Real World
, Natsuo Kirino's third novel to be translated into English, opens with a high school boy murdering his mother. The girl next door, also a teenager, overhears the crime take place, and then she has an odd encounter with the boy, whom she has nicknamed Worm. For reasons she can't explain, she lies to the police and her parents about her interaction with Worm. In the meantime Worm, who has stolen her cell phone, begins calling the girl and her three closest friends. Each of them has her own distinct reaction to the crime and the criminal, and he brings out conflicting urges and motivations that will have profound ramifications for them all.I didn't think Real World was as good as Kirino's previous works Out
and Grotesque
(which is an excellent and troubling read; I found myself wondering how, as a writer, Kirino lived with such nasty characters without becoming totally unhinged), but it's still a strong novel and very cognizant of the challenges surrounding the surreal lives of Japanese teenagers. Kirino points out the constant sense of threat adolescent girls face and the dangers they encounter daily; this pervading aura of dread and fear shapes the characters and their actions.
, for the sake of being culturally conversant (same reason I read Twilight), but I didn't expect to enjoy it. To my surprise, I found it engrossing and, mostly, very good. The last 50 pages weakened the effect, because I didn't like the resolution of a major plot point, but they didn't ruin the novel. Very interesting insights into the geisha culture, obviously, but also Japanese society before, during, and after World War II, and the limited options available to girls and women in that society.
, Lisa See chronicles the life of Lily, a Chinese girl whose station is elevated by her beautiful face, her tiny bound feet, and her special friendship with Snow Flower, a girl from a better family. After Lily's arranged marriage to an aristocratic young man, she learns a secret about Snow Flower that devastates her and threatens their friendship. 
, and enjoyed it very much. As in his adult novels, Hiaasen combines an offbeat sense of humor with a plot about preserving the unique flora and fauna in Florida.
. However, it was difficult to follow, convoluted, and ultimately disappointing. Sonchai, reeling from the death of his son (which, he explains, is due to his own bad karma and/or his expressed willingness to suffer to achieve Buddhist enlightenment), is drawn into the investigation into the murder of an American film director. The investigation and Sonchai's other role, as consigliere to his corrupt boss (see above reference to bad karma), take the detective to Kathmandu, where he meets a mysterious spiritual guru and a beautiful woman schooled in the ways of tantric sex. Back home in Bangkok, he pursues a connection between the dead film director and an aristocratic, semi-insane, also beautiful doctor of pharmaceuticals. A late connection to gem trading necessitates a trip to Hong Kong and ties together various loose strands, but also adds another dimension to a plot already heady with dimensions.
is set primarily in Burma during 1886-1887. Edgar Drake, a London piano tuner, receives a request from the British War Office to travel to colonial Burma to service the piano of Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll. It's an unusual request, but Carroll is an unusual man: By reciting poetry and playing music, he has managed to forge strong relationships with local tribes and rulers, enabling him to oversee a peaceful settlement in a conflict-ridden region.
by Mischa Berlinski takes place in Thailand and in the border regions of the Golden Triangle--Burma, Thailand, and China. The novel's narrator, also named Mischa Berlinski, becomes obsessed with the story of a Dutch-American archaeologist who committed suicide in a Thai jail more than a decade after she shot a missionary twice in the back.
,* Randy Wayne White's protagonist, Doc Ford, prevents a Senator from being kidnapped and then is hired by her to find the boy taken in her place. In the world of the novel, Fidel Castro has died, and the U.S. has taken custody of his documents, possessions, and files. Various parties, including Doc himself as well as the kidnappers, have a strong interest in those files. The action vacillates between Ford's native Florida and the Hamptons, an alien environment but one that White handles well.The kidnapped boy is a tough, gutsy figure, although his connection to Ford is a bit too coincidental to be believable. An entertaining read, but not one for those new to Doc Ford and his world.
by Dr Seuss is reasonably entertaining. The title story is funny but also contains a lesson about accepting those who are different.
, Poppy Z. Brite's first short story collection. Most of the stories are set in the rural South, although there are also some New Orleans entries. Brite was between 18 and 24 when he wrote these stories, and that comes through in both positive and negative ways--there's freshness, enthusiasm, and excitement, but also an overly dramatic and adjective-ridden prose (these are faults I still fight, so no harsh criticism here). I first read this collection as a goth graduate student at Penn State, which isn't the South but does have lush vegetation, humidity, and quirky, isolated mountain towns, so I could kind of relate to the world in the stories. I'm not sure I'd ever read the book in its entirety since then. Rereading it was a fun little jaunt into nostalgia and also helped me wrap my head around a few issues in my own writing.
multiple times before finally succeeding, and I was disappointed in the book because I'd expected to love it. So I tackled 
with some uncertainty but an open mind. I ended up enjoying it very much. It's the tale of adolescent Frankie, an imaginative and not entirely sane girl growing up motherless in a Southern town. When her older brother becomes engaged, she convinces herself she's going to be in the wedding and then will accompany the couple on their honeymoon and subsequent exotic, exciting life. She's mad and devilish and is like a younger version of some of Tennessee Williams' mad and devilish heroines.
, Bailey White's first book of essays about her eccentric family and life on the edge of Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, is entertaining in some ways and disappointing in others. Some of the anecdotes are belly-laugh-inducingly hilarious; others meander to weak endings or vaguely Aesop-like morals. It's a fast read and entertaining, and enough of the essays were quirky, funny, or insightful enough that I'll keep it on my shelf, although I don't plan to read the sequel.
is a treat for readers familiar with his ancient and indefatigable detectives. Their Peculiar Crimes Unit has been disbanded, but a difficult case causes their bureaucratic arch-nemesis to issue a temporary reprieve. World War II bombings and ruthless developers both play a role in the plot, which ends on an unexpectedly sad note, with the death of a familiar character (spoiler alert: not Bryant or May). 
, rather than jumping in partway through. There's a lot of history and quite a bit of who's who background that's necessary to fully appreciate the later installments.