My name is Raine Benares. I’m a seeker. The people who hire me are usually happy when I find things. But some things are better left unfound. I’m a sorceress of moderate powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, I can usually take care…
Reading Toni Morrison is like taking a master class in how to write characters. Morrison delves deep into the psyche of her characters and finds that raw, vulnerable place in each one. Morrison gathers together an uncommon group who have been cast off from society. Even though he abhors slavery, Jacob Vaark, a northern trader…
John Grogan, the author of the very popular book Marley & Me, has written a biography centered around his dying father. The utmost homage is paid to his dad while he regales his audience with flashbacks from his own life. He and his siblings were subjected to a strict Catholic upbringing. Several chapters of the…
“Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She’s about to find out she’s also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a…
A late-spring storm capped the last daffodils and the first tulips with dollops of snow, which melted when the sun came back out. The snow seemed to have a bracing effect on the flowers; their roots drank the cold melt, their stalks straightened from the chilly drink; their petals, supple and hale, were spared the…
A patron recommends the following Urdu epic. It took a long time for him to read, but Amir Hamza manages to get into one amazing advenuture after another. Slap on your scimitar and join the adventure! The Indo-Islamic Dastan-e Amir Hamza is a rip-roaring, bawdy, magical journey into the fantastic life and exploits of Amir…
It’s the last gasp of summer for Kim Larsen and her friends before they head off to college. They go for one last swim before heading home. Kim never arrives.Reminiscent of the Molly Bish and Natalee Holloway cases, the Larsens, their family and friends organize search parties, fundraisers, and online websites to help find their…
They are the troops that nobody wants to see, carrying a message that no military family ever wants to hear. It begins with a knock at the door. “The curtains pull away. They come to the door. And they know. They always know,” said Major Steve Beck. Since the start of the war in Iraq,…
A blog I visit daily, The Story Siren, has a really neat feature called “books to pine for.” She gathers together forthcoming titles that have piqued her interest – and usually mine, too. Since I’m such a fan of the feature (and her blog, which is a terrific read for all of us who thoroughly…
If you like best book lists, you’ll want to check out the New York Times list of Ten Best Books of 2008 while you’re at it, you might want to look at their list of 100 Notable Books or the Notable Children’s Books. We’re excited that Hannah Tinti, who recently visited us, made the list.
When Evie’s father returned home from World War II, the family fell back into its normal life pretty quickly. But Joe Spooner brought more back with him than just good war stories. When movie-star handsome Peter Coleridge, a young ex-GI who served in Joe’s company in postwar Austria, shows up, Evie is suddenly caught in…
“Back when I was riding patrol you know that they called a killing that came down to simple street justice?” “What?” “The brass verdict” Mickey Haller, of The Lincoln Lawyer, is back in the attorney’s saddle again. He is , however, still running his law office out of his fleet of Lincolns. When high-powered…
Here at Read This! we follow several book blogs. At any given time, the readers behind these blogs are involved in reading challenges, each with a given set of guidelines and timelines. We found one just recently that we thought we’d adapt for our patrons. It’s called the Genre Challenge. Guidelines: Chose one of the…
Being a lover of coffee, I was anxious to read this book after reading a positive review. After about 30 pages, I found it not to be what I expected and put it aside. The cover continued to haunt me, however, and a few weeks later I gave it a second chance. It is a…
From the Book Jacket: O’Shea charmed readers with her elegant and witty For the Love of Letters. Now, in Note to Self, she’s back to guide us through the fun, effective, and revelatory process of journaling. Along the way, selections from O’Shea’s own journals demonstrate what a journal should be: a tool to access inner…
In medieval Cambridge, England, four children have been murdered. The crimes are immediately blamed on the town’s Jewish community, taken as evidence that Jews sacrifice Christian children in blasphemous ceremonies. To save them from the rioting mob, the king places the Cambridge Jews under his protection and hides them in a castle fortress. King Henry…
Tony Hillerman died yesterday at the age of 83. Hillerman’s evocative novels, which describe people struggling to maintain ancient traditions in the modern world, touched millions of readers, who made them best sellers. But although the themes of his books were not overtly political, he wrote with a purpose, he often said, and that purpose…
