Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Centuries ago, when magic still existed in England, the greatest magician of them all was the Raven King. A human child brought up by fairies, the Raven King blended fairy wisdom and human reason to create English magic. Now, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, he is barely more than a legend, and England, with its mad King and its dashing poets, no longer believes in practical magic.

Then the reclusive Mr Norrell of Hurtfew Abbey appears and causes the statues of York Cathedral to speak and move. News spreads of the return of magic to England and, persuaded that he must help the government in the war against Napoleon, Mr Norrell goes to London. There he meets a brilliant young magician and takes him as a pupil. Jonathan Strange is charming, rich and arrogant. Together, they dazzle the country with their feats.

A fascinating story but I could not read it. About half way through the story I just gave up. It has pages and pages of footnotes and the storyline has many threads. I gave it another chance when I listened to it on tape. What a difference. It was delightful for me this way. I could sit back and enjoy being read to and not try to figure out how the footnotes worked. So I would recommened listening to the book rather than trying to read it.

Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo

Midnight for Charlie Bone
The fabulous powers of the Red King were passed down through his descendants, after turning up quite unexpectedly, in someone who had no idea where they came from. Charlie Bone's life with his widowed mother and two grandmothers undergoes a dramatic change when he discovers that he can hear people in photographs talking. When Charlie Bone is sent to the Bloor's Academy he discovers that he is not alone in his talents. But not everyone is out for good. We meet Charlie and his new friends as he discovers more about the Red King and the battle that is waging between good and evil.

Fun series rather like HP but has it's own flavor. It has an interesting story and I especially like the fire cats.

Charlie Bone and the Twister

Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy

Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors

Summer of Love by Debbie Drechsler
Or see her other artwork at: http://www.sonic.net/~debdrex/

In Summer of Love, we meet Lily Maier, age thirteen, just moved into a "stupid," "ugly" house that looks like all the others. With a mostly absent father and a mother with two small children to watch, Lily has little to do with her family short of getting into near-comical spats with her slightly younger sister. "Summer of Love" moves along as Lily navigates new friends and new feelings of love while trying not be outcast or gain a bad reputation.

Drawn originally as a 5 part series called Nowhere this has been put together as a interesting graphic novel of first experiences. It is painful yet endearing to watch Lily as she tries to fit in and yet have her own voice. The drawings are not in black and white but rather green and brown kind of like pistachio ice cream.

Daisy Kutter: The Last Train by Kazu Kibuishi

Daisy Kutter is a notorious gunslinger decides to call it quits, settles down and gets busy living a legit (in other words, boring) life. Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances and the persistent exhortations from other individuals force the gunslinger to perform “one last job.” does just that.

Instead of being gruff, grizzled and squinty-eyed, the retired gunslinger in this story is a gruff, “girl with the curl” (quite literally), carrying a shotgun whose length and power really qualify it as portable artillery. Instead of enjoying the charms of a virtuous town school teacher, Daisy Kutter has to suffer the unwanted romantic determination of her ex-partner-in-crime Tom, who’s turned his life around and become the town sheriff. His square personality is emphasized by his squarely-drawn head. Instead of being situated in 19th century Tombstone, Arizona or Deadwood, South Dakota, Daisy Kutter takes place in some unspecified time and place, where telephones, radios, security guard robots, holographic machines and enormous Mechanized battle armor occupy the expected wide-open Western genre vistas, saloons, general stores and gambling halls.

What is amazing to me is how much is expressed with so few words. Rather it is her expression or how things are reflected around her that portray her thoughts and emotions. This is truely an amazing comic or graphic novel whatever you want to call it. I think I enjoyed it so much because it had it's own flair with combining the Western & Sci Fi.

Cece Caruso Mysteries by Susan Kandel

I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason
Mystery author, biographer, and nosy former beauty queen Cece Caruso interviews a prison inmate for her latest book only to find herself embroiled in a double murder case with forty-year-old ties. Cece is writing a biography on Erle Stanley Gardner and while going through some files she finds a letter that sparks her interest. A self appointed bloodhound but will take breaks to purchase and try on vintage clothing, Cece travels between LA and Ventura County to find the scoop. But will she loose her life in the meantime?

Interesting story. The last half of the book was more interesting than the beginning for me. So I will try the sequel to see if it gets better. Lots of interesting characters and I learned a lot about ESG.

Not a Girl Detective
Having idolized Nancy Drew throughout her childhood, mystery writer biographer Cece Caruso meets a collector of early edition Nancy Drew mysteries and attends a fan convention, but when a patron is discovered dead, she must identify the killer to keep from becoming the next victim.

Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley
Trent is asked to give a corespondence regarding a much publized murder case for the paper he writes for. When a close personal friend asks him to do a favor by assising the local police in this matter he decides to see for himself what is so special about this case. He discovers a mass of confusing clues that do not even lead to the correct conclusion as this clever plot, contains not one but two solutions to the crime. This novel is also known as being the start of the modern mystery novel. Dorothy L. Sayers writes the introducation.

Wow, was this book interesting. Well writen and several red hearings. I never did figure it out plus with the dual solutions I never would have.