McCartney’s Black Dawn tells the story of the fall of Kiero’s Academy. On a world where magick manifests as special abilities (much like mutant powers in X-Men), the elite institution was created by the King and Queen to be a place where the best could hone their skills to better aid society. But soon […]
How to be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci is an easy to understand introduction to Stoic philosophy. With a witty, engaging writing style, Pigliucci breaks down Stoic philosophy into its constituent parts, discussing each in turn. He makes use of anecdotes both ancient and modern. After a few chapters of overview and history, the book […]
The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J Harris takes a look at life through the eyes of someone quite unusual indeed. Jasper Wishart is a young autistic boy who sees things a bit different from even most autistics. Jasper has a rare gift called synesthesia, where sensory inputs are dual-wired. Jasper sees sound, […]
Moribund, first in Eldredge’s Circuit Fae Series, introduces us to Syl Skye, a rather geeky introvert who believes she’s quite mundane, save having survived a horrific train crash months before. Syl is anything but normal. Syl is the last sleeper-princess of the fair Fae, and she’s being hunted. Agravaine, and his unwilling Huntress Rouen, have […]
Strong at the Broken Places by Clayton Lindemuth is a rich, gritty psychological exploration of the soul. It is, at its heart, one man’s alchemic transformation. Nick Fister is an ultra-runner, taking on races of fifty to a hundred plus miles in one go. To say this is an extreme sport is an understatement, and […]
Beau Taplin’s Bloom is a beautiful collection of poems focused on deep love, self introspection, and the value of being true to oneself. Most of the poems in this collection are fairly short, and all are thought provoking. Several of these poems spoke to me on a very deep level. Many actually made me uncomfortable […]
Grimm’s Phoenix Fire is first in the Phoenix Cycle. Ava Elderson lives with a foster family. She hopes to be adopted, but too many disappointments in life means she doesn’t trust easy, and tends to push people away. One night, after an argument with her foster parents, she storms out of the house and […]
Abraham Lincoln’s Dueling Words is a delightfully illustrated tale about a lesser known incident in Lincoln’s life as a barrister. In response to tax changes that would affect the poorer folk rather harshly, Lincoln wrote a letter to the newspaper under the name ‘Aunt Rebecca’, which also called out rival James Shields. Two other ‘Aunt […]
Watching Glass Shatter by James J Cudney is a poignant story of love and loss, hope and redemption. After the unexpected and untimely death of Ben Glass, his wife Olivia is given a pair of envelopes by the estate lawyer. One is for her. The second is for one of her sons, though she doesn’t […]
Meet Laure, a surly, sassy thief who may just save the kingdom. With a shoe. And ants. Laure is brash, headstrong, pessimistic. Of course, she has reason to be, being an orphan and all. A plan to rob a spice merchant’s stall in the palace market leads to a frantic chase through the market, and […]