Review: They Found Him Dead

November 9, 201310 Comments

Georgette Heyer, They Found Him Dead

This book begins, as so many classic British mysteries do, with an ill-fated party at an English country house. Silas Kane is celebrating his 60th birthday, but many of his guests aren’t in a particularly happy mood. His heir, Clement, is desperate to get his hands on a piece of the older man’s fortune — especially because his beautiful but materialistic wife, Rosemary, is threatening to leave him. Meanwhile, Silas’ neighbor and business partner is eager to interest him in an investment opportunity, but so far he has stubbornly refused to consider the deal. So when Silas is discovered dead the day after the party — having apparently fallen over the cliff where he habitually took a walk every evening — there is no shortage of suspects to consider. And when Clement is shot in the study shortly afterwards, it seems clear that a murderer is at work. Once again, Inspector Hannasyde of Scotland Yard must untangle the various motives in play and discover the identity of a ruthless killer.

I’ve been steadily working my way through Heyer’s mysteries, and this book is a typical example. I always enjoy Heyer’s witty dialogue and hints of romance, although in this book the love story is very peripheral to the main plot. The mystery itself is fine, though there’s nothing particularly surprising for those who read a lot of detective novels. As always, the strength of Heyer’s books is her characters, and there several great ones here, from the self-absorbed Rosemary Kane to the exuberant young Timothy Harte, who is overly eager to assist the police in solving the murder. I should note, however, that while Inspector Hannasyde is a recurring character in Heyer’s mysteries, he is definitely not the protagonist; each individual book tends to revolve around the victim and the suspects much more than around the detective. Anyway, I definitely liked this book overall, but there’s nothing that makes it particularly stand out to me.

Review: Doc

November 9, 20138 Comments

Mary Doria Russell, Doc

This is a novel about the legendary Doc Holliday, known to history for his involvement in the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. But this book isn’t about that particular historical event; rather, it’s about who Doc Holliday really was, or at least who he might have been. It starts with John Henry Holliday’s childhood in Georgia: how he survived the aftermath of the Civil War and Sherman’s march; how he loved music and the finer things in life; and how he was profoundly affected by his mother’s death. It describes how he became ill with the disease that eventually killed him, and how his health forced him to seek a more arid climate out West. Finally, it depicts his life in Dodge City, Kansas, and the friendships and relationships he formed there, particularly with Kate Harony — an educated, passionate, and temperamental whore — and with a taciturn lawman named Wyatt Earp.

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, and this book is a perfect example of why. It brings the Wild West to life in an extremely vivid way, particularly the struggles of a frontier town in an era where the law offered very little protection to its citizens. I was fascinated by the political machinations at work in Dodge, where social issues like prostitution and Prohibition were intimately entangled with the local economy, and where political elections were often decided over a hand of cards. The characters in this book are as well-depicted as the setting: I felt like I truly got to know Doc and Wyatt, what made them tick, and how they managed to rise above their time while also being defined by it. They are both admirable characters, but Russell doesn’t shy away from describing their very real flaws. Overall, this book transported me to another time, and I absolutely loved it. Definitely one of my top reads of the year!

R.I.P. VIII Challenge Wrap-up

November 6, 20132 Comments

I’m a bit late to the game here, but the eighth annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event officially ended on October 31.

The purpose of this event was to read books that fell within the genres of mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, gothic, horror, supernatural, or anything else sufficiently dark/spooky/autumnal. I attempted Peril the First, which asked me to read at least 4 books that met the challenge criteria.

Fortunately, I managed to do a lot of perilous reading in September and October! Here’s what I read:

Links will take you to my reviews. Overall, my favorite books were The Club of Angels, Chimes at Midnight, and The Dream Thieves. My least favorite was undoubtedly Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Did you participate in R.I.P. VIII? If so, what did you read? What were your favorite and least favorite books of the challenge? (Also, don’t forget to link to your wrap-up posts here!)

Review: Something Wicked This Way Comes

November 6, 20133 Comments

Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

A week before Halloween, Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show creeps silently into Green Town, Illinois, in the middle of the night. To most of the town’s inhabitants, the show is a carnival like any other, with its sideshows, rides, and circus freaks. But 13-year-old best friends Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway suspect that something more sinister is at work. The carnival seems to lure unwary visitors into its depths, and those who fall under its spell will never be the same again. It’s up to Jim and Will — and Will’s father, an unassuming librarian who worries about his age and his relationship with his son — to uncover the dark secret at the heart of the circus and to prevent it from ensnaring more victims.

