One book down, one to go.

[telophase]

The first book that I was looking for in this post, the fantasy where the main character runs a thinly-disguised D&D game, is Enemy Glory, by Karen Michaelson. Look at the descriptions! Look at the reviews! Can I be faulted for expecting it to be reasonably readable, and then hurling it with great force at the wall when he ran the RPG? It ended up reading to me like the author fell in love with her character and wrote a book about his background. Although judging by the reader reviews, many other people fell in love with him, too. Alas, not I.

The children's book still has not been found.