RIP Read #24: The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein

The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd is one that I added to my buy list the moment I heard the title.  I wasn't even sure what it was about but I was sure I wanted to read it.  Mary Shelley's original Frankenstein is one of my favorite novels of all time and I wanted to see what this novel did with the story.  Ackroyd, also a historian, did a commendable job of recreating the language and feel of the original Victorian novel.  My only small quibble is with the pacing of the book.

This is a retelling of the Frankenstein story with the amateur medical student and scientist being a contemporary and friend of Shelley, Byron and eventually Mary Shelley herself.  I don't want to give too much away because I really think that it helped me to not know much about it going in.  In fact, looking at the back of the cover (of the UK edition), I was shocked to find the major twist--literally from the last page or two--mentioned in the blurb from The Independent.  I HATE that.  So, if you have the cover shown here, don't read the back. (Unless you're Jenny ... then read away!)

I found that this telling of the story focused more on the questions of science and religion that are brought about after the creation of the "monster" and less of the misery and pain of that creature.  It was fascinating if a bit slow at times.  I really liked the Shelley character who appeared mostly true to historical fact (except for obvious necessity for the plot to work).  And I literally came within pages of the end and had no idea what was going to happen.  This can be good and bad, depending on your point of view.  Now I want to go back and read the original again and then re-read this one.  Next year, I'm thinking of a classic horror focus for my RIP reads so I'll keep that idea in mind!

Avoiding the intersection of curiosity and hubris,
K


Support our site and buy The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We bought our own copy.

RIP Reads #22 & 23: Spooky Friends and Psychotic Omnivores

We couldn't resist buying a couple more Halloween titles this year before the big day.  The first was one we picked up from the Scholastic Book Club and we both love it!  Skeleton Meets The Mummy is written by Steve Metzger and illustrated by Aaron Zens.

The skeleton's name is Sammy and he's heading out on Halloween night to go trick-or-treating but first his mom is making him deliver a thermos of soup to his grandma.  Of course the closest path goes through the woods and Sammy gets a bit creeped out along the way.  When a mummy shuffles into view, Sammy starts running as fast as possible!  The mummy starts chasing him and eventually Sammy decides to do the only thing that stops a mummy -- unwrap him.  The result is quite cute!

Z loves this one a bunch.  We both love the drawings and the story is scary and cute at the same time.  I think that books like this are great for younger kids because they get to experience a little bit of fright and then are shown that there's nothing to be afraid of after all.

The second book is one that we found at Target and is a haunting take on a classic story -- There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat! by Lucille Colandro and illustrated by Jared Lee.  I'm sure I don't need to explain the plot of this one to anyone.  The old lady starts with consuming a bat, moves on to an owl and a cat, fills up a little more with a ghost, a goblin and some bones and finishes up with a wizard.  What happens then?  She yells "Trick or Treat!"

Okay, so it doesn't quite pack the punch of the original that ends in the old lady's demise but it's fun nonetheless.  It has some cute rhymes and a very spooky look.

By the way, did you see that Scholastic celebrated their 90th anniversary this week?  We sure appreciate them as the publisher of both of these books and many other affordable titles!  We gathered up the Scholastic books we had in the house the other day and had something like 35 of them.  Happy anniversary to a strong supporter of literacy and children's literature!

She died, of course,
K and Z


Support our site and buy Skeleton Meets the Mummy and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! on Amazon or find them at your local library.  We bought our own copies of both.

RIP Read #21: The Angel Maker

A real surprise for me this year was The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs.  I was expecting a horror novel about misshapen monster children and the mad scientist that brought them to life.  Instead, I got a thought-provoking (yet still quite horrific) look at human cloning in the hands of a doctor with a skewed world view.  I suppose that many times true horror comes from the realm of the possible.

