The Wine Bible is the go-to book for anyone with questions about wine, who loves wine, and who wants to know more about wine. The book starts by describing the twelve attributes that make a wine great: distinctiveness, balance, precision, aliveness, beyond fruitiness, complexity, choreography, shape and direction, length, connectedness, […]
Night Lunch
What struck me first about Night Lunch was the wonderful style of the illustrations. The textures and subtle use of colors among a mainly sepia palette really made the pictures come to life. As the night lunch cart rolls into town, a majestic owl cooks for his fellow animals. From […]
Doe’s Dandelions (Woodland Friends, 4)
Doe’s Dandelions is the story about a doe (deer) who was excitedly getting ready for the Petal Parade with her friends Porcupine, Squirrel, and Bear. Doe grew daffodils, Porcupine had petunias, Squirrel had snowdrops, and Bear had bluebells. Doe found many dandelions in her grass one day and became scared […]
Diper Överlöde (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 17)
In the newest installment of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Greg Heffley is helping his brother Rodrick bring his band Loded Diper to fame- which is harder than it sounds. Rodrick is convinced that if the band works hard enough, they might have a shot at winning this […]
A Ruinous Fate (Witch’s Dice)
Calla Rosewood lives in hiding from the witch queens, never staying in one place for more than a few months. Her Roles of Fate have determined that she will be the sixth- and final- Blood Warrior, and the queens seek to destroy her before she makes her final role and […]
Unbound II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy
Unbound II: Tales by Masters of Fantasy is a new anthology by award-winning author and editor Shawn Speakman. This anthology of seventeen tales contains fantastical stories that are genuinely unbound. Speakman, for a number of reasons, intended this collection to be themeless. Pure magic happens when that much freedom is […]
A Madman’s Will: John Randolph, Four Hundred Slaves, and the Mirage of Freedom
A tragic ending to a story may be all the more reason to read it, especially when that story is true. Almost four hundred enslaved Virginians should have been freed upon the death of John Randolph in 1833. However, contestants to the will kept the enslaved in limbo for almost […]
One Long Listening: A Memoir of Grief, Friendship, and Spiritual Care
In the waning days of struggling with illness and preparing for the inevitable, a chaplain can serve as a guide to achieving spiritual comfort and healing. Readers are offered a glimpse into chaplaincy through one long listening, Chenxing Han’s poetic memoir relaying her wonderings and reflections as a student at […]
Too Many Pigs and One Big Bad Wolf: A Counting Story
Too Many Pigs and One Big Bad Wolf is a different way of telling the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. In this story, there aren’t just three pigs, but many more! The person telling the story in the book begins by telling the original […]
Stories to Keep You Alive Despite Vampires
Ben Acker’s Stories to Keep You Alive Despite Vampires is just that. Warning: If you don’t like vampires, please do not read this book. It starts out with an introduction (behold: quotes like “That’s right: the sharks here are vampires!”). But here’s the catch: the story goes that you are […]