Opera A to Z - Liddy Lindsay

Synopsis:

Opera A to Z: A Beginner’s Guide to Opera is an overview of the most famous operas and opera characters of all time; one for each letter of the alphabet. The book was written with children ages eight to twelve in mind, but it is sure to delight young and old alike with its engaging summaries of twenty-six renowned operas. The book is based on a 27 x 40 watercolor that took author and illustrator Liddy Lindsay two years to complete and has become a bestseller as notecards and Giclée prints at The Met Opera Shop in New York.

Type: Ebook

Pg: 60 Pages

Genre: Non-Fic (Encyclopedia)

ISBN 0985424834

Published March 1st 2013 by Pinwheel Books

Received copy through NetGalley

This short, but super sweet, collection of information on opera blew me away. As a child, I was the only person in my family remotely interested in singing, let alone singing in a different language. At 17 I began my first voice lessons in opera and now at 23 I'm proud to say I can sing in six different languages and can Habanera with the best of them (the HARDEST song I ever had to learn, not a fan of French)

This is what I needed as a kid. Yes, I know encyclopedias seem played out now that we have google and wikipedia but this small compilation is perfect for anyone willing to really learn about opera. Not only does it have vivid and beautiful paintings inside, it also gives a glimpse at major composers and detailed definitions of what constitutes an opera. 

The only thing that I really think would add to this (strictly as an opera singer) is the type of voices that originally sang the parts the way that the composers intended. Even if it's just two characters one being Coloratura and the other being a baritone. I've always found the voice type really adds dimensions to the characters and it would give me something to hear as I'm reading  it. 

But the intention of Opera A to Z is a beginners guide. Again, I wish that my parents had had the forethought to get me something similar as a child instead of looking at me like I was a strange alien whenver I wandered around singing Addio Del Passato but what can you do. 

This really is the book to get if you have any interest in opera or your curious about some of the greatest plots ever  performed on stage. I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

What Time Devours - A.J. Hartley

Synopsis:

"Thomas Knight, the protagonist from On the Fifth Day, returns and is faced with a centuries-old mystery surrounding a long-lost and now priceless Shakespearean play. To find it, Thomas will have to enter a story which drags loss and death after it like one of Shakespeare's tragedies, a story bound to time and all it devours."

Paperback

416 pages

Genre: Thriller

ISBN: 0425226239

Published January 6th 2009 by Berkley

Bought from a local used bookstore off the dollar shelves.

This book has everything that my inner Lit geeks loves smashed together into one novel. You've got death and a protagonist on his own and stumbling around on his own trying to solve this giant mystery about the infamous Shakespeare play, "Love Labours Won".

My deep love and appreciation for thrillers is well known. The Bourne Identity and the Girl with The Dragon Tattoo being two of my favorites in this aspect, I feel like this falls flat next to even the good ones in the genre. 

What Time Devours starts with the basic "holy crap" beginning, here we witnessed the protagonist, Thomas, freaking out about the dead lady's face mushed against his kitchen window. Well shit, that's crazy. We then go jumping through hoops to discover why his name was clutched in her clammy dead fingers. 

The one thing that this book really let me down in was character development. I didn't KNOW Thomas. I didn't FEEL Thomas. Hartley throws characters at us and then kills them off just as quickly but in order to actually be affected by their deaths we have to feel a connection with them, And we don't. 

What Time Devours would've been a great escape if it hadn't been for the last 40 pages. I have a hard time buying out of control plot twists when they just pile up one after another. Especially when it kills the entire build up you've spent 350 pages creating. 

The fact that Thomas had to explain what happened in detail just adds to the mess that this became. My overall rating is going to be 2 out of 5 stars.

I will add that this is a part of a series but after that showing I won't be reading it from the beginning. If you have to buy it check your local used bookstore section.