I hear all kinds of stuff about genre books. On one side, they’re ghetto-ized, they’re neglected; on the other, they’re not serious, they’re not literature. I’m going to be a coward and ignore the debate. There are certain subjects I tend to avoid (paranormal romance, anything by Ann Coulter, etc), but I still consider myself an open minded reader. I do love reading a good sci-fi/fantasy. This week I’ve been lucky enough to pick up two excellent sci-fi fantasy books.

Our kids buyer Kari has mentioned her love for Robin McKinley repeatedly. She seems to be a a staff favorite. Recommends (those hand written shelf talkers you see in stores) have been written for Beauty, Blue Sword, Deerskin, and most recently Sunshine. I finally cracked under the pressure of so many fans and read Sunshine. I loved it. Rae “Sunshine” Seddon stars as a baker at her family’s cafe, comfortably ensconced in her life until one day she is abruptly kidnapped by vampires. Instead of finishing her off quickly, she finds herself chained to a wall next to another vampire, himself chained up. When he doesn’t eat her, she calls upon some long forgotten magic that helps them both escape. Now they’re connected and must join together again to fight off the malevolent forces once again. People might compare it to Buffy, but I think that’s slightly off. Sunshine isn’t a valley girl (I know Buffy wasn’t a valley girl. I faithfully watched the series. She was presented as a girl who could kick some ass but really wanted to shop, etc). She’s really more normal than Buffy. Anyway, I read feverishly read this book and hope that McKinley writes a follow up.

While in the middle of reading Sunshine, a copy of Naomi Novik’s latest in the Temeraire series, Empire of Ivory, arrived on my desk.  The Napoleonic wars plus dragons, how can you go wrong? I’m only half way through, but so far so good. It’s as gripping as the last three.