City of Stairs ( I love you Robert Jackson Bennett!)

I meant it... I really do love Robert Jackson Bennett (love song link at the bottom!).  After reading American Elsewhere year before last I have been keeping an eye out for his other works, this book being the next one out.
How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.  1. Your stories are fresh, original and freaky!  2.  I don't think I have ever encountered anyone who does that niggly "This  world is familiar but not really" alternate universe thingy like you do.  3. You are brilliant, that's all, just brilliant!

Seriously, I could/have do/done the crazy fan girly thing about his latest book.  From someone like me who has gotten to the point where new stories and fantastic universes are just leaving me cold, uninterested, and let's admit it, a little jaded, Bennett's work has me excited in a new and wonderful way, and I can't believe that I haven't bought the rest of his works yet (I'm working on it though). 

For you, Robert Jackson Bennett!

The Detective Wore Silk Drawers

                    
This was the next book to be taken off the stack I currently have by my reading chair.  This was an impulse buy, bought purely on it's merit as a Penguin and I implicitly trust Penguins (especially at second-hand book stores where part of my criteria for treasure hunting  is that if it is a Penguin it ought to be good, and at that inexpensive price what is the risk?).  I was not wrong with that assumption, it is a good book.  Just not my cup of tea.    I am essentially a non-violent person and this book was prevalently violent.  I did not like those bits at all, which made the book a punishment to get through and because of this it also took a longer than usual time for me to finish it.   What was of interest was the time period, and of how Scotland Yard was beginning to do such things as having policemen working under cover to catch their murderer.  I hated what happened to the under cover policeman though, but for the sake of the story I believe it was necessary as they were after all just experimenting with this kind of policework, and had not as yet come up with regulations about the safety and welfare of their staff.  
The book ended well, though, and if you are someone who can handle all of the 'scrapping', you  might enjoy this book.

A Memory of Murder

Just when you think you have him figured out, he throws you through another loop and shares some golden oldies that surprise and shock by how macabre the stories are.  He has caught me by surprise before, so I shouldn’t have been too shocked by it.  Perhaps it is because it has been  distilled in to one great collection that makes it so potent.  Perfection!

The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack

Everything Life places in your path is an opportunity.
No matter how difficult.
No matter how upsetting.
No matter how impenetrable.
No matter how you judge it.
An opportunity.

An impressive quote, right off the bat at the very beginning of this awesome story.  I have been for a very long time a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, and this book was very reminiscent of that kind of story.  I loved this book from start to finish.  Lots of action, lots of familiarity ( I know this period of history quite well so it was comfortable), lots of crazy steam punk gadgets, and hilarious genetic creations (insulting parrots anyone?).  Are you missing some Sherlock Holmes type of action?   Wish you could revisit Victorian England but with a twist?   If you want to really depart from the here and now, take a vacation from what you know,  this is a great world to go and visit, today.

American Elsewhere

                                                 
I had the tremendous good fortune to win this book from the Librarything Early Reviewers book group.  It was love at first sight!  While it was just an advanced copy (and could have used a bit more glue on the spine publisher chaps!), it was a pleasant handful of book, large, a little heavy and very easy to hold in your hands (nice and bendy). It was also over 660 pages of non-stop suspense, intrigue,mystery and persistent horror (meaning that I was always anxious about what was going to happen next just like watching a horror movie, and the feeling never let up…at all!), it was such a pleasure to read from start to finish.  I really didn’t want the book to end.
 
When I began I was impressed with how it reminded me of my favourite television show Eureka, thougn that impression didn’t last very long as it swiftly turned into something more serious and ominous (you guys remember David Lynch’s
Twin Peaks?  Yeah it was that damn ominous).  Despite getting creeped out (horror has never really been my favourite genre), I didn’t want to put the book down, but forced myself to because I didn’t want the story to end so quickly, so it was my bedside book for the last week (and I always read well past my bedtime!). 

I looked at Robert Jackson Bennett’s website yesterday after I had finished American Elsewhere and I was blown away by a picture he had posted of the rabbit suit and mask, because that was almost exactly how I had pictured it, which just cranks up my admiration for Bennett’s ability to paint pictures and evoke feelings with his words.  I also discovered that he has written a few other books that I will be buying as soon as I possibly can, and of course I will be keeping an eye out for whatever else this writer will produce in the future.