Here is THE book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions,…
In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail. Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of…
For more information on the National Book Awards click here. FICTION Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project (Riverhead) Rachel Kushner, Telex from Cuba (Scribner) Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country (Modern Library) Marilynne Robinson, Home (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Salvatore Scibona, The End (Graywolf Press) Fiction judges: Gail Godwin (chair), Rebecca Goldstein, Elinor Lipman, Reginald McKnight, Jess Walter.…
If you are in the area Hannah Tinti will be reading and signing The Good Thief on Sunday, October 26 at 2pm. The accolades for this book are so glowing and so many. Hannah Tinti has created a world at once familier and strange. Other reviewers have justifiably compared her to Charles Dickens and Robert…
The Little Book is the extraordinary tale of Wheeler Burden, California-exiled heir of the famous Boston banking Burdens, philosopher, student of history, legend’s son, rock idol, writer, lover of women, recluse, half-Jew, and Harvard baseball hero. In 1988 he is forty-seven, living in San Francisco. Suddenly he is—still his modern self—wandering in a city and…
For Paula, accompanying her merchant father on a trading voyage to Istanbul is a dream come true. They have come to this city of trade on a special mission to purchase a most rare artifact—a gift from the ancient goddess, Cybele, to her followers. It’s the only remnant of a lost, pagan cult. But no…
Since her earliest memories, Ellysetta Baristani has feared magic, even as she has been inexorably drawn to all things Fey, especially the poetry and legends of Rain Tairen Soul. Now claimed as Rain’s truemate and no longer able to deny her own magic, Ellysetta is swept into the very center of a struggle filled with…
Engel is the longest serving broadcaster in Iraq and the only American television reporter to cover the country continuously before, during, and after the 2003 U.S. invasion. Fluent in Arabic, he has had unrivaled access to U.S. military commanders, Sunni insurgents, Shiite militias, Iraqi families, and even President George W. Bush, who called him to…
Quinn (Marie Curie) does a superb job of recounting the rise and fall of the Federal Theatre Project, a wing of FDR’s WPA meant to employ playwrights and actors while providing diversion and inspiration for Depression-ravaged Americans. Quinn shows how, under the management of the irrepressible Hallie Flanagan, the left-leaning FTP facilitated such controversial masterpieces…
I am so sad – stunned. It reminds us all of how fragile we are and how close at hand the darkness is,” – A.M. Holmes David Foster Wallace, whose prodigiously observant, exuberantly plotted, grammatically and etymologically challenging, philosophically probing and culturally hyper-contemporary novels, stories and essays made him an heir to modern virtuosos like…
Andrew Davidson’s book is a series of balancing acts. His characters represent extremes and his stories come very close to being over-the-top, but somehow he manages to maintain the balance just when you are ready to give up on him. Once beautiful, the narrator is now burned beyond recognition due to a car crash. One…
This is a work of historical fiction about two unlikely characters that meet during the seige of Leningrad in World War II. One is a young Jewish boy who had the misfortune of being the last one over the wall after he and his friends happened upon a dead paratrooper and decided to take some…
For those of you who thought we had given up on our Guest Blogger Reviews, Iliana (aka Bookgirl) has kindly agreed to get us back on track. Iliana is clearly someone who has an eye for beautiful things, whether it’s her blog banner or her handmade books, she has a flare for color and design.…
The author of IN THE WOODS has written another engrossing psychological thriller. A young girl is found stabbed to death in an abandoned cottage outside of Dublin. The character of Cassie Maddox returns to help in the investigation. The twist in the case is that the murdered girl bears a striking resemblance to Cassie. The…
If you’re looking for a good book for the final weeks of summer, here are some recommendations. When asked what book they would bring to the beach with them this summer, our intrepid staff offered up the following: Sisters ~ Danielle Steel The Great Gatsby ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald Pillars of the Earth ~ Ken…
Eugenie Markham is a shaman for hire in Tuscon, Arizona. She’s called upon to exorcise the occasional shoe or drain pipe. At least, that used to be the main tasks in her job description. When word of her true name gets leaked in Otherworld, however, Eugenie finds herself in the middle of something much bigger:…
