From the back cover: Flora Fyrdraaca knows taking shortcuts in Crackpot Hall can be risky. After all, when a House has eleven thousand decaying rooms that shift about at random, there's no telling where a person might end up. But it's not just household confusion that vexes Flora, what with Mamma always away being Commanding General of the Army, Poppy drowning his sorrows in … [Read more...] about Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce: A-
Books
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff: B+
From the back cover: This charming classic, first published in 1970, brings together twenty years of correspondence between Helene Hanff, a freelance writer living in New York City, and a used-book dealer in London. Through the years, though never meeting and separated both geographically and culturally, they share a winsome, sentimental friendship based on their common love … [Read more...] about 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff: B+
Firehouse by David Halberstam: B+
From the back cover: "In the firehouse the men not only live and eat with each other, they play sports together, go off to drink together, help repair one another's houses and, most importantly, share terrifying risks; their loyalties to each other must, by the demands of the dangers they face, be instinctive and absolute." So writes David Halberstam in this stunning book about … [Read more...] about Firehouse by David Halberstam: B+
Be Buried in the Rain by Barbara Michaels: B-
From the back cover: There are secrets buried at Maidenwood—dark secrets that span generations. Medical student Julie Newcomb, who once spent four miserable childhood years at this rundown Virginia plantation, would rather not resurrect ancient memories, or face her own fears. Yet Julie cannot refuse her relatives' plea that she spend her summer caring for the bedridden—but … [Read more...] about Be Buried in the Rain by Barbara Michaels: B-
The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold: B+
From the front flap: Young Fawn Bluefield and soldier-sorcerer Dag Redwing Hickory have survived magical dangers and found, in each other, love and loyalty. But even their strength and passion cannot overcome the bigotry of their own kin, and so, leaving behind all they have known, the couple sets off to find fresh solutions to the perilous split between their peoples. But … [Read more...] about The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold: B+