teenage girls as a separate universe....

All Souls - Christine Schutt -- Very intense, claustrophobic (for me) look at life at a very exclusive all girl's school in New York City. I really enjoyed the writing style - short glimpses into many different characters that felt post modern, yet still fresh. The self-obsession of these girls is almost overwhelming at times, yet they're each tentatively reaching out and trying to come to terms with other people and how they relate to other people. It's very moving, but never schmaltzy.

Trickster gods

Sky Coyote - Kage Baker - Second in the "Company" series - this one set in California 1699 right before white men decimated the Natives living there...This was enjoyable, but nothing terribly special for me, although she did set up some interesting implications for the series as a whole - I think I like where she's going with it. I'll probably check out the next book, but still, not a wholehearted recommendation.

Scenes From a War

Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks World War I novel with beautiful, yet devastating, moments in a terrible war. Scenes in mine shafts with men who are factory workers, bookkeepers, or just boys - some of the passages were ones I wish more world leaders had read - just to remind themselves of the reality.

I found it to be a good book, great in parts - but the flash-forwards to the 1970's and the romantic attempt fell flat and kept it from being something great.

In a quest for another Outlander...

In the Garden of Iden - Kage Baker

I've become a sucker for the time-traveling type of books - hybrids of science and historical fiction - this one was enjoyable - she goes back to a time when the Spanish Inquisition was threatening England with Bloody Mary - but not something I'd wholeheartedly recommend. It's a quick read, but I didn't learn a whole lot about that time and felt kind of disappointed with the story in general, it felt to focused on Romance with a capital R (and really, the Romance portion of it never really payed off). I've heard that the other books are better in this series, so I might give them a chance. This was a good book, just not as great as I'd hoped.

Olive Kitteridge -- Elizabeth Strout 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winner Loved this book - it's really interrelated stories, but it reads like a novel. Reminded me of a strange cross between E. Annie Proulx and Richard Russo. Just an amazing book - so much quiet detail about relationships, but not in an Oprah kind of way. Very quiet, but ultimately, devastating. It's odd, this book just snuck up on me, and I've had trouble getting it out of my head. It reads true.

Meryl Streep anyone?

Mark of the Lion - Suzanne Arruda

A Plucky, anti-establishment, feminist heroine? Check.
Amusing descriptions of the British elite in Africa in 1919? Check.
A handsome, strong-willed bachelor with a pet cheetah? Check.
A mystery involving birthright? Check.

First in a series with this heroine - I did enjoy it, but found the heroine a little too plucky for my taste. I might read the next in the series, but it's not something I feel compelled to do immediately after finishing. Still, it is a quick enjoyable read.