Dewey's II -- or, a great way to survive a bout of influenza.

I started this blog with the last (first) Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon. When I went on Youtube and saw a favourite vlogger talking about it coming around again, I figured, why not?

Then I got the Plague that has been going around the office. Luckily, I posted a restricted book list last night--only two books. The ones I wanted to get through were (1) The Looking-Glass Wars by Frank Beddor - a current book club item- and (2) A Geek Girl's Guide to Murder by Julie Anne Lindsey. Done! and Done!

Both were really great  -- Looking Glass was a little better than the other, but that's simply because it had more tricks and turns. I had figured out who the main suspect truly was with the mystery novel early on --cozy mysteries have long been a favourite of mine. Getting the characters from the beginning to the end and seeing how it was deconstructed was entertaining. And just like Looking Glass, this one has openings you can see the future novels using as launching off points. I enjoyed the protagonist quite a bit -- quirky, smart, introverted and can handle herself. She reminds me very much of a friend of mine. The main character, Mia Connor,  has a family that is just as decent and bizarre as that of Stephanie Plum's in the Janet Evanovich series -- but not so carbon copy as to get annoying. It's a danger with any writer of a quirky cozy mystery heroine to avoid being a Stephanie Plum knock-off --but so far this one seems to avoid that trap. And best of all, it does geekery accurately.

I'm going to try to avoid spoiling Looking-Glass Wars for anyone reading this. Which is difficult because I really want to discuss the plot points on this with someone - I already have theories about some of the characters identities! Essentially this is a fairy-tale with a twist -- the author has taken Lewis Carrol's well loved book and turned it slightly on its ear. It predates Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland by 4 years but there are some strong echoes of this book in that movie, particularly in the role of the Mad Hatter. Probably the strongest resonances, however, are simply due to the fact that this book reads like a movie. The pacing, the visual imagery, the world building -- all would make this a cinch to translate to the big screen. If you are a person that dislikes slow books, read this one.
Now I have to go online in search of books 2-4. Oh, and if you do take my advice and bring this to the big screen, I deserve at least a credit in the film, eh?

There's a couple more hours left in this readathon, but I think the Plague is going to keep me from continuing on any further. Bleaugh.

Cheers, friends and fellow read-a-thoners. And here's to doing my third Dewey's readathon in next April! Maybe I will actually get time to do a lot of the events next go round.