Review: Delilah Dirk & The Turkish Lieutenant
Delilah Dirk & the Turkish Lieutenant is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Tony Cliff. Our protagonist is actually the aforementioned Turkish lieutenant, a young man named Selim. Selim is a hapless lieutenant in the Sultan’s guard in Constantinople. His passion is the brewing and blending of tea, but it isn’t something for which he gets much respect.
One day, an intruder is apprehended in the Sultan’s palace. She says her name is Delilah Dirk and she lists off numerous accomplishments:
superior swordswoman
a member of three royal courts
skilled acrobat, lockpick, and escape artists
owner of a flying ship
She has traveled and trained all over the world. And she is here to “repatriate” some of the Sultan’s antique scrolls.
When Delilah inevitably escapes, the Agha blames Selim and orders his execution. Delilah saves him, thus thrusting him into her own life of adventure and intrigue.
This was a delightful read. Delilah is, as far as she can be trusted, a runaway English noblewoman turned adventuress. She’s very much a Regency-era Lara Croft, as far as I can tell. She reminds me a bit of Gail Simone’s version of Red Sonja too. She’s tough, irreverent, thoughtless, but also kind. She had nothing to gain by saving Selim, but she did it anyway. On the other hand, she’ll burn down a town’s only bridge as part of a getaway plan. She’s maybe not a great role model, but she is a great deal of fun.
Selim, on the other hand, is gentle. He isn’t, on the surface, cut out for a life of adventure and intrigue. But he is, if nothing else, a loyal friend.
The art is good, but it didn’t stand out as unusual to me. In a way, I’m glad of that. If I’d spent more time looking at the craft of the art I wouldn’t have had as much focus for the story. If you like adventure books I highly recommend this one.
More than you wanted to know about me
I’m participating in the Birmingham Art Crawl on November 6. They sent out a long questionere to all the artists and I thought it might be interesting to post my answers. So, here’s more than you ever wanted to know about me, as an artist.
- Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Sara and I make jewelry. Mostly I use fiber techniques like crochet or knitting with wire. I also work at a bookstore and an elementary school library. - Why do you do what you do?
I love making jewelry. I love to blend colors and textures to make wearable art. - How do you work?
I usually combine a mix of beads and gemstones into a bowl and look at it for a while. Then I start the actual crafting process. 
What’s your background?
I worked at a bead and jewelry store while I was in graduate school. I learned many of my techniques there and others I picked up here and there.- What’s integral to the work of an artist?
Passion. Art is often a hard and lonely pursuit, so you have to love it for the process. - What role does the artist have in society?
I think artists are our heart. Visual artists, wordsmiths, musicians, dancers… they all help to tap into our emotions and our inner selves. - What’s your favorite art work?
I love paintings, especially of complex or ethereal subjects. Kinuko Craft and Yoshitaka Amano are two of my favorite artists. They are both known for very intricate art, although in very different styles. Craft paints primarily in oils, doing very western-style fairy tale paintings, while Amano uses watercolors and guache in a much more Japanese style. - What’s your most embarrassing moment?
I met an author that I’m a big fan of a few years ago. It was an unexpected meeting, we were introduced by another author I already knew. All I could do was repeat, “Oh my god. You’re you. Oh my god.” It was terrible. (Yeah, that was Dan Wells) 
What jobs have you done other than being an artist?
I work at a bookstore and a library right now. I’ve also been a tour guide at Colonial Williamsburg.- Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?
I spend time with my friends and also in online communities like tumblr. There are a ton of artists there and it’s easy to become inspired or to commiserate if things aren’t going well. - What do you dislike about your work?
It’s never exactly the way I envisioned it. - What do you like about your work?
It makes people feel pretty or special. - Should art be funded?
Absolutely! Art is essential. Without art to challenge us, to comfort us, to direct us toward things we would rather not see or might not notice we will become stagnant. - What role does arts funding have?