Michael Lavigne has written a brave and courageous first novel. Cynthia Ozick calls it “radiantly imagined” and Ron Rosenbaum terms it “a daring, even dangerous act of the imagination”. Lavigne confronts some rather incendiary and critical moral issues in this book and he does so with great skill and a fair dose of levity. One…
After Dark follows the intersecting paths of a handful of characters over the course of one night in Tokyo. Supermodel, Eri Asai, is alone in a room sleeping. Her sister Mari, a young college student, has decided to spend the night in the city, where she happens to meet Takahashi a young jazz musician. As…
We were fortunate enough to have author Andre Dubus at the library last Thursday. In addition to reading from his latest novel, The Garden of Last Days, he talked about the writing process. He mentioned that he loves to read poetry and we thought you might be interested in some of his favorite poets: Billy…
The World Fantasy Awards nominations are in; the winners will be selected at the World Fantasy Convention which is being held in Canada this Fall. In the category of Best Novel you’ll find: Fangland, John Marks The Gospel of the Knife, Will Shetterly The Servants, Michael Marshall Smith Territory, Emma Bull Ysabel, Guy Gavriel Kay…
I was absolutely thrilled today when I stopped by Deanna Raybourn’s blog and discovered that she had won the 2008 RITA* for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements. As Read This! followers surely know, Deanna is much beloved in these parts, and her books are ever popular recommendations. {You haven’t read them yet? Well…Stop by…
Thanks to Booklogged at A Reader’s Journal for the following link: Colleen Gleason When Twilight Burns Book Release Webcast August 5, 2008 – 8:30 P.M. Eastern Time Enter Here Join Colleen Gleason, author of the acclaimed Gardella Vampire Chronicles, as she celebrates the release of her fourth book. She’ll read an excerpt from When Twiilght…
As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because–he’s a vampire.…
It has been over twenty years since Toni Morrison wrote her groundbreaking novel Beloved. With a long awaited novel The Mercy, coming out in November and billed as a “companion piece to Beloved,” Morrison has a lot to celebrate. But, a simple commemoration on Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina may be an equal cause for…
Mystery writer Howard Engel woke up one morning terrified to find that he couldn’t read the words in the newspaper. In his new memoir, Engel describes living with a rare condition called word blindness, which leaves him able to write, but unable to read. Could this be one of the worst nightmares for Read This!…
I’m on a desperate (or should I say deliberate?) search for a piece of postmodern fiction that I might actually enjoy-unfortunately Mr. Clarke’s book isn’t it. The “heartbreaking hilarity” was a bit lost on me. Anyone remember Cher in “Moonstruck” when she slaps Nicolas Cage across the face and shouts “Snap out of it!”? That’s…
Sometimes it’s the little things – the touch of a hand, a sudden change in plans – that set off a chain of life-changing events. In the days before 9/11, a stripper named April brings her daughter to work at the Puma Club for men because her babysitter is in the hospital. Franny stays in…
I will admit that I did judge this book by its cover. The pup on the front looked so much like Seamus, my Bichon mix that I had to investigate further. The difference is however, that my rescue dog has four legs, while Baby, the dog whose story unfolds in these pages, has only three.…
Now, my friends, is the time to nurture your creative side. If you need an excuse let’s call it a “job responsibility” that comes with parenting, okay? Nurturing your own creative spirit will not only bring more peace, satisfaction and joy into your life and the lives of those around you, but it will also…
Its difficult to imagine anyone who has’t been touched by breast cancer either in their own family or that of friends and acquaintances. Jessica Queller’s book is a powerful reminder of how insidious and often ubiquitous this disease is – every woman Jessica encounters in her emotional sojourn has an important story to tell. Queller…
“Rosie and Abigail are like family,” Ina Merriweather used to say. That is, until the day Ina abruptly cast out her housekeeper, Rosie, and her fifteen-year-old daughter Abigail. Abigail felt deeply betrayed, especially by Ina’s daughter Lila, who was her closest friend. Only Lila’s twin brother Vaughn, with whom Abigail had been exploring the joys…
Take a secret society, a hawk-tracking boy, a hummingbird in winter and plunk them down in a watermelon patch and you have the makings of a wonderful coming of age story. March Anne Tanner lives in Jubilee, GA with her brother, father and grandmother. At the change of each season, March Anne and her friends…
