My new job is quite conducive to listening to music or audio books for the majority of the day. While I must admit that I miss the social interaction of my old job, I’m really enjoying getting to listen to books all day. Since I hear them at work and read them before bed, I figured books would be a great subject to post about. So, here’s what I’m reading (listening to really, but for the sake of brevity, we’re going with reading from now on):

Fool by Christopher Moore – I read Lamb a couple of years ago and promptly fell head over heels in love with Moore. His style, his imagination, his wit… he’s the author equivalent of my soul mate. I’ve read all of his books, and while I enjoyed all of them, none came close to the brilliance of Lamb until Fool. Have you ever seen Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead? If not, you MUST see it immediately. Anyhow, long story short, it’s the story of Hamlet told from the perspective of two minor characters in the play. It’s brilliant. Fool uses much the same concept in that it’s the story of King Lear told from the perspective of a minor character. Namely, the Fool. Moore gives the Fool a background and a personality and really develops quite the likable character out of this “nobody.” He uses a mixture of Shakespearean prose, modern British slang and an ass-load of swearing. (Favorite phrase: fuck stockings.) All in all, I’d put Fool on par with Lamb: Moore at his best.

The Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs – I’ve read these in paper form, but the next installment of the series will be out on 3/30, so I wanted to refresh my memory of the story line. Briggs does a fantastic job creating a believable world where preternatural creatures live amongst humans in tenuous peace. Mercy is a Walker, but Briggs doesn’t use the original Native American idea of skin walker. She adapts it in a way that really makes it wholly her own. The characters in this series are believable and likable. Well, those that you’re supposed to like are, at any rate. I can’t wait to see what’s in story for Mercy in the next book.

The Kitty Norville Series by Carrie Vaughn – This is another series where the supernatural lives along side the mundane. Vaughn’s heroine, Kitty Norville, is a radio talk show host and werewolf. She’s forced to take an alpha role after years of being an abused submissive in her pack. Kitty is intelligent, witty and full of self-doubt and not a little fear. However, she doesn’t let anything stop her from trying to do what’s right. I didn’t bond with the characters in this series as well as I did in the Mercy Thompson books. I have a hard time accepting the relationships that Vaughn has built for Kitty, but it’s not enough to make me dislike the books. Vaughn does a great job in creating her world and making it believable which is difficult to do in the paranormal fiction genre.

Now it’s your turn: What are you reading? I’ll be needing to load up the ol’ iPod again soon, so spill.

Filed under: books, reviews