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 […]
Second in Horsman’s exciting Wyrms of Pasandir series, Pirates of Brisa continues the adventures of young Eskander and his friends. A chance encounter with a pirate in a darkened alley draws Eskander into a search for missing kids. After learning that the pirates kidnapping the orphans of Seatome are doing so for the lich king, […]
The Road to Kalbakar is first in Horsman’s Wyrms of Pasandir series. Eskander is a young ship’s boy on the naval ship Tipred, a boring task since nothing ever happens. That all changes when a passing coaler gets attacked by a massive sea monster called an octicalvo. Parasitic flying fish then attack the Tipred, forcing […]
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 Jarrod. Jarrod loves bugs. So much so that he’s earned the nickname ‘Bug-boy’ at school. He has a short attention span, preferring to study the bugs in his classrooms than to pay attention to the lessons. To top it all off, Jarrod has to wear a helmet to protect his head due to suffering […]
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 […]
Lies that Bind is second in the Anastasia Phoenix series by Diana Rodriguez Wallach. Anastasia has found Keira, alive, and they have plans to go into hiding after they helped Marcus find his brother. Before they get the chance to disappear, though, Anastasia gets devastating news. Her best friend Tyson has been murdered in a […]
Wallach’s Proof of Lies is first in the Anastasia Phoenix series. Three years ago, Anastasia and her sister Keira became orphans when both parents died in a fiery car crash. Now Keira has been kidnapped, and the Boston PD believes she is dead. Anastasia doesn’t share that belief and begins digging into the case in […]
The Little Book of Lagom by Jonny Jackson & Elias Larsen Jackson & Larsen’s Little Book of Lagom is all about learning to live in simplicity. Lagom is a Swedish word that means ‘just the right amount’. I loved the sidebar explanation for how it possibly came about, deriving from the phrase ‘laget om’ or […]