Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti, 2013, Edge, $15.95, softbound, 306 pages. Category/Genre: steampunk. Cover: good but inaccurate; Taya is supposed to have short auburn hair and a leather flight suit. Where we got it: publisher. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.
Taya is an icarus, someone who flies amongst the sectors of Ondinium, carrying messages back and forth. No-one but icarii and lictors (the law in Ondinium) are allowed to cross the sectors, and different castes (exalteds, cardinals, and plebians) live in different sectors.
One day, Taya saves the life of Viera, an exalted, and her son from a wireferry accident. Then she's attacked herself, and saved by an outcaste clockwright named Cristof, who's related to the woman Taya saved.
Things begin to get complicated as Taya develops feelings for Cristof's brother, Alister, and it's suspected that the wireferry accident was engineered.
Then tragedy ensues, and Taya and Cristof are thrown together to solve a mystery that could get them both killed.
This is a different kind of steampunk tale, set in the fictitious Ondinium rather than in Victorian London, but there are analytical engines, clockwork devices, and greatcoats.
If you like this one, try: Clockwork Lies, by Dru Pagliassotti.
The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper, 2011, Roc, $7.99, softbound, 391 pages. Category/Genre: steampunk. Cover: cool; we particularly like the clockwork cat and steampunk gun. Where we got it: bought it. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.
This book is about a girl who likes fixing automatons (which is an improper thing for ladies to like doing), and a boy who loves flying. Their worlds collide one day, and difficult choices must be made.
The world is filled clockworkers, mad geniuses who unleash their schemes on the unsuspecting populace. The Third Ward is Britain's answer to those madmen; and the Third Ward wants Gavin and Alice to join them.
Accompanied by the automatons her insane aunt gave her (including a clockwork cat named Click), Alice fights clockworkers by Gavin's side while at the same time trying to keep with propriety and marry a boring gentleman who has promised to pay all of Alice's family debts. Eventually, she must make a choice: join the Third Ward and continue helping people, or marry Norbert and live a quiet, subdued life of privilege.
There are zombies in this book as well as amazing gadgetry and clockwork creatures. There's also plenty of action, interesting characters, and a good plot.
Note: strong language.
If you like this one, try: The Impossible Cube, by Steven Harper.
Perfect Pasta: Quick, Easy, and Delicious by Julia della Croce, 2006, Weldon Owen, $9.99, softbound, 111 pages. Category/Genre: cooking. Cover: good. Where we got it: bought it. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble.
This book is divided into three sections: recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less, recipes that take 15 minutes or less of hands-on preparation (giving you free time while the dish cooks), and recipes made in big batches to be divided up and used for meals throughout the week.
Della Croce also provides tips on planning, shopping for, and cooking quick and easy pasta dishes.
Recipes include spaghetti alla carbonara, pasta with beans and escarole, farfalle with roasted garlic and eggplant, penne with spring vegetables, bucatini with pesto, sausage lasagna, and spaghetti with meatballs.
If you like this one, try: Quick-Fix Vegetarian, by Robin Robertson.
Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti, 2013, Edge, $15.95, softbound, 306 pages. Category/Genre: steampunk. Cover: good but inaccurate; Taya is supposed to have short auburn hair and a leather flight suit. Where we got it: publisher. Where you can get it: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million. 
