-tober sale. It was pretty fun; a self-aware zombie working in a Louisanna coroner’s office and trying to figure out the reason she’s not dead. Also, what flavoring goes best with brains? I’ll have a review up later, probably into the new year.
#69. Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
I’ve talked about this book and #71 a little bit already when I reviewed Courtship & Curses. This is book 1 in the Leland Sisters series. Courtship & Curses, though more recently published, is actually a prequel to these books. The Leland sisters are distinguished by being twins, by sharing their birthday with Princess Victoria, and by being witches. Magic, sadly, is not one of the social graces that would distinguish them during the season. In fact, only their governess, Ally, and their pestilential younger brother know about their power. Once the season has begun it is a very good thing that the girls do have power. Before long their governess is missing and the girls have discovered a plot to control the young Princess Victoria with magic. On top of all of that, Persy has fallen in love, but she can’t tell if his affection for her is real or the result of a charm cast under the influence of too little sleep and too much champagne punch.
#70. Turning Point by Lisanne Norman Now for something completely different! This book is soft science fiction rather than historical fantasy. In one of those quirks of publishing only books 1 and then 5-8 are currently in print. Volumes 2-4 are available used online though (I like Powells, but Amazon is also an option). I read the second book in this series about 15 years ago and liked it, but never really got around to getting any more. Then, back in August I was talking to my best friend about a space opera series she was reading. All of a sudden, I had to read this series again. So, I ordered the first book. And I liked it. It is much shorter than later books in the series and ends somewhat abruptly (the heroes have succeeded in their primary mission, but not yet escaped), but I really enjoyed it.
The book is set on the planet of Keiss, a human colony in the far reaches of space (relative to Earth). Carrie and her family were in the first wave of colonists and everything was going well until the Valytegans arrived and overwhelmed them. The Valytegans are a lizard-like alien race bent on conquest.
Carrie and her family are now part of the resistance, but she brings something special to her side. Carrie and her sister Elise share a telepathic bond which allows for utterly secure transmission of information. The downside is that Carrie feels all the pain that Elise experiences. When Elise is captured and executed the backlash from the shattered bond nearly kills Carrie. Desperately, her mind reaches out in search of help. She finds it in the form of Kusac. Kusac and his team are Sholans, aliens that look like a cat/human hybrid (think Ron Perlman from Beauty & the Beast). The Sholan scout ship has crashed on Keiss and Kusac is alone and wounded. For the Sholan’s telepathic gifts are prized, but not incredibly rare. When Kusac feels Carrie’s mind crying for help he bonds with her in the hopes that she can help him as well. Together, the humans of Keiss and the stranded Sholans might be enough to defeat the Valytegans and avenge Carrie’s sister.
#71. Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle
This is the second book in the Leland Sisters series. In book 1 Persy and Pen thwarted a plan to make Princess (now Queen Victoria) a magical puppet. Now Persy is untied with her true love, Ally is married, and Pen is feeling very left out. She has come to Ireland with Ally and her new husband to study magic further. Pen feels that she wasn’t enough of a help during the events of Bewitching Season and hopes that more magical study will make her more useful. Ally, however, is having a very difficult time. She is pregnant and both her magic and her health are suffering. Ally’s new father-in-law is very knowledgeable about magic and has taken Pen on as a student. But all of his other (male) students seem to resent her inclusion into the study sessions.
The only people she doesn’t feel like she is burdening are Lady Keating and her dreadfully handsome son, Niall. After nearly running over Pen with her carriage Lady Keating seems to have adopted her as almost a pet. She invites Pen to come to tea, and dinner, and even to a visit to her country estate. Niall is no less charming and attentive. In fact, Pen begins to think that maybe he has stronger feelings for her than politeness. The only one who doesn’t seem to like her much is Lady Keatings daughter. With so much kindness and attention being showered on her is it any wonder she doesn’t see the danger she is in until it’s almost too late?
So, once again, in this book we have a problematic romance. In Bewitching Season I had a problem with the romance between Ally and her soon-to-be husband. In this book I find the relationship with Niall difficult. Niall is ordered, by his mother, to capture Penelope’s interest. He goes along with it because he always goes along with his mother. Then he gets to know her and really likes her. He doesn’t want to let his mother use her for her own nefarious plans (and they are really nefarious). So, his big plan is that he’ll seduce her! Yep. That’ll work great! She needs a maiden for her ritual so he’ll make sure that Pen no longer fits the bill.
Um… This is my romantic lead? Really? He could just, oh, I don’t know, tell her! But that would be too easy apparently. Also, how is it that Pen, after just dealing with a similar sort of person in the first story, just blindly trusts Lady Keating?
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Overall, I liked this book because of my residual affection for the other two books, but I wouldn’t recommend it on its own.
Strange Day & All Hallow’s Read
So, my morning started off with my boyfriend calling me to tell me he’d been in a car accident (he’s ok), and could I go in and open the bookstore. So I’ve been a little bit off all day. He’s fine. The other guy is ok. His car is pretty beaten up, so he’s without transport at the moment. I sent him home with his cousin, so it’s been a ladies only day at the bookstore. We’ve been fairly quiet though, so it hasn’t been too bad. But I’ve just had a sort of low level thrumming under my skin all day. It’s probably made me a little snappish. Sorry anyone who came into the store today. I promise I’m normally nice.
Speaking of the bookstore… We are participating in All Hallow’s Read this year. If you don’t know what All Hallow’s Read is please let me give you a brief synopsis. A few Neil Gaiman suggested that in addition to the awesome candy given out on Halloween, people should start to give copies of their favorite scary books. This idea started to take root and become more popular. I participated on my own account last year, but this year I’m making the store as an entity participate. So, if you’re in the Birmingham, Alabama area, stop by Little Professor on Halloween for a free book. And, because I’m awesome, if you’re not in the Birmingham area, leave me a comment about your favorite scary book and I’ll send you a free book anyway! I make no guarantees about what book you’ll get, but I’ll send you one. Leave a message by Halloween and I will mail you a scary book for free.Now, on to the reviews:
68. The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron
Yay! Another steampunk book. Mostly. Katherine Tulman is an orphan. She lives in London with her deeply unpleasant aunt and cousin (who, although he never appears on screen as it were, reminds me of Dudley Dursley being obese and spoiled). The bulk of the family money is held by Katherine’s paternal uncle, known as Mr. Tully. He is and eccentric inventor and has not been in contact with his sister-in-law for years, but disturbing rumors have come of excessive spending. Aunt Alice has dispatched Katherine to the family estate, Stranwyne Keep, to get evidence that Tully is insane. Then Alice can have him committed and take control of the family fortune. Katherine, while she might feel sympathy for anyone who has earned Aunt Alice’s ire, is nevertheless committed to her plan. If Aunt Alice gets all of the family money for her disgusting son, then Katherine, who balances the household books, has a much better chance of securing enough funds to become independent.
Katherine journeys to Stranwyne and discovers that Uncle Tully is a genius. He has invented things that wouldn’t seem out of place in da Vinci’s workshop. A steampowered dragon takes up most of one workshop. A deep tunnel connects the estate with the outside world. Two entire villages of workers are supported by the estate, along with a gasworks, porcelain factory, and steam works. Everything is handled beautifully; hundreds of people have been snatched from the workhouse and now have clean homes and good jobs. The workshop produces marvels. But, there is no denying that Uncle Tully isn’t quite right. Then there is his assistant Lane. Lane is handsome, but rude. And he obviously doesn’t trust Katherine. What neither of them realize is that an even greater danger threatens Stranwyne and everyone in it, especially Katherine.
The book’s cover is very steampunk. But, you see now why I said that it was only sort of steampunk. Uncle Tully’s workshop has miracles and marvels of steam power, but the rest of the world is very much the typical Victorian England. In a way, I get the best of both worlds. The steam powered toys from the workshop are so unusual that lots of time gets devoted to them, whereas in a straight steampunk environment some of the awesome details get overlooked because they are normal for that world.
In terms of the actual story… I did like it very much. It was much more of a Gothic romance than a steampunk story at its heart. There is the almost haunted house; the brooding, dark hero; the possibly insane genius; the threat of danger at every turn. Even Katherine herself seems to teeter on the brink of madness after a few nights in the house. There were moments where I didn’t especially like Katherine. I’m not sure I was supposed to though. Even after she sees how many people the estate is supporting her plans to turn Mr. Tully over to the doctors and Aunt Alice remain unchanged. In trying to be practical and protect herself she has given herself tunnel vision. But, that’s part of her character development rather than a flaw in the writing.
One of the coolest parts about the book is that Stranwyne Keep is actually based on a real place. In the 1850’s the 5th Duke of Portland succeeded to the title and took over the management of Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire. Over the next several years he had extensive tunnels constructed, moved most of the furniture out of the abbey, and had all the rooms painted pink. The duke was remarkably eccentric. He avoided contact with his servants and had his rooms refitted so that written messages could be passed back and forth through mailboxes. The estate did have its own gasworks as well as an underground library and ballroom. Rumors of madness, disfigurement, and depravity surrounded him, but no apparent legal action was ever undertaken.
Anniversary
Hi guys!
Today is my 6 year anniversary, so I’m not posting a full blog today. I’ll have it up tomorrow, but for now, there’s Indian food in my very near future. Gotta run.
Sara
Sick and Tired
So, I’m tired and I’m getting sick. So you have to know that I love each and every one of you if I’m working up the energy to review books today. It’s been a looooong week folks. But, I’ve gotten some time in with some awesome books.
After last week’s post I decided to re-read The Far West. I’m about halfway through that. Then my Audible credits hit on the 4th and I found out that there is a new Kerry Greenwood book available. This is one of those weird international publishing things. The print edition of Unnatural Habits doesn’t come out until January of 2013, but it’s available on Audible now. I finished that up yesterday and now I’m listening to Feed by Mira Grant.
#65. The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller
This is a post-WWI British mystery, so it’s right in my wheelhouse as Dan and Rob Wells say on their podcast. The protagonist, Laurence Bartram, has come out of the army with a whole body, but a shattered life. He escaped from the trenches relatively unhurt, but his wife and infant son died while he was away fighting. In the years since the war Laurence has drifted. His wife left him with enough money to live off of, but he has no purpose. He is in theory attempting to write a book about church architecture, but mostly he just sleepwalks through his days. Until one day, he gets a letter from the sister of an old school chum.
John Emmett was kind to the orphaned Laurence and took him home for the occasional school holiday. John, unlike Laurence, had a very bad war. He came back with severe shell shock. Mary has written to tell Laurence that John has taken his own life. Laurence soon finds himself caught up in the Emmet family drama. John had written a will leaving fairly large sums of money to several people that were totally unknown to his family.
As Laurence looks into these connections a number of sinister patterns begin to emerge. First, there is the nursing home John was staying at. How was he able to escape from it so easily? Why did the administration wait so long before informing either the police or John’s family that he was missing? The doctor in charge of the home is loved by the locals, but his son has a number of nasty rumors attached to his name.
Then there is the courts martial that John was involved in during the war. A young man was executed for desertion. The execution was needlessly cruel, possibly the result of administrative bungling. The event apparently haunted John. Laurence finds a photograph from the day of the execution among John’s things. He decides to track down the men in the photograph, but quickly runs into some walls. Several of the men are dead; some in accidents, some have been murdered, and John, of course, committed suicide. But as a pattern of deaths emerges Laurence begins to doubt everything he has been told about his friend’s death.
I enjoyed this book overall. I liked it enough to read the next book in the series almost immediately (#67). The characters were well thought out and the writing was very good. I found the plot a little overly complex. I felt that some of the twists were unnecessary. There is a romantic sub-plot that has its own twists and turns on top of the labyrinth of the main plot. At times I wondered how a man who has just come out of a sort of waking coma would have the energy to run down all these trails when I barely had the energy to read them, but Speller addressed that. Laurence does feel fatigue and despair at the points in the book when I was at my most emotionally exhausted. The book was, overall, darker than I really liked. This is true of the second book as well. I tend, especially with my mysteries, to read more escapist literature than not. Speller seems to look at the darker sides of human nature. She lovingly lays bare the faults and misdeeds and weaknesses of the characters in her novel. She highlights their strengths as well, but there seem to be fewer of those. I suppose the easiest way to describe this book is to liken it to a painting that is beautiful and exquisitely executed, but makes me uncomfortable to look at. After two books, I can appreciate her talent, but I think I’ll probably stay in the shallow end of that particular pool for a while longer.
