My DVD addiction is in full swing

No review this week. Instead, here's a look at 5 sets I've got waiting to be watched:





Ok, these 2 aren't a shock to anyone familiar with my fairy tale obsession.

MMMM, Castle. I want Nathan Fillion for Christmas, FYI.

Ok, so this veers close to fairy tale territory...

I've heard that this is the best quiz show ever. The clips I've seen on YouTube are terrific. Plus it stars 2 of my favorite Brits, Alan Davies & Stephen Fry, with guest appearances by many other favorites. Can't wait to watch it!

So, I lied. One mini review. Alan Davies as a chef?!? Ok. Sadly, only one season was made of this one. Alan is a narcissistic chef in a country hotel restaurant. Think watered down Gordon Ramsay meets watered down Anthony Bourdain meets Jamie Oliver on the skids. The supporting cast are what make this so interesting- and the talent show episode is a hoot.

God Save The Queen- Kate Locke

God Save the Queen, and lord help everybody else. This was a thumping good mashup of alternative history with a dollop of steampunk and a lot of supernaturals. Xandy, the heroine, is a half-vampire daughter of a vampire aristocrat, and a member of the Royal Guard serving the undead Queen Victoria. She's just been told by the Goblin Prince that her younger sister has been committed to Bedlam. Her other siblings relctantly confess that they knew, and as they plan to go visit, they're told that their sister has committed suicide in her cell. Xandy refuses to believe it and digs into the circumstances. What she finds shakes her world to the core.

Did I mention that her mentor/would-be lover is Churchill? Yes, THAT Churchill, only he's a vampire. And the Scottish Alpha werewolf (who has a mutual hate on with Church) has taken to courting her? And the goblins are fascinated with her, for reasons that only become clear at the end of the story? Heh.

Fans of Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series will probably enjoy this one as well. It's a bit grittier, but still a good read. Can't wait for the remainder of the trilogy to come out!

Libriomancer- Jim C Hines

What can I say? This book tapped into almost every geeky dream I've had. Imagine a world where a reader with the right power/imagination can pull things out of the books they read and into existance. Also, where paranormal beings come into existance based on how strongly the books they're from are read/believed in. (some of the vampire subspecies names are priceless)  In this book, those are the Libriomancers, and what they can do is amazing. Luckily, it's a rare talent, and closely monitored by a council to prevent the power from being abused. But what happens when someone goes rogue and starts a war between vampires & libriomancers? In this case, a downgraded libriomancer has to step in and save the day...and possibly the world.

Soulless- Gail Carriger

From Goodreads:
Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?
SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

My Opinion:

I can't believe I hadn't posted a review of this book before now! LOVED it. My friend Jessica had bought a copy and I spotted it on her table before dinner at her house one evening. I picked it up, read the blurb on the back, and knew I wanted to read it. Jess, showing what an awesome friend she is, offered to loan it to me before she'd even had a chance to read it herself, but I couldn't do that to her. So I went straight to the bookstore after dinner and bought my own copy. I devoured this book in one sitting- Alexia is my kind of girl, opinionated and not afraid to show it, with a fondness for tea and sweet treats. Fighting off an attacking vampire, she accidentally kills him and now has to deal with werewolf Lord Maccon who Queen Victoria sends to investigate the matter. Further interaction as Alexia insists on being a larger part of the investigation than Maccon is happy with, an education in the matter of vampire society, and a series of attacks make this a thumping good read. The sequels are fun too! The next book in the series is due soon, and while I'm sorry it's the last Alexia adventure, Gail Carriger is NOT abonding her entertaining world. There are two more series to come, with new characters, and I suspect a few familiar faces will appear.

Poetry Monday

Happy Halloween!

The Vampire



by Madison Julius Cawein










A lily in a twilight place?


A moonflow'r in the lonely night?—


Strange beauty of a woman's face


Of wildflow'r-white!






The rain that hangs a star's green ray


Slim on a leaf-point's restlessness,


Is not so glimmering green and gray


As was her dress.






I drew her dark hair from her eyes,


And in their deeps beheld a while


Such shadowy moonlight as the skies


Of Hell may smile.






She held her mouth up redly wan,


And burning cold,—I bent and kissed


Such rosy snow as some wild dawn


Makes of a mist.






God shall not take from me that hour,


When round my neck her white arms clung!


When 'neath my lips, like some fierce flower,


Her white throat swung!






Or words she murmured while she leaned!


Witch-words, she holds me softly by,—


The spell that binds me to a fiend


Until I die.