From my 2 favorite sections of the library

Bras and Broomsticks, by Sarah Mlynowski. This book was a little more juvenile than I had anticipated, but it wasn't bad. It's for a young enough audience that it had a few morals embedded in the story, but they were unobtrusive enough that I don't think young readers (circa 12) will much notice them. There is a sequel, never fear, and I'll be all over that next week.

Ivy, by Julie Hearn. I liked how this book often felt like much older novels; I love when 19th century authors address the reader in personal little asides. This book did that, but, unfortunately, that was about the only classic throw-back that came through. The character could have been likable, but I felt she was rather unrealistic. In the slums of London, principles are too expensive to spontaneously develop. The story ended up being rather less than plausible.

The Colony, by John Tayman. This book is very interesting, but it's rather thick and the type is teeny, and it will take me forever to get through it properly. I'm having trouble enjoying it because, as a well-researched, detail-packed nonfiction work, it has tons of characters and events and details, and I'm having trouble keeping them straight by myself. This is not the type of book I can read 2 or 3 pages at a time on a loud bus, so I will have to save it for a quieter time in my life, more conducive to constant note-taking.