Blew Moon

My other copy room bookshelf find this one didn't rank quite as high as Pearl Cove did, however it wasn't too bad. I confess that the beginning pulled me in, then my interest tapered off as the book went on. Thea the heroine is seduced into running off with a fortune hunter, who then rapes her in order to ensure that she has to marry him. When her brother shows up to defend her honor and take her home, they duel and both are killed. Ten years later Thea is notorious, a wealthy woman who lives on her own. Her reputation has sullied any chance of marriage and forced her younger half sister to marry a gambler and lout (great word isn't it? I like lout). 

Enter Patrick Blackburn an American planter from Natchez, Mississippi (a less sexier hometown I've never heard of, it ain't exactly Tara) recently arrived and visiting his mother who left his father alone in America to return to her beloved London. Remind anyone of Legends of the Fall? Me! His mother is being blackmailed about a youthful indiscretion and when he goes to deal with the situation who does he run into but Thea, literally, who is also being blackmailed by her loser brother-in-law to cover his gambling debts. She runs off into the night after hitting him. By a strange coincidence someone else has it in for bad bro and knocks Patrick out and slits bro's throat. A fine pickle everyone finds themselves in, and so the story goes.

The concept is good and the story held my attention for the most part, however the character development fell off in places especially in terms of secondary characters. Often people would pop in and out with no apparent purpose and often characters would suddenly have a huge scene or play a big role in the plot but you weren't really sure why or where the hell they came from. In my opinion this hurt the story, I like to know all the gritty details, or at least feel like I know exactly where I am and what everyone is about. In this case it felt incomplete. Good general plot, but it could have been better if the characters were better.

Gypsies, Tramps, and Theives

God bless whoever the first woman was that decided they could take something as inherantly unsexy as a gypsy (or their PC name Romany) and make it into something we pant over. THe dark hair, the broodying eyes, the definace, their rebel without a cause. They sleep out under the stars and can wear fringe and still be masculine! Hot damn. I'm pretty sure the same woman did the PR for pirates, which are pretty disgusting if you really think about it, and made it into Captain Jack Sparrow AKA Johnny Depp.

Mine Till Midnight is the first of the 2 Hathaway sister stories involving gypsies. The second Seduce Me At Sunrise I had already read, however this one was unavailable at the time and I saw it while wandering by the paperbacks. I also gave you the peep show, the cover and the insert page. Enjoy the gypsy goodness. Cam Rohan, the gypsy in question has gone civilized which makes him an outcast to his people. He tries to act the tough guy, but he's really a big softie. The only remote gypsy like personality trait he retains is the rape and pillage tendency, again not normally sexy but it works.

As always the Hathaways provide some good entertainment, and this one is especially interesting because they throw it down old style. It gives you the dirty details of the real dark days when Leo was falling down drunk and Win was half dead in the falling down bee-infested estate. The other three books are all set a few years later so it gives you a different perspective.

In terms of the romance its a little fast paced and ridiculous. If anything it seems like a much more modern anti-courtship, where Bea Hathaway gets tired of cleaning up other peoples messes and relieves her stress with dirty gypsy sex, lots of dirty gypsy sex. Not that I'm complaining, in fact its quite enjoyable. The romance itself falls to a distant second, as usual  the family drama but that is part of this series' charm. Overall a vast improvement over Love In The Afternoon with a better story and much more enjoyable character interactions.

Every Time A Bell Rings....

It cannot be understated, Mary Balogh must be doing some serious thinking about the dichotomy of good and evil, because the angel-devil obsession in this novel is enough to send you over to the dark side. I have to admit, it has not been a good year for me and romances so far, and this was nothing different. Though a look at other reviews seems to show I am not alone. Cassandra, our heroine, is a widow who barely survived an abusive marriage and was accused of her husband's murder and cut off without a penny by his heir. She and her rag tag group of followers (companions, maids, illegitimate children, one eyed dogs, clowns... no wait were there actual clowns?) are on the verge of being out on the street. So she remakes her old dress, Scarlett O'Hara style (minus the drapes) and goes off to find herself a rich protector.

