This review contains minor spoilers for previous books in the series. Dark Road To Darjeeling is Deanna Raybourn’s fourth book in her Lady Julia Grey series after Silent On the Moor. Set in 1989 the novel begins with Lady Julia and her husband Inquiry Agent Nicholas Brisbane on their honeymoon in the Himalayas, attempting to…
Judas Coyne, lead singer for a metal band, has been living in semi-retirement on a farm in New York with his young goth girlfriend Georgia. Coyne has a collection of occult and morbid items, so when his assistant asks him if he’d like to buy a dead man’s suit (ghost included), Coyne doesn’t think twice.…
We were so lucky to have Daphne Kalotay visit the library at the beginning of the month. She was a wonderful speaker. We couldn’t resist another joint review for Russian Winter. The beautiful cover is what first catches your eye of Daphne Katolay’s Russian Winter. It depicts a back shot of a woman with her…
Juliet is the debut novel by Anne Fortier and what a grand debut it is. For those of you who are Romeo and Juliet purists, a word of warning; while there are many similarities, there are also just as many differences such as instead of the story being set in Verona it takes place in…
Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón authors of the 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation have teamed up to write a graphic novel version of the Diary of Anne Frank authorized by the Anne Frank House. This wonderful video shows the authors talking about their collaboration on the project:
“In 1951, Elizabeth Bishop boarded a ship bound for Rio de Janeiro for a two-week holiday with friends. Once there, she fell in love- and two weeks became seventeen years. In this mesmerizing debut novel, Michael Sledge creates an intimate portrait of bishop- of the years she spent in Brazil and her love the dazzling…
Harm None ~ M. R. Sellars Rowan Gant, self-proclaimed witch, is brought in to help his best friend, Detective Ben Storm, solve a brutal murder that involves elements of Witchcraft. As the number of horribly gruesome murders grows, Rowan is drawn into relentless visions and nightmares that, bit by bit, offer painful clues as to…
Since Willard Phule (multi-millonaire) is tricked into being commander of the worst soldiers in the Space Legion, he uses all his influence and money to “straighten” out his men. There is Becker his proper English butler who accompanies Phule and seems to tell the story. As “off the wall” as this story is, it is…
Although I thought that 578 pages of reading would be a bit much, I have to say that you can fly through this tale. Kivrin, a history student at Oxford in 2048, travels back in time to a 14th century English village. Due to a technical error, Kivrin is sent not to 1320 but to…
Vampire Tapestry centers on a one of a kind, handsome vampire, posing as a college professor. He has lived many lives, is a lone vampire unable to remember his past but has thoughts of events he has lived through. His life takes many turns including being discovered twice as a vampire, shot, captured, caged, exhibited,…
Living on the East Coast, it’s hard to imagine what it must be like really seeing the ocean for the first time. In Stiltsville, Frances Ellerby’s new friend Marse invites her to stay at a stilt house off of Key Biscayne, Florida and there she falls in love with the man who will become her…
In the first book in Pratchett’s Discworld series, we meet wizard school dropout Rincewind. The Discworld is a flat disc held up by four elephants riding on the back of a giant turtle that wanders through space. Due to a bit of mischief, Rincewind has been imprinted with one of the 8 most powerful spells,…
A tale about English villagers who are of elvish lineage. They are trapped in the human world because the gate to the other world is closed. The quest to open the gate has as many convolutions as a soap opera: there are star-crossed lovers, suspense and mystery. There is a good sense of place and…
The life changing events in Agnes Trussel’s life seem to occur by chance. She has a knack for either being in the right place at the right time or vice versa. When she accidentally comes upon some money, she flees to London to avoid facing the consequences of her unwanted pregnancy. While it may seem…
And yet, when he noticed that I, his youngest daughter, showed an interest in reading, he took me to our local Jonesboro library and told me that I could read any book in the building so long as I promised to talk to him about it if I read something I didn’t understand. I think…
Join us tomorrow, September 8th, at 7:00 pm for an author visit with Lynne Griffin Ms. Griffin will be discussing her most recent release, Sea Escape, and will follow the event with a signing. Borders Books will be selling copies of Ms. Griffin’s books before and after the event. Light refreshments will be served. There…
