An Evening of Long Goodbyes by Paul Murray, or anything at all by Kate Atkinson. Or, to pimp for a moment, the Roz Kaveney SFF novel I co-edited last year that's racking up a metric buttload of awards and spots on best-of lists.

I second the Kaveney book!

JZ, is your publishing venture still a going concern?

Yes, it is - volume 2 of the Kaveney tetralogy coming out this summer, and various short story anthologies churning along, including the second one to include an erika story (and also the second in which erika's is easily one of the best in the whole anthology).

It's not making money, exactly, but it's breaking even; I suspect that at some point it'll have to move from print-on-demand to actual official printing and warehousing numbered editions (which reduces the print cost and lets you drop the cover price and still make a good profit on every copy sold, but also means you have to have enough storage space for everything you can't immediately move onto the shelves of a brick-and-mortar store -- one of my brother's friends did that for several years, and because she and the other editors were working out of their houses, everyone's house turned into an unmanageable maze of book boxes). But, damn, it's painful getting into the brick-and-mortar stores, even the teeny local ones where the authors have preexisting good relationships. So, still print on demand for now, but surviving.

JZ, the Kavney book is on my wish list, and I think I'm going to ask TCG to get it for me for my birthday. Sadly my library is teeny, and they don't have it.

PC, I have The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms somewhere on my bookshelf. It didn't grab me the first time I tried to read it, but maybe I'll try again.

My library has a very small sci fi fantasy section, but I was able to get Queen Victoria's Book of Spells off the new book table. Any read it? It's a steam punk anthology.

Then I went downstairs to the used bookstore, and grabbed the first three volumes of Sandman for a dollar each and a book on the history of Chanel No 5 for 2 dollars.

Is Sandman too adult for an 11 year old who likes comic books?

It's Vertigo, so there's sex and violence and cursing. There's an issue in the first volume that's one of the most unsettling things I've ever read.

But overall, I wouldn't say it's too "adult," per se, but it's pretty heady and complex. Depends on the 11-year-old.

I would not give Sandman to an 11 year old who was not my own. I would not recommend a friend give it to their 11 year old unless they read it first.

It would mostly be fine, I think, but there's some disturbingly specific violence and sexual abuse. I would give P-C's answer for a 14 year old.

I'm with Debet - I wouldn't recommend Sandman to anyone younger than high school.

There's an issue in the first volume that's one of the most unsettling things I've ever read.

"24 Hours", I'm guessing?

I would say Sandman is not quite appropriate for an 11 year old.