I picked this up as a light read and it is, but it’s entertaining. Zoe Faust, the heroine, is an herbalist and runs an online shop, who just wants to settle into her new fixer-upper home in Portland, Oregon. Zoe encounters a few problems. First, there is the living stone gargoyle Dorian Robert-Houdin who has stowed away in her things because he needs her help translating an old alchemical text in order to save his life. It turns out Zoe is several centuries old, having […]
A Theory of Creativity, Teaching, the Universe and Everything
I’m starting a new teaching job in the fall, and I’ve been starting to work on new lesson plans and classroom strategies. Thus, when I saw a friend’s review of this book on Goodreads with a comment concerning utility in the classroom, I figured I’d try it. Although there is extensive discussion of teaching methodology, this book does not read as a pedagogical instruction manual, nor does it read like an academic study. It sounds a lot like a business/inspirational guide, in the style of […]
A Finishing School of Covert *itchcraft and Social Wizardry
I had a harder time getting into this book as I have with other series buy the same author. I did eventually start to like the characters once they got to the school and some of the events leading up to the arrival were better explained. The encounter with flywaymen made little sense at first given that I had no idea what they were and the other characters hadn’t been especially well detailed at this early point. The explanation provided during the attack just didn’t […]
Dancing with Werewolves, or at least a Werewolf
I have to admit that I’m actually kind of glad that I read the sequel first. It made this series a lot more fun (and it’s a lot of fun already) for all the “oh, now I get it” moments. The opening of the first volume of the Parasol Protectorate presents vague Cinderella elements in the heroine (although her likely prince charming is both werewolf and not very charming-or is he…). Alexia was never allowed to participate in society in order to give her younger […]
How to Enjoy Tea and Custard While Loosing Ones Bloomers
In a vaguely steampunk and certainly supernatural Victorian England, a sassy and witty young lady of means and her equally sassy and well-off friends are sent off on an adventure that ends up being more complicated and dangerous than they expected. The protagonist is Prudence (Rue), raised by werewolves and vampires, herself in possession of a certain supernatural ability that makes her a strong and confident but also a target. In her dirigible (if you don’t’ know what that means, you’ll have to look it […]
What happens when you combine medieval poetry and guns?
This book takes place some time after the first in the series (A Burnable Book) starring the real life medieval poet John Gower as a (probably) fictional detective. This series is based on a lot of research and historical accuracy is impressive. A possible problem with this second installment is that there is not a glossary of medieval terms or full list of sources for a reader unfamiliar to consult. The author notes that a source list accompanies the first volume, and only names those […]