#66. Courtship & Curses by Marissa Doyle
Courtship and Curses takes place during the Regency era. Sophie’s papa has something to do with the war office and is very busy trying to fight Napoleon. Sophie herself is making her curtsey to society this season. However, when she was a child she suffered a severe illness that left her with a limp. The same illness also took her mother, her sister, and her magic from her. She is shy about dancing, or even walking in public.
When a handsome young lord begins paying attention to Sophie she hardly knows what to think. But love does seem to be in the air. Sophie’s aunt rediscovers an old beau who was lost to her as a girl. Sophie’s father is showing signs of interest in the charming widow of an old family friend. Everything seems to be going well. Then Sophie’s magic starts to trickle back. It isn’t reliable, but it seems to show up at the best possible times because it seems that someone is trying to kill her father. And the assassin is using magic. Now Sophie must wrest her magic back under control in order to keep her family safe. But who can she trust?
I came at this series the wrong way round. I read this book first and then went back and read books 1 & 2; Bewitching Season and Betraying Season. This made for a fair bit of confusion from time to time, but nothing too bad. The third book is by far my favorite. Even though it was written last it takes place first chronologically. The next two books are set at the very beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign. I love Sophie and her friends as characters. The action takes place in London and in Brussels, which is a city I haven’t not seen often in my reading. And as much as I love Victoriana, my first love will always be the Regency era, so I was excited to read another novel in that era.
It is an absolutely bewitching read! Doyle has done a wonderful job of keeping historical authenticity balanced with modern sensibilities. Sophie is a heroine who battles uncertainty from within herself as well as prejudice from without. She must learn to trust in her own strength despite the combined pressures of a physical handicap and an almost incapacitating grief. She is a wonderful figure for girls who feel like they don’t fit in.
#67. The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton by Elizabeth Speller
Laurence Bartram returns in the second installment of the series. Laurence has been called to Easton Deadall by William Bolitho, a friend he met during the John Emmett business. Most of the young men of Easton Deadall, including the owner of the manor, died during the war and Bolitho is helping the owners of the manor to design a memorial window in the small chapel. Laurence has been called in as an expert on church architecture. The chapel is something out of the ordinary. But there is much in Easton Deadall that is out of the ordinary.
In 1911, the only child of the house, a five year old girl named Kitty, disappeared from her bed in the middle of the night. Every effort was made, a ransom was demanded and paid, but no trace of the child was ever found. Then the war came and took most of the village’s men away with it. When Laurence arrives Easton Deadall is a village of mourning women and damaged men. Soon after Laurence arrives a maid goes missing during an outing. Then a body turns up in the crypt of the chapel.
Once again, Laurence finds himself drawn into a mystery tied up in secrets from years ago. It is impossible to shake off the feeling that everything happening now somehow ties back into what happened to Kitty so many years ago.
This is the second book by Speller that I read in a two week stretch. It confirmed that while she is an excellent author, she’s a bit too dark for me. I wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment, closure, or triumph at the end. I didn’t quite get that with either book. I felt sad at the end of The Return of Captain John Emmett and I felt a little puzzled at the end of The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton. The story was complex, and well written, but I felt that the ending was tweaked just a little too hard to fall in with the author’s outline. I didn’t feel like the course of events laid out were entirely plausible. I’m glad it ended the way it did, I’m just not sure I, as the reader, had earned that ending.
Frontiers
Fall has firmly arrived. The equinox is past, the nights are getting chilly… Wait, it was 90 here yesterday? Oh, right, I live in Alabama. But Halloween is approaching regardless of the current temperature. Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love to dress up (I’m sure you had no idea) and I love spiders and skeletons and bats. I’d be a goth kid if I were a) younger, b) didn’t live somewhere that melted makeup off your face in 0.5 seconds , or c) was less lazy. As it is, I just wear lots of black and leave my glittery skeleton decorations up on my door all year round.
The three books I’m going to talk about today have a sort of unintentional theme. Yay for themes! It makes this part of the post really easy. All there books deal with frontiers in some way. In God Save the Queen the protagonist must pass between the world she has always known and into a dark world that most never return from. Lost in Shangri-La deals with a WWII plane crash into a secluded valley where the indigenous people haven’t developed beyond stone-age technology. The Far West has to do with an expedition out into the unexplored American (sort of) west. In each book the protagonists are pushed to cope with unthinkable situations. Although two of the books are fiction, they have some similarities with the non-fiction Lost in Shangri-La; personal strength and ingenuity are major factors in all three books.
#61. God Save the Queen Book 1 of the Immortal Empire by Kate Locke
God Save the Queen takes place in a post-steampunk, post-vampire/werewolf virus England. The setting is essentially modern day, but a modern-day influenced by immortal Victorians. The plague, which swept through Europe repeatedly over the centuries began to have some rather strange consequences. Those who carried antibodies to the plague began to gain in strength. Their lives were usually longer. Some of them began to have certain dietary requirements. The effects were different depending on the strain of the virus. Intermarriage with other plague-carriers increased the effects. These side effects were refined during the reign of Queen Victoria, resulting in a supernatural aristocracy. Werewolves and vampires now rule the British Isles. There is a third strain of the plague – the strain that creates goblins. Goblins are the strongest of the three types of immortals, but they are by far the least attractive. They have been relegated to the sewers and the underground train tunnels beneath the city.
Xandra Vardan is a half-vampire. She is the offspring of an aristocrat and a mortal woman. Halfbloods serve as the protection for the ranks of the nobility since they possess much of their immortal parent’s strength while suffering few of their weaknesses. Xandra has always been an exemplary guard. She has never deviated from the path expected of her. Until now. Xandra’s sister has gone missing and Xandra is willing to break every rule in the book in order to find her. Even if that means going to the goblins for help.