Stephen, an earl and the title angel (who by the by is way less cool than Clarence in It's A Wonderful Life) is blonde and wealthy. He stumbles over Cassandra (literally) and get pulled into her web of lust and deceit. However he regains his conscience after a bout of very lackluster sex (I think they enjoyed it, I'm only speaking for myself, I found it very lackluster) and sets about saving her and making an honest woman out of this soiled dove.

There were really no redeeming qualities to this book. Every word that came out of their mouths sounded like a public service announcement, protesting for equal rights and challenging sin. The Regency detail was non-existent, in fact much of the story was historically off base, some of it by decades. The character's were frustrating and had few endearing qualities and the central mystery, of who killed Cassandra's husband... well to be honest I don't think anyone, even those involved gave a shit. I'm not one for saying books are worthless, but for Seducing an Angel, I'll make an exception. If Stephen had been the angel assigned to George Bailey, I guarantee he would have jumped.

The High Life

So this was a slip up, this poor book was read sometime back in late January and I happened to notice when I was scanning my book list that it had never been posted. Sometimes I add several books to the list at once, which is easy if I have them in front of me. However all too often I've already returned them to the library and have to rely on my memory, never a good idea. My mother will routinely ask me to bring her something from another room and en route I forget and walk right past it. Oh yeah, its that bad.

If you have read the poem The Highwayman, you should be all set, in fact you can probably skip the book altogether. It tells the story of the daughter of the doomed couple from Noyes poem, who makes the mistake of trying to rob the runaway son of a nobleman. He helps her recover from the injuries that he gives her and they reach a sort of weird camaraderie, partially over the fate of a deserter who stumbles upon them in search of shelter. In the end they of course turn vigilante and steal from his greedy father in a Robin Hood-esque ending. God triumphs and we can all sleep the restful sleep usually reserved for the just and Errol Flynn. 

I was expecting a little more shoot 'em up action, and while there is some of the traditional highwayman action this is not an adventure story. It gets very wordy and overly descriptive time and time again until you want to scream, "He's already built the fire, we get it!" or "Yes its very significant that she let's Will wear her dead father's clothes!" but somehow you still really don't care. Also a good portion of the story is given over to the retelling of the poem, which if you are familiar with it is a waste of a good seventy pages or so. In case you hadn't picked up on it, while I felt bad for not writing this one up, it really was rather forgettable.

Only The Shadow Knows

C.S. Harris and I go way back, not literally, because she is fabulous and glamourous and has lived the life I would have were I smarter, wealthier, and better looking...but nonetheless I have been a long time fan as I discussed in my post on The Babylonian Codex her join venture with her husband Steve Harris. For some strange reason however, Where Shadows Dance, the sixth book in her Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series has been nigh on impossible to track down. The publisher, a subdvision of Penguin books is one of the chains that is withholding shipments to Boarders and despite the past popularity of the books, in fall of 2009 when What Remains of Heaven came out there were dozens of pre-release holds on several libraries copies, not a single library pre-ordered the new installment this time. It was weird, I'm not sure what happened. I will say that the release schedule, formerly a consistent fall release was screwed up this time, delayed until spring perhaps because of her C.S. Graham series release which was the end of November. People get used to a certain schedule, and if it changes sometimes they loose interest. That being said, I broke down and ordered the book from Amazon (at $13.17 it was only priced like a dollar fifty higher than the trade paperback of What Remains of Heaven).

