[too many bad notes playing in our symphony]
By now I'm sure you've all at least heard about the flooding in Queensland, Australia. halfthewords is flying up there to help out and I wish I could be there, too. Since I can't, I want to spread a bit of advice about how to help out from across the world.
If you want to donate, please do so at the government site. There are a lot of people out there setting up fake charity sites, and it's better to play it safe right now.
That's the important part of my post. To avoid spamming you all with separate posts, here's the unimportant part.
I grabbed a few books before I left the States, and managed to finish two of them (I, Lucifer and What Alice Knew: A Most Curious Tale of Henry James and Jack the Ripper).
I've followed the Jack the Ripper case since I was about eight or nine, and I tend to believe the Walter Sickert theory. When I thumbed through What Alice Knew in the book store I was pleased to see that he's a prominent character.
On the whole, it was a fun read. I loved reading about Oscar Wilde and Henry James having dinner together, and Walter Sickert is written in a way that's charming and chilling without slandering him. That being said, the writing often feels weak and unpolished, and you never get a good feel for the actual main characters. The James siblings should be more memorable than Oscar Wilde, since he only has three scenes or so, but they aren't.
The ending is so sudden it's jarring, and a lot of the clues the James siblings were using are brushed under the rug or completely ignored, so I walked away really, really annoyed by the whole story. If I hadn't expected so much out of it from the beginning, it probably would've been a lot more enjoyable.
Scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 6 if I'm being generous.
I'll have the rest of the scavenger hunt up tomorrow. <3~
If you want to donate, please do so at the government site. There are a lot of people out there setting up fake charity sites, and it's better to play it safe right now.
That's the important part of my post. To avoid spamming you all with separate posts, here's the unimportant part.
I grabbed a few books before I left the States, and managed to finish two of them (I, Lucifer and What Alice Knew: A Most Curious Tale of Henry James and Jack the Ripper).
I've followed the Jack the Ripper case since I was about eight or nine, and I tend to believe the Walter Sickert theory. When I thumbed through What Alice Knew in the book store I was pleased to see that he's a prominent character.
On the whole, it was a fun read. I loved reading about Oscar Wilde and Henry James having dinner together, and Walter Sickert is written in a way that's charming and chilling without slandering him. That being said, the writing often feels weak and unpolished, and you never get a good feel for the actual main characters. The James siblings should be more memorable than Oscar Wilde, since he only has three scenes or so, but they aren't.
The ending is so sudden it's jarring, and a lot of the clues the James siblings were using are brushed under the rug or completely ignored, so I walked away really, really annoyed by the whole story. If I hadn't expected so much out of it from the beginning, it probably would've been a lot more enjoyable.
Scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 6 if I'm being generous.
I'll have the rest of the scavenger hunt up tomorrow. <3~