Total Eclipse is the last book in Rachel Caine’s phenomenal Weather Warden series. As the book opens, the wardens and the djinns have all lost their powers and Mother Nature is on the warpath. Things have never been so dire. Joanne and David have also had their powers stripped and are helpless as they watch…
In the 19th book in this series, Roman detective Marcus Didius Falco travels to Alexandria with his family so that his pregnant wife can see the pyramids. This menagerie which includes, Falco and his wife, two young daughters, an adopted teenage daughter and Falco’s brother-in-law stays with Falco’s outcast uncle and his partner. As one…
Life in Three Pines, a small, tight-knit town on the outskirts of Montréal, is quiet. Residents pass time in the company of friends, art, and various other clubs. Until the morning that Jane Neal, a beloved member of the community, is found dead in the woods. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec…
It’s been a cliffhanger, but now the final page can be turned. The NPR audience nominated some 600 novels to our “Killer Thrillers” poll and cast more than 17,000 ballots. The final roster of winners is a diverse one to say the least…” To view the complete list, click on the link in the passage…
Looking for a little romance for your next day at the beach? Check out the 2010 RITA Award winners. Best Young Adult Romance Perfect Chemistry ~ Simone Elkeles When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to…
Comic book writer Evie Walker returns home to spend time with her dying father and discovers that her family home in Colorado is not the only thing which will be left to her. Secreted away behind a basement door is a wondrous and magical storeroom where treasures from just about every myth ever told are…
When Scottish exile, Stewart Jamison, finds himself in pre-Revolutionary War Boston, he is full of talent but strapped for cash. A smooth talking portrait painter, Jamison manages to set himself up in business but he needs an apprentice. Enter Francis Weston, or as the reader knows him/her, Fanny Easton. Weston/Easton is a daughter of a…
Martha Grimes’ mystery series has one thing I can’t resist: A charming, fallible detective. There are many other words that describe Chief Inspector Detective Richard Jury – personable, smart, unassuming – but those terms barely does him justice. Grimes excels at characterization; the inhabitants of the little villages Jury visits are fully realized, quirky, and…
I was lucky to attend the recent American Library Association Conference in Washington, DC where the wonderful folks from HarperCollins treated us to a “Book Buzz” presentation of books that will be coming out in the fall. Here are just a few so you can add them to your own TBR list! I certainly added…
Publisher’s Summary: “Newly single Tilly Cole impulsively moves to a small town, only to find she’s arrived in a hotbed of gossip, intrigue, and rampant rivalry for the most desirable man—Jack Lucas, whose reputation is beyond bad. Tilly has no intention of becoming another notch on his bedpost. But she finds the thoughtful, caring guy…
There are so many great summer reading lists out there right now, and we will be featuring several of them here. But we thought we’d start out with some of the books that our staff are hoping to read this summer. Insignificant Others – Stephen McCauley Three Weissmans of Westport – Cathleen Schine The Bullpen…
When Loyal Ledford, returns to the Mann Glass Factory after being wounded at Guadalcanal, he has trouble readjusting to his old life. He drinks to drown the horrors he saw there and finds the most comfort talking to an African-American veteran, Mack Wells. Though trained as an engineer during the war, Mack resumes his post…
Winner of the Man Booker Prize, Mantel has called Wolf Hall a response to Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons. The ruthless character in that play is tempered in Mantel’s fictionalized account of the life of Thomas Cromwell. Her Cromwell is still opportunistic and willing to overlook some of his personal beliefs in order…
Told from the point of view of Cleopatra Selene, the only daughter of Cleopatra and Marc Antony, Moran’s latest historical novel gives an interesting glimpse into the life of a young Egyptian woman as she learns to make her way in Rome. Octavian (Caesar Augustus) kills the majority of her family, yet he brings Selene…
The Fountainhead has become an enduring piece of literature, more popular now than when published in 1943. On the surface, it is a story of one man, Howard Roark, and his struggles as an architect in the face of a successful rival, Peter Keating, and a newspaper columnist, Ellsworth Toohey. But the book addresses a…
If you’re looking for a good mystery, The Edgars and the Agathas were recently announced. The Edgars Best Novel Best First Novel Best Young Adult The Agathas Best Novel Best First Novel
