Via oursin and legionseagle: the meme for James Davis Nicoll's list of 100 SF/F Books You Should Consider Reading in the New Year.

( actually, I've read more of these than I'd thought I had )

Sarah McCarry, All Our Pretty Songs. A YA novel (I'd call it urban fantasy, though it doesn't fit with much of what's currently called urban fantasy) about the friendship of two girls and what happens to it when they meet a talented musician. Beautiful writing and imagery, with a lot of mythological & fairy tale references and intriguing characters. Recently for work I'd read most of Kristin Hersh's memoir of her friendship with Vic Chesnut, Don't Suck, Don't Die; McCarry's book, though fiction and in a different style, has a lot of the same feel to it.

Middle Son really likes Jeff Smith's Bone graphic novel series; I'd looked at bits of it and finally decided I should read the whole thing. It was well worth the read -- an interesting fantasy world with legends remembered differently by different groups, great characters (Grandma Ben! the Bones! the Stupid Rat Creatures! Bartleby!), interesting art. Heartily recommended. (And if you're in the U.S. and have a child who brings home Scholastic flyers from school, you can order the set through their online catalog.)

This is just to say that Sir Nigel Anstruthers is one of the most vile characters I've ever encountered in fiction. I like a lot of parts of The Shuttle, but if I want a comfortable read, I'll pull up T. Tembarom instead. Sir Nigel is up there with Tien Vorsoisson in the "if your real-life partner starts treating you like this, run now" lessonbook.