I, like many readers, have been eagerly anticipating the reveal of the Sebastian-Hero conflict started in Where Serpents Sleep. Sebastian, everyones favorite soldier/viscount/ tough detective and Hero, the confirmed old maid daughter of his enemy Lord Jarvis decided a roll in the hay was a good idea when faced with death back in book four, resulting in the inconvenient pregnancy in book five and now the saga continues. As the series has gone on Sebastian's story has come more to the forefront, both in terms f his love life and his mysterious parentage. It went from perhaps 25% of the plot in What Angels Fear, the first mystery to morel like 75% not six books later. The question of whether or not this hurts the mystery plot is up for debate. Does it make for a better more satisfying story? Without a doubt, but there are some who beleive that a true mystery is just that. Lucky for you and C.S. Harris I'm not one of them. 

In terms of mystery I'm pleased to say that this was much better than What Remains of Heaven, which had all the makings of a good mystery featuring a fresh corpse found side by side in an ancient crypt with a long-ago murder victim... there was espionage, a secret baby, spousal abuse, Benjamin Franklin's son (random I know), but in the end it just fizzled out and died. Where Shadows Dance was a meatier, better plotted mystery, much more reminiscent of the shockingly gory and weird stuff that was thrown at us in the good old Sebastian St. Cyr stories. He faces the challenge of how does one investigate a murder that no ones knows has been committed. His surgeon friend Paul Gibson discovers this when examining the corpse which he has paid to have stolen from a city graveyard.

Now trying to put the murder victim back together again like a gory Humpty Dumpty provides an element of slapstick, I guarantee a mildly disgusted belly laugh at the very least. If anything Hero's presence at Sebastian's side lends itself to telling of the story, mainly because you never know what side she's really on. If this were the 1950's Katherine Hephburn would play her in the film version, a la Adam's Rib. They make a good team and I'm sure St. Cyr junior when it arrives will add a little something as well. 

I will say that the body count does get a little high towards the end, a bit Tarentino and unbelievable. I don't think its necessary to kill off every other suspect just to show your audience who the real killer is... but artist's choice. The mystery is still good, if there are a few unbelievable points or very loose ends Harris' storytelling is so good that you really don't mind. She lets you escape to the Regency period more fully than any other writer or the period I know, and that alone makes her books magical and a real treat.

Disappearing Dimples

Flavia has competition for my favorite historical cozy. A new books shelf cruising find I enjoyed this one far more than I expected at first. It looked cute, but in reality it was well written, an unusual glance at the time period and setting, full of realistic and authentic characters, and a book about teachers that warmed the cockles of my spinster school marm heart. And you thought I never had anything nice to say about anything, didn't you?

Set in rural Georgia on the home front in 1942 it is definitely historical fiction and a mystery, and the mystery, set in war time has an element of the spy story in it. To term it Southern gothic may be a stretch, however there is a Ma and Pa Kettle aspect to the dialect and characters that sets it apart. Charlie, the heroine is a school teacher, and not exactly the detective. Miss Dimple the true spinster school marm and beloved first grade teacher goes missing right before Thanksgiving, so in-between making Pilgrim hats and bidding soldiers farewell the school staff have to figure out where she went. 

THe story is interesting because even though Charlie is the main character it jumps around a lot, changing perspective often. In a way Charlie doesn't solve the mystery, its a group effort. Like everything else the town folk all chip in to help save the day. Its very sweet, almost threatening to get saccharin sweet at times, but if you've ever lived in a small town its very true to life. These people really do exist. Interwoven are lots of details regarding the hardships of life, from rationing to sending off beloved soldiers. Charlie faces a conflict between wanting to stay loyal to her GI beau and falling for her best friend's flame. Te love story stays light and helps to relieve some of the tension. Miss Dimple herself shines as the beacon of reason and practicality, in fact her scenes are some of the funniest. I was surprised to see that many reviewers sort of slammed this one (then again they like a lot of books I loathe) most seemed to think that the author pigeon-holed herself, writing a book that appealed to only a very specific audience. I can't really say, I've never read a mystery set in that time and place before. I though it was fresh and very cute. It made me show my dimples.

