Review of “32 Candles” by Ernessa T. Carter

32 Candles is a smart and warm romantic comedy that I think would appeal to males as much as females. The story is narrated by Davidia “Davie” Jones, who was brought up in poverty with in small, insular Glass, Mississippi. Her mother was an alcoholic and a prostitute, she had no father, and the kids [...]

Review of “The Burning” by Jane Casey

This U.K. author is touted as the next Tana French, and who wouldn’t want another Tana French? And indeed, there is a bit of resemblance, but in this book Casey reveals flaws and unevenness in execution that I have never seen with Tana French. Nevertheless, Casey is talented, and it was probably a bit unfair [...]

Review of “Dark Water” by Laura McNeal

This coming of age/young love story is a departure from the usual young adult fare. It utilizes the elemental forces of fire and water to help tell the story, enriching it for the reader by the multiple layers of meaning in the text. There is so much in this book to stimulate the mind of [...]

Banned Books Week: Review of “In The Night Kitchen” by Maurice Sendak

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event sponsored by the American Library Association to celebrate the freedom to read. During this week, attention is drawn to actual or attempted bannings of books across the US. As the ALA website notes: …librarians, teachers, and booksellers across the country … use Banned Books Week each year [...]

Review of “Blood Wounds” by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This is a book about a teenager who cuts herself. To be honest, if I had known that was what this book was about, I would not have read it. I prefer to take an ostrich-like approach to such matters. Willa Coffey seems to be leading a nice, normal life, but it isn’t long until [...]

September 22, 1927 – Calling Someone a “Big Bookworm” is Fightin’ Words!

On September 22, 1927, the boxing heavyweight championship between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney was fought at Soldier Field in Chicago. Tunney was an avid reader, and Dempsey, as part of the pre-fight exchange of slander, called Tunney “a big bookworm.” Tunney won the fight, but the decision was controversial, because of a longer-than-usual count [...]

Review of “Num8ers” by Rachel Ward

Jem Marsh is a 15-year-old London teenager who has the power to see the exact date a person will die when she looks into his or her eyes. Tormented by the anguish in her this causes, she avoids looking directly at others. This gets her stigmatized as a “weirdo,” and so she has become one [...]

Review of “Lethal” by Sandra Brown

The lives of Honor Gillette – a young widow, and her 4-year-old daughter Emily, are disrupted when a wanted man, Lee Coburn, enters their house and demands Honor cooperate with him or Emily will be harmed. Coburn has been accused of killing seven men the night before, and now he is inexplicably (to Honor) seeking [...]

Review of “Blood on the Moon” by Jennifer Knight

This book for young adults is yet another entry into the paranormal/hot werewolves-versus-vampires-all-after-the-same-extra-ordinary-girl/trilogy fray. I found this one entertaining though, and I guess I will have to read the sequel when it finally comes out since it ends in A TOTAL CLIFFHANGER – GAAAAAHHHHH!!!! Faith Reynolds and her best friend Derek, both from San Diego, [...]

Review of “Started Early, Took My Dog” by Kate Atkinson

This is the fourth novel featuring Jackson Brodie, a 50-year-old semi-retired private investigator who conjures up Kojak, for those readers old enough to remember him. [Kojak was an American television series airing from 1973 to 1978 starring Telly Savalas as Kojak, an older, attractive, charming detective - seemingly bumbling and incompetent, but although slow to [...]