Live Healthy with Hashimoto’s Disease: The Natural Ayurvedic Approach to Managing Your Autoimmune Disorder by Vikki HibberdMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Thursday, October 29, 2020
Review: Live Healthy with Hashimoto’s Disease: The Natural Ayurvedic Approach to Managing Your Autoimmune Disorder
Live Healthy with Hashimoto’s Disease: The Natural Ayurvedic Approach to Managing Your Autoimmune Disorder by Vikki HibberdMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Thursday, July 23, 2020
Friday, July 17, 2020
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Friday, June 19, 2020
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Review: A Prayer for Travelers
A Prayer for Travelers by Ruchika TomarMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
An expertly crafted debut with a time-jumping narrative that takes awhile to get used to but is a perfect device to build suspense and keep people reading. Cale has great appeal as a character, with her love for her dogs, her grandfather Lamb, and her friend Penny. She makes many mistakes, but has good intentions and a brave heart. Cale and Penny went to school together, but don't really become friends until they begin working together at a local truck-stop diner. When Penny disappears, Cale begins searching for her friend while also dealing with the failing health of her beloved grandfather. Because the numbered chapters appear out of order, we don't find out until late in the book about a violent and horrifying event shared by Cale and Penny that no doubt prompted Penny's departure. Part coming of age story, part mystery, this is a perfect choice for readers who like suspenseful stories with fully drawn characters. Good for fans of The Round House or Winter's Bone.
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Thursday, April 30, 2020
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Review: Delia's Shadow
Delia's Shadow by Jaime Lee MoyerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Meet Delia Martin, a wealthy young woman during the dawn of the century in the city of San Francisco. Her secret: she can see ghosts, and at times they seem as real as the living. Since the great quake in 1906, Delia has been haunted by the dead and fled to New York to escape them. However, one particular restless spirit seems unwilling to let her go. Delia returns to San Francisco in the hope that she can shake her "friend" off once and for all. Unbeknownst to Delia, "Shadow," her spirit, was one of the many victims of a serial killer who has never been caught and is killing again after thirty years. Detectives Jack and Gabe have been on this case as was Gabe's father before him. Delia, Sadie (Delia's childhood friend), Gabe, and Jack (Sadie's fiancé) join forces to solve the mystery. A dark paranormal mystery with a bit of romance, this is the first book in the Delia Martin trilogy.
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Wednesday, March 04, 2020
Booking Forward March 2020
American Animals: A True Crime Memoir
by Eric Borsuk
This is Erik Borsuk’s true crime confession
about a few college lads that decide to burglarize their university’s library!
What could you possibly steal from a library you might ask…well this
library had a few rare books worth millions. I can’t wait to see how this
heist caper turns out. P.S. A librarian gets shot with a Taser gun!
For fans of: Assassination
Vacation by Sarah Vowell; The Man Who
Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartless
The City We Became
N.K. Jemisin
I became enamored with Jemisin’s writing
after reading her three-time Hugo Award-winning Broken Earth Trilogy. Here she
leaves The Stillness behind and heads to New York City. While the setting might
be familiar this go-around, the story appears to be wholly unique. The city is
gaining sentience, and five New Yorkers have been chosen to become avatars for
each borough and protect it from an alien threat.
For fans of: Trail of Lightning
by Rebecca Roanhorse; The City by
Dean Koontz
Cool Town
Grace Hale
When people think of alternative music, they
usually picture Seattle, Washington. This book takes a detour down to Athens,
Georgia where the true birth of alternative music quite possibly took place.
Along with bands like the B-52s and R.E.M., author Grace Hale was there when it
all happened in the late 70s and early 80s, and promises the book will be a
perfect blend of her own memories and a music historian’s diligent research.
This one should be irresistible to all the music nerds out there.
For fans of: Girl in a Band by
Kim Gordon; Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
by Carrie Brownstein
The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in
Your Home
Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
The creators of the popular podcast “Welcome
to Night Vale” reveal to fans the thrilling life of one of the most mysterious
characters from the show, The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your
Home. I’m especially interested to listen to the audiobook read by Mara Wilson
of “Matilda” fame who also voices the character on the podcast.
For fans of: Midnight, Texas
by Charlaine Harris; The Watchmaker of
Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
The Glass Hotel
Emily St. John Mandel
A strange and compelling story of people
linked by a remote hotel in the Pacific Northwest. Fascinating characters and
an intriguing but scattered plot that meanders all over the place. Difficult to
pin down what it’s really about—trust, lies, luck, disappearances, the general
uncertainty of life—but nevertheless a pleasure to read and hard to put down.
