Stacked: A booklog

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher

"Since Whicher was sure that the murderer was an inmate of the house, all his suspects were still at the scene. This was the original country-house murder mystery, a case in which the investigator had to find not a person but a person's hidden self. It was pure whodunnit, a contest of intelligence and nerve between the detective and the killer. Here were the twelve. One was the victim. Which was the traitor?" 

--from The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Title: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective

Author: Kate Summerscale

Publisher/Publisher Date: Bloomsbury

Library/Bookstore: Amazon Kindle Store

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: January 2012

Rating: ***1/2

What It's About (Summary from Good Reads):  

The dramatic story of the real-life murder that inspired the birth of modern detective fiction.

In June of 1860 three-year-old Saville Kent was found at the bottom of an outdoor privy with his throat slit. The crime horrified all England and led to a national obsession with detection, ironically destroying, in the process, the career of perhaps the greatest detective in the land.

At the time, the detective was a relatively new invention; there were only eight detectives in all of England and rarely were they called out of London, but this crime was so shocking, as Kate Summerscale relates in her scintillating new book, that Scotland Yard sent its best man to investigate, Inspector Jonathan Whicher.

Why I Chose to Read It:  I  had heard about this horrific crime on Deadly Women (LOVE this show).  It was also a Kindle daily deal!

Notes About the Book:

1. I really liked how the author talked about the evolution of the detective mystery novel throughout the book.  I'm going to have to check out The Moonstone, The Woman in White, and Bleak House sometime in the future.  Apparently, Whicher was the inspiration behind many famous literary detectives (Inspector Bucket and Sergeant Cuff). 
2. I still can't believe that the police were dumb enough to get themselves locked inside the kitchen by the main suspect during their investigation.
3. William Saville-Kent grew up to become a famous marine biologist.  He also conducted the first experiments to create cultured pearls in Australia.
4. I loved how the floorplans for the Kent house were included in the book.

Do I Recommend It?  Yes.  I thought it was really interesting, especially the trial part.  Some parts are kind of dry, but overall, I really enjoyed it.  It definitely makes me want to read more detective fiction.

Links:

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher trailer--Paddy Considine plays Mr. Whicher.  

 

Horns

“He paused, twisting his goatee, considering the law in Deuteronomy that forbade clothes with mixed fibers. A problematic bit of Scripture. A matter that required thought. "Only the devil wants man to have a wide range of lightweight and comfortable styles to choose from," he murmured at last, trying out a new proverb. "Although there may be no forgiveness for polyester. On this one matter, Satan and the Lord are in agreement.” 

--Ig, Horns

Title: Horns

Author: Joe Hill

Publisher/Publisher Date: Harper Collins e-books 2010

Library/Bookstore: iBookstore

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: October 2011

Rating: ***

What It's About (Summary from Good Reads):  

Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a pair of horns growing from his temples.

At first, Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who had been raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once, the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed. But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. Nothing Ig can do or say matters. Everyone it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone that is, but the devil inside. . . .

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. It's time for a little revenge . . . it's time the devil had his due . . .

Why I Chose to Read It:  It was the October book selection for the Geek Girl Book Club.

Notes About the Book:

1. Being able to read the inner-most darkest thoughts and secrets of everyone you love has to be the worst curse to get stuck with.  No one wants to find out that their mom was a Vegas prostitute.
2. I will never look at donuts the same way again after reading this book.
3. Um, why does he have horns?  They didn't really serve a purpose and you never find out why he got stuck with them.  Just what he was drinking!
4. I didn't get the whole  treehouse thing.
5. If I was given the ability to immitate voices, I definitely would have found the time to make some crank calls.
6. Devil in the blue dress, heh!
7. Joe Hill looks like a lot like his dad (Stephen King).  It's kinda creepy.
8. The plot of this book reminded me a lot of The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst.  

Do I Recommend It?  Yes!  However, I didn't love it as much as other people did.  I thought it dragged in a few places and the book could have benefited from more editing.  Still, it was a fun, quick read.  I've heard good things about his other book, Heart-Shaped Box, that I definitely want to read some time in the future.

Links:

Joe Hill Fiction

 

A Game of Thrones: Book One

"For a moment Eddard Stark was filled with a terrible sense of foreboding.  This was his place, here in the north.  He looked at the stone figures all around them, breathed deep in the chill silence of the crypt.  He could feel the eyes of the dead.  They were all listening, he knew.  And winter was coming."