The Flavia of Life

One of the great secrets of writing books is to tap into a niche previously unexplored and make it your own. I can think of no other author who has done this so completely as Alan Bradley. True we often think of sleuths as hardboiled detectives, Sam Spade or Perry Mason. Even in the cozy area of mystery the detectives have an almost preternatural talent, special abilities and powers of observation beyond that of us normal humans. You would certainly never expect an eleven year-old with a passion for chemistry, living in a floundering, once grand estate in post-war England. Not in a million years.

Yet Flavia de Luce has become the most original detective in mystery, the debut novel featuring her, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie won every major mystery and new book award out there and the two books that followed have both been international bestsellers. Not only is Flavia not what you expect, she is beyond your wildest expectations. 

There is a woman I work with that I cross paths with occasionally, we never really talked all that much, just knew each other to say hello. One night I went to see Chris Bojhalian give a talk on The Double Bind in celebration of The Great Gatsby being chosen for the Big Read. To my surprise sitting there in the auditorium of a high school a few towns away was Jackie my work acquaintance. She invited me to sit with her and we've shared a love of books and the discussion of them ever since. Needless to say, in 2009 we saw each other after the summer vacation and both she and I  couldn't wait to share the great book we had read with each other, the book about Flavia. Enough personal history, its turing into a red herring all its own.

I think that Bradley's water gets stronger and stronger with each tale. His writing funnier and more moving and his mysteries more complex. I read one review that claimed Flavia belongs in YA literature, however I think that the plot is a bit too complex and the language too elevated. While the antics of Flavia and her two older sisters might amuse, I'm not convinced that younger readers would be able to slog through. I think the British village cozy also appeals to an older generation, reminiscent of Miss Marple,  Masterpiece Theater come to life. I have seen a few comparisons to Nancy Drew, but Flavia frankly leaves Nancy in the dust, she's much quicker and far less silly. That and the caliber of mystery doesn't even bear comparison, I think people merely draw parallels between the time period. Then again you could do this with any number of mystery series.

Flavia as a character, and her supporting cast of characters are worth the trip to Buckshaw even without the mystery. bradley brings them into much sharper focus in this volume of Flavia's adventures, with the dual problems of the family's bankruptcy and Flavia's longing for her long dead mother. I can't help but wonder what other goodies in terms of plot and character Flavia's life will bring, and of course what wonderful mysteries are yet to come. 

Higher and Higher

A couple of weeks ago I had a tutoring appointment at the public library in the town where I work. My pupil was late so while I waited I browsed the discarded paperback sale. I was surprised that so many were only a year or two old and for sale. Its an extremely small library however and I think they are so strapped for space that something has to give. regardless of why I purchased three books while I waited, all attractively priced at $0.10 each. Personally I feel as though I got screwed out of a dime on this one. 

I won't really bore you with the details, I'm sorry I was bored with the details. I confess that the last eighty pages or so I skimmed myself. There was a promising start, a earl on the run accused of fooling around with Princess Caroline, Prinny's wife. He returns to his native Scotland to hide out with bounty hunters hot on his tail. He is captured by a Scottish landowner who threatens to turn him in unless he is hand fasted (a trial marriage for a year and a day) to the man's disobedient niece Lizzie. 

Of course they'll start off hating each other then slowly fall in love. It takes way too long, and most of that time is given over to vague searches through the woods for a source of income, a secondary love story with Lizzie' s paralyzed sister, and menial household chores. It was promising for a minute when Lizzie's other suitor showed up, but even that wasn't enough of a defibrillator. I wanted to like it but it was hopeless. The romances so far this year haven't been promising, we'll see at some point if the other twenty cents was wasted as well.

Let's Hear It For The Whores

I had a buy one paperback, get one 50% off coupon at Boarders, and figured I would take advantage of their Chapter 11 status. Notorious Pleasures (A Hoyt Matey) was the first paperback (mass market, thus the cheaper of the two) and India Black (a trade paperback, and the full priced option). It was an on sight purchase, the author's first book, impulsive but when I opened the book and saw that the first line was, "My name is India Black and I am a whore." I knew then and there I would get my moneys worth.