This book was a little odd for me. I somehow missed that it was set in 2012, so the first time Xandra hiked her bustle up to get on her motorcycle I was a little taken aback. But I settled into the groove pretty quickly. There are twists and turns and plot-lines ducking down dark passages like Alice’s white rabbit. I had a ton of fun with it. Xandra starts to question the reality she has been given and along the way finds out things about her family and herself that she never could have imagined. I’d recommend this to fans of Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series or Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series.
As a side note, Gail Carriger is having a contest for advance copies of her new series over on her blog. The new book, titled Etiquette & Espionage, is about a young lady who goes to a very unusual finishing school. There she is taught deportment and spying. The book comes out February 5. If you’re a fan of awesome stories with a steampunk setting you should go enter. Of course, the fewer of you who do enter the better chance I’ll have to get a copy… Hmmm.
#62. Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff
Lost in Shangri-La tells the story of events which transpired in Dutch New Guinea in 1945. Pilots from an American base nearby had discovered an untouched valley deep in the mountains. They named it Shangri-La and took base personel on occasional sightseeing flyovers. However, on May 13, 1945 a group of 24 servicemen and WACs took a flight over Shangri-La that ended in tragedy. The plane crashed and only three of the passengers survived into the following week.
Margaret Hastings, Kenneth Decker, and John McCollom were left to survive as best they could. They were able to salvage a few supplies from the plane, but with the heavy tree cover they could not afford to stay with the wreck, which is standard procedure. All three survivors were severely wounded, but they struck out through the jungle in an attempt to get the open valley floor. They knew that the valley was inhabited by primitive seeming peoples, and hoped that they could find aid and shelter with some of them.
Through some unimaginable luck the party passed into the valley safely. They found shelter and managed to alert rescue parties searching for them. But their troubles were far from over. All three survivors required immediate and intensive medical treatment, which was far beyond the capabilities of the locals. The terrain made landing any of the available planes impossible. Plans were continually made and remade, but rescue still seemed far away.
This is probably one of the more fascinating non-fiction books I’ve read in a long time. Longitude and The Bolter are the two others that stand out for me. Zuckoff did intense research on the tragedy. He collected photographs and interviews from the people involved or their families. He manages to put the reader into the situation without assuming the role of the omniscient narrator. He allows for the limitations of second hand narratives, but still makes everything seem very immediate. Unbroken by Hillenbrand has been the breakout WWII story of the last few years, but I think Lost in Shangri-La is absolutely worth a read.
#63. The Far West by Patricia C. Wrede
This is the third (and, as far as I know, final) book in the Frontier Magic series. I love this series! My quick and dirty tagline for it when I’m trying to hand-sell it at the bookstore is: Harry Potter meets Little House on the Prairie. It’s so much more complicated than that, but when you’ve got ten seconds to get a middle schooler’s attention you work with what you’ve got. I like these books so much that I did a video review of book one, The Thirteenth Child. It’s pretty terrible, but you can go watch it if you want a good laugh.
The world is essentially 19th century America, but magic has always been known and because of that things have developed a little differently. The biggest differences for our purposes are these: it’s not America, it’s Columbia; westward expansion has essentially stopped at the Mammoth River (The Mississippi for us) due to the uncontrollable wildlife on the other side; Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson managed to create a barrier using the river that keeps all magical animals to the west; there is no Native American presence (I assume because of the dangers of the wildlife although it is not specified in the text); the Civil War worked a little bit differently, but the end result is the same and slavery has been abolished, although it was never as big a deal there as it was here due to the difficulty of clearing large plantations.
As in most fairy tales, the seventh son of a seventh son is considered the most powerful magician known. However, especially in the eastern-most areas of the country, thirteenth children are considered more than unlucky, they’re seen almost as plague carriers. The best case scenario is that their bad luck could spread unintentionally; the worst case is that they become twisted and lash out on purpose. Eff is a thirteenth child, but also the twin of a double seventh son. Throughout the entire series she has been struggling with the matter of who she is, what she can do, and what she should do. At the same time, she has begun to come into her own as an explorer. In each book she takes a trip across the Great Barrier into regions very few people have explored.
In this third book, Eff joins an academic expedition into the far west. Their aim is to go further than the last successful expedition and catalog the plants and animals along the way. Several new threats have been moving eastward in the last several years. The expedition hopes, among other things, to give the settled communities some hint of what is coming so that they can prepare for it.
I cannot say enough good things about this series. I’ve read the first book three times now, the second twice, and I think tonight when I get home I’ll start book three for the second time. It is an amazing series. And I don’t mean for a young adult series. There are things in this series about identity, self-worth, inner strength, and ways of seeing the world that I’m still trying to get a grip on in my thirties. So, if you have any interest in this type of book, westward expansion, fantasy literature, awesome female characters, please please please give this series a shot.
Remember – go check out the contest at Gail Carriger’s blog, and, a reminder from last week, if you’re interested in trying Audible.com for audiobooks you can get a free trial at audiblepodcast.com/sword
The What You Should Read post will be up on Monday, so check back for that!
What Should You Read?
Ok, so, this is a new feature I’m going to be doing. Since my regular entries are specifically about the books I’m reading that I’ve never read before I wanted a place where I can talk about books I really think people should be reading, even if they’re old favorites of mine. I may occasionally branch out into podcasts, youtube shows, tv, or movies as the mood strikes me. (Dredd, by the way, more fun than I expected.)
So, to start off, a book I may have talked about before, but it’s just come out in paperback and I really love it. Although, I really, really, really don’t like the new cover.
Low Town by Daniel Polansky
Here are the two American covers: 
hardcover
paperback
Neither cover is great, but the paperback cover just irks me. But, that’s not the point. The point is that this book is awesome and you should read it. Here is my thumbnail sketch:
If Raymond Chandler had been born into Tolkien’s Middle Earth, this would have been the type of book he would write. It’s a noir detective story with a protagonist who has all the classic issues. He drinks a little too much, has a troubled history with women, had a difficult time in the war, and is a complete badass. The Warden works out of a bar in Low Town, the part of the city that no one much cares about. He does his best, some days that’s better than others. At the end of the day, he’s a criminal, and a fairly cheap one at that.
Someone, or something is killing children. The Warden takes up the case despite the fact that his involvement is putting him on a direct intercept course with his old life and the secret police that he was once a part of.
