Have you read any of these books?

I was at Tatnuck's, in Westboro, MA, and they had a medium sized collection of books for a buck, some of which seemed potentially interesting, so I grabbed them!

But... I was wondering what feedback or recommendations I might get from the assembled multitudes!

Crystal Doors, by Rebecca Moesta and Kevin J. Anderson (2006)
Mistress of Mistresses, by E.R. Eddison (1935)
A Traveler from Altruri, William Dean Howells (1892-93)
Who Would Have Thought It?, by Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton (1872)

I know Anderson (though not Moesta) from any number of SF pieces. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros is a familiar piece, as well.

The Howell piece includes a lengthy examination of it, as it is viewed apparently as a famous historical document, though a fictionalized exploration of our (the U.S.) society/culture of the time. I suspect it will make an interesting companion to Viscount Bryce's American Commonwealth (non-fiction), from roughly the same era.

In many ways, Ruiz de Burton's is the most fascinating of these books.

...is a historical romance which engages the dominant myths about nationality, race and gender prevalent in society in the United States prior to and during the Civil War. The narrative follows a young Mexican girl as she is delivered from Indian captivity in the Southwest and comes to live in the household of a New England family. Culture and perspectives on national history and identity clash as the novel criticizes the dominant society's opportunism and hypocrisy, and indicts northern racism.

As in her first novel, The Squatter and the Don (1885), Ruiz de Burton reserves critical barbs for corruption in government and United States expansionism under the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. However, t is in the recasting of the conventional novel of domesticity that Who Would Have Thought It? also addresses the disenfranchisement of women. Ruiz de Burton's deft character portrayal and satirical style make for a highly readable and enjoyable novel.