Back to Blog
Ambergris jeff vandermeer5/29/2023 ![]() ![]() The cast of characters here each have layers and motivations - usually inscrutable - of their own: Grace, the assistant director who believes the previous director is still alive Cheney, the head of the science department and fellow scientist Whitby, who frequently acts as Control’s guide. Throughout, Control reports his progress and findings - often couched - to The Voice, a shrouded, mysterious figure known only as a (digitally masked) voice on the phone. Control finds offices in decay and disarray, a shrinking staff divided into factions loyal to the previous director and “lifers” who are in it for the weird science and/or have nowhere else, really, to go. We do see the biologist often in Authority, but it is through the eyes of agent/operative John Rodriguez (aka “Control”), newly appointed acting director of the Southern Reach, interrogating her after her reappearance along with the other survivors of the expedition depicted in Annihilation. In Authority, VanderMeer pivots from the first-person journal of the unnamed biologist (read by Carolyn McCormick) which introduced “Area X” in Annihilation to an exploration of a different, though as uncanny and surreal, terrain: the organization which sent her into “Area X” in the first place, the Southern Reach itself. ![]() Another surreal expedition into the uncanny ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog
The merridew sisters series5/29/2023 ![]() ![]() See the complete The Merridew Sisters series book. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. A phony engagement turns into real passion in this delightful Regency romance from award-winning author Anne Gracie. by Anne Gracie includes books The Perfect Rake, The Perfect Waltz, The Perfect Stranger, and several more. Now, Prudence’s plot is about to go terribly, albeit deliciously, awry. In spite of the lies, Gideon is so taken with charming Prudence that he’s eager to join her game, especially if it will award him a stolen kiss or two. ![]() The delightful spitfire claims she and the Duke are engaged-although a taller tale was never told. But when Prudence arrives at his doorstep and mistakes him for his cousin, the Duke, it is Gideon who’s infatuated. All it will take is a little matrimonial deception.Ī renowned rake, Gideon, Lord Carradice, has a way of making ladies swoon. So when their abusive grandfather is laid up with an injury, she seizes the opportunity to concoct an ingenious plan that will allow all five of them to escape the clutches of their legal guardian. by Anne Gracie includes books The Perfect Rake, The Perfect Waltz, The Perfect Stranger, and several more. But plain Prudence bears no grudge she loves her four beautiful sisters infinitely. A phony engagement turns into real passion in this delightful Regency romance from award-winning author Anne Gracie.įate has lavished beauty on the Merridew sisters-that is, all save the eldest. ![]()
Back to Blog
![]() Flower reverses these priorities, and while giving due coverage to longstanding controversies she is much more interested in the cult’s functioning in day-to-day life. Yet it also reflects the conviction of earlier scholars that the origins of a cult tell us more about its essential nature than its actual functioning in the historical periods to which we have access. ![]() This debate results in part from the fact that they received little sustained discussion in the ancient sources, at least those that are extant, presumably because they were such a commonplace and humble part of everyday life. It is clear that they were tutelary deities of the household and the neighborhood, but beyond that there has been much scholarly disagreement about their nature. ![]() The lares (singular lar) were distinctively Roman deities whose presence is pervasive in Latin literary texts, who are frequently invoked in inscriptions, and whose small shrines are abundantly preserved at sites such as Pompeii and Delos. But first, an overview of the book’s subject and contents is in order. More helpful in that regard is the subtitle, which, however, raises some interesting issues to which I will return below. ![]() The fanciful title, although eye-catching and not inapposite, hardly does justice to the import of this impressive book. ![]()
Back to Blog
![]() ![]() I continue to be haunted by these characters and I applaud Taylor for the intricacy and care taken in the development of the world and the characters. Laini Taylor has successfully built a world that is so captivating you find yourself so immersed you forget about everything else. This series is beautifully crafted and driven by emotion. Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn’t whole. ![]() Raised half in our world, half in ‘Elsewhere’, she has never understood Brimstone’s dark work – buying teeth from hunters and murderers – nor how she came into his keeping. On the one hand, she’s a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. ‘He never says please’, she sighed, but she gathered up her things. The note was on vellum, pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. ![]() Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Magic, Young Adult Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylorįirst Published: September 27th 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers ![]()
Back to Blog
Ambergris jeff vandermeer5/28/2023 ![]() ![]() However, it does bear pointing out that this is not a complete version of the novella collection. The books, which can be read individually, feel complete when brought together, like puzzle pieces that expose a larger whole.Ĭity of Saints and Madmen, in its lead-off position, is perhaps the most brilliant of the three books collected here. That world-building is what makes VanderMeer a genius. All in all, the novella collection City of Saints and Madmen (2001), and the novels Shriek: An Afterword (2006) and Finch (2009), are prime examples of world-building: making worlds seem complete and historical, and fully fleshed out. ![]() The Ambergris trilogy, which has been now collected in an omnibus edition containing all three works, came before the Borne duology and even the Southern Reach Trilogy. What makes this work even more startling is that it came early in VanderMeer’s career. Sure, I’ve read other works by the author, but nothing has been quite as mind-blowing as reading about the city of Ambergris and its sometimes mad, but mostly brilliant, inhabitants. I can only make this pronouncement having now read the author’s Ambergris trilogy. ![]()
Back to Blog
Night shift by stephen king5/28/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() Stories missing are: Children of the Corn, I Am the Doorway, Trucks and One for the Road.Ī mostly enjoyable collection from the Master The stories included are: The Boogeyman, I know what you did, Strawberry spring, Gray matter, The woman in the room, Battleground, Graveyard shift, The man who loves flowers, The last rung on the ladder, Night surf, Jerusalem's Lot, The Mangler, Sometimes they come back, The ledge, The Lawnmower Man, Quitters Inc and One for the Road. Chapters are not named which is very unfortunate. It's to be noted that this audiobook does not contain all the stories in the paperback. The scariest story is Sometimes They Come Back, the horror of bullies always touches me. ![]() My favorite story in the book is probably The Lawnmower Man - nothing to do with the movie - it's so absurd and almost hilarious instead of scary. What was one of the most memorable moments of Night Shift? Occasional sound effects seem a little out of place and old fashioned, just plain narration would be been adequate. John Glover is a great narrator, and suits King's style very well. Would you try another book from Stephen King and/or John Glover? ![]()
Back to Blog
Kathleen erin hogg woodiwiss shanna5/28/2023 ![]() ![]() Petals on the River, Avon (New York, NY), 1997.Ī Season beyond a Kiss, Avon (New York, NY), 2000. ![]() (Editor and contributor) Married at Midnight, Avon (New York, NY), 1996. (With others) Three Weddings and a Kiss (anthology), Avon (New York, NY), 1995. So Worthy My Love, Avon (New York, NY), 1989.įorever in Your Embrace, Avon (New York, NY), 1992, author's preferred edition, 1999. The Wolf and the Dove, Avon (New York, NY), 1974.Īshes in the Wind, Avon (New York, NY), 1979.Ī Rose in Winter, Avon (New York, NY), 1982.Ĭome Love a Stranger, Avon (New York, NY), 1984. The Flame and the Flower, Avon ( New York, NY), 1972. Worked as a model in fashion shows in Tokyo, Japan. Office-c/o Avon Books, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019.ĬAREER: Writer. Politics: Republican.ĪDDRESSES: Home-Princeton, MN. Education: Attended schools in Alexandria, LA. Air Force major), J(divorced) children: Sean Alan, Dorren James, Heath Alexander. PERSONAL: Born June 3, 1939, in Alexandria, LA daughter of Charles Wingrove, Sr., and Gladys (Coker) Hogg married Ross Eugene Woodiwiss (a U.S. ![]()
Back to Blog
Switched by Sienna Mercer5/28/2023 ![]() ![]() But these little problems of mine will be fixed in the sequel and we'll be getting more of the characters and more of the vampire world so I'm thrilled to get my hands on the sequel!Īlso, I'm really happy that Ivy didn't get easily swept into the popular clique and followed Charlotte like some airhead. I thought the vampire aspect was going to be more in the open but instead Ivy made sure to hide it from Olivia, so we didn't get to the vampire part of the book till way way later in the book. I wished we got more in depth about the characters and about the fact that Ivy is a vampire. I enjoyed reading behind both Ivy and Olivia's point of view, though I do wish we got to know them a little bit more instead of all we saw was what they presented to the outside world. ![]() ![]() But what I do have to say is that this was indeed a fun book to read! It was absolutely easy to get lost in this world, I was breezing right through the pages (which is probably why I don't have much to say). Honestly, this might be a short review because I don't have a lot to say about Switched. ![]()
Back to Blog
![]()
Back to Blog
Submarine outlaw series5/28/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() Selected for the spring 2013 edition of Best Books for Kids and Teens.And for the first time, he leaves a part of himself behind.Ĭlick here to read the first chapter of Outlaw in India. Alfred cannot help falling in love with India, the most beautiful place he has ever seen. ![]() Along the journey he witnesses practices which deny human equality and dignity, but also happy events that celebrate the spirit of new beginnings, as personified in Ganesh, the Hindu god with four arms and the head of an elephant. After a near fatal encounter off Kochi, Alfred befriends a ten-year-old homeless and illiterate but highly intelligent boy, and is given the chance to explore the changing face of India through the eyes of one of its “untouchables.” Discovering India to be an ancient land filled with extremes of beauty, wealth, tradition and danger, Alfred is tricked into making an overland pilgrimage to Varanasi, one of the world’s oldest cities. In Outlaw in India, the fifth volume in the best-selling Submarine Outlaw series, Alfred and his crew of Seaweed the seagull and Hollie the dog begin their exploration of India with a piece of bad luck when they surface behind a frigate and bring the wrath of the Indian navy down upon them. ![]() |