My Week in Books (Oct 2-8, 2011)

Oops, I meant to post this yesterday. Also, it looks like Blogger has disabled the Amazon widget permanently, for various reasons having to do with revenue and them not getting any from it. If I can remember how to paste in links manually, I will, so there will at least be pictures.

New Arrivals
No new books came into the house this week. I'm still working on my pile of library books from last week.

Currently Reading
All of the same books as last week, plus this one:

• The Search for the Red Dragon by James A. Owen (fiction)
  
  

Recently Finished

• Plain Kate by Erin Bow (fiction)
  
  I loved this book so much I hardly know what to say about it that isn't gushing. I picked it up because I liked the colours on the cover, and added it to my pile to sign out because I liked the mention of folklore and a craft (woodcarving) in the blurb on the flap. The description reminded me a little bit of Patricia McKillip's work. And after reading, McKillip is still the closest comparison I can think of, though Erin Bow definitely has a voice of her own, and it is lush and heartbreaking and lovely. Not so many things in fiction make me cry anymore, but Plain Kate had me in tears no fewer than three times. I read a lot, and this book is the best thing I've read all year. Maybe the best I've read in several years. I believe Bow just won an award for it, too, which is richly deserved. (One very, very tiny nitppick: horses don't have collarbones.). Just read this book. Please.
• Zombies vs Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (fiction)
  
  At first glance, it seems like a silly, though definitely fun, idea for an anthology. But every single story in this book is good. I picked it up because I love editor Holly Black's fiction, and it turns out she's a great editor (or co-editor), too. Though some stories are better than others--a couple of them were superb!--there's not a stinker in the bunch. Read this if you think either (or both) zombies and unicorns have been done to death in fiction.

And I discovered I had actually already read The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley-Archer, though I don't recall where or when. Rather than re-reading, I'll look for the sequel (I think there is one) next time I'm in the library.

So that's it till next week! What are you reading?