When is a succulent like a cephalopod?

Upping the signal: The Romance Relief auction on ebay for for writer L.A. Banks ends on the 13th. L.A. Banks has late stage adrenal cancer and donations to help are badly needed.

Items being offered include signed books, ads for books on popular web sites, critiques for writers, etc. 

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Brief Book Reviews, An Occasional Series
I read all six of Nancy Springer's Enola Holmes mysteries and would happily have read more. Enola, the supremely capable, but still mostly believably 14-yr-old girl protagonist, is just win win win. Springer's Victorian London is dark and gritty because Enola spends a good deal of her time in the poorest slums of the era and Springer doesn't really pull punches for the YA designation of the series.

Staying in Victorian London, moved on to Gail Carriger's Heartless, though it's a rather different version--and while Alexia is quite capable, she and the narrative are far less interested in any grit. I did, in fact, just occasionally, get a bit impatient with Alexia's staunch adherence to mannered life. However, Heartless, like the first three books in this series, is a truly fun read and always entertaining. It's like being at high tea with gorgeously dressed, interesting characters while a war, a giant steam creature of destruction, and a dread circus act with werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and dirigibles all rage around you. So, you know, recommended. 

Currently reading Hiromi Goto's Half World and so far so good.

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When is a succulent like a cephalopod?

( aloectopus )