Angieville

Best reads of the past month: Undine by Penni Russon My lovely friend, who shall hereafter be known in this blog as The Editor, sent me an ARC of this book and the first thing I noticed was the cover. So pretty and sinister. Not far in I realize it's a modern twist on "The Tempest," set in Australia, and focused on a girl named Undine who can whistle up a storm like nobody's business. The names in this book are truly great: Undine, her prickly mom Lou, her best friend Trout, her mom's friend Mim, and her mysterious, absent father Prospero. These peripheral characters are well developed and compelling. In fact, I found myself gravitating more toward Trout and Grunt (and Jasper!) than Undine as the story progressed. Gifted with that much power and self-absorption at the same time, she's a little hard to like at times. But I did like her and her storm-drenched world and I'm looking forward to the sequel Breathe. I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak I followed

Until The Book Thief came out almost exactly a year ago, I had never heard of Markus Zusak. By the time it reached maximum hype, I was in full resist mode. Upon further pressure, I bent and decided to read Zusak's earlier I am the Messenger. If I love it, then I'll tote The Book Thief home. One night of intense sitting-on-the-bathroom-floor-reading later, I go on a Zusak binge. Today I happily usher him into the A List. Not only is he the long-awaited 2nd male author on the list (I'm certain others qualify for induction, I just haven't read everything they've written yet), but his addition makes the list an actual A to Z List. Mr. Alexander to Mr. Zusak. And all those lovely ladies in between. Lloyd Alexander Jane Austen Madeleine L'Engle Juliet Marillier Robin McKinley Stephenie Meyer Meg Rosoff Sharon Shinn Mary Stewart Ellen Emerson White Markus Zusak