I've got

three new books!

Uglies by Scot Westerfield
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood


OK, they're not really new, because they're library books, but they're new to me. Many of you probably know about or have read the first two since they've been out a while but the third book, The Blind Assassin, you may not be familiar with. It tells the tale of two sisters, one of whom dies under strange circumstances, while the other narrates. From the beginning:

"Ten days after the war ended my sister Laura drove a car off the bridge."

"...two witnesses - a retired lawyer and a bank teller, dependable people - had claimed to have seen the whole thing. They said Laura had turned the car sharply and deliberately, and had plunged off the bridge with no more fuss than stepping off the curb. They'd noticed her hands on the wheel because of the white gloves she'd been wearing."

"I could picture the smooth oval of Laura's face, her neatly pinned chignon, the dress she would have been wearing: a shirtwaist with a small rounded collar, in a sober color - navy blue or steel grey or hospital-corridor green. Penitential colors - less like something she'd chosen to put on than like something she'd been locked up in."

I'm almost tempted to start reading it right now...

Meanwhile, I'm also over at Unicorn Bell today where I'm critiquing the first page from the second chapter (an idea I got from Ebyss) of Orbital Shifts, a science fiction novel. If you have a chance, come over and check it out.  We also have one slot left for August's First Impression, which Dianne and I have teamed up to do the first of every month. If you're interested, email me: marcy@tidewater.net with first impressions in the subject line.