The concept is simple, the madam of a successful high class brothel has a client die in the arms of one of her employees (in addition to his Queen Victoria outfit and switch) and has to dispose of the body. Unbeknownst to her he is an employee of her Majesty, carrying valuable information in his dispatch case about British troop movements. In return for disposing of the body one of his fellow intelligence agents, the dark and mysterious Mr. French (we can only presume an ancestor of the one from Family Affair, a pity India Black wasn't named Mrs. Beasly) blackmails India into finding the now missing case. 

Set in Victorian London the scene yo-yo's from luxury to squalor, brandy at the fireside to a sleigh ride through a blizzard. India is a hilarious guide through her misadventures, and only a portion of that humor comes from her occupation. Her role as a madam and a former whore puts her in an odd limbo and often her shifting position works to her advantage. There are a few borderline scandalous scenes, though she does warn in the Prologue that if you are prone to fits of vapors you should shove off. Its sexy and fun, not raunchy and cheap. The sexual tension between India and French (we're not yet sure of his Christian name, I'm not sure even Carol Carr knows, she states on her blog that it never occurred to her readers would be interested in her character's pasts) keeps things fresh and interesting. The sexual tension between India and the rest of the world makes for plenty of hi-jinx.

This is my pick for the new author to watch. Its a promising concept that has the potential for longevity and a wide variety of permutations in the future. While there are a growing number of Victorian mystery series on the market it stays away from either the aristocracy or the gutter, giving a rare glance at the extensive middle class that we seldom see. THink a much more vamped up Dickens. Carr explains her situations well, and never takes it too far, again a temptation. She is also not overtly politically correct, she tells it like it is without trying to backpedal on 150 years of political incorrectness. Not since Pretty Woman has being a hooker be so chic. 

A Hoyt Matey

Believe me it took some serious discipline (nothing kinky) to refrain from putting either 'notorious' or 'pleasures' in the title. NEver having published anything I don't know the exact details of the through process that goes into choosing a book title, I know publishers have the final say for up and down. But can you imagine sitting down and saying, "I think this little beauty will be called Notorious Pleasures." Obviously Elizabeth Hoyt did. Now Hoyt and I have a checkered reading past, I enjoy her work on the surface, good concepts, but underneath they disturb me a little. Her characters, not to put too fine a point on it are fucked up. Like you would not let your children anywhere near these people. Her writing is also on a number of different levels not at all sexy, sometimes its violent, sometimes its a little twisted, often the word choice is just wrong (if you don't believe me think about this, should the word 'crammed' ever be included in a love scene?).

I will confess I have not read the first three books she wrote, the three princes novels. I have read all four of the Four Soldiers books and now both of the Maiden Lane books. Notorious Pleasures has probably been the best so far, and I think the third Maiden Lane book, Scandalous Desires about Silence and Charming Mickey has potential (how could it not with names like those?). It opens with the virginal maiden walking in on our hero having sex with another woman (see I told you it was twisted) sufficiently scandalous. Set in an unusual time is history for a historical romance, the 1730's this is one thing it has going for it. WIth most historical romance being either medieval, Regency, or Victorian this offers a fresh perspective and a grittier backdrop. Hero and Griffin are satisfying characters, and the way their roles reverse lends itself to interesting reading. The side story setting up the third book with Silence is a little random, though to her credit Hoyt does try to make it fit. The side track with Hero's fiancee and his other woman fits but is somehow unnecessary. 

I did like it htough, there was enough adventure without it seeming flat out ridiculous (which its predecessor WIcked Intentions had ) and the romance that blossoms is torrid and tortured, if tied up just a little bit too neatly in the end. Hoyt knows her history and readers will enjoy returning to the streets of St. Giles and the ballrooms of Mayfair equally. Overall, despite the name, I too took notorious pleasure in this one.

