The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton, 361 pages

Beth is a young but distinguished ornithologist, splitting her time between teaching at Oxford and tracking down dangerous and rare magical birds. She's about to grab just such a specimen when the dashing (and annoying) Devon Lockley literally swoops in and nabs the bird right from under her fingers. But when a competition to become Birder of the Year (and gain tenure) through capturing a particularly elusive bird is announced, Beth and Lockley find themselves forming the most unlikely of teams... and discover that they don't dislike each other as much as they thought.

This book is just as silly as that previous paragraph implies, and while it's not going to win any awards, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon. I actually think this would be better served as a campy B movie, perfect for a rainy afternoon — it just has that vibe — though I'm not sure the Victorian era in which it's set would translate well to film. Oh well, just read it and giggle.

The Fourth Bear

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde, 378 pages

In this second Nursery Crime book (after The Big Over Easy), Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and Sergeant Mary Mary are looking into the mysterious death of Goldilocks, an investigative reporter who was researching the world of competitive cucumber growing, when sadistic mass murderer the Gingerbreadman escapes from the insane asylum where he'd been held since Jack captured him 20 years earlier. Throw in a mysteriously healing car, an ill-fated trip to Sommeworld (quite possibly the worst idea for a theme park ever), and way too many references to Edward Lear's nonsense poems, and you have what is probably most fanciful, silly, and downright convoluted murder mystery ever published. While it may not be for everyone, I love it and have read it several times. The note at the end — that Ashley (an alien, of course), Jack, and Mary will return in The Last Great Tortoise Race in 2007 — is just a cruel reminder that no third Nursery Crime book was ever published. Sigh...

The Eye of Zoltar

The Eye of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde, 405 pages

In this third installment of Fforde's zany Chronicles of Kazam YA series, orphan Jennifer Strange once again finds herself wrangling the kooky sorcerers of Kazam Magic Inc. and trying to mend fences with outside magical forces. This time around, she strikes a deal with The Mighty Shandar to spare the world's two remaining dragons in exchange for the mythical Eye of Zoltar, a powerful gem that has been lost to time. With her possible boyfriend Perkins and a body-swapped princess in tow, Jennifer embarks on a mission (don't call it a quest; the International Questing Federation's fees are too high) to the bordering country of Cambria, where giant carnivorous creatures, taxidermy-obsessed cannibals, and warring (but very polite) tribes all await adventure tourists. It's a fun adventure, filled with Fforde's trademark smart silliness. An excellent addition to this series.