Claire Hutchet Bishop’s The Five Chinese Brothers moves to the Pacific Northwest in this YA mystery from M.J. Beaufrand. Useless Bay introduces readers to the Gray quints — four brothers and sister Pixie — and the Shepherds: an ultra-wealthy family who vacation near the Grays’ home on Whidbey Island. When two members of the Shepherd clan go missing, the Grays are the first people suspected, and the supersized, superpowered teens must rush to solve the mystery and save themselves and their friends. Continue reading
Category: Reviews
Damn Fine Cherry Pie: A Review
A Gilmore Girls-related cookbook might have been the talk of 2016, but it wasn’t the only TV show-inspired recipe volume to come out last year. Twin Peaks U.K. Festival founder Lindsey Bowden‘s Twin Peaks cookbook, Damn Fine Cherry Pie: And Other Recipes from TV’s Twin Peaks, is a must-have for any fan of David Lynch’s wonderfully weird, ’90s television staple. Continue reading
The Princess Diarist: A Review
As the world continues to mourn the untimely death of Star Wars actress and writer Carrie Fisher, fans — myself included — have clamored to read the books she left behind. Fisher’s final memoir, The Princess Diarist recounts her affair with co-star Harrison Ford on the set of the first Star Wars film in 1976. But, more than a romantic tell-all, The Princess Diarist feels like Fisher’s goodbye. Continue reading
A List of Cages: A Review
Books about damaged people in painful situations have the tendency to read as lurid, even prurient. Although A List of Cages will make you feel many, many things, Robin Roe‘s debut novel handles its subject matter with care and authority. Continue reading
The Mothers: A Review
No doubt by now you’ve seen its floral, multicolored cover peeping at you from store and library shelves. Brit Bennett‘s debut novel, The Mothers, won her a coveted 5 under 35 medallion from the National Book Foundation and stirred up plenty of attention from publications large and small. Not bad for a book that Bennett began writing at the age of 17, but that shows the kind of maturity and deftness with its subject matter one would expect from a seasoned author. Continue reading