Wondrous Strange

By Lesley Livingston

For seventeen-year-old actress Kelley Winslow, life isn't going too badly. Sure, the director for the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that she is in is, umm, demanding, but she's landed a good role. She's playing Titania, the fairy queen. Then, suddenly, her life is starting to fray at the edges. There's a horse on her bathtub, a wierdo is apparently stalking her, and she may be the long-lost daughter of the faerie king, Auberon. Oh, and the gates to Faerie are about to open, which is BAD. I've given the lecture on faeries elswhere, and I'm not giving it again. For Sonny Flannery, the afformentioned wierdo, life is emphatically not going that well. He is one of the guards for the gates of Faerie, and with the gates about to open, his workload is going way up. Then there's the fact that he's found King Auberon's daughter, and he may be falling in love with her. Oh, and another faerie queen, Mahb, wants to awaken the Wild Hunt. Again, NOT GOOD. The Wild Hunt is a faerie war band. They are evil, ok? They love killing and destruction, and they really don't like people all that much. Therefore, their being awakened is BAD, got it?
I really liked this book. The plot is great, the writing is good, and the faeries are just the sort I like. Look for the description in the Glossary if you need more info. Puuurrrrr, good book. Fans of Lament and Impossible may like this one.

Small Gods

By Terry Pratchett

A novel of Discworld

What do you do when your incredibly bossy god tells you that it has been trapped in the shape of a tortoise and that you are the only person who can hear it? This is what happens to the novice Brutha. Om (the god), has becom trapped in tortoise shape because Brutha is the only one who actually believes in him anymore even though thousands of people worship him! When no one believes in a god they sort of fade away into the deserts and deep forests. Om may soon be joining those small gods if Brutha doesn't do something. Unfortunatly Brutha, despite an enormous memory, is kind of dumb. He can, however follow orders well and as nobody but him really believes in Om any more, Brutha is all the god has to work with. Terry Pratchett does not disappoint in this hilarious book. FUNNY, really, really, really FUNNY is a good description of this book. I loved Om and Brutha, and have always been pretty interested in the gods of Discworld.

In the Forests of the Night

By Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Book One of the Den of Shadows Quartet

When you are a vampire, if you show your fear, you die. To survive you need to be strong and fearless. Risika is a vampire, and a powerful one, but three hundred years ago she was human. Now, as she prepares to face down Aubrey, the one vampire she fears, her mind wanders back to that time. Two stories are told in this book: the story of Risika now, and the story of her when she was human. Quite honestly, I don't think this is the author's best work, but I did enjoy it, and your opinion may be different. I love  this author, and it drives me nuts that I know hardly anyone who reads her stuff. Her world makes for great stories.

Serendipity Market

By Penny Blubaugh

At the end of the world, in the house with the witch's-hat roof, Mama Inez watches the signs and the tilt of the earth. Sometimes the earth tilts off its path. When this happens, Mama Inez sends out ten invitations, and the plans for the Serendipity Market begin. Today the earth is tipping, and so it is time for the Serendipity Market. Come to the Indwelling as the stories are told. There are nine tonight, a good number. Maybe you've heard something like them before. Maybe you can name them. Tam Lin, The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Princess and the Pea, Cinderella. There are more, of course. Four stories won't balance the earth. Come inside and listen to them all as the night goes on. Welcome to the Serendipity Market.
This book is wonderful, smooth and peaceful. You have heard the stories before, but probably not this way. Listening to the different characters as they tell their stories is lovely, and it feels like someone is telling you all the stories, and also the story of the Serendipity Market.

Strange Angels

By Lili St. Crow

Welcome to the Real World. In the Real World there are monsters. In the Real World you could die. Dru Anderson and her father are hunters. She helps him kill the things that go bump in the night and she knows firsthand how dangerous the Real World is. When her father doesn't come home one night, she is sure he is dead. When he does come home, she knows it. Now, with no father, no mother, no other family, and the things she hunted with her father out to get her, can Dru trust anyone? And can she survive on her own? I loved this fast-paced, action-packed book. If you enjoyed the Maximum Ride series, then you will love Strange Angels. There is a sequel, and I am waiting impatiently to get it from my library.