A patron recommended this book as an antidote to all the violence on television. She loved the humor in the book and if you are looking for a good laugh you might too! The first novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club is a rollicking tale of small-town…
Thanks to all of you who attended the first ever Novelty: Danvers Literary Festival. The authors were funny, engaging and very generous with their time. Moderator, Leane Ellis did a great job introducing the panelists and asked insightful questions. Many of the authors talked about the writing process. Characterization was a hot topic with the…
Fans of Alt’s Bewitching Mystery series will no doubt tell you that, despite the transparent mystery, this sixth installment is well worth reading for its relationship-centric plot. What that means? More Marcus! And that’s always a good thing. So, this time around, Maggie gets an urgent call from her composed but worried mother; Maggie’s sister…
Did you know we have e-newsletters and online book clubs? Did you know that you could get an email with the New York Times Bestseller lists sent directly to your email each week? You can easily link to the library’s catalog and request books or place holds on popular titles. We also have over 20…
If you like books that take place close to home, we’ll give you a heads-up on titles you may want to check out with Read This’ new Local Connection feature. This time we’ve found one for all of you horror/police procedural fans: Alexandra Sokoloff’s June release, Book of Shadows, features two Boston homicide detectives and…
The 2010 Rita Award Finalists were recently announced. We are pleased that two of those finalists will be appearing at the Novelty: Danvers Literary Festival on May 8th: Kristan Higgins Deanna Raybourn
In the summer of 1921, English society is fascinated by the spiritual world – perhaps no one more than the great mystery writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, one of thirteen eager guests at a weekend party and seance in a stately Devon manor house steeped in history and tradition. But, as Sir Arthur puts it,…
A very special congratulations to Paul Harding for winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Mr. Harding gave a reading at the library shortly after Tinkers was published. He was a great speaker and was very generous with his time. Non-fiction Poetry History Biography
One of our staff members read and loved Dennis Lehane’s latest novel of historical fiction. It sounds like a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Boston. Set in Boston at the end of the First World War, bestselling author Dennis Lehane’s extraordinary eighth novel unflinchingly captures the political and social unrest of a…
The staff here at the Peabody Institute Library had the pleasure of hearing author and Boston Globe mystery reviewer, Hallie Ephron, hold forth on the mystery genre last week. She talked about the origin of mysteries and major authors in some of the many subgenres. She was a terrific speaker and many of us were…
This is Milan’s debut historical romance featuring Gareth, Lord Blakely. Gareth is used to getting what he wants and his icy demeanor tends to cause people to scurry around to please him. When he finds that his cousin Ned has been spending his money visiting a fortune teller, he is determined to prove her a…
One thing a disreputable rake does not expect to return home to after a night of carousing with like-minded friends is news of his father’s death in a duel. That, Lord Nevinstoke learns, is like a slap to the face; the debts and resulting destitution left in his father’s wake, on the other hand, are…
Fans of The Art of Racing in the Rain might be excited to know that Garth Stein’s first novel, Raven Stole the Moon has just been released in paperback. It has been two years since Robert and Jenna Rosen lost their son in a drowning accident at a resort in Alaska. The resort was part…
Louise Erdrich’s latest offering, Shadow Tag, is about a marriage in painful disarray. It’s about a stalled academic and a self-absorbed artist. It’s about a family that is tearing itself apart from the inside out. Not exactly cheerful company on a dark, rainy day or, for that matter, during an afternoon filled with sun soaked…
The book starts with the birth of Ruby Lennox, the narrator. Her life story unfolds in chapters out of chronological sequence, through which we learn much of her dysfunctional family and what she perceives as her place in it. Ruby always feels as though she is missing something in her life, and through the backstory…
With Valetine’s Day fast approaching, we asked our staff which literary couple was their favorite. The staff’s favorite couple, by majority, was Lady Julia Gray and Nicholas Brisbane from Deanna Raybourn’s excellent mystery series. This couple knows how to match wits with the very best of them! (Series: Silent in the Grave, Silent in the…
