![]() ![]() I like it when it isn’t clear if Occam's Razor is cutting toward “That person is obviously tripping” or “That was obviously magic”. I love flashy magic as much as the next person, but one of my favorite things about magical realism is how every little bit of weirdness can become a source of wonder. On the other hand, some “real” fantasy fans are reluctant to allow it beneath the umbrella of “proper” SFF. Thankfully, u/Dianthaa spared me that fate with a rec that I ended up liking much better for my Witches square: Conjure Women by Afia Atakora, a Southern gothic work of magical realism that, among many other things, compares and contrasts the power of black and white women in Civil War and Reconstruction Era USA.įor non-genre readers, magical realism is the sneaky, minimalist disguise fantasy wears so it can score invites to those fancy Real Literature soirees. ![]() I wasn’t disliking it, but I wasn’t liking it enough to look forward to doing a write-up about it. ![]() I almost read a book I didn’t like that much for Bingo. ![]()
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![]() ![]() What happened last night? Ella can’t seem to remember a single thing from the party the night before at a mysterious stranger’s mansion, and she sure as heck doesn’t know why she’s woken up in her bed surrounded by a magpie’s nest of objects that aren’t her own. "Lucie Bryon brings shōjo manga–inspired artwork to this queer high school romance." ![]() Add in to that the gorgeous art, and you’ve got yourself a truly wonderful book." "Reading Thieves is like going on a decidedly queer adventure - full of heart, tension, beauty, and so much love. ![]() The drawing style is incredibly appealing, with delightful acting and visual jokes that make this an absolute pleasure to read." "Thieves is a rambunctious, charming story about high schoolers partying, falling in love, and committing acts of reverse larceny. “Such a sweet and funny story with complex, flawed characters that you can’t help but love.” ![]() ![]() ![]() My issue with this book is that it feels more like the Twilight-Teen-Romance version of Jumper. I don't think I've ever even heard of another book or series exploring teleportation the way that the Jumper series has. There was no awkward phase.ĭon't get me wrong, I loved this book. What we see in this book is Cent understanding her power almost immediately and beginning to experiment. We never got to see the exploration phase that Davy and Millie went through. Yes, there was jumping, but it felt like an afterthought. In books 1 and 2, you were always exploring new territory, and finding out what Davy and Millie could do. Impulse did not have the same feeling of the other two. Another great book, but markedly different from Jumper. Reflex took the previously explored world and added an element of adventure and despair to the story. It explores the mechanics and psychology of teleportation from the viewpoint of a person I can relate to. I can read it over and over and still love it every time. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() However, Adam and his werewolves are standing firm on their promise to defend their territory and protect Aiden, the fire-touched child whom the Grey Lords want to get their hands on. Now the Tri-Cities area has become a battleground for fae politics, forcing Bran the Marrok to cut ties with the Columbia Basin pack. But while this decision has made some of the pack unhappy, worse yet is the concern that Mercy’s actions may have unwittingly sparked an all-out war between humankind, werewolves and the fae. Mercy, who has already taken a lot of heat (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!) for her role in making that happen, is once more the target of the pack’s ire in Fire Touched when she extends their protection to a fae-altered child in the aftermath of a troll attack on the city. Mercy may have stirred things up after becoming the mate of Adam, alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolves, but after the events of the last book Night Brokenthe pack has welcomed yet another non-wolfy member in the form of Joel the tibicena. All opinions are my own.įire Touched is another strong entry into the Mercy Thompson series, and even though it might not be my favorite book or even in my top three, the significance of this volume cannot be overlooked because it contains a lot of important moments and turning points.įor one thing, the pack has grown again. Book Review: Fire Touched by Patricia BriggsĪ review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ![]() ![]() ![]() With his food and water near gone and death closer than ever, a chance encounter may lead to finding his friends-if he can first find his courage. ![]() Doable, maybe, if he could bring himself to leave his apartment. Maybe his rules weren’t meant to be broken, but if he can’t change his tune, he risks losing the one thing he has left-his daughter.Ĭraig Matthews has a mission: get to Oregon. The world is finished, the future is uncertain, and survival means living in the last place he’d planned to be. ![]() But when his life is overturned in the space of minutes, his plans die along with everything else. Rule number one? Don’t deviate from the plan. It’s clear the party’s over, however, and now Rose has more problems-a missing husband, an overbearing houseguest, and keeping her family alive. She wanted to get drunk and sing karaoke, not murder her undead neighbors. With a marriage going down the tubes and a dreaded anniversary party on the horizon, the last thing she needs is the zombie apocalypse. Where the end of the world is only the beginning… In the zombie apocalypse, your worst enemy may be yourself.