Swallowing Darkness

Title: Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Gothic, Romance
Rating: 4/5

Swallowing Darkness, the seventh book in Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series, picks up just after A Lick of Frost left off. Merry, now pregnant with twins, has been raped by her uncle, who claims that her bodyguards are a threat to her and her children, which he claims as his own. On top of that, there are those that will go to great lengths to keep her off the throne of the Unseelie Court. However, Merry is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her children and her lovers.

I really enjoyed Swallowing Darkness. It seems like the series may be returning to its roots and giving more attention to the plot rather than to the many and various ways in which Merry can couple with her guards, as in some of the more recent books in the series. Although I still think Hamilton took the easy way out in deciding the parentage of Merry's children, I do find that it emphasizes the fantastical elements of the series. More importantly I was caught up in the intrigue and found myself waiting for each new twist. The book rounded up several of the storylines and with its beautiful ending, would have been a good place to finish the series. However, there are a few things that have yet to be dealt with and I hope that Hamilton deals with them as nicely in Divine Misdemeanors, which will be released in December 2009. There's a good chance I might reread Swallowing Darkness at some point in the future and I think this might be the book to bring back some of the readers who gave up the series when it became too graphic.

Tipping the Velvet

Title: Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Rating: 3/5

Synopsis from www.sarahwaters.com:
A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'.

I thought Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters was a good book, although I found Nancy to be rather annoying at points. She seemed to always make the wrong decision and it got a little unbelievable near the end. Everything was about her pleasure and her happiness with little thought as to how it might affect others. I suppose it was necessary though, to emphasize her emotional growth. However, I found the secondary characters; Florence and Ralph, Mrs M and Gracie; to be very interesting.

Overall, I found it to be a very good historical novel. I admit that I don't know too much about that time period in England but I really felt that Sarah Waters did a good job with it. The fear felt by the 'toms' is very believable and I have no trouble imaging a women's club devoted to Sappho. I had trouble with some of the slang though and at times wished for a cheat sheet at the back of the book. I really loved the look at the music halls of the time too, and think its rather interesting that the different classes would frequent different halls rather than just having separate sections to sit in. While I don't know that I'd ever read Tipping the Velvet again, I'm definitely going to give some of her other titles a try.

The Jane Austen Book Club

Title: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4/5

Six Californians (five women and one man) turn to Jane Austen to bring them together and help them deal with the obstacles that pop up in their lives over the course of six months.

I picked up The Jane Austen Book Club after it had been recommended to me by several friends. Apparently it was my kind of book. And I did really enjoy it. It is admittedly a very simple read though some of the Austen references will likely be lost on someone unfamiliar with her work. I really liked how Fowler split the book into sections instead of just continuing the narrative unstopped. Each section is devoted to a month, book and the character hosting the meeting that month. For example, Chapter One was March "in which we gather at Jocelyn's to discuss Emma." Interspersed with the book discussions, Fowler feeds the reader background information on the characters, how they met and important events that shaped the people they became. And by switching back and forth between the discussion and the character development, you never tire of either.

The characters are interesting, though I wish Fowler had spent more time developing them. There is so much hinted at that we never get to see, like Bernadette's many other husbands. The book's also a little deceptive in its appearance, the novel itself is only about 3/4 of the book, the rest is additional material like summaries of Austen's six books and suggested book club questions. I did really like the section in which Jane's friends and families comment on her books. Apparently her mother liked Pride & Prejudice better than Mansfield Park.

The Jane Austen Book Club is definitely a book I'll recommend to friends and something I think I'll give another read through some time in the future, probably the next time I read Pride & Prejudice. I also want to give Karen Joy Fowler's other works a try.