Lloyd Alexander, The Rope Trick
Huh. It's set in fantasy-Italy, and has what seems to be the standard Alexander heroine, but she came off as more of a character than just a carbon-copy of Eilonwy. Much of the book has little or no "plot" as such, at least not of the type that can be easily summed up on the jacket. The characters wander around and meet other interesting characters, and some stuff happens. The ending was a bit confusing; I think everyone died but it's not too clear. I wouldn't be too surprised if this winds up being Alexander's last book. [Sad, but not surprised.]
G.K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill
I now understand, partly, why people think Chesterton was such an odd duck. This isn't really sci-fi except that it really isn't anything else. . . . it takes place in a future (1984) England that's almost exactly like the England of Chesterton's day, except that the King is now an absolute monarch and chosen by lot. So, of course, they choose a nutcase for King, and he divides London into several districts, each with its own ruler and flag &c. Trouble arises when the ruler of Notting Hill refuses to let a road be built through his neighborhood, and fights [and defeats] the combined might of the rest of London. A good read; some food for thought on why we should even bother struggling.
Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
And I thought the Book of the New Sun jumped around a lot. Severian sets out to the universe next door to retrieve a white hole to place in the centre of Urth's dying sun, and so save the planet. And that's basically the whole of it, except that he also jumps around in time a lot, explains some things from the original tetrology, meets some old friends more times than he'd expected to, and turns into Christ. Which was kind of irritating. Urth isn't interesting in itself; it's mostly interesting in light of the first four books. I'm glad I read it, if only for its coherent explanation of the Conciliator.