Mary Green by Melanie Kerr

3.5 stars
R-1?
reader's choice

Basically, this is Jane Austen fan-fic.  As far as I can tell it was after reading Mansfield Park and thinking "That's not at ALL what SHOULD have happened!"

lol

Seriously though, if Mansfield Park and Cinderella had some sort of weird literary love child, this might be it.

Not a bad read but I can't help wondering what awesome book the author could come up with getting away from the "let's pick this from the Jane Austen... and this from that one...." model that this book seemed built on.

The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder by Rachel McMillan

1.5 stars
R- 1?
reader's choice

Yikes.

I should have loved this.  I mean, really.

I fully expected to come away from this with a new must-follow series.

But no. Just no.

The plot didn't work for me.  The characters didn't work for me.

Really just none of it worked for me.

I can't actually quite put my finger on why.  It just didn't work.

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

3.5 stars
R- 0

Entertaining, but overall I just didn't love it as much as I wanted to.

It felt a little... stitched together?  Something.

The copy I read had over 100 pages of reference material too, which was both cool and annoying, because I feel like I have to read all of it.  And I enjoy reading it, but it makes the book so much longer!

Anyway.

Not a bad period piece, I just didn't quite love it as much as I wanted.

It was entertaining though.

Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan

**One note overall-- the copies I read were early, self-published and had a number of editing issues that I assume were later resolved.

Book 1: An Assembly Such as This
4 stars

The first in the trilogy, this book follows the first part of Pride and Prejudice pretty faithfully.  Mostly the time in the beginning of the book when Darcy is at Netherfield.

I found it dragged a little, though it was entertaining to see the story through Darcy's eyes.  (Played, in my mind, by Colin Firth.  Naturally.  As it should be.)

Book 2: Duty and Desire
3.5 stars

This is the "silent time" in Pride and Prejudice, the part where Darcy does not appear.  Leaving Aidan to do whatever she wished with him. 

This one went a lot faster for me, but I felt like it was totally out of place.  The almost Victorian feeling house party mystery with Darcy as hero felt really really weird in the middle of P&P.  And it was dark and slightly creepy. 

Still interesting-- especially Darcy's friend Dy and his valet... and Georgiana, of course.

Book 3: These Three Remain
4 stars

Beginning with the fateful encounter at Rosings, we're right back in P&P.  Which is nice.  And I enjoyed this one.

Except I knew how it was going to end.  I found myself wishing that Dy was the main character because I didn't know how his story would turn out.  I knew where Darcy's story was heading.

Not that it wasn't still interesting and entertaining.  It was.  The end just felt a little anti-climactic.

Overall as a trilogy-- I'd say definitely worth reading for fans of P&P.

(Sorry about the lack of pictures.... my Amazon thing hates me.)

The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn

5 stars
R- 2.5 ish

Do you like my collection of labels on this post?  I couldn't decide what genre to put it in...

Okay, so honestly, my first thought when I started was "Oh no, it's a vampire book"... but it ain't Twilight, that's for sure.  (And thank heavens for that, lol)

My next thought, about 130 pages in, was "this is waaaay too creepy to be reading late at night."

A gothic romance in the tradition of Wuthering Heights, this stand-alone novel proves Deanna Raybourn's talent!

I really enjoyed it.  It's part mystery, part paranormal historical fiction, period fiction.... it's great.  And yes, it's a romance, but there's enough of the rest to keep me interested, lol.

And at the same time, it's not wholly gothic, either.  Count Andrei is NOT Heathcliff, or whatever his name was.  (It's been a long time, okay?  And I don't really feel the need to read Wuthering Heights again...)

Anyway, I definitely recommend this one.  I will even confess to being a bit surprised at how everything turned out.  :) 

Counts for the Support Your Local Library challenge!

The Scarlet Pimpernel-- A Multimedia Review

This was the absolutely beautifully brightly stress-free part of this last weekend-- seeing The Scarlet Pimpernel at Hale Centre Theatre!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the music-- I'm totally wearing out the cd. Or I would be, if I hadn't just ripped the whole thing to my computer. But still. Seriously, it wouldn't be at all shocking to me if my kids started singing about the guillotine around the house.

This was my chance to finally see it live.

If you live in Utah (well, northern at any rate) and haven't been to Hale Centre, you really really need to! They do a fabulous job.

The woman who played Marguerite was FANTASTIC! Though sadly it seemed like the leading men fell slightly short. Percy Blakeney was played by a great actor who clearly has a great voice, but his acting got in the way of his singing a bit, which just didn't work for me. The real sadness, however, was Chauvelin, whose singing just kind of... fell flat. Don't get me wrong, he had a fine voice... but the emotion and depth just wasn't there.


Chauvelin is evil, don't get me wrong. But there's such a richness, depth and passion to his character-- especially in the musical! He has some of the most passionate, gut-wrenching songs in the whole play! Now I'm not saying the guy was a bad actor, I just think he may have been miscast. Or I caught him on a really bad day. Heaven knows the pollen in the air is killing me. Maybe he has allergies.

Now in the movie, Chauvelin was played by Ian McKellan. Can't go wrong there, right? Though sadly it's not a musical. I love musicals. Raised on 'em. (Though my parents did get rid of Grease after my 7-ish year old sister was singing "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" at the top of her lungs while riding her bike around the neighborhood.)

Anyway-- I did like Jane Seymour as Marguerite, though if I were trying to think of who to cast she wouldn't spring to mind. And I quite like Anthony Andrews as Blakeney.


It's interesting to compare the movie and the musical. In the musical, how and why and when Blakeney becomes the Scarlet Pimpernel is a little more clear than in the movie, while in the movie (I think it's in the movie... I guess it could have been the book) Marguerite running off to France makes more sense.

The movie and musical combine elements from more than one of Baroness Orczy's books. There's a whole slew of Pimpernel books. I've read at the very least... 2 of them. They start to run together, but I enjoyed them.

It's been a while, so I can't speak to how clean they are. I don't remember anything major. I wouldn't, however, recommend taking any child under 12 or even 14 to the play. (I was amazed at how many young kids were in the audience!)

All in all, I recommend the books, movie and play!

Really, I do. The music in the play is brilliant. There's more than one soundtrack option, and while the Original Broadway Cast Recording is my preferred listening option, you should really try the The Scarlet Pimpernel (1991 Concept Cast) (also sometimes called the Miami Cast, I believe) which has a couple of songs that didn't make it into the final production. "Now When the Rain Falls" is a personal favorite.

(This could be the longest review I've ever written.)

"Now a Major Motion Picture"

Splendidly cast, too. I'm actually not planning on seeing it, but Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are perfectly cast.

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4.5 Stars
R- 3.5 ish
Language

"A deft, ironic, beautiful novel that deserves to be a classic."-- William Styron

I agree, actually. Which surprised me. I'll be honest, I wasn't really expecting to like this one.

The Wheelers are not likeable people. They're just not. They live in a state of existential angst-- the kind that one encounters in high school and college. You know what I mean, the philosophical, coffeehouse intellectual snobs that can talk all day without saying a thing. And you know, if the Wheelers were kids, I'd be fine with that.

That whole feel reminds me of my Humanities classes. And hey, I think there can be a time and place for some of those philosophies and discussions.

But eventually, we must grow up. In one way or another, we have to move on. Either to acting on those philosophies or to withdrawing to a more even-keeled life. Or some combination of the two.

About half-way through the book, you start to feel like they've figured this out-- April wants to move to Europe so that Frank can "find himself" like he should have years ago. (Not what I would consider a sensible plan, but crazy things like that work fine for some people.) When this falls through, Frank wants to be "mature" and take a higher paying job, even if it is still dull, and settle into a "mature" life.

The irony is that the more they desperately try to be painfully honest, the more amazingly deceitful they become.

And Frank's "maturity"? What a crock.

Anyway, I liked Revolutionary Road. It does carry a high risqueity rating, but I enjoyed the book.

(On a completely unrelated note-- we're off to the dentist later. Aren't you jealous?)