I don’t usually read horror novels, but I was interested in this book because of its classic status (and, frankly, because of its Shakespearean title). Unfortunately, this novel really didn’t work for me, but the problem wasn’t the story at all — it was the writing style. The prose is gratingly faux-poetic, overblown, and melodramatic. Words are often used in unconventional ways (nouns being used as verbs and the like), which can be an effective stylistic choice, but in this case I found it incredibly distracting. I also found the dialogue completely unrealistic and stilted. It’s a shame, because I actually do think the basic story is fascinating and could have been very effective in the right hands. I’m definitely not enthusiastic about trying more Bradbury after this — and I’m wondering how well Fahrenheit 451 would stand up to a re-read!

Review: No Plot? No Problem!

November 5, 20132 Comments

Chris Baty, No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days

This book, written by the creator of NaNoWriMo, explains the origin of his crazy idea to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. Its target audience is those creative, literature-loving types who often say to themselves, “Someday I’d like to write a novel,” but who haven’t actually done anything to make their dream happen. Baty’s central point is that the best way to write a novel is just to sit down and write it — and to give yourself an impossibly short deadline so that you can’t let procrastination or perfectionism get in the way. This book introduces the concept of NaNoWriMo and offers a guided tour of each week, complete with tips from people who have successfully hit the 50,000-word target in the past. It also offers suggestsions for how to keep motivated, what to do when you get stuck, and how to conquer your pesky Inner Editor.

Not sure if I’ve mentioned this yet, but I am participating in NaNoWriMo this month (and am already falling behind in my word count, due to an incredibly busy first weekend!), so I seized the opportunity to read this book before all the madness began. I really enjoyed Baty’s breezy, tongue-in-cheek tone, which underscores the fact that this is a ridiculous undertaking that is highly unlikely to produce quality work. I also found several of his suggestions helpful, particularly the idea of finding time to write every day by making a schedule and eliminating nonproductive activities. I know I can waste several hours a day doing nothing but watching TV or puttering around the apartment…but now I’m going to spend those hours writing intead! I should say, though, that this is not a good resource for learning about the craft of writing. Other than very basic definitions of plot, setting, and characters, this book doesn’t offer advice about style or improving the quality of your writing. I’d recommend it to people who are interested in doing NaNoWriMo, but those who want a more general writing guide should look elsewhere.

Review: The Roman Hat Mystery

November 5, 20133 Comments

Ellery Queen, The Roman Hat Mystery

In 1920s New York City, crowds have been thronging to see the latest Broadway hit, a sensationalist gangster play complete with flashing lights and gunfire. But little did the audience members of the Roman theater suspect that a real murder would be committed during the second act! Inspector Richard Queen of the local police is on the scene almost immediately, with his curious son Ellery in tow. In examining the victim’s body, they soon discover an interesting anomaly: despite being dressed in full evening clothes, the dead man wasn’t wearing a top hat. The police scour the Roman theater from top to bottom and search all the audience members as they leave the premises, but the hat is nowhere to be found. While Inspector Queen and his fellow police detectives identify the corpse and discover his involvement in a blackmailing scheme, Ellery applies himself to the mystery of the missing hat — and deduces the identity of the murderer as a result.

I really enjoy classic mysteries from the early 20th century, so I was excited to read this first Ellery Queen novel. Overall, I was very impressed with the mystery plot itself; the solution is tight and hangs together well, although part of the motive is concealed from readers until the very end. (Historical racism is also an aspect of the solution, which can certainly be offputting for contemporary readers.) I also liked the way in which the police were depicted as they investigated the murder: far from being bumbling idiots, they approach their job intelligently and methodically. I was especially tickled by the introduction of the district attorney as a character. Most mystery novels focus solely on catching the killer — never mind if s/he can actually be convicted in a court of law! I wasn’t as impressed with the characterization of the detectives, however. Inspector Queen was more central to this book than Ellery, but he didn’t seem to be consistently depicted, and Ellery was barely fleshed out at all. Presumably, though, more character development occurs in subsequent books, and I’d certainly be willing to read more Ellery Queen novels.