Dead Ever After (possible spoilers!)

It has been more than a week since I finished Dead Ever After and I took some time to mull it over before I decided what to write about it.  After four months of the excitement and build up to the end of this series, I don't know what I was expecting.  I was a little deflated and even a little bit disappointed after finishing it and I think that was because I had built myself up into such a froth that I was full of too much anticipation for the end.   After a few days I could see that there was no other way this could possibly have ended, it all makes sense (and we don't need to have a whole bunch of bells and whistles to show that). 
To be really clear, I loved this ending.  All of my wishes came true.  I don't think there could possibly be a book out there by Charlaine Harris that I couldn't like and I wasn't disappointed by how she polished off the Southern Vampire series.  Polished (until it sparkled) is what she did indeed do.  Everything that you can imagine as a loose end was tied off (in neat little bows), and this story is definitely over.  I do hope that from time to time when one of Harris's anthologies comes out, we will hear about how Sookie is doing, but I'm pretty happy with how it all ended, and don't feel the need to know what happens next with any kind of urgency.
I know I have remarked on it before but I think that Charlaine Harris's ability to write a series which did not flag in any way throughout all thirteen books, proves her to have a special talent for planning, perception and execution of a well made story, and when it was all over, I realised that she really knows how to wrap it up beautifully too.
I was saving the fan fiction for the very end for after I had read all of the books because I didn't want it to bias what was canon, but today when I looked at the website I just couldn't do it.  I saw just from the summaries that there was a few that had decided to rewrite their own versions of book thirteen because they were unhappy with the ending.  I don't wish to be insulting (and hopefully I won't be!), but I don't understand their disappointment.  Well...actually I do.  I think that those people are perhaps what I would lable the True Bloods.  The ones that care more about the vampires and probably the television show rather than what I think is the whole point of the books.  This is Sookie's story, it always has been, and everything else has just been a means to an end for that story.  It's too bad that they couldn't see that, and I have absolutely no interest in reading their fan fiction.
Thanks Charlaine...and I look forward to seeing what you do next.

Deadlocked

       After the last puzzling and depressing instalment, Deadlocked was a breath of fresh air.  We swung back again to what I know and love about the Sookie Stackhouse universe.  I laughed quite a bit, and it was such a relief to have good old Sookie back to her spunky, sarcastic old self.  I had really missed her, and was worried she wouldn’t spring back.  There was so much emotional turmoil involved in everything that happened ( I am amazed at how much was stuffed into one book) so at the very end of Deadlocked I was very close to tears.  Naturally, Sookie can never really go back to what she used to be, and I am really very impressed with how over the years Charlaine Harris has developed this wonderful, intricate character.  I have always enjoyed reading about the journey that a character struggles through until they reach their true self, and I really love how Sookie has grown.
While it seemed like some storylines were being tied off, there is still just a little bit more to be told, and I am aquiver in anticipation for the grand finale.  I still have absolutely no idea how it will end even after what Sookie did in the final chapter.  We all know by now what I hope for and I will find out in just a few short days...can't wait!

Speaking From Among the Bones

Another rollicking jaunt in post-war England with my favorite girl sleuth Flavia.  There has always been a lot of speculation about the mysteries in these books, of which Speaking From Among the Bones is the fifth in the series (I understand that there is one more to go).  I have always wondered about the absent mother and if she is really dead.  There is this mystery about Harriet de Luce that is just built upon with each successive story (and which has come to a head in this last book!).  WE ARE LEFT WITH A CLIFFHANGER!  I won't say anymore.  I really look forward to the next one (though hurry, okay Mr. Bradley?).  Oh yeah, I look at my nose quite differently now...

Dead Reckoning

The other shoe still hasn't dropped.  There was an underlying tension or suspense throughout Dead Reckoning that something really awful hasn't happened yet.  Lots of bad stuff did happen of course, but since reading the last book Dead in the Family I have had this feeling that there is more incredibly awful stuff yet to come.
I expect to be surpised!  I haven't yet predicted what might happen in any Sookie book and I have tried, with this re-read of the Southern Vampire Series not to make any predictions about how it might end (and the arsehat in Germany who published today the ending of this series by illegal means... you are a jerk! and I will not let you spoil it for me!)
We have a little of the Sookie that I love back.  She is still healing from her wounds, and she has done some amazing things (like she usually does).  She is one strong woman who has come back tougher and the most aggressive I have ever seen her.  There is this feeling of finishing up some stories, tidying up those loose ends, and it just has me more excited for the finish.  I am still rooting for Sam to be the one that Sookie will end up with but that's by no means a sure thing...yet.
I am a little more comfortable about how the story ended, there were some things that have been bugging me but they have been resolved or averted maybe (vague much?).  The finish line is in my sights, just two more to go until this wonderful story ends!