Like Clockwork

This was another book I waited way too long for at the library. I think it came out last summer then I saw it a Boarders and requested it. Next week is March so you do the math. Unlike the debacle with Straight Up I think this one was actually worth the wait. If you're familiar with the steampunk genre this definantely qualifies, picture a whole bunch of Artemis Gordons running around with swords battling the forces of darkness and you have it about right. This is the first of a trilogyof books that proceeds Cassandra Clare's bestselling Mortal Instruments...wait what do you call a series of six books. A sexolgy? Now I've never read them, actually I've never even heard of them so I have no basis for comparison.

The concept is fun, a girl crosses the Atlantic to join her older brother in England. The representatives who meet her ship claiming to be from her brother kidnap her and hold her hostage, forcing her to discover that she has the ability to turn into other people. THey keep her subdued by threatening his life. She is told that because of her special talent she is promised in marriage to the Magister, a dark leader of Downworlders, the vampires, werewolves, warlocks, etc. You know the type.

Only when a Shadowhunter, one of the descendants of Angels sworn to protect humans against Downworlders stumbles across her by accident does she escape and begin to learn more about the strange realities of the world. 

I think if you're going to try and get published in the young adult genre today you have to have some kind of supernatural angle. I can think of very few examples, whether historical fiction or not that don't (think of Libba Bray and her Gemma Doyle trilogy starting with A Great and Terrible Beauty). Meg Cabot(though her Mediator series of YA and her new series for adults starting with Insatiable are supernatural), Ally Carter who deals with the more spy genre, Gossip Girl, Anna Godbersen, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, but face it you have to have at least one vampire wandering around to satisfy readers. Clockwork Angel doesn't disappoint on this count, giving a fascinating history to the race of Nephilim, or Shadowhunter, the descendents of angels. She tells a good yard, one that keeps you constantly straining to go deeper and learn more, revealed layer by layer it makes for excellent reading.

Her characters are also finely drawn and engaging. The trio at the center of the story, Tessa our heroine and the two Nephilim who save her, Will and Jem are all endearing characters. Tessa despite her magical ability to transform is still very much practically grounded in the real world, willing to sacrifice life and limb to save her douchebag of a brother. Will is the Byronic hero, constantly angry and wounded. He uses people and things like Kleenex as if trying to prove something existential about life. THough the majority of his life is a secret, Tessa of course seems determined to melt away his icy facade. Jem is the obligatory consumptive of the VIctorian era, an addict to demon poison (think opium addict) it is slowly killing him, and he tries to prove himself as much as he can before the inevitable. He's the Jacob Black of this story, falling hopelessly for Tessa, who though attracted to him is much more of a mother hen. THe secondary characters are no less interesting, CHarlotte and Henry the disfunctional leaders of the Nephilim who are young, inexperienced, and eccentric caretakers as well as Jessamine the airhead with a heart of gold and parasol of steel. 

Its a good lead in to a series, though surprisingly little has been revealed. Character development is certainly a premium for Clare, and it works because so much of the books reads as internal monologue. There is enough violence to keep our dark hearts satisfied and a minimum of romance to keep me from gagging. I'll confess I liked it a lot, perhaps enough to try for the sequels in the mortal Instruments series, even though I never find modern life as exciting as the past.

Afternoon Delight

Delight may be a slight exaggeration, but I just really wanted to use that title. This last of the Hathaway family romances is a brief one, probably almost a hundred pages under the others in the series. I've read all but the first and I've enjoyed them, and to be honest I'm not surprised Beatrix's story is a bit of a flop. Throughout the antics of her brother and three sisters Beatrix has been a sweet, fun secondary character but she's a little too one dimensional to be a true heroine and far too sweet and naive to be a true vixen. 