Artists will create with very little, but freeing an artist from the concerns of finding the next meal or paying rent allows them to fully tap into their potential. And more art is always a benefit to society. 
What makes you angry?
Injustice and ignorance.- What superpower would you have and why?
I want Storm’s powers from the X-men. She has control over weather. She can fly, she can zap things with lightning. She’s awesome. Mostly, I’d love to be able to fly, but the ability to manipulate the weather would also be awesome. - Name something you love, and why.
Reading. It lets me dip into other lives, other times, other ideologies. - What is your dream project?
To design a suite of jewelry based off my favorite books. - What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Work harder. - Professionally, what’s your goal?
To be able to support myself with my art. - What wouldn’t you do without?
The internet. I use it for research, for networking, for keeping up with my friends, and just for entertainment.
Scary Books
It’s the spookiest time of year. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I thought I would take a little time to talk about scary books. I don’t actually read very much horror. I need a happy or relatively happy ending to make me ok at the end of a book, but every now and then, I like to read something that’s tense and disturbing. So, here are some of my favorite creepy books:
1. Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
Weaponized. Zombie. Virus.
If that doesn’t scare you then… I’m not sure. You’re a strange person. Jonathan is one of my favorite authors and I’ve gone on, and on, and on about his books, so I won’t give a full recap here. But the short version is that terrorists have figured out how to manipulate prion diseases to create a zombie virus. Joe Ledger and the Department of Military Sciences are the only thing standing between them and their goal of wiping the US off the map.
Maberry writes incredibly compelling action scenes and very good suspense. There is a scene inside an old refrigeration plant that haunts my nightmares.
He also has a few books that are too spooky for me to read: Ghost Road Blues is the first book in the Pine Deep series. Those are about five steps too far for me, but if you like supernatural horror I highly recommend them.
(Trigger Warning: violence against women and children (most of whom are zombies))
2. The John Cleaver Series by Dan Wells
I’d say especially book 2, Mr. Monster. You’re already on creepy ground since your protagonist has all the hallmarks of a serial killer. Only his own resolve not to give into that side of himself keeps him from tipping over the edge. So, you’re never exactly safe with him. Next, John is fighting (minor spoiler) demons. Demons who manifest as… serial killers. He hunts that which he might become, but in order to do that he has to tap into the dangerous side of himself. It’s a very narrow line.
In Mr. Monster the demon kidnaps and murders women. There are some very, very disturbing scenes with the women he has captive. Do not read this one before bed.
((Trigger Warning: violence against women, violence against an animal))
3. The Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
This book is actually not, in the strictest sense, speculative fiction. It could be considered a very minor alternate history, but I don’t think of it that way.
The book takes place during the reign of Henry II. Someone is murdering the children of Cambridge. The Jewish community has been blamed, as was often the case, and they have taken refuge in the Sheriff’s keep. While they are there no taxes are being collected from them, so Henry sends to the University of Salerno for a Master of the Art of Death, what would eventually become a pathologist.
Instead he gets Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar, a Mistress of the Art of Death. Adelia and her companions come to Cambridge where they must face off against a brutal madman. The writing is rich and wonderful, which makes the creepy and violent scenes that much more chilling.
((Trigger Warning: violence against children, violence against an animal))
What are your favorite creepy books?
Fountain Pens
When I heard Neil Gaiman speak last year in Nashville, he told us that he hand writes all his manuscripts. Further, he uses a different pen, with a different color of ink every day so that he can track his progress. (There is a small column by Neil about his pen usage partway down this article on the BBC News.) I find that idea very intriguing, although, I like the instant gratification of typing directly into a GoogleDoc that I can share with my collaborator or my beta reader. I hand write my journal and I hand write letters. So many letters.
I have just recently started to try out fountain pens of my own. I find that I feel much more important when I write with a fountain pen,even a very cheap one. Mary Robinette Kowal collects fountain pens and was kind enough to let me try out two of her’s while I was at the Writing Excuses Retreat. They were luscious. One of them had an italic nib and it made my usually terrible handwriting look much more elegant. It’s still terrible, mind you, but it’s better. (That’s not with Mary’s pen, by the way. It’s with the cheap one I bought last week.)
