fantasy/romance crossovers

Star of the Morning by Lynn Kurland was my first book of 2007. Kurland is mostly a writer of romance novels; however, she wrote a wonderful fantasy novella called "A Tale of Two Swords," published in the fantasy/romance crossover To Weave a Web of Magic. (I never reviewed that book here, because I couldn't finish the last novella to save my life. Dull as ditchwater, even though the other three were great.) Star of the Morning is set in the same country, some generations later. I liked it a lot, although I'll warn you now, it does have a cliffhanger ending. I didn't like that, although I do like the implication of sequels. Four stars - really hard to put down, and quite original.

Enchanted, Inc by Shanna Swendson is half urban fantasy, half chicklit. Anyone who likes both of those genres would probably like it. Yup, it had some cliches in it, but it was funny and fast-paced. Also, the heroine doesn't do incredibly stupid things, which wins points in my book. Three stars, and I'm definitely going to read the two sequels.

Going back to the library: At All Costs by David Weber, the length of which I still find incredibly intimidating, and The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson, the cover of which just put me off. If I ever try to read the latter again, maybe I'll put a brown paper bag over it.

a more general post on books

So, I'm not planning to keep track of how many books I've read as I go through the year, this time. I realized about halfway through 2006 that it takes a lot less time just to count them up at the end. I just stopped, didn't say anything about it, and waited to see if anyone would comment. Nobody did, so I guess it's not that important to all of you, either.

As a reminder, and for anyone new to my journal, here's how my star system works:

* No redeeming qualities.
** Redeeming qualities somewhat overshadowed by flaws.
*** Okay book, probably won't read it again. Either average in every way, or has great things and crappy things about it.
**** I would read it over and over. Or, a really amazing book with at least one serious problem.
***** I feel that it changed my understanding of life or my outlook on the world. Or, I feel it could change the genre, or could change the world if it got the right kind of attention. If there are flaws, they don't detract from the awesomeness.

Generally, I don't finish books that I would only give one star to. I am a follower of the Nancy Pearl fifty page doctrine, which suggests that if you've gotten through fifty pages and you haven't found anything that makes you want to keep reading, you should put it down. I never used to do this, but now there are just so many books out there that I don't feel I should waste my time on books I hate.

Finally, and unrelatedly, I am a member of paperbackswap.com. If you haven't encountered this website, the central idea is this: you post up a list of books that you would like to swap. People who want them request them. Every time someone gets one of your books, you get a credit to get a book from someone else. You also get an initial three credits for listing nine books. Everyone sending pays for shipping, everyone receives for free. I've been a member for a while, but only just started using the site. It seems like it's going to work out well. Kind of like the book swaps we do, only in a way that is more ongoing than "all at once." Give it a try. It makes me want to read more of the books on my bookshelf which have just been sitting there for months or even years, which is neat. Go go gadget barter!