Victor Hoppe was born in the small town of Wolfheim (a fictional town near Vaalserberg, the intersection between Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands) but was immediately rejected by his mother and sent off to a local religious asylum because of his terrible cleft palate.  The nuns had surgeries done to mostly correct the issue but Victor stayed on when they assumed that he was also an imbecile.  However, when it turned out that Victor was instead autistic and quite bright but just not very verbal or social, his father took him back home.  He wasn't there long though before he was sent off to a religious boarding school.  These events gave Victor a skewed view of religion and eventually he turned to medicine and genetics as a way to beat God at his own game -- a game that seemed to him only to include pain and suffering.  Unfortunately Victor's lack of social mores and moral judgment leads him down a slippery slope where humans are treated no different from other medical test subjects like mice.

This novel really blew me away.  It took some time to get used to the fact that it changes narrators, point of view and time periods quite frequently.  At first I thought it was a problem with the translation from Dutch but then it appeared to be by design.  Hoppe's actions are horrific and yet you can easily sympathize with his motivations and understand where things went wrong in his mental development.  This was a mind-opening read and I found it even more fascinating after reading Spook.  Both books addressed the intersection between science and religion but in vastly different ways.  While Spook felt more light-hearted and the results of the experiments seemed quite inconsequential, The Angel Maker was the opposite with intense and painful decisions leading to suffering and tragedy.  It's hard to craft a coherent review because this book hits you with new thoughts and feelings each time you think about it again.  It's strange then to admit it but I really did enjoy this book and found it to be quite compelling.

Broken-hearted and horrified,
K


Support our site and buy The Angel Maker on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We own our own copy.

RIP Read #20: Spook

I'll admit up front that I'm not a huge fan of popular science books.  My scientific mind is rarely satisfied by the simplified way that most of the topics are presented.  Either there is not sufficient information given to explain something well enough or things are so over-simplified that they become slightly false.  Luckily, in Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Mary Roach attacks a topic that has very few real results and does it in a way that admits the gaping holes but also allows for the possibilities of, well, possibilities.

As the title implies, Spook takes a look at some of the research, both past and current, that has been used to try and provide proof of a soul and proof of an afterlife where that personal essence continues on past bodily death.  It also touches on the spiritualist movement which I've always been interested in.

I have the impression that Roach had much the same approach to the subject as I do.  I find the quest for proof fascinating (and amusing) but I'm skeptical enough to not really expect any of these experiments to ever pan out.  I'll watch an episode of Ghost Hunters International every once in a while but honestly it's more for the unique look at historical buildings than for the ghost hunting.  I never hear the voice on the EVP (electronic voice phenomena) recordings and the lights that move across the room always seem like the headlights from a passing car or dust caught in the light on the camera.  Old buildings creak and sigh and are quite drafty at times.  Just the other day there was a mysterious cold spot right in the center of my living room.  I felt it more than once and couldn't explain it -- not until I remembered leaving the flue open after turning off the gas fireplace a week earlier.

So, overall I found this book amusing but not especially informative or life-changing.  Roach has a very conversational and snarky writing style which may put some readers off (especially those who want to believe) but others will surely be amused by her irreverence.  I am willing to check out her take on some of the other subjects that she has researched -- namely sex, cadavers and space travel.

The truth might not be out there,
K


Support our site and buy Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We received our copy from our lovely blog buddy, Jenners.  Here is her review.

Starred Saturdays: week of October 17

The leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter and the weather is quickly taking a turn for the worse.  Perfect time to stay in with a good book, right?

Want to scare your kids away from the candy bowl next weekend?  Try putting this gummy worm in there.  $28 gets you 26 inches (3 pounds) of worm.  The video of a guy eating it is really quite gross (and kind of NSFW).

Don't have cable but need to get in the mood for Halloween? Techland has found The Best Horror to Watch Online.  I strongly recommend Vincent Price in House on Haunted Hill.  I have it on DVD though.

Lenore has a new kitten and she is adorable!  Welcome to the book blog world, Kaia!  We can't wait to watch you grow up.

I've seen this book dominos video a few places this week but maybe you haven't come across it yet.  I love that it all ends with a book in a customer's hands.

I know it's not a scary picture but it still freaks me out.  These, on the other hand, are scary.

