On a completely unrelated note, I just finished a few comic memoirs: Maus, Persepolis, and Fun Home.

I also need a recommendation of a well-written romance novel. My male friend who is really into sci fi ish stuff, but also Shakespeare, doesn't believe there is a romance novel that is ever "good", but said he would read one.

...he's either gay or in a relationship (or both), right?

If not, how does he feel about mail-order English Roses?

Plus she had a sex change! So she was a transgender fairy princess.

How did I not know this? Because this is FABulous.

I thought Ozma had the sex change.

It was indeed Ozma with the sex change.

So many lovely, completely insane little tangents in all those books. I completely adored the Flatheads, who kept their brains (powdered) in little cans they carried around with them everywhere and were ruled by a couple who had conned several other people out of their cans of powdered brains and were thus the smartest people in the land because they had something like six cans of brains each.

And the princess with her collection of couture heads, and the wicked magician princess with a castle hidden at the bottom of a lake, and the three former benevolent rulers of the lake region (also women, and magicians) transformed into a golden fish, a silver fish, and a bronze fish, swimming around and around the sunken castle and singing sadly.

The Oz books are uneven, but my God, that man's imagination could sing, and he was absolutely fearless about taking every single crazy "what-if" that bounced into his head and setting it loose to run glorious riot.

Thanks for the recs. I am fairly invested in proving him wrong (He dislikes Buffy and cannot be swayed-- he likes the movie and thinks the TV show is not well done)

If not, how does he feel about mail-order English Roses?

He is neither gay nor married, and I am sure he does like Kate Winslet.... (He is my BFF's brother, so like my brother).

he likes the movie and thinks the TV show is not well done

I felt the same way until I blundered upon Once More With Feeling one lazy morning. I liked how campy the movie was and I thought the TV show took itself too seriously. This opinion was based on a couple episodes of Season 1.

Deena, the books are all by John Christopher and the series, in order, is: When the Tripods Came, The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, The Pool of Fire

I might be going to a couple used book stores this weekend. If I run across any of these I'll pick them up and get them to you. I pulled out my copies to make sure I got the titles in order. Now I think I'll just have to read them again before putting them away.

Oh GG! I absolutely LOVED those books when I was a kid. I think they may have been my introduction to science fiction, actually. I'd been meaning to figure out the titles and author for ages. Thanks!

No problem! I remembered reading them as a kid and later couldn't remember the names, either. When I would describe the books people would look at me like I was crazy and, for a short time, I thought I had dreamed them.

About 12 years ago I was on a drama competition trip. One of the chaperones was a guy about my age. We got along great and became good friends. He and I discovered a similar passion for books and started trading some of the books we brought.

The third morning at the festival, I discovered him outside his room. As I walked down the hallway he looked up and asked me if I had read the book he was holding. I could barely believe he was holding up a copy of The City of God and Lead! When I told him I had been looking for the series for years, he grinned, pulled out the other 3 books and gave me the set for 'putting up with him' on the trip.

When I would describe the books people would look at me like I was crazy and, for a short time, I thought I had dreamed them.

HA! I had the exact same experience. That's hysterical!