"River
of Stars” by Guy Gavriel Kay. Awesome, of course. IIt left me
wandering around my office in my stupid-high heels thinking about foot binding.
This is the first one of his books where I’ve really noticed how much stuff
happens off-stage. It’s an epic the scope of which some people would take six
or ten books to tell. He manages to fit it into one volume -- an example of “if
I’d had more time I would have written it shorter.”
“Heartless”
by Gail Carriger. This was never going to show up just on the shelf at my local
library, so I requested it. I had a hard time getting started, possibly because
it had been so long since I’d read the previous ones. Once I got going, though,
what fun!
“Some
Kind of Fairy Tale” by Graham Joyce. It was mentioned so many
times in Locus, and reviewed in Salon. When I started reading, I was thinking it seemed kind of thin, and I couldn't see how it would sustain over a whole novel. However, the characters were fabulous, and the story moving back and forth in time. You never have to believe Tara for the story to work, and that's a great thing. This would be a good gateway fantasy novel.
“Tishomingo
Blues” by Elmore Leonard. When he died someone linked to Margaret
Atwood’s review of this. It reminded me of my dad’s writing style. I wonder if
that’s an age thing? Satisfying.