Something I didn't know about myself until I saw this photo spread -- I love seeing dogs in cars.  Not the poor ones locked in the sweltering heat on a summer day but the ones that are out for a drive with their families and like to check you out when you're stopped next to them at a light.  Warning: these are pictures of the sad, trapped types (but it's all for a good cause).

Fred Eerdekens ... Shadow Art ... enough said.  Here's one of his pieces.

Alright.  I'm tired now.

Perfecting the weekend collapse,
K

"Have you heard of the Flying Dutchman?"

The book I used to try and push through the final couple of hours of the Read-a-Thon was The Homeward Bounders by Diana Wynne Jones.  Yet another of her sadly out-of-print titles, I think I found this one on Powell's website at some point.  This was a very strong story with an interesting twist at the end.

A boy named Jamie is wandering through his city when he hops the fence of a strange building.  The garden is completely silent and the building is occupied by men in hooded robes.  Jamie comes back another time, determined to find out what is going on in this strange place.  Unfortunately, the men are Them, beings that play with the fates of those on many worlds.  Jamie's discovery has made him a liability to their game and so they throw him out into the boundaries of another world.  He is able to travel between worlds but cannot ever join in to their lives in any meaningful way.  He is always tugged out of the world when a move is completed -- after hours or months.  He, and others like him, are all "homeward bound".  If they make it back to their home world, they can rejoin the game.

This was actually quite a sad book.  Jamie is only twelve when he begins wandering through worlds of danger, war and desolation.  And from the first pages of the book, we know that things aren't exactly going to work out for him.  Still, it's heartening when he finds comrades in his journey and Jones really does a fantastic job with this story.  It was well built and compelling.  It didn't get me to push through until 5am but I did power through it the next day!

Safe and home,
K


You can find a used copy of The Homeward Bounders on Amazon or Powell's or at your local library.  We bought a used copy.

RIP Read #19: The Domino Men

One of my favorite RIP reads last year was The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes.  It was a wonderful fantasy-tinged, sensational neo-Victorian novel.  I soon bought Barnes' second novel, The Domino Men, which is set in the same universe but later in time, specifically modern-day London.  Then, of course, I didn't read it for almost a year because I was too worried about my high expectations after the first book.  The funny thing is that I just read back through my review of The Somnambulist where I regretted not reading that novel for a year after I received it.  Ditto.

The Domino Men is mostly told from the point of view of Henry Lamb, a young man who has a dull life in a filing office after a short stint as a child actor -- complete with catchphrase that strangers make him regurgitate regularly.  However, when Henry's grandfather ends up in a coma, random people start coming out of the woodwork, requesting things of Henry that he doesn't understand.  Henry eventually gets caught up in a war between state and crown that began with Queen Victoria.  All that is at stake is the city of London and the freedom of her citizens.

This story was very far-fetched, a bit shocking and violent and quite fun!  I really enjoyed it but wouldn't recommend it to everyone.  To enjoy this book you probably have to have a dark sense of humor and an ability to suspend disbelief.  The characters aren't incredibly deep in this story but the complex plot lines more than make up for it and keep the reader invested.  Thankfully, the internet tells me that Barnes is working on a third novel.  I can't wait to see what he throws into the mix next!

More of London than just the bridge is falling down,
K


Support our site and buy The Domino Men on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We bought our own copy.

"It's snowing over Edinburgh on this 16th day of April, 1874."

One of my read-a-thon books was The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu -- a petite book with a small tale inside.  Celia passed this book on to me after not quite connecting with it.  She went into it with certain expectations and was let down when she got something different.  Knowing this helped me to go in with a clean slate and I found the book charming if a bit forced in parts.

Simply, Jack is the abandoned son of a Scottish prostitute who almost dies at birth from a frozen heart.  The woman who delivers him ingeniously keeps his heart moving with the help of the mechanism from a cuckoo-clock.  As Jack grows, he must learn to accept the limitations of his heart or risk destroying its delicate balance.  Of course, true love enters his life early with the Flamenco-dancing Acacia and he puts his life on the line for her love.

