Sadly, now my birthday is over...

...but on the up side, I made out like the proverbial bandit! Thanks, everybody!

Julia's Birthday Reading List:


The Sisters Grimm series, by Michael Buckley. I was a little taken aback to find that these had, like, the EXACT same plot as my current favorite comic book series, Bill Willingham's Fables, and I was REALLY taken aback at the TOTALLY INFURIATING cliffhanger at the end of the second book, but otherwise these stories were a damn good time.



Down the Rabbit Hole, by Peter Abrahams. Haven't read this yet, but my mother (who immediately borrowed it) assures me that it's very good.







The Dashwood Sisters' Secrets of Love, by Rosie Rushton. A teen re-telling of Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Cute idea, and nicely done, but it's not my favorite Austen novel and the writing wasn't quite Wordcandy-worthy.





Harlequin Violet Response, by Penny Jordan. This one was from my mother, God love her. Totally awesome (and printed in "HOT VIOLET INK!", as advertised on the back cover) but since it wasn't a Neels story there were no Dutch doctors. Alas.





The Gormenghast Trilogy, by Mervyn Peake. Possibly the weirdest book I've ever asked for, but what's not to like about a story called Titus Groan?







Freaks: Alive, on the Inside!, by Annette Curtis Klause. As always, beautifully written and hugely entertaining. I learned more than I really cared to about the abuse of circus freaks at the end of the nineteenth century, though.