Tag: Gaslight Fiction

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Review: The September Society (Charles Lenox Mysteries #2) by Charles Finch

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: The September Society (Charles Lenox Mysteries #2) by Charles Finch

How perfect and fitting that I am finishing this book today on the first day of September!

I’ve just come off a string of long and content heavy books. So I just mentally needed a break from reading things that were hard/complicated, wordy, and had long, extensive family trees (which is so typical of English literary classics and British based books like Outlander or Through a Glass Darkly!).

So, I was eager to read something else historically based but yet something I also knew to be a little less complicated and easy to read/understand….I immediately turned to the next book in the Charles Lenox Series, The September Society by Charles Finch!

When I started the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge this year, my objective was to complete at least two books in the genre. I selected two books from the Charles Lenox mysteries series by Charles Finch, A Beautiful Blue Death and The September Society.

If you are a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Mysteries….or enjoy Sherlock Holmes-type mysteries….you will devour these books. Finch gives readers a similar approach to the amateur gumshoe/doctor duo with Lenox and his sidekick Dr McConnell who are a bit more down to earth an approachable than Holmes and Dr Watson.

The Sherlock Holmes series has gained a lot of popularity in the last couple of years with the modern Guy Ritchie rendition in 2009 and another upcoming installment (Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows) due out in Dec 2011. I know lots of people are picking up the classic series hoping to find the same type of Holmes character that they see portrayed by Hollywood. Lenox is a breath of fresh air for the typical Sherlock Holmes style mysteries. As I said before, we have a more approachable combo of detective/doctor in the Lenox series…..Lenox is rich, eccentric, witty, charming, and smart. Continue reading “Review: The September Society (Charles Lenox Mysteries #2) by Charles Finch” →

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Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

by The Lit Bitch3 Comments on Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I have settled on re-reading one of my fav books of all time….The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

I decided to read Dorian Gray for the Gothic Reading Challenge, I had it on my list to read for both the Gothic Reading Challenge and the Victorian Literature Challenge but decided to use it for the Gothic Challenge since I am in a ‘dark’ mood with all the madness happening…..why not have madness in my literature too LOL.

Oscar Wilde is one of my most fav authors, he literally just didn’t care who he made mad and wrote about what he loved….he is eccentric, carismatic, and philosophical in his writing style, I just cannot get enough Wilde :).

In Dorian Grey, we as readers are introduced to many “monstrous” sides of vanity and pride. We first met protagonist, Dorian Gray, as a naive young man who is gentle and kind. He is oblivious to the idea of age, maturity and growing “old”. The story focuses on the moral disintegration of Dorian which of course is a metaphor for the Victorian/Gothic era….the who era is about ‘darkness’, moral corruption, and the ‘daemons’ in us all.  Continue reading “Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde” →

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Review: A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries #1) by Charles Finch

by The Lit Bitch9 Comments on Review: A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries #1) by Charles Finch

In between books I picked up the first book in the Charles Lenox Mysteries, A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch. I read this book as part of the Historic Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry.

The HF Reading Challenge required one thing….the book must by set in a historic setting so that means any genre (mystery, sci-fi, YA, fantasy….anything.

I don’t really know too much about the series but the books sounded like they would be right up my alley. I saw the series listed on Goodreads and they had favorable reviews from readers. The are more or less a remake of the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries and since I have read many of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries I thought these would be a modern twist on an old classic.

The series follows protagonist Charles Lenox who is a wealthy gentleman who resides in the posh/exclusive London address of Mayfair. He is what most readers refer to as the ‘armchair explorer/detective’. Because he is independently wealthy he has lots of time on his hands…and he has a very analytical mind and pays attention to details. He has a great ability to deduce little things which no one else seems to make heads or tails of (like Holmes in that way at least). Continue reading “Review: A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox Mysteries #1) by Charles Finch” →

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Review: Blameless (Parasol Protectorate #3) by Gail Carriger

by The Lit Bitch8 Comments on Review: Blameless (Parasol Protectorate #3) by Gail Carriger

Well everyone I am sad to say I just finished my last Alexia Tarabotti novel until July 2011.

Blameless by Gail Carriger is the third book in the Parasol Protectorate series. I don’t know that I am going to be able to wait that long!

I have become so enthralled with the series over the last week that I have managed to devour the entire series in a matter of eight days…that’s how you know a series is good, when you think of nothing else but getting home and reading that next book!

I love all the characters in this series–Alexia is a kick. She is witty, smart, independent, and it seems like she just can’t manage to stay out of trouble. I love Professor Lyall, he reminds me of the typical Englishman–slightly stiff but yet horribly dry and witty which makes him all the more likable. And I simply love the arrogant bastard Major Channing Channing Of the Chesterfield Channings simply because his name is the most ridiculous name I’ve ever heard LOL.

I read this book as part of the 2011 Steampunk Reading Challenge hosted by Bookish Ardour. My review of Blameless will be fairly brief partly because most of the series groundwork/background I discussed in my previous postings for Soulless and Changeless.If you haven’t read the other books, beware there are some spoilers ahead in this review.

Continue reading “Review: Blameless (Parasol Protectorate #3) by Gail Carriger” →

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Review: Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger

by The Lit Bitch8 Comments on Review: Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger

I am happy to report that I am making good progress with the 2011 Steampunk Reading Challenge.

I just completed the second book for the challenge last night and yes it was another sleepless night–well late anyway–I just couldn’t unwind!

I finished reading Changeless by Gail Carriger, most of my time at my ‘day job’ was spent longing to go home and keep reading Changeless so I of course picked it up the minute I walked in the door.

As I mentioned review of Soulless,  I was hooked before you could say ‘Parasol Protectorate’! The first book was a great mixture of humor, supernaturalism, romance, and mystery. Besides the aesthetically pleasing cover, the story itself is equally as fun to read. The only thing that made me sad was the ending–I just HAD to start reading the third book, I couldn’t stand it if I had to wait months for the next book but more on that in a minute!

As I noted in some other posts, the challenge caught my attention because I love all things Victorian/Gothic and this looked like a fun sub-genre that I didn’t know much about and had not read a lot of, I also realized I didn’t really explain what Steampunk is. The Steampunk Age website gives a much more detailed background and worth checking out–but in short the genre includes things like mad scientists, blimps, innovative technology, flying machines, futuristic ideas, but all set in a turn of the century/Victorian setting. So think–The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and The Golden Compass. Those two examples are more or less ‘all encompassing’ of the genre but the book, file, or culture doesn’t have to have ALL these things to be considered ‘Steampunk’. Continue reading “Review: Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger” →