The Book Gods Provide

So how's this for timing. I have one story left to read in Magic for Beginners, and I was looking through my "to be read" pile last night, so I wouldn't have any lag time, but I really couldn't decide what to start next. So I come into work this morning and sitting on my chair is a package from Cold Tonnage Books. My copy of 20th Century Ghosts arrived and not a moment too soon.

Another collection, and it looks good. I'm still in short story mode. I finished the Lucy Sussex book just as my wife finished Kelly Link so that worked well. This may be heresy but I'm not actually enjoying Magic for Beginners as much as the raves about it led me to think I would. The writing is first rate and funny, but there seems to be a sort of cumulative effect to the surreal plots that makes me care less about the whole thing than I want to. You know how if anything can happen then who cares what happens, and maybe things seem to be weird just for weirdness sake. So, although I know certain characters and images will stay with me (the All-nite Convenience with the zombie clientele; the TV show The Library, the affair that the wife made up then has trouble pretending never happened) I think I would be hard pressed right now to tell you exactly what happened in most of these stories or how they ended. I could tell you stuff that happened, but nothing like what might be mistaken for a plotline with an ending that I cared about. Certainly the endings were the weakest part for me. I'm sure it's just me. Salon & Time can't be wrong. And I would definitely read Kelly Link again. She is fun to read.

I really liked all of A Tour Guide in Utopia even if the stories did have plot logic and structure and made sense.