Monday, March 22, 2010

Truly, Madly by Heather Webber

Age Level: Adult
Format: Book

Lucy Valentine comes from a family notorious for their matchmaking skills. This is great lucrative news for the family, except Lucy doesn't quite have the matchmaking gift, thanks to an electrical surge when Lucy was fourteen, changing her powers from matchmaking to lost object finding. When her father leaves the matchmaking business, Valentine Inc., to her for a couple of weeks, Lucy fears she will ultimately screw up the business and her family's good business name. Instead, Lucy finds trouble in a mystery surrounding a client and an engagement ring, a lost boy in the woods and a dangerously good-looking PI named Sean Donahue.

I had the fortunate opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book. Fast-paced and sprinkled with some laugh-out-loud moments, this is definitely a great, fluffy book to read while on vacation or just looking for a few hours to escape from reality. The back cover suggests this book for readers of Janet Evanovich and Jennifer Crusie...this is very true! Lucy finds herself in some very comical situations, and her ways to get out of them just add to the entertaining storyline. Webber seems to provide a story that has something for every reader - romance, mystery and an element of the supernatural.

This is the first in a series starring Lucy Valentine. Heather Webber also writes the Nina Quinn mystery series.

Reviewed by Jessica

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Dancing Plague by John Waller

Age Level: Adult
Format: Book



This was such an unexpectedly enjoyable book. The Dancing Plague is a fascinating exploration of the strange and uncontrollable dancing that has gripped large masses of people repeatedly throughout history. John Waller vividly paints a picture of the religious terror, starvation and hopelessness that incubated the perfect setting for such a bizarre series of events.

I had never heard of choreomania and if I had, I would have probably thought it a strange and unlikely fictional malady. More often termed Saint Vitus’ Dance, its victims believed they were being punished for their sins. Over the centuries many “cures” were devised including more dancing. As many of these attempts proved fatal, belief in religious pilgrimage as the only sure method of relief grew. Across Europe, even though customs and beliefs have changed, some still believe in “preventative dancing”. After all, why would an angry saint curse an already dancing sinner with more dancing?

Waller ends with an interesting theory on the cultural changes that have erased choreomania from our worries replacing it with several more modern ailments. This book truly took me by surprise and gripped me with an uncontrollable need to keep reading.

Reviewed by Lisa