Colouring Day

National Colouring Day!

National Colouring Day is a wonderful chance to embrace your creativity, and the joys of playing with colour. From colouring pages to sidewalk chalk art, painting to mosaics and murals, colouring can be a meditative stress relief. It’s an excellent way for families to bond and a delightful school activity. Celebrated each September 14, National […]

The toll

The Toll by Cherie Priest

The Toll by Cherie Priest takes a goofy, swamp-dwelling cryptid of Southern folklore and turns it into something genuinely terrifying. The swamplands near the Okefenokee are steeped in an eerie, foreboding atmosphere—the kind that makes you think twice about what might be watching from beyond the trees. The Bells really should have paid more attention. […]

Star Trek Lower Decks Vol 1: Second Contact by Ryan North

Star Trek Lower Decks: Second Contact was a jolly good reunion with the crazy crew of the USS Cerritos. Reading the comic felt remarkably like watching the show. Nay—better than that. It felt like stepping into that world. That is a gift of all good books. Well, minus the risk of being vaporized or taken […]

Best day ever

The Best Day Ever by Frank Tupta and Lindsey Ward

The Best Day Ever by Tupta and Ward is an adorable tale about appreciating who you are and accepting others as they are. It’s also got a dash of willingness to try something new (and equal willingness to abandon what’s not working). The planner of the week, Monday begins to feel unappreciated by her fellow […]

Recommended reads

Celebrating Black History Month: Must-Reads To Inspire and Educate

Black History Month offers us a chance to honor the rich history, culture, and achievements of Black individuals throughout history. We’ve curated a list of incredible books that delve into the past, celebrate the present, and inspire hope for the future. From powerful memoirs and historical accounts to compelling fiction and fantasy, these reads shine […]

Quickshots

This and That Redux

Horror Collector #1 by Midori Sato and Norio Tsuruta Horror Collector #1 by Midori Sato and Norio Tsuruta is a series of six creepy Japanese-centric urban legend short stories. I like Fushigi Senno, despite his aloof standoffishness. I found the addition of grainy photos to preface each story an unusual choice given the rest of […]

Quickshots

Bounty of the Natural World

Respect the Insect by Jules Howard and Gosia Herba Howard and Herba’s Respect the Insect looks at a wide range of insects and the beneficial roles they play, from helping to break down decomposing material, to pollinating plants and inspiring human inventions. Some of these insects will likely be familiar due to their beneficial nature, […]

Magick and Mysticism

Norse Mysticism by Disa Forvisin Forvisin’s Norse Mysticism explores the ancient mysteries of myth and magic. There are chapters on runes, Norse deities, and traditional magic, as well as historical contexts. I love how the author pointed out how myth informs a culture’s values. The author addresses how the culture has changed, and how today […]

Doll seed

Doll Seed by Michele Tracy Berger

Berger’s Doll Seed is a collection of short stories with psychological / speculative horror themes. They are woven through with unsettling ideas about such things as ethical concerns regarding technology, or questions surrounding identity. These aren’t stories full of splatterpunk, full of gore, pagely death, and jump scares like the cheesy B flicks of the […]

Dandelion Sabir Pirzada

Dandelion by Sabir Pirzada

Coupled with manga art from a variety of different artists, Pirzada’s Dandelion was an interesting foray into humanity’s possible future, and how the best of intentions can go horribly awry. Hoping to present the world with a housing blessing at a time when the ice caps were melting and the seas taking back large swathes […]