"The truth is that there's more book reviewing available to the average reader now than at any point in decades." *

Marvel 1602- Neil Gaiman; Andy Kubert; Richard Isanove.
I love Gaiman. I love him even more now. This comic – excuse me, graphic novel - is for all the Elizabethan scholars out there; definitely even more enjoyable if you have the slightest inkling about superheroes, including my favorite bunch of mutants, the X-Men. I gobbled it down in one night, like a giant bowl of delicious ice cream, and then handed it off to my superhero-conversant husband who is currently loving it as well.

Summer Reading – Hilma Wolitzer.
I whipped through this book in an evening. I didn’t care in the least for the character of Angela, the bookish, academic spinster who leads the book group in the novel; I found her wishy-washy and annoying. Lissy, the rich and spoiled young trophy wife summering at her estate in the Hamptons, was all right, if not really developed at all; there could have been much more there if Woliitzer had chosen to expand on it. (The casual toss-off plotline regarding Lissy’s beloved nanny was disappointing, there was so much more to delve into there, and I would have liked to see Wolitzer do so.) But I really grew to like and very much enjoyed the development of Michelle, Lissy’s locally-born and -bred housecleaner; she was down-to-earth and practical and had unplumbed depths which were actually revealed and allowed to grow. I liked her determination and spunk, I liked how she came to terms with how she chose to live her life.
I would like to be friends with her.

Farthing – Jo Walton.
Very much in the style of Dorothy Sayers, or maybe even Josephine Tey. Not really much of a mystery to the book (if you are looking for clues and brilliant detective work, this isn’t where you’ll find it), so much as an exploration of characters, stereotypes, and what can happen in the world when you’re not paying attention – a good lesson to be had, in the form of an engrossing, enjoyable novel, for all the Americans who have stuck their heads in the sand and are ignoring our present political idiocies and the upcoming elections. I am looking forward to the sequel, Ha’penny.

Still working on Messenger of Truth - know from experience this will take a while, however enjoyable; The Street of a Thousand Blossoms - am downright loving this, cannot possibly fathom it tanking in the last two hundred pages.

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*Blogger Alex Massie, writing on The Debatable Land