There is a genre called fan-fiction that continue the stories started in other books.  In the world of Jane Austen fan-fic, there are thousands, and, although I haven’t read them all, I’ve certainly read more than my share.  The most unusual of these books is For Darkness Shows the Stars, a fanfic “mashup” of JA’s Persuasion and dystopian science fiction. 

Beta by Rachel Cohn is a reality star cum clone story which is pretty shallow and tired. The location is quite possible--a terraformed island with special atmo and seawater for the elite to sizzle and rejuvenate.  Only the uberrich can get there, and all the servants are cloned.  Beta is what our main character is--a trial clone who is designed as an adolescent rather than adult.  She is gorgeous and everything seems super, but she knows right away that something is wrong.

    OK, I promised 5 stars for Seraphina, but I am changing my mind now that I have read the entire book.  4.5 instead--it somehow almost made it to perfection, but not quite.

Seraphina, written by Rachel Hartman, is absolutely, purely, wonderful! I'm halfway through, and I'll review it next week.

Lately it seems I’ve been reading a lot of mystery series featuring flawed but decent men in rugged surroundings.  The latest is William Kent Krueger’s mystery novels starring Corcoran (Cork) O’Connor in northern Minnesota.  When we first meet Cork, he’s the former sheriff of Tamarack County, having lost his badge as a result of a confrontation over fishing rights by the local fishermen and the indigenous Ojibwe people.  He’s also lost his marriage to Jo, a beautiful attorney who advocates for the Indians on the rez.  Cork is ¼ O