Nothing like a Sophie Kinsella novel for pure fun and games. Her latest – Wedding Night – is full of the usual ridiculous antics. When Lottie accepts a marriage proposal from an old flame on the rebound from her true lost love, Richard, she flies off to a Greek island to recapture a fifteen year old nostalgic interlude. Her older sister, Fliss, convinced that Lottie will see her mistake too late, sabotages the wedding night, in hopes of an annulment. Quick read – great diversion.

Reminiscent of a thousand and one tales, Helene Wecker’s adult fairy tale – The Golem and the Jinni – has a trapped Jinni unleashed from his bottle and an abandoned Golem, a woman brought to life by a wizard from clay. Trying to hide as normal townspeople in turn of the century New York City, their lives are difficult and parallel – until they meet one night in the Bowery.

I had pre-ordered the book in hardback, and read a few chapters every night before going to bed (trying to avoid the glare of my non-sleep inducing e-books). A mix of historical fiction, romance, fantasy, and folklore, the story begins slowly but the pace picks up when the evil wizard who trapped the Jinni and created the Golem finds his way from the Arabian desert to Manhattan – intriguing analogies and the magic of New York City.

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