Sorry about the delay in this post - company visiting and all is chaos!

Here is my February reading list, as part of the 75 Books Challenge:

Wand in the Word - This collection of interviews with famous fantasy writers is geared towards young adults (who will love every minute of it), but as an adult fan I enjoyed it a great deal. You have Ursula K. LeGuin, Brian Jacques, Philip Pullman and tons of others, all of whom are very candid about their writing habits, character inspiration and how they started writing. I reviewed it for my March column in Bookslut and recommend it highly.

Bookmark Now - I am a bit behind the curve on this collection of writers speaking out in "these unreaderly times". I picked this copy up at Powells (on sale!) and there are some essays I prefer over others but all in all it is a enjoyable read. I am using it now to track down the titles by some of these authors and I'm pretty happy to be discovering writers I might otherwise have overlooked.

Nothing But the Truth - I raved earlier about this YA coming of age story by Justina Chin Headley and absolutely loved every minute of it. It's certainly a great title for anyone who has never fit in (for any reason), but I especially liked it's smart portrayal of a young girl who is half Asian/half Caucasian American. We don't see enough books for the biracial teen population and as the demographics change, that is going to have to change as well. This title will be reviewed down the line at Bookslut as well.

Greenstone Grail & Sword of Straw - Another couple of entries for March's column on fantasy; these two books by Amanda Hemingway totally captured my attention a couple of weeks ago. So smartly done and such a great reimagination of the Grail legend, not to mention the history of Christianity. This series is just fantastic and I am eagerly awaiting the third book in the trilogy. (Think Philip Pulman and you're in the right ballpark.)

Warrior Girl - What a fantastic retelling of the legend of Joan of Arc! This is a first class piece of historical fiction that includes not only a wonderful look at the story of Joan but also a very cool fictional mystery about her cousin. This one will be reviewed in my April column on historical fiction. It's a YA story but also just great historical fiction and if you are any kind of fan of Joan, then you really need to have it. (I have already read some nonfiction titles on Joan and this one is a perfect complement.)

Between Piety & Desire - This is the second book I've read for the Neighborhood Story Project, written by two siblings who grew up on the main street in the 9th Ward. It's really really well done; a great look at both the good and bad in the section of New Orleans that was hardest hit by Katrina. I am enjoying this series a great deal - it's a total time capsule to the way it was before. This one will ultimately be reviewed at the Voices of New Orleans.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - What a fun book! I enjoyed Cory Doctorow's latest book and have gone looking for his earlier works. This was the first one I read and since I was a total Disney kid who also loves sci fi, it's a perfect fit. I have no idea where Cory gets his ideas, but boy, do I respect his talent.

Lulu Dark and the Summer of the Fox - Lots of love for Lulu around here - she's a very modern and funny take on the girl detective and in this case, the sequel is even better than the original. It's crazy sometimes, but in a good way (if that makes sense). This will be reviewed this Spring for Bookslut.

War in a Time of Peace by David Halberstram. Oh man. These books always piss me off so much that I wonder how I manage to read them. It's the story of Bush, Clinton, the Generals and the Balkans - with bits about Somalia and Haiti. It's an excellent look at what happened to US foreign policy in the 1990s and how so many of our decisions were based on politics and not the actions of the people who committed acts of violence against each other. This is a great history book, and if you want to know more about Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and Croatia, you really need to start here.

Rogue River Journal - Just finished this one the other night, under the wire. It's about a writer (John Daniel) who spends a solitary winter on the Rogue River in Oregon living in a cabin. The idea is to write a book about that as well as another book about his father who was a successful labor organizer between the 1930s and 1960s. The single book became much more - including the story of how Daniel avoided going to Vietnam and managed (almost by mistake) not to go to jail for it. (He was all set to choose prison for his ideals but it never happened.) He's a great writer and I loved particularly the parts about his father and the AFL/CIO - stuff I have never read about before. This is a well researched memoir - it draws on his father's papers and letters, the archives of others from his field, Daniel's journals and letters and numerous inteviews. I really enjoyed it and will review it hopefully for Bookslut shortly.

So, I'm reading book #32 right now and really buzzing along. I promise to provide links later and also to set up a sidebar so it's easier to track my 75 books.