Did you have a happy Equinox?
It’s an utterly beautiful day here today. I really want to be outside right now, but I’m at work. Strangely, my boss doesn’t like it when I try to work the register from a lounge chair in the parking lot. The fall equinox has come and gone. The days are getting ever shorter. There is just the slightest bite in the air in the early mornings and late evenings. Pumpkins are out and about. Granted, I live in Alabama. So it can still get into the high 80’s and even 90’s during the middle of the day. 
I took my dog to the park Friday night. It’s finally cool enough that she can go for an hour or more. She seems to feel the humidity more than the heat. I took my most recent audiobook (The Cat Who Played Post Office by Lillian Jackson Braun) outside earlier in the day and enjoyed the sunshine and the pleasant temperatures. So, take a book outside this week if it’s nice where you are! It is totally worth it.
#58. Unnatural Issue by Mercedes Lackey
This is another entry in Lackey’s Elemental Masters series. I talked about it a little bit when I did the review of Home From the Sea. I liked this book much more than that one. Unnatural Issue was much more in the vein of the other books in the series. The threat was very real and very present. Our heroine was in grave danger and the villain was truly evil. Home From the Sea is the most recent addition to the series, so it will be interesting to see if it represents a directional change or simply a one-off.
Unnatural Issue opens with an Earth master named Richard Whitestone returning home after battling a dark master. Upon his arrival he learns that his beloved wife has delivered her baby, but died in childbed. Richard becomes unhinged and refuses to see the child. He orders her killed or abandoned, anything so long as he never lays eyes on her.
We then skip ahead twenty years. Suzanne has been raised by servants. Her father has almost forgotten about her. He stays shut up in his rooms. The estate is sinking into ruin. Suzanne herself is a budding Earth master. She has received all her training from Puck and other elemental spirits. In many ways she has an ideal life. She does not have the rich life that someone of her station is entitled to, but she is content. She has friends in the servants and the elementals.
But trouble is brewing. In Europe World War I is beginning. And at home, Richard Whitestone has suddenly remembered that he has a daughter. The years have strengthened his power, but twisted his mind. He now deals with the darkest forces, and young Suzanne is just the thing he needs to bring his plans to fruition.
At the same time, the London masters have felt vague hints of darkness from the countryside. With most of their efforts trained toward the war effort they cannot spare many people to look into the possible home-grown disaster. Lord Peter Almsley, a water master, is on leave from a rather brutal tour in France. He is dispatched to the countryside to convalesce and investigate the hints of tainted Earth magic. Soon his path crosses with Suzanne’s and that of her insane father. He quickly learns that France is not the only place where horrors can occur.
This book has most of what I love about the series as a whole and it’s in a setting I adore. I love the WWI era and Suzanne’s flight from her father actually takes her into the ranks of nurses at the front. I was also pleased to see Lord Peter (no relation to Lord Peter Whimsey) return to the series. I found him a delightful character in Serpent’s Shadow, the first book in the series. This book, more so than the others in the series, does not have a clear fairytale attached to it. There are certainly elements of The Secret Garden, but the parallels are not nearly as clear as they have been in other books. However, I did not find that it detracted from the book in anyway.
I listened to this one on audio and found the narrator very pleasant. So, I recommend it if you’re looking for an audiobook. Also, since I listen to lots of book related podcasts these days I’ve got a URL where you can get a free audible.com trial. Go to audiblepodcast.com/sword. You can get a free audiobook with a month-long trial of audible. Sadly, this doesn’t work if you already have an audible account (like I do). Also, check out The Sword and Laser podcast. They’re an awesome sci-fi and fantasy podcast that I listen to.
Just for reference, here are the books in the Elemental Masters series, with their associated fairytales:
The Fire Rose – Beauty & the Beast (the only one set in the US)
The Serpent’s Shadow – Snow White & the Seven Dwarves
The Gates of Sleep – Sleeping Beauty (the only one I haven’t read)
Phoenix and Ashes – Cinderella (another WWI story!)
The Wizard of London – The Snow Queen
Reserved for the Cat – Puss in Boots
Unnatural Issue – The Secret Garden
Home from the Sea – Tam Lin/East of the Sun, West of the Moon/Selkie of Sul Skerry
#59. The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham
This is a story about Albert Campion, a very Peter Whimsy-ish sort of detective. Mr. Campion starred in 18 novels and around 20 short stories (according to the magical Wikipedia) He is from a very, very good family that disowned him and he occasionally seems to do things for Government personages. There is also a rather good tv series made out of the books that is occasionally available on Netflix.
Georgia Wells is a very beautiful actress. Three years ago her fiance disappeared, somewhat conveniently for the starlet. Albert Campion has just found the body. The death is ruled as a suicide and Georgia, and her husband, can move on with their lives. The problem is that Georgia’s life is now intersecting that of Campion’s sister, Valentine. Specifically, Valentine is Georgia’s personal designer and best friend. However, Georgia is also terribly interested in Valentine’s young man, the airplane designer Alan Dell.
Things quickly go awry. Important dress designs are leaked by a model. Georgia’s husband becomes increasingly jealous of her interest in Alan and takes up with the same model. Alan’s productivity suffers. Valentine wishes Georgia dead, but it is Georgia’s husband who gets poisoned.
I really enjoy this series. It’s one I got into through the tv series actually. I was looking for more things like Dorothy Sayers. Campion is well off, has a former criminal for a butler, and not too much trauma in his past. He’s quite a lot of fun to spend an evening with. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend starting with this book. I’d probably start with Sweet Danger, in which Campion tracks down the long-lost heir to an Adriatic principality.
#60. The Legends of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
I love this graphic novel so much! It is a sequel to Zita the Spacegirl, which came out last year from FirstSecond. Zita is an ordinary Earth girl who ends up lost in space. Book one is her trying to sort out where she is and what to do about it. She builds a group of awesome friends, has adventures, and becomes a galactic hero.
Legends of Zita the Spacegirl is a new story. For one thing, it doesn’t start off with Zita. It starts with a little robot. The robot has been thrown away. He doesn’t really have a purpose until he sees that Zita the Spacegirl will be visiting his planet on her tour. Suddenly, he has a purpose! He must become more like Zita the Spacegirl. Unfortunately, these robots have a flaw. Sometimes, rather than wanting to be more like someone, they want to become that person.
