Her Dark Curiosity

Her Dark Curiosity, by Megan Shepherd: The sequel to The Madman’s Daughter takes place several months after Juliet’s escape from the terrible island. She is back in London, and after some difficulties she finds herself under the guardianship of Professor von Stein, a former colleague of her father’s. As Juliet settles into life with the Professor, she begins hearing of murders throughout the city. The victims are all people somehow connected to Juliet, and have three distinct claw-like gashes on their bodies.  Juliet fears that one of her father’s dangerous creations managed to escape the island, and only she knows who and what the killer really is. Juliet begins investigating the murders and uncovers a conspiracy of unimaginable scope, depth and horror.
Once again, Shepherd has created a novel that walks a tightrope between Victorian propriety and a macabre thriller. Lingering questions from the first book are answered, and new questions and issues come to light. Every character has his or her own secrets, and it takes work to find out who the good and bad guys are, which is often not realized until it’s too late. Shepherd parallels Robert Lewis Stevenson’s classic horror novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a perfect companion to this dark tale. The writing is beautiful and detailed and storyline wonderfully woven and intricate. The pacing drags at times and Shepherd falls back on similar phrasing throughout the novel, but never enough to detract from the overall effect of the novel. It is worth noting that parts of the novel are a bit gorey, so if you are a sensitive or squeamish reader, this might not be your best option. But, if you enjoyed the first novel, are a horror fan and can take a little gore, this is a great pick to read into the wee hours of the night.

Notes on the audio: I listened to Her Dark Curiosity, as I did with The Madman’s Daughter, and the reader Lucy Rayner is fantastic.  She captures the feel of both Juliet and the Victorian setting.  I’m hoping she continues as narrator throughout the series!

Will I Read the Sequel? Yes, but I will be a bit upset if Shepherd continue far past the third book.

Overall Assessment:

The Floor Series: The Countdown

The floor series is far trickier to decide my favorites on because there are so many more variables!  There are some I can do a good expression of fairly easily, because of my flexibility and I don’t think about often – I just do.  Others can be quite a challenge for me as old injuries can flare up.  My rankings for these postures are primarily based on my enjoyment of the posture and loving the feeling of a posture.

12. Head to Knee: At this point I really want class to get over and it feels SO LONG!

11. Spine Twist: I have a tendency, like so many others, to not pay as close attention to my body at the end of class.  I’ve found that it’s easy for me to over twist and get out of alignment if I’m not careful.  So, I suppose I should try to work on my mind rather than disliking the posture, but I can’t very easily put my mind on the list!

10.  Locust: I have a love/hate relationship with this posture.  For the past year or so, my wrists have been tweaky and I’ve had trouble pinpointing the cause.  After discussions with lots of teachers I realized I was over doing my arm placement in this posture and probably taking wrists overused by computer use, banjo playing and sewing and not treating them so kindly.  My wrists are feeling much better after being exceedingly careful with hand placement.  Plus I get up higher in the third part now – whee!

9.  Full Locust: Full locust is just a stepping stone to finishing the spine strengthening series.  Even though I joke about it every crowded class, I really don’t like touching my sweaty neighbors.

8.  Wind Removing Pose: WRP just is.  I don’t like it, but I don’t dislike it.  Although I’m currently skipping third part because my hip is acting up.

7.  Stretching:  This is one of those postures I want so badly to achieve.  I love the deep stretch under my legs, especially after a running day.  Although I do find myself a little further back after a run.  But, eventually, in the future, I’ll get to my toes!

6:  Half Tortoise:  Just like WRP, HT just is.  In my mind, it is a bridge to camel.  It feels nice, but nothing I’m gonna go on about.

5.  Bow:  I do love the deep back bend in bow, especially now that I can see my toes.  My challenge now, is keeping my knees in, which, as usual, is easier said than done.

4.  Fixed Firm:  I would love for FF to go on and on because after the SSS, I like having my face up and away from the towel.  Plus I have had knee issues from running so FF is my knees’ BFF.

3.  Cobra:  This is one of my favorite postures, because it feels so damn good.  It’s also one of the few postures that I’m really happy with how I look in it (because, let’s face it, we think of that too!).  The flip side is that when this posture comes around and my body really needs a break, my ego has a hard time letting this one pass by.

2.  Rabbit:  I have always loved rabbit because it stretches parts of my spine I cannot get any other way.  I can also get a nice back crack out of this.

1.  Camel: My spine cannot get enough of this glorious, lovely back bend.

My biggest challenge in the floor is really staying focused.  The standing series has an intensity that demands focus.  On the floor, I tend to start counting down to the end of class.  My work seems to be on loving Head to Knee.

What are your favorite floor postures?

Picture Book Friday

No matter your age, a good picture book should have the ability to make you smile, laugh or cry.  Picture books are the first introduction most of us have to the world of books, and the worlds to which they transport us.  Sharing picture books is an important bonding experience for parents and children.  While the emphasis is, of course, on building literacy skills for children, it is important that the books are entertaining, for everyone.  I have been trying to decide what to do with my blog this year, and have decided that I should be more regular with my postings.  I will be starting picture book Friday, and highlighting a new or old picture book will entertain readers of all ages.  Let’s get started!

Weasels, by Elys Dolan:  There is something very important that you don’t know about weasels.  They are plotting world domination!  Dolan takes us into Weasel headquarters where the Weasels have run into mechanical trouble in their scheming.  As they struggle to fix their machine wackiness ensues as other options are explored.  Will the weasels be able to fix the machine and take over the world?  Read and find out!

Dolan’s illustrations are colorful and detailed.  Adults and kids alike will enjoy pouring over large pages full of silly weasely antics.  There are speech bubbles on every page, along with the narrating text, which makes this a better one-on-one reading candidate than sharing with a large group.  The text works well with the graphics, and Dolan knows when to let the picture take center stage and let the her young readers simply enjoy and study the scenes.  Adults will enjoy the antics of the weasels, my favorite being the one who thinks his big drill will solve everything. 

Overall Assessment: Fun, silly and delightful from start to finish.

Ages: 5-8