Tally for 2010/02/21
Borrowed: 2
Received: 1
Bought: 1
Total Cost: $4.72

In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, re-reading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.
The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash’s capacity for love—and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

I was quite expectant of this when it first came out because I thought it would feature an Asian Cinderella (the author being Asian, and the characters having Asian-like names), but also because Kaisa sounds amazing and I'm really tired of the "girl marries the prince in order to live happily ever after" formula. I've seen mixed reviews, but I'm wholly optimistic if only for the Kaisa/Ash ending =D
This is the paperback edition...the cover is actually literally shiney lol
Bought on sale at BookDepository.com ($4.72)

Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

You can probably tell from the summary that this is one of those novels that relies on pokerface etiquette humour (is there a special word for it?). That basically means it will be hilarious in all the right ways, or end up falling flat since the style is expected to span the entire book. I'm obviously hoping for the former lol
Won from Katrina @ Stone SouP

"Salt Fish Girl" is the mesmerizing tale of an ageless female character who shifts shape and form through time and place. Told in the beguiling voice of a narrator who is fish, snake, girl, and woman - all of whom must struggle against adversity for survival - the novel is set alternately in nineteenth-century China and in a futuristic Pacific Northwest. At turns whimsical and wry, "Salt Fish Girl" intertwines the story of Nu Wa, the shape-shifter, and that of Miranda, a troubled young girl living in the walled city of Serendipity circa 2044. Miranda is haunted by traces of her mother's glamourous cabaret career, the strange smell of durian fruit that lingers about her, and odd tokens reminiscient of Nu Wa. Could Miranda be infected by the Dreaming Disease that makes the past leak into the present? Framed by a playful sense of magical realism, "Salt Fish Girl" reveals a futuristic Pacific Northwest where corporations govern cities, factory workers are cybernetically engineered, middle-class labour is a video game, and those who haven't sold out to commerce and other ills must fight the evil powers intent on controlling everything. Rich with ancient Chinese mythology and cultural lore, this remarkable novel is about gender, love, honour, intrigue, and fighting against oppression.

I've heard stories about the Chinese Earth Mother, Nu Wa since I was a kid, and I love the fact that she's been incorporated into this story. A few other factors I highly approve of: reincarnation, shapeshifting, technological dystopia, and of course Asian characters. I thank you Ah Yuan for shoving this at me persistently ♥
Borrowed from Ah Yuan

Keturah, a beautiful young woman of sixteen, lives with her grandmother in a cottage near the forest. A captivating storyteller, Keturah tells her friends of being lost in the forest and of her eventual meeting with a dark figure on horseback -- Lord Death himself.
She bargains with him for her life -- and for the lives of the villagers who are threatened by the onset of the plague. But her pact with Death isolates her from the very people she seeks to protect and makes her dreams of love and family increasingly remote. Only by succeeding in the impossible task of finding her one true love before the sun sets will Keturah escape the cold clutches of Death. However hopeless her situation, Keturah must try. If she gives up, it means death not only for her, but for everyone she loves.

I'm totally rooting for Keturah and Lord Death to end up together ;D
Borrowed from Ah Yuan