Soon, the robot has taken Zita’s place aboard ship and Zita herself has been stranded. Hijinks ensue. The robot agrees to help a planet that is about to be wiped out. Zita becomes an intergalactic criminal and goes on the run with a very interesting lady captain who has history with one of Zita’s friends.
This book is adorable, beautiful, and touching. It has amazing things to say about identity, bravery, and friendship. I recommend it to everyone. All of you! Go read it. No, really. Go read it! And read the first one too. It’s also amazing. How amazing is it you ask? It’s so amazing that I want to hug it. I made it the Book of the Week at Little Professor. I’ve tweeted about it, Facebooked about it. I’d do an interpretive dance if I thought it would help. 
Please, please, please go look at this book! To make me happy. And because it was my birthday last week. And… and…. because the adorable puppy is begging you to!
(That’s Amy, by boynugget’s dog when she was a puppy. She’s 90lbs now and way less sad/adorable)
I hope you enjoyed today’s blog. I’m going to start a new thing. There will be a separate weekly entry for my book recommendation of the week. I’m going to do them as their own posts for archiving purposes. So look for that to post in a little while. Also, don’t forget, if you aren’t already an Audible.com member you can get a free audiobook at audiblepodcast.com/sword
It’s My Birthday!!!
Ok, technically, that is a lie. My birthday was Tuesday and I turned awesome-years-old. I even got to go out… on a date… with my boyfriend! This is exciting because he hates going out. He’d rather stay home and a)read, b) watch movies or tv shows, or c) play video games. I enjoy all these activities, but I also like to go out occasionally and have exciting food that has been prepared for me by a stranger. So, I got awesome food and that was very exciting.
On a more book related note; I’m having literary ADD. I can’t seem to settle on anything right now. I’m currently attempting to read the following books: Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood, The Iron Wyrm Affair by by Lilith Staintcrow, Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch, and On Basilisk Station by David Weber. I recently abandoned (or lemmed for listeners of the Sword & Laser podcast) Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts. I just couldn’t get into that one. I did reread Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night. I just needed something totally different. So, if you have any recommendations for me please, please, please put them in the comments below, or hit me up on goodreads or twitter.
Other things in the book world that are making me super happy; I get to interview Stephanie Burgis and Nick Harkaway for the Little Professor website! I’m so excited about this. I just got Stephanie’s responses today, so that interview should go up on the site tomorrow.
56. The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
I read this for the Little Professor book club. It’s not my favorite of Allen’s books (that would be Garden Spells) because it’s a little… flat? Is that the word I want? I’m not sure. Despite the storyline, which is really interesting, there’s no sense of urgency. But, it’s still well written… That sounded nicer in my head. So, the plot.
Our protagonist is Willa Jackson, the last of an old southern family that fell on hard times about 70 years ago. Her family founded the little town of Walls of Water, NC over a century before, but lost their money and their house, the Southern Madame. Now, socialite Paxton Osgood has restored the Madame and is opening it as a bed and breakfast.
In the days before all the money was gone Willa’s grandmother and Paxton’s grandmother were best friends. However, something horrible happened that neither woman has ever talked about. Now, with all the arrangements going on for the reopening of the Madame old ghosts are starting to stir.
Allen does an excellent job bringing to life the small southern town and fleshing out the characters. Willa, once a wild child has settled down to a very constrained life. She thinks that’s what her father would have wanted for her and since he’s passed away she feels she owes it to him to live his ideal. Paxton is a poor little rich girl, who somehow manages to avoid being a stereotype. She keeps waiting to start her ‘real’ life until her parents are ready to let her grow up. Willa has an assistant who determines people’s personalities based on their coffee orders. These are great characters. But they’re in a story that isn’t very urgent. The grandmothers’ secret is part of a ghost story that is meant to be running under all of the modern action, like tree roots underground. That is where the title comes from in fact, the peach tree up at the Madame is linked to the ghost. But the ghost is never very scary and almost not present at all. I think the magical elements distracted from what could have been an amazing story about friendship, choices, and letting fear hold you back.
57. Ridiculous by D.L. Carter
This book was a sort of unusual situation for me. It was a free ebook. I don’t read very many things on ebook, because I work in a bookstore and I’m a little afraid that the other employees will find me and lock me in a closet. But, I have a second job where it is sometimes ok for me to read books. But only if I hide it from any clients that might come in. So, my iPad, in its very businesslike leather portfolio is excellent for that. So, I’ve picked up a few ebooks, mostly ARC’s from the publishers, but every now and then I’ll take a look at the free books on iBooks or Amazon. And this particular title caught my eye.
The regency era trio on the cover interested me, so I clicked through to read the description and was very interested. A family of three gentlewomen have been working as unpaid servants for a distant relative until he suddenly dies. With no one else to turn to and the workhouse as the only place for them to go, Millicent, the oldest daughter, decides to take her cousin’s place and with it, his fortune. She gets her mother and sister to help her cut her hair and dress the corpse in her own nightgown. A call to the rector and soon the unfortunate Millicent Boarder is quietly buried and the reclusive Mr. North is out on a long overdue tour of his properties.
Millie is overjoyed by the freedoms she now has as Mr. North. She learns that she has a decent head for business and can manage Mr. North’s properties fairly well. However, deep friendships are, of course, out of the question. She can’t afford to have anyone look too closely at Mr. North. Everything is going well until she stops to help an overturned carriage. In the accident she meets a Lord Schoffer and his sister, who soon charm her. Lady Beth is at first shy, but soon warms up to Mr. North, who is not at all afraid to make a fool of himself to coax a smile from her. But it is her brother who truly captures Millie’s attention. He is perfect. And dangerously, definitively, distinctly off-limits. So, of course, she becomes his best friend. Oops?
