[Bear]

The Facts of Life by Graham Joyce. This is a wonderful book. One of the best I've read in a while, and my favorite from him. The setting, the characters, the humor, the touches of the fantastic scattered throughout it ... all excellent. I wholeheartedly reccomend it.

American Morons by Glen Hirshberg. I guess this would be closer to Horror than Fantasy (it often has a bit of both), but it's an excellent short story collection. One of my favorite short story collections I've come across actually. Some of these shorts stuck with me for weeks after reading them. I recently got ahold of his other collection, Two Sams, and his full-length novel, The Snowman's Children. I'm looking forward to them.

Giant Bones by Peter S. Beagle. I feel bad for neglecting thsi guy for as long as I did. I've enjoyed everything I've read from him, but since this was the last one I checked out, I will list it. But don't skip The Line Between or The Last Unicorn either.

The Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford. This one is almost a straight up mystery novel. As such, it pales to a lot of mysteries I've read. It wasn't a bad book, and it was easy to read and well-written, but I'd reccomend The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque over this one if you haven't read any Ford. Or The Fantasy Writer's Assistant, if you like short stories.

Glass Soup by Jonathan Carroll. This is basically a sequel to White Apples. It isn't his best, but Jonathan Carroll is one of those authors that I just like. Even his worst offerings are fine by me. So I wasn't floored (though, there were a few brilliant scenes and I really thought he nailed the villain), but I'm fine with about anything he does.

Up Next: Un Lun Dun (Meiville), Lies of Locke Lamora (Lynch), and Ysabel (Kay).

[Erfael]

Welcome back, Bear. Nice to see an old face return, even if it smells like fish.

If you get a chance, stop by the book club. The Facts of Life is this month's selection and we've been slow to get off the ground. We'd like to hear more about what you thought of it.

Hope to see you around more. Erf.

[Bear]

Erf! How are you, buddy?

And I will swing by the book club then. I'd like to see what some other people thought of the book as well.

[intensityxx]

Wow! Bear's back! We missed you.

[Bear]

Thanks, Intensity. I always climb back out of the woodwork eventually.

How have you been?

[intensityxx]

I'm doing great. I'm pleased to read your thoughts about Joyce, Carroll, Ford, and Beagle. I've saved up lots of their books, yet to be read, and your post helps me decide which by them to read next.

[al'Kael]

The Facts of Life by Graham Joyce. This is a wonderful book. One of the best I've read in a while, and my favorite from him. The setting, the characters, the humor, the touches of the fantastic scattered throughout it ... all excellent. I wholeheartedly reccomend it.

My girlfriend, who's very resistant to the fantasy genre, brought this home from the bookstore one day and I was almost floored! She really enjoyed it, said it was really quirky, and it's something I've been meaning to read for a long time. Thanks for reminding me about it!


Glass Soup by Jonathan Carroll. This is basically a sequel to White Apples. It isn't his best, but Jonathan Carroll is one of those authors that I just like. Even his worst offerings are fine by me. So I wasn't floored (though, there were a few brilliant scenes and I really thought he nailed the villain), but I'm fine with about anything he does.

I loved White Apples, but I still haven't read this. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen it in a bookstore. I should check when/if the trade paperback version comes out and be sure to pick it up.

[Bear]

Happy to help, Al. And you really shouldn't skip Facts of Life. This is one of those books I've been buying and forcing friends and family to read.

And Glass Soup is out in paperback now. I loved White Apples as well, and though this one wasn't quite at the same level, I still enjoyed it. But again, I like pretty much anything Carroll does, so maybe I'm not picky enough with him.

[al'Kael]

Just looked behind me and realized that I even have The Facts of Life sitting behind me on the bookshelf.

What's the rundown on the rest of what Joyce has done?

[Rob B]

The Tooth Fairy is a coming of age tale about the tooth fairy. Of course this being a Graham Joyce novel, there is much more to it than that. The Tooth Fairy has an androgynous role in the story.

Dark Sister was also very good - Witchcraft in London. A housewife stumbles into witchcraft.

It's been a few years since I read both, but I recall them both being extremely well written and some scence felt uncomfortable, in a good way. That is to say Joyce gives the reader something to consider they may not always want to think about.