Glass of Wine

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true. Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape h...

The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Devereaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance. But Rory's brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she's become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades—the city's secret ghost-fighting police—are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it's too late . -Plot summary borrowed from Goodreads Unusually for many series installments, our protagonist, Rory, has rather a lot of consequences to wade through- not the least of ...

The other day I came across two really fascinating articles about how we, as readers and viewers, assimilate fiction into our daily lives. Please take a moment to check them out here and here , as they are both fun and enlightening reads. The gist of both is that people tend, consciously or otherwise, to incorporate the things we love from fiction, in many ways for many reasons. Some of it is pretty straightforward- "Gee, Legolas looks like he's having fun with that bow, maybe I'll archery a try!" Or "everyone looks better in a greatcoat, maybe I should get one." Another reason is to participate in the culture of a show/book/movie/video game/radio play, to identify yourself to other fans. "Hey, that girl is wearing an 'I'm a Slayer, ask me how!' button! I think I'll go say hi." Other reasons go a bit deeper. As one author suggests, "maybe it’s a little bit about courage. About reinvention. About taking charge of yourself, an...