Currently reading...

Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go. A mysterious little story narrated by a woman, Kathy H., who grew up in some sort of orphanage/school called Hailsham. The caregiver-teachers were known as "guardians", and though Hailsham resembles a plain old British boarding school in some ways, in others it seems somewhat like a zoo for people who like children. Periodically a woman called Madame shows up and whisks away the kids' best artwork for placement in a gallery that none of the children ever see.
Instead of leaving the grounds of Hailsham to buy things, the kids have a token economy based on buying each other's arts and crafts. In fact, it seems the kids don't leave Hailsham at all. There's no mention of family, not even brothers or sisters.

Not in Kansas Anymore by Christine Wicker. This is a chatty travelogue about magic in America, everything from neo-Paganism and Wicca to hoodoo. Did you know there's a middle-aged couple somewhere in the U.S. who believe they're elves? That most of the people practicing the "slave magic" of hoodoo today are white, middle-class women? Neither did I. That's some of the rather weird sh** in this book. Not great, but interesting.