“When had I a choice to be other than I was?” So begins this fictional autobiography of Alice Perrars’ life. And that’s about where I stopped caring overly much. That’s harsher than I mean to be, because the book was okay, but I have very, very little tolerance for excuses. And this was a running […]
Huck by Janet Elder: Book Review
When Janet Elder was diagnosed with breast cancer, she and her husband promised their twelve-year-old son Michael that they would get him a puppy as soon as she was better. They realized that life is too short to deny their son something he so desperately wanted, but they also knew that she would be in […]
Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin: Book Review
I don’t even know where to start with a synopsis for this book, so I’ll just skip that. I have a feeling that the reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars shows more about what I’m lacking than about what the book is lacking. I felt myself on the verge of a huge epiphany […]
The Word Made Flesh by Eva Talmadge: Book Review
I pulled this out of its mailer and my husband took one look and said, “Oh, crap. You’re going to have a tattoo soon, aren’t you?” I was a little hesitant to open it for fear of that very thing myself. I don’t have anything against tattoos on other people, they just aren’t for me. […]
One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey: Book Review
Princess Andromeda feels like she can’t do anything right. Her mother, Queen Cassiopeia, always seems to be disappointed in Andie’s appearance and her tendency to have her nose in a book. Finally, Andie finds a way to prove her value as a researcher to her mother–just in time to help try to discover a way […]
The Gendarme by Mark Mustian: Book Review
Emmett Conn is 92 years old and he has started having seizures and disturbing dreams/flashbacks. His early years are a mystery to him anyway. He awoke in a British hospital in WWI, a Turkish soldier mistakenly picked up after he was severely wounded. That’s as far back as he can remember. But now in his […]
The Outer Banks House by Diann Ducharme: Book Review
Abby Sinclair is the neglected daughter of a plantation owner. Three years after the end of the Civil War, she is still mourning the loss of her uncle and her family is still adjusting to the loss of their slaves. When her father decides to move the whole family out to the Outer Banks of […]
Everything is Going to be Great by Rachel Shukert: Book Review
After college, Rachel Shukert ended up working for free for a well-known experimental theater director. The play took a brief tour of Europe, and Rachel was thrilled when she found out that her passport had not been stamped. That meant she could stay in Europe as long as she wanted without a visa, since no […]
Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens: Book Review
I read this for A Christmas Carol but decided to read the rest and see what else Dickens had to say about Christmas. There were a few other little gems, although none were as good as A Christmas Carol, but there were some that I didn’t like at all. A Christmas Carol was a 4 […]
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: Book Review
Everyone who knows pleasant Dr. Jekyll is surprised that he has taken the brutish Mr. Hyde under his wing. Hyde is a horrible person, and everyone who meets him claims to be immediately repulsed by him. It’s obvious that there’s more to the relationship than meets the eye, but no one guesses exactly how twisted […]
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer: Book Review
Calla Tor is the alpha of her teen Guardian (werewolf) pack. She knows the rules and she enforces them. So why does she break them multiple times in one day by saving a normal teenage boy and letting him see her shift? And why are her masters, the Keepers, so interested in this same guy? […]