Weekend Recommendations #22

This is a weekly feature, where I get to go all fannish about two randomly-picked favvies (which may not actually be favorites, but got a rating of 3 or higher) that I would recommend to friends! So, here are this week's two picks:

Title: Etiquette & Espionage
Author: Gail Carriger
Genre: steampunk
Part of a Series: Yes.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Who'll Like It: Girls fourteen-and-up, fans of steampunk, quirky stories, spunky female protagonists, and books like Kat, Incorrigible and Patricia C. Wrede's novels.

Why I Liked It:

Steampunk, quirky world, spunky female protagonists - these are a few of my favorite things! :-) I didn't really have high expectations for this book, but as soon as I started reading it, I was hooked. It's hilarious, it's got great characters, it's got wonderful setting, and I actually liked the vampire. Shocker, right? The plot is a little slow, but I enjoyed learning about the world and the school that I didn't mind too much.

Title: Cuttlefish

Author: Dave Freer

Genre: steampunk/alternate history

Part of a Series: Yes

Rating: 3 out of 5

Who'll Like It: Girl-and-guy read, fifteen and up, steampunkers who enjoy the mechanics of how things work.

Why I Liked It:

While I didn't like the premise of the world building (global warming; it was silly), and the writing wasn't, in my opinion, all that wonderful, I did thoroughly enjoy the mechanics of the submarine and the other steampunk machines in this novel. I wasn't a big fan of some of the main characters, but the female protagonist was pretty awesome. Mostly, though, I loved the submarine.