Some people forget that many familiar fairy tales like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and so on, have similar retellings or interpretations across the world. Case in point: East of the Sun, West of the Moon, a Norwegian variation of Beauty and the Beast that takes place in the far North and the … Continue reading Sun and Moon, Snow and Ice, by Jessica Day George
Reviews
The Conjurer, by Luanne G. Smith
I'm not very good at keeping up with authors I like, mainly because I'm lazy and simply don't engage on social media that much these days. I also enjoy the delightful surprise of just perusing bookshelves and seeing that an author has a release I didn't know about. It's happened before with finding new entries … Continue reading The Conjurer, by Luanne G. Smith
Witch Child, by Celia Rees
It should come as no surprise that I loved learning about the Salem Witch Trials of 1962 and 1693. I didn't learn about them in depth until I did a research paper in my college Religion class, listening to spooky music and reading various accounts on the unfortunate accused, the manic accusers, and the legends … Continue reading Witch Child, by Celia Rees
Sweetly, by Jackson Pearce
Jackson Pearce began her fairy tale retelling series with Sisters Red, and that series continues with Sweetly, which asks what Hansel and Gretel's modern lives would be like. Probably doesn't need much more of an introduction than that. The day that Gretchen Kassel turned eighteen, she and her nineteen-year-old brother Ansel were kicked out of … Continue reading Sweetly, by Jackson Pearce
Christine, by Stephen King
Well, we're diving back into the era of "classic" Stephen King with Christine. Many people seem to rank it among some of his best supernatural horror stories, alongside works like Pet Sematery or The Shining. I was personally skeptical about a possessed car actually being scary, but since King hasn't failed me yet, I knew … Continue reading Christine, by Stephen King
Steel, by Carrie Vaughn
For all the reading I've done in my life, I can count on one hand all the books I've read about pirates. To me, they all tell more or less the same story: an adventure on the high seas with rum-drinking, cursing, swashbuckling, cannon fights, and perilous quests for revenge. And especially after the runaway … Continue reading Steel, by Carrie Vaughn
Voices of Dragons, by Carrie Vaughn
It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you are a fantasy book lover, you have at least one beloved book that involves dragons. Whether they are arrogant monsters like Smaug in The Hobbit or gentle and shy homebodies like the titular Reluctant Dragon, dragons are a perennial symbol of the genre, akin to the … Continue reading Voices of Dragons, by Carrie Vaughn
The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger
I realized recently that I enjoy stories involving crazy people: crazy entitled people, crazy religious people, people with absolutely zero concept of a world outside of their own needs, people who believe that the world must bend to their whim, bar the consequences for anyone in their orbit. It's so fascinating how far these people … Continue reading The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisberger
Yours Truly, by Abby Jimenez
Some of you are probably wondering: since I've had a mediocre track record with contemporary romances, why do I keep coming back to them? Believe me, I would not pick up one of these unless I'd heard people I trust gush about them and if the plot sounded interesting to me. Yours Truly is a … Continue reading Yours Truly, by Abby Jimenez
The Kiss Curse, by Erin Sterling
Do books like The Kiss Curse need any introduction on this blog anymore? I've read enough of these books by now that most of you know why I was drawn to them. But there may be a bit more spice to this review than other witch books I've done lately, so stay tuned to hear … Continue reading The Kiss Curse, by Erin Sterling
The Library Key 