Review: I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

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I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan BradleyAlan Bradley, I Am Half-Sick of Shadows

It’s Christmas at Buckshaw, and Flavia de Luce is determined to use her chemical knowledge to capture Father Christmas, proving that he really exists once and for all. But her holiday plans must take a backseat when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw with movie star Phyllis Wyvern in tow. Flavia is fascinated by the spectacle and quickly insinuates herself into the proceedings. She is especially interested in Phyllis Wyvern, who turns out to be hiding several secrets under her glamorous façade. When Phyllis is found strangled by a length of film, Flavia once again investigates in hopes of discovering the killer. But with the entire film crew and half of Bishop’s Lacey snowed in at Buckshaw, everyone is a suspect — which makes this case Flavia’s most difficult and dangerous one yet.

This is yet another enjoyable outing for Flavia de Luce, and the festive Christmas atmosphere is an added bonus. The mystery plot is a bit underdeveloped, in my opinion, with a solution that basically comes out of nowhere. But for me, it was more interesting to read about the film crew and all its internal drama, as well as the townspeople’s response to having celebrities in their midst. I also enjoyed reading more about Flavia’s strained familial relationships, which finally seem to be loosening up a bit. Fans of the series should enjoy this installment despite the weak mystery plot.

Review: The Girl Who Played Go

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Shan Sa, The Girl Who Played Go (trans. Adriana Hunter)

This novel is set in a place and time that I have very little knowledge of, Manchuria in the 1930s. The two narrators are a Chinese schoolgirl whose passion for the game of go makes her unique and a Japanese soldier who has come to China with Japan’s invading army. The soldier muses on the nature of war and his victorious country’s relationship with the conquered Chinese. The girl, on the other hand, is more concerned with her widening romantic experience and the problems of daily life. But when the two characters meet over a game of go, the consequences will be far-reaching and devastating for them both.

What I liked most about this book is that it opened a window for me into another culture and way of life. I mistakenly thought the book would be more about Japan’s military movements in World War II, but instead it deals with an earlier conflict that I knew nothing about. But while the setting was unique, the problems the soldier faces in this book are universal: What is courage? What are the possible justifications, if any, for waging war? What are the circumstances under which a soldier can or should disobey orders? I found the soldier a more compelling character overall than the Chinese girl. She’s very shallow and frivolous for much of the novel, and while she does eventually change, it happened too late for me to care much about her. I also didn’t feel the emotional impact of the ending the way I think I was supposed to. Overall, I enjoyed this novel, but I wouldn’t race to pick up another book by this author.

Tune in Tuesday with Katelyn: I forgot I needed God like a big brother

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So this is a bit awkward, but I may have discovered this song through someone else’s Tune in Tuesday pick once upon a time! If so, I’ve forgotten who you are, and I’m sorry for stealing your song — but you obviously have good taste! 🙂 If I didn’t get it from a Tune in Tuesday participant, I probably heard it on a movie soundtrack. It’s a fairly simple song, but the guitar riff is catchy. And so for this week’s Tune in Tuesday, I bring you “Returning to the Fold” by The Thermals:

Review: Prom and Prejudice

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Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth EulbergElizabeth Eulberg, Prom and Prejudice

At the prestigious Longbourn Academy for girls, money and status matter more than anything else, so scholarship students are constantly taunted and made to feel like outsiders. Lizzie Bennet is one of only two scholarship students in her class, and while she knows she’s lucky to be getting such a good education, she can’t help feeling miserable due to her low social status. Her only friends are the other scholarship girl, Charlotte Lucas, and her roommate, Jane. Jane has a thing for Charles Bingley, a popular student from nearby Pemberley Academy who’s been studying abroad for the past semester. When he returns, he acts really interested in Jane — but his snobby sister Caroline and moody friend Darcy don’t seem to approve of the relationship. Lizzie is happy about Jane’s romance but takes an immediate dislike to Darcy. However, as she gets to know him and his group better, she realizes that she may be letting her prejudice against rich people blind her to the truth.

As should be obvious, this is a modern-day version of Pride and Prejudice set in a young adult context. Though I’m an ardent fan of Jane Austen, I’ve found that the various Austen-inspired sequels and spinoffs are usually nowhere near as wonderful as the original novels. There are exceptions, of course, but unfortunately this book isn’t one of them. The plot sticks to the original P&P fairly closely but doesn’t add anything new or interesting to the story. None of the characters have any depth — even the protagonists — which made it hard for me to care about them. Even more importantly, I found the world of the novel unbelievable. While I accept that there are high school bullies and snobs and cliques, it seems wildly unlikely that everyone at Longbourn would be actively mean to Lizzie (stealing her stuff, throwing milkshakes on her, etc.) just because she has a scholarship. I understand that the author was trying to re-create the social hierarchy that existed in Austen’s day, but the end result just wasn’t credible. I have read YA Austen spinoffs that work very well — Polly Shulman’s Enthusiasm is a wonderful example! — but this book didn’t do anything for me.

Review: A Handful of Dust

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Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust

This novel, set mainly among the leisured class of 1930s England, follows a small group of social acquaintances and sheds light on their shallow approach to life. Brenda Last is married to Tony, a traditional English gentleman who is devoted to preserving his estate. Bored and lonely in the country, Brenda decides to spend more time in London. She soon enters into an affair with John Beaver, an idle young man with no job and not much money, whose greatest talent is lunching at other people’s expense. Tony is oblivious to what’s going on until a shocking tragedy forces his failing marriage into the limelight. As the Lasts try to cope with the fallout from Brenda’s infidelity, they both hope that striking out on their own will bring them happiness, but their efforts are ultimately doomed to failure.

I’m the kind of person who tends to enjoy books with happy endings and likable protagonists. I figure, why read a book that’s just going to depress you? But this book is the antithesis of the qualities I just mentioned, and I still thought it was excellent. Most of the main characters are horrible, odious people, but they’re like a train wreck that I couldn’t look away from. I did sympathize with Tony quite a bit, especially because of one truly heinous thing that Brenda said (don’t want to spoil, so unfortunately I can’t be specific). The whole time, I was hoping that things would somehow work out in the end, even though I knew it was extremely unlikely. I’m also a fan of Waugh’s writing style: he mocks his characters mercilessly, but you can’t really fault him for it because they truly deserve it! So I would definitely recommend this book to fans of classic literature, even those who prefer more lighthearted literature.

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.