So, I thought I would talk briefly about the three fountain pens I do use. Two of them are incredibly cheap, but perfectly serviceable pens.
My first fountain pen:
The Pelikano Junior
This is about a $15 pen, depending on where you get it. It’s actually designed for children. It has a large, plastic barrel and a shaped finger grip so that you can’t hold it wrong. It has a medium-ish size nib, which actually feels very fat to me now that I’ve been using a fine nib for a while.
I lost my first Pelikano Jr. and replaced it immediately. For $15 it’s very sturdy. I’ve had my current Jr. for over a year now. Someone on twitter made fun of me a little for using a children’s pen, but I don’t really care. It works and it’s comfortable.
My second pen:
Whiskey Barrel Pen
This pen was actually started as a Kickstarter project, although I got mine at the Magic City Art Connection earlier this year. The pen barrels are turned out of decommissioned whiskey barrels, either Jack Daniels or Maker’s Mark. I think mine was Maker’s Mark, but I lost the card that told me for sure.
This is the pen I used the most often. It feels good in my hand and has a fine nib, which I prefer. If I could write any thinner I would. The only downside is that the pen is quite heavy if you post the cap (putting it on the back of the pen while you write.) So, I tend to leave the cap off, which means I sometimes knock it off my writing surface. Not a tragedy.
My Newest Pen
The Pilot Plumix
This is a cheap pen. It looks cheap and it feels cheap. But, it has an italic nib and it writes smoothly. I wasn’t quite ready to invest in a very fancy pen. The Whiskey Barrel Pen is my most expensive writing implement to date and it was under $100, which isn’t bad for a fountain pen. The Plumix is $7.25. That’s a price at which I don’t feel bad conducting an experiment. I just got the pen yesterday, so I haven’t had much time to try it out, but I did write a letter immediately and it had a very nice flow. It’s thin, which is a it odd after using the wooden pen for so long, which is almost as thick as a fat marker. It’s also very light. It’s a bit hard to remember I’m actually using a fountain pen.
In case you’re interested in that sort of thing, I use cartridges in all my pens. I’ve found that I absolutely cannot fill a converter without making a giant mess. Maybe someday. I will use a syringe to refill an empty cartridge with bottled ink so that I can get some more variety in colors. So far, I’ve only used Noodler’s Ink and found it quite nice. I prefer a waterproof ink, especially since I send so much mail. I don’t want to risk the address being obliterated before the letter can arrive at its destination. Sadly, most of the inks I’ve found in cartridges aren’t waterproof, but that’s where the syringe method comes in handy.
If you happen to be in the Chicago area, the Letter Writer’s Alliance often has workshops at GREER. They just had one on fountain pens. It looked like a ton of fun!
Star Wars Reads Day 2014
I ran the Star Wars Reads Day event at the Homewood Library today. It’s the second year I’ve run the event and it was pretty great. We had a ton of kids as well as five volunteers from the Alabama Garrison of the 501st Legion.
If you don’t know who the 501st are please let me enlighten you.
The 501st Legion is a costuming group which makes screen accurate Star Wars costumes and then wears them for charity. They’re about as awesome as awesome can be. The 501st specializes in costumes from the dark side of the force; the sith, the imperial officers, the bounty hunters, the clone troopers, and the stormtroopers. For those on the light side of the force there is the 501st’s sister organization, the Rebel Legion.
We started things up at 1:00 and ran until 4:30. The folks from the 501st were amazing and the librarians were also fantastic. I’m so grateful to them for letting us take over their auditorium with craziness. We had a ton of giveaways, including my giant Jabba the Hutt pillow from Bonnie Burton’s Star Wars Craft Book. He was very much in demand.
We drew tickets every half hour or so and gave away about 22 prizes.
