"To Say Nothing Of The Dog" by Connie Willis

This book was lent to me by my aunt-in-law who thought that I might like it.

Summary: This book follows the adventure of Ned Henry, a historian from the year 2057. With the discovery of time travel in the early 21st century, the profession of historian became a lot more interactive. Ned works for Lady Shrapnell, a ridiculously wealthy woman who has devoted enormous amounts of money and resources to rebuild the Coventry Cathedral, which was destroyed in 1940 by the Luftwaffe. Lady Shrapnell insists on recreating every detail exactly as it was right before the air raid, including the Bishop's Bird Stump, an artifact adored by her great- great- (not sure how many) grandmother, Tossie.

Ned is sent a lot of missions, quickly becoming disoriented from time lag. He is finally sent on a simple quiet mission to 1888 where he will be able to rest for 2 weeks and come back refreshed. Unfortunately, everything starts unraveling. One thing after another gets worse and worse, and with the help fellow historian Verity, they try to get everything sorted out before the space-time continuum collapses!

This book is heavily inspired by the Book "Three Men in a Boat" Jerome Jerome and by several old detective series like Lord Peter and Harriet, Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie. There is also a lot of Victorian era poetry, mainly Tennyson.

What I Liked: This is an irreverent book in which Ned is constantly thinking something sarcastic, or hilariously cynical. The humor is multi-level and has well executed running jokes throughout the novel. Ned also spends a lot of time considering how the space-time continuum is kept stable with so many historians bouncing around. The laws of time travel physics are explored and discussed in a way that I found exciting. Also, the cast of characters is wonderfully eccentric, each uniquely interesting and fitting for their role.

What I Didn't Like: I wish I had read more old Victorian murder mysteries.

Rating: Must Read.

Also Read by this Author: None.

Reviewed by: Nick

"Summon the Keeper" by Tanya Huff

Moment of honesty:  My Aunt lent me this book back in 2010 and I hesitated to read it because one of the main characters was a cat.  That talks.  I'm not sure why this prevented me from giving the book a shot---especially since my Aunt is usually spot on with suggestions---but it did.  What's more ridiculous is that I've read books full of magic or vampires or talking horses.  I guess it was just something about the cat.  Four years later when I moved into my new house with my husband, I came across a box of books that had been loaned to me and that I intended to read "someday".  I picked this one off the top of the pile and sped through it in a few days.

Summary:  When a Keeper feels a Summoning, she must follow the command.  That's how Claire Hansen finds herself checking into Elysian Fields Guesthouse Bed and Breakfast on a blustery Canadian evening.   When Claire wakes up the next morning, she finds herself not only the new owner of the Guesthouse, but with a note warning her to stay out of room six.  And also a hole to hell in the basement.

Along with a sassy cat, an innocent hunk and an amorous French Canadian host, Claire must find a way to seal the hole to hell and deal with the problem in room six before she finds herself stuck to the site forever.

What I Liked:

• The dialog in this story is hilarious.  From Claire to the Cat to Hell itself, everyone has snarky comment to make.  I found myself laughing out loud more than once.
• While the plot followed traditional fantasy story lines, the twists and turns it took were new (to me) and very cleverly thought out.  The author didn't make any mistakes and there weren't any gaping plot holes to be found.
• The author is just a good writer.  She introduced the rules of her world slowly and in a way that made sense to me as the reader.  It was fun to stumble across new concepts as the book progressed.
• The guests that popped in and out of the guesthouse kept the story moving and brought moments of hilarity and absurdity to the plot.  A sexy musician vampire?  Werewolves?  A hideously annoying elderly neighbor?  Yes please!
• Overall, this book was just fun.  And fine.  I liked the talking cat.

What Drove Me Nuts:

• There wasn't much I disliked about the book, once I got over the thought of  talking cat.
• The book was written in 1998, so the technology references may make some readers guffaw.
• Don't get me started about the fashion.  It's just so.....Canadian.....

Rating:  Fantasy lovers, add this to your must read list!

Reviewed By:  Tami

"Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" by Douglas Adams

I received a copy of this book through a friend of a friend who was trying to sell it at a garage sale. I really enjoyed other books by Douglas Adams and so I figured I would enjoy this one too.

Summary: This story follows Richard MacDuff, a successful computer programmer working for the eccentric businessman Gordon Way. He is reunited with a former professor, Reg, who is shrouded in an aura of mystery. He also reunites with an old college friend, Dirk Gently, who has become a private investigator. Dirk is an astoundingly intelligent person, but does not conform to traditional logic paths. Instead, he sees each individual case as being entangled with the universe, leading to very peculiar detective work and problematic billing. The three find themselves on a crazy adventure to save the world.

What I Liked: Douglas Adams is very good about establishing early in the book a series of minor jokes which escalate, seemingly by coincidence, as the book progresses. Each time the joke reappears it seems like the final punchline, funnier than before. At the beginning of the book I thought it was slow, not really sure if it was worth continuing on, but by the end I was laughing out loud and having difficulty explaining the elaborate jokes to Tami. The final punchlines were so simple and delivered with Adams' dry sense of humor, if taken out of context they would appear dull. But cleverly placed in the book, each punchline was a solid hit.

What I Didn't Like: The book had a slow start. In Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy the book starts by putting the main character in mortal danger and the excitement continues from there. In this book, it takes a while for anything exciting to happen, and even longer for Richard to be pulled into it.

Rating: If you like comedy mixed with science fiction this is a must-read.

Also Read By This Author: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (and sequels)

Reviewed By: Nick