Recent Advances in X-ray Observations of Cataclysmic Variables

A personal selection of noteworthy X-ray results on CVs are presented, with emphasis on XMM-Newton and Chandra observations. Progressing roughly from broad-band view to narrow-band, high spectral resolution studies, I summarize: the energy balance of polars; X-ray confirmation of IPs; eclipses in non-magnetic CVs; search for magnetism in “non-magnetic” CVs; multi-temperature plasma emission from the boundary layer; complex absorption in magnetic CVs; temperature and density diagnostics; and X-ray radial velocity studies.