Monday, March 31, 2008

The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets (2008) & Eye of the Crow (2007)


It really was accidental that I chose two books that had connections with the Sherlock Holmes character by Arthur Conan Doyle but when I finally noticed it, I went ahead and read both anyway. The Curse of the Bizarre Bouquets (by Nancy Springer) features Sherlock's siter, Enola, who is avoiding her brothers and being put in a boarding school. She helps solve the disappearance of Dr. Watson with the clever (of course) observation of a bouquet of flowers delivered to his wife. Eye of the Crow (by Shane Peacock) features Sherlock as a young man and gives the reader a great feeling of London in that era. Sherlock is portrayed as a very bright young man, living in poverty because his mother married a Jewish man. He empathizes with a young Arab man who is accused of murder and endeavors to find the true murderer.

Both of these books are wonderful mysteries. Springer's book is a faster read and might attract more girls but Peacock's book paints a more complete picture of what London was like.

My rating for both books: ++++

Friday, March 7, 2008

Author Blogs

Many people find it fun to read about the daily life of their favorite people. Blogs make it very easy for busy people, like our favorites, to jot down a few words once in a while. Some people are fanatic about keeping up to date and some seem to have forgotten that their blog is still out there. This is a list of a few authors' blogs.

John Green - http://www.sparksflyup.com/weblog.php

Neil Gaiman - http://journal.neilgaiman.com/

Tamora Pierce - http://tammypierce.livejournal.com/

Scott Westerfield - http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=211

Linda Sue Park - http://lsparkreader.livejournal.com/

Try and Google your favorite author to see if they have a blog. There might be a link on their official website.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

x_xHOLiC


The name of the series contains three letters that might cause this site to be blocked, so I inserted the underscore to prevent this.
That said, there is nothing risque about this series written by 4 women who call themselves CLAMP. Each story has a kind of moral in it. For instance, one deals with the way words bind a person and one deals with the age old problem of getting what you wish for. There are spirits and gates to alternate worlds and lots of fun to be had in this series. My only wish is that drinking wasn't glamorized and that the witch, Yuko, didn't smoke what looked like an opium pipe.
My rating: +++