4 stars – Page 62 – Looking For a Good Book

July 14, 2016

MUG SHOT – Caroline Fardig

Mug Shot is the second book in Caroline Fardig’s Java Jive series and continues both the investigative powers of Juliet Langley and her rocky romances. Juliet manages a small coffeehouse, Java Jive, owned by her friend Pete Bennett. Juliet, and the store, are just starting to recover from an incident in which Juliet discovered murdered… Continue reading

MYSTERY, ROMANCE

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, Romance

July 11, 2016

CARNIEPUNK – anthology

I recently turned on an old Kindle of mine, one that I thought was long dead after I had left it out on my deck through a long rain storm – and indeed it was dead, for quite some time. But after sitting in a bag of uncooked rice for a few months and then… Continue reading

Dark Fantasy/Horror, MAGIC, SF/FANTASY, SHORT FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, collection, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Magic, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Short Stories

July 8, 2016

HEROINE COMPLEX – Sarah Kuhn

There are demons coming through portals that open without warning over San Francisco. The demons inhabit the first thing they come in contact with, which can make for an interesting battle when you’re facing off against … say … cupcakes with teeth. But along with demons who are only moderately tough, come super-powers to the… Continue reading

ROMANCE, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, Romance, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

July 7, 2016

ORPHAN BLACK – graphic novel

Where have I been that I knew NOTHING about this series? Not only is this a compelling graphic novel, it is apparently a BBC television show in its fourth season. In this book we have a young woman, Veera, with a scarred right side of her face, in Helsinki, Finland in 2001 on the run… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, Graphic Novels, Reviews, Television

July 4, 2016

TIME LOCK – Christopher L. Bennett

Reading a Star Trek book/story is my guilty pleasure. I’ve been a Trekkie/Trekker nerd since the early/mid 1970’s and despite an ever-widening circle of reading interests, I return to a Star Trek novel now and again because it’s like getting together with old friends. It’s comfortable and fun. (When done well.) Christopher L. Bennett’s Star… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Star Trek, Television

June 30, 2016

ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER – James Morrow

THROWBACK THURSDAY: REVIEW A REISSUE I’ve only read one other James Morrow book (Towing Jehovah) and I’m not sure why that is. Morrow is a fantastic writer and, based on the now two books that I’ve read, he is incredibly original, funny, and dark. This book takes on Christianity, skewers it, and flips it on… Continue reading

HUMOR, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Humor, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

June 29, 2016

STAR TREK: MANIFEST DESTINY – graphic novel

This is actually not so much a graphic novel as it is the first issue of a comic book (which will most likely ultimately be published as a graphic novel). My ARC of this was twenty-four pages, though Goodreads lists this at 40 pages. Sixteen pages of bonus material? Perhaps. Because it’s just the beginning… Continue reading

GRAPHIC NOVEL, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Graphic Novels, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Star Trek

June 23, 2016

TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD – editor, James Lowder

“The Walking Dead” is a surprising television hit. It is water-cooler discussion fodder, and, like so many pop culture hits of this era (it seems), it is based on a comic book series by Robert Kirkman. And what happens to ‘hits’? People analyze them and write about them. This book is a collection of essays… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Entertainment, essays, Graphic Novels, non-fiction, Reviews, Television

June 21, 2016

DARK NIGHT: A TRUE BATMAN STORY – Paul Dini

Sometimes, after a catastrophic event, especially a very personal one, the victim needs to find a release – a cathartic means of expression. Paul Dini is looking for his relief through a medium that he is very familiar with. The graphic novel. Paul Dini’s name is likely familiar to comic book and animation nerds as… Continue reading

GRAPHIC NOVEL, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, Graphic Novels, Memoir, Reviews

June 17, 2016

HARD-BOILED ANXIETY – Karen Huston Karydes

What did it take to become a genre-setting author of noir detective fiction? Judging by Karen Huston Karydes’ book, Hard-Boiled Anxiety, the answer comes down to ‘personal demons.’ Karydes clearly has a love of the noir-detective genre and has done a great deal of research into the personal lives of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross… Continue reading

NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

4 stars, Biography, Book Reviews, Books, non-fiction, Reviews, Sex

June 13, 2016

EMPTY SPACE – M. John Harrison

Once again I have unfortunately read a book that is the ending to a series, rather than a beginning. I’m not sure why publishers don’t make this better known (except that they want to make a sale, of course, and who is going to pick up book three if they haven’t read one and two… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

June 8, 2016

SKULK – Rosie Best

Skulk is a really fabulous, exciting YA fantasy. Teenager Meg encounters a shape-shifting fox just as it is dying. It gives Meg a gemstone to keep safe. But it also gives Meg its powers of shifting and suddenly Meg’s life is very, very different. Meg learns that there are a series of shifters, but only… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult