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James Alan Gardner. Buddhist science fiction, complete with Sanskrit chapter headings. And a good story, to boot.

Elizabeth Kerner. No, not a serious religious topic. Final installment of an enjoyable fantasy series. Dragons! Female blacksmiths and assasins! Mystical healers! The Balance of the Universe!

Kavita Daswani. Chick lit meets Bollywood. Like the Rabbi of 84th Street, a short, jaunty book that touches much more serious themes.

Warren Kozak. It’s a brief read, but it’s not light. Besser, a Hasidic rabbi born in Poland who escaped before the Nazi onslaught to Palestine and later moved to New York, is a mover and shaker. Not only are his early life circumstances not light, but the book is written so sympathetically that I only gradually realized that I’m probably on the opposite side of most political questions from Besser–and that he holds his positions with the totally commited, unintentional arrogance of the very old and pious. In addition, the last few chapters descend into a sentimental, flabby account of miracle stories (told by Besser, not about him).

Rosemary Kirstein. Actually a reissue of two earlier books, The Steerswoman and The Outskirter’s Secret. This could be thought of as the beginning of a mystery story. There are certainly tantalizing hints that the characters are descendants of people from Earth. Why do the wizards, the steerswomen, and the outskirters have such fragmentary understandings of how things work? Of course, we all have only a fragmentary understanding, but this story is set in a world where someone, once upon a time, had the connections. Or do the wizards actually have a full understanding? Then why are they hiding it?

I guess I’ll just have to keep reading to find out.

Fine, strong female protagonists, by the way.

Patrick O’Brian. I don’t know how anyone could not call it a cliffhanger! I guess I’ll just have to race on to the next one.

Patrick O’Brian. Number five, and finally (almost) a cliffhanger. Certainly a story that ends with all sorts of loose ends, which I trust will be tied up eventually.