Synopsis: In the aftermath of a catastrophe, where diet water fried the brains of the people who took it and turned them into functional zombies, teenage Velvet get the word that she can bring her Contaminated yet neutralized mother home. Review:
Synopsis: When the daughter of a reclusive horror film director commits suicide, a disgraced investigative journalist sets out looking for the truth, only to find himself in a labyrinth straight out of one of the director’s “night films.” Review: The biggest hook in Night Film is Stanislas Cordova, a character who is a delectable melange of Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski, Michael Haneke, and Eli Roth. Descriptions of his oeuvre pepper the novel, with tantalizing plot details that made me ache to see the movies. I…
Synopsis: Two teens travel back in time to stop their best friend from building a time machine, in the hopes that they can save the world before it is too late. Review: Breathless, I tell you, I was breathless as I sped through All Our Yesterdays. I loved it. What I most appreciated was that the love triangle wasn’t a matter of Team This vs. Team That. There was real depth to the romantic dilemma faced by Em, because the way that time travel is…
Synopsis: Pat Taylor Allanson was a southern belle whose dream of owning an elite horse stable was on the verge of coming true, until her husband was arrested for murdering his own parents, and Pat’s penchant for drama had people wondering if there was more to the story than what it appeared–and what about that arsenic? Review: I admit it, I have a thing for true crime, particularly Ann Rule, and this is not the first time I’ve read Everything She Ever Wanted. It’s not…
Synopsis: Subtitled: American Moms on the Brink. Review: Where on earth to begin with my praise for Maxed Out? Katrina Alcorn‘s memoir/cultural analysis is an honest, well-researched, and absolutely necessary addition to the conversation about women in the workplace. The political is personal, and she astutely uses her own story of corporate burnout and panic attacks to highlight the ways in which corporate culture and expectations are at odds with what is best for families with children. Alcorn puts her arguments into a larger context,…
Synopsis: A collection of short stories on the theme of love written by an eclectic group of Hollywood screenwriters. Review: The short stories in Love and Other Distractions are as delightfully varied as I’ve ever seen in an anthology. A fundraiser for the charity Kids Need to Read, the collection shows how different writers can be one from another. Shelly Goldstein’s ‘The Vagina Dialogues’ takes a witty, refreshing look at the way women talk about love, while ‘Full Moon Fever’ by comedian Doug Molitor will…
Subtitled: Love and Death in the Golden Age of Hijacking. Review: From 1968-1973, hijacking, once a largely anomalous and relatively peaceful act, grew into an epidemic of such proportions that weekly hijackings became the norm. In The Skies Belong to Us, Brendan I. Koerner traces the history of skyjacking from an act of rebellion rooted in the mystique of Cuba into a wildly successful and life-threatening act of piracy that was seemingly unstoppable due to the airlines collective intractability over the necessity of airport security…
Synopsis: When Patrick called the cops on his drunk-driving dad after a hit and run, he turned into one of the most hated people in the area, but he’s not prepared for the force of nature that is Layla, a wayward preacher’s daughter involved with a dangerous goth crowd, or the feelings he develops for his brother’s girlfriend, and either one could explode at any moment. Review: Save Yourself was a meaty thriller with fabulous characters and heart-clutching emotional suspense. The best thing about the…
Synopsis: The story of three sisters who were born and raised in the Children of God cult and how they escaped. Review: Not Without My Sister was rough reading, not just because the subject matter was so grim but because it was kind of sloppily written. The three sisters’ stories were all written with the same voice (probably that of a ghost writer) and I just couldn’t tell them apart enough to become invested in the drama of their escape.
Synopsis: Snowbound in a remote cottage filled with memories, a sister, her brother, her best friendm her ex, and her ex’s new girlfriend realize that something out there wants to eat them. Review: Ania Ahlborn’s The Neighbors was more quirky than horrific, but The Shuddering is straight-up terrifying and I loved every nail-biting moment. I did enjoy trying to guess who would be left for the endgame, given that there was a really great love triangle at play, and the monsters were genuinely frightening. Loved…