Four? Awesome. 
Elmore Leonard is the author people talk about when they talk about good dialogue. I’ve read Get Shorty and a couple others. The new FX series Justified is based on one of his characters.
I just read one of J D Robb’s In Death series. It’s a police procedural but set about 50 years in the future. I liked it enough to search out the rest of the series. Kinda frustrating, the library doesn’t have book one.
I adore Christopher Moore, Jim Butcher, Harrison and Harris. I’ve read a couple by Lev Grossman that I really liked.
This reminded me of Jasper Fforde’s Nursery Crime series. It’s not so much urban fantasy as it is urban nursery rhymes, but it’s still very good. I understand the Thursday Next series is also very good.
Gustainis isn’t as polished as the others, but he seems to be gaining momentum with each succesive novel. Also, he seems like a pretty clever guy and he answers his emails really quickly when you write to ask why his next book isn’t out yet ;).
You know that PB’s next Mercy Thompson novel, Silver Borne, is being released March 30, right?
I was just gonna say that Fforde’s Thursday Next series is urban fantasy stirred in with about a dozen other genres.
I agree with all that. When I say he’s not great literature, I don’t really mean that as an insult. I read a helluva lot more genre fiction than I read great literature (I set myself a goal of reading one classic a year, whereas I read probably four or five dozen genre books a year). Some folks can write both genre and great literature–e.g., Cormac Macarthy, China Mieville, Ursula Le Guin, IMHO. Butcher doesn’t do that: he just writes tremendously fun genre books. And I love him for it.
MrDibble, while King Rat is definitely urban fantasy, I shy away from recommending it: it’s one of Mieville’s weakest works, IMO (the other being the lameo Un Lun Dun). His New Crobuzon books, as well as The City and the City, are far superior.
Once you might enjoy, although it’s a standalone, is Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses by Diane Duane. Again, don’t let the romance-y cover put you off: it’s a fantastic read, and really isn’t romance at all.
Oh, thirding this. Last Call is my favorite, but Declare is a close second-- if you like spy novels at all, this is a must-read.
Have you heard that Powers’ On Stranger Tides is being adapted for the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie?
Seconding this as well. Butcher does a simply amazing job of weaving everything together. (I just finished Changes, the latest Dresden novel-- advance copy-- and brr. If you thought the last one was heavy…well, just wait.)
De Gustibus and all that. Especially with regards to Un Lun Dun.
I added many of the suggestions onto Amazon wish list.
In your opinions…is Rob Thurman pretty good or is she just a writer that, for some reason, appeals to me but is not that great?
Also, since I have you all here…Jim Butcher had graphic novels coming out - Welcome to the Jungle, Storm Front 1…WTF happened to Storm Front 2? Did it die?
She’s a good storyteller, which is the point of writing fiction.
Somebody on another board years ago turned me on to Charles De Lint. His novels are urban fantasy set in and around Ottawa. I liked Jack of Kinrowan and Moonheart. Haven’t read Little (Grrl) Lost yet, but from looking at the Amazon page for it, I think my daughter will like it when she’s older.
If you like Patricia Briggs and the Sookie Stackhouse books, you’ll probably like the “Kitty and the Midnight Hour” books by Carrie Vaughn. I’ve read them all and they just keep getting better.
I’m looking forward to Changes; I’m in the process of reading back through the whole series to refresh my memory before I pick up the new book.
Yeah, Butcher is the only author I preorder. As soon as I see a new book come out, I go ahead and order it. It should be coming soon, eh?
Damn, but I used to love the Dresden Files. Not enough to buy the hardcovers, but I bought the paperbacks as fast as I could.
Then suddenly the paperbacks started coming out in those moronic extra-tall editions. Result: Mr Butcher lost a reader. 
Note to publishers: Yes, the packaging does matter. There are book formats that I’m not willing to have on my shelf. Jim Butcher wasn’t the first formerly-favourite author I’ve dropped because suddenly their books weren’t being published in any editions I was prepared to buy.
I hate trade paperbacks, too. Standard paperbacks fit nicely in my purse. Trade paperbacks have the disadvantage of hardbacks’ size, and paperbacks’ fragility. I’ve heard that they’re supposed to be of higher quality than standard paperbacks, but I’ve never seen this supposed higher quality.
Agreed, but I’m not talking about trade paperbacks. I’m talking about this weird new format that’s the same width as a mass-market paperback, but about half an inch to an inch taller. It’s just strange, it feels bad in the hand, it looks like crap on the shelf, and of course it’s more expensive. I heard it called a “premium” edition once. Well, spare me from premiums…
I have a few paperbacks like that - they’re all UK editions.
Speaking of trade paperbacks, I wish my local used bookstore would acknowledge their increasing popularity and shelve them decently. They’re still treating the trades like oddballs, stuffing them sideways in random order in a back corner, where they’re now overflowing the shelves.
What are the normal measurements of paperbacks?
Series? SERIES?! *Hugs Eleanor, *runs to bookstore
(I really enjoyed The Devil You Know, and I guess I’ve been busy and distracted these past couple years.)