Pages

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

New books from the holidays!

Between Christmas gifts and a giftcard to Barnes & Nobles, I scored some pretty nice new reading material. 

Before I go to sleep by S.J. Watson - A novel about a woman who loses her memory every night and is retold her memories every morning by her husband.  When she finds a note written to herself saying not to trust her husband, she begins to questions everything, including how much of a person's identity is defined by their memories.

The Devil's Teeth by Susan Casey - A nature book about humans and their relationship with great white sharks.  I've read most shark books out there, but this one is new to me.

The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn - A young adult ghost story book about two children living in the woods behind a mansion. 

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn - I've never read anything by this author, but she always come up when I search in amazon.com for Tasha Alexander.  I finally read the descriptions of some of the books, and really liked this one.  Lady Julia Grey makes her appearance in this debut novel about a mystery set among the upper crusts in Victorian England.

Tears of Pearl and Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander - Books 4 and 5 in the Lady Emily Ashton series.  Love this author and this series.

Her fearful symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger - Another ghostie type story involving two twin sisters in Chicago and England. Same author as Time Traveler's Wife.

The year of the flood and Oryx and crake by Margaret Atwood - I really like Atwood.  I've only read one of hers (The Handmaid's Tale), although I'm amassing quite a collection of her books. Oryx and Crake is futuristic like Handmaid's Tale, dealing with isolation and memories of a world like today.  The year of the flood is also futuristic, book two in a trilogy about how Earth is altered from a waterless flood which destroys most of humankind.  Left are two friends, one working in a sex shop and the other in a spa, both of whom try to escape their bosses/controllers and find a better life.

Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children by Ransom Riggs - My favorite of the books I've received about a boy exploring a home for peculiar children off the coast of Wales.  The more he explores the more he finds out details of just how weird these children might have been.  Complete with photographs.

Someone named Eva by Joan M. Wolf - Another young adult book about Nazi Germany.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Dracula The Un-Dead by Dacre Stoker

I'm not a vampire fan.  I hated the Twilight books, even though I read all four.  I enjoy occasional fantasy novels, so long as they don't involve vampires biting people.  Edward is creepy and the throngs of teenagers who love him scares me.  But the original Dracula has been the single exception to this rule.  Now I have another exception.  The sequel to Dracula titled Dracula The Un-Dead.


If possible this book is even better in some ways than the original.  There's been a noticeable and somewhat disturbing trend towards modern writers writing sequels to established classics.  Jane Austen must be turning in her grave with what they've done to some of her novels.  But this one stays pretty true to form and if you didn't notice the last name coincidence (Stoker) this book was written by Bram's great-grandnephew.  Long before I read this book, I read an interview with Dacre who said he spent loads of time researching the hell out of the original book, trying to find logical paths the book would have taken if the story continued.  Well done Dacre, your research is evident in your book.

The Un-Dead picks up years after Dracula ends.  It's more gory, more supernatural, more creepy than the original.  Bram himself could have written it, although the diction is slightly more up-to-date.  I think its unfair to keep doing this back and forth comparisons between the two books, but it in all honesty, I only read this because its a sequel to a classic book I love.  Had it just been yet another vampire story overpopulating book shelves, I would have passed it by.  But this one was so worth it.  It's just that good.

And how awesome of a name is Dacre?

Sunday, December 4, 2011

A Poisoned Season by Tasha Alexander

This is my third Tasha Alexander book and I loved it.  I read almost the entire thing last night and have spent a good portion of today thinking about it.  It's been a long time since I couldn't put a book down.  This book is part of Alexander's Lady Emily series, the third book behind And Only to Deceive and A Fatal Waltz. 

Lady Emily Ashton, finally out of mourning for her murdered husband, Viscount Phillip Ashton, is in the process of balancing her role of society woman, friend, and daughter with the newfound freedom and wealth the death of her husband has given her.  Deciding to pursue academics instead of balls, tea parties, and luncheons, Lady Emily finds herself no longer readily accepted into high society.  Despite her wealth, London society matrons are not impressed by her social radicalization, pursuit of learning ancient Greece, and her well known protests of never marrying again.

In the midst of all this, a man turns up murdered, and artifacts once belonging to Marie Antoinette start disappearing from their wealthy owners.  What follows is a little bit of intrigue, suspense, romance, cat burglers, stalkers, pink diamonds, illegitimate children, love, pretenders to the throne.

The first two books didn't grab me the way this one did even though I did really enjoy them.  I like Lady Emily.  She's stubborn, smart, witty, and loyal.  Tasha Alexander writes poetically, but not obnoxiously so.  I had no idea where this book was headed. The ending was surprisingly, but not so far-fetched as to be unbelievable.

Well done Alexander.

According to amazon, there are three more books in this series.