What I've been reading

"The Outlaw Demon Wails," part of "The Hallows" series by Kim Harrison. J. and I tend to listen to these as audiobooks while we're on long trips. I did feel that too many threads were left dangling at the end, but I also think that Harrison is getting better at crafting twisty-turn plots and the character development is getting better with each book.

and

"Redemption in Indigo" by Karen Lord, a novel based on old Senagalese folk tales. The main character, Paama, is given a chaos stick by the spirits, who took it away from an Indigo spirit for abusing his powers, and when the Indigo spirit comes looking to get his chaos stick back, things get weird for Paama. I did end up enjoying the book but wasn't crazy about the story-telling technique -- the narrator tells you that she's a storyteller and interjects her thoughts into the book, saying things like, "And so, reader, we know what's happened to Paama, so let me tell you what's happening back in town..." I'd be curious to read more by Lord, though.

My full comments on both books here.