I tore through these. On the one hand, they are typical YA coming-of-age stuff, complete with diaries and fights with parents and siblings and figuring out one's purpose in life and etc etc etc. On the other hand, they are extremely detailed survivalist-style post-apocalyptic fiction. The juxtaposition is weird, and pleasingly novel.
(118, 124, 126)
Dreamhunter and Dreamquake, by Elizabeth Knox
Beautiful Edwardian-in-an-imaginary-country (that still has access to the artifacts of Western culture) fantasy novels. The beginning is light and fun, and then things get darker and deeper in a most satisfying fashion. Tasty tasty tasty.
(119, O41; 120, O42)
Garden Spells, by Sarah Addison Allen
Romance and witchcraft and small town relationships. Decent company.
(121)
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer (ARC)
Cinderella in a cyberpunk-lite future with plagues and psychic Lunar kingdoms. Predictable in some ways, astonishing in others. Pretty strong anime flavor. If those things sound promising, you will like it as much as I did.
(122, A4)
The Ant King and Other Stories, by Benjamin Rosenbaum (nook, Creative Commons)
Frequently surreal, always eminently readable.
(123, O43)
Shift, by Rachel Vincent
Meh. I found the paranormal-romance trappings of this volume were clunkier than they had been earlier in the series, and so it was harder to immerse myself. If this had been the first book in the series instead of the penultimate one, I probably wouldn't have kept going.
(125)
The Big Woods Orchestra, by Guido van Genechten
Art is lovely, text is forgettable.
(127)
Outlaw Marriages, by Rodger Streitmatter (e-ARC)
The content of this one was very interesting indeed - about various long-term gay relationships where at least one partner was justly famous, and where their partnerhood was a major factor in the famous partner's success. The writing style was.. variable. Some of the chapters flowed very smoothly and others were dry? workmanlike? awkward? something along those lines. Still worth it, if you're interested in the topic.
(128, A5)
Fatal Voyage, by Kathy Reichs (reread)
It's been so long since I read this series (and I've watched several series of the only-slightly-related TV show in between), so I wanted to back up a bit and make sure I remembered what had already happened between various characters before I got back into it. My appetite has been whetted.
(129)
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Six, edited by Jonathan Strahan (e-ARC)
I liked the first half of this so much that when my e-ARC expired before I finished it, I requested that my public library buy a copy. I feel totally justified in doing so, too, because 1) the second half was also great, 2) there is a hold queue of other people who want to read it lined up behind me. Not a single clunker, lots of gems - and y'all know how fussy I am about short stories, too. Jonathan Strahan continues to rock my world.
(130, A6)