We also had craft activities. We made origami Yodas from Tom Angleberger’s Origami Yoda series. We also made Admiral Sackbar puppets, also from Bonnie’s book.
Honestly though, I was not the big draw. It was all about the costumed folks. We had two scout troopers, a Tusken raider, an imperial officer, Princess Leia, and Obi Wan Kenobi. They were such troopers. They took pictures with the kids all day. I’m already looking forward to next year!
a scout trooper reminding us about the library rules
Tiny Darth Vader is adorable!
I think that scout trooper is stealing my Jabba!
Arts education in the Empire
Princess Leia reading about a scruffy nerf herder
Review: In Real Life by Cory Doctrow & Jen Wang
This is going to be pretty much spoiler-filled because it’s difficult to talk about a graphic novel without getting into the plot. So, if you want the quick version:
IRL is a graphic novel about a young girl who gets involved with an MMORPG and discovers that life is much more complicated than she expected. The book has some nice feminist themes, and a message about thinking about the consequences of your actions.
The art is lovely. I really want to check out Jen Wang’s other book, Koko Be Good.
More complicated, spoilery version:
In Real Life is a graphic novel by Cory Doctrow and Jen Wang. It’s about several different things.
On the surface, it’s about a girl named Anda who starts playing an MMO. The guild Anda joins is women only, which is interesting. The guild leader comes to her school and gives a rousing speech about showing that girls can be kick-ass and awesome gamers. Anda sells her mom on the game by comparing it to a team sport. It’s supposed to help build her self-confidence.
Once in the game, Anda teams up with another player named Lucy to take down gold farmers, players who gather resources and then sell them to other players for cash. However, when Anda actually talks to one of the gold farmers she discovers that the situation is much more complicated.
Most of the gold farmers she’s attacking are Chinese workers who support themselves and their families by gold farming. They aren’t exploiting the system to get rich, they’re just trying to make a living.
Ronald, the gold farmer Anda befriends, has an injury from a previous factory job. Anda encourages him to try to organize a protest in order to get medical care for all the workers. Ronald gets fired and Anda feels terrible. Some of the other gold farmers tell her to leave them alone, she’s already done enough damage.
Anda manages to talk to one of Raymond’s coworkers and things end up working out in a fairy tale ending.
I enjoyed the book and I’ll be taking it to the library for my kids to read as well. If you’re interested, i09 has a beautiful book trailer up: here.
Now, the disection. It’s not a perfect book. Some of the things that go wrong are, I think, meant to point out problems both with Anda’s mindset and with our culture. And some of that works better than the rest.
Anda dives in and tries to help Raymond, but ends up getting him fired. So, there’s also an element of are you actually helping? There is a naive assumption that just because we have good intentions that we are actually improving things we stick our noses into. There have been articles for years on the dangers of volunteer holidays; taking jobs away from local workers, wasting already scarce resources, and undermining local development. Encouraging workers to organize in a communist country is also dangerous. The road to hell is often paved with good intentions, but when you’re on the other end of an internet connection you’re probably not the one who is going to face that hell.
Things work out in the end for Raymond, but that’s not always going to be the case.
This set up also reeks of the “white savior” coming in to help the oppressed Chinese boy. The Book Smugglers has a great review that talks about all of this, so I’m not going to retread the same ground.
The feminist message is present, but not really much of a feature. Anda’s guild is all women and the founder of the guild says she was one of the first women in gaming. And it’s pretty much left there. Anda doesn’t take any flack from anyone either in real life or in the game for being a female gamer. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be proof that things are better now, or if there just wasn’t room in the story to tackle that sort of bullying.
There’s a strong anti-bullying message, which I liked. Anda thinks she’s standing up for people, but she accidentally finds herself in the position of a bully both in the game and IRL. She makes an effort to change and that’s really great.
Cory Doctrow’s introduction is worth reading even without the attached graphic novel. It’s about economics and social organizing. The internet has created a wealth of opportunities to connect with people and organize for social change. It’s thoughtful and interesting.
