*"The Red Devil." A perfect opening: "The day after my divorce, I discovered that I had cancer." A perfect title -- the red devil is not the disease but the cure, a particularly vicious form of chemotherapy. Katherine Rich was a wonderful writer (and more than a little indebted to Lorrie Moore). The theme of her book is that doctors are often not very bright; additionally, a doctor's intentions are sometimes questionable. Rich gradually realizes that no one is going to be her advocate -- so she chooses to speak up for herself. A strong opening is not enough; a book also needs a harrowing conclusion. Rich hits all of her marks. *"Shadow and Bone." Leigh Bardugo has invented a fantasy world in which everyone speaks something like Russian; a tear in the fabric of the universe is called "the Shadow Fold," and monsters named volcra lurk within the Fold. There is one girl who can fight the volcra; if she cuts open her arm, a flood of light spil...