by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 10, 2022 | LEARN: Everything Else
I recently read a few books that examine our individual and collective fascination with genealogy. At our house, we talk often about our ancestors and what we know or don’t know. Our son decided yesterday to start filming his dad when these discussions happen. Because...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Apr 26, 2022 | RELAX: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
The Dragon Republic is R. F. Kuang’s second book in her Poppy War trilogy. We follow the young shaman and soldier named Rin, along with her various friends and enemies. As expected, this book deals with the military and political fallout of book one (The Poppy War)....
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Apr 3, 2022 | RELAX: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
R. F. Kuang deftly combines history and fantasy in her epic The Poppy War, set in an alternative Asia. Based primarily in the China-inspired country of Nikan, it follows the ascendance of young military student Fang Runin, known as Rin. She’s an orphan living in a...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Feb 17, 2022 | RELAX: Historical Fiction
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner is about a gentle girl in a brutal country. While the book is fictional, its roots exist in the author’s own life. This enhances the intimacy of the tale. Young Raami is only seven when civil war overwhelms Cambodia. As a...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jan 16, 2022 | RESIST: Politics
Jonathan M. Metzl began researching his 2019 book Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America’s Heartland after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed. As a physician, he wondered why people who benefited from the insurance and health...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jan 15, 2022 | LEARN: Everything Else
Marc Petitjean separates fact from family legend in his biography, The Heart: Frida Kahlo in Paris. He explores the veracity of the family stories about his father’s affair with Kahlo in 1939. She gave the elder Petitjean, Michel, a painting she titled The Heart as a...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jan 8, 2022 | RESIST: Politics
Bakari Sellers addresses a few themes in his memoir, My Vanishing Country. Primarily, he talks about being a young black man in rural South Carolina. But his family is also intricately tied to the Civil Rights movement, so this connection influences him daily. He also...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Dec 31, 2021 | RELAX: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Secret Santa is a creepy horror novella from Andrew Shaffer. His Obama Biden mysteries are enjoyable, so I picked this up during the year. Of course, the best time to read a Christmas-themed book is December. My only regret is getting the review posted after the...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 20, 2021 | RESIST: Feminism, RESIST: Social Justice
Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All by Martha S. Jones made me rethink Black women’s activism. Most importantly, that activism started a full century sooner than I realized. And it happened through four primary...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Nov 14, 2021 | RELAX: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Gold Diggers by Sanjina Sathian is two parts a story about children of Indian immigrants balancing tradition with assimilation. It’s one part a history, with a nod to alternative histories. And it’s another part of magical realism that draws on cultural traditions,...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Oct 30, 2021 | LEARN: Chronic Illness
Dr. MeiLan Han transfers years of knowledge as a lung doctor, or pulmonologist, to the printed word in her upcoming book Breathing Lessons: A Doctor’s Guide to Lung Health. With this book, she offers explanations of many lung-related conditions including asthma,...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Oct 2, 2021 | RELAX: Historical Fiction
The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley is historical fiction set in both Edinburgh and Leith, Scotland. The time periods vary from the late 1600s to the early 1700s, which both included the famous and oft-chronicled Jacobite uprisings. It’s a story of a young woman and...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Sep 9, 2021 | RELAX: Mystery-Thriller
Steve Robinson taps into the genealogy craze in the first book of his Jefferson Tayte series, called In the Blood. The tracking of family trees is an inherently nerdy hobby. But, especially with the advent of DNA testing, more people are investigating than ever. And...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Aug 24, 2021 | RELAX: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Silvia Moreno-Garcia combines noir detective style, vampire action, and Aztec legends in her upcoming reissue, Certain Dark Things. The supernatural mythology is compelling and her characters, human and otherwise, are unique. I’ve read eleventy million vampire books,...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Aug 15, 2021 | RELAX: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Stephen Graham Jones (SGJ) is a prolific writer, delving deep into the horror genre. His 2021 entry to the canon is My Heart is a Chainsaw. (Anticipated publication on August 31.) In it, 17-year-old Jade Daniels is a rabid fan of slasher films. She’s watched them all...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Aug 9, 2021 | RELAX: Historical Fiction
Jodi Daynard takes readers back to the early days of The Revolutionary War in The Midwife’s Revolt. It’s historical fiction in the purest sense, with a focus on a singular time and place. And Daynard adds the challenges of being a woman alone in eighteenth century...
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