The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1)

#1028
Title: The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1)
Author: Robert Galbraith [J. K. Rowling]
Publisher: Mulholland
Year: 2013
455 pages

Harry Potter's appeal made more sense to me when I realized that the core of the novels was the detective/mystery genre, so I assumed Rowling would give us something in this arena at some point. Here, a noirish/hard-boiled detective and a pretty good mostly-closed room mystery. As was the case in the later Potter books, Rowling's conclusion is more complex than necessary and relies on more luck and circumstance than I prefer, but it's better than many in its genre and adds societal elements such as class, assumptions based on presumed identity and status, and critiques of paparazzi techniques that recollect those around the time of Princess Diana's death as well as the more recent hacking scandals.

A Game of You (The Sandman #5)

#1027
Title: A Game of You (The Sandman #5)
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, George Pratt, Stan Woch, Dick Giordano
Publisher: Vertigo
Year: 1992/2011
192 pages

A mirror of the previous volume, which was grand and mythological. Though broad in implications, this is a more humble perspective--that of a dreamer and her worlds. Read Delany's introduction afterward. It's worth reading, but is filled with spoilers and lit crit-dense.

The Koran

#1026
Title: The Koran
Author: Anonymous
Translator: N. J. Dawood
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 621/2004
456 pages

This is not a review of the text, but of the Audiobook reader. This is a person who cannot pronounce many words, including these frequently repeated ones: Scourge, respite, Job, God ("Gaaawd").

Season of Mists (The Sandman #4)

#1025
Title: Season of Mists (The Sandman #4)
Author: Neil Gaiman
Illustrators: Kelley Jones, Malcolm Jones III, Mike Dringenberg, Matt Wagner, Dick Giordano, George Pratt, P. Craig Russell
Publisher: Vertigo
Year: 1991/2011
192 pages

Morpheus must acknowledge and correct an old wrong, and Lucifer makes a surprising decision with entertaining ramifications.

A pissy little intro by Harlan Ellison, without whose commentary one might arguably be better off.

The Conference of the Birds

#1024
Title: The Conference of the Birds
Author: Peter Sís, Farīd al-Dīn ʻAṭṭār
Publisher: Penguin
Country: Czech Republic
Year: 2011
160 pages

Lovely use of the poem, lovely artwork, beautiful production. A great pleasure.

The typeface used, and some of the smaller illustrations, give it at times a strange resonance with Edward Gorey's work. 

The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4)

#1023
Title: The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4)
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Publisher: Hyperion
Year: 2012
598 pages

A satisfying wrap-up of most elements in the series, though at times a little neat and convenient. Highlight for spoilers: For example, wouldn't it be better to keep a little tension at the end of the story by keeping Fiona alive?

Among Others

#1022
Title: Among Others
Author: Jo Walton
Publisher: Tor
Year: 2011
Country: Wales
302 pages

Quite a fine, funny, poignant novel that begins after the end and ends at the beginning, though the chronology is not at all disrupted. It's about development and individuation and emotions, kinds of love, and the worlds one inhabits simultaneously, including the world of books. I was pleased that the protagonist and I share some Delany in the Ace double tête-bêche editions.

The audiobook is delightfully narrated. Do yourself a favor and don't read anything about this book--the plot summaries and jacket copy misrepresent where the dramatic tension lies and spoil any number of story points that are otherwise enjoyable surprises