For fans of: A Visit from the Goon
Squad by Jennifer Egan; Fates and
Furies by Lauren Groff
A Good Neighborhood
Therese Anne Fowler
Heartbreaking to read and think about. We all
want to live in a good neighborhood, but what does that really mean? The author
throws a lot of heavy stuff into this novel, with lines of tension running
under everything. Race, environment, ambition, privilege, abuse, double
standards for men and women, activism, all the things.
For fans of: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane; Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The Henna
Artist
Alka Joshi
Seventeen-year-old Lakshmi leaves an abusive marriage and becomes
the most requested henna artist. There she learns secrets and gossip from the wealthiest
women. She must tread lightly to avoid jealous gossip that could ruin her.
For fans of: Dominicana by Angie Cruz; The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Light in Hidden
Places
Sharon Cameron
Based on a
true story of Holocaust heroine Stefania Podgorska, a 16-year-old Catholic
girl. Stefania hid 13 Jewish people in her attic with an SS officer that lived
adjacent to her for months. A tense and gripping novel, full of urgency, in
which death seems to wait around every corner.
For fans of: The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe; Mapping the Bones by Jane Yolen
Recollections of my Nonexistence
Rebecca Solnit
"To have a
voice means not just the animal capacity to utter sounds but the ability to
participate fully in the conversations that shape your society, your relations
to others, and your own life." In her new memoir, Solnit (Men Explain
Things to Me) reflects on the events that helped her to find her own voice in a
world and profession dominated by men.
For fans of: Hunger: a Memoir of (My) Body
by Roxane Gay; We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Valentine
Elizabeth Wetmore
Amazing debut. Tells the
story through the voices of several women and girls in Odessa, Texas, a town
where the oil flows freely but so do racism, sexism, hatred, anger, and fear. A
young Mexican girl is beaten and raped by a white oil worker and everyone takes
a side. Mostly the young man’s side.
For fans of: The
Mothers by Brit Bennett; Salvage the
Bones by Jesmyn Ward
Friday, February 14, 2020
Review: Stay and Fight
Stay and Fight by Madeline FfitchMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Three women build their own house and live off the land in Appalachian Ohio. Karen and Lily are a couple, expecting their first child. When that child turns out to be a boy, they must leave the Women's Land Trust property on which they had set up their first home. Helen, who has traveled to the area with her boyfriend, reaches out to Karen and Lily after the boyfriend takes off. She has purchased a twenty-acre stretch of land, and asks the other two women, whom she barely knows, to throw in their lot with her in a partnership, building another cabin, hunting, growing a garden, constructing a life. Even with all their amazing skills and strengths, life is unimaginably hard. And black snakes, which apparently are almost impossible to get rid of, infest their house. Most people I know, including myself, might have a hard time relating to these three women. After all, when was the last time you ate a nettle sandwich, or brewed a raccoon stew? Ugh. But the boy, the heart of the "family," Perley, is the most lovable, winsome young character I've read about in a long time. He's smart and funny and eager to learn. It's when he insists that he wants to go to school that things begin to crumble. After the county officials find out about the living conditions, they intervene. (Snakes sleeping in the bed are apparently frowned upon. Along with the lack of indoor plumbing.) Things don't go well, and the women hit rock bottom. How they deal with it, and how Perley processes it, and rises above it, finding a true friend along the way, make this book a true gem.
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Monday, February 10, 2020
Review: Stephen King at the Movies: A Complete History of the Film and Television Adaptations from the Master of Horror
Stephen King at the Movies: A Complete History of the Film and Television Adaptations from the Master of Horror by Ian NathanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ian Nathan’s Stephen King at the Movies is a perfect match for any fan of King’s novels, short stories, or the films and television series inspired by them. Claiming to be “a complete history of the film and television adaptations from the master of horror,” this compendium covers everything from 1976’s Carrie – which you’ll learn has already been remade twice – to 2019’s Doctor Sleep, chronologically giving every movie, mini-series, and TV show its own chapter complete with original poster art, filmmaking credits, photos from the set, and a review that includes making-of factoids as well as King’s own involvement (cameos!) and thoughts on each project.
This book also includes a few added sections I enjoyed as well. For instance, the introduction did a nice job of showcasing King’s career as a writer while at the same time explaining why his writing is so readymade for the silver screen. And, the author includes his own personal ranking of every movie and show in a section called The Final Reckoning. I won’t spoil which project got the top slot, but I have to agree with nearly all of the Children of the Corn sequels being near the bottom of the list.
