Pleasure reading picks by Melissa Kelly 1/19/07

Most recently finished: Nevada Barr, the Anna Pigeon series; the one I mentioned was Flashback, but you should start at the beginning. (I didn't mention two I read last week that I would HIGHLY recommend: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, by Mark Haddon, and The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. The first is a mystery from the point of view of an autistic 15-year-old and the second is a modern take on Bronte-style, stranger-in-the-manor-of-secrets stories - enjoyed it guiltily and thoroughly).

Book for a desert island: Tad Williams, Otherland series - all 4 parts

Books for lessons learned: Madeleine L'Engle and Orson Scott Card

Authors I always look for: Ann Patchett (LitFic) esp. The Magician's Assistant, Sherri S. Tepper (SciFi) (esp. Grass, despite Patrick), and Charles DeLint (Urban Fantasy)

Movie adaptations: Good movie/book, Little Women; Good movie/bad book, Prince of Tides

I have to heartily second others' mention of Neil Gaiman, A Hundred Years of Solitude, T. H. White, and A Prayer for Owen Meany . . .