Bookin' It Reviews - #1

Master Houdini couldn't resist putting in his two whiskers worth of opinions for my latest book review. As you can see, he highly approves of my reading selections as a headrest for scholarly cats with creative leanings.

I also changed my book review post title. I got bored. It happens. *grins*

Here are three fantastic selections for all you bookworms out there.

1) A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli. The book is riveting. I read it so fast I couldn't believe it. This is a southern gothic novel -- very twisted. In the town of Kingdom Come, a backwards southern swampland with a habit towards floods of biblical proportions, live Thomas and his brothers, three conjoined triplets fond of deviant behavior with no qualms about hiding a dark family secret from Thomas. The cast of characters is as bizarre as the ones from the 90s hit T.V. drama, Twin Peaks. If you love weird, this one is for you. Superbly written and darkly damning, you can't miss it.

2) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness is the perfect way to celebrate the beginning of fall and the Halloween season. This novel is the first book in the All Souls Trilogy. The next is expected out in 2012. Deborah Harkness combines historical fact with fantastical fiction in this tale of a witch with an exceptional family lineage -- the Bishops of Salem witch trial fame. Diana Bishop is a scholar studying alchemy manuscripts at Oxford in England, when she meets a mysterious vampire, Matthew Clairmont. After researching an intriguing and long-lost alchemy manuscript with a spell attached to it, Diana alerts all the demons and vampires to its location. The manuscript supposedly holds the key to the origin of vampires and demons. Matthew Clairmont falls in love with the beautiful and bewitching Diana Bishop while protecting her from the supernatural forces hell-bent on getting the manuscript's location, but there is an ancient covenant the two have broken. Two different kinds of supernatural beings cannot be romantically involved. Now, fighting for their lives and the precious alchemical book, Diana and Matthew must face even greater supernatural forces than expected. This book is a delight and I cannot wait for the second. And never fear -- this is nothing like an Anne Rice novel. It's waaaay better.

3) Welcome to Bordertown: New Stories and Poems of the Borderlands, edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner, returns Bordertown fans to the urban fantasy setting they love. Carrying on the Bordertown tradition, authors such as Neil Gaiman, Patricia McKillip, Charles de Lint, Jane Yolen, and Emma Bull give you a whole new set of tales set in the city bordering our world and the world of the Fae. This book will not disappoint. It is as lovely as the original Bordertown tales and a real treat for urban fantasy lovers. All of the stories are great. It is hard for me to pick a favorite to mention here, but let's just say that there are spell-boxed motorcycles, talented Celtic musicians, Green Men, and more in  this collection guaranteed to satisfy. I highly recommend it.

As always, happy writing and happy reading!