The All-New Bunrab

Marvel 1602. Neil Gaiman as lead author. Very amusing alternate history. I am not the comix fan some people are, so there are probably a few references I missed (and am too lazy to google), such as who is Virginia Dare supposed to be, and why does she look like an elf? And bikergeek, there's a quick passing reference to the very problem of the "fen vs. mundane" mindset you were mentioning. In some ways, that's part of the theme of the whole book - in the end, it's the characters who are human, rather than superheroes, who fix the problem - Nick Fury and Captain America. Maybe not "average" human, but not superpowers, either. So being a superhero doesn't mean one is any "better" than a plain ol' human.

Other quick reads:
The Guild of Xenolinguists by Sheila Finch - loosely related short stories, all of which seem a poor imitation of Suzette Haden Elgin's linguists. The stories run to excessive reliance on emotion, and rather obvious moral messages.
Snake Oil Science by R. Barker Bausell - although subtitled "The truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine" what this book is is an extended tutorial on how to conduct a properly double-blinded clinical trial; there's very, very little about the CAM "therapies" other than pointing out how poorly they've been tested.
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs - in which he proves that NO ONE, not the most dedicated fundamentalist, is actually following the literal word of the bible, and furthermore, no one *can* - partly because the language in it is so ambiguous; partly because many people are self-deluding as to how subjective their readings are. Very funny book.
Leisureville: Adventures in America's Retirement Utopias by Andrew Blechman - certainly reinforces my determination to never live in an "over-55" community; Blechman talks to many people who are happy in those communities, but the constant emphasis on golf and on sameness is depressing, and, he points out, this kind of age-segregated community violates a social contract, wherein older people recognize that their remaining future depends in part on providing education for the young.

A certain amount of time being spent here waiting for the electrician to show up (yes, Waiting For the Electrician or Someone Like Him), waiting for the people giving an estimate on landscaping to show up, etc.

The Zookeeper's Menagerie by Joanne Duncalf. Ew, Christian allegory even less subtle than Narnia, which is to say, hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-brick unsubtle. That said, the little family of hedgehogs is cute (even if they were intended to demonstrate the superiority of the nuclear family with lots of children over gay couples adopting a child).

Ten Tortured Words by Stephen Mansfield. Ugh, another religious conservative - I have got to start applying a better filter to the "New Books" shelves at the library than "hmmm, interesting title." In this case, Mansfield claims to know what the founding fathers were thinking much better than what Thomas Jefferson *said* he was thinking. Everson v. Board of Ed evil! Lyndon Johnson evil! PFAW and FFRF evil! Thomas Jefferson's opinions on the first amendment are derided because his famous letter was written fourteen years after the first amendment was written, yet the opinions (about what the first amendment means) of one Joseph Story (Supreme Court 1811-1845) in his book published in 1851 are perfectly valid because he was appointed to the Supreme Court by James Madison. Also, the index is sloppy - invalid page numbers for some references, absence of citations of things that do appear in the book, ridiculous assorted spellings of "Mohammedanism." Yes indeedy, gotta refine that new book filter.

Planet Cat by Sandra Choron, Harry Choron and Arden Moore. Lots of cat trivia. Every cat joke that has appeared in email for years. Lots of illustrations, from old woodcuts to 20th-century ads using cats. Some of my favorite things: detail of a 1647 woodcut showing two seated witches as they name their familiars - which include not only a cat named Pyewacket, but a rabbit named Sacke & Spice. "The Cat's Tale" by Geoffrey Chaucer's Cat, which features a fairly nice pun. Cat cartoons (Executive at desk: "I'm leaving early today to have my cat neutered. While I'm gone, select 9 people to be Employee of The Month and award each of them with a kitten.")

Peeping Tom's Cabin - comic verse by X.J.Kennedy. I took this one out in April, for National Poetry Month. Nothing in it was particularly worth quoting. Some of the verse is amusing, some of it just pointless, and some crude. Poor imitator of Ogden Nash.

Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde. Very funny; as convoluted as the previous books in the series. If Pride and Prejudice appears on TV as a reality show called "The Bennets" and various daughters get voted out of the family, it's time to panic.

Damsels in Distress by Joan Hess. Latest in her Claire Molloy series of cozy mysteries. Makes fun of the SCA through a fictional clone called ARSE.

Head Cases: Stories of brain injury and its aftermath by Michael Paul Mason. A few hopeful notes, but mostly depressing, both about the overall state of our knowledge of how to treat patients with Traumatic Brain Injury and the state of our health care system as totally inadequate to deal with the number of patients. Don't expect miracles.

There, that's enough for now.