Witches, in their many incarnations, have always fascinated me. When I was thirteen, I watched the cartoon W.I.T.C.H over and over again, I wrote made-up spells in a notebook (my little sister and I even tried some—to no effect), and even composed a series of mini-stories about a seventh-grade witch’s misadventures in school. Give me … Continue reading The Book of Spells, by Kate Brian →

Pretty soon, I’m going to run out of ways to talk about Beauty and the Beast stories. I’m sorry, I just cannot help loving stories about redemption and true love, no matter how corny or dramatic. Plus I haven’t read many books that tell the Beast’s story. Kyle Kingsbury is the prince of his high … Continue reading Beastly, by Alex Flinn →

February is turning into quite the nostalgia month, isn’t it: first with Ready Player One, plus a couple of books that I read once way back when. And now I continue that accidental theme by looking at a book that makes me laugh and feel the warm-and-fuzzies every time: My Unfair Godmother, by Janette Rallison. … Continue reading My Unfair Godmother, by Janette Rallison →

I really truly do not know what I would do without fairy tales. In times of anxiety and uncertainty, I always return to worlds filled with adventure, fairy godmothers, special creatures, far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise…wait a minute. A few months ago I reviewed Robin McKinley’s second foray … Continue reading Beauty, by Robin McKinley →

Several months back, I proofread a rather in-depth and informative interview between the Editor-in-Chief of Split Lip and Matt Young, who had just written an Iraq war memoir called Eat the Apple. Imagine my surprise and delight when said Editor-in-Chief announced that Matt would be coming on board as our Memoir Editor! I learned a … Continue reading Eat the Apple, by Matt Young →

Whenever a book from my past drops back into my lap, I have the typical debate about whether I was meant to learn something new from it after so much time has passed. In the case of Wondrous Strange, the first book in a trilogy, it has been ten years since I consumed its heaps … Continue reading Wondrous Strange, by Lesley Livingston →

This review is dedicated to my boyfriend, without whose suggestion I would not have picked up this book. So thank you, love. I read many books that my friends suggest, but Ready Player One was a frequent suggestion among my gamer friends. When the movie came out, one friend of mine was rabid to take … Continue reading Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline →

I’m prematurely proud of this review—not for myself, but for the fact that I’m reviewing the book of a fellow Butler University MFA alumnus. I actually got to meet Annie Sullivan, the author of today’s book, when she gave a reading this fall at Butler, and since then, I’ve been anxious to read what was … Continue reading A Touch of Gold, by Annie Sullivan →

When my older sister and I were teenagers, we shared book suggestions like Halloween candy, something that has slowed in recent years because, well, life, and changes in book tastes. For Christmas this year, she actually gifted my little sister, our mom, and me with the same book: My Oxford Year, by Julia Whelan. The … Continue reading My Oxford Year, by Julia Whelan →

Nothing makes me angrier than when people dismiss creativity as nothing more than a fleeting fancy of mental illness or drug use, because, sometimes, imagination is a natural-born talent nurtured with keen powers of observation. When Tim Burton is off his game, Guillermo del Toro takes up the mantle of the strange but imaginative Hollywood … Continue reading The Shape of Water, by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus →