books and cleverness

I read books of all sorts, but mostly kids' lit and young adult literature and speculative fiction for all ages—usually from a feminist perspective. 

 

I've adopted a personalized version of the CHOICE reviews approach to recommendations/star ratings:

***** = Essential, a.k.a. truly love, absolute must-read, buy it now
**** = Highly Recommended, a.k.a. this is a really good book; I would buy it as a gift
*** = Recommended, a.k.a. pretty good; worth reading
** = Optional, a.k.a. meh
* = Not Recommended; a.k.a. this is not a good book

The Ladies of Grace Adieu: And Other Stories

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories - Susanna Clarke, Charles Vess

I mean, it's a story collection written by the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, illustrated by Charles Vess. Why are you even reading this review? What else do you think you need to know?