įrom the Until the End of the World and City Series universe comes the story of the virus on the West Coast. ![]() ![]() ![]() If you enjoy reading our Kindle Fire Kindle Nation Daily posts, we encourage you to support our daily sponsors and thank you for considering them. As Einstein once said, “If you cannot keep it simple, you haven’t understood it well enough”. And even though her work is based on human physiology and biochemistry, she found a way to keep science simple. Her books are easy to read and very visual practical guides. Although she believes in free will and that our weight reflects the choices we’ve made, she clearly describes the limits of your responsibility and completely dismisses self blame. Her brutally honest book “5 Gears Diet” provides all the information we ever needed to know about fat gain and fat loss, so we can get how these mechanisms work once and for all. She advocates a healthy lifestyle in which all foods can be eaten and no long workouts are necessary to be fit and slim as long as we are fully informed. After she graduated Medical University she extended her medical knowledge in sport nutrition, nutrition for weight loss and children nutrition as she became a nutritionist. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Tempest lacks an emotional core, leaving the characters to flail miserably in a storm of pretty words and good intentions. ![]() Wonderfully drawn character descriptions placed in odd predicaments find their way to a fanciful, ridiculous ending. Tempest Rising reads like a well-written summary. Ramona, a buyer for a local department store, often ends up taking care of the foster kids while Mae is out taking care of Mae.Īnd then there are more characters and more story lines and more flowery writing and long-winded prose. In Part II, readers meet Ramona, the “saucer-eyed, butter-toned West Philly head turner.” She is bitter about how her card-playing, booze-guzzling mother, Mae, takes advantage of her. No character, it seems, is too small to have input. Instead, McKinney-Whetstone shares the insights and history of almost every character she names. Yet, the viewpoint rarely swings in their direction. The story promises to share the tale of three sisters, snatched from the bosom of privilege and forced to find their way in a shaky foster home. Too many characters, too many story lines, too much hand-holding. ![]() Grating as a tactic, this is forgivable if there is sufficient payoff. The pages read like a long, literary preface. The voice of Part I of the book rumbles with the authority of a distant narrator. The author of the critically acclaimed novels Tumbling, Tempest Rising, Blues Dancing, Leaving Cecil Street, and Trading Dreams at Midnight, Diane McKinney-Whetstone is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Black Caucus of the American L. All of this happens in the first 33 pages of the 280-page book. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() But in a continent torn apart by religious intolerance, constant danger lurks for those who don't watch their words. When Master de Aquila travels to Venice to find a publisher brave enough to print his daring new book, Isabella accompanies him and discovers a world of possibility - where women work alongside men as equal partners, and where books and beliefs are treasured. taking refuge in Amsterdam and desperate to find a means to survive, Isabella finds work with an elderly printer, Master de Aquila, and his enigmatic young assistant, Willem. Sixteen-year-old Isabella is forced to flee her home when her father's radical ideas lead him into a suicidal stand against Oliver Cromwell's army. Ages 14+ When ideas were dangerous, one girl found the courage to act. A story of faith, intrigue and adventure in 17th-century Europe. ![]() ![]() She breathed in again, swooned, then swiftly recovered and slipped past Jace into the garage.Įau de Biker. ![]() The muscle of his flexed and tattooed bicep shone under the florescent light. He grinned back, anchoring his fingers high in the mesh, leaning on the gate, and exuding eau de biker. Her little black dress was fine but the six inch red stilettos were going to kill her any second. Virginia swept back her long blonde hair and smiled as enticingly as she could at the man on the other side of the chain mesh gate. Yeehaw! Playing hide the tentacle has never been so much fun. Virginity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and her search for the Holy Grail of Erotic Romance, the ten inch purple-headed schlong, may have finally borne fruit. ![]() If it simply has to happen, let it at least be a billionaire and a hot biker. Having a bad day isn’t good but when Virginia Chaste has a bad day, she gets felt up by a tentacle monster. ![]() A parody of everything great and weird in erotic romance that could be stuffed into one book without it exploding.įor some girls, one tentacle isn’t enough. ![]() ![]() About to enter a 3rd printing, Black Indian begins the saga of her family’s migration stories of Free People of Color communities exploring identity, ethnicity, landscape and loss. Finalist for the 2021 Mississippi Review poetry contest, Shonda’s memoir, Blac k Indian, won the 2020 Indie New Generation Book Award and was chosen by PBS NewsHour as a "top 20 books to read" to learn about institutional racism. ![]() Shonda is also a Sundance Institute Writing Arts fellow, a PEN Center Emerging Voices fellow and a Jentel Artist Residency fellow. Scott and Frank Sullivan Awards, and an Eloise Klein-Healy Scholarship. ![]() ![]() Pushcart Prize nominee, daughter of Mixed bloods, a USC Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities Fellow, and a Department of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles (COLA) Master Artist Fellow, Shonda Buchanan is the author of five books, including the award-winning memoir, Black Indian. An award-winning poet, fiction, nonfiction writer and educator, Shonda is the recipient of the Brody Arts Fellowship from the California Community Foundation, a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, several Virginia Foundation for the Humanities grants, the Denise L. ![]() |