Eddard Stark, Game of Thrones: Book One

Title: A Game of Thrones: Book One of a Song of Ice and Fire

Author: George R. R. Marting

Publisher/Publisher Date: Bantam Books/1997

Library/Bookstore: Amazon Kindle Store

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: July 2011

Rating: *****

What It's About (Summary from Good Reads):  Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective wall. To the south, the King's powers are failing, and his enemies are emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the King's new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but also the kingdom itself. A heroic fantasy of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and evildoers who come together in a time of grim omens. 

Why I Chose to Read It:  It's the July book selection for the Geek Girl Book Club!  And even if it wasn't, I still would have read it because I freaking love the new HBO series!

Notes About the Book:

1. Team Tyrion!!!
2. This book made me hungry for lemon cakes, and I don't even particularly like the taste of lemons.
3. Loved the bromance between Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly.
4. There's a lot of weird sex stuff going on in this book.  I feel so bad for Lord Walder Fey's young wife.  
5. God, I just want to punch that little Joffrey in the face!'
6. It surprised me how young the characters in the book are!  Robb and Jon are only 14-years-old.  And Daenerys is 13 when she is sold as a child bride to Khal Drogo.  That kind of weirded me out.
7. I want a dire wolf.
8. Mmmmm...horse heart and fermented mare's milk.
9. So many frustrating moments in this book!  (Eddard, I'm looking at you!)

Do I Recommend It?  Yes!  I could not put this book down!  I can't wait to find out what happens next!

Links:

George R.R. Martin

Winter is Coming: News & rumors about HBO's series!

Inn at the Crossroads: Site devoted to the food in the series

 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now."

Zaphod Beeblebrox, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Author: Douglas Adams

Publisher/Publisher Date: The Random House Publishing Group/2002

Library/Bookstore: Amazon Kindle Store

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: June 2011

Rating: *****

What It's About (Summary from Good Reads):  Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. 

Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years. 
Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!

Why I Chose to Read It:  It was the June book selection for the Geek Girl Book Club!  However, I first read this book back in middle school.  This was my third reading of HGTTG.

Notes About the Book:

1. I kind of have a crush on Zaphod Beeblebrox.  Whatta guy!
2. Maybe it's because I'm older now, but Marvin is really starting to annoy the hell out of me.  I feel so guilty typing that, but it's true!  
3. So many great quotes in this book.
4. I could go for a pan galactic gargle blaster right now.
5. It was surreal reading this book on a Kindle because Kindles are the closest thing we have to an actual Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
6. Am I the only one used to read Ford Prefect as Ford Perfect?
7. I'm a big fan of the cheesy 80's  BBC series.

Do I Recommend It?  Duh!  It's only one of the greatest, funniest sci-fi novels ever written.  Read it now!

Links:

Douglas Adams

BBC Online - Cult - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

H2G2

 

Whose Body?

"There's nothing you can't prove if your outlook is only sufficiently limited.  Look at Sugg."

Lord Peter, Whose Body?

Title: Whose Body?

Author: Dorothy L. Sayers

Publisher/Publisher Date: Rising Star Visionary Press/?

Library/Bookstore: Amazon Kindle Store

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: June 2011

Rating: ****

What It's About:  Lord Peter Wimsey is a nobleman who likes to solve crime for fun.  He learns from his mother about a  peculiar crime involving a naked body that was found in her vicar's bathtub.  Well, he wasn't completely naked.  He was wearing glasses.  The appearance of this body coincides with the disappearance of a prominent financier, Sir Reuben Levy.  Could there be a connection?

Why I Chose to Read It:  I've been wanting to get into reading mystery novels, but had no idea where to start.  Jen & the good folks at PCHH both recommended Whose Body?, so I decided to check it out.  It didn't hurt that it was only .99 cents at the Kindle store, either.

Notes About the Book:

1. I'll admit that I had to look up pince-nez.
2. Holy anti-semitism, Batman!  
3. I want a judgemental, fashion conscience valet like Bunter.  You still gotta look good while solving crimes.
4. I loved how the characters interacted with each other and all the British vocabulary and idioms that they used.
5. This book scored extra points with me for using the word quiddities.

