The story picks up on Elizabeth’s wedding day and follows the new Mrs. Darcy through her wedding tour through Bram Stoker’s geography as she meets more and more bizarre people from the greater Darcy clan. Darcy himself acts even more secretive, tortured, and brooding than before they were married, baffling Elizabeth, who has to navigate her way through married life with an absence of mirrors and an abundance of creepy portents.  She writes letters to Jane which may or may not ever get delivered.

Darcy is a classic literature character primed for vampire-dom, already dark and mysterious and enticing. How could Elizabeth tell the difference between reluctant romantic hero and vamPYRE? This book is much more enjoyable than Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which tended more toward the preposterous. And vampires are always cooler than zombies.

The Language of Bees comes barely the time it takes to travel after the events of Locked Rooms, where mysteries about Russell”s mind were tangled up with the plot in California, and we were gifted with whole chapters from Holmes’  point of view.  Russell is feeling the strain of the previous trip, but also the inevitable let-down that both she and Holmes suffer at the end of a case, no matter how good it is to be home. They need not worry about being bored for long, though, because they return to find Holmes’ son waiting for them at the house.

This mystery takes us through Bohemia, up into airplanes, through secret passages in Mycroft’s home and into a fascinatingly creepy upstart religious group. Damian, an artist who perhaps walks the thin line between genius and madness, is both like and unlike Holmes, is convincingly written as both a sympathetic figure and a suspect.

The end comes with more loose threads than I wanted, but the implication seems to be that the next book picks up where this one left off.  I can’t wait to see what sort of character Holmes’ granddaughter will turn out to be.  The God Of The Hive will be published June 2010.

For fun (and book updates), you can follow Mary Russell on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mary_russell

You’re probably not ready for books about full-fledged autumn yet, though I did seriously consider a reading list of books on how to cook pumpkins. Instead, I thought I’d go with a more transitional booklist, and give you some suggestions of books that reinvent something old, with a twist. (I promise, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies isn’t on this list, though, I’m pretty sure I’m obligated to talk about New Moon: The Movie eventually.)

The Penelopiad by Margaret AtwoodThe Odyssey, told from Penelope’s point of view, in Atwood’s trademark, pithy style.

Specimen Days by Michael CunninghamWalt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is the leitmotif for this novel about past, present, and future New York City, with a bonus ghostly Whitman appearance.

Drood by Dan Simmons

Boys

Brothers by Yu Hua

From PW: “…two boys weather the changes of the Cultural Revolution, reform and globalization, and Yu’s unflinching narrative, by turns tragic and hilarious, shows ordinary lives being broken down and built up again.”

Lowboy by John Wray

From PW: “The story centers on Will Heller, a 16-year-old New Yorker who has stopped taking his antipsychotic medication and wandered away from the mental hospital into the subway tunnels believing that the world will end within a few hours and that only he can save it.”

Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker

From PW: “Policing in Chief Bruno CourrEges’s sun-dappled patch of Perigord involves protecting local fromages from E.U. hygiene inspectors, orchestrating village parades and enjoying the obligatory leisurely lunch-that is, until the brutal murder of an elderly Algerian immigrant…”

Girls

Supergirls Speak Out by Liz Funk

From PW: “First-time author Funk defines the term “supergirl” as an over-achieving young woman with a compulsive need to be the best in all areas: school, extra-curricular activities, social networking and, of course, physical appearance.”

A Proper Education for Girls by Elaine di Rollo

From PW: “…set in 1850s England and colonial India, tells the story of twin sisters Alice and Lilian Talbot, who were born into an aristocratic but eccentric English family and raised by their widowed father among his collected curiosities and creepy acquaintances.”

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

From PW: “Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing “about what disturbs you.” The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies–and mistrusts–enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who’s raised 17 children, and Aibileen’s best friend Minny, who’s found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers.”

Boys & Girls

Mr. and Miss Anonymous by Fern Michaels

From PW: “Peter Kelly and Lily Madison regret choices they made in 1986 as impoverished college students when they first met outside a sperm bank and its adjacent fertility clinic. Years later, Pete’s a software mogul and Lily’s a successful clothing designer, and they happen across one another at an airport, where they see a news broadcast about a massacre at the California Academy of Higher Learning. Featured on the report is Josh, a survivor and dead ringer for Pete.”

Why Him? Why Her? by Helen Fisher

Helen Fisher, conducting research through Chemistry.com, and take into account philosophies from Jung, Keirsey and more, has written a book that aims to deconstruct who you like (or love), and why, based on your personality type.

