![]() ![]() Waller, and Nina Auerbach offer their varied perspectives. "Dramatic and Film Variations" focuses on theater and film adaptations of Dracula, two indications of the novel's unwavering appeal. Reviews and Reactions reprints five early reviews of the novel. Also included are a discussion of Stoker's working notes for the novel and "Dracula's Guest," the original opening chapter to Dracula. This Norton Critical Edition includes a rich selection of background and source materials in three areas: Contexts includes probable inspirations for Dracula in the earlier works of James Malcolm Rymer and Emily Gerard. ![]() In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival. When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. You can find an alternative cover edition for this ISBN here and here. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() Not only is she kick-ass - as you'd expect - but her vulnerability bleeds through as well, making her sharp feelings and conflicted emotions deeply felt. Usually, it takes me awhile to warm up to a new UF narrator, but with Toby, I seemed to merely fall into the story. I was particularly surprised, however, by how quickly I came to enjoy Toby's narration. ![]() McGuire writes superbly, imbibing her characters with depth and covering the back story - full of well-crafted world-building - perfectly too. What I really love about this set-up is that it allows us, the reader, to be newly introduced into this world all while assimilating right in the middle of Toby's life. Thus, when the book really kicks off, Toby Daye, our changeling heroine in question, is determined to avoid her past as a faerie knight and PI. From the beginning itself, McGuire's novel starts out differently from most other UF Series - with our protagonist being turned into a fish for fourteen years. Rosemary and Rue is a promising start to what I can already see shaping up to be one of my favorite UF Series. Title: Rosemary and Rue (October Daye, #1) ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Author Notes:My publishers had wanted to publish just one book a year, as they do with most other authors, but as the printing date for Cirque Du Freak came up, I knew I had a long and sprawling story to tell, so I pushed them to release them every six months, and luckily they agreed. But this attack is just the start of the true nightmare, and soon Darren finds himself fighting not just for his own life, but for the lives of his friends, Debbie and Evra, both of whom are threatened by a force of sinister, murderous evil. In a blood-soaked abattoir, Darren confronts his mentor, and aims for his throat with a rusty butcher's knife. Then, in the run-up to Christmas, police discover several human bodies hidden in an old building - each of which has been drained of blood! Darren and Evra are horrified, and immediately set about shadowing Mr Crepsley, on the understanding that if he's the killer, they're going to stop him - by any means necessary! Evra soaks up a lot of TV shows, while Darren catches the eye of pretty young Debbie Hemlock! But Mr Crepsley's behaving strangely, patrolling the streets every night, saying nothing of his purpose to Darren or Evra. Shortly after an old friend's visit, Mr Crepsley leaves the Cirque Du Freak and heads for a city, taking Darren and Evra with him. Plot Outline:Book 3 of The Saga Of Darren Shan. ![]() ![]() He tells the story of Eugene Pauly, an elderly man who almost entirely loses his memory after getting a dangerous infection in his brain. In his first chapter, Duhigg explains how habits work in the brain. ![]() And he knows that readers can greatly simplify the process by following a few simple principles. While habit change isn’t always easy, Duhigg believes that it’s always possible. He argues that, whether they live ordinary lives or face critical, high-stress situations like the war in Iraq, people are only as effective as their habits. In other words, she actually reprogrammed her brain by changing her habits-and Duhigg wants to teach his readers to do the same. Scientists scanned her brain and discovered that she had built new neural pathways for her new, healthy, disciplined habits. ![]() But after a flash of inspiration, she changed all of these habits in just a few months, starting with the keystone habit of smoking. For twenty years, Allen smoked, drank, and ate too much she never exercised, was deep in debt, and kept losing jobs. ![]() In his prologue, Duhigg introduces this principle with the story of Lisa Allen, a woman who turned her entire life around after a divorce and a fateful trip to Egypt. By truly understanding these habits, Duhigg believes, people can learn to master them-which gives them the power to control their own lives and shape their own identities. ![]() In The Power of Habit, journalist Charles Duhigg argues that habits are the foundation of human behavior. ![]() ![]() ![]() "Of course, I thought it might ha' just been the effects of spending four months in a monastery, without benefit of female companionship, but then that ride through the dark together"-he paused to sigh theatrically, neatly evading my grab at his sleeve-"with that lovely broad arse wedged between my thighs"-he ducked a blow aimed at his left ear and sidestepped, getting a low table between us-"and that rock-solid head thumping me in the chest"-a small metal ornament bounced off his own head and went clanging to the floor-"I said to myself." ![]() "I said to myself, 'She's mended ye twice in as many hours, me lad life amongst the MacKenzies being what it is, it might be as well to wed a woman as can stanch a wound and set broken bones.' And I said to myself, 'Jamie, lad, if her touch feels so bonny on your collarbone, imagine what it might feel like lower down.'" I started toward him, and he backed away, talking rapidly. When I woke in the dark under that tree on the road to Leoch, with you sitting on my chest, cursing me for bleeding to death, I said to myself, 'Jamie Fraser, for all ye canna see what she looks like, and for all she weighs as much as a good draft horse, this is the woman'" "When I asked my da how ye knew which was the right woman, he told me when the time came, I'd have no doubt. Seeing my openmouthed expression, he continued lightly. Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn't this. "More than I ever wanted anything in my life," he added softly. ![]() ![]() “Because I wanted you." He turned from the window to face me. ![]() ![]() ![]() Each of Nesbø's Harry Hole novels pretty much stands alone, and you can read them in just about any order. You get a good bit of Harry's back story here, but none of it is necessary to enjoy the other books in the series. I'm really glad this book, the first in the Harry Hole series, got translated. On examining his broken tooth, Harry asks the guy who broke it "Shouldn't the pulp be red?" Narration aside, it's a great read. And Harry surely is a tough guy, wading into fights with bad Aussies in a bar. On a scale of Hercule Poirot to Philip Marlowe, this rendition is somewhere in the middle. ![]() Sean Barrett does a nice job, though he doesn't impart much tough-guy to Harry's character. I think Thor Knai had it about right in "Nemesis" when he pronounced it "hOO-luh", at least if Google Translate's pronunciation feature is right. What will Robin do if he's the narrator in a future Harry Hole book? In "The Bat" the Aussies render Harry's name as "holy" which, Harry admits, is better than being called a hairy orifice. It's bad news for narrator Robin Sachs because Nesbø makes clear in the first couple of pages that Harry's last name is not pronounced like the English "hole" the way Robin did it in several other Harry Hole books. Essential Nesbø, bad news for Robin Sachs ![]() ![]() “A unique alien invasion story that focuses on the human and the myriad ways we see and don’t see our own world. Lizy Coale, Copperfish Books, Punta Gorda, FL With two parts questions and one part answers, The Seep is a book that will leave you begging for more.” After her wife decides to be reborn - literally, as a baby - she enters into a match of her own grief and suffering versus the parasitic aliens who want a perfect utopia free of pain. ![]() “Funky, offbeat, and downright devourable, The Seep is about a middle-aged trans woman trying to find her way through a benevolent but bizarre alien invasion. Avery Peregrine, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA Winter 2020 Reading Group Indie Next List ![]() This is an entirely surreal reading experience that explores identity - queer and racial, self and inherited - in an organic and necessary manner. Here, everyone and everything (humans! trees! buildings!) is connected through an alien entity called The Seep, and pain of any kind is easily mended. “ The Seep describes a sort of utopia set in a near future devoid of capitalism, violence, and the general evils of the world. ![]() ![]() It seemed impossible to experience this momentous event without her mother to share it. ![]() MORALES: Just three months after Maria Cristina died, Carmen had her baby. And mariachis traveled throughout the state to play for her. And we ended up having a funeral for her. PARRA CANO: She would always tell us, when I die, don't cry - just have a big party. On the day she was heading to the doctor, she fell, hit her head and died. MORALES: Two years later, when Carmen was pregnant with her second child, Maria Cristina was having dizzy spells. PARRA CANO: I don't know how my mom did it, but each of us felt - like, she would make time for each of us. This is how Maria Cristina cared for her nine kids. MORALES: When it came time for Carmen to have her first baby, her mom stayed by her side - to listen, to tell stories and to cook her comfort foods, family recipes like quinoa con leche and a hot cinnamon drink called atolli. MARIA DEL CARMEN PARRA CANO: She would just be like, OK, sana, sana. Carmen's mom, Maria Cristina, was so busy, she'd just shorten it. If you don't heal today, you'll heal tomorrow. ![]() LAUREL MORALES, BYLINE: In Latin America, when a child scrapes a knee and comes running, it's common to hear a mother say, sana, sana. Reporter Laurel Morales has the story of a young woman who's found a way to keep the memory of her mother alive. While growing up in Phoenix, Maria del Carmen Parra Cano watched her mother feed her own family and all the children who'd stop by. On this Mother's Day weekend, a recipe of sorts, passed down for generations. ![]() ![]() ![]() When Ruby, a baby elephant, is brought to the Big Top Mall to live with Stella and learn new tricks, things begin to change. Stella believes that good zoos are how humans make amends. However, Stella wanted to live in a zoo, because they have much wider spaces for their domains. Unlike Ivan, Stella has a long memory and can remember living in other places, like the circus where she was taught many of her tricks. ![]() Stella is an older elephant who has a chronic injury in one leg and regularly performs in the daily shows. Along with Ivan, Stella, an elephant, and Bob, a stray dog, live at the mall. He watches television, eats bananas, and makes artwork that is sold by the owner. He lives in his domain, and is generally content with his life. Ivan, the Silverback Gorilla, has lived in captivity at the Big Top Mall for 9,855 days by his own tally. The story is placed at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall by the Video Arcade. It was followed in 2020 by The One and Only Bob, presented from the point of view of Ivan's best friend, the dog Bob. It has won several other awards and is currently nominated to several reading lists. ![]() In 2013 it was named the winner of the Newbery Medal. It is about a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lived in a cage at a mall, and is written from Ivan's point of view. The One and Only Ivan is a 2012 novel written by Katherine Applegate and illustrated by Patricia Castelao. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The results revealed a requirement for a smaller 50p coin, which was duly introduced on 1 September 1997. In October 1994, the Government announced a further review of the United Kingdom coinage. With the introduction of smaller 5p and 10p coins in 19 respectively, 50p coins became the largest in circulation. This made it easily distinguishable from round coins both by feel and by sight, while its constant breadth allowed it to roll into vending machines. While this design may have been traditional, the shape of the new 50p coin, an equilateral curve heptagon, was revolutionary. The design on the reverse of the 50p coin features a symbol of Britannia that has appeared on our coinage since 1672. In October 1969, 50p coins joined the 5p (shilling) and 10p (florin) coins in circulation, leaving only the three copper coins - to be introduced on 15 February 1971 - to complete the new series of decimal coins. ![]() |