The Story

Barnaby Grimes is a tick-tock boy – he runs errands, delivers messages, does research, etc. for those who are willing to pay for his services. His jobs take him all over Victorian London, and it’s not unusual for him to run into all kinds of adventures. But when he meets with a wolf on the rooftops of London, even he is terrified.

When Barnaby’s friend Old Benjamin, and other people who won’t theoretically be missed, disappear Barnaby starts investigating what he soon learns is connected to the wolf that he had the run in with on the rooftops. When he is led to a doctor who has a magical concoction that cures the ailments of the poor, Barnaby discovers that he is drawn into something that could threaten his city, and is determined to stop it.

The Review

I haven’t had much time to read the past couple of weeks, so this weekend all I wanted was a book that I could quickly thrown myself into, that would grab my attention right from the beginning, and that I could get through in one or two sittings.

And when a book starts with the main character talking about his unwilling transformation into a werewolf, and an evil doctor looming up on the now-werewolf, WELL. It was exactly what I needed.

This was an adorable book. And if I’m saying that about a book about werewolves, then it’s really GOT to be adorable. (I really don’t like werewolves.) It had action and adventure, supernatural elements, and a couple of adorable cast members.

Unfortunately it WAS only a couple of adorable cast members – Barnaby was brilliant. He kept mentioning past adventures that he’s had, and it certainly made me wish that they had been gotten into a little bit more. And then there was this one little shop girl who was adorable… but that was it. The rest of the cast sort of faded into the background – even the evil doctor, unfortunately. Missing just a touch of menacing to make him feel threatening and memorable.

I liked how the authors managed to make Victorian London seem as as grimy as you would expect it to as well – that’s something I’ve definitely been paying more attention to lately.

But the highlight of the book for me was the illustration. Chris Riddell had some lovely illustrations in this book, and I definitely recommend looking into this book just for the illustrations.

The only major downfall (other than the character bit) was that it didn’t really have much of an impact on me. I finished the book a couple of hours ago, and it’s not a large book, but I’m still having a problem recalling a lot of what happened in the book. It’s just not sticking with me, unfortunately.

The Bottom Line

This was definitely a charming werewolf story with enough adventure to make it a quick and engaging read. At the same time, it wasn’t memorable enough to make me need to read the rest of the books in the series.

Other Reviews

The Well-Read Child, SherMeree’s Musings, Books and Other Thoughts. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

The Story

Melissa Anelli is the webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron, the best Harry Potter news site on the web. She has been one of the central figures in the middle of the Harry Potter fandom and phenomenon for years, starting as your average fan to becoming webmistress of Leaky, and even having a chance to interview JKR. Harry, A History tells not only her journey through the HP fandom, but also talks about a lot of the different things that were around in fandom – from fanfiction and LJ communities and shipping wars, to fan conventions and wizard rock.

The Review

I can’t believe so much time has passed since the last HP book was released! Goodness time has gone by so quickly! I will fully admit that I wanted nothing to do with HP for the longest time. It wasn’t until some point between GoF and OotP that I actually even picked one of the books up – and I fell in love immediately. And then, to tide me over until the release of OotP, I discovered fandom.

I was only ever on the outskirts, but I still witnessed a lot of what was going on. And Harry, A History was like such a trip down memory lane. There was so much there that I remember discovering for the first time, and it was so wonderful to spend that time reminiscing. There was also so much that, surprisingly, I had completely forgotten about – like Laura Mallory’s attempts at getting the HP books banned (yes I remembered that people tried to ban them, but had forgotten all about Mallory herself).

Anyway! This book is partially Anelli’s memoir, but it is also so much more than that. Anelli goes into what HP means for her, where she was when certain events happened, how the HP fandom changed her life. But then it is also so much a commemorative look at the fandom. Hearing about Anelli’s growth in the HP fandom was only part of the charm of the book. HP fans will be able to see themselves in parts of this book – will be able to go, yeah! I remember that! I was a part of that! I was a part of this awesome phenomenon that took over the world and changed so many things! (Because yes, the HP phenomenon DID change things – it brought together all sorts of people who would never meet to do such amazing things. Like, who would ever think to have a rock show in a library before?)

So definitely a thoroughly enjoyable book, and now I am so wanting to go back and reread all of the HP books.

The Bottom Line

This is a must-read for people who were involved in the Harry Potter fandom – even if it was on the outskirts like I was. It’s a good tribute to everything we were a part of, and reminded me completely of why I loved both the series and the fandom. Highly recommended.

Other Reviews

Shooting Stars Mag, The Zen Leaf, A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy, Sassymonkey Reads, Bart’s Bookshelf. Have you reviewed this book on your blog? Let me know and I’ll add your link.

Last night, I totally went to see Rent with Rachel in Toronto.

Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp were reprising their roles as Roger and Mark.

And have I mentioned how much I (a) love RENT and (b) adore both Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal? Because I really really really do. And yet I’ve never seen it live before. (I’ve seen the film of the last Broadway performance but that totally doesn’t count.) And as much as I love RENT, it totally wouldn’t be the same seeing it without Anthony Rapp or Adam Pascal in it, because it was their voices that I feel in love with in the roles of Mark and Roger. (Tangent: Rent is also kind of what made Rachel and I friends in university!)

So yay, when Rachel and I were at Word on the Street last year, and realized that they were going to be in the Broadway tour that would be going to Toronto, well! It was quite possibly one of the most exciting moments of my life.

And I’m still both totally fangirling over and totally speechless about last night’s show, so this is going to be not much more than gushing. Because that’s what I like to do best. And these are going to be my random thoughts about it:

• First of all: OMG RENT!
• Anthony Rapp was brilliant! Adam Pascal was brilliant! (I don’t care what Kat says, he was brilliant!)
• The whole freaking cast was phenomenal – not one weak performer in the group.
• The audience was insane – a lot of teens who were actually cheering out loud. On one hand, yay teens are enjoying theatre! On the other hand, it’s so strange to hear for cheering in the middle of a show.
• I liked the girl-who-was-playing-Mimi’s voice so much more than the one on the original cast recording
• I didn’t cry once! I expected to cry! I think I was just way too in awe of everything!
• Last night totally reminded me of all these songs on the soundtrack that I love love love!
• Also has reminded me of why I didn’t like certain things about the movie – the removal of some of the smaller songs, changing of some of the singing into talking, etc.
• AndOMGItotallysawAnthonyRappandAdamPascalinRENT! Insert little fangirlish squeal!

I feel like my life is now complete!