Books & Games

Books:

Cain/Godchild (Kaori Yuki): Quite good. Gothic Mystery/Thriller
Manga -- which makes it pretty action packed, for Shojo. The author
is clearly a very western-influenced Japanese person, which makes the
"this isn't -our- Victorian England" moments all the more interesting.

The Graveyard Book (Niel Gaiman): Wow. Stunningly good. Also, I
should read Kipling's Jungle Book.

Matter (Ian Banks): Fun, but very, very Banks. As usual, he engages
in enjoyable adventure storytelling for part (most, in this case) of
the story, only to get all ugly and Bankish for other parts.

Games:

Yeah, Agricola is quite good. While I like both, I so far enjoy the
"family game" (without random special powers you can play) more than
the regular game; the former is more of a serious game, and quite
tense, whereas the latter has a fair amount of skill to it, but is
far, far more wacky.

Stone Age: Quite good. Pretty random, but fun.