Glass Town is an enchanting graphic novel that has, in professional terms, “weird but effective art.” That’s the kind of lofty professional assessment that gets me the big bucks, folks. Glass Town is about the imaginary worlds that the Bronte siblings created. While I was initially put off by the art, it grew on me, and the plot enchanted me from the first page. In real life and as described in Glass Town, young Charlotte … Continue reading Glass Town by Isabel Greenberg →
DC comics has been publishing graphic novels for YA readers that retell the origin stories of some of DC’s comic book heroes (see: Shadow of the Batgirl). This has been a really fun run of stories, with an emphasis on inclusion among writers, artists, and characters. Each story is a stand-alone so you don’t have to worry about committing to following a character for hundreds of issues or for knowing anything about them ahead of … Continue reading The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp →
I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m making my way through the Cadfael mysteries. Whenever the quarantimes get too overwhelming, I head off to Wales-adjacent England in the 1100s to hang out with a former solider now monk who brews wine and herbal remedies, solves murders, and often unites star-crossed lovers (and sometimes flirts with ladies, too). There’s a soothing, slow-paced atmosphere to the Cadfael series, like the literary version of dust sparkles over a … Continue reading The Leper of Saint Giles by Ellis Peters →
I’m a huge Grady Hendrix fan (see my reviews of Horrorstor, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and the amazingly excellent We Sold Our Souls). This book was so much more intense than I thought it would be, and there’s so much to unpack that it’s a tough one to grade. Truthfully, if I had known what I was getting into, I doubt I would have read this book. And yet I’m so glad I did, because … Continue reading The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix →
Desperate times call for feel-good romance novels. To Have and To Hoax is just what the doctor ordered: a gulp of serotonin disguised as a Regency romp. It isn’t a permanent escape from stress and fear, but hopefully it’ll help you forget your troubles for a few hours. It certainly did so for me. Lord and Lady James Audley began their first year of marriage as besotted lovers. They ended their first year of marriage … Continue reading To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters →
I’ve read most of this series, and it’s among my favorite comfort reads. I’ve mentioned this before, but I started reading this series in Japan, when jet lag would gift me with a hard wake-up at 3am and I’d have no ability to get back to sleep. My memories of these characters are indelibly mixed with being wrapped in a duvet, hiding under the covers so the light from my e-reader wouldn’t wake everyone up. … Continue reading A Stroke of Malice by Anna Lee Huber →
I have been very excited for Bonds of Brass since I learned that the author, Emily Skrutskie, was inspired by the highly teased but never fully realized Finn & Poe relationship from the most recent Star Wars trilogy. While there are definitely echoes of FinnPoe here, the world and characters Skrutskie has created feel fresh even while deploying many of the classic elements of the space opera genre, except now 100% more queer!. (Cue voice … Continue reading Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie →
The SBTB crew were discussing a current manga sale going on at Comixology wherein the first volumes of many, many wonderful series are marked down to .99. If you listen to the podcast, you might have heard me talk about how, when my brain is tired, it doesn’t have the energy to do all the imaginary construction of the world and environment that usually happens when I read a book. And at times when my … Continue reading Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 1 by Kamome Shirahama →
Unsurprisingly my anxiety is trending moderate to high right now, so I’ve been turning more and more to romance novels to quiet my mind. At any other time, I think I would have been a little more critical or at least skeptical of the depiction of wealth and class in Kylie Scott’s The Rich Boy, but today the idea of a Cinderella story is immensely appealing to me. Being with a super rich dude who … Continue reading The Rich Boy by Kylie Scott →
I’ll be honest, I probably wouldn’t have picked up An Heiress to Remember had I not liked the other books in the series (and Maya Rodale’s writing in general). It’s got that “dude seeks revenge on the woman who didn’t choose him” plotline, something I find tiresome and rarely resolved to my satisfaction. I’m so glad I gave it a chance though because this book, while not perfect, was absolutely a ton of fun to … Continue reading An Heiress to Remember by Maya Rodale →
All I needed to know about Thornfruit was that it was an F/F secondary-world fantasy novel with lots of mutual pining before I one-clicked the hell out it. I am happy to report that, having finished the book, I really enjoyed it! Thornfruit is the story of two young women living on a tidally locked planet in the perpetually-sunlit city of Arishdenan. One girl, Alizhan, is a neuroatypical, face-blind, powerful mind-reader who works as a … Continue reading Thornfruit by Felicia Davin →