He also had a quote that struck me:
Most of the people you see going to work today are LARPing (live-action role playing) an incredibly boring RPG (role-playing game) called “professionalism” that requires them to alter their vocabulary, posture, eating habits, facial expressions – every detail all the way down to what they allow themselves to find funny.
Maybe it’s because I’m a gamer or maybe it’s because I find real life hard to cope with, but the notion that it’s a really boring RPG is actually comforting to me. So, I’ve written a blog entry today. How many experience points is that worth?
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell Chapters 1-4
Recap: I am reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell for the first time along with Kate Nepveu’s re-read over on Tor.com. I’ll be keeping up with her reading schedule, which can be found here, and posting my thoughts on Friday just as she does. I may do a quick reaction/discussion on Saturday along with my regular blog post.
I’m not going to do a line by line read the way I did with The Hunger Games. I don’t feel like that would be particularly interesting to my readers. (Feel free to disagree with me and I’ll take that into consideration.)
If Mary Robinette Kowal is channeling Jane Austen into her Regency fantasy novels, I feel like Susanna Clarke is tapping into Charles Dickens. Although, JS&MN is very much set in the Regency, complete with rumblings about France in the background, it does not yet feel very Regency. Which, probably comes about because the majority of my experience with Regency novels comes from Jane Austen.
I am much more acquainted with the ladies’ view of things than then gentleman scholars’.
As of the end of Chapter 4, Jonathan Strange has not yet come onto the scene. Mr. Norrell has, however, and he is not a prepossessing figure. He is, nominally, England’s only practical magician, but he seems to take a malicious delight in forcing the York Society of magicians to disband.
Chapter 4 provides a slightly more sympathetic interlude as Mr. Norrell finds himself adrift in the sea of the London social scene. I do not know if his discomfort at Mrs. Godesdone’s party is enough to forgive his snubbing Mr. Honeyfoot in the earlier chapters, though.
I am also very curious to see if Mr. Segundus will reappear. He is our protagonist in chapters one through three, but then we leave him alone, the last magician in York, and pick up in London with Mr. Norrell. I hope we see more of Mr. Segundus. I’m very curious to know if he and one of the attractive Misses Honeyfoot make a go of it. Or how his solitary studies go. I will admit that I’m not entirely sure how he could come back into the story, but I hold out hope.
I’m only four chapters in, so I’ve just started to get a taste of the book. I quite like Clarke’s writing style, although I’m not positive about using contemporary spelling. I don’t mind it, but I notice it every time and my brain takes that extra second to think, “oh, hey! Nifty!” instead of just rolling through to the next plot point. I have 800 or so pages to go though, so we’ll see if I continue to notice by the end.
It reminds me of The Night Circus and I’m sure that it was an influence on that book. I’ve read them out of order, so I’m seeing things that remind me of the younger book rather than seeing JS&MN‘s influence in The Night Circus. (As an aside, there are a surprisingly large number of books which involve a magical circus.)
I’m definitely interested in seeing where the book goes next. I’ll be back Friday with my thoughts on chapters 5 – 10.
Podcasts
Since I was lucky enough to be a special guest on the Writing Excuses podcast this weekend I’ve been thinking about the podcasts I listen to, many of which are book related. So, I thought I would share those today and also ask if you have any podcasts you love to listen to.
Writing Excuses
Obviously, I listen to this podcast. I’ve talked about it fairly extensively since I just got back from the Writing Excuses Retreat. This is a writing advice podcast with the tagline, “Fifteen minutes long, because you’re in a hurry and we’re not that smart.”
They are that smart, actually. Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells talk about writing advice, recommend a book of the week, and give you a writing prompt all in fifteen minutes. It’s well worth the listen if you’re a writer, and I’d recommend perusing the Book of the Week lists even if you aren’t a writer. These are some amazing minds in speculative fiction giving you book recommendations every week. That alone is worth the price of admission.
SF Squeecast
The tagline for this show is, “a podcast in which a group of Science Fiction and Fantasy professionals squee about things SFnal, in a neverending panel discussion of vague positivity.”
The panelists are Lynn Thomas, Elizabeth Bear, Cat Valente, Seanan McGuire, Paul Cornell, and sometimes Michael Dean Thomas.
In years past the “vague positivity” portion of the tagline was at the forefront. The panelists and any special guests they might have would bring a thing of genre to squee about. I found so many things that make me happy this way. Mockingbird Lane, Atomic Robo, Alex Bledsoe’s The Hum and the Shiver. So. Many. Things!
The current format is more, “never-ending panel discussion.” Recent discussions have focused on Hugo nominations, expectations, The Long Discussion, and writing series. If you are familiar with this podcast already, great! If not, I recommend starting at the beginning as every single episode is worth your time and you can find some amazing treasures you’ve never heard of.
Tea and Jeopardy
It’s a podcast with a butler! And I LOVE a butler. His name is Latimer. He is most excellent. The actual hostess is Emma Newman, who is delightful and an author of no small talent.
“There’s always time for a nice cup of tea and a spot of mild peril.”
Every fortnight Emma takes tea in a secret tea lair with a guest. They discuss abject geekery, endure mild peril, and enjoy a cheeky bit of cake.
Her most recent guest was the incomparable Gail Carriger. She has also had Seanan McGuire and Mary Robinette Kowal, which goes to show she has very good taste.
The discussion is general, but often revolves around literature although gaming, the Anti-Cake League, and singing chickens are also fair game.
Sword and Laser
Sword and Laser is a podcast/book club/youtube show that discusses fantasy and science fiction in media. There is a monthly book pick which is discussed. Authors frequently appear for interviews. But the show also rounds up news about movies, tv shows, sometimes video games, and general science. There is a huge goodreads group you can join as well.
The hosts are Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont. Veronica is more the sword and Tom is more the laser. The dynamic between the hosts is good and the show is always entertaining even if I haven’t read the book they’re discussing. They do the book club discussion during the back half of the show, so it is very easy to skip if you aren’t finished with or just not interested in that month’s book pick.
What podcasts do you listen to? Is there something I should absolutely be picking up?
Jonathan Strange and Tor.com
Kate Nepveu is starting a reread of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell over on Tor.com. I have never read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, although I quite like typing it.
I cannot explain my unusual laxness in allowing this book to slip past my view. I love Regency fantasy. It is Regency fantasy. And yet…
And yet I just never got around to picking it up. Perhaps the cover? It doesn’t exactly fill one with awe.
Perhaps I just never had a good reason. Whatever the case, I have been remiss and I intend to correct that now.
So, I shall start the reread along with Ms. Nepveu.
The schedule is as follows:
Volume I
1. October 10, 2014: chapters 1 to 4
2. October 17, 2014: chapters 5 to 10
3. October 24, 2014: chapters 11 to 16
4. October 31, 2014: chapters 17 to 22
Volume II
5. November 7, 2014: chapters 23 to 26
6. November 14, 2014: chapters 27 to 30
7. November 21, 2014: chapters 31 to 34
(Break for U.S. Thanksgiving)
8. December 5, 2014: chapters 35 to 39
9. December 12, 2014: chapters 40 to 44
Volume III
10. December 19, 2014: chapters 45 to 49
(Break for The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, Christmas, New Year’s)
11. January 9, 2015: chapters 50 to 54
12. January 16, 2015: chapters 55 to 59
13. January 23, 2015: chapters 60 to 64
14. January 30, 2015: chapters 65 to 69
I will be posting my own thoughts on the chapters on the same schedule as the Tor.com discussion. Are any of you planning to read along? If you’ve already read the book I’d love to hear your opinions about it.
My McKay’s Haul
As I said yesterday, while I was in Chattanooga I made two trips to McKay’s, the giant used bookstore on the hill. It was actually only two blocks from my hotel, so it is a very good thing that the podcasters kept us on campus as much as they did or I would not have been able to fit my suitcase into my car at the end of the trip.
As things stand, I was very restrained. Sort of. I actually came out of the trip with two big boxes of books, one for each time I went into the store. The totals were both around $120.
BUT! Most of those books were for the library at Creative Montessori. I actually only bought ten books for myself. Ten books! That’s practically nothing! (Yes, I work at a bookstore so it’s silly for me to buy books when I’m out. Shut up.)
So, here is what I got:
The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross
This is the third book in the Laundry Files. Bob Howard is an employee of the Laundry, a secret organization that tries, and usually succeeds, in keeping England and the rest of the world safe from supernatural peril. Most employees of the laundry get drafted after they play a little too much with things better left unwoken. Cross that line and the Laundry comes for you. Recruitment really is the better option. We promise.
Bob is taking a bit of a break from fieldwork when his boss goes missing along with a top secret file called, you guessed it, the Fuller Memorandum. Bob, being the uncontrollably curious person that he is, decides it is vital for him to know what the memorandum contains. This is a bad idea.
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
I have never read this and it is, possibly, the very first piece of urban fantasy. It was published in 1987 and has helped to define a genre. And for some reason, I’ve just never picked it up.
Eddia McCandry, a down on her luck rock singer, is drafted into a war between factions of the faerie folk. This is not how she was planning to spend her evening.
Trenches by Scott Mills
Trenches takes place during WWI, which is what caught my eye. I don’t actually know Scott Mills, but the art looked beautiful and I’m a sucker for anything WWI-related.
Trenches follows two brothers, Lloyd and David Allenby as they fight on the Western Front. The two brothers struggle through the war, but also with their own relationship as the war grinds on.
Stitches in Time by Barbara Michaels
This is actually a book I have multiple copies of already, but Barbara Michaels (also wrote under Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Mertz) is one of those authors I pick up every time I see her books.
Stitches in Time takes place at a Georgetown shop specializing in vintage clothing and linens. Rachel Grant is working one day when a bag containing an antique bridal quilt is dropped off. Rachel is immediately drawn to the quilt. She has always been fascinated by the idea that women worked magic into their handicrafts, but this quilt seems to be much darker than anything she has ever before encountered. The quilt begins to influence her as the spirit of its creator wakes up and seeks a revenge more than a hundred years in the making.
Alien Research by Gini Koch
This is the eighth book in the Katherine “Kitty” Katt series. I’ve talked before about how much I love these books. They’re a little bit romance novel, a little bit sci-fi, and a hell of a lot of fun. This was a no-brainer when I saw it on the shelf.
Kitty and her alien husband Jeff (minor spoilers for the first book) are on the trail of a new super-drug that has ties back to their enemies. The mad scientist behind the new drug seems to be using all of the aliens as guinea pigs toward some unknown, but probably terrible end. Kitty, Jeff, and the rest of the crew have to try to stop him before everything goes to hell. Again.
The Magicians & Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett
It’s Regency fantasy. This is a genre for which I have an abiding love. I thought I’d give it a try.
I don’t quite have a handle on what this book is actually about, but Regency! Danger! Ladies! seems good enough for me to give it a look. I’ll report back as I find out more.
A bunch of Georgette Heyer! I’m not going to give a synopsis of each one, but I picked up the following:
I also picked up another copy of Feed by Mira Grant. This was purely so that I could recommend it to someone and then immediately hand them a copy. And, lo and behold, I got to hand it to one of my fellow retreat-ateers before I left on Sunday. From all reports, his daughter snagged it and carried it off to read, so I feel good about my purchase.
I’m very seriously considering having Feed be my All Hallow’s Read book this year. I’m not positive yet though.
Are you participating in All Hallow’s Read? If so, what book are you planning to give away?
Medusa's Library 