"Knowing when to keep something close and when to let go is what living's about." Like Leslye Penelope's previous novel, Monsters We Defy, this is a work of magical realism set during within 20th century events. However, unlike that first novel which is set in an urban environment, Daughter of the Merciful Deep is set…
“Crying makes him feel a fool, but he is weeping now, unstoppably. It's so performative. Who does he do this all for? Oh, what is the meaning? (He does not know about us yet, of course, reader. And though I'm no angel, I must say I have been mistaken for one, my feathers being so…
In my first iteration as a librarian, I worked in the Children’s Room and was lucky enough to order folk and fairy tales. I loved poring over the various versions of classics, and sought out esoteric tales and stories from other lands. Once I read a little-known Brothers Grimm story called “Bearskin.” It’s about a…
Whether you’re a film buff or a book lover, there’s nothing quite like a summer thriller – a fast paced, high-stakes story with plenty of punches and punchlines. And if you prefer pages to screens, I’ve got your sure bet of the summer: Rob Hart’s Assassins Anonymous. Mark is a contract killer...in recovery. After hitting…
“When lost, yelled the crowd, in chorus, sit down and yell.” When I get lost (in a book) I never want to yell. I demand quiet. I want to focus all my energy on the book. But with Liz Moore’s God of the Woods chaos could have erupted around me and I would not have…
I’m celebrating 25 years of marriage this week, so The Husbands, a book about a husband-generating magic attic was certainly timely! After a night out celebrating the impending nuptials of a dear friend, Lauren is shocked to be greeted at the door by her husband. While she’s had quite a bit to…
“There are those of us who wobble like blancmange in a crisis, and then there are those lucky souls who rise magnificently to the occasion, like a perfectly baked truffle souffle. Ian was the latter type.” (Sykes, 337) While ostensibly about the “Yummy Mummies” , the super-wealthy and status conscious ladies of the English…
There are times when a book can just hit you hard. Do you know what I mean? In All the Colors of the Dark, the newest by Chris Whitaker, I got an emotional roller coaster. We have childhood best friends, Patch and Saint, outcasts for to be sure, but they need no one else.…
If you had to take an in-depth test about the Constitution, could you pass it? If you are like me (and not an attorney or another who works in a law-related field) you can only recall the Cliffs Notes version. Yet, each time a Supreme Court case in the news alludes to the Constitution or a…
Sometimes I just need a good beach read. I got that and more in Christina Lauren’s new one The Paradise Problem. College students Liam and Anna both want to live in the housing reserved for married students (it’s roomier/cushier), so they fake marry. Over the three years they platonically room together, they…
