Ken Gorelick On Feb 16, 2004, at 9:52 PM, Andrew Bailey wrote: > Gaertk at aol.com wrote: > >> This post is off-topic, but at least it's about books.... >> A month from now I plan on pre-ordering _Sethra Lavode_, and >> I need to spend $7 more to get free shipping, so I need to chose >> something cheap I really want to read. >> I thought I'd ask here for opinions, since several of you are >> on my Share the Love list, and there may be something here >> that you want too. If anyone else wants to be on that list, just say >> so (and everyone is welcome to put me on their list). >> My current choices: >> Bujold, _Curse of Chalion_ >> Butcher, _Fool Moon_ >> Dean, _The Hidden Land_ >> Murphy, _Cat Raise the Dead_ Unfortunately, the Bujold is the only >> one not in the middle >> of a series, and it's also the only one I've already read >> (that's not a coincidence), so I'm not in a hurry to get it. >> (I'll assume dd-b will recommend his wife's book and save him >> the trouble of posting.) >> Of course, I'll go through all this again in a couple months >> when I try to get free shipping for _A Hat Full of Sky_ (and >> I'll need $14 for that). > > Well, _The Confusion_ by Neal Stephenson comes out that month as well, > unfortunatly that is also a book 2 :( > > I would always recomend _The Scar_ by China Miéville if you haven't > read it yet ( and Perdido Street Station as well ) > > Andrew. >> --KG > I would hesitate to recommend SF/Fantasy to this august list, so I will throw in two of my favorite mystery writers--Anything by Cara Black or Sujata Massey. Cara's stories take place in Paris and are absolutely authentic reflections of the city (from one who lived there) while Sujata's take place in Tokyo and are wonderful reads. While you can read any of Cara's books, Murder in the Marais was her first and weakest. For Sujata, you should read them in order beginning with "The Salaryman's Wife". In a different genre, "My Year of Meats" is a great story about a woman who takes a job producing a weekly TV show for Japan, sponsored by the American Beef Council, called "My American Wife". Each week she finds a typical American family and shoots a show around them culminating with a meal based on beef. She gets a little jaded, and her stories get off topic...she also describes accurately some of the major health issues with American beef.