Seconding Kavalier and Klay. There are also the YA novels of Joan Aiken, many (most?) of which are set in an almost perpetually wintry alternative-history Victorian/Edwardian England that at times feels like it must exist in the same universe as Lake of the Coheeries.

I adore, adore, adore Winter's Tale. I re-read it every few years, usually waiting for a day when I'm nice and snowed-in.

Pearly Soames, now there's a villain. Mad for color, he was. Tucked up behind the zodiac in Grand Central Station.

I loved Memoir from Antproof Case, but I remember that the first time I read it I didn't like it at first and stuck with it and it all came together and was lovely at the end. And so now if I re-read I remember how it came together for me.

Winter's Tale is one of my favorite books ever. A book I find comparable is Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

Thanks for the recommendations!! I will definitely look into them. Since I'm substitute teaching at the moment and the vast majority of the lesson plans I get left involve me doing absolutely nothing, I find myself with a LOT of time to read.

I'm also really glad you all like Winter's Tale!! I'm trying in vain to convince my mother to read it, but she has it in her head that reading books that are actually good is somehow more difficult than reading books that are bad.

I also loved Winter's Tale, but it's hard to think of other books that have the same vibe.

The closest for me would probably be things like Little, Big, which was already mentioned or W.P. Kinsella's baseball books.

Thinking about it, it's a style of lyric fantasy that's probably more associated with shorter forms. Whereas part of the appeal of Winter's Tale is that it's so big and so absorbing. (Though to be honest, the characters are not all fully fleshed out.)

Charles De Lint's urban fantasies have some of the same feel. Bradbury at his most lyrical.

finally buzzing though Mockingjay. Even knowing what's going to happen, still incredibly engaging.

And someone upthread mentioned that they never explaned why Snow's breath smelled like blood. Finnick does, during his propo speech. Says that Snow poisoned so many people with shared food or drink, and sometimes the antidote didn't work fast enough, so his breath smells like blood because of the open wounds in his mouth rather anticlimactic, really.

Finally finished The Passage. Damn, that was long. Not particularly slow-moving, but unnecessarily long. I liked it a lot. I was disatisfied with things that weren't resolved in the end, until I realized it was a trilogy. Now I'm just disatisfied that I can't seem to avoid trilogies.

I felt the same way, megan. Also, though I loved the story in general, I can't really recall any of the characters in particular, except the Amy and possibly Sara. I think somewhere in all those pages, Cronin could have done a better job describing and contrasting the cast. That's especially true compared to Hunger Games trilogy where every character is drawn pretty well and is distinct from the others. It's almost as though Cronin's is a long movie treatment and he's hoping the casting and director will complete the characters.

(I am distracting myself from the fact that Wilson needs one more out to close out this frakking nerve-wracking play-off game.)

(I am distracting myself from the fact that Wilson needs one more out to close out this frakking nerve-wracking play-off game.)

Feel free to come join my nail biting in Natter.