-Dea

I haven’t read the book, or seen the 1987 movie that was also based on it.  But I’m probably going to watch the show, if only because I love Paul Gross – even if he’s playing bad boy Darryl Can Horne, instead of a mountie… Let’s see how well this novel translates to the year 2009.

-Dea

Generation Dead by Dan Waters

The Down Home Zombie Blues by Linnea Sinclair

Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

The Boy Who Couldn’t Die by William Sleator

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

Death of a Darklord by Laurell K. Hamilton

Patient Zero by John Maberry

Zombie Blondes by Brian James

Monster Planet by David Wellington

Mind you, I generally prefer my zombies in video games like Oblivion or Resident Evil … or even Fall Out Boy Trail s0 that I can shoot at them, so for hardcore zombie fans, your mileage with these books may vary.

-Dea

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth  Grahame-Smith

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” Or, more likely, it’s a universal truth that to make something fresh and cool these days, it doesn’t hurt to add some zombies. Not that I think P&P needed the help, but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to reading it. So, whoever took out our copy, pls bring it back soon. Thx.

Nevermore by Dan Whitehead

This book has collected Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous short stories and transformed them into a graphic novel anthology. You can re-experience classic horror tales like The Raven or The Tell-Tale Heart with fresh, modern settings and sensibilities and edgy illustrations.

BoA

This eponymously titled CD introduces popular Korean singer BoA to a U.S. audience, with new, all English, tracks. Her sound has been reinvented a little, sped up and synthesized into dance music, even though her Korean and Japanese albums have been mostly pop. Still, BoA’s main strength as an artist is her voice, and it definitely shines through.

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

Actress and novelist Carrie Fisher shows us a new side of herself in this memoir. To most people, Carrie Fisher begins and ends with Princess Leia, and her famous bun hairdo, but in this book, Carrie Fisher gives us the woman behind the image, with a series of hilarious and sometimes painful (and painfully honest) anecdotes about her life .

Family Ties

Family Ties is on DVD and at our library (or it would be if it wasn’t checked out). When I was growing up, if I missed an episode of Family Ties, I had to wait what was sometimes months for a rerun. But now it’s all in one place, and I’m guessing digitally remastered, etc. How cool is that?

Shambling Towards Hiroshima by James Morrow

While the first book on my list adds zombies to regency romance, this little novel combines WWII with… Godzilla, apparently.  The Navy has created a breed of giant, mutant, fire-breathing iguanas. But whether or not they’ll use them on the small island nation of Japan is up to a B-movie actor. If he and his rubber suit can demonstrate the potential threat and get the Japanese to surrender, there will be peace. If not? Iguana mayhem. (Note: I wouldn’t expect a lot of political or cultural sensitivity from this book, btw.)

Jesus, Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman

In this book, Bart Ehrman takes a good hard look at the New Testament. He isn’t reinterpretting the text either. Rather, he’s reinventing what we’re expecting from the text. Stripping apart historical influences and philosophies, Ehrman attempts to clear a path to the truth.

Want more? Check out the complete list of new items for May on our website.

-Dea

Longitude, by Dava Sobel

I never thought about how sailors found their way before longitude and latitude: really, they couldn’t tell east from west. This is the story of John Harrison, a clockmaker who figured it all out.

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, by Simon Winchester

If you’ve seen the OED, you know what an amazing accomplishment it is, and what an incredible amount of work went into it. Simon Winchester draws you into the story and keeps you there.

Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell

Sara Vowell, who also contributes to the This American Life radio show, is a historian who makes history fun. I love all of her books, but this one, about vacationing at all the places where presidents were killed, is my favorite.

Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangstas in the Public Library, by Don Borchert

The life and times of just your average local public library.

Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel

A sweet and quirky tale of a girl named Zippy growing up in a small American town.

Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations, by Georgina Howell

Gertrude Bell, diplomat, mapmaker, adventurer, spy (and more), was an amazing woman you don’t hear enough about.

Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, by Julie Powell

(soon to be a movie with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams)

This was funny, and a bit disgusting, and I can’t resist anyone who loves Buffy the Vampire Slayer
as much as I do.

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, by Sebastian Junger

It’s true that I’m partial, as I went to Gloucester High School and know one of the fishermen who died, but this is a gripping tale and he even makes the science part interesting.

Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants, by Robert Sullivan

Seriously, you don’t mess with rats.

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, by Mary Roach

The author also wrote a book, even more well-received, called Boink, about just what you think it’s about.

Whatever You Do Don’t Run: True Tales of Botswana Safari Guide, by Peter Allison

Hilarious, with good pictures, and if I didn’t already want to go to Botswana after reading The Number One Ladies Detective Agency, I do now!

-Ardis