In the other siblings stories her animals darted in and out giving comic relief, unfortunately they all must be tired because they're no where in sight. The story, reminiscent of Cyrano de Bergerac with her odd love of animals being the handicap she hides when writing to a hero in the Crimean War is good and interesting, until he comes home. Aside from the expected conflict of revealing herself as the woman he feel in love with via the pen there is an element of post traumatic stress involved (I'm getting flashbacks to Elizabeth Hoyt's Four Soldiers series) which makes our hero unpredictably violent. Then there is the late stage, out-of-nowhere assassination attempt that is both random and unneeded. 

All in all it was okay, it lacked the charm of the usual Kleypas fare and was dry, but it wasn't actually a bad book. If you came for the series stick it out but on its own Love in the Afternoon is forgettable and not exactly a delight by any stretch of the imagination.

Tower of Power

I was excited to move on to the next book in this series, and I have to say I enjoyed it better than the first. The pacing was better, the mystery well developed and interesting, and the characters evolved in a way that made you really relate to them. The one element that was lost from the first book was that fascinating element of our heroine Mary Quinn's Cantonese ancestry. 

The premise of the story, that Mary is going undercover as a twelve year old boy, Mark, is as old as the hills. However it remain irresistible, at least to me. I love a good cross-dressing story, from Yentyl on up. THe reversal of gender roles between Mary and her on-and-off beau James Easton also definitely turned the tales. James just returned from India has contracted malaria and is now weak and has to rely on Mary, a weak defenseless female. THe love story is satisfying without taking over the crux of the story. In a way its almost disappointing that Y. S. Lee has only planned on writing a trilogy because I feel like The Agency could have a longevity that keeps it fresh and interesting .

A Ring-A Ding-Ding, London Calling

I read Tangerine, Edward Bloor's breakout, award-winning novel when I was in middle school, right after it came out in 1999. It was the librarian's selection for our middle school book club ( we had also read the young Harry Potter in book club, just before it became huge). It wasn't a book I would have picked up on my own and after twelve years I still remember it as being surreal, like a story set in a Salvador Dali painting. It was a good book but in my memory I can't keep the weirdness straight.

I haven't checked in with Bloor since, though a quick database search  on my local library website shows he has published four or five books since Tangerine. I was browsing the YA section of the Pawtucket library, and grabbed this book both based on the clever cover and the author's name before being pulled into an excruciating conversation about graphic novels with the YA librarian. I'm sorry, I appreciate the effort and time people put into them, but as far as I'm concerned, they're still comic books, which I have zero interest in reading.

That being said it was a phenomenal choice, by far the best book I've read this year. Unfortunately I somehow forgot to post on it when I read it, so it's posted slightly out of reading order if you look at the list. Its a time travel story, however time travel is rare in the narrative. The focus is on  the journey that the main character Martin takes. His discovery of what really matters to him in life, his journey towards fulfilling his own spirituality, and his acceptance of the order of things, including the reality of his own family. His story is one of the most real views of family I've ever seen, in YA or adult fiction. Some might argue that it is too adult a portrayal for a YA novel, and the whole story is very adult in both its plot an themes.

Death is a prominent feature, some of it very violent. The repercussions of this, both in this world and the next are also called into question. I like the message of the story, that there is moral gray areas in life, however at the end all humans have to answer one question, what did you do to help? In its ideology it reminded me a lot of Agnes of God, where a lot of questions are asked, but many left unanswered. This is a criticism of a lot of reviewers, but unfortunately I can't count that among the faults. Spirituality is a messy business, which Martin admits, however he like all of us does his best. Its basic Catholicness appeals to me, the idea of doing your first nine Fridays, not because you necessarily believe it will help, but because it comforts you. Saying a prayer for someone's immortal soul, because after death its the only way to continue to show your love. London Calling isn't a happy story, then again any story can be happy. Its a real story about ordinary people living their lives, whether now or in the past. The time travel is just a vehicle to show us that. 

