Messy by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Max hung back from following them into the classroom. She felt jittery and weird. Not at the prospect of spending more marinating in her and her classmates' mutual hostility--sometimes that could be invigorating--but because after this, she had a meeting with YourNewItGirl@gmail.com. At It Girl's suggestion, they were meeting for dinner at Mel's Dine-In on Sunset to see if they had "a copacetic rapport." Max focused her nervous energy on retying her Doc Marten boots and trying to brush the fine film of chalk dust off her black skirt. It had never recovered from this morning's blackboard race in calculus. Nobody else had come out of class looking like a powdered doughnut. Maybe designer pants repelled dirt in a way H&M's one-ply cotton could not.

-Messy 

 This was another enjoyable outing from The Fug Girls. I feel like they are pretty talented in creating characters, giving us people who behave realistically and don't just act in ways that further the plot or conform to romantic tropes. They are also very funny, which doesn't hurt. I am very much looking forward to their current work-in-progress, which looks to be a Kate-and-Will inspired royal romance with an American twist. How could you resist?

Up next: The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Penumbra sells used books, and they are in such uniformly excellent condition that they might as well be new. He buys them during the day--you only sell to the man with his name on the windows--and he must be a tough customer. He doesn't seem to pay much attention to the bestseller lists. His inventory is eclectic; there's no evidence of pattern or purpose other than, I suppose, his own personal taste. So, no teenage wizards or vampire police here. That's a shame, because this is exactly the kind of store that makes you want to buy a book about a teenage wizard. This is the kind of store that makes you want to be a teenage wizard.

-Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Now that I'm writing about them back to back, I'm finding that Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is an excellent book to weigh against The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.  While the former doesn't have the vaguely timeless nature of the latter--Google is a significant part of the story, after all--it was more inventive and definitely more absorbing, while maintaining elements of the classic quest. I didn't like the love interest as much as I suspect I was supposed to, but I enjoyed the writing quite a bit and would be happy to read more by Robin Sloan.

Up next: Messy by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

Once upon a time, a girl named September grew very tired indeed of her parents' house, where she washed the same pink-and-yellow teacups and matching gravy boats every day, slept on the same embroidered pillow, and played with the same small and amiable dog. Because she had been born in May, and because she had a mole on her left cheek, and because her feet were very large and ungainly, the Green Wind took pity on her and flew to her window one evening just after her twelfth birthday.

-The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making 

I'm ridiculously, ridiculously behind on posting, and with NaNoWriMo on the horizon, I figured I ought to put up something sooner rather than later. The next few posts are going to be pretty bare bones, though. I mostly enjoyed The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making--although, whew, that title. I appreciate that sort of thing to some extent, but I couldn't make up my mind about the more twee elements of the book. It was a classic fairy tale, and clever, and hit all the beats it needed to, but I couldn't help but feel it was lacking in heart. Like it was an exercise in creating a fairy tale more than a genuine fairy tale. That being said, for whatever reason I found the story of the key enormously affecting. Wouldn't be opposed to reading more by this author, but I wouldn't necessarily seek it out either.

Up next: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan