We had a cup of tea today in the little cafe where JK Rowlings began writing Harry Potter in Edinburgh. There will be pictures eventually.

I have not read Skullduggery Pleasant yet! I keep being told I would really like it.

Anna Dressed in Blood looks really good, Jilli, but I'll let you know what I think when I start it. There are more but I have look some up.

The title sounds good.

You would! Although there's a couple chapters in the second book that you should probably not read.

A while ago someone was asking about steampunk-y books without supernatural elements; I didn't have anything at the time, but I was going through some books and came across something that might fit the bill. It's by Gail Dayton, called New Blood. Victorian-era Europe; magic works. There are four types of magic, but only three are currently being practiced - one deals with spirits, can't remember the other two. The fourth, which has no practitioners, relies on blood (and, to a lesser degree, other precious bodily fluids). One reason it's no longer practiced is that most of the practitioners were women and there's a strong prejudice against women practicing magic. In ... the Austro-Hungarian empire? ... where the story starts, it's actually illegal for a woman to practice magic. Any interest? There's a second book, New Blood, which I didn't enjoy nearly as much.

It sounds kinda interesting.

Although there's a couple chapters in the second book that you should probably not read.

Oh my god, when I re-read the books, I try to skip those chapters, although Tanith is a badass in the one fight, so I like to read that. But -- good lord. It gives me the weebies.

Jilli, I will mail you the first three as soon as I get the first back from another friend I loaned them to. You will love them.

And Teppy, I’m way slammed and don’t have time to gush they way I want to, but some time soon I want to talk about All the Awesome. I am about halfway through the 5th book, and OMG DARK with the whole sealing the name thing. ACK.

Although there's a couple chapters in the second book that you should probably not read.

I love that you people know me well enough to warn me of this stuff. I'm still vaguely sad that I can't read the Cirque du Freak books.

OMG DARK with the whole

I know! The Nye is so fucking creepy, as is that entire part of the book.

The 5th book gets darker. I mean REALLY.

Right, so I just finished The Faceless Ones. Not on, Landy. You cannot go doing that thing, and then that other thing. Although the thing at the end is pretty cool, and something I'd been sort of vaguely thinking about.

Or, with more nouns: Mr Bliss! Nooooooo! Skul! Noo! (He's the title character. He's coming back. That's why he only gets two Os). I totally called Paddy, midway through the scene where he gave Val the ring. I understand the whole hero-worship thing, but, really, it seems silly to have both Val and Skul with the same potential skill-set, so, while necromancy would not be my first choice for her, it makes so much more sense than going elemental.

The (over-)use of her reflection, I know, is a whole metaphor thing, but it's totally Chekov's gun at this point. That shit's gonna explode on her in a big, bad way in the not-too-distant future.