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Customer Picks
August/September 2005 Picks
Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip
"Those who have bemoaned the death of the true fairy tale will be delighted by this charming foray from World Fantasy Award-winner McKillip (Ombria in Shadow). She skillfully weaves together two eras and two sets of believable characters to create a single spellbinding story that brilliantly modernizes a beautiful old formula: the clever orphaned foundling has no desire to seek out her parents nor ambition for high office; the powerful wizard is a disguised woman deeply in love with the conquering king, who treats his subjects kindly; the sullen young queen catapulted to her throne by her father's unexpected death turns out to have both skill and humor in unexpected places; the haughty witch finds herself honestly baffled by turns of events that she never predicted. Moreover, where another author might have played up slapstick clumsiness for cheap laughs, McKillip evokes compassion for the characters' frustrations as they take their befuddled steps toward their predestined meeting. Best of all, the strong female leads neither rail against nor submit to patriarchy. In this magical world blissfully free of bias, people are simply themselves, equally intelligent and witty and thoroughly capable while prone to the occasional error, in a manner that transcends feminism and becomes a celebration of essential humanity. The brisk sweep to the slightly abrupt conclusion leaves the reader longing for more."---Publishers Weekly
Recommended by Katharine Herndon
$14.00
Redwall #6: Martin the Warrior by Brian Jacques
"On the shore of the Eastern Sea, in a cold stone fortress, a stoat named Badrang holds dozens of innocent creatures as slaves, part of his scheme to build an empire where he will rule as unquestioned tyrant. Among those slaves is a mouse named Martin who has a warrior's heart and a burning desire for freedom--freedom not only for himself, but for all of Badrang's victims. There is no risk he will not take, no battle he will not fight, to end the stoat's evil reign and in the process regain the sword of his father, Luke the Warrior--the sword that Badrang stole from him when he was but a lad!"
Recommended by Drew Taylor
$7.99
Alpine Advocate by Mary Daheim
"After a year as publisher-editor of the Alpine Advocate, Emma Lord feels fine about her move to this small town in the foothills of Washington's Cascade Mountains. What she really needs for her paper, though, is a big story. And she gets it--when handsome Mark Doukas, grandson of rich, old Neeny Doukas is murdered. Emma discovers that trying to get straight answers out of Neeny and his thin-lipped son is like poking a nest of sleeping rattlesnakes. What begins with an innocent story about the murdered man, ends with Emma conducting the most interesting, and probably the last, interview of her career from the wrong end of a .38...."
Recommended by Maggie King
$6.99
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
"Sookie's boyfriend has been very distant. Now she's off to Mississippi to mingle with the underworld at Club Dead--a little haunt where the vampire elite go to chill out. But when she finally finds Bill--caught in an act of betrayal--she's not sure whether to save him or sharpen some stakes."
Recommended by Sarah Colacino
$7.50
Faked to Death by Dean James
"While visiting the village bookshop, Simon Kirby-Jones, American vampire resident of Snupperton Mumsley, Bedfordshire, encounters the formidable Lady Hermione Kinsale. Well known as a historian, Simon is immediately pressed into service as a speaker at one of Lady Hermione's famous writers' workshops at Kinsale House, the estate she inherited from her father, the Earl of Mumsley.
Taking tea with Lady Hermione and her assistant, Simon discovers that one of his fellow speakers will be mystery writer Dorinda Darlington. Simon finds this surprising since he is Dorinda Darlington. Under different pseudonyms, he writes both mysteries and historical romances, but both of these identities are secrets, known only to Simon, his agents and editors. Simon therefore wonders who has impersonated one of his alter egos and why.
As attendees and speakers for the conference gather at Kinsale House, Simon perceives that tensions between Lady Hermione's guests abound. Soon these tensions erupt in murder; and Simon finds himself a suspect...since the first murder victim is the woman who has been claiming to be Dorinda Darlington."
Recommended by Allison Herndon
$5.99
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