My Review of "The Drosten's Curse"

A.L. Kennedy's The Drosten's Curse is not a Doctor Who novel I expected to enjoy. I came to Doctor Who through the more recent regenerations, so returning to one of the classic Doctors -- in this case, the Fourth -- wasn't something I expected to enjoy. But A.L. Kennedy has really captured the Doctor at his best.

The Doctor is always whimsical, but the Fourth Doctor, especially at the tip of Kennedy's pen, is even more so. The Time Lord that I've come to love is eccentric and sometimes even disjointed in the most charming of ways -- and Kennedy has given us all that and more in The Drosten's Curse.

The story, as my husband informs me, is an expansion of an older short story written by Kennedy, about an ancient alien being that's causing all manner of disturbances on a golf course/spa hotel in Arbroath. It's stirring up enough of a ruckus to attract the attention of the TARDIS and the Doctor, and he recruits an employee of the spa/hotel -- Bryony -- to help him investigate. The Drosten's Curse may not quite an all-new adventure, but as far as I can tell, it does go into more detail than any short story might ever do.

I came to this book with a fresh perspective. All the Doctor Who novels I've read have been recent regenerations -- well, actually only the last two. And I've never read anything else written by Kennedy (who, my husband informs me, is well known in the sci-fi circles). I've only ever seen a handful of Fourth Doctor episodes -- and those only because my husband insisted we watch them. I'm a new Whovian by any measure. But this was a wonderful book, and any Whovian will love it.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.

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My Review of the New York Times "Footsteps"

The New York Times Footsteps is a fun literary journey a collection of travel essays centered around the homes and haunts of literature "greats." While the book started out interesting, I enjoyed learning about these literary figures and their places in the world. After several chapters, though, the stories became more tedious as the writers became more and more obscure.

Ironically, it was the story of Mark Twain that was my favorite; a writer I vowed years ago to never read after discovering the horrid things he said about Jane Austen. I feel there was a striking imbalance between writers who contributed positivity and decency to the world and those who prattled off drink and sex-fueled mumblings. Overall, I was not super impressed with this collection.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program, in exchange for my honest review here.

My Review of "Come as You Aren't"

Come as You Aren't: A Role-Playing Game for Adventurous Couples is a simple role-playing kit for couples who want to explore and experiment in ways to seduce one another that they simply wouldn't have imagined otherwise. The set is meant to offer one partner who draws a Who, a What, and a Where card at random and places them in an envelope for the other partner. From there, it's up to them to enact the scenarios as they see fit.

The instructions are printed on the back cover of the box and the deck comes with a few blank cards for couples to customize.

This is a fun little gift for couples -- and just in time for the holidays.

I received a free copy of this game from the Blogging for Books review program in exchange for my honest review here.

My Review of "Deal of Duel"

Deal or Duel is a must-have for all those Hamilton lovers out there!

While I ordered it because of the musical, when my husband and I played after dinner one night, I was hooked for the history. It's beautifully designed and filled with all the trivia you didn't get in your high school American history class. Players pit their survival skills against one another, trying to do the one thing that really is American -- try to win all the money ... or die trying.

We love it and plan to share with all our friends and family.

I received a free copy of this game from the Blogging for Books review program in exchange for my honest review here.

The Mrs. & the Minister

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