February, part 2

12. The Man In the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
Very cerebral and kind of a downer, but since I've read Philip K. Dick before I kind of knew what to expect.  This book showcases pretty excellently how Dick excels at world-building; not only is his alternate reality where the U.S. lost World War II fully realized, but so is the alternate-alternate reality of the book-within-a-book, where the U.S. won the war (but not with the fallout we're familiar with).  And if that made sense to you, you should probably read this book.

13. White Cat, Holly Black
Holly Black is super fun - way darker and grittier than Melissa Marr, while still maintaining that thread of wish fulfillment that's kind of the hallmark of supernatural YA.  I found this one a little predictable, but still quite exciting; in this particular fantasy world, certain people have natural abilities to work magic on others (called "curse workers," or just "workers") and they come in different flavors - some can work luck, some emotion, some death, and so on.  Cassel, the main character, comes from an entirely worker family - except for him.  There's mobsters, con artists, and assassins, and the whole thing is pretty delightful.  (Except it's written in present tense, RAWR.  At least this one is first person.)

14.  The Reapers, John Connolly
I like John Connolly a whole lot.  He writes mostly crime noir, about a private detective named Charlie Parker (the first Parker book is Dark Hollow - I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone who likes crime fiction or gritty supernatural stuff); his stories are typically gripping and suspenseful, he has a nice subtle supernatural element, and his side characters are entertaining and rich.  But I had trouble with this one.  It focuses on Parker's two most notorious cohorts, Angel and Louis, who typically provide a nice dose of banter while being ruthless killers.  Having a whole book focused on them (mostly on Louis, the professional assassin) might be too much of a good thing.

February, part 1

9.  Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett
Can't stop, won't stop.  Tiffany Aching is one of Pratchett's most likable characters and I'm going to be sad when I've finished everything that he's put out about her.

10.  The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi
This is a good book that I ultimately didn't care for.  Part of the issue is how nihilistic it is - and if I'd known that going in, I would have been better prepared for it.  It's pretty seriously depressing, which in and of itself isn't a deal breaker for me - but that combined with other elements that didn't work for me (3rd person, present tense narration, a seriously chaotic prose style) added up to a final product I wasn't crazy about.  It's a seriously dystopian story about the dying days of a city, and there's a lot to like here (if Bacigalupi had introduced his epidemic subplot sooner I would have been more on board, I do love a good disease story) but it wasn't for me.

11.  The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor
This was a whole lot of MEH.  It's kind of an interesting concept - a retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story, where Alice (or Alyss) is a princess of Wonderland and heir to the throne, ousted by her evil aunt Redd and escaped into our world for a time.  The second half involves Alyss returning to Wonderland to lead a rebel army against Redd and reclaim her throne in the name of White (good, as opposed to the evil Black) Imagination.  But the writing is not good, you guys.  All the exciting moments, of which there are many: assassination attempts, chase scenes, epic battles; they all fall flat due to a lack of description.  Apparently this is the first book of a trilogy, but I won't be reading the others.