In New York, there’s a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side. Of course, most humans are oblivious to this, but Cal Leandros is only half-human. His father’s dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares-and he and his entire otherworldly…
Nicholas Dawidoff’s haunting memoir of his childhood in New Haven, Connecticut is a moving and richly realized family portrait. No doubt armed with the courage of his impressive successes as a writer (The Catcher Was a Spy and The Fly Swatter, a Pulitzer Prize finalist) and editor (Baseball : A Literary Anthology) Dawidoff confronts his…
This is the second novel written by the author of The Lobster Chronicles, The Hungry Ocean and All Fishermen are Liars. The main character, Jane Bunker (introduced in Slipknot) continues her role as an investigator for a maritime insurance company. She finds herself in the middle of a family feud, with one young man dead…
Hobart Elementary School is located in the heart of downtown L.A., and as I look back at my elementary school years, I think about the horrible environment I grew up in. A rape or abuse case occurred at least once a week at school, and policemen were frequently seen on campus. Yet during fifth grade,…
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“Twenty years ago, three children walked into the woods. Only one returned.” So begins the blurb for this psychological suspense novel set in Ireland. Adam Ryan was the only child to return that day. He has no memory of what happened to his two friends, Peter and Jamie. He alone was found in a…
Everyone thinks the phoenix rises from the ashes, gleaming and unscathed. Until they know better. Andrea Anderson goes about her days something like a hamster on a treadmill. She keeps her head down and tries to go unnoticed with great success until the end of her sophomore year. Her eccentric neighbor, Mrs. Menapace, gets sick…
LONDON (Reuters) – An 800-word hand-written story by bestselling author J.K. Rowling, which she describes as a prequel to the Harry Potter boy wizard books, sold for 25,000 pounds ($49,000) at a charity auction on Tuesday. To read the rest of the article, click here.
Cat Crawford is something of an anomaly: she is both human and vampire. Due to the circumstance of her birth and spurned on by her mother’s rage at the vampire community, Cat becomes a hunter, tracking down vampires and making sure that their next afterlife is of the permanent variety. She excels at her chosen…
“All over the country, a strange phenomenon is happening. Some teenagers who die aren’t staying dead. They are coming back to life, but they are no longer the same — they stutter, and their reactions to everything are slower. Termed ‘living impaired’ or ‘differently biotic,’ they are doing their best to fit into a society…
Have you read about the controversy regarding the Harry Potter Lexicon? Here are some opinions on the issue: From Orson Scott Card From Slate.com From Neil Gaiman What’s your take? Leave a comment. Let us know.
Closed to foreigners under Romanov and Soviet rule, Kazakhstan has remained largely hidden from the world – a remarkable feat for a country the size of Western Europe. Few would guess that Kazakhstan – a blank in Westerner’s collective geography – turns out to be diverse, tolerant, and surprisingly modern, the country that gave the…
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming…
Written chronologically in reverse, this new novel by one of my favorite authors keeps the reader guessing. It begins with the wedding preparations of Allie a transplanted American in London. She’s invited her sister to be her maid of honor. Maddy has always been jealous of her sister, but agrees to be a part…
At night the garden drops below daylight language and murmurs in an older tongue, in voices of wormwood and rue, black cohosh and henbane, reminding me that the plants of the garden attend to me as well as allowing me to attend to them. In the berry patches, orchards and vegetable, herb, and flower beds…
Best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was also a passionate historian, and The White Company was his favorite among his own works. This spirited account of the exploits of a crew of Saxon archers during the Hundred Years War features cameo appearances by historical figures such as Edward III…
The author of Peace Like a River has written another well-crafted novel. Monte Becket is an author whose one book was a huge success. He is under great pressure to write another blockbuster, but has a severe case of writer’s block. His story starts in Minnesota in 1915 when a white-haired stranger rows by on the…
This book contains eight short pieces of fiction with a common theme. The characters are all immigrants from India living in the United States. Very smoothly written, the topics include dealing with aging parents, marital infidelity, breast cancer, alcoholism, family bonds and trust. Reminiscent of O’Henry’s stories, many end with a touch of irony.
