Kaleidoscope by Dorothy Gilman

Kaleidoscope is the second Madame Karitska book, sequel to The Clairvoyant Countess. In each book, Madame Karitska tries to help bother her clients and the police, while dealing with poverty, modern cultural standards, and being poor. This is more like a series of linked short stories than it is like a novel. I enjoyed it and would give it three stars.

Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories by Garth Nix

I enjoyed this anthology very much. I feel it shows some of the breadth of Nix's skills. I like that not all of the stories were fantasy or had similar settings. The title bugs me, though, since the Abhorsen wasn't in the title story, only the Abhorsen-in-waiting, and her only for a minute. (Note: if you have not read the Old Kingdom series, you should read that first - it happens after the events of Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen. For that reason, I'm not convinced it's a good introduction to Nix.) My favorite stories were "Over the Wall," "Hope Chest" (which I had read in the Firebirds anthology a few years ago), and "The Lightning Bringer." The two fantasy parody pieces in the book were hysterically funny. I'd give it three stars out of five.

i win at goodwill!

This afternoon, I stopped by Goodwill. I hadn't been there in several weeks, maybe even a month - that's unusual for me, but they were hitting the Christmas music hard and early this year. I told myself that if that was what was playing, I could head right back out. But there was no Christmas music to be heard. I found a Polarfleece vest to wear inside the house (I've been wanting one), really cozy jammy pants (mine are getting a little threadbare), and a brown T-shirt that says "I [heart] Nerds." All for the bargain price of twelve dollars. Yay!