In a world filled with far too many great books, it’s hard to figure out what to pick up next. Luckily, Bookmarked is here to help in your search with “Dogears,” bite-sized book reviews from our growing TBR piles. Check out what we’ve been reading this past month, and see if you can find your next…
Dogears: A Separation from a Discovery of Witches
A Discovery of Witches Deborah Harkness Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda Penguin Books February 2011 As a teenager, I had wanted to like the Twilight series. Everyone around me seemed to be riding that train, and I always wanted to like fun; I never have. I read Stephenie Meyer’s series with increasing disdain and eventually eviscerating…
Dogears: Inverting Tropes in Storytelling
Becoming Unbecoming Una Arsenal Pulp Press December 1, 2015 Una simultaneously explores the terror of living through her own sexual abuses and the entirely-too-geographically-close Yorkshire Ripper’s serial killings in 1977 Northern England. There is an amazing amount of thoughtful material about abuser’s tactics, survivor’s coping mechanisms, the commonplace attitudes that breed violence against women, and…
Dogears: An Unfinished World of Unrequited Love
The Unfinished World Amber Sparks Liveright January 25, 2016 The Unfinished World invites readers into the slightly off-center realities characteristic of Amber Sparks’ fabulist short stories. The stories are quirky and interesting, proving that the only thing readers can expect from Sparks’ work is that the stories will be unexpected.
Dogears: The Power of Symbolism and Storytelling
Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation Edwidge Danticat & Leslie Staub Dial Books September 1, 2015 The complexity of immigration policy may be difficult to explain to a child, but many are affected by it. Saya’s mother is an undocumented Haitian immigrant who has been detained by ICE. To ease Saya’s suffering, her…
Dogears: More SmallvilleGuy!
Lois Lane: Double Down Gwenda Bond Switch Press May 1, 2016 Disclaimer: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Jess, WWAC writer, reviewed the first Lois Lane novel Fallout, and I agreed that it was a really fun read. I adored teen Lois and was excited…
Dogears: An Unscripted History of Dragons
My Unscripted Life Lauren Morrill Delacorte (Random House) October 11, 2016 Lauren Morrill is a comforting voice in YA fiction, with contemporary romances that aren’t surprising but still engaging. But My Unscripted Life is the least captivating of her books thus far—it’s a novel that elevates romance at the expense of character development and story growth….
Dogears: Strangled by Scarves
Exit, Pursued By A Bear E.K. Johnston Dutton Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House Canada March 15, 2016 Disclaimer: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Full disclosure: I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and talking to E.K. Johnston many times on Twitter and at events….
Dogears: Under a Painted Sky, The Vegetarian, The Widow
Under a Painted Sky Stacey Lee G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers March 17, 2105 I never thought that I liked Westerns all that much until I read Under a Painted Sky. Or maybe I still don’t like Westerns that much, but rather I just really like feminist Westerns starring two kick ass women…
Dogears: Delicate yet Vicious
These Vicious Masks Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas Swoon Reads February 9, 2016 Were there mutants in Victorian England? Of course there were! Nobody said Professor X and his crew were the earliest gifted! The Misses Wyndham, snarkster supreme, Evelyn, and sweet, slightly underdeveloped, Rose, share the lucky gift of making people well. When Rose suspiciously…
Dogears: Fifteen Epic Heart-Shaped Dogs
Helen and Troy’s Epic Road Quest A. Lee Martinez Orbit July 16, 2013 I have a couple of authors that I follow closely, anxiously awaiting the release of their next books. Martinez was one of those authors for many years, I’ve read everything he’s written since his first book, Gil’s All Fright Diner, in 2005….
Dogears: Go Big or Go Home
Anything Could Happen Will Walton PUSH, an imprint of Scholastic May 26, 2015 Tretch Farm is in love with his best friend. That would be hard enough for any teenager but his best friend is Matt Gooby and they live in a small Southern town where it’s not easy to be gay. What’s even worse is…