In 1860s Seattle, lumberjack Joe Denton struggles to hold onto the land he was awarded as part of a Land Donation Grant. Without a wife, the burgeoning city’s law officials threaten to sell off the acreage Joe is desperate to hold onto. The answer to Joe’s prayers arrives in the enviable form of Anna Ivey,…
Matt Younger is a 30-year-old boat delivery captain, who returns to Amelia Island, Florida from the Dominican Republic to make a confession to his dying father. With two companions, a cook named Jesse, and Phillip, a French mechanic, Matt tells his father how he set off from West Palm Beach on board Stardust, a 40′…
Our Lady of Fatima is a close knit and very well decorated town in New Jersey. It’s prince, Bartolomeo di Crespi is the town’s best and only interior decorator. B, as he’s better known, gives up a New York City career in design so that he can be a beloved brother and uncle and member…
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family’s apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th…
Elizabeth Kostova, known for her debut novel The Historian, is back with The Swan Thieves (released today.) Summary: Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe, devoted to his profession and the painting hobby he loves, has a solitary but ordered life. When renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient,…
December 16th at 7:00 p.m. Kristin Cashore, the NY Times best-selling author of Graceling and Fire, will be visiting the library on Wednesday, December 16th. Borders Books will be selling copies of both after the event if you would like to have the author sign one (or both.) This event is free and open to…
Reeve Lindbergh, herself an accomplished memoirist, writes a wonderful review of Jamison’s book in the Washington Post that can be found on the Amazon site. “To write the truth with such passion and grace is remarkable enough. To do this in loving memory of a partner is tribute indeed.” Jamison is indeed a writer of…
In the eighth installment of the Coffeehouse Mystery series, Clare Cosi, manager of the Village Blend in Greenwich, NY, has her hands full trying to get her team of baristas to join in on the holiday spirit. When Clare finds Alfred Glockner, a traveling Santa and frequent customer at the blend, shot dead in an…
Fleeing her home in Market Cross, Caitrin believes she has found sanctuary in the town of Whistling Tor. When villagers warn her of ghostly spectres that haunt the surrounding forest, Caitrin dismisses the stories as idle gossip. Haunted or not, she knows that she cannot return to her home, subject once again to greedy predators…
Charlie Madigan is a single mom raising her daughter in post-Revelation Atlanta. She’s also an Integration Task Force agent for the Atlanta police, a position she takes seriously and, along with her partner, Hank, it’s a job she does well. When a new addictive substance, a drug known as ash, hits her streets, Charlie’s job…
On Monday evening, we had the pleasure of hosting New York Times Best-selling author, Matthew Pearl. At the end of a wonderful presentation about his work and the making of his book The Last Dickens, a member of the audience asked what books he was reading. Here are his recommendations: Louis Bayard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ David Liss…
A first novel by Gaile Parkin is just what the librarian ordered for the armchair traveler who, not for lack of desire, has never made it to the beautiful and fierce continent of Africa. Written in the authentic voices of her many characters, from Egyptians to Americans as well as the many peoples of the…
“Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment. But Sorcha’s joy is shattered when her father is bewitched…
Originally from Palestine, Nayir is something of an outsider in Saudi Arabia. As a desert guide, he has become familiar with the bedouin customs, but the bedouins do not welcome him into their social circles and the Saudi’s think he is too much like a bedouin to be a Saudi. Yet he is highly regarded…
In Sarah Dunant’s latest historical novel, we follow the lives of two nuns. Suora Zuana is the dispensary mistress. Caring for her fellow sisters allows her some freedom perhaps not available to others. She can continue her medical studies encouraged by her late father and attend to her herb garden – both pursuits nourish her…
“In 1636, the last blood sorceress was burned at the stake. More than two hundred years later, her blood servant Jax has found her successor. Amanusa at first turns down the opportunity to learn what she perceives as an evil art. But she craves justice, and innocent blood cries out for justice. When Amanusa looses…
