This book is a master class in dramatic irony. Bridget Collins has created a book that explores what the world would be like if books weren’t made for reading and instead were vessels that stored away memories that people don’t want to remember. She explores deep questions like morality and the importance of learning from …
It’s 1921 and gun moll Alice has run away from her life in New York, carrying very little with her apart from a bullet wound, and finds herself a guest at The Paragon Hotel, a black hotel in Portland, OR. Faye explores the racial tensions of Oregon at the beginning of the 20th century, starting …
Bianca Marais has knocked it out of the park again with her new novel If You Want to Make God Laugh. Taking place in South Africa from the day Nelson Mandela is elected onward, following three very different women as they deal with the changing world around them. Race and class are explored, as well as tensions that came from the ending …
In The Storyteller, German-Lebanese author Pierre Jarawan has created a work of art that explores the importance of family and nationality in the creation of an identity. Jarawan fills the book with stories of the Lebanese civil war, teaching the history of the country and the event without making it feel like you are learning anything …
Holy crap this book is amazing! I can’t handle the book hangover I am currently experiencing. Hamlet meets drag queens who are also incredibly teenage thieves. What more could you want? Margo Manning is a rich, LA socialite with a secret. In her spare time, she dresses up in drag with a group of her …
This debut novel by Dutch author Jaap Robben is absolutely beautiful. Robben is a poet and children’s book author and you can see the influence of both of those writing styles in the books, His writing is poetic yet sparse. You Have Me to Love tells the story of a young boy, Mikael, as he grows up …
This book is so adorable (and steamy, if that’s what you’re looking for). Stella Lane is an econometrician who has Autism. After a comment from a co-worker who she might have a crush on, Stella realizes that she doesn’t know how to be in a relationship. So she hires Michael, a super attractive escort, to …
This short novel sure packs a punch. It took me about 20 pages to relax into the writing style as it is very unique but once I was there, I was fully absorbed into this book. Tin Man tells the story of different kinds of love, whether it be romantic or just friendly. The three main characters …
Freddie comes from a poor family and never feels like he has a purpose in the world. That is, until he joins the circus. He learns all about the circus and even becomes an understudy for some acts. This was a fun beginning chapter book. I loved the beginning the end but just felt like …
I read this one for the Chicago Young Adult Book Festival and was shocked to find that my college, Lawrence University, was in this book! That was such a great surprise in a great book. Paula Garner deals with questions of identity in such an interesting way, telling the story of a teen girl who …
Christopher Moore is the king of weird. This book started out so normal, following the format of a typical noir. I was concerned that it wasn’t going to be his normal weird but I soon found that to not be the case. Moore plays beautifully with the style and manner of storytelling that comes with …
This book is amazing even though I never knew how I felt about it while I was reading it. All I knew was that I needed to keep reading it. It wasn’t until I had finished the book that I knew that it was a very special book. Jones has taken on a heavy and …
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