“Like any young boy, Paolo becomes obsessed with what he can’t have — in his case, a violin. Hidden away in his parents’ room, it beckons the boy to release the music inside it. The music leads Paolo to a family secret, a story of World War II that changed the course of his parents’…
One of our avid senior readers had this to say about the stories of two master criminals: Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale, Jr. Don’t let the fact that you’ve seen the movie stop you from reading this fast-moving and fascinating story. It’s a much more comprehensive and exciting account of Frank Abagnale’s…
I’ve put off this post for weeks upon weeks now for two reasons: I love Maria V. Snyder’s Study series; we’re talking serious love here. I can never write about books/series I love because I can never adequately express just why it is that I do love them. (Who am I kidding? Sometimes I can’t…
Like his other books, this novel is wonderfully descriptive both in plot and character. The subject matter is very depressing, and true to form, the author depicts a very real picture of the horror of living in Nazi Germany. The storyline starts with the characters of a Prussian family and Scottish POW who are fleeing…
Lynn Flewelling’s Nightrunner Series is a wonderful addition to the high fantasy/sword and sorcery genre. Though I came to the books late, I’ve found that it was in actuality an opportune time to meet Seregil and Alec as their adventures will continue this June with the fourth book in the series, Shadows Return, which comes…
I’ve never tried to review two books at the same time so please bear with me. “And Only To Deceive” is the first book in a historical/romance/mystery series featuring Emily Bromley. In this first entry, Emily is left a young widow albeit rich and titled widow when her husband dies while on Safari. Emily it…
The nominations for the Hugo Awards for best Science Fiction have been announced. The nominees for Best Novel include: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon Brasyl by Ian McDonald Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer The Last Colony by John Scalzi Halting State by Charles Stross
New York City’s only legal counsel to the fabled Old Races, Margrit Knight, is level headed in all matters extraordinary. But when she’s summoned to negotiate a peace treaty among rival factions, her own mortal world threatens to fall apart. Margrit’s been in hot water before, but reentering the underworld brings a new set of…
Brought it to boil, often. – Mario Batali I was born some assembly required. – Eric Jordan Macular degeneration. Didn’t see that coming. – Ian Gould Compiled by the editors of Smith Magazine, this book of six-word memoirs is impossible to put down. I found myself saying, “I’ll just read two more pages and then…
Smith combines a strong line and a knack for historical narrative to deliver a compelling collection of poetry. His poetic journey takes him deep into the South where he looks back at history and tries to answer the question – why? Some of the poems are downright haunting and they have a tendency to dwell…
Jon Hassler, who “suffered from a longtime neurological disorder,” died Thursday at the age of 74, according to the Associated Press (via USA Today), which noted that, despite his deteriorating health, the author of Staggerford and other novels about small-town life “continued work on a book, Jay O’Malley, until his death.”In a 1995 AP interview,…
“Clarke died early Wednesday after suffering from breathing problems, the Associated Press reported. He was 90 years old. He suffered from post-polio syndrome and was confined to a wheelchair toward the end of his life.” {From a FoxNews report.} Clarke was the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Don’t you love it when clever people come up with good ideas that you can use and look clever yourself? Why reinvent the wheel, right? Marie, of Marie’s Monthly Minutes, told us about a great book club idea for The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Larson’s book is set against the backdrop…
Maris Matherly-Reed is more than an editor. She’s also the beloved daughter of the publishing house’s highly respected and successful leader, and the wife of Matherly Press’s second-in-command, the smooth, suave, double-dealing Noah Reed. Reed, it develops, is the real target of the literary scam set up by the reclusive writer of the novel whose…
You’re the writer, but remember, I’m your author”. These words, spoken by the author’s mother, reveal the truth behind this memoir. Despite growing up in the shadow of a controlling, substance-abusing mother, Felicia manages to get into Fordham University, become a creative writer and secure a position at an up-and-coming dot.com company. Though she is…
The invitation is signed “Jaenelle Angelline,” and it summons her family to an entertainment she had specially prepared. Surreal SaDiablo, former courtesan and assassin, arrives first. But when she enters the house, Surreal finds herself trapped in a living nightmare created by the tangled webs of Black Widow witches…and if she uses Craft to defend…
