Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Stephen King Donald M. Grant, Publisher June 10, 1982 Despite spending most of my life reading almost everything I could get my hands on I had never read a Stephen King novel… until The Gunslinger. When I initially heard there was going to be a film adaptation I was mildly intrigued…
Book Beat – Female-Led Lord of the Flies and CSI: YA
Hi book lovers! Ashley here! Does anyone know how we somehow arrived at the end of summer? I am remorsefully thinking about all the activities I never checked off my summer to-do list, but I am looking forward to the fall. Books just feel better when read with a cup of cocoa and a cozy…
Breaking New Ground On the Grand Tour: An Interview with Mackenzi Lee
There is something about Mackenzi Lee’s work that feels familiar to me. Not in the sense that it’s hackneyed or stereotypical, as if part of a giant metaphorical snake eating its own tail of rehashed literary ideas. Rather, her work feels like the type of novels sprung to life from my wildest dreams. In the…
Magic and Mayhem: Diverse Fantasy for Fall 2017
Well, we’ve done it! We’ve made it past the halfway point of 2017. To say it’s been a crazy year so far would be a bit of an understatement. In times like these, we need the option to escape into a fantasy world for a little while before heading back out and fighting the good…
Book Beat: N.K. Jemisin Comes To TV
Hello all! Hope you’re all doing well. Ashley was absolutely right when she talked about the power of books last week, especially in times of great fear. While Ashley recommended poetry and quite a few non-fiction suggestions from some Canadian authors, I usually turn to sci-fi and fantasy to help me hope again. There’s just…
Superstition in Space: Mary Turzillo’s Mars Girls
Mars Girls Mary Turzillo Apex Publishing June 2017 A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Even for people who know little about her previous work, known for its exploration of the potential of humanity on Mars, it is easy to fall into the society Mary Turzillo has created…
A Beautiful Thing Is Never Perfect: The Gallery of Unfinished Girls
The Gallery of Unfinished Girls Lauren Karcz HarperTeen July 25, 2017 HarperTeen provided a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. With a tagline like “Life is a work in progress,” winking up at you from the novel’s bold cover, you immediately know what you are in for. The book opens…
Book Beat – Poems & Lit to Read in the Wake of Charlottesville
Hi, book lovers! Ashley here! I’m still trying to work my way through Stephen King’s IT. I really like it, but one time I woke up in the middle of the night and lay frozen because I didn’t want to close my closet door or let my legs dangle. I worked a couple of shifts this…
2017 Hugo Awards Presented Amid Puppy In-Fighting
The eyes of many a science fiction and fantasy enthusiast were turned on Helsinki today, as the annual Hugo Awards were handed out at the 75th Worldcon. For their 2017 iteration, the Hugos introduced a few changes. Starting this year, each category will now typically contain six, rather than five, finalists. Authors can no longer have more…
Tender Ephemera in Other Houses
Other Houses Kate Cayley Brick Books May 1, 2017 Disclaimer: Brick Books provided a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Book Beat: Author Earnings and the Value of Books
Hello all! Welcome back to Book Beat! The publishing world has been pretty quiet this past week, but we still have some author and movie successes to share as well as news about upcoming books with some unusual authors and subjects.
The REadWind: Mary Anne Saves The Day
The REadWind series gets contributors to re-read the books they haven’t read in years and self-reflect. The goal is to explore how the contributors’ growth as a person plays a role in their experience in revisiting the book. Do they still like/hate it? How has it changed? Why? Growing up, my mother ran a small…