If you haven’t yet discovered the talented and passionate writer Louise Desalvo, On Moving is a wonderful opportunity to begin to glimpse this unapologetic feminist and highly accomplished scholar’s inner life and to share her fascinating musings and insights into the lives of writers you may also have read and loved . Marilyn Demario writes:…
Deo arrives in America from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, plagued by horrific dreams, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries…
Try to imagine what it would be like if you were surrounded by people you loved, but were unable to speak to them. Imagine you could help them if only you had thumbs or could tell them what you know. Welcome to Enzo’s world. Enzo is a dog who wants desperately to be a man.…
Preternaturally tall and painfully innocent, Brandon Vanderkool is more bird than border patrol agent, prone to mimicking birdsong and building nests. But he’s also a remarkably acute defender of a North American border that Jim Lynch describes as “multiple-choice…with incoming settlers finding an American, a Canadian, and a compromise in-between” in Border Songs. Brandon is…
Take a look at the 100 best books about New England or written by local authors. It’s a great list to find some summer reading ideas.
David Small is an award-winning illustrator of children’s books. In Stitches, his first graphic novel, Mr. Small tells the story of his childhood. A childhood that is described on the back cover as one that “might have been imagined by Kafka.” Set in Detroit, young David is surrounded by unhappy people. His mother is constantly…
Harvard PhD student, Connie Goodwin, plans to spend her summer researching her doctoral thesis, but when a telephone call from her free-spirited mother sends her to Marblehead, MA to get her grandmother’s house ready to sell, her plans get a little side-tracked. Not only is the project more time consuming than she thought, Connie also…
We may not have been able to attend BEA this year, but we were able to get the goods on several forthcoming releases from Random House. Erica McDonald highlighted books from multiple genres, including these: Crying Tree – Naseem Rakha (July) Dramatic, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting, The Crying Tree is an unforgettable story of love…
In Elantra, a job well done is rewarded with a more dangerous task. So after defeating a dark evil, Kaylin Neya goes before the Barrani High Court, where a misspoken word brings sure death. Kaylin’s never been known for her grace or manners, but the High Lord’s heir is suspiciously ill, and Kaylin’s healing magic…
I have to confess I put off reading this last (sob) book in the Percy Jackson series for about a week and a half because I just couldn’t stand to see it end. When I picked it up, I tried to read it as slowly as possible in order to savor each scene, but that…
Seven years ago Kaylin fled the crime-riddled streets of Nightshade, knowing that something was after her. Children were being murdered — and all had the same odd markings that mysteriously appeared on her own skin . . . Since then, she’s learned to read, she’s learned to fight and she’s become one of the vaunted…
Funny, cute, totally different, with a bit of the bizarre thrown in, this is how I’ve been describing this book to friends. If you’re expecting a complete re-telling of Ms Austen’s classic, you will be disappointed. The author has instead kept much of the original work intact and thrown in his zombie mayhem for good…
We are very excited to have Nymeth from Things Mean a Lot for our latest Guest Blogger Review. She’s known for her thoughtful, insightful reviews which cover several genres. She’s also responsible for a number of bad blogger points that awarded to reviewers who make you run out and get a copy of the book…
The administrators of Read This! were thrilled to sit in on a presentation given by Virginia Stanley from HarperCollins. We found out about a ton of fantastic books that will be coming out this Fall. Here is a small sample… Under This Unbroken Sky – Shandi Mitchell (September) Spring 1938. After nearly two years in…
In this latest entry of the Dresden series, Harry winds up helping Morgan of all people, prove his innocence of murdering a White Council member. I’ve been looking forward to reading this as soon as I heard that Morgan would be coming to Harry for assistance. In my opinion, this is one of the best books…
It is a well known story that Eve convinced Adam to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and was therefore expelled from Eden. In a chorus of voices, including Eve and her three daughters, we learn the details of how Eve was tempted to eat the fruit, why she…
It’s the talk of the town. London’s two most notorious rakes have placed a very public wager on which of them is the greatest lover. But what woman of beauty, intelligence, and discernment would consent to judge such a contest? Lady Carolyn Wynn is the last woman anyone would expect to step forward. But if…