The only dilemma with this book is that it became outdated the instant it was published. With shows like The Outsider currently airing, and over fifteen King-related projects slated for production, it seems the public demand for all things Stephen King is at an all-time high. But, what’s here in this compilation is outstanding – a film-geek and King-Completist’s dream. We can only hope for updated editions sometime down the road.
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Friday, February 07, 2020
Review: Infinity Son
Infinity Son by Adam SilveraMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Growing up, twins Emil and Brighton idolized the Spell Walkers, a group of crime-fighting magical vigilantes, and hoped to manifest their own powers someday. At 18, Brighton still dreams of the fame and glory powers would bring, but Emil would be happier living a normal life. The Spell Walkers’ popularity has waned, and some in the government want to lock them up along with the Blood Casters, a group of power-hungry alchemists who steal magical blood to create powers in themselves. When the brothers find themselves caught in a battle between the two magical groups, it’s Emil who discovers he has phoenix fire. When a video of Emil’s fight goes viral, the brothers must go into hiding, both from the Blood Casters and the government enforcers.
This fast-paced fantasy combines a fun twist on the Chosen One trope with all the things I love in a Silvera novel: complicated relationships, a diverse cast of compelling characters, and unexpected plot twists. This is the first book in a trilogy, and I’m very excited to see where Emil and Brighton’s story takes them.
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Friday, January 31, 2020
Booking Forward February 2020
Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time by Philip Clark
What do we know about Dave Brubeck? We’ve all heard his classic jazz anthem Take Five, and might have heard the name Dave Brubeck… but what else is known about this jazz giant? Well, in Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time, we’ll get to find out as the author Philip Clark had an all access pass to Brubeck, spending an entire tour of the United Kingdom with him and his band during the early 2000s. I’m really looking forward to the brain pickings of this iconic musical genius.
For fans of:
- Birth of the Cool: how jazz great Miles David found his sound by Kathleen Cornell Berman
- Good Things Happen Slowly: a life in and out of jazz by Fred Hersch
A Divided Loyalty
by Charles Todd
The latest in
Todd’s popular Inspector Ian Rutledge series. Avebury is a village set inside a
great prehistoric stone circle not far from Stonehenge. Can Rutledge solve a
cold case when the victim is unidentified and the clues are few and far
between? And if he does, is he brave enough to face the wrath of his superiors
for going against their wishes?
For fans of:
- Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries
by Dorothy L. Sayers
- The New Hercule Poirot
mysteries by Sophie Hannah
The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams
In 19th century New England, Samuel Hood and his daughter Caroline take up the unlikely task of educating young women in subjects that were at the time considered too difficult for them. As classes begin, a mysterious flock of red birds descends on the town and the girls become ill with a maddening variety of symptoms. When her father brings in a physician to treat the girls using suspect methods, Caroline finds she must do what’s right no matter the cost.
For fans of:
- The Witch Elm by Tana French
- The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis
The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley
Fans of Pulley’s The Watchmaker of Filigree Street rejoice! Thaniel and Mori are back, Katsu is alive, and the three are in for another adventure. This time in a steampunk-tinged Japan filled with secrets, political intrigue…and ghosts. After four years away, I can’t wait to revisit characters who feel like old friends.
For fans of:
- A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
- Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Resisters by Gish Jen
In a near-future America, the country is half underwater, and citizens are either the “Netted” who live on dry land or the “Surplus” living in swamps and on the water. But this isn’t “Waterworld.” Gwen, a young Surplus girl, has a gift for baseball and is tapped for the Olympic team, playing alongside the Netted elite. While many dystopian books center the downfall of society on one cataclysmic event, what is truly terrifying (and perhaps all too real) here is that the breakdown of society comes through countless seemingly inconsequential actions. Chilling.
For fans of:
- On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee
- Vox by Christina Dalcher
Sisters by Choice
by Susan Mallery
This fourth
book in the Blackberry Island Series is a heartfelt story of three women with
their own dreams, ambitions, and problems. It's a story of love, family, and
the friendships that see us through. A great read to warm you up on a cold
February night!
For fans of:
- The Summerhouse Novels by Jude Deveraux
- The Wednesday Novels by Meg Waite Clayton
Until the End of Time by Brian Greene
In the past, I’ve really appreciated how Brian Greene has simplified complex astro-physics so that the common person can be intrigued and inspired by this mysterious science, especially in The Elegant Universe, which also became a PBS documentary. What has me excited about his new book Until the End of Time is that Greene is delving inward into human consciousness and what its place is in this vast universe. I highly suspect this one will be made into a PBS special as well, with Greene as the narrator. I can’t wait!
