Lots of books read in the past couple of weeks. Here's some quick capsule reviews of some of them.

Tough Boy Sonatas - Poems written from the perspective of young African American men in Gary, Indiana. This is one of those poetry collections that fairly blows me away. How could an author reference King Lear, MLK Jr, Daredevil and the New Zoo Revue all in one collection? He has so many references here - so many serious historical or literary moments along with pure pop culture or history. Althea Gibson and Luke Cage, "You and shorter cousin next to you, put hands in air like stupid perps on Starsky & Hutch", there's just so much smart writing, so much emotion and intelligence, anger and frustration, love and admiration in this book. It's urban, it's inner city, it's poor and it's minority. I am so impressed - so very impressed - with how interesting Curtis Crisler's poems are (and don't even get me started on Floyd Cooper's gorgeous pictures). This is just the perfect book for disaffected teens everywhere but it will particularly appeal to minority readers. How serendipitious that my copy should arrive in time for a column on books for young men and when I'm gathering books for troubled kids in New Orleans!

Saffron & Brimstone - This is my first book by Liz Hand (yes I know - how did it take so long?) and what dazzled me here is the language - the ideas - the exoticness of the characterizations. Hand has a gift for writing extraordinary events into commonplace moments - she's good at shocking you, that's for sure. I left these stories unsure if I loved it all - or liked it all - or just was blown away. How does she do this? How does she think of this? More than anything I just thought Hand's work was fascinating and thrilling and gifted. My stories would not be hers, but I would like to write like this - I would like some of this gift. (Read the first chapter of her new novel at the Small Beer Press site.)

The Case of the Left-Handed Lady - Second in the middle grade Enola Holmes mystery series and a great little mystery all on its own. You really need to read the first book to understand all the players here, but expect Enola to still be plucky, Sherlock to still be looking for her and the themes of woman's rights and personal freedom to still be a big part of what's going on. This go-round there is also discussion of Karl Marx and Marxism, communism, socialism and mesmerism (all in a middle grade mystery! how fabulous!). A runaway (or kidnap victim) must be found and Enola must remain lost. The whole thing speeds along at a perfect pace and will satisfy middle grade mystery lovers for sure. This one goes in my summer mystery piece for Eclectica - and will be shortly out the door to one of my fav middle grade mystery fans!

Blood Secret - I thought this would be a straightforward YA mystery but it turned out to be a huge look at the Spanish Inqusition which was a total surprise. The primary story takes place in the modern day, but as Jerry learns more about her family, she realizes that they have been living a lie for centuries. In flashbacks the reader learns about various family members who suffered at the hands of the Inquisition due to their religion and Jerry realizes how they came to change their religion and yet still retain odd traditions left over from generations before. It's still a mystery but also a good drama and most certainly one of the more interesting books of modern/historical fiction blending I've come across. I haven't heard about this book anywhere and I'd really like to know other opinions.

M is for Magic - This is Neil Gaiman's new YA collection with several stories culled from other collections (and some new work) now presented to teen audiences. It's great - it's Gaiman so what do you expect? - and the new teaser story from his current YA book in progress about a boy who lives among ghosts in a graveyard is very well done. (And leaves the reader hungry for more.)

Gaiman's title is a reference to Bradbury's R is for Rocket and I wish someone would come out with an anthology of stories from various fantasy writers as homages to Bradbury and then do the same thing from SF writers. I think it could be a great two book collection and authors like Gaiman (and Caitlin Kiernan who's thinking of doing a book with a similar premise to Magic called A is for Alien or Bradbury Weather) would be perfect. It doesn't need to be YA, but I like the collection idea. There's room for it out there and if done as hardcover (and maybe JK Potter could illustrate!) it would be awesome. (Dare I suggest this is perfect for someone like Small Beer or Subterranean???)

I'm deep in Scott of the Antarctic right now and even though I know how it's going to end (so badly!) it's still quite riveting. This is a very well written biography. I'm also loving Sins of the Innocent a memoir about a French woman who ends up with her German husband in Germany during WWII. It is excellent so far and a total and lovely surprise. Unbridled Books is just so good - so so so good and this is another great title from them. (And Leila - in The White Darkness didn't you just want to yell at that mother "Don't let her get on the train! Grab your daughter now you fool!!!" I'm not done reading but man - this one is fab!)

The whole You Should Read This Awards list will be up sometime this weekend - it looks to be a dandy!