The Literate Kitty

You ever have one of those weeks (months, years, insert your own time span here) where it takes everything you’ve got, just to (sorta) keep up with all the things on your metaphorical plate? (Yeah, that was a completely rhetorical question. Unless you’re literally the luckiest person on planet Earth, you have .) Anyway, that’s been me, recently… and my reading, unfortunately, always seems to be affected (negatively) by any turmoil in my life. So, at such times, it’s good to have a couple of things in the ole arsenal: first, a go-to group of the closest friends, who always have my back; and second, friends who recommend (or even gift!) books at just the right time. (Seriously, if you’re lacking either of the above, I can’t recommend highly enough your going in search of ‘em. PRICELESS!) Heidi Heilig’s The Girl From Everywhere was just the ticket for me to get back into reading after a few-weeks’ absence; it’s an easy read that takes you away from your own reality, but doesn’t...

Sometimes, you really need a slice or three of your favorite pizza. ( Go on, admit it .) Other times, nothing but a bowl of decadent ice cream (you know, the good stuff) can quench that craving you feel. And often, only the thought of a stiff drink at the end of a long day can put things to rights in your world. When it comes to books, though, what is an equivalent treat/reward, when you're feeling sort of done in, when you're effectively "toast"? Something not too heady, too erudite, clearly; if your goal is escapism and guilty pleasure, you’re not exactly gonna pull out the Dostoyevsky or Hawthorne, are you? No, for me that sort of release—the polar opposite of a trying day—is generally going to involve a fantasy… and one on the more effervescent, playful end of the spectrum rather than the elaborately-built-out-worlds end, because if it’s escapism I’m after, I really don’t wanna be tasked with thinking too hard. So, over the past month or so, I’ve fo...

Grad student Nora Fischer wishes desperately that her life could be different. She’s hit a major roadblock in her studies, with nothing new or fresh to pursue in her thesis work (something which her adviser seems a bit too willing to point out to her), and inspiration isn’t exactly forthcoming. Even worse, her long-time professor boyfriend--whom she’d sort of been expecting to get a ring from--has just dropped a bomb on her: he’s engaged to someone he met (and obviously, was seeing on the sly) recently, and “hopes she [Nora] understands”. Sometimes wishes do come true, though... as Nora is about to find out, in Emily Croy Barker’s magically-delicious debut, The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic . * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * The last thing Nora wants to do is pretend happiness during a girlfriend’s weekend wedding festivities, but she puts on a brave face and dutifully shows up at the mountain lodge where events are scheduled to take place. Sadly, the first night turns out as ...

Are heroes formed through years of experience... or is it more likely that they’re simply born to it? No doubt there’s a heap of anecdotal evidence supporting each side of such a “nurture vs. nature” question, but in her “Spiritwalker” trilogy--an alternate-reality fantasy series set during the Industrial Revolution, featuring two very young women (girls, still, really) who set their minds on changing the world--author Kate Elliott goes the heroism-as-a-birthright route.  The entertaining Cold Magic first introduced us to the cast of characters (notably, feisty Cat Barahal and her irrepressible cousin Bee, along with Cat’s delightful half-brother, the cat/human Rory, and her newly-acquired-though-wholly-unwanted husband, the cold mage Andevai), as well as doing considerable world-building and setting the stage for all of their problems. [You can see my earlier review of it, here , by the way].  Cold Fire [which I somehow never got around to finishing a review fo...