The characters in this book were delightful. There were a few moments where I felt distinctly uncomfortable. The great danger to Millicent comes, not from someone suspecting that she is a woman in disguise, but from gossips in town spreading rumors that she is homosexual. Schoffer distances himself from his friend in order to avoid being tarred with the same brush. Carter does a fairly good job of dancing around the homophobia of the era, but I was still fairly uncomfortable with some of the scenes that dealt with it. I’m not sure there was a better way to present the opinions, and I don’t fault the author for my discomfort at all. There isn’t a way to have homophobia in a book that I’m going to be ok with, even when it’s coming from characters I’m not supposed to like. I recommend this for anyone who wants a regency romance with a twist.
Ok folks, I’m fighting off a headache so we’re going to stop with two reviews this week. No one entered my Flesh & Bone giveaway so I guess I get to keep the copy I’ve got. Have a good week everyone! I’ll see you next weekend.
DragonCon & a Giveaway
Jonathan Maberry & Keith DeCandido
So, DragonCon was last weekend, which is why you did not have a blog from me. I’ve got a few awesome pictures, although I didn’t take as many as usual. I was sporting a new camera and I hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet.
I went to tons of panels, many of them book related. Some of the highlights were the Vampocalypse panel in the picture. There were several other awesome authors on the other side of the podium, but there was a hat in my line of sight that way so I didn’t get a photo.
I also got to see the Sword & Laser live podcast with special guest R.A. Salvatore. That was pretty awesome. For anyone who doesn’t know, Sword & Laser is an online fantasy and sci-fi book club. They have an audio podcast and a video show on the Geek & Sundry youtube channel. The hosts are Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont. They get some pretty awesome guests on the show including Lev Grossman, Earnie Cline, Seanan McGuire, and (I think next show) LeVar Burton! Veronica came to the panel in an amazing demon hunter costume from Diablo 3. 
I also got to go to a book club discussion of Jonathan Maberry’s Rot & Ruin, which I’ve discussed previously on this blog. That was pretty fantastic. There weren’t a ton of people there because it was at the same time as the parade, but that was actually good since everyone had a chance to talk and ask questions. This leads me into the new giveaway! Jonathan’s new book in the Benny Imura series, Flesh & Bone, comes out on Tuesday, which is also my birthday! Because The Missing Volume bookstore is awesome and got with Simon & Schuster and made magic happen, I have a signed copy. Which means, that the copy I pre-ordered from my bookstore is up for grabs! I am therefore giving it away on the blog. Leave me a comment below telling me what your zombie apocalypse weapon of choice would be. I’ll announce the winner in one week!
Because I know you care, I had four costumes this 
year.
1. a rêveur costume inspired by Erin Morganstern’s The Night Circus
2. Miss Ivy Hisselpenny from Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series
3. Steampunk Baroness from G.I. Joe inspired by Brian Kesinger’s amazing art
4. a steampunked sari outfit, which I failed to get a picture of. It involved a corset and bustle and was pretty awesome.
Total time in a corset this DragonCon: 47 hours.
Ok, enough of DragonCon. We’re here to talk about books! After the Giant Laurell K. Hamilton post we should be back on target and can continue down the list in order.
#51 The Darcys and the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
This book picks up right before the weddings at the end of Pride & Prejudice. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley chat as they await the arrival of their brides. A rather entertaining conversation ensues as it becomes obvious that Mr. Bingley is feeling some trepidation about his marital duties. Although titillating, the book never reaches the point of salaciousness. I like that fine line in my Austen continuations. I find out and out sex a bit shocking in these, whereas I’ll read a straight up regency romance novel with nary a blush. I suppose it’s the contrast between that and the original material where ankles are covered, hands are only grasped when helping a lady over an obstacle, and kisses come at the conclusion of weddings. The Darcys and the Bingleys do take things quite a bit further than Austen, but not quite so far as Linda Berdoll’s Darcy & Elizabeth books.
The first section of the book sets up the new families and establishes how married life is treating the sisters. Mr. Bennett, unsurprisingly, seeks the solitude of his daughters’ homes fairly often. Although, you do see a very real affection between Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, which is largely absent in the original work. I like the idea that their relationship is not solely one of tolerant resignation. The second portion of the book opens with the surprising news that Miss Caroline Bingley has a suitor. Lord James Kincaid has been paying his addresses and she seems disposed to accept him. However, Mr. Bingley is not easy in his mind and enlists Mr. Darcy’s assistance. Things soon become much more complicated than either man could have anticipated. With Darcy in London, Elizabeth and her father decide to do some investigation of their own and head up to Lord Kincaid’s Scottish estate. What they find there is so shocking that in necessitates Elizabeth’s immediate presence in London. Much like the Princess Bride, the second segment of The Darcys and the Bingleys is full of chases, escapes, revenge, and true love.
#52. Od Magic by Patricia McKillip
I listened to this one on audio, and maybe that was a mistake. I quite liked the characters, but found the story rather dull. This is not something I usually find with McKillip’s books. Several of her books rest on my
‘favorites’ bookshelf at home. The Changling Sea is a book I have read probably ten or fifteen times and Ombria in Shadow is one that I consider heartbreakingly beautiful. Od Magicwas nominated for Best Novel at the 2006 World Fantasy Awards. But it just doesn’t resonate with me somehow.
Part of my problem may be that there are too many sub-plots moving at the same time. The story opens with Brenden Vetch, a young man who lives in the country very quietly and uses a plant based magic to heal the people and animals in his village. After his personal life takes a turn for the worse Brenden is persuaded by a giantess named Od to go to the capitol and take up the position of gardener at her school of magic.
Brenden goes to Kelior, but finds the school a very strange place. He simply wants to garden and nurture the plants in his charge, but everyone around him seems to want something from him. All magicians in Kelior are closely monitored by the crown. The teachers spy on one another, the crown either controls mages or banishes them for nonconformity. Students are not allowed in certain parts of the city for fear that they may be swayed into a rebellion.
Other threads of the story are held by Valoren; the king’s personal mage who is concerned with power and position; Princess Sulys who has been learning forbidden magics from her grandmother; the wizard Yar who has begun to question the traditions and restrictions; Yar’s lover Ceta Thiel, an historian researching Od; the stage magician Tyramin and his beautiful daughter Mistral; the guard captain who might be in love with Mistral; and Elver, a rebellious student who seems to know more magic than he should.
