A literary take on a post-apocalyptic novel sure to be nominated for a literary award or two. Severance is the story of Candace, a Chinese immigrant and millennial, who is trying to just live her dull life when a real apocalypse hits. At first, Candace is in denial and continuesContinue Reading
I adore epistolary novels. I feel like I am the “fly on the wall” in the writers’ life. Meet Me at the Museum is one of the best of that style of novel that I have read. Tina has recently lost her best friend. She is past 60 and thinkingContinue Reading
Claire desperately wants to find her missing father to discover his reasons for living A Double Life. Claire was only eight when her father bludgened her live-in babysitter Emma to death and attempted to do the same to her mother. After her mother escaped the house, her father disappeared. WhenContinue Reading
“For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.” Shakespeare’s words are the best part of his plays. However, I look to Manga Classics to shorten classic literature to manageable lengths. By including the entire play using Shakespeare’s original words, this book is justContinue Reading
Girls Burn Brighter is a thick flavorful soup of a novel full of the spices of India. It is also a heart wrenching tale of two poor young Indian women’s hopes, dreams and grim realities. Young Poornima is the oldest of two sisters with a younger brother when her motherContinue Reading
“In Alaska you can make one mistake. One. The second one will kill you.” It’s 1974 and the world is imploding. Watergate. Vietnam. Black panthers. Gas shortages. Protests. Revolutionaries. Kidnappings. Serial Killers. After receiving an unexpected inheritance, thirteen year old Leni and her parents, Cora and Ernt, move toContinue Reading
Have you ever thought, “Every plot has already been used so what’s the point in reading (or writing) another”? If so, Smoke City is going to surprise you. No book or movie is anywhere near its plot for imagination and creativity. Smoke City is a captivating genre-smashing novel. Here areContinue Reading
A Hundred Small Lessons is a haunting discourse about life wrapped around two families’ stories within a single house. Elsie and Clem buy a newly built house soon after World War II is over. They have eight-year-old twins and Elsie finds the reason for her existence in motherhood. Sixty-one yearsContinue Reading
Stream-of-Consciousness Literary Short Novella (or long short story) When telling an anecdote at a cocktail party, it is natural to embellish it to increase the entertainment value. The narrator of this short story is trying to determine why he is not entertaining and further, why he is not believed. HeContinue Reading
Literary Horror (but not simultaneously) This book was promoted as literary horror. I loved the literary first half of this book but was disappointed with the horror aspect of the remaining portion. It’s hard to say why without being a spoiler so I won’t. However, if I had known whatContinue Reading
Literary Fiction Disguised as a Thriller. Stephen King wrote in his latest book, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, that he likes short stories because it prevents him from going off on tangents. Vienna is a book full of tangents on European history and art. While some do relate to theContinue Reading