![]() ![]() I should get dried off, head to bed, and finally put an end to this cruddy day. My eyes burned, plus my legs had gone numb and felt like they'd been set in a block of cement. Dad had enough to deal with.ĭim light from the streetlamp shone through the pebbled glass of the bathroom window. It had been a year since Mom drowned it was time for me to start figuring things out on my own. I didn't need to run to daddy every time I had a puberty crisis. Yes, getting my first period was a big deal, but I was almost fourteen, for crying out loud. "Call if you need me." Dad's footsteps moved away from the door and continued down the hall. Hadn't I tortured the poor guy enough for one day? ![]() "No, I'm good." I blinked through the haze to the counter where Dad's drugstore bag spilled over with Super Maxi 32-packs and extra-long panty liners. I rubbed my eyes and instantly regretted it. What would have happened if I hadn't woken up? My thoughts turned instantly to Mom. Thanks."Ī shiver ran along my damp arm as I pulled a strand of hair from my mouth. "Yea.yeah," I managed to say between coughs, embarrassed that I'd fallen asleep in the tub, freaked out that I must have slipped underwater. "Jade?" Dad's knock sounded from the other side of the bathroom door. ![]() I bolted upright in the bathtub and hacked a mouthful of water. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() A sinister, indeterminate corporation digging a giant hole in the sand uncovers an ancient triangular door a thousand feet down, beyond which seems to be a warren of secret chambers. The story opens promisingly with a weird prologue set in the Mojave Desert. ![]() Or you might find yourself wondering if it’s simply high-class schlock: well fashioned but ultimately a black and endless hole. Depending on your taste in such matters, you might be thrilled and/or horrified as the novel builds to its unbelievably gory climax. The author of The Night Will Find Us and dozens of short stories drawn from the same vein, Lyons knows how to trepan the genres and extract something weird and messy. Whatever hijinks your sibling might pull, they will pale in comparison to the terrifying journey of Jonah and Nell Talbot from the streets of San Francisco to the cul-de-sacs of Albuquerque. Ever take a road trip with your sibling only to find they’re not the person you thought they were? Your sister turns out to be kind of a monster with a drinking problem who always seems to get the two of you in trouble? If so, you’ll be relieved to read A Black and Endless Sky, the new horror thriller by Matthew Lyons. ![]() ![]() Originally a child actor, he became Jeff Brown because Actors Equity already had a Richard Brown as a member. Jeff Brown was born Richard Chester Brown. In translation, he traveled to France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Israel, among other places. The character's life extended further, as schoolchildren mailed cut-outs of him to their friends. All together, Stanley's tales have sold nearly a million copies in the United States alone. The last, "Stanley, Flat Again!," was published the year he died. ![]() Flat Stanley became the star of a series of perpetually popular books. ![]() Jeff Brown had worked in Hollywood and as an editor and writer in New York before creating Flat Stanley, a hero for the youngest readers whose adventures, with illustrations by Tomi Ungerer, were first published in 1964. Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. ![]() ![]() ![]() Secundus is on a quest and he takes Boy as his servant. He knows he is different because of his hump, and wishes people would stop calling him a monster. ![]() Boy looks after the goats which belonged to the lady of the manor. (From The Book Of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. For in that pack rests one of Saint Peter’s ribs.’ ‘Peter was a simple fisherman, but he because the very first pope of Rome, and now he minds the gates of heaven.’ ‘Of St Peter?’ Indeed I did, from Father Petrus. ‘The first task I’ve already accomplished. But I am more optimistic, now that I have a boy who can climb.’ He slipped the book into his robes. ‘Tooth is my next task, and challenging it will be. ‘Rib tooth thumb shin dust skull home,’ I whispered to myself. ![]() ![]() The catalyst for real change exists in our ability to radically imagine new possibilities (even if they feel out of reach), to question the way things are, and to stretch the boundaries of what could be.When we talk about thinking outside the box, the real exercise and challenge is to step entirely out of those boundaries. ![]() The problem is that our “out-of-the-box” thinking generally happens within the confines of the colonial imagination. To rewrite these rules, we need to think outside the box.The author argues that these standards belong to something called the colonial imagination - ideas born out of colonial, white supremacist, patriarchal, and hyper-capitalist values with the intention of upholding power and privilege for a select few, at the expense of everyone else.For example, the belief that clothing is gendered, the concept of a weekend, and even more official laws like the ban of burqas and niqabs in European countries. ![]() ![]() Society is filled with unwritten rules that many of us are taught to follow from a young age. ![]() ![]() She lives hand to mouth, picks up jobs here and there, doesn’t stick with any particular thing for long. How many times today had he admired her light bronze complexion, the sprinkling of freckles across her nose and those rich dark eyes? Not to mention the lush lips begging to be- He shook his head. Still, he’s lost at love before-how could he risk another heart-battering? Does the doctor dare to go all in?Ĭareful, Larson, don’t let her beauty mess with your head. But the boy’s stunning new piano teacher makes him take a second look at his to-do list. ![]() For the first time, Desi feels as if there’s somewhere she belongs…but there’s more to her welcome home than she expected! Her grandmother’s next-door neighbor looks like a Viking warrior, and he’s giving Desi all sorts of unwelcome feelings….Ĭaring for his son, Steven, is single dad Dr. Now she is finally getting a chance to learn about her roots in the town of Heartlandia. Desdemona Rask never knew much about her family. ![]() ![]() I think some poetry fans may be tempted to dismiss this book because of Reinhart’s work on Riverdale, but I would recommend giving it a chance. Overall though, I was really impressed by Reinhart’s debut collection! It’s a gorgeous little book, inside and out. I think the book could have been tighter, and more impactful, if some of the weaker poems had been cut. The book was structured in a way that made the relationship focused poems feel a bit repetitive. I will say, however, that some of the poems in Swimming Lessons fell a little flat for me. The illustrations that are scattered through out the book were also a beautiful addition. I also loved the poems in which she discussed her mental health, they felt the most raw and relatable to me. ![]() In one poem, she describes herself as a hopeless romantic, and that quality shines through in her writing. Thus, I was happily surprised to find that I really enjoyed Swimming Lessons. Though I think highly of Reinhart and admire how open she is when discussing her depression, my previous experiences with books written by actors have been mostly negative. Tbh, I went into this book with fairly low expectations. In her debut poetry collection, Lili Reinhart, of Riverdale fame, explores relationships and mental health in a straight forward and relatable style. ![]() ![]() ![]() Thank you to for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review! ![]() ![]() ![]() This book is written for people who are also suffering from anorexia to let them know they're not alone, but Moisin never takes on a know-it-all tone. ![]() Kid Rex is a book about hope, and looking to oneself and to those around you to help get out from under the hold of such a dreadful and powerful disease. Her ensuing depression quickens her already dangerous downward spiral. Shortly after this devastating therapy visit, the Twin Towers fall in the September 11th attacks, and Moisin watches it happen from her apartment window. He looks at her doubtfully and says, "No, I don't think you're an anorexic." All that runs through her mind is that she must be fat. She tells him that she's an anorexic who needs to go to some group meetings to work through her condition. When she recognizes that she has a serious problem, though, she finally owns up to a therapist working at her university. ![]() She learns how to deceive the therapists her worried family sends her to, giving them all of the symptoms of depression so they'll misdiagnose her and let her continue to be anorexic. After knowing other friends with anorexia and being baffled by their behavior (often wondering, "Why doesn't she just eat? ") Moisin suddenly found herself prone to the same disease, not eating at all and going weeks at a time taking in nothing but water and the occasional black coffee. Kid Rex is the story of one woman's struggle to overcome anorexia. ![]() ![]() ![]() After escaping from a pair of bloodthirsty ghuls posing as farmers, they venture into a possibly haunted forest. Still, the crowd of irate villagers are very persuasive, and so the young wizard and his familiar set out for the mountains and hope for the best. Problem is, Oliver is only twelve years old and, in the words of his smart-aleck armadillo familiar, a very minor mage. When an isolated farming village suffers a seemingly endless drought, the villagers feel they have no choice but to send their resident wizard, Oliver, on the dangerous journey to the Rainblade mountains to try and convince the Cloud Herders to bring back the rain. Kingfisher’s “Minor Mage” is a fantasy novella for about a boy and his… armadillo. ![]() ![]() ![]() Has it been a half-century since the iconic Chaim Potok's The Chosen was written? Yes, and Simon & Schuster has just published the 50th Anniversary Edition ($27). Merwin composed the poetry of Garden Time (Copper Canyon Press, $24) as he lost his eyesight-poignant, lyrical elegies musing on time, mortality, memory. Full-color facsimiles are paired with transcriptions of the poet's handwriting to craft a charming volume. New Directions and the Christine Burgin Gallery have co-published Emily Dickinson's Envelope Poems, which were written on used envelopes ($12.95). It's a handsome book, a fitting tribute to Berry, a national treasure. Wendell Berry's 1995 Roots to the Earth, poems with wood engravings by Wesley Bates, has been reissued, with a short story included, by Counterpoint Press ($26). The holidays are almost here, and we have a few more last-minute gift suggestions. ![]() |