Happy New Year!

Whew, the holidays are over! They really get in the way of my reading time. Currently, I am very much enjoying Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. It was published in 1992 and won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. According to Wikipedia (which means, take it with a grain of salt...) it is the most-honored work of science fiction in recent history. It was recommended to me by Elizabeth, our head of Reference.

What is so cool about this book is that it blends science-fiction with historical fiction. While I have a few sci-fi books that I really love, I am not first and foremost a sci-fi reader. But when you throw in time travel, I'm there! Connie Willis is also a great writer - keeping up the pace in a somewhat lengthy book while sprinkling in humor and great character studies. And did I mention a historian from 2054 gets sent back to 1320 and there is a mysterious plague in both times?!?!

One drawback to the plot is, because it was written in 1992, cell phones were not such a prevalent part of society. However, the book is set in 2054 and although there are "video phones" in use, the author did not predict cell phones. While there is a massive epidemic and historians lost in time, much of the tension is around characters not being able to get in touch with each other, or waiting around for phone calls from this specialist in Scotland or that archaeologist at a dig. It seems funny, but if I can let go of reality enough to imagine time travel, I think I can imagine a world without portable telephones.

I have also just received my copy of The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs from the Library and it looks so amazingly creepy:

The village of Wolfheim is a quiet little place until the geneticist Dr. Victor Hoppe returns after an absence of nearly twenty years. The doctor brings with him his infant children—three identical boys all sharing a disturbing disfigurement. He keeps them hidden away until Charlotte, the woman who is hired to care for them, begins to suspect that the triplets—and the good doctor— aren’t quite what they seem. As the villagers become increasingly suspicious, the story of Dr. Hoppe’s past begins to unfold, and the shocking secrets that he has been keeping are revealed. A chilling story that explores the ethical limits of science and religion, The Angel Maker is a haunting tale in the tradition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein. Brought to life by internationally bestselling author Stefan Brijs, this eerie tale promises to get under readers’ skin.

Also, I stumbled across a review of a book in the newspaper - The Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar. I was thrilled that our library owns it, but I have been enjoying hanging out in 1320 so much that I didn't want to start a new book. Terry caught sight of it and got just as excited as me - werewolf fashion designers and werewolf outcasts running the streets of London and being called back to their Scottish castle to take over the royal werewolf family. So, I shared and let Terry borrow it first. She loves it so far and I'll be reading it before long!

New Years Resolution: read more.