Experiment Eleven: Dark Secrets behind the Discovery of a Wonder Drug

#1032
Title: Experiment Eleven: Dark Secrets behind the Discovery of a Wonder Drug
Author: Peter Pringle
Publisher:Walker and Company
Year: 2012
288 pages

 The "dark secrets" of the title are, as one might expect, ethico-legal. However, they're about attribution of scientific discovery, order of precedence in publication, and the sometimes-nefarious behavior of institutions rather than dark secrets in the style of the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, Henrietta Lacks, or the infection of children with Hepatitis B. It would be a good text to have graduate students read in order to understand why some professional ethics codes are very specific about the requirement for discussions of authorship and attribution. It might also be a good one to have faculty read with the preventative question, "What seemingly innocuous behaviors might we be engaged in that could lead to faculty and students having discrepant understandings of our relationship and work together?"

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

#1031
Title: Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Author: Salman Rushdie
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1990/1991
216 pages

A YA novel that is delightful in and of itself for its story, language play, and relationships. However, knowing that Rushdie wrote it for his son while he was in hiding, and why he was in hiding, adds additional levels to the reader's appreciation. 

The Darke Toad (Septimus Heap #1.5)

#1030
Title: The Darke Toad (Septimus Heap #1.5)
Author: Angie Sage
Publisher: Katherine Tegen
Year: 2013
96 pages

A novella slotted between the first and second Septimus Heap books. It's fun to read after finishing the series because it reminds us of Septimus's vulnerability, and Marcia's affection and concern for him. It also pokes fun at DomDaniel, which is never unenjoyable.

Escape from "Special"

#1029
Title: Escape from "Special"
Author: Miss Lasko-Gross
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Year: 2007
136 pages

An interesting graphic novel/autobiography (or, perhaps, graphic short story/short "essay"). It's more disjointed than many, but I found that this storytelling/storyshowing style underscored the protagonist's cognitive differences and evoked in the reader a similar frustration about communication. I would think that many kids who were seen as weird or different by others, while seeing themselves as unique but not extraordinarily weird, would empathize with her. In some ways, this is Suzuki Beane Goes to School (And How Other Children and Schools Destroy One's Spirit).

The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1)

#1028
Title: The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1)
Author: Robert Galbraith [J. K. Rowling]
Publisher: Mulholland
Year: 2013
455 pages

Harry Potter's appeal made more sense to me when I realized that the core of the novels was the detective/mystery genre, so I assumed Rowling would give us something in this arena at some point. Here, a noirish/hard-boiled detective and a pretty good mostly-closed room mystery. As was the case in the later Potter books, Rowling's conclusion is more complex than necessary and relies on more luck and circumstance than I prefer, but it's better than many in its genre and adds societal elements such as class, assumptions based on presumed identity and status, and critiques of paparazzi techniques that recollect those around the time of Princess Diana's death as well as the more recent hacking scandals.

A Game of You (The Sandman #5)

#1027
Title: A Game of You (The Sandman #5)
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano
Publisher: Vertigo
Year: 1992/2011
192 pages

A mirror of the previous volume, which was grand and mythological. Though broad in implications, this is a more humble perspective--that of a dreamer and her worlds. Read Delany's introduction afterward. It's worth reading, but is filled with spoilers and lit crit-dense.

The Koran

#1026
Title: The Koran
Author: Anonymous
Translator: N. J. Dawood
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 621/2004
456 pages

This is not a review of the text, but of the Audiobook reader. This is a person who cannot pronounce many words, including these frequently repeated ones: Scourge, respite, Job, God ("Gaaawd").