It becomes difficult to hold all these threads together and to devote enough attention to each one. Perhaps if I had been reading the book instead of listening to it I might have had an easier time of it. As it was, I was left feeling disappointed and a little unfulfilled.
#55 The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress
This is a steampunk story about three unusual young women in early twentieth century London.
Cora is a laboratory assistant to a wealthy, but secretive member of Parliament. Cora has lived as his ward since he plucked her from the streets of Whitechapel as a child. She is content with her life until the advent of an arrogant new laboratory assistant disrupts her routine. He is brash and annoying, but somehow attractive nonetheless. Cora’s world is further disturbed when she finds out that girls in Whitechapel are being brutally attacked and murdered. These are girls she once grew up with, but the forces of law and order don’t seem to care.
Michiko is a young Japanese woman who trained under a traditional samurai. When her teacher refused her anymore training due to her sex Michiko struck out on her own. She ended up as the assistant to an Englishman who gives fencing and self defense to ladies. He is not nearly as good with a sword as she is, but Michiko needs the position an so keeps her head down. Michiko’s world is turned upside down one day at the market when a master smith recognizes her for what she is, a samurai. He gives her a sword fitting her training. Michiko feels that she must live up to the honor he has done her. She must expand her life beyond mere survival.
Nellie is a magician’s assistant. Her master is kind and caring. Nellie’s world is rarely troubled by darkness until the day a man stumbles into their apartments and dies. Suddenly, Nellie is catapulted into a world of danger and deception. Soon, a second man is killed and Nellie cannot turn her back on the mystery.
The three girls end up coming together by happenstance, but quickly form a bond that overcomes class distinctions and even language barriers. They set out initially to solve the murders, but quickly stumble on a much darker plot that threatens all of England.
This book was entertaining, but contained one jarring note for me. This is the kind of minor think that might not bother most people, but I read lots and lots and lots of period literature. Kress uses a fair bit of modern slang in the book, especially in Cora’s chapters. I’m assuming this is to make her feel more like someone the reader can relate to, but for me it kept knocking me out of the flow of the book. However, that is my only complaint, so all in all, I give it a thumbs up!
I hope you enjoyed these reviews, and remember, you’ve got one week to enter my Flesh & Bone giveaway. Leave me a comment below with your zombie apocalypse weapon of choice. In a perfect world, mine is the lightsaber. However, for the real world, I’ll go for something like Tom’s katana or even a baseball bat. Keep an eye on the post next week for the winner.
Giant Laurell K. Hamilton Post
Not the worst cover art I’ve seen
Laurell K. Hamilton is a name that has been in my consciousness for a long time. The first book I read from her was Nightseer, which came out in 1992. I’ve been waiting for the sequel ever since. Although, she is a very, very different author now; I’m not sure that it would really feel like a true sequel if the Hamilton of 2012 were to pick up where she left off back in 1992. Hmm. Things to ponder.
The cover art on the version I read wasn’t awesome.
Hamilton is probably most well known for the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books. Book one, Guilty Pleasures, came out in 1993. The series is now on about #20 with one novella and one outtake (Micah and Beauty). I’ll be honest. I stopped reading them after #10, Narcissus in Chains. There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re not bad books. They just went in a direction that I didn’t want to follow; which, oddly enough, is kind of the direction that the Meredith Gentry books start with. At the end of the day, it all comes down to sex. The Anita books start off with a very repressed and conflicted young woman fighting against her feelings as much as she’s fighting against the monsters. By the midpoint in the series Anita has embraced all of it; feelings, monsters, and multiple partners. That’s great. I’m happy for her. I’m just not interested in it. I liked her repressed and
Sexy legs! Or possibly poison ivy.
controlled. I liked her outsider perspective on both the normal world and the supernatural world. She didn’t quite fit in to either place. I thought that was really fascinating. So, I set her aside. About the same time (2000) A Kiss of Shadows came out.
Merry Gentry is a princess of the fey. She’s part human, part brownie, and part princess of the Unseelie court. She isn’t at all repressed. She’s in hiding from her aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness; her uncle, the King of Light and Illusion; her psychotic cousin Cel, heir to the Unseelie throne; and any other assorted fey that might be interested in her. Yeah, that doesn’t last. By the end of the first book Meredith has been outted as a fairy princess, she and Cel have been declared co-heirs – the first one to have a child gets the throne. To help with this Meredith is given a selection of the Queen’s guard as her personal harem/bodyguards. So, not much in the way of repression here. I liked that. I liked knowing what I was getting from the start. And yes, sometimes it feels like the plot is packed in around the personal stuff, but at least I find the personal stuff interesting. And yes, the sex is pretty hot. So, that’s handy.
I know I’ve talked about this series before. And, I don’t really want to go into a ton of detail on later books since basic plot elements in books five or six would count as spoilers for books two or three. I’ll put up a parade of covers… yeah, they’re not awesome. But they could be so much worse, so I’ll take it. I read most of these in about ten days so I’d have a hard time doing a detailed analysis of them anyway. And that’s not what they’re for. They’re sort of like literary popcorn. They’re light, they’ve been covered in enough condiments to make them a little bit bad for you, but only if you overindulge. And they’re fast. I’ve finished all eight books and the amount of story time elapsed is probably six months or so. Some of the books pick up hours or even minutes after the previous book ended.
It’s not a series that I would recommend for slow, measured reading. It rewards rushing, even gorging. At the very least I would advise reading the previous couple of books before picking up a new one. There are certainly rough spots. Some of the characters are annoying, but I feel like they’re that way for character reasons not because of poor writing. Frost, in particular, gets on my nerves. He’s remarkably insecure for a preternaturally beautiful super-being. But, eventually, even he becomes a little more human and I can forgive his less attractive personality quirks. The thing I do really like about the character of Merry, is that she’s not blind to the faults in her lovers. She sees them, she just likes them anyway.
A Kiss of Shadows – read in 2001
A Caress of Twilight – #28
Seduced by Moonlight – #46
A Stroke of Midnight – #48
Mistrals Kiss – #49
A Lick of Frost – #50 (Halfway to my goal! Woo hoo!!!)
Swallowing Darkness – #53
Divine Misdemeanors – #54
Medusa's Library 