An Affair to Remember

I confess, I library book stalked this book. It came out yesterday, and I had already put a hold on it, so as soon as the library processed, I got a call for it. Then I read it, and no you don't have to point it out that I have no life. I know. I embrace it in fact. I have an undying devotion to Lauren Willig, she could write children's books about talking vegetables and I would still read them. I confess however that I was not particularly psyched about this one, before it came out at least. 

I can't exactly pinpoint why, but I did have the same doubts about The Mischief of the Mistletoe, the Christmas novel I read last month. In the end I loved it, laughed like silly and it put me in an appropriate holiday mood. That being said the past 2 novels in the series, The Temptation of the Night Jasmine and The Betrayal of the Blood Lily were less appealing to me than the start of the series, which may have a lot to do with this. The core players in the story, the ones that readers came to love, fell by the wayside for a large part. Some of this had to do with setting (Blood Lily took place in India) and the fact that the characters were not part of the original network of spies that the first few books centered around. The Mischief of the Mistletoe and now The Orchid Affair have returned to the fold so to speak, and I think are better for it. 

We see the famed Selwick Spy school in action, something Willig has hinted at through the previous seven books, but which we only see in action now. We also return to France, setting for the first book. Thirdly it is  strictly spy story, rather than the past three books which have been more parodies of spy novels where our unsuspecting heros and heroines stumble across clues and get sucked in. Laura Griscogne, the heroine is a trained spy in the guise of a governess, a pairing of a classic nineteenth century novel plot with a new twist. There is also an excellent double blind involving our hero Andre Jaouen. Do you like gypsies? Of course you do, and you're in luck because we also get to hitch a ride with a wandering acting troop. The romance is more of a slow simmer than a towering inferno, Willig has definitely gotten more timid as her writing matures. While I do wax nostalgic for the old school sex bonanzas, I can appreciate that she tempers the amorous activities of her characters based on situation and personality. Even when there are a lot of love scenes they're never gratuitous or tawdry. 

Its a great book, Willig will keep you involved in the past, perhaps not so much in the future. Her modern-day heroine and story teller Eloise is on a less-than-wild-ride to Paris with her boyfriend. These plots are the only real complaint I have with the story, they are a little on the flat side, you're not exactly charging through the intermediate historical chapters to find out if Eloise and Colin end up having to share a hotel room with his sister. In the end however its not important. As far as I'm concerned Lauren Willig can do whatever the hell she wants, talking vegetables or not. Oh wait, she already did that, I almost forgot about good ole Turnip Fitzhugh. I should go to the guillotine for that, its almost as bad as Augustus Whittlesby's poetry.

A Visit To The Agency

The Agency: A Spy In The House is an interesting book for a couple of reasons. First I think it explores a cultural niche not often referenced in Victorian, or most literature, the Asian subculture. Mary Lang Quinn, the heroine of the novel is the daughter of an Irish woman and a Cantonese sailor. Her appearance and the roots of the culture are often the topic of speculation, however Quinn is interesting because she assimilates so well into the Caucasian culture around her. The Sarah Woolson mysteries by Shirley Tallman go deep into Chinatown in 1880s San Francisco, however it is mainly used to hi-light the dichotomy between the haves and the have nots. The sub-story in The Agency goes beyond that to weave together the plot-lines.

The second intriguing thing about the story is that the author is open about the fact that this all female spy agency, which takes in the untouchables of the London streets, free of charge, educates them, and sends them out to investigate the rich and powerful, is completely fanciful. Too often, period pieces write revisionist history, where everything is picturesque and the plot lines totally out of joint with the happenings and mores of the time. Lee takes as much of actual history as possible, and when she integrates the more fanciful and incongruous elements, makes it plausible.

Overall it was a fast-paced, well-developed, mystery that kept me guessing. The romantic entanglements didn't interfere too badly with the central plot, and the segue into the next two books of the trilogy was smoothly done. No complaints from me.