Finished InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves.

This is a young adult book that focuses on Joey Harker. Joey’s always had a bad sense of direction — he’s the kind of kid who can get lost in his own house. But one day, Joey steps into a mist and into another world — literally. Joey discovers that he’s a Walker, or someone who can move through various dimensions/planes/worlds. Not only that, there are other Walkers, who are all different versions of Joey from alternate worlds. Male, female, winged, big, small, mechanical. You name it, there’s a version of Joey. Or Jo or Jay or … you get the idea.

The Walkers are engaged in an epic battle with two rival companies who are intent on conquering worlds. The Walkers’ goal is to keep the balance between the big bad company that uses magic and the one that relies on science. And since Joey is a powerful Walker, everyone wants to get their hands on him …

I’ll be honest with you guys — this book made my head hurt. It’s basically a science fiction time/space travel book about a group of kid commandoes. Think A Wrinkle in Time crossed with The Matrix (when Walkers get captured they get boiled down to power the bad guys’ machinery). I’m not a big fan of sci-fi to start with, and the book features a lot of terms/ideas that just weren’t explained that well, like the In-Between and multi-dimensional life forms.

The story itself is your standard fantasy genre arc — young, unremarkable boy discovers he has a great power/destiny and goes off to fight the good fight. Joey was an okay character, but I liked his soap bubble pet Hue better than I did him.

Overall, there was just nothing in here that I haven’t seen before, and the lack of explanation bothered me. On the bright side, the book makes me want to go back and re-read A Wrinkle in Time. Still, I have to give this one a thumbs down.

Up next: Texas Rain by Jodi Thomas.

Books in my TBR pile: About 13.

Finished Goblin War by Jim C. Hines. This is the third book in his series about Jig Dragonslayer, a goblin who finds himself having adventures against his will.

In this one, Jig and some of his fellow goblins are captured by Princess Genevieve, who needs their help fortifying a town against Billa the Bloody (an orc) and her army of monster followers. But Billa’s army is just a cover for Isa, a winter goddess who wants to kill everyone to lure death god Noc onto the battlefield so she can then kill him. Of course, it’s up to Jig to stop Isa at the urging of his god, Tymolaus Shadowstar. Too bad Jig might get killed in the process …

As always, Hines writes a clever fantasy send-up. Folks who play fantasy or D&D games will especially recognize the gentle genre skewers. I loved the army of monsters with all their quibbles and problems, especially the guy who kept spouting off about regulations.

Jig is a great, albeit reluctant, hero who uses his brain to get him out of lots of tricky situations. And Jig’s interactions with his god are always amusing to read. This book fills in a lot of gaps as to exactly how Jig came to workshop Shadowstar (it wasn’t accidental at all) and more of the god’s background.

The only quibble I had with the book was the plot involving the gods. I thought it was a little convoluted, and I never understood why Isa wanted to kill the death god. Just for revenge for trying to kill her? I guess I wanted more motivation than that. Also, I wanted to know if Shadowstar was still around at the end of the book (he takes a blow meant for Jig in the end).

Still, if you like more light-hearted fantasy, you should check out this series. I hope there are more Jig adventures ahead. Thumbs up.

Up next: InterWorld by Neil Gaiman.

Books in my TBR pile: About 14. (I’m finally whittling it down!)

Is over at Book Talk with J & J. There’s a Jinx excerpt up, and I’m giving away a set of the Bigtime books. Hope you can check it out.

One of my online book friends, Edie Ramer, is a finalist in the American Title V contest sponsored by Romantic Times magazine.

The magazine runs the contest every year for aspiring writers, and the winner gets their book published by Dorchester Publishing. It’s a pretty big deal, in other words.

Right now, folks can go to the above link and vote on which first line they like the best. The contest continues for a couple of months, and there are rounds of elimination and whatnot. It’s a pretty interesting contest and gives folks a chance to see how different folks approach various aspects of writing, that like first line, and what the judges say about each one.

Anyway, I just wanted to let folks know about the contest and more importantly give a shout-out to Edie for her accomplishment. Way to go Edie!

Someone asked me to post the recipe for the cranberry sauce I’m going to be making for Thanksgiving, so I thought I’d put up that one and my chocolate cake recipe — seriously, this is the best chocolate cake ever. Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE CHIP POUND CAKE

1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix

1 small package instant chocolate pudding mix

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

1 (12 ounce) package mini chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 300F. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan. In a bowl, combine cake mix, pudding, and sugar. Add water, oil, and eggs. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Stir in sour cream and mini chocolate morsels.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for 1 hour (check at 50 minutes) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

And here’s the cranberry sauce:

CRANBERRY-APRICOT SAUCE

1 (12 ounce) bag fresh or frozen cranberries

3/4 cup honey

1 cup chopped dried apricots

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons brandy (optional)

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

In a saucepan, combine cranberries, apricots, honey, orange juice, and water. Set the pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook until the cranberries are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove the pan from heat and stir in brandy (if using) and the orange zest. Let cool to room temperature before serving, or cover and refrigerate.

In addition to cleaning my desk this weekend, I also got in the ol’ recipe box in an attempt to figure out what I want to make for Thanksgiving dinner. Can’t believe it’s two weeks from Thursday. Another year’s almost gone. Sigh.

But anyway, back to the food. My mom is taking care of the turkey and cornbread dressing (so good … I’m already drooling). I think I’ll roast some red potatoes and baby carrots in vegetable broth in the oven and make my sweet-and-sour pasta salad. I’m also planning on making a chocolate Bundt cake.

But the thing I’m most excited about is the cranberry sauce. This year, I think I’ll be bold and make my own. I found a recipe that calls for cranberries, dried apricots, honey, water, and orange juice. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

What about you guys? What’s on your Thanksgiving menu?

I have big plans this weekend — I’m going to clean my desk out. Okay, you can quit laughing and feeling sorry for me now.

Seriously, though, it’s a core that needs to be done. Whenever I’m writing, I just let papers pile up on my desk. And since I’m taking a couple weeks off from writing, it’s time for the Paper Purge of 2008. Wish me luck.

What about you guys? Anyone got big plans this weekend? Share in the comments.