4. Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog.

by Ysabeau S. Wilce (431 pp.) I am endlessly frustrated with my inability to read more than 5 pages a day. This is the kind of book that should be gobbled up in a weekend. Yesterday afternoon I got cozy and vowed not to move until it was done. But then it was dinner time so I didn't finish it until I went to bed.

I'd heard this book was fabulous a bunch of times and finally got my hands on it and it is just as advertised. It's about thirteen-year old Flora Fyrdraaca who is born into a military family that's on the decline. There's magic and creatures and weirdness and humor. Flora gets herself into all kinds of trouble. Here's a quote: "That's the problem with guns: they pretend to be the solution to every problem." Recommended.