Finished the Night Shift by Stephen King. Read Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal.
Night Shift was good. About 25 short stories with some really good ones like Children of the Corn. There were a few that were so-so, but definitely good for aspiring novelists to read or anyone who is interested in the evolution of an author as a lot of these came right around the time he started being published.
Shades of Milk and Honey was interesting. I saw Mary at a con, but didn't want to approach because I hadn't read any of her works yet and only knew of her through Writing Excuses. I've always liked Pride and Prejudice, but if I'm being honest, Wuthering Heights is more my cup of tea. I really enjoyed this book. The prose was well done. For the most part, short, concise sentences. The magic (glamours) were well done. The description was lacking in parts, but this actually worked in this book because it so closely mirrored Jane Austen that my mind immediately filled in the blanks. Ever since I saw the movie version with Keira Knightley that's what I picutre when I read anything similar so that helped with this. For a first time author (which I believe she was with this book) Mary was a good first read. Unfortunately, many first time authors suffer occassionally from prose that pulls the reader out. I didn't have that issue here.
My only real complaint is with the ending. There was some very brief foreshadowing concerning one of the characters and there was a late mention of dueling by another character. It wasn't nearly enough. The book is almost completely about conversations and unspoken desires, but the ending is the classic Hollywood blow out in which the main character (always proper, always right no matter how much it hurts her) acts completely out of character. The ending following this Hollywood confrontation is completely Deus ex Machina. The tragedy is that I think this could have been easily avoided with more foreshadowing early on and perhaps more conversation and less physical confrontation at the end.
The ending isn't terrible, it's just not up to par with the rest of the ending. I was surprised by the romantic turn of events at the end and I thought she did a credible job with knocking one of the potential suitors out of the picture. Unfortunately, this was a surprise more for the lack of foreshadowing than being a well set up change in direction.
All in all, a very enjoyable read and I can see why Mary has earned such attention for her work. I would read her again because her prose is so readable. So long as there isn't more Deus ex Machina, I think I've found another author to read.