So my reading choices this year seem to be all over the place – my usual genre is historical romance and I haven’t read as many of those so far. My latest book took me back to the vampire world, a genre I’d read extensively a few years ago. This is the second book in the Chicagoland Vampires and features a young woman newly turned vampire in Chicago, where vampires and shape shifters are out in the open. I haven’t read the first one, but […]
I Have a Lot of Feelings about “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”
*Warning: this review features a LOT of Caps Lock and has a tendency to ramble. Buckle up* Back in 2007, we all stumbled home from our midnight release parties and read the final Harry Potter book, racing against the sunrise, desperate to find out how it ended. We turned off our phones and chugged coffee, stopping only for reluctant bathroom breaks. Hours passed, and with three small words, the story that defined a generation ended: “All was well.” Flash forward a decade. Turns […]
Whatever weird things you remember about childhood, probably not as weird as this…
In the words of the great John Cleese, “and now, for something completely different…” I don’t know what I was expecting from this book, but it wasn’t that. And yet, it’s probably spot on for Gaiman. So what do I know? I’m not sure how much I’m supposed to say because in reading the back of the book synopsis and other reviews, I just didn’t realize that this story was so out there. Whoever was tasked with writing that synopsis stuck on his best poker […]
Do any men grow up or do they only come of age?
I’m taking on “The Dark Tower” series! It starts with The Gunslinger. It was reassuring to read King’s preface to the edition I picked up, in which he describes the creation of the story: he was very young, and he was very green, and it took him a very long time to finish the series. And then, as he finished, he went back and revised for clarity and consistency. I admire this, and appreciate it as a reader, and knowing that he was young and green […]
I had my Deathday and all I got was this lousy quest
Alex Mortiz is a bruja* and really doesn’t want to be one. She comes from a long line of brujas and brujos. Both her older and younger sisters have come into their gifts, but Alex is low-key hoping hers don’t kick in. Magic has never made anything in Alex’s life better; in fact, it has been key in making a lot of things worse. Alas, if Alex’s powers never came in, this would be a very short story. When they emerge in full force, Alex […]
Be careful what you wish for…
Ah, the glory of the library basement book sale, where books are $0.50, or even free! Thanks to the generosity of people donating books during the holiday season, my local library was practically begging people to take their donated and overstock books to give them forever homes. I am a little sad to learn that this one was my library’s only copy, but since it hadn’t been checked out in so long it got booted to the sale bin. I had a few free hours […]