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Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Big Hairy Drama by Aaron Reynolds
Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds
Culture is Our Business by Marshall McLuhan
Drood by Dan Simmons
Emily and the Strangers Volume 1 by Rob Reger
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Forget-Her-Nots by Amy Brecount White
I Remember Beirut by Zeina Abirached
The Isobel Journal by Isobel Harrop
Language and Art in the Navajo Universe by Gary Witherspoon
Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye
Mad Scientist by Jennifer L. Holm
A Midsummer Tights Dream by Louise Rennison
Mr. Toppit by Charles Elton
Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales
Once Upon a Curse by E.D. Baker
101 Things I Hate About Your House by James Swan
The People Inside by Ray Fawkes
Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi
Strange Fruit, Volume 1 by Joel Christian Gill
Unicorns? Get Real! by Kathryn Lasky
Unthinkable by Nancy Werlin
Whiteoaks of Jalna by Mazo de la Roche
Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
Zombelina by Kristyn Crow

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2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish

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Comments for Drood

Drood: 02/05/15

cover art

Drood by Dan Simmons exams the friendship and rivalry between Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. The book is framed within an 1865 train crash that Dickens and his mistress survived. It, if Collins via Simmons is to be believed, became a major obsession in the last five years of Dickens's life.

Dickens tells Collins that he saw a mysterious figure at the crash site who answers only to the name Drood. This vision — or hallucination — inspired him to begin work on The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a novel he had not finished by the time of his death.

This unfinished work has inspired other works of fiction, including The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl. It was also primarily the Drood connection that made me want to read the book.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to make me want to finish it without severe skimming. The book is nearly 800 pages and densely detailed. Yes, Simmons did his homework and for fans of Dickens, Collins and the Victorian era, his work will be rewarding. To the casual reader, it's not something to pick up at the library and expect to finish in three week's time.

Two stars

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