For fans of:
- Gravity's century: from Einstein's eclipse to images of black holes by Ron Cowen
- The quantum moment: how Planck, Bohr, Einstein, and Heisenberg taught us to love uncertainty by Robert P. Crease
The Worst Best Man
by Mia Sosa
Carolina Santos
is a wedding planner hoping to land an opportunity that will take her business
to the next level. Unfortunately, this opportunity comes with one big hitch:
she’ll have to work with the brother of her ex-fiancé. Max Hartley is a
marketing expert set on getting a new big client. But can he handle working
with Carolina when she hates him for talking his brother out of marrying her?
I can’t pass up
a good enemies-to-lovers story, and this one sounds like a lot of fun!
For fans of:
- Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey
McQuiston
- The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Review: The Girls with No Names
The Girls with No Names by Serena BurdickMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Just because you are rich doesn’t mean you have freedoms—you actually have limits, a slave to society and propriety. Meet sisters Effie and Luella Tildon, who lived a very comfortable life but had to conform to a strict set of rules that were placed upon women in the 1900s. Any kind of rebellion could send them to a work house, an asylum, known as the House of Mercy.
One day when their father took them out for lunch to spend time with them, both Luella and Effie witnessed the real truth behind his motive. After finding out their father’s shocking secret, Luella, the older and braver sister, decided that she would do as she pleased. However, with that rebellion comes consequences. One day she was no longer there. Effie comes to believe that she was sent to the House of Mercy and plans to get herself committed in order to save her sister. Once there, she falls victim to the cruelty and befriends another girl by the name of Mable. The two learn that they must rely on and trust each other to survive. The Girls with No Names is a gripping story till the end.
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Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Review: You Will Be Safe Here
You Will Be Safe Here by Damian BarrMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Set in South Africa in two timelines, You Will Be Safe Here explores the idea that telling someone "you will be safe here" is sometimes a perverted way of justifying mistreatment and confinement. In 1901, Sarah and her son Fred are swept from their farm in rural South Africa in the midst of the Second Boer War, in which the British employed a scorch-and-burn method of removing families, mostly women and children, left behind while their soldier husbands were away fighting, from their homes. The British soldiers burned the dwellings, barns, and crops, and funneled the people into concentration camps "for their safety." In reality, the British Empire was fighting with two Boer states, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, over the Empire's influence in South Africa, and they wanted to destroy anything that would give sustenance or support to the Boer soldiers. In 2010, Irma and Jan drop off Irma's teenage son Willem at the New Dawn Safari Training Camp, which is supposed to turn boys into men. Willem has been expelled from school for an incident that was not really his fault, but because he's sensitive and different, his stepfather insists that he needs straightening up, in more ways than one. New Dawn is a cruel and horrible place, with many parallels to the concentration camp that Sarah and her son were forced to endure. The reader eventually learns the connections between these two timelines and places. Although a sobering story about a history that most of us have no knowledge of, there are moments of devotion, caring, and connection that lift the heart. Highly recommended.
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Monday, January 13, 2020
Review: Sleepless, Vol. 1
Sleepless, Vol. 1 by Sarah VaughnMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Volume one of Sleepless collects the first six chapters in the series and gets this enchanting fantasy romance off to a wonderful start. This graphic novel tells the tale of Poppy- the illegitimate daughter of the recently deceased King, and Cyrenic – the sleepless knight sworn to guard her from all harm with a vow to never sleep, until his final “sleep unto death.”
With a new king now seated at the throne, courtly intrigue ensues as Poppy’s family and trusted friends leave for other lands, leaving her exposed to the new royalty as well as strange and unknown scoundrels attempting to assassinate her. But, at least she has Cyrenic at her side for moral support, relationship advice, and ninja-like bodyguard skills… and with the help of all the political maneuvering the two must perform to survive the treachery of the royal court, a true romantic tension begins to blossom.
Sleepless uses artwork that reminds you of the middle ages, having a style that hints at ancient illuminated texts while at the same time using much more modernized facial expressions and character gestures - and in some instances looking like stained-glass portraits come to life. The effect is pure fantasy!
Simply a joy to read, Sleepless would make a great first book for teen/adult readers looking to get into the world of graphic novels.
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