Month: November 2012

Jane Austen for the new millennium

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If you haven’t seen the Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube yet, you really need to do so right now. Go ahead; I’ll wait.


Pride and Prejudice gets updated in this series of videos where Lizzie Bennet is a grad student doing a vlog for her master’s thesis. Her pushy mother is dying for Lizzie (and her sisters Jane and Lydia) to marry rich men, but Lizzie is more focused on her career. Then the handsome and eligible med student Bing Lee comes to town…and they’re off!

I’m pretty addicted to these videos at the moment. The acting is generally solid, and the modern-day update is very clever. The story follows the book fairly closely while still making it work in a contemporary setting. Plus, the clothes are adorable! New videos are posted on Mondays and Thursdays; right now Lizzie is visiting her best friend, Charlotte, and she’s just had a surprising conversation with a certain Darcy…

Bottom line: if you’re an Austen fan, you won’t want to miss these!

Review: A Red Herring Without Mustard

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A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan…Alan Bradley, A Red Herring Without Mustard

At the church fête in Bishop’s Lacey, Flavia de Luce is drawn to the fortune-teller’s tent, where a local Gypsy gazes into a crystal ball to see the past or the future — for a price. Flavia impulsively invites the Gypsy woman to camp on the grounds of Buckshaw but is shocked when she finds the woman badly beaten the next morning. Who would want to harm the Gypsy, and could the incident possibly be related to an alleged kidnapping that took place several years ago? As usual, Flavia is excited to be in the thick of a mystery, especially when the body of a poacher is soon afterwards found at Buckshaw. Once again, Flavia is on the case, accompanied by her trusty bicycle Gladys. But will she be able to beat local policeman Inspector Hewitt to the solution?

I don’t have too much to say about this book other than what I already said about The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag. I enjoyed this installment of the series a bit more because the pacing is better. The Gypsy woman is attacked very early in the book, so the mystery kicks off right away. As always, it’s fun to follow Flavia along in her investigations; I especially like when she pretends to be a sweet, innocent little girl. I’m also continuing to enjoy the fraught familial relationships of the de Luce family. Honestly, I get a bit angry with the father sometimes. Why isn’t he paying more attention to his girls? And Ophelia and Daphne are so consistently mean to Flavia that it’s almost unbelievable. There are a few flickers of kindness from them, but mostly they terrorize her — which is fun to read but also a bit one-note. Still, I enjoyed this book a lot and look forward to I Am Half-Sick of Shadows.

Review: The Man in the Queue

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The Man in the Queue by Josephine TeyJosephine Tey, The Man in the Queue

When an unidentified man is stabbed to death while waiting in line outside a theater, the crime becomes an immediate sensation in London. Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard is assigned to the case, which at first seems impossible. The people standing closest to the dead man noticed nothing, and the murderer seems to have left no trace behind. However, eventually one witness mentions that he saw the dead man arguing with someone in the queue — someone who afterwards left in a hurry. With the help of this statement, Grant is soon on the trail of the man who argued with the victim. However, the more evidence Grant obtains, the more complicated the case seems to grow.

My experience so far with Josephine Tey has been very hit-or-miss: I was disappointed by The Daughter of Time, I really liked Brat Farrar, and now I find myself underwhelmed by this book. I read in the introduction that Tey didn’t like to use the standard conventions of the mystery genre, and that’s certainly evident in this novel. A lot of the book takes place inside Grant’s head, as he immediately begins to theorize about what sort of man might have committed this crime. Thus, much of the novel is Grant jumping to conclusions and then being proved wrong as more evidence is uncovered — which may be true to life but isn’t a lot of fun to read about. The mystery is also technically not “fair,” as the solution comes out of nowhere with no clues given in advance. So I wasn’t a huge fan of this book, but I think I will try some more Josephine Tey in hopes of finding something better.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d want on a desert island

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This week’s Top Ten Tuesday asks the classic question: What books would you take if you were stranded on a desert island? For the sake of the fun, I’m not going to include books about how to survive in the wilderness/books with info on medicinal and edible plants/books to use for kindling/etc. Instead, I’ll restrict my list to books I would want to read if I were stranded on a desert island. Not surprisingly, there will be a lot of overlap with my all-time favorite books!

1. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice — This is my favorite book of all time, so of course I’ll need it with me.

2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings — I love this book, and it’s certainly long and complex enough to keep me occupied for a while!

3. E.M. Forster, A Room with a View — When I’m bored with the limited scenery on my island, I’ll pick up this book to immerse myself in two beautiful places: Florence, Italy, and the English countryside.

4. William Goldman, The Princess Bride — I’ll definitely need this hilarious and charming novel to keep me from getting bored!

5. Maggie Stiefvater, The Scorpio Races — I loved this book so much when I read it! I’ll definitely need to revisit its beautiful language, wonderfully understated romance and perfect, mysterious setting over and over again.

6. G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy — Chesterton’s cheerfulness and optimism should come in handy when I start to get depressed about being marooned on an island!

7. Walker Percy, Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book — There’s a lot of variety in this book, which should stave off the boredom: philosophy, religion, popular culture, space travel, semiotics, and the list goes on.

8. Robin McKinley, The Blue Sword — I have to bring something by Robin McKinley, and this gorgeous fantasy/romance is long overdue for a reread!