Dead in the Family

Okay, this was a hard one to read the first time through.  It was off, in a way I still have not entirely understood, and it was different from any other Sookie Stackhouse book.  I admire Harris for her ability to do this and I think she is an amazing writer.
Everything is different in the Sookieverse, after her survival of another supernatural war that happened at the end of Dead and Gone.  The atmosphere is so raw and just barely mended, everything that happened in the story was either awful or just plain ugly (though there were some very interesting bits too but I won't tell you about them...spoilers!).   They were overshadowed by this overall feeling that the other shoe hasn't dropped yet, so it was a hard book to read, and I missed Sookie as she usually is.  It was said in the last book  Dead and Gone that she would never be the same, and after reading this I agree... this is a different kind of world (or I just see it differently through Sookie's eyes).  There are just three more books to go now!

The Dragon Turn: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His Fifth Case

                                  
I don't think this book was really meant to be read on it's own.  That's not a criticism!  I think that if I had read the previous four books I would have developed a relationship with the protagonist, but since this was the fifth book in the series I found it a little hard to relate to Peacock's Sherlock Holmes.  There was a lot of information threads in there, but they weren't complete enough for me to catch up to the story (not a criticism!  I get that it would be tough to recap four books in a short amount of time, and given that this is meant for young adults, it would have to be brief!). 
For someone who is not familiar with the original Sherlock Holmes or with mystery/detective stories in general, and who has read the series from the beginning, I think that they would really enjoy The Boy Sherlock Holmes.  It is a great taking off point into the genre. If I ever got the chance, I would, after the series is complete, spend a nice weekend reading the lot, and if I had a niece or nephew showing interest in the genre I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this collection.
And of course...I absolutely adored Scuttle!

Sleeping Murder

This is by far my favorite Miss Marple mystery.  Boo to the BBC for cocking it up.   I mean, really!  What was wrong with the original?  Nothing!
Okay, I'm kidding (a little bit!).  I feel that there is more here than just a murder mystery.  This, to me, is a nod at a bygone era (just passing by moments before), making all of the events a very nostalgic trip down not just the memory lane of our protagonist but of Agatha Christie's as well.  In my mind's eye I can see all of the ghosts and it made this book, for me, extremely beautiful as well as a very emotionally powerful story.

Nemesis

The last book that Agatha Christie wrote... just as good as the first!  Lot's of misdirection, suspects, and mysterious behaviour which only makes sense at the very end (as it should).  I discovered early on in my readings of a Christie murder mystery that it's best not to try and figure out who did it, but just to enjoy the journey.  Not only is this great detective fiction, but a blast from the past.  A visit to an era that I never lived in but feel that I would have enjoyed,  genteel people living in a simpler time.  When things just seemed to be tidier, though of course, people are still just folks with hopes, dreams, and the baser wishes and needs, sex, jealousy, dirty secrets and a grisly murder or two...  Every era has them, but it's lovely to visit Agatha Christie's, murders and all.

The Secret Adversary

For a second novel, it is really quite good!  But then, it seems that whatever Agatha Christie put her hand to came off rather beautifully.   I have really enjoyed reading her autobiography, and I can appreciate what she wrote even more now after reading about her life and what she thought important to write about.   A little spy/mystery/romance goes quite a long way, and Christie wrote it in such an easy way, that it is just effortlessly and satisfactorily gobbled up in one afternoon (to be consumed with cups of Earl Grey tea naturally).