Do I Recommend It?  Yes!  It's a quick, fun summer read and funny as well.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Links:

The Dorothy L. Sayers Society

 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

"But I always have thought it was strange, if our mother cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can't afford to see no doctors?  Don't make much sense.  People got rich off my mother without us even knowin about them takin her cells, now we don't get a dime.  I used to get so mad about that to where it made me sick and I had to take pills.  But I don't got it in me no more to fight.  I just want to know who my mother was."

Deborah Lacks, The Immortal Lifre of Henrietta Lacks

Title:  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Author: Rebecca Skloot

Publisher/Publisher Date: Broadway Paperbacks/2011

Library/Bookstore: Borders

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: June 2011

Rating: *****

What It's About:  At the age of 31, Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951.  Without her knowledge, doctors removed her cancer cells hoping that they would continue to grow outside the human body.  Better known to scientists as HeLa, Henrietta's "immortal" cells have played an important role in developing polio vaccines, cloning, gene mapping, and more.  Her cells have traveled all around the world, been to space, and used to test the effects of nuclear radiation. 

Why I Chose to Read It:  My mom told me about this book after hearing about Henrietta's story on the news.  I was intrigued.   

Notes About the Book:

1. I learned a lot from this book about the history of medical ethics & it was terrifying!  Did you know they used to inject patients with cancer cells (sometimes without even telling them) all in the name of research?  And the part about what may have happened to Henrietta's daughter at The Hospital for the Negro Insane made me sick to my stomach.  
2. It was depressing to read about the heartache and stress Henrietta's children went through after learning about what doctors did to their mother.  They didn't deserve to be treated the way they did and it's appalling to me that they don't have access to quality healthcare.  Hopefully, things are better for them now that this book has come out.
3. The part where Deborah & her brother went to go see their mother's cells for the first time choked me up.
4. Rebecca Skloot is awesome and has the patience of a saint.  I don't know how she put up with all that she did in researching for this book.

Do I Recommend It?  YES!  I could not put this book down.  It was fascinating to read and each chapter was more shocking than the next.  If you like the scientific writing & the humorous style of Mary Roach, I'm sure you'll love this book, too.

Links:

Rebecca Skloot Official Site

The Henrietta Lacks Foundation

Henrietta Everlasting: Wired Magazine's Timeline of the HeLa Cells

 

Role Models

If you're not sure you could love your children, please don't have them, because they might grow up and kill us.

John Waters, Role Models

Title:  Role Models 

Author: John Waters

Publisher/Publisher Date: Farrar, Straus and Giroux/2010

Library/Bookstore: Amazon Kindle

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: June 2011

Rating: ****

What It's About:  John Waters talks about the people who have influenced him in life such as Johnny Mathis, a member of the Manson family, Tennessee Williams, a Republican lesbian burlesque dancer, and many other strange, fascinating people.

Why I Chose to Read It:  John Waters is like the creepy uncle I've always wanted.  I love listening to him talk about random things that he finds interesting.

Notes About the Book:

1. I also love Johnny Mathis and listen to his Christmas tapes every December.  His voice is like buttah.
2. Wouldn't it be great if more celebrities talked about their favorite books?  What does Dieter Laser read?
3.  You get to learn about the origins of his pencil mustache and the woman behind his clothes.
4. I loved the chapter on his interview with Little Richard.
5. Um, I may have skipped a good chunk of the last chapter about his collection of art.  The only thing I hate more than modern art is reading about modern art. 
6. Is it just me or does John Waters kind of look like Freddie Mercury on the cover art?

Do I Recommend It?  How could I not recommend it?  It's by freaking John Waters!  Reading this book is almost like you're having an actual conversation with him.  

Links:

NPR Interview with John Waters on Role Models

Dreamland

 

The Hobbit

Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.

Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit

Title: The Hobbit or There And Back Again 

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Publisher/Publisher Date: Houghton Mifflin Company/1997

Library/Bookstore: Christmas Present

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: May 2011

Rating: *****

What It's About:  It's about adventure, danger, dragons, bling, drunk elves, killer spiders with no sense of humor, singing dwarves, a snarky wizard, and a hobbit caught in the middle of it all named Bilbo Baggins.

Why I Chose to Read It:  I recently joined the Geek Girls Book Club.  I've also been meaning to reread it due to the movie that is currently being filmed.

