Tally lives in the future, in a world where, at the age of sixteen, everyone is made superhumanly pretty. The thinking is that by leveling the playing field, so to speak, racism, bullying, low self-esteem, and all the negative things that can be associated with personal appearance can be eliminated. But not everyone wants to […]
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: Book Review
It seems like I run into references to Dorian Gray pretty frequently (Most recently in James Blunt’s song “Tears and Rain“). I decided to pick this up because I was tired of not understanding the references. The Picture of Dorian Gray begins with one of Dorian’s friends, a painter named Basil Hallward, just finishing his […]
The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks: Book Review
Azoth is an 11-year-old boy barely surviving in the streets of Cenaria City. He’s part of a brutal gang of children who will do anything in order to survive. But Azoth wants to do more than survive; he wants a way out of the Warrens and he sees an apprenticeship with master assassin Durzo Blint […]
Still Alice by Lisa Genova: Book Review
Dr. Alice Howland teaches psychology at Harvard. A brilliant researcher and professor, she has a field-changing body of work behind her and looks forward to many years of pursuing her passion. Then she starts noticing serious lapses in her memory. She finally gets scared when she goes out for a run and gets lost a […]
The Once and Future King by T.H. White: Book Review
This is the story of King Arthur, Guenever and Lancelot. I think we all know how that goes. I’ve been reading this off and on for the past six months. I would start to read it, lose interest, and pick up something more interesting. I finally decided that it was time to either give up […]
The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver: Book Review
Kathryn Dance is an investigator working for the California Bureau of Investigation. Her specialty is kinesics, a fancy word for body language. She’s one of the top in her field, so when new evidence emerges in a cold case suggesting that imprisoned cult leader and murderer Daniel Pell may have one more homicide to his […]
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese: Book Review
Twins Marion and Shiva Stone are orphaned when their mother, a nun, dies in childbirth and their father denies them. They are blessed to be taken in and raised by an Indian woman who loves them with every fiber of her being. Cutting for Stone primarily follows Marion as he grows up in Ethiopia and […]
I’ll Be Watching You by Charles de Lint: Book Review
Rachel Sorenson has just escaped an abusive marriage, but she’s still not free of her ex-husband. Frank comes along every few nights, talks his way past the security guard at her apartment building, and goes upstairs to beat on her door and demand that she take him back. Police say they just don’t have the […]
Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder: Book Review
Yelena is now in Sitia, where she meets her long-lost family and starts to learn how to control her magical powers. But life isn’t really any easier for her here than it was in Ixia. Sitians believe she’s a spy from the north, sent to pave the way for the Commander’s takeover of their country. […]
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: Book Review
Joe Kavalier is a Jew living in Prague just as the Nazis are taking control of the city in the late 1930’s. With the aid of his escape artist teacher, Joe smuggles himself out of the country and all the way to New York City. Joe is just what his cousin, Sam Clay, has been […]
The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany
The twelve men making up the parliament of Erl go to their ruler one day and ask for a magic lord. The ruler agrees to grant their request and sends his son to steal and marry the King of Elfland’s daughter. But of course finding her and keeping her can’t be that easy. In the […]