Book Review: “Rosemary and Rue” by Seanan McGuire
I rarely get involved in a book series unless it has been completed or nearly completed by the time I begin. Inevitably, I’ll catch up, and the anxiety of waiting for what comes next always gets to me. Occasionally, however,…
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…
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…
Jason’s Video Game Review: Lost Judgment
Full review The second entry in the Judgment subseries had a lot of expectations riding on it. With Yakuza: Like a Dragon moving the main franchise into a turn-based RPG (with mostly successful results), it’s fallen to the Judgment subseries to…
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…
New LGBTQIA+ Reads for All Ages
Books by LGBTQIA+ authors, as well as those with queer characters, show us that our literary world can be as beautifully diverse as the one we live in. Everyone deserves to see their lived experiences reflected in the pages of…
Book Review: “May the Best Man Win” by Z.R. Ellor
SUMMARY Jeremy Harkiss, cheer captain and student body president, won’t let coming out as a transgender boy ruin his senior year of high school. Instead of bowing to the bigots and outdated school administration, Jeremy decides to make some noise—and…