Category Archives: American Literature

The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

American Literature

Synopsis: In the near future, a high-functioning autistic man is presented with the opportunity to be “fixed,” causing him to wonder if he was ever really broken. Review: I first read Speed of Dark a few years ago, on the recommendation of a friend. I really enjoyed revisiting it, especially now that I’m a mom and have friends who have kids on the autism spectrum. I really loved how Elizabeth Moon made Leo a real, relatable character, to the point where I really wanted him…

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Giveaway–Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten

American Literature 5 Comments

I’m so grateful to the kind folks at Point who have given my site 3 copies of Wherever Nina Liesby Lynn Weingarten! To enter, leave a comment on this post by 11:59pm EST on Monday, March 1st. You can earn extra entries by blogging about this contest or posting it on Twitter, and leaving a trackback. About Wherever Nina Lies: Nina was beautiful, wild, and adored by her younger sister, Ellie. But, one day, Nina disappeared. Two years later, everyone has given up home that…

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Best Bet by Laura Pederson

American Literature

Synopsis: Faced with a marriage proposal on the one side and the chance to travel around the world on the other, Hallie Palmer chooses the unfamiliar, hoping to find herself in the process. Review: While I admired Laura Pederson’s strong prose skills, I was not drawn in by the story at the center of Best Bet. I lost interest after about 100 pages. Many thanks to iUniverse for the review copy.

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School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari

American Literature

Synopsis: Four kids with immobilizing phobias are sent to a very special boarding school to cure them of their fears–if it doesn’t kill them first. Review: I really enjoyed Gitty Daneshvari’s wit in School of Fear. She has a dry sense of humor that really animates all the characters and elevates the book beyond what could have been just a by-the-numbers genre read. You can tell that she really cares about language and wants to put something original into the world, which is not something…

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The Great Bazaar and Other Stories by Peter V. Brett

American Literature 3 Comments

Synopsis: A selection of deleted scenes from Peter V. Brett’s debut fantasy novel The Warded Man. Review: The Great Bazaar and Other Stories is a fun little read for fans of the world and characters created by Peter V. Brett in The Warded Man and its upcoming sequel The Desert Spear (which is so so so so so good, by the way–watch for my review and an interview with Peter in April!) I enjoyed reading a few more stories about characters I have come to…

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Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman

American Literature 6 Comments

Synopsis: Two college friends decide to circumnavigate the globe in 1986, starting in Communist China, unaware that one is on the brink of mental collapse. Review: I generally find memoirs to be self-indulgent, solipsistic, and narcissistic. Very rarely do the people with good stories also end up with the writing skills to engage the reader beyond the titillating details that sold the book proposal and turn their personal story into something that has actual resonance, meaning and importance. Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven…

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Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

American Literature 18 Comments

Synopsis: The dragons who emerged from their cocoons along the Rain Wilds River were not exactly the fearsome creatures of legend hoped for by many, so a ragtag group of outcasts and misfits are hired to escort them upriver, ostensibly to find a legendary dragon city–if any of them survive. Review: It was SO much fun to return to the world of the Liveship Traders series, which was my favorite of Robin Hobb’s three Six Duchies trilogies. I’m aching to reread all of them again,…

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Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo

American Literature 5 Comments

Synopsis: Sent to Oxford to present at a Jane Austen conference on behalf of her sister, an unemployed young woman pretends to be a pediatrician to impress a handsome bachelor and makes the acquaintance of a dotty old woman claiming to have the manuscript of Austen’s first draft of Pride and Prejudice. Review: Before I get into my review of Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart, I need to make a confession. The book’s editor–who also receives a heartfelt dedication from the author–is a good friend…

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Scars and Stilettos by Harmony Dust

American Literature

Synopsis: How an exotic dancer left the profession and founded a ministry to help other women do the same. Review: Harmony Dust’s story as told in Scars and Stilettos is not without merit. The girl has been through a lot, from childhood sexual abuse to rape to poverty, all of which led her to a soul-crushing career as an exotic dancer. I just wish that the writing had been a little stronger. Nevertheless, this is a powerful story and I hope it helps a lot…

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Raven’s Ladder by Jeffrey Overstreet

American Literature

Synopsis: Led by troubling visions of a shadowy Keeper who is probably benevolent and hoping to find Auralia and her colors, Cal-raven, king of Abascar, leads his homeless people out of exile and into a danger of another sort–seductive House Bel Amica, where brews a danger of a greater kind, related to the tentacles that sprang from the ground and destroyed House Abascar. Review: Raven’s Ladder is the third intallment in Jeffrey Overstreet‘s Auralia thread, began in Auralia’s Colors and continued in Cyndere’s Midnight. The…

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