The Curse of the Marquis de Sade by Joel Warner

May 17, 2023

The Curse of the Marquis de Sade by Joel Warner

The Marquis de Sade was imprisoned in the notorious Bastille prison in Paris. He was a prolific writer, penning plays, essays, novels, short stories and political tracts, although he is best known for his erotic works. While in the Bastille, he wrote his magnum opus, "120 Days of Sodom." The manuscript was written on paper that was four inches wide; when he got to the bottom of the page, he glued another page to the bottom and kept writing. When the page was 40 feet long, he turned it over and wrote on the other side. When the Marquis was moved to another prison, the manuscript was left behind and later found after the Bastille was liberated. The manuscript became a collector's item, passing from one collector to another.

Part biography, part history of the notorious manuscript and other erotic literature, part investigation of the mania that grips collectors. The chapters about the Marquis's life and the history of erotic literature are far more interesting than the parts about rare documents as an investment. Should have been more interesting than it was.

The Marquis de Sade

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

April 10, 2020

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Irene is a Librarian with the Invisible Library, which houses copies of all books ever created.  Her latest assignment is to secure a copy of Grimm's fairy tales that includes a previously unknown tale, from an alternate Victorian London.  She is accompanied by a new trainee, Kai, although she's not sure if he is there to assist her or watch her.  The assignment seems straight-forward at first, until the Librarian-in-Residence in the alternate world advises them that the book's owner was a vampire who was brutally murdered, and the book has vanished.  What seemed a simple "get in and get out" task becomes much more complicated by the occult residents of the alternate world, and Irene and Kai find themselves in mortal danger from unknown enemies.

I usually gravitate toward any book that has "library" in the title but it took me a while to get into this one.  I actually started it once before but put it aside.  The characters are decent but the plot is kind of hazy with too many characters and types (vampires, Fae folk, dashing detectives, clockwork animals, etc.).  There were also characters who were introduced, like the elder Miss Olga Retrograde, who seemed like they were going to add something interesting to the story but then were never referred to again.  This title is the first in a series so maybe some of these characters will recur later.  While the story was okay, it definitely had a YA feel and I'm not sure I found it engaging enough to continue with the series.

I haven't been reading as much as usual lately.  I do a lot of my reading on my commute to work, and with being at home so much, I've been doing other things.  Also, my sweet little dog Asia died in her sleep on Monday night.  I adopted her when she was 10-1/2 so I knew there was a chance she wouldn't be with me for long, but I hoped it would be more than 18 months.  Asia was just the best little girl, so peaceful and unfussy, and she left me the same way she lived. 😥