Alex & Ada is about a man who receives a robot from his grandmother for his 27th birthday. Seven months prior he went through a bad breakup and his grandmother (and his friends) thought it was time for him to move on. Alex thinks having a robot girlfriend is really weird but after going back and forth, he can’t seem to bring himself to return her. Instead, he reaches out to people who may be able to give her the bit…
Lunch in Paris is a real story. Sure, you have the normal Paris-colored glasses on while reading, but it’s not all pastries and walks along the Seine. It’s that and real life. Elizabeth met Gwendal while she was living in London (she’s from New York). They did the long-distance thing for a while (weekends in Paris? Yes please!) and after two years she took the plunge to move into his cozy Parisian apartment with him. She shares her struggles with…
Sheltered takes place on a compound of prepers hidden from the government. They have strong evidence that volcanoes will erupt and make the world uninhabitable for three years. The climax of the story comes when a group of younger people (late teen/young adult age) decide to kill all of the adults/parents so they will have enough supplies for everyone to make it three years. The ending is intriguing but not omg-I-have-to-know-what-happens-next good. I will be getting volume 2 through the…
I have been obsessed with French and Parisian things for almost as long as I can remember and it has only gotten more intense as the years have gone by. Amy Thomas’s Paris, My Sweet started me on the Parisian memoirs and I have been reading or listening to any that I can get my hands on for the past year. I think Seven Letters from Paris has been my favorite so far, probably because it starts out really really sad then just gets…
source Well, I just left the whirlwind that was reading the Paradox trilogy. It feels so weird though because I obviously can’t tell you allll about it, not even the good stuff! These books follow Devi Morris, a Paradoxian merc whose dream it is to become a Devastator (part of the King’s guard). In the hopes of gaining the experience she needs to do this, she accepts a position on Brian Caldswell’s ship, The Glorious Fool. Then everything you think…
Polarity is a pretty awesome story with a unique point of view. It follows Tim Woods, a guy in his 20’s living in NYC who is struggling with staying on his bipolar medication. After a few cycles of taking his meds then not, he realizes that when he’s not on his medicine he has actual superpowers. There are plenty of other real-life issues that Tim deals with: girlfriends, friends, hipsters, and how to handle yourself in public. All of these…
(source) Bodies sounded awesome; a twist on the classic Jack the Ripper tale spanning four different eras: 1890, 1940, 2014, and 2050. However, it was very hard for me to follow. There are word and thought bubbles in almost every box, making it hard to follow two lines of thought at the same time. I found the 2050 storyline the most interesting and having the coolest twist at the end. Everyone but one woman has lost their memory and she…
(source) Written by Kate Leth, Art by Drew Rausch. This is such a great read! Drew Rausch did such an amazing job on the artwork- I can’t stop gushing about it and it is so, so perfect for Edward Scissorhands. This story takes place two generations after where the movie leaves off. Meg, Kim’s granddaughter, is struggling to believe that Edward is not real and that her grandmother was lying about him (her mother is adamant about this). She decides to go…
For those who enjoyed (or loved, like me) the Kite Runner novel or movie, this is for you! Ever since I read it in college I have loved it, Khaled Hosseini, and learning about the middle east. It even was part of my decision to focus the minor for my BA in middle east studies. This story is about Amir, a boy growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, and how he and his family are affected by political turmoil in the…
I fell in love with children’s books as an adult in a Children’s Lit class I took in college. The professor was so enthusiastic about the stories we studied that it was hard not to get excited too (My art history teacher was the same, plus some. I wish I could attend a class of hers every day for the rest of my life). We read fairy tales, Harriet the Spy, Alice in Wonderland, several others, and James and the…