Review:I just finished this book and can only say "Brava" to Senorita Cisneros! It had an ebb and flow like a favorite sitcom or "telenovela"! Though I am not Mexican or Latina, I could still relate to the "life experiences" that were depicted; and I thoroughly enjoyed the generous sprinkling of Latin culture throughout the story. It was really like sitting down at a family reunion and hearing the stories of old. Just a charming book! Read more

Review:Unlike some of the other reviews, I thought the story dragged in the first two hundred pages or so, but he 'got on his bike' and really took us for ride that was breath taking and imaginative! As it said on the back on my book, "Cats converse with people; fish tumble from the sky; a forest harbours soldiers... and there's a savage killing, but the identity of both the victim and the killer are a riddle". Add all the metaphysical inferences and meanings that will leave you with hours and hours of... Read more

Review:I finally finished The Magic Mountain about our aimless young Hans Castorp, who visits his cousin at a tuberculosis sanitorium in the Swiss Alps and, in a Kafkaesque twist, ends up staying there for seven years because of a mild fever. Reading the book was like catching a mild fever (in a good way), and, in taking more than a year to finish it (I was reading many other books), I feel that I, too, absurdly overstayed the length of my visit.

I read the book once, independently, with no assi... Read more

Review:Haruki Murakami's memoir on running and writing is a thoughtful collection of reminiscences about the two activities that the author has dedicated his life to. The book covers about 1-1/2 years of Murakami's life, from mid-2005 to late-2006, with flashbacks to earlier years when he was a bar owner and aspiring writer in Tokyo. The narrative moves smoothly from chapter to chapter, covering various aspects of the author's training regimen, races, and recovery. His companion through all of the l... Read more

Review:Written by Marjorie Liu (X-23, Black Widow) and illustrated by Sana Takeda (X-23, Ms. Marvel), Monstress stands distinctly apart from the usual sword & sorcery dark fantasy comic, starting with the fact that most of the main characters are female as are most of the powers that be. But this is no simplistic or heavy-handed feminist take on the genre - it's done very subtly and naturally so that we simply accept that this is the way this world is, nothing more, nothing less. The artwork is viv... Read more

Review:Beautifully written. I've read several books about self-harming; however, I never could grasp why people chose to do this for relief. Glasgow's writing, full of imagery and strong diction, helped me understand. Would definitely recommend this book! Read more

Review:Frankie returns to Alabaster Preparatory Academy, a boarding school, for her sophomore year. She's a little curvier than before, and the boys are noticing--although the only boy she cares about is Matthew Livingston, her crush since freshman year. In fact, much of the story
is set in motion when Frankie, who is riding a bike, sees Matthew in the first few days of school and becomes so distracted that she loses control of the bike and skins her knee. Matthew comes running over to make sure she... Read more

Review:Laurel’s English assignment is to write letters to a dead person. But once she starts, she can’t stop. She spills her soul, her secrets. She writes what she can’t say. And slowly, the story unfolds about her sister May, and the fateful night she died.

I am surprised by how much this book sucked me in and kept me reading. I’m not a fan of stories told in letters/emails, etc. But this one takes the reader’s hands and gently pulls them in. I love how each celebrity was researched, Laurel wri... Read more

Review:Meh. I got this book because it was supposed to have this awesome twist. I guessed the “twist” halfway through the book. The one interesting thing about this book it that it is written in poem form. Too bad the actual story is nothing special. Would not but again. Read more

Review:"Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try.
There's be no hell below us, above us only sky." -- John Lennon, 1971

John Lennon "Lennie" and her sister Bailey are inseparable. The girls depend on each other and their maternal grandmother as their natural mother abandoned them when they were toddlers. Their "Gram" always refers to the "restless gene" that their mother had and fears the girls might have inherited.

Bailey is flamboyant, daring, an eagle in flight. John Lenno... Read more