Here Be Monsters!

Michael Largo's The Big, Bad Book of Beasts describes both some of the world's most unusual and mundane creatures, real and imagined.  For example, under "D" you'll find entries for Dodo, Dog, Dolichorhynchops (aka Prehistoric "Sea Wolf"), and Dragons.  I particularly enjoyed Largo's well-researched asides on the folklore of various beasts, as well as the numerous illustrations and renderings (such as the detailed Harpy skeleton on p. 187).  Definitely worth checking out!  HM

In the Land of Mordor?

Where the Shadows Lie by Michael Ridpath is not your ordinary police procedural. When Icelandic expat and Boston detective Magnus Jonson finds his life threatened, he is whisked away into temporary witness protection via the Reykjavik Metropolitan Police. He attempts to swallow his bitter memories of his homeland as he is called to investigate the murder of a professor of Icelandic literature. What follows is a web of greed, buried history, and family secrets involving a supposedly cursed ring, a long-lost saga, and two half-crazed Lord of the Rings fans. Though I found myself having to suspend disbelief at several plot points in Ridpath's tale, it was a quick and enjoyable read that kept me guessing til (almost) the end. HM

Don't miss The Red Pyramid

From the author of the popular Percy Jackson series comes an adventure of Egyptian proportions. In The Red Pyramid, the first volume in Rick Riordan's new Kane Chronicles, siblings Carter and Sadie must team up to save the world. The action begins immediately: In a failed attempt to "make things right" following their mother's mysterious death, the teens' father, Dr. Kane, blows up the Rosetta Stone and accidentally releases five Egyptian gods and goddesses trapped within. Now only Carter and Sadie have the power to stop the potentially disastrous events that have been set in motion. And time is fast running out.... Aided by a basketball-loving baboon and a very special cat, the teens must race to the Phoenix desert where Set, the god of chaos, is building a red pyramid that will give him the power to destroy and take over North America--and, very possibly, the world.

The action is fast-paced and the characters are well-developed. Woven into the story are bits of Egyptian history and plenty of mythology. The Red Pyramid ends with a cliffhanger, suggesting that first volume of The Kane Chronicles has only uncovered the very tip of the iceberg (or pyramid, if you rather). Even better than Percy and not to be missed!