The Happy Shop by Brittany Long Olsen
The Happy Shop by Brittany Long Olsen was a book I had on my TBR for awhile now. I didn’t know what to expect, except it was a graphic novel and would have some type of magic in it. And in the short run, that is what it is all about: A girl finds a magical shop, magical things happen, she makes magical friends. Yet, there is a bit more. It is about how and why the girl is in need of a magical shop. […]
Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis by Dave Maass, Patrick Lay, Ezra Rose and Richard Bruning
Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis by Dave Maass, Patrick Lay, Ezra Rose and Richard Bruning, is a lofty graphic novel undertaking. Over the top. Beautiful and Ugly. It is not an allegory of the Holocaust, but its roots are there. This is a story of how the General Overall takes with his War. It is fiction, and it is history. It is the past, present and future. Bored, flamboyant Life wants something to happen to stop their boredom. And Death gives it. They are […]
Harley Quinn's Bud and Lou: Trouble Times Two by Ben Hed
The title, Harley Quinn’s Bud and Lou: Trouble Times Two by Ben Hed is exactly what you expect from a hero/villain comic/graphic novel, and that makes this a fun read. It is comforting, and yes, it is cheesy and goofy and has way bad puns, but I want more of Bud and Lou! They are perhaps the coolest hyenas since The Lion Kings Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. Hed is the author and illustrator of several comics, but the only one I know I have read […]
One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Crutchley
This book follows what I find to be a common formula: an (arguably) unreliable narrator, and two different timelines: one in the 50s and the other in the 2010s. So we get bits and pieces of a mystery about a missing girl in alternating chapters. Our narrator is 82-year-old Edie (or 15 years old in the 1950’s time-line). As a child, Edie is an outcast. She’s poor and has an unusual home-life, as her mother performs seances. Edie meets Lucy, the mayor’s daughter, and they […]
A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke
When Ruby impulsively moves to Boston, she’s glad to get a fully furnished apartment for a decent rate. She does not even mind that the previous inhabitant committed suicide – though those views may change when she realizes that Cordelia is still hanging around, and keenly interested in the murder of a neighbor. Say ‘an unlikely crime-solving duo’ in application to a cozy mystery, and I will be there in a flash. Also, roommates of all stripes can be tricky, so I was curious how […]
The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods
The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods is captivating historical fiction based on a real place in Minneapolis, The Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers, as well as on a true crime story that transpired in the area in 1894. The story revolves around three women. The mysterious Faith, a traumatized young woman who, judging by her dress, worked as a “sporting woman” in a brothel. She does not seem to speak, but she does come with a suspiciously large amount of money on her person. Abby Mendenhall, […]
