Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

In this book Nancy Astley thinks she's exchanging her boring life helping in her family's oyster restaurant for a fulfilling one when she leaves home to become dresser to Kitty Butler, music hall sensation. But fame (and love) aren't all they promise to be, and Nan keeps finding that she's gotten the worse end of the bargain as woman after woman betrays her. I enjoyed this coming of age story, but like Fingersmith, Waters really only follows one plotline throughout.

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

In this book Terry Pratchett parodies any number of fantasy conventions in his Discworld series. I think the funniest part, for my money, was Rincewind trying to figure out how to harness lightning. The plot isn't terribly important: Rincewind and Twoflower travel around the Discworld (so you get to see a lot of how it works) and it ends on a literal cliffhanger--they've just gone over the edge of the Disc. Definitely funny enough to keep me coming back for the next installment.

The Alchemist by Paul Coehlo

I did not find this book particularly enjoyable. It might have been the translation, but I wasn't crazy about the style. Furthermore, I felt like the simple moral of the story was overdone and overwrought. Borges gets the same point across much more movingly in a short story. Also, I felt like the point of the story was a bit simple.