Dead and Gone

For a few books now Sookie has managed not to get too physically damaged, mostly the harm has been to her heart.  This time, this book seems to have caught up on all the pain she has missed previously.  There have been a lot of pivotal changes, some disappointments, new developments, and indications of what is to come (ambiguous enough for you?).  I was shaken after reading Dead and Gone, and I'm not too sure what to make of it.  This is my second reading (I haven't been tempted to re-read this one because of it's element of horror), but this was the last one to be read this month (I have been rationing them out so that by the time number thirteen has been published I would be ready to go!).  It has been a bit of a struggle to stop at just the three for each month, especially now that Tor books is promoting their own re-read of the books building up to the end...

From Dead to Worse

Things are getting dark in the Sookieverse.  Lots of action (almost non-stop), loads of awful things happening, and of course Alcide Herveaux has gotten himself well and truly written off and out of the running (in my humble opinion... I just can't concieve of Sookie taking him on now or ever).  It's unfortunate because at the beginning he seemed really promising, but the more I get to know him the more repugnant he is.  Eric has gained some points and is actually being quite sweet, I feel really sorry for Quinn who just doesn't seem to get a break,  Bill still impresses me with his constancy but he really doesn't have a chance,  and last but not least my favorite Sam has consistently proven his worth (though I really shouldn't get my hopes up). 
This book in a way was a Spring Cleaning kind of book. A whole bunch of loose ends were taken care of (quite satisfactorily), with the promise of some good things to come.  Naturally, it won't stay that way. 

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

I just had to revisit this book today as I have been reading Agatha Christie's autobiography and I was ever so excited when she began talking about her attempt at writing her very first detective novel. 
I have to say that the experience was pleasurable in that I saw so much more in the book than previous readings.  I appreciated every part that refered to her actual experiences, was tickled pink by them and amused!  I couldn't help chuckling every time I encountered something that came directly from her own life.  She really was a funny old duck, with tremendous talent, and is still one of my favorite mystery writers.  I still haven't finished the autobiography, it's quite a long book, but every chapter is very interesting, and Agatha always wrote in a style that is so relaxing and enjoyable to read. 
I would recommend any day a Christie mystery... just put aside a day for reading, choose a very comfortable chair, wear your softest clothing, drink tea out of your favorite literary mug,  curl up and savor the experience.

All Together Dead

Well Charlaine Harris has absolutely no blahs smack dab in the middle of her Southern Vampire series!  There's no wan attempt at plot or character development, she's already achieved that, so when something new happens, I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the story, wondering how Sookie will deal with this newest challenge.   This one was absolutely packed with action and mysteries to be solved.  I was just as engaged in this one as I was the very first book, which I think is pretty special and rare in a series.  Six more to go!

Definitely Dead

Ya know what really 'get's my goat, turns my crank, bee's my bonnet'?  A story that has something missing.  Or rather makes you feel like you have missed something really important, and what makes this even worse, is there are quite a few referrences in the book to the 'thing' you have missed.  If you aren't in the know you are missing something important, so the first time I read this book, I was actually getting agitated thinking that I had missed something, that somehow Amazon.ca had messed up my order ( I had initially bought an eight-pack)...something was wrong because I had never heard anything before about the plot.   WHAT where they talking about!  It was driving me nuts!  So, just in case this is your first time, I can reassure you now, the problem is not with you!  The problem is with the fact that when Charlaine Harris is not writing her novels she is editing and contributing to collections of short stories, many of which are from the Sookieverse which are not one-offs, but little tidbits that advance the story along.  So if you haven't read the short story you could be missing out on something important.  So while it's not essential to read the short fiction for the integrity of the novels, this one, this particular little story featured quite a bit in Definitely Dead, and it was frustrating.  Which is not fair when there is already so much pivotal stuff happening in this book.  Six books in we could be in danger of it all being just filler keeping the space warm for when it gets interesting again, but not in this case.  Quite a few important things happen that further the general plot and develop the characters.  I can't wait to see what happens next!

A Graveyard For Lunatics

For a fan, this kind of novel is a true and overwhelming delight...for lunatics!  I have been so crazy for Bradbury for such a long time that when a novel comes along, it is almost an overdose of wonderful and I switch from being overwhelmed to awestuck to feeling nutsy-koo-koo chapter by chapter.  I feel so blessed to have so much of his work, and I treasure every word ( I give each book a hug on completion...my first red flag that I must be going nuts), I'm not ashamed.  After all, how lucky am I at such an age to have been touched by greatness that has enriched my life so much?  I cannot do this justice so I recommend that you just read it for yourself, because Ray put it better than anyone.