“A great struggle for power and wealth goes on at all times over your head, and you are safer knowing nothing about it.”
This lovely, tautly written series for young adults blends Arthurian mythology with adventures in sixth-century Ethiopia and the Arabian peninsula, in kingdoms then known as Aksum and Himyar.
Wein’s books aren’t widely known, [...]
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Who is this guy?
Ashraf al-Mansur (you can call him Raf) shows up in the middle of El Iskandryia with nothing but a passport that gives Immigration fits and the clothes he bought on the plane. Within 50 pages, the narration hints at a complicated history of institutions: Swiss boarding school, Chinese mafia, death row in [...]
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“Captain Crozier comes up on deck to find his ship under attack by celestial ghosts. Above him–above Terror–shimmering folds of light lunge but then quickly withdraw like the colourful arms of aggressive but ultimately uncertain spectres. Ectoplasmic skeletal fingers extend toward the ship, open, prepare to grasp, and pull back.”
The Terror opens with this lovely, [...]
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“‘The quickest way to a man’s heart,’ said the instructor, ‘is proverbially through his stomach. But if you want to get into his brain, I recommend the eye-socket.’”
The defection of a high-ranking military engineer sets off a Renaissance-level arms race in this dark, detailed fantasy, the first book of the Engineer trilogy.
Ziani Vaatzes makes weapons. [...]
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Charlotte (Charley) Webb is a journalist for the Palm Beach Post. She’s used to having fans and critics send her e-mails and letters commenting on her edgy weekly column. She’s used to bailing her brother out of jams. She’s used to trying to be a good mother to her two children.
She’s not [...]
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Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries, the Mediator series and various other popular young adult books, is also a funny, entertaining author of adult contemporary fiction.
Cabot introduces us to Lizzie Nichols in Queen of Babble. Lizzie is a recent college grad – well, she thought she was a grad. She found out at [...]
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“Have you ever seen a face hidden in the bark of a tree and known that the man trapped inside wanted to hurt you?”
Who could resist such a creepy opening?
Grabenstein, author of Tilt-a-Whirl, Mad Mouse and Whack a Mole, doesn’t disappoint in this Young Adult story of ghostly happenings. (Kirkus Reviews suggests ages 10-12)
Zack Jennings [...]
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I enjoyed Sarah Addison Allen’s first book, Garden Spells, so I picked up her second title, The Sugar Queen, to see if it continued to delight with quirky characters and interesting plot lines. It does!
Josey Cirrini is trapped by guilt and fear in the house she has grown up in – torn between her sense [...]
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Short story collections generally don’t circulate well. I’m not sure exactly why, but I can certainly theorize. Personally, I enjoy immersing myself in a detailed, involved story, with well-thought out characters and vivid settings, but the very nature of short stories (They’re short!) seems counterintuitive to achieving those lofty goals. Honestly, [...]
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Connie from our Bluesocks reading group brings us this entry:
Anyone who is a Rick Bragg fan will want to read this third installment of his family history. Simply put, his first book, “All over But the Shoutin’,” was a tribute to his mother. His second book, “Ava’s Man,” was about his mother’s father’s life. This [...]
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