A Difficulty with Dialect This summer, I read The New Moon’s Arms by Nalo Hopkinson. I didn’t end up enjoying the story, but I did enjoy reading a book that took me back to the country of my birth. Not simply because it was set in Caribbean islands, but because it was written in a…
Stalking Is Never OK! Authors, Bloggers, Entitlement and Obsession
I didn’t expect to write this and I honestly wish I didn’t have to. This morning, I woke up to an explosion of chatter on my feed that was being directed to an article from the Guardian. Author Kathleen Hale wrote a piece that chronicled her journey of… stalking a book blogger who gave her a negative…
Karen Abbott’s New “Women’s Magazine” About the Civil War
Karen Abbott is the author of Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys and the Battle for America’s Soul (2007), American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee (2010), and most recently Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. She is a well-received author who focuses on nontraditional women in history. Basically, she’s…
The Thursday Book Beat: Black Widow Is Starring In Her Very Own YA Book!
Black Widow Is Making Her YA Debut In 2015 It was alluded to at San Diego Comic Con that Margaret Stohl (Beautiful Creatures, Icons) would write a secret young adult title for Disney but it was finally announced at New York Comic Con this past weekend that Stohl is writing about an Avenger. The Black…
A Trip Down Fear Street: The Secret Bedroom #13 (contains gifs)
Welcome to the second review in the Fear Street reread project in celebration of R.L. Stine rebooting the series! You can read the first one here. Tagline Don’t open that door! Synopsis After the lackluster The New Girl, I decided to revisit a Fear Street that I knew was a favorite of my younger self….
The #WWACBookClub talks The Shining Girls
For the September edition of the #WWACBookClub, we discussed one incredibly bizarre, violent, and engrossing book – The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. The Shining Girls is the story of a time travelling serial killer, Harper Curtis. After stumbling across a house that allows him to jump to different points throughout the 20th century, he…
Love Is the Drug: A Contemporary YA Wearing a Political Thriller Trench Coat
Love Is the Drug Alaya Dawn Johnson Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Press *Advanced Reviewer’s/Reader’s Copy (ARC) Emily Bird was raised not to ask questions. She has perfect hair, the perfect boyfriend, and a perfect Ivy-League future. But a chance meeting with Roosevelt David, a homeland security agent, at a party for Washington DC’s elite leads…
Hogwarts, After Dark: Event and Interview
On Thursday, September 4th, I headed out of my home long after the sun had set. Like a young Mr. Harry Potter, I entered the train depot alone, unsure of what awaited me. Maybe I would find my Ron and Hermione on this Red line trip to the Northside of Chicago, I thought. Of course,…
Reading Diaries: Study Them When They’re Coming Apart
This month I read The Sisters Brothers and Room. They were both good, but I think only Sisters Brothers is a reread. Room is the sort of book that’s built around reveals and tension, and I’m not sure that there’s much there once that’s gone. Certainly it’s a clever book, and the child-voice is wonderfully…
The Thursday Book Beat: Nicholas Sparks Gets Sued and J.K. Rowling Plays Hide ‘N Seek With Our Hearts
J. K. Rowling Teases Fans With Cryptic Tweets On October 6th, J.K. Rowling was driving us insane when she sent out this tweet: Cry, foe! Run amok! Fa awry! My wand won’t tolerate this nonsense. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 6, 2014 It’s an anagram! What was it? Well, twitter had a fun time figuring that…
A Trip Down Fear Street: The New Girl, Fear Street #1
Welcome to the first review in the Fear Street reread project in celebration of R.L. Stine rebooting the series! You can read the introduction to the series here. Tagline He had to learn her secret or – die trying. Synopsis Originally published in 1989 then re-released in 1991, The New Girl is the first in…
A Trip Down Fear Street: It All Began at the Book Fair
I was in the fourth grade; it was the most magical time of the school year — The Book Fair. My mom had given me some cash, and I squirmed all morning with anticipation until my home-room’s turn to head to the cafeteria/auditorium where the stage housed the movable bookshelves just brimming with entries into…