Review: Shadows

November 5, 20135 Comments

Robin McKinley, Shadows

At first glance, Maggie seems to be an ordinary teenage girl: she loves animals, hates algebra, and thinks there’s something wrong with her new stepfather, Val. But it’s not just Val’s funny Oldworld accent or terrible taste in shirts that worries Maggie. It’s the fact that he’s always surrounded by shadows that don’t make sense; they’re the wrong shapes, and there are far too many of them to be natural. To make matters worse, Maggie has started to notice some troubling things about her hometown in Newworld — unexplained phenomena that almost look like breaks in reality. Eventually Maggie confronts Val and learns some unpleasant truths about Newworld and its way of dealing with unnatural occurrences.

I’ve been a huge fan of Robin McKinley’s since the first time I read The Hero and the Crown in elementary school, so I was ecstatic to learn that she’d written a new book, even if it wasn’t the long-awaited continuation of Pegasus. However, I’m sorry to say that I was very disappointed in this book. It does contain many of the classic McKinley touches, such as a wonderful canine companion, a no-nonsense heroine with plenty of gumption, and (less happily) a magical system that is never fully explained. But overall, I felt let down by this story; there were a lot of very interesting threads running throughout the novel, but they were never gathered together in the end. I’m not sure whether a sequel is planned or not, but some further resolution of the story definitely seems necessary. I can’t help but wonder if McKinley was attempting to write her version of the dyptopian YA novel that is so popular nowadays. All I can say is, I vastly prefer her older books!

Tune in Tuesday with Katelyn: See that boy, he looks so fine

November 5, 2013November 5, 20136 Comments

Today is a very special day…it’s the inaugural day of Tune in Tuesday’s ’90s month! As someone who grew up in the ’90s, the music of this decade will always have a special place in my heart. From the Backstreet Boys to the Barenaked Ladies (and yes, I have CDs from both of those bands!), it’s a decade full of fun, cheesy, ridiculous songs. I can’t wait to share some of my favorites with you! Today I’m sharing a video that some of you (OK, maybe one other person out there) might recognize from the teen flick “Drive Me Crazy,” starring teenaged Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier. In the world of the movie, these girls were an up-and-coming band called the Electrocutes, and they performed at the big dance. In reality, they’re called the Donnas, and I really like their angry-girl music! So here’s the Donnas with “Get Rid of That Girl” — enjoy!

Bookish Update: October 2013

October 31, 2013Leave a comment

Currently reading: Georgette Heyer, They Found Him Dead

Books read in October:

Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves
Dai Sijie, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Robin McKinley, Shadows
Ellery Queen, The Roman Hat Mystery
Chris Baty, No Plot? No Problem! A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
Mary Doria Russell, Doc

Favorite book of the month: Doc, absolutely! This fictionalized biography of one of the legends of the Wild West is wonderfully written and captivating.

Least favorite book of the month: Something Wicked This Way Comes…the overblown writing style was way too obnoxious for me!

Books acquired in October:

Hannah March, The Complaint of the Dove
Jessica Park, Left Drowning
Kristan Higgins, The Perfect Match

E-books:

Loretta Chase, Knaves’ Wager ($2.99)

I’m very proud of the self-control I exhibited in my book buying this month! 🙂 Although that probably had more to do with external factors such as that pesky government shutdown….

Review: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

October 29, 20132 Comments

Dai Sijie, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (trans. Ina Rilke)

This slight novel tells the story of two young Chinese men who are sent to a remote mountain village to be “re-educated” during the cultural revolution of the 1970s. Both youths are talented individuals; the unnamed narrator plays the violin, and his best friend Luo is a master storyteller. Despite these gifts, however, they soon feel oppressed by the overwhelming boredom of their new lives, where they are forced to perform manual labor from dawn to dusk. But two unexpected events soon occur, changing the course of their lives forever: they discover a hidden cache of Western classics translated into Chinese, and they meet a beautiful young seamstress who steals both their hearts.

This is a very short book, and it honestly felt more like a tableau than a novel to me. The setting is described vividly with meticulous prose, but nothing much happens. I think I was expecting the book to be more overtly political, since the author was himself “re-educated” during this time period and ended up leaving China for France. But while the cultural revolution certainly isn’t praised, the boys’ lives aren’t portrayed in a particularly negative light either. Also, their exposure to Western culture isn’t always a good thing; in fact, their relationship with the seamstress is irrevocably altered by her exposure to European literature. So I was very interested by the ambiguities in the novel, but the plot and characters didn’t particularly grip me. I’d like to read another novel (or nonfiction work) about this time period, which seems like it would be rich in dramatic material.