Death on Demand by Caroyln G. Hart

I picked up this book based on a review by bloodykeri. Apparently it is the first in a long series that she likes a lot.

Annie Laurance is the proprietress of an island mystery shop she inherited from her deceased uncle. The tourists have left for the season and she is settling in with her regulars. The odious Elliot Morgan, detested by everyone, is about to publish a book revealing the secrets of all the island's mystery writers (of which there are many). She asks him to change the topic he will use when he speaks to her group of Sunday Night Regulars. He refuses and threatens to raise the rent on her store. Oh nos! Therefore, when he winds up dead at the meeting, she becomes the prime suspect.

I thought that this book was too clever. Too clever by half. Tons of writers living on one island, all of them writing mysteries? Every single writer having at least one dangerous secret? A raven named Edgar and a cat named Agatha? There were many, many mystery references which were not explained - ones only a maven would really understand. I'm a mystery fan but only in a casual way, and I've never heard of most of the referenced titles. I also never really got attached to any of the characters except the ex-boyfriend Max Darling (speaking of too clever!). I won't be following this series. Two stars.

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

I just finished this book for the umpteenth time. Not only is it one of my favorite books, but it is also one of my very favorite books to read out loud. This time, I alternated chapters with my girlfriend trouble4hire. She had never read it before, and it was wonderful to see it through new eyes. I even got misty-eyed in the last chapters, which hasn't happened to me in a long time. Awwww.

What are your favorite books to read aloud?

Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold

This is the third book in the new Sharing Knife series. I like this series but I don't love it the way I love other Bujold books. Things are beginning to look up in this third book - although Dag and Fawn didn't have much luck returning to their old lives in the previous two books, in this third volume they are beginning to find their own way and create their own community. Fans of Bujold will enjoy it. Those who don't know her are advised, by me at least, to start with Cordelia's Honor. Three stars.

Away by Amy Bloom

This is a novel by the author of a collection of short stories, Come to Me, which bearsir gave me for my birthday a few years back. I saw it reviewed on booksense.com and decided to give it a try. It forms a good thematic arc with People of the Book on the topic of the Jewish Diaspora.

Lillian Leyb is the only survivor of a pogrom. She makes her way to the New World, feeling that her home village in Russia has nothing in it for her anymore. A few months later, when she is the mistress of not one but two wealthy men in New York City, a surviving cousin arrives with the news that Lillian's daughter is alive. Thus begins an odyssey that will take her all the way across the country, land her in prison, toughen her spirit, and teach her even more than she already knew about love and loss.

This book is beautiful. Bloom's skill in short story writing is apparent in the sections of the book. At the end of each, she describes what happens to the characters Lillian has encountered on her travels. The prose is amazing - I couldn't even choose a quote, I would have had to include the whole book. Bloom really captures the spirit of the time period, as well as making her characters almost real enough to touch. Four stars. Recommended for fans of historical fiction, compelling narratives, and great prose.