Stacks to the Future: Regency England
One of the true bummers about the fabric of reality and the nature of spacetime is that time travel isn’t possible. But humanity’s urge to experience the past and foresee the future is a strong one, and since when have…
How to Get Over a Reading Slump
The pandemic made it difficult for me to focus on reading back in 2020 and for much of 2021. The seemingly endless bad news cycles, my low attention span and general lack of interest in reading (gasp!) made it hard…
Book Review: “Hell of a Book” by Jason Mott
SUMMARY In Jason Mott’s Hell of a Book, a Black author sets out on a cross-country publicity tour to promote his bestselling novel. That storyline drives Hell of a Book and is the scaffolding of something much larger and more…
Adult & Teen Ramadan Reads
With Ramadan in full swing, I thought I’d share some Adult & Teen “Ramadan Reads” that I’ve enjoyed. The titles I’ve chosen reflect the richness of the faith and how it’s practiced by American Muslims. Muslims believe Ramadan is the…
The Medieval World and Medievalism
Many of the blog posts I have coming up will interact with the idea of medievalism and the medieval. Because not many people are familiar with what I mean when I talk about the medieval, I figured I could give…
Stacks to the Future: The Cold War
One of the true bummers about the fabric of reality and the nature of spacetime is that time travel isn’t possible. But humanity’s urge to experience the past and foresee the future is a strong one, and since when have…
April 2022 Teen Reads: Awesome Anthologies, Villainous Tales & Books in Verse
Looking for something to read? Our teen services staff are here to help. Browse our handpicked collection of books perfect for teens. Visit Teen Reads to view our booklists curated just for you. You can also stop by the teen area…
Book Review: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
SUMMARY Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie…
One Ring to Rule Them All: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Influence on Epic Fantasy
I’ve been thinking about J.R.R. Tolkien and the world of The Lord of the Rings for over 20 years and can likely attribute my scholarly pursuits to an early fascination with The Hobbit. March 25 is the anniversary of Frodo destroying…
Book Review: Blood of Elves by Andrej Sapkowski
Summary Humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace for over a century. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting again. The only good elf, it seems, is a…