Magic Bites

By Ilona Andrews

The Kate Daniels Series, Book 1

Mercenary Kate Daniels lives in a world where magic and technology battle for supremacy. When the magic is up, cars, guns, phones, all the elements of technology refuse to work, and rogue mages cast spells and summon dangerous creatures. Then the tech hits again and magic goes back into hiding. Kate makes her living off the magic and the creatures that come with it. When her guardian is murdered she volunteers to find his killer, but she soon finds out that this mystery is much more complex than it seems. Someone has killed seven of the Pack, and the shapeshifters believe that that someone is the People. The People are a group of necromancers who control vampires. They have had several of their vampires killed, and they believe that the Pack is responsible. Kate is trapped in the middle, because whoever-or whatever- killed her guardian probably killed the shapeshifters and vampires as well. Dark, violent, and powerful, Magic Bites is an urban fantasy that I absolutely loved. I think it is staged in the future, but I can't be sure. I love this series, this book, and, of course, I loved Kate.

Ivy

By Julie Hearn

Ivy is the story of a girl with the same name, wild, bright red hair, and now, a job as an artist's model. The artist, Oscar Aretino Frosdik, has little talent but believes that with Ivy as his model he will finally become great. However, Ivy is more than just a pretty face. A troubled past has left her with bad memories and a dangerous addiction. Ivy is a vegetarian and loves animals, lives with her aunt and cousins, and can't read or write. I just loved Ivy, both the girl and the book. The girl is a wonderful protagonist and the book is well written and the story is great. Ivy reminds me of some other book that I liked, but I can't remember its name. I havn't read anything else by this author yet, but I plan to do so soon. If you've read Ivy please let me know what you think, because I love to hear what other people think of books. Also let me know if you can reccomend anything good.

Sandry's Book

By Tamora Pierce

Book One of the Circle of Magic quartet

Trapped in a hidden room, Sandry calls light into a braid of embroidery thread. Daja, the only surviver of the wreck of her family's ship is rescued but declared an outcast by her people. Briar, a thief who is on his last chance, is given a choice which will change his life. And finally, Tris has been passed around by her family because they think she's cursed, and has been discarded yet again. All four are brought to Winding Circle temple by mage Niklaren Goldeye, who sees that they have unusual magics. Sandry with thread, Daja with metal, Briar with plants, and Tris with weather. As the four become friends and learn to use their magic they have no idea how soon trouble will come. Can they survive? I love this book and this author, and I think that almost everyone will agree with me. Tamora Peirce is one of my all time favorite authors and the Circle of Magic does not disappoint.

Jingo

By Terry Pratchett

A Discworld novel

Watch Commander Sam Vimes has a lot on his plate. He is trying to find out who shot the Klatchian ambassador when an island rises out of the sea, Ankh-Morpork and Klatch decide to go to war over it, and Corporal Angua is kidnapped. Admittedly this isn't as bad as it sounds, she is a werewolf after all, but it is still worrying, so they go after her. I love Terry Pratchett's writing, he is funny, but deals with serius issues like war, murder, and opera. Every now and then he slips in a sentance that you have to read again to make sure you read it right the first time or a deep philosophicla idea. His books are very, very funny. My favorites so far are the ones about the Watch. Discworld is a flat, round, disc which is held up by four elephants which are standing on the back of a giant turtle as it moves through space. In my opinion you don't have to understand it completely to enjoy it.

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

By Maggie Stiefvater

Sixteen year old harpist Deirdre Monaghan meets Luke Dillon at a music competition. He offers to play a duet with her and they win the competiton. That is when her life starts to change: she begins to find four leaf clovers everywhere, becomes able to move objects without touching them, and begins to see the faeries. They are watching her, and as the story unfolds it becomes clear why; their Queen wants her dead. Luke may be a faerie killer, even her dog may be fay. Can she survive? Can Luke? Can her best friend James? If you liked Impossible you will enjoy Lament. Beautiful and haunting, it is one of the best faerie tales I have read, and I mean faerie tales. Faerie tales and fairy tales, in my mind, are not the same thing. Fairy tales to me are things like Cinderella and Peter Pan, while faerie tales are things like Lament.