Okiku is a vengeance spirit. Her story is the one that inspired countless Japanese films and horror stories, and now it's her turn to tell it. Okiku spends her days traveling the world seeking out child-murders and giving them her form of justice (often involving drowning and/or the ripping off of heads). She's content with this existence until she meets Tark. The boy with the strange tattoos and the demon on his back. Tark ignites feelings that Okiku hasn't experienced in over 300 years, and she's not about to let some demon take them away so easily.
Lady Elisabeth Kerr, a Highlander and sympathetic of the Jacobite cause, has not hidden her support of Prince Charles and his rebel army. Now her husband, Lord Donald Kerr, has decided the cause is a worthy one and he and his brother have both decided to back the prince. Lady Elisabeth’s widowed mother-in-law, Lady Marjory, is not at all excited about her two sons going into battle, but is caught up in the excitement the prince has stirred within their town of Edinburgh. Lady Marjory makes no secret that she has switched her loyalty and has even financially backed the prin
While the protagonist, Victoria, is incredibly flawed in The Language of Flowers, it is unlikely you will ever feel anger towards her. Trapped in the uncaring hands of foster care her entire life, she is socially inept, volatile and completely mired in grief and rage.
Festive in Death is the 39th book in J.D. Robb’s In Death series. Thirty-nine books! Seriously? Yes. Thirty-nine. Not many authors could keep my interest in the same group of characters over the years, but Nora Roberts (writing as J. D. Robb) has again written a book I will be recommending to friends. In a futuristic New York, Lieutenant Eve Dallas is the top murder cop in the city.
Blue Lily, Lily Blue takes place shortly after the events of The Dream Thieves, with the characters recovering from their fight against Kavinsky. Summer is over and school is starting, but the raven boys and Blue have many other things on their minds, particularly Blue who has been searching for her mother lost in the tunnels following the ley line.
Tuan is an orphan, raised by his neighbors. He is a hard worker and buys himself a small house and field, but he is lonely and unable to find a suitable match even with the help of a matchmaker. Yet Tuan continues to work hard and, one day, finds a large snail in his garden that he begins to care for. Shortly thereafter, he finds delicious meals prepared for him when he returns home from work. Every night, the meals become larger and more delicious. Tuan cannot seem to find out who is cooking for him, so he decides to return home early to catch the generous cook.
I love superhero comics, but I must confess, I don't like a lot of contemporary superhero comics. The trend has overwhelmingly become oriented towards grim and serious. There are some terrific, well done stories, full of high imagination and smart storytelling, but there's a distinct lack of whimsy and unabashed optimism.
Quality time. Words of affirmation. Physical touch. Receiving gifts. Acts of service. These are the five ways that people give and receive love according to relationship counselor Dr. Gary Chapman. This book guides you in how to “fill the love tank,” as Chapman words it, of your partner by learning how to assess the way your partner wants to receive love. By knowing which love language your partner speaks (i.e. which way they want to receive love), you can improve even the healthiest of relationships.
Before heading to the self-help books looking for psychological insight, be aware that reading fiction can also have strong therapeutic benefits. One example is local author Laura Moriarty’s The Rest of Her Life. Moriarty received a degree in social work from KU, which is excellent training for the themes she explores in her novel: social status and crime, parent/child relationships, and cyclical family dynamics.
