I might write more about these later, but:

Paint It Black by Janet Fitch
Oooooh, Janet Fitch and your lovely protagonist. I love you for talking about Brahms and punk rock and understanding both. The suspense was masterful...not heavy-handed, like omg the phone call is coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE suspense, just a little whisper of a mystery. This book made me feel lonely but it was wonderful.

Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers
Your basic hero-is-born, child-hero-displays-potential-for-greatness, adolescent-hero-grows-up-through-series-of-challenges, hero-gets-girl type epic, but written by the love child of JK Rowling and Douglas Adams. I'm going to look for some more books by Moers.

The Lives of Rocks by Rick Bass
Sweet and sad short stories, filled with the kind of ache you feel when something might have almost happened, but then it didn't, and you feel kind of silly for being sad because hey, nothing happened, but you're sad anyway. (see here) Also, little bits of geology thrown in, and I'm a sucker for rocks.

The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar
I've been reading a ton of fantasy lately, not sure why but, hey, evs yo. Anyway, this was good but could have been better. Neil Gaiman wrote this kiss-ass foreword so I thought I might like it, but actually, I think Neil Gaiman might be of those people who think every little thing is amaaaazing. I like his books though.
Anyway, it was about Shakespeare and punk rock and being alone in a big city. The subplot about the fairy war and evil king was a bit hard to follow but otherwise I liked it.
There were about a zillion typos in this book, and it drove me crazy, so I'd like to put this out there: I will edit your manuscript for a reasonable fee. I'm not sure what the going rate for editing is these days, but I will do it for less, unless your book is not good. Then I will charge you full price.

Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast; St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised By Wolves

Two seriously good books today - Jane Yolen's Twelve Impossible Things Before Breakfast and Karen Russell's St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.

I've picked one of my favorite books for my first entry. Jane Yolen's collection of children's short stories is alternately dark and whimsical, and sophisticated enough that adults will enjoy it as well. Yolen adds layers of depth to familiar stories such as Where The Wild Things Are (in Wilding), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (in Tough Alice), and Peter Pan (in Lost Girls). But this is no mere collection of fractured fairytales - Yolen's other stories are every bit as good, sweet and scary tales of vampires, fairies, aliens, and monsters. This book is an odd little gem. It compels you to read it again and again.

Recently, I read another collection of fantasy short stories: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. Much of this collection takes place in the Everglades, and there's a kind of slow, humid haze over the whole book that makes it very comfortable to read. Not that the prose feels thick - on the contrary, it is straightforward but foreboding. Many of the stories feature animals (alligators, minotaurs, a giant conch shell) and it gives them a kind of a mythical, ancient quality.
The author, Karen Russell, is only 25 - what am I doing with my life? Random House has this
interview on their website.