Notes About the Book:

1. I want to have a jam session with the dwarves.
2. The best chapter is Riddles in the Dark with Gollum.  Holla!
3. I found the drunk elves to be annoying.
4. The music from the cartoon version of The Hobbit is still stuck in my head.
5. Forget Legolas, I want to marry Bard!
6. One of my favorite parts is when Bilbo is taunting the spiders.  "Attercop!  Attercop!  Down you drop!  You'll never catch me up your tree!"
7. Gandalf is a bad-ass.
8. I hated how the Battle of Five Armies was only briefly told through second hand accounts.  In my mind, this battle is EPIC because of everyone that is involved in the fighting (goblins riding wolves, dwarves, and a pissed off man-bear), so I wanted more. 

Do I Recommend It?  Yes.  I loved going on this adventure again with Bilbo and his fellow travelers.  This book is a must for anyone who loves to read fantasy.

Links:

The Tolkien Society

The Hobbit Blog 

Packing for Mars

Upon the occasion of history's first manned flights--in the 1780's, aboard the Montgolfier brothers' hot-air balloons--someone asked Franklin what use he saw in such frivolity.  "What use," he replied, "is a newborn baby?"

Mary Roach quoting Benjamin Franklin, Packing for Mars

Title: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

Author: Mary Roach

Publisher/Publisher Date: W.W. Norton & Company/2010

Library/Bookstore: Amazon Kindle Store (My first e-book!)

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: May 2011

Rating: ***1/2

What It's About:  Mary Roach answers all of the questions your dying to know about what really goes down during space flight.  How do astronauts go to the bathroom?  Do astronauts get freaky in space?  Is it okay to smuggle a sandwich during a launch.  Is there such a thing as space madness?  Inquiring minds want to know! 

Why I Chose to Read It:  I've read Mary Roach's previous books and loved them!  Also, I've  always been curious about space travel and thought this would make for an interesting, humorous read.

Notes About the Book:

1. I'm a knee-bobber, so that automatically makes me an undesirable candidate for space flight.
2. I have even more respect for astronauts after reading this book.  What they put themselves through all in the name of science is astounding considering the risks they face.  I'm talking brain stem separation, people.
3. I learned more about space defecation than I ever wanted to know.  Floaters...(shudders).
4. I so want to float around weightless in zero G.

Do I Recommend It?  Yes.  Mary Roach, rocks!  If you love space, you'll love this book, too.

Links:

Mary Roach (Official Site)

NASA (Latest Space Shuttle News)

 

Never Let Me Go

And though we just kept on walking, we all felt it; it was like we’d walked from the sun right into chilly shade. Ruth had been right: Madame was afraid of us. But she was afraid of us in the same way someone might be afraid of spiders. We hadn’t been ready for that. It had never occurred to us to wonder how we would feel, being seen like that, being the spiders.

Kathy, Never Let Me Go

Title: Never Let Me Go

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Publisher/Publisher Date: Vintage/2006

Library/Bookstore: Borders

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: February 2011

Rating: ***

What It's About:  Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy grew up together at a British boarding school called Hailsham where children are taught at an early age that they are special.  It is extremely important that they take good care of themselves and stay healthy.   They are also asked to create artwork that may be submitted to a mysterious gallery run by a woman known only as Madame.  Now an adult, Kathy reminiscences about her life at Hailsham as she comes to terms about what she was brought up to do.      

Why I Chose to Read It:  I chose to read this book because it's about the ethics of cloning and organ transplants.  

Notes About the Book:

1. Maybe knowing ahead of time why the students were so special kind of ruined the impact of the book for me.
2. It's weird how submissive Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth were in this story.  They never complained about their fate or really went out of their way to change it (except for the gallery thing, which I won't spoil for you).  It also surprised me how they were allowed to roam around freely but they never tried to conduct their own research about why things were the way they were.     
3. I think what was allowed to occur isn't that far-fetched.  We've all turned a blind eye to the treatment of humans in other countries regarding how our clothes and electronics are made all in the name of money.  Are their lives any better than Kathy's?  In some ways, their lives are actually a lot worse. 

Do I Recommend It?  Yes.  This is another book that I couldn't put down.

Links:

Never Let Me Go (Official Film Site)