Mary Janice Davidson’s mermaid series Sleeping with the Fishes (Fred the Mermaid, Book 1) is fantastic. It’s set in Boston (SQUEE!) and features the New England Aquarium quite prominently.Her delightfully snarky half-human protagonist Fred is a marine biologist utterly resistant to the charms of Thomas, the water fellow at the NEA, and Artur, the mer-prince who’s come to woo her. These delightfully silly three must combine forces to save the Harbor from becoming a poo-filled wasteland. Dude. Most romance novels … READ MORE

Okay, here’s a quick run through of what I’ve been reading..

Magic Study is the sequel to Poison Study, once again following the adventures of Yelena as she continues to encounter political power plays and navigates her new-found magical powers. Interestingly, she discovers that she’s not at all a super-powered demi-goddess. She’s got some neato powers, sure, but she can’t start fires, which is a pretty common magic, and her insistent desire to be independent still gets her into trouble. She’s def … READ MORE

I actually started Deliver Us From Evil: The True Story of Mexico’s Most Famous Kidnapping intending to dislike the author. I have a really hard time reading about the lives of the glamourous without wanting to punch them in the face. I figured it be like Paris’ Confessions of an Heiress, except with, you know, kidnapping. I was extremely, extremely wrong. First, you gotta know I don’t normally like books with heavy themes dealing with spirituality. But seriously? Ernestina’s quiet … READ MORE

I’m a big fan of re-reading. I don’t do it often, but each time I do it, I remember the self that was and realize some pretty cool things about the self that is. Like, when I first read Doomsday Book by Connie Willis? I had just started high school, and the travails of Kivrin, the grad student mistakenly transported to the eve of the Black Plague resonated really strongly my angsty adolescent self. I was at the right age … READ MORE

Okay, so Pat Murphy is rapidly becoming my secret author lover. <3* In Nadya, Pat Murphy revitalizes the history of American West through the eyes of young Nadya, a young werewolf woman crossing the Plains with Elizabeth, a proper young woman separated from those she was traveling with, and Jenny, the lone survivor of an Indian attack on her family’s caravan’s.* Murphy uses Nadya to reflect on gender. Because Nadya is a white woman in a world where both of … READ MORE

Falling Woman is, uh, awesome. This oldie but goodie from Pat Murphy features a mother-daughter conflict spanning time and culture. Dr. Elizabeth Butler is a nutty professor focused on the Mayans. She’s a world-renowned archaeologist, and brings a hidden second sight to the profession Indiana Jones made unwarrentedly glamourous. She CAN, in fact, see dead people. However, they generally don’t see her. But then she meets Zuhuy-kak, the dead priestess of a forgotten goddess. Zuhuy wants to see her goddess … READ MORE

Okay, so Lavinia is retelling of the Aeneid, Virgil’s epic poem describing Aeneas’ arrival and conquest of what’s now known as Italy.  Le Guin’s counter-read ends up revamping Lavinia, Aeneas’ BRIDE OF DESTINY, making her a real, vital character. While she’s still swept by the winds of fate, she emerges as a deeply religious girl aware of the prophecies surrounding her marriage. She chooses to follow these prophecies, in part because her other options involve bloody political turmoil. She learns, … READ MORE

Folks, this is AWESOME.

Okay, basically Walton’s set this alternative history in a world where Britain and Germany work things out, and WWII never happens. Germany’s building concentration camps ALL over the continent, and things suck for Eastern European Jews. Britain’s got its own issues with rising fascism, but, interestingly, Walton examines this rise in the upper classes. So, what we’re looking at are the political machinations leading up to such a consolidation of racial antipathy and political power. We’re also looking at how women’s … READ MORE

Barnes’ alternate history explores the evolution of slavery and racial formations in a world where the West never rose to prominence. The New World is in the process of being conquered by various African empires, and both women and enslaved whites are starting to buck up for independence. This is a very cool context — there’re women scientists hiding the extent of their work, a rising anti-slavery movement, and the equivalent of an Underground Railroad managed by Jews in an … READ MORE

Barnes’ promising first effort introduces the reader to a wild reimagining of turn of the century London. It’s very “The world has moved on” a la Stephen King — technology is on the rise, magic/mystery in the form of our main guy Edward Moon, and the disappearance of the titular character, who exits stage left at the end of the story. What really solidified King connection for me were the constant, intriguing references to prior adventures and internal myths. I … READ MORE