Former children’s book author Betta Nolan has by all accounts a wonderful life. When her husband dies of cancer, she realizes that their amazing relationship with John had consumed most of her time. Betta has lost touch with most of her girlfriends and must re-create a network of support. Following a plan that she had…
Dena Nehele is a land decimated by its past. Once it was ruled by corrupt Queens who were wiped out when the land was cleansed of tainted Blood. Now, only one hundred Warlord Princes stand-without a leader and without hope. Theran Grayhaven is the last of his line, desperate to find the key that reveals…
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym is an archetypal American story of escape from home and family which traces a young man’s rite of passage through a series of terrible brushes with death during a fateful sea voyage. But it also goes much deeper, as Pym encounters various interpretative dilemmas, at last leaving the reader…
Okay, It has been a while since we’ve posted the last edition of Marie’s Monthly Minutes. A little chat with Marie yesterday got the gears in motion. Here are a few of her latest recommendations that will keep you busy for a good long while and can help you complete the Chunkster Challenge if you’re…
She was born with a blessing and a curse: that she would grow into a woman of extraordinary beauty—and bring ruin to the kingdom of Ulster and its ruler, the wily Conor. Ignoring the pleadings of his druid to expel the infant, King Conor secrets the girl child with a poor couple in his province,…
Inkonvellum got me hooked on the Mary Russell series. If you aren’t familiar with these and you are a fan of historical mysteries, you are in for a real treat. This series follows the exploits of Mary Russell a young ex-patriot living on the Sussex Downs with her aunt. Russell literally stumbles on a semi-retired…
At Harper Perennial, where I work, we traffic in stories of all kinds. And we have a special fondness for the short story—self-contained, crystalline, newborn, perfect. This year we’re celebrating the thriving art of the story by sharing a new one every week: most of them new, a few of them classics, from authors you…
WE DON’T WANT TO TELL YOU TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS BOOK. It is a truly special story and we don’t want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn’t.…
This is a fantastic graphic novel that follows three unlikely pairs on an advenuture that takes them through the underworld of present day Cairo. Ashraf, a drug-runner, sets this tale in motion when he sells a stolen hookah to a naive tourist. When the hookah turns out to be more valuable than he realized, Ashraf…
Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit. In her most emotionally wrenching,…
From the New York Times bestselling author of On Mystic Lake comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . . In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the…
Vampire hunter Elena Deveraux is hired by the dangerously beautiful Archangel Raphael. But this time, it’s not a wayward vamp she has to track. It’s an archangel gone bad. The job will put Elena in the midst of a killing spree like no other-and pull her to the razor’s edge of passion. Even if the…
For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art-and he is the city’s most accomplished artist. For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly – and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint. But to…
As the carrier of a rare gene, Sirantha Jax has the ability to jump ships through grimspace-a talent which makes her a highly prized navigator for the Corp. Then a crash landing kills everyone on board, leaving Jax in a jail cell with no memory of the crash. But her fun’s not over. A group…
Local writer, John Updike died today of lung cancer. Here’s an excerpt from the Boston Globe: A master of many authorial trades, Mr. Updike was novelist, short story writer, critic, poet — and in each role as prolific as he was gifted. He aimed to produce a book a year. Easily meeting that goal, Mr.…
My name is Raine Benares. I’m a seeker. The people who hire me are usually happy when I find things. But some things are better left unfound. I’m a sorceress of moderate powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, I can usually take care…
Reading Toni Morrison is like taking a master class in how to write characters. Morrison delves deep into the psyche of her characters and finds that raw, vulnerable place in each one. Morrison gathers together an uncommon group who have been cast off from society. Even though he abhors slavery, Jacob Vaark, a northern trader…
“Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She’s about to find out she’s also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a…