Malzieu is a French musician -- lead singer of the band Dionysos.  I hadn't heard his music when I started the book but part way through, when I felt comfortable with his written voice, I went to find out what his real voice was like.  It was exactly as I had imagined, deep and bassy with a sense of sarcasm underneath.  There is a companion album to this book (in a mix of French and English) by the band that sounds like a mix between a Tim Burton soundtrack and Portishead with a French pop twist.  In fact, there is an animated film of this tale in the works which is slated to be released next year.

Parts of this story are crude and others are touchingly sweet.  It won't appeal to everyone but it's certainly a unique little book that I'm sure will become a cult favorite.  Here is a sampling of songs from the album (very strong language warning!).




Going the distance for love,
K


Support our site and buy The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We received our copy from the lovely Celia.  I'm not sure how she got it.

Surf, Sunsets and More

Two weekends ago, we traveled across the country to attend a wedding.  Our flight was originally supposed to happen on the day that the tropical storm blew through the area so we ended up delaying for a day and were only on the ground in NY, NJ and PA for about 52 hours.  It was a whirlwind trip but we had a great time at the wedding and got to see some beautiful sights.  I also ticked a few things off of my "must see" list like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building (from the Verrazano Bridge and the George Washington Bridge), the Atlantic Ocean, a real NYPD cop cruiser (not a fake one on Law and Order) and New York pigeons (at JFK airport).

This was our lovely Mount Rainier from the airplane window.  I never get tired of seeing it in the distance on a clear day.

The leaves had just started changing in the Poconos (Pennsylvania).  This was the morning after the wedding.  It was a chilly but clear day.  Luckily the day of the wedding was a bit warmer.

Z took Cooper along on the trip because he is "the world's best traveler".  He did a great job of keeping Z company!

By that afternoon, we were out at the Atlantic Ocean in the charming town of Long Beach (Long Island, NY).  I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets of my life and the surf was mesmerizing (another storm was coming in).  I was impressed by the fine white sand too except when we kept finding it in the sheets at night.

This was the only critter out on the beach with us.  Is there anywhere that doesn't have seagulls?

These regularly placed breakers were fun to take pics of.  I think I could spend an entire day from morning to night taking photos on this beach.

The sunset was more amazing as the minutes passed and I spent some time playing around with lens flares.  It was strange to be on a beach and see the sunset over the city (Jersey City?) to the west.

There were a few surfers out catching some evening waves.  I didn't get any clear action shots between the dim lighting and my point and shoot camera.  It wasn't a big loss anyway because these guys weren't very good!

I couldn't resist a few more sunset shots as the orb dipped beneath the horizon.  It was absolutely stunning.

I got one more shot from the boardwalk before we went back to the hotel (my first NY boardwalk!).  This was the farthest north I've ever been on the east coast and I really enjoyed even the quick exposure to the big city and the quiet country.  I can't wait for a chance to go back and explore these states more!

Joining the jet set,
K and Z

Starred Saturdays: week of October 10

You didn't think I would still be sick today, did you?  Yeah, neither did I.  This is the worst cold in the world.  Ten days and counting!  But I'm making the best of it -- and by that I mean using every excuse to stay in bed and read.  It's tough being me.

I was incredibly fascinated by 35 Pictures of The Odd Sleeping Patterns of People Stranded at the Airport.  It seems strange that so many people would make themselves so vulnerable in a public place.  I love the shot of the soldiers on the baggage claim conveyor. (via Flavorpill)

As some of us head into the chillier part of the year and others are looking toward summer, I think we can all enjoy some ukulele covers of popular songs.  (Best band name has to go to The Be Arthurs.  Best ukulele cover?  Blizkrieg Bop, no question.  Close second is Psycho Killer.)

I don't know how I feel about a film version of Midnight's Children.  I would swear it off if Rushdie himself wasn't working on the script.

Why have I never seen the Kansas City (MO) Library's parking garage before?  If I'm ever there, I'm there.