9. Connie Willis, To Say Nothing of the Dog — I’ve been wanting to reread this charming time-travel novel for a long time. Seems like being stranded on a desert island is the perfect opportunity!

10. The Bible — I think I’ll be needing substantial spiritual consolation if I’m going to be stuck on this island for a while!

Tune in Tuesday with Katelyn: If I had a wish, or even a choice…

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Time for another Tune in Tuesday! My pick this week, “Sound of Your Voice” by the Barenaked Ladies, is an obvious choice because I’ve had it stuck in my head all week! Something about the simplicity of the lyrics or the old-school doo-wop feel just burrowed its way into my brain. Also, BNL was one of my absolute favorite bands in middle school and high school, so there’s a certain amount of nostalgia as well. Remember “One Week”? I actually used to know all the words to that! But anyway, here’s “Sound of Your Voice”:

Bookish trailers

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Is it just me, or are there a lot of great-looking book-related movies coming out soon? Here are a few that I’ll be lining up to see:

“Cheerful Weather for the Wedding,” based on the novel by Julia Strachey, looks like sheer delight for those of us who love period pieces! The U.K. release date is early 2013, but I can’t seem to find a U.S. release date anywhere (alas!). However, it is available to rent on Comcast On Demand if you feel like spending $10. I plan to sit tight and hope for a theater release, but it does look tempting!

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I’m so excited that Baz Luhrmann’s doing “The Great Gatsby”! I read the book a couple times in school and didn’t particularly love it. (I didn’t hate it either; it just didn’t make a huge impression on me.) But with Luhrmann directing, the movie is sure to be gorgeous. The cast also seems great, with Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role and Carey Mulligan as Daisy. U.S. release date is May 10, 2013.

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And then of course there’s Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: Part One.” (About that…are three movies really necessary, Mr. Jackson? Don’t you have enough money already?) Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite books, so obviously I can’t miss this! Martin Freeman is a great choice for Bilbo — and after “North and South,” I’ll watch Richard Armitage do anything, even with a giant dwarf beard! U.S. release date is December 14.

Review: Light Boxes

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Light Boxes: A Novel by Shane JonesShane Jones, Light Boxes

This slight novel is set in an unnamed town that’s experiencing perpetual winter. The townspeople know that this is caused by a godlike being named February, who has also banned all forms of flight. Birds fall from the sky, kites don’t work, and hot-air balloonist Thaddeus Lowe can no longer take to the sky. The town’s children begin to go missing, and adults commit suicide out of their desperation and despair. Eventually Thaddeus and some of the townspeople decide to fight back, but how can their pitiful efforts outmatch the might of February?

I should say right up front that I don’t think I’m the right audience for this book. I loved the concept, and the cover blurb made me think that it would be sort of a magical fable. But ultimately I just didn’t get the point of the book; in fact, I’m not entirely sure it has one. The writing style is lyrical, almost like poetry — and maybe I’d have liked the book more if I’d approached it as poetry rather than a novel. The plot is interesting, but it’s only outlined as the merest sketch. I felt like a lot more could have been done with the ballooning/flying idea, for example. That said, I don’t think this is a bad book at all, and I’m sure there are many people who would absolutely love it. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

Review: The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag

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The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by…Alan Bradley, The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag

In  this second Flavia de Luce novel, the town of Bishop’s Lacey plays host to some prestigious guests from the BBC. Rupert Porson, puppeteer and creator of the popular TV show “The Magic Kingdom,” has arrived in town with his entourage and plans to put on a show. Naturally, Flavia is in the thick of things, helping to set up the show and making friends with Rupert’s beautiful companion, Nialla. Being an exceptionally observant child, Flavia notices that there is some tension between Rupert and Nialla, and also that Rupert seems to have a surprising number of acquaintances in Bishop’s Lacey. When Rupert is murdered during the climactic moment of his show, Flavia is on the case, using her intelligence and passion for chemistry to discover the killer and uncover new information about a years-old tragedy.

How you feel about this series will largely depend on how you feel about its narrator and protagonist, Flavia de Luce. She’s an incredibly precocious 11-year-old girl who has an encyclopedic knowledge of poisons and can’t keep her nose out of a mystery. Personally, I don’t find her remotely believable, or even very likable, but she is extremely entertaining. This book moves fairly slowly, with lots of top-heavy exposition as the main players are introduced. For this reason, I was less interested in the mystery than in the de Luce family dynamics, which are both fascinating and a little disturbing. But fans of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie will undoubtedly enjoy this second installment of the series, and I’ve already borrowed the next two books from the library.

Secret Santa Exchange at The Broke and the Bookish

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The holiday season is upon us, which means it’s time for some cheer and good will — and nothing says cheer and good will like fabulous bookish presents! Luckily, The Broke and the Bookish is hosting a Secret Santa gift exchange to spread the love (and awesome gifts) among book bloggers. Once you sign up, TBTB will assign you a Secret Santa, for whom you’ll buy gifts based on their wishlist and other preferences. Then you mail them their package and receive your own bundle of holiday joy in return. If you’re interested, click here for details about how to participate. The deadline to sign up is November 17. I’m looking forward to finding that perfect gift for my Secret Santa!