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...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 11, 2021 | LEARN: Everything Else
Arthur Herman explores Scandinavian culture, history, and its worldwide effects in The Viking Heart: How Scandinavians Conquered the World. As the publisher puts it, he “melds a compelling historical narrative with cutting-edge archaeological and DNA research to trace...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 8, 2021 | RELAX: Mystery-Thriller
Summer is a time to escape, even if you don’t vacation at that time. Around the July 4th holiday, I chose two mysteries as summer escape reading. One is formulaic and the other has some twists at the end that turn typical formulas on their head. Because the author...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jul 2, 2021 | LEARN: Everything Else
A new book from podcasters The Minimalists is almost here. Called Love People Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works, it’s about relationships. And about why our relationship with stuff gets in the way of developing meaningful relationships with people. Written...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Jun 5, 2021 | RELAX: Mystery-Thriller
Debut author Mia P. Manansala starts a cozy foodie AAPI mystery series with Arsenic and Adobo. Set in small town Shady Palms, main character Lila Macapagal works for her auntie, Tita Rosie. Lila left Shady Palms to attend college in nearby Chicago, but recently...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 26, 2021 | RELAX: Memoir
I remember watching Jane Goodall specials from National Geographic when I was a kid. So, when I saw her 2000 book Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey at a book sale, I grabbed it right up. This is a memoir, but it’s also a treatise on how nature connects us to the...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | May 15, 2021 | LEARN: Medical Memoir
Ayelet Waldman is a privileged mom of four teenagers, married to a fellow writer, and living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also lives with a variety of mental health diagnoses, some of which she questions. A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference...
by Barbara the Bibliophage | Apr 27, 2021 | RESIST: Politics
Anne Applebaum isn’t an author I’d normally read. But, on the recommendation of a friend, I picked up her book Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism from the library. It’s short but presents a variety of anti-democratic and authoritarian...
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