I absolutely cannot believe that these are paintings and not photographs.  Artist Gregory Thielker is a genius.

Mountain goats can climb the face of a dam.  Dam.

I love The Cat's Meat Shop's list of "The Reputations of London".  I've never heard of the Chelsea Tractor or a Whitechapel Shave (although I thought that one would be much worse than it actually is!).

Which fall treat to make?  Pumpkin Creme Pies, Apple and Cheddar Scones or Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts with Maple Glaze?  Luckily, I think we have enough fall left to enjoy some of everything!

Picture of the day has to be 100 million sunflower seeds on the floor of the Tate Modern Museum.  Did I mention that they're all handmade of porcelain?  Concept and photograph by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. (via Flavorwire)

I think tomorrow I'll post some of my photos from my very brief trip to the east coast.

Ah choo!
K

RIP Read #18: Haunted House

I have a special book for you today.  This pop-up book, Haunted House by Jan Pieńkowski, was one of the most well-loved books in my home when I was a kid.  In fact, it was pretty much held together with tape and willpower by the end.  When I recently bought a new copy for Z, my brother was very excited to hear that I've found this one again!  And I can't convey to you how excited Z was to see it for the first time.  In fact, he wanted to guide you through this haunted house so here he is --





(note: the sound is really low on the video so you might have to turn it up a bit to hear)


And if you need more convincing, check out Jan Pieńkowski's website.  He's had an incredible life.


Enter at your own peril,
K and Z

RIP Read #17: The Prince of Mist

One of the books that I've been especially excited about reading this season is The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.  The first three novels he wrote were YA novels (before Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game) and this was the first one of those.  It's finally in translation and is a very creepy tale.

Max and his family move to a seaside town into a house abandoned by its previous owners after a tragedy.  He soon meets an older boy, Roland, who shows him around town and lives at the lighthouse with his adopted grandfather.  Max introduces Roland to his older sister Alicia and the three of them begin spending a lot of time together.  When an accident befalls their younger sister, Irina, they are forced to unearth the past of the previous residents and Roland's connection to it.

Though I've avoided reviews of this one for the most part, I know that there were some complaints about lack of depth compared to Zafón's previously released novels.  First, I'm not sure if the readers realized that this was targeted at a younger audience.  Second, it's a ghost story.  It's vague on purpose and it's simple on purpose.  The fact that this was Zafón's first novel is quite amazing.  The language and pacing are perfect and this story scared the pants off of me.  I had a very vivid picture of the action in my mind and it was quite terrifying.  I wouldn't be surprised if we see a film version of this novel in the near future.  And credit must also be given to Lucia Graves, the translator, because she really did an excellent job.  I can't wait for Zafón's other two YA novels to be translated and for future works to be released.  He remains one of my favorite authors.

Did I mention the evil clown?
K


Support our site and buy The Prince of Mist on Amazon or find it at your local library.  We bought our own copy.

RIP Read #16: The Time of the Ghost

Another of Diana Wynne Jones' out of print books is 1981's The Time of the Ghost.  Luckily I found a used copy a few months ago and I saved it for the RIP Challenge.  It turned out to be even more appropriate than I thought it would be.

A ghost appears in a field, outside of what appears to be a boarding school, but she has no memory of who she is or how she is connected to the place.  As she visits the school, she starts having feelings of familiarity even though she isn't remembering much.  She thinks the three girls living in the back of the boarding school may be her sisters but she's not sure.  The one thing she is sure of is that danger is coming from an unexpected place (and time) and she's the only one who can stop it.

I don't have a copy with this cover but I think that it represents the story better than the cover I have.  There's an ancient evil force that scared the bejeezus out of me.  The story was a bit patchy and uneven and it was hard to tell where it was going.  Also the characters were strange and somewhat violent (especially the parents) and it made it hard to connect with.  This is definitely a book for Diana Wynne Jones fans and not a good place to start with her catalogue.  That said, I enjoyed it and thought some of the twists were well done.

Keeping the lights on,
K


We bought our own copy of this book.

Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up Post

It's almost 2:30am and I am going to call it quits now on this read-a-thon.  I managed to read 809 pages today (4 whole books and 1 partial) which is quite satisfying!  I was feeling a bit behind for the month and now I'm back on track.

I finished

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Prince of Mist
The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart
Bone, Volume 1


and started

The Homeward Bounders


This was a great experience and I hope to have my schedule work out like this so that I can participate again.  Hopefully next time I won't be sick and it will be easier to concentrate and to stay awake.  As is, I am just looking forward to some Nyquil and rest now!

And I don't want to forget a big thank you! to everyone who commented on my posts and sent me messages on Twitter.  It was great to be cheered on!

Turning off the lights,
K

Read-a-Thon Update Three

It's 11:10 pm and I've just finished The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart.  It's one that I'm going to have to think about for a bit before I decide what I think.  It definitely has an air of having been written by a lyricist and musician (which Malzieu is).  It was strange as well that my last two books were translated works -- Spanish and French.

The gas fire has been lit again (it's still raining) and I'm going to read a graphic novel next - Bone: Volume 1: Out From Boneville by Jeff Smith.  I've been curious about this series for a while since the kids at the elementary school seem to love it.  Z is in bed but the husband is on the other end of the couch reading with me now.  It's rather peaceful.

Minus meals and nap, I think I've read for maybe 11 hours so far today.  Three books and 601 pages down and I'm planning on pushing through for as long as I can.  I'm saving a gem for my next read in an attempt to make the last few hours fly by!

Back to the books,

K

Read-a-Thon Update Two

Is it the half-way point of this read-a-thon already?  I guess it doesn't seem like it since I started late and yet it's still a bit hard to imagine that there are 12 hours left!  We went out for lunch and I grabbed this little fella on the way home.  Another comforting thing on a dreary day.

I just finished The Prince of Mist and will write up my full thoughts this week.  It was much more of a horror story than I anticipated.  It was very cinematic and quite scary!  Now I'm heading for a nap (I am still sick after all) and taking The Boy with The Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu up with me.  It's a very small book so it should be a breeze to get through but I'll probably end up sleeping for a couple of hours first.

I'm up to 435 pages in about 8 hours of reading -- not too shabby.  I hope the rest of the participants are moving along at a good pace!

Back in a bit,
K

Read-a-Thon Update One

Well, I ended up waking up three hours after the start of the read-a-thon and began my reading day at 8am.  That seemed plenty early for me and helped my chances of getting through the day in a more lively fashion!  I grabbed a pillow and blanket, lit a fire and turned on some lights to help block out the dim, rainy Seattle day.  I had two hours of quiet time before Z decided to come downstairs.

I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (for maybe the fifth or sixth time?) and will start Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Prince of Mist right after I take a shower.  Z has also joined in today and has read three books this morning so far.  He thinks this is a great idea for a rainy day too!

I've decided not to spend much time at the computer and so won't be doing any of the mini challenges.  With a kid running around and demanding food and entertainment and my ever-lingering cold, there's already enough to distract me from reading!  But I appreciate your comments and I'm getting them on my phone.  I'm also chatting a little bit on Twitter so come visit me there!

Four hours, 221 pages,
K

Read-a-Thon Kick-off Post!

Good morning! It's 5:00am here and I may or may not be awake yet.  But this is the start time for Dewey's Read-a-Thon and it is the first year that the timing is right for me to participate so I promise that if I'm not up now, I will be soon!  I've got a few snacks and some books and I hope to read for about 18 of the 24 hours.  Here are the books I've decided to pull out for the day.

All of these should be fun and somewhat quick reads.  They are all from my RIP stacks too since we're almost to the last couple weeks of the challenge.  But first, I'm going to start the morning by finishing my re-read of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and I may read The Chamber of Secrets if I feel like it today too!

I am going to post a couple of times during the day but plan to do most of my updates on twitter so you can follow my progress there as well.  And I'll be sure and let you know what Z reads today too.  He's actually been choosing books over television for the past couple of weeks!

Let the caffeine drip begin,

K