This is what happens when A Libertarian Walks into a Bear. Grafton, New Hampshire, has always been famous for its bears. The bears snatch food, chickens, cats, and even children occasionally from the townsfolk. When a group of Libertarians decide to make a model town with minimal government right thereContinue Reading
Nic is the only member of her family that still believes her mother did not just walk away from them. She doesn’t believe the note left behind in her mother’s hotel room that says “Don’t Look for Me”. Molly, Nic’s mother, has many reasons to run. Five years ago, sheContinue Reading
In the 1940s and 1950s, mental health issues were often ignored. A Japanese artist named Kusama heard voices, had panic attacks, and suffered from hallucinations. Why? It is a chicken and an egg question. Did Kusama’s mental health issues drive her mother to be strict? Or did her mother’s harshContinue Reading
A longbow as tall as the archer. A tapestry capturing a battle scene that is 75 yards long. A castle that burns 1,000 candles per night. Everything is bigger in an Inside Out Medieval Castle. From the security built into the entrance to the stone toilets dropping waste into theContinue Reading
BaSlaughterhouse-Five has been described as the best anti-war novel surpassing both The Red Badge of Courage and Catch-22. When it was initially published in 1969, its timing was pitch-perfect with IRL anti-war protests over Vietnam hitting their stride. The novel is about a bumbling Chaplin named Billy caught by theContinue Reading
Who doesn’t know Willie Nelson? From his iconic long braids to his Farm Aid concerts, Willie has long been in the public eye. But what other things about Willie’s history are most people aware of? Not many. For that, there is Willie Nelson: A Graphic History. Willie was born inContinue Reading
Gastro Obscura is a worldwide trip down memory lane and into some strange corners of the globe. Sort of a more fleshed out Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives with an emphasis on the weird or historical. Want to visit the oldest tavern in America? See the White Horse Tavern in RhodeContinue Reading
“What if Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland wasn’t something Lewis Carroll made up, but a history of what he saw when he came here?”—The Lost Wonderland Diaries Celia is the daughter of a librarian and the great-great-great-grandniece of Charles Dodson, the real name of the author of Alice in Wonderland. SoContinue Reading
Older is a sequel to Younger. Liza has come out about her age. She is now officially fifty. She has been living as a hermit for two years after breaking it off with younger Josh. Liza broke it off with Josh. She felt Josh should have a family life withContinue Reading
Maggie Crozat and her family have turned the family’s Louisiana plantation into a Bed & Breakfast. To drum up business, they make October a theme month with the neighboring B & Bs. It focuses on the town’s spooky past. But with several rougarou, a Cajun vampire/werewolf, sightings, and an argumentContinue Reading
It’s a tech company’s team building meeting in an isolated ski resort in the remote French Alps. Ten Britons go in. One by One they are picked off. Remind you of another famous, but not racial sensitive, tale? It is hard to beat Dame Agatha at, literally, her own game.Continue Reading
It Will Just Be Us is a new Southern gothic suspense tale set in the Shirley Jackson universe of ghosts and madness. Living in their family’s historic but dilapidated mansion, Samantha and her mother see the ghosts of their own pasts every day. But when Samantha’s sister Elizabeth arrives veryContinue Reading
The game is afoot In a Midnight Wood, the 27th book in the Jane Lawless series. Jane Lawless is busy! She runs a successful restaurant in Minnesota. She is a part-time true crime podcaster always on the hunt for new stories. Jane is also a licensed private investigator. While visitingContinue Reading
In The Darkest Evening, Inspector Vera Stanhope of the Northumbria Police is driving home in a blinding snowstorm when she finds a car abandoned by the side of the road. The driver’s door is wide open. There is a sleeping baby in a car seat in the back. Failing toContinue Reading
My Review Checked Out for Murder is jam-packed with relationship drama and genuine characters. When a new town resident is murdered, library event director, Carrie, investigates. She believes it might be related to an unsolved homicide from twenty years earlier. Or could it really be as simple as the victim’sContinue Reading
The blurb for Murder at Hotel 1911 drew me in. “A hotel clerk prone to panic attacks turns amateur detective in this elegant and atmospheric murder mystery.” The book’s setting in a mansion permanently stuck in 1911 is very original. In my opinion, the atmospheric setting and its associated historyContinue Reading