Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand: Book Review

Seabiscuit. An American Legend. I think the only reason I even know the horse’s name is because of the movie they filmed a few years ago. I’m obviously not a horse-racing fan, right? I don’t even remember why I grabbed this at a library book sale. A friend here on GR must have given it […]

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The Alchemyst by Michael Scott: Book Review

Josh and Sophie Newman have settled into a summer in San Francisco, living with their elderly aunt as their parents work an archaeological dig, and working summer jobs to save up for a car. But one day, a very sinister man pays a visit to the bookshop where Josh is working. The man appears to […]

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The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar: Book Review

Heather and Morag are two punkish thistle fairies on the run from Scotland. Unfortunately, in a drunken stupor, they seem to have stumbled onto a jet bound for New York. Heather and Morag try to acclimate to the huge city, along with the help of their friend Kerry and the ever-reluctant Dinny. Heather and Morag […]

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The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan: Book Review

It’s show time. The battle between the Olympians and the Titans, thousands of years in the making, is finally here. Kronos has had ample time to prepare his plans while Zeus and company have been having their own quarrels and parties. He strikes at multiple fronts, almost simultaneously, and no one knows what his true […]

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Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint: Book Review

“Every time it rains a ghost comes walking.” Dreams Underfoot introduced readers to de Lint’s fictional city of Newford. Magic is on the streets of Newford if you just know where to look for it. It’s usually in the most unexpected places. Man, I love the Newford books. This book started my re-read of them […]

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Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny: Book Review

This is a tough book to summarize. Let’s just say that Mr. Corey wakes up with amnesia after a nasty car crash and sets out to recover his memory and then to take back what he sees as his. Starting this was a leap of faith. Corey tells the story and since he doesn’t know […]

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Plant Life by Pamela Duncan: Book Review

Laurel Granger lived for her husband, Scott, then he left her for another woman. Depressed, rootless, and alone in Vegas, Laurel decides to head back home to Russell, North Carolina. Without telling her parents what happened, she moves in with them. Well, it becomes obvious that Laurel isn’t going back to Vegas and she needs […]

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Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland: Book Review

At the tender age of 12, Polly Madassa has discovered Jane Austen and fallen hopelessly in love. Convinced that she’s an Austen heroine born in the wrong time, Polly walks around her modern town speaking in Austen’s flowery prose. She’s only read Pride and Prejudice, and so has not learned Emma‘s lesson about meddling. Polly […]

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The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif: Book Review

The Map of Love tells two stories. Primarily, it is about Anna Winterbourne, living in the early 1900s, and her fascination with Egypt. In the present, Isabel Parkman and Amal al-Ghamrawi have found a trunk of Anna’s journals and letters and set out to piece together her story, while living their own. The writing in […]

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The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews: Book Review

Dempsey Killebrew is having a very bad day. She and her handsome boss, Alex, are all over the evening news, smack in the center of a political scandal. They’re lobbyists accused of buying a Congressman’s votes with a vacation to the Bahamas and, um, hookers. Not the situation that a rising young lawyer wants to […]

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Everlost by Neal Shusterman: Book Review

Nick and Allie were traveling in opposite directions on a windy mountain road. After a terrible accident, they find themselves traveling down a tunnel toward a light. But they bump into each other again and don’t get where they’re going. Instead, they end up in Everlost, a ghostly realm that co-exists with our world and […]

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