The winners for the NBCC Awards were announced over the weekend: Criticism: The Rest is Noise, by Alex Ross Poetry: Elegy, by Mary Jo Bang Biography: Stanley, the Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer, by Tim Jeal General Nonfiction: Medical Apartheid, by Harriet Washington Autobiography: Edwidge Danticat, Brother, I’m Dying Fiction: The Brief Wondrous Life…
April Newton has just reached her 5 year “cancer-free” mark. Her friends want to celebrate, her husband, a contractor, is building them their “dream house”, and her teenage daughter is growing apart from her. Dealing with all this and her mid-life crisis involves, sexy lingerie, getting a tattoo, and entering a lottery to buy a…
I’ve raved about Deanna Raybourn’s books, Silent in the Grave and Silent in the Sanctuary, and I’ll talk anyone’s ear off who’ll listen about how fantastic her blog is. I simply cannot overstate the fabulousness that is Ms. Raybourn. And so, one day, I thought I’d drop her an email, letting her know these things.…
The Richistanis like to consider themselves ordinary people who just happen to have tons of money, but they live in a world where people buy boats just to carry their cars and helicopters behind their primary yachts, and ordering an alligator-skin toilet seat won’t make even your interior designer blink. But Frank doesn’t just focus…
Before You Were Mine by Maribeth Boelts and David Walker A young boy is delighted with his new puppy that he adopted from a shelter. He muses on what the puppy’s life was like before he found his “forever” home : maybe the poor pup was mistreated and ran away, or abandoned because his owner…
Literary fiction, chunky classics, mysteries, Persephone’s, and needlepoint, you’ll find them all at A Work in Progress. Whenever I visit Danielle’s wonderful blog, I need to have a pen and paper ready, because I know she will mention a book that I’ll have to add to my “To Read” list. Her thoughtful reviews will take…
This is a mission unlike anything my vampire boss, Vayl, and I have ever been on. It’s not our usual take them out and run; it’s an undercover mission that needs the whole gang: a psychic, an interpreter, and a weapons specialist. We’re joining a Special Ops team to nail the Wizard, a major terrorist…
Perhaps familiarity really does breed contempt-I so looked forward to reading Banks’ new novel about my favorite part of the world, the High Peaks of the Adirondacks that I suppose I couldn’t help but be disappointed. Banks beautifully recreates a landscape and truthfully conveys the class distinctions that define the way of life among these…
Jacki Lydon did an interesting interview with Jonathan Rosen author of Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature last night on NPR. Rosen is an urban birdwatcher, novelist and contributer to The New Yorker. Here are two excerpts: Rosen contends that everyone is a birdwatcher. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says…
The Editorials & Opinions link is up and running again. Sorry for the inconvenience. We always want to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to rate or review your books here.
Essex County Vol.1: Tales From the Farm ~ Jeff Lemire This is a bittersweet coming of age tale about Lester, a ten year-old who still wears a superhero mask and cape. After his mother dies, Lester moves to his Uncle’s farm in Essex County, Ontario. Neither of them, knows quite what to do with the…
Charlie Newcomb was plagued by addiction until a car crash cost her the one thing that she had always counted on: the ability to sing. Scarred by her past, she sets out to deny the dependency that had dogged her steps for so long, and had finally settled into a routine. One that came to…
We asked staff to tell us which fictional character would most likely have broken their hearts. Our biggest heartbreak was that we didn’t get it up in time for Valentine’s Day! 1. Han Solo – Star Wars by George Lucas OK, not so literary since it was a movie novelization, but Harrison Ford or not,…
Long before she was born, Dominika first appeared to her mother in a dream, so when she came to be, she was welcomed with eager expectation and much love. Though her arrival was auspicious, as the child of recognized dissidents associated with the failed Prague Spring uprising, Dominika’s life would be far from charmed. Her…
Being a dedicated and proud-of-it genre girl, I had to post a link to this New York Times article: Great Literature? Depends Whodunit. The piece basically discusses “the assumption that genre fiction — mysteries, thrillers, romances, horror stories — is a form of literary slumming. These kinds of books are easier to read, we tend…
Anam’s debut novel is a wonderful journey through the birth of a nation and the lengths a mother will go to protect her children. When Rehana Haque’s husband dies, she loses her children to her brother-in-law in Pakistan. She manages to get them back by building a new home on the front lawn of her…
If you’re a fan of Neil Gaiman‘s work, or, you know, even if you are not currently a fan {due, of course, to the fact that you have yet to read this brilliant man’s work} you may want to amble on over to his journal. In order to celebrate his journal’s birthday – 7 years,…