That Same London

Only 2 books in this post because when it is over I will be caught up through the end of July. Hurray!

That Same Flower, by Jostein Gaarder
A short novel purporting to be a letter to St. Augustine from the concubine (and mother of his child) that he put aside after living with her for 15 years. It was savory reading, but I am sort of stunned it got so many five-star reviews - I mean, could it be more predictable? Anyway, it was definitely 3 or 4 stars, worth reading if you're interested in Augustine or feminist theology or Jostein Gaarder.
(155/250)

London, by Edward Rutherford
Sprawling epic that travels from prehistoric times through almost the present day, with repeating names to emphasize intergenerational continuity (at least I think that's why he does it). I've been keeping this as my back-up book for months and it performed admirably. I wouldn't have wanted to sit down and plow through the whole thing, but in manageable chunks it was very satisfying.
(156/250)

Bambi Leaps Harlequin Territory

Harlequin, by Laurell K. Hamilton
Not as strong as some of the earliest books in the series, but better than the dismal ones that almost got me to quit reading it. No typos! And we are actually getting some non-bedroom plot, too. All in all, I was pleased.
(157/250)

Jester Leaps In, by Alan Gordon
Delightful sequel to Thirteenth Night - which I just realized I forgot to list here but it totally rocks and is a retelling (more or less) of Twelfth Night. Feste, or Theophilus, is a jester, recently married to Viola (yes, the same one Shakespeare wrote about later) and they go off to Venice to investigate the mysterious (and probably murderous) disappearance of the city's fools. Exquisitely witty - I was so glad to find out there's a whole series to catch up on.
(158/250, 159/250)

Territory, by Emma Bull
An absolutely brilliant reimagining of the Tombstone story with magic (and lovely, lovely use of words) thrown in. Can't recommend it enough ... despite my previous enjoyment of Bull's work, I was a bit skeptical about this one - she pulled it off perfectly. Echoey of Win Blevins, just a little, in retrospect, though maybe only someone who loves Win Blevins as much as me might think so.
(160/250)

Bambi, by Felix Salten (reread)
I barely remembered reading this as a child, though I know I did and the illustrations seem more familiar than the words do. Anyway, it's both darker and gentler than the Disney version, somehow, and really fits into the bildungsroman genre despite its anthropomorphisms... quite excellent.
(161/250)

Meeting Seasons

Fables 5: The Mean Seasons, by Bill Willingham et al
The story continues to complicate itself, like with any good graphic novel series. I am absolutely spellbound while immersed in one of these, and I especially love the historical flashbacks.
(162/250)

Meeting at Corvallis, by S. M. Stirling
A satisfying conclusion to this post-apocalyptic alternate history. Left all the big questions unanswered but I already knew there were more books coming, so I didn't expect all the metaphysics worked out in this one. And the plot threads came to a pleasing knot, without being cut. Cool.
(163/250)