Just as powerful as Kevin Powers’ The Yellow Birds, The Farther Shore is the story of what happens to our military men and women when we send them to hostile countries for reasons no one really understands.
It is common knowledge amongst Star Trek fans (and most everyone else who has heard of him) that William Shatner has an ego the size of a Galaxy-class starship. From insulting trekkers and trekkies alike (“Get a life!”) to famously arguing with co-star Leonard Nimoy and the show’s creator Gene Roddenberry, Shatner’s legacy is one of both passionate intensity and an inflated sense of self.
After receiving a scholarship to attend a school of architecture in Paris, Andras, a 22-year-old Hungarian Jew, leaves his home country to pursue his dream of becoming an architect. He meets and falls in love with the beautiful Claire Morgenstern, who is also Hungarian but reluctant to share information about why she is dwelling in Paris. It’s 1939 and Hitler is shaking things up as the threat of war looms in Europe. The Hungarian Consulate refuses to renew Andras’ visa because he is Jewish, and he is forced to return to Budapest without finishing his degree.
Redshirts is a thoroughly engaging read, with interesting characters, snappy dialogue, and a plot that transports from comedic to thought-provoking at will. The story follows the adventures of a group of "Redshirts" as they fight for survival and try to unravel the mystery of a curse that plagues their ship.
Originally airing in 1998-1999, Cowboy Bebop is widely regarded as an essential part of anime canon, with very good reason. The story of a group of down-on-their-luck bounty hunters in a gritty version of the future is a mixture of hilarity and tragedy, and worth a watch from almost anyone.
Mystery Mile is the second book in Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion series. The Crime at Black Dudley is the first, but it features the detective Campion only incidentally. In Mystery Mile, Campion’s playful insouciance and faux-insipid charm is in full effect.
Belinda Carlisle seems to have lived the quintessential rocker’s life—starting off poor and dreaming of a magical life, being in love with music at a young age, starting a band almost on a whim, seeing her band rise to fame, drowning in drugs. Belinda’s story, Lips Unsealed, is one of brutal honesty about how her own shortcomings and insecurities kept her in the grip of addiction even while her life seemed perfect and almost fairy-tale like to those on the outside. Her life re
Marco, a 15-year-old boy, just wants to be a regular citizen and go to school. But his uncle, who is head of their clan, only sees these dreams as trouble. Forced to steal and beg for money on the streets, Marco secretly does all he can to better himself and learn as much as he can. When he overhears plans to cripple him, forcing him to abandon his dreams and tow the line, he knows he must escape. In his hours hiding from his Uncle and the rest of the clan, Marco makes a terrible discovery. Wanting to do the right thing brings his path across Carl's more than once.
Nine Inches: Storiesis a short-story collection that subtly probes the inner thoughts and motivations of everyday people making self-destructive choices—infidelity, drugs, jealousy, greed. These behaviors aren't particularly noteworthy, yet the stories feel rather intimate and revealing.
