Nothing funnier than a cross-dressing slave boy riding the circuit with crazy ole John Brown. Offensive, hilarious, violent and sad, James McBride fills the Kansas Territory with characters straight out of a Mel Brooks movie and then throws in a dash of Quentin Tarantino for good measure. How McBride managed to weave Harriet Tubman in to the buffoonery without offending the reader is beyond me. I highly recommend!
Blue lives in a family of psychics, but the only power she has is amplifying the abilities of others. On All Hallow's Eve, she visits the Corpse Road with her aunt. There, her aunt sees the ghosts of everyone in Henrietta who will die in the next year. For the first time, Blue is able to see a ghost. It's a boy about her age. When she asks his name, he says, "Gansy, that's all there is." Her aunt tells her the only way she would be able to see the ghost is if he is her true love, or if she killed him. Possibly both.
This is a coming-of-age story, a love story, and a retelling of the Iliad all in one masterfully told epic. Miller at once succeeds in adding depth and substance to Achilles and Patroclus and also preserving the dramatic feel of the war that is the backdrop to their relationship.
Jordan Romero was fascinated by a poster in his elementary school of the Seven Summits, the highest mountain peaks on each of the seven continents. When he was nine years old, he announced to his parents that he wanted to climb the Seven Summits and he wanted to start training immediately. Jordan was familiar with what training involved; his father and stepmother were adventure racers.
I am generous with 4 star ratings, but I don't give out a lot of 5 stars; I reserve those for the most exceptional books. This was an exceptional book!
Despite the blurbs on the back cover, Bret Anthony Johnston’s debut novel, Remember Me Like This, is not a thriller in the traditional sense. The elements are all here: a kidnapping, a possible murder, a family in turmoil. But to Johnston’s credit, his novel is partly about thwarting expectations—mostly the reader’s, and not always in ways that we’re accustomed to.
This film is the perfect antidote to the evening news. Rather than dwelling on the grim or sensational, it magnifies the beauty of the quotidian as it follows a single day in the life of people all over the world. Not only visually stunning, it is also emotionally impacting to see the human race in all its variety and realize how different, and how very much the same, people can be.
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley may have been born a slave, but she was not destined to remain one. Her exceptional skill as a seamstress won for her both freedom and the acquaintance of many of society's elite, the most notable of these, Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln. The focus of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker is on Elizabeth's life and that of her family, then turns to the relationship between she and Mrs.
Things are going pretty well for Colleen O'Rourke: she co-owns a tavern with her twin brother, Conner; has made more than a few love matches between the good people of Manningsport, NY; and is great at giving advice. Well, things were going well until Lucas Campbell comes back to Manningsport to see his dying uncle. Ten years ago they were in love—Lucas living in Chicago gearing up to go to law school, Colleen in Manningsport to be close to her family while becoming a nurse.
If you’ve ever felt uncertain or uncomfortable about giving or serving in your community or abroad, but could never quite put your finger on why, this book is for you. Toxic Charity explores how charity can often be detrimental to those it purports to benefit.
