Chapter Forty-Six: Bellwether

Bellwether by Connie Willis is one of my all-time favorite novels!  I love it every time I read it: the fun characters, the ridiculous workplace, the little tidbits of history about various fads--all these elements combine to make an engaging story about two researchers at an absurd corporation who combine projects with fantastic results.  It's not quite science-fiction from an author most known for that genre, but it is fun fiction about scientists!  I heartily recommend this heartwarming story to anyone who wants to restore their faith in humanity and in life in general.

Chapter Forty-Five: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci

I saw this series by Diana Wynne Jones (one of my favorite authors) on the shelves countless times as a kid, but I somehow never read them until a friend of mine sent them to me when she learned of my love of Jones's books.  They are fantastically fun, marvelously magical books!  There are seven in total: Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Wizards of Caprona, Witch Week, Conrad's Fate, The Pinhoe Egg, and Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci.  As you'll quickly find out, Chrestomanci is a title for a government official who is in charge of controlling magic in several series of related worlds (our own being one of them, but not the primary focus of these stories), and the Chrestomanci is chosen for one important quality: he is a (human) enchanter with nine lives (like a cat, but he's a human).  These are really fun tales of magic running amok and being put back to rights, peppered with Jones's typical humor and delightful characters.  I highly recommend them if you enjoy fantasy novels and having fun!

Chapter Forty-Four: The Mitford Series, The Father Tim Series

Let me begin by saying that I just love these series of books, which are so related to each other that I'm writing about them in one post.  Both series follow the adventures of Father Tim, a middle-aged to elderly Episcopalian priest and his life and work in the hamlet of Mitford, North Carolina (and occasionally his adventures as he travels elsewhere, either for work or pleasure).  The plot is rather thin on the ground in these books, focusing as they do on one man's everyday life; however, this does not make the books any less enjoyable in my eyes.  I definitely wouldn't recommend it if you want fast-paced or intense reading: these books are, however, light reading at their best.  The characters are realistic and delightful; it is the characters that keep me reading this series.  It's a fun, light read.