In 1969, the four Gold siblings boldly knock on the door of a fortune teller who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. Despite all efforts to dismiss the predictions, Varya, Daniel, Klara, and Simon are all deeply affected by it, and it deeply affects the rest of their lives. Told from each of the four sibling's perspectives, The Immortalists takes us through decades of hardship and love.
This is a novel crafted around a question we all ask ourselves more often than we'd care to admit: Is it more important to truly live or to survive? To dare to dream at our grandest or to play it safe? And, if you knew the exact day on which you would die, would you live your life differently than you would without that knowledge?
Charley Davidson (yes, like the motorcycle) is part-time private investigator, part-time police consultant, and full-time Grim Reaper. When spirits don't immediately pass on to the other side, they find their way to her. Whether she likes it or not, she has to help them work through whatever is holding them here and help them cross over. Usually, this is fine, but lately, there's been something else bothering her. Every night, she's been having wildly erotic, incredibly vivid dreams, and every day, she's been seeing mysterious dark blurs just in the fringes of her vision, like something is stalking her. She thinks the two must be connected, and might also be connected to the most terrifying night of her life-- the night she met the inhumanly strong, inhumanly agile, inhumanly gorgeous boy called Reyes. But apparently the whole world thinks it's "Kill Charley Davidson Week," so first she'll have to survive long enough to find her answers.
If you're looking for a new mystery series to start, especially if you're a fan of Stephanie Plum, Mercy Thompson, or Sookie Stackhouse, this would be a good one to pick up. The writing is snarky and energetic, and while the first book is maybe trying a little too hard to keep a constant stream of jokes flowing, it's still a very funny, very engaging book that is easy to read in a few short sittings.
Bestselling author Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and bodies, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as “wildly undisciplined,” Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she casts an insightful and critical eye on her childhood, teens, and twenties—including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life—and brings readers into the present and the realities, pains, and joys of her daily life.
With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and authority that have made her one of the most admired voices of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to be overweight in a time when the bigger you are, the less you are seen. Hunger is a deeply personal memoir from one of our finest writers, and tells a story that hasn’t yet been told but needs to be.
This delightful read surrounds several Charleston women "of a certain age" who are the closest of friends: Bernice, the long-time housekeeper; Toots, (a.k.a. Theresa), who becomes Bernice's caregiver and has married and buried several husbands; Mavis, a former English teacher who suffered from OCD and with the help of her friends lost 100 pounds and regained her confidence; Sophia, a devout Catholic and self-proclaimed psychic who chose not to leave her abusive husband and was instrumental in finding her friend's kidnapped daughter; and Ida, who launches a cosmetics line and allows her friends to try her products and model results. They have an undeniable bond that allows them to be true to who they are. The author’s descriptions allow you to envision the setting and clearly picture the characters, and Michaels delivers a humorous read even during the tensest part of the story, when a kidnapping occurs. And for at least one of the characters, romance is also on the horizon.
This is the fifth book in the Godmothers series. I felt it could stand alone on its own, since enough background information was given along the way to keep me up to date. I would like to go back and read the first four to actually get a better feeling of the characters and their history. It's a light, humorous read that is sometimes compared to shows like Golden Girls. The narrator, Natalie Ross, gave an excellent delivery of the book, so pick up the audiobook if you can.
Binti is the first of the isolated Himba people ever to be accepted into Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.
The world she seeks to enter has been at war with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares, and Binti's stellar travel will being her within their deadly reach.
If Binti hopes to survive, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University itself, but first she has to make it there alive.
Winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, Binti is full of imagination and fantastic worldbuilding that leaves you wanting more. Luckily it is the first in a trilogy that was completed this year.
Sirantha Jax is part of a vanishingly small subset of people-- those who are genetically able to navigate "grimspace," the interdimensional subspace where ships can jump between distant parts of the galaxy. Unfortunately, the last ship she piloted was in a horrific, fatal crash. Many important people died, including her boyfriend/co-pilot, and she was ruled responsible. After months spent languishing, guilt-ridden in a cell, she is rescued by a tall, handsome stranger who wants her to navigate his ship and its motley crew on their secretive, rebellious mission. Jax decides that things can hardly get any worse, so off they go. They adventure across various planets, interact with alien races, get brainwashed, end a blood feud, accidentally adopt a baby frog-creature, uncover a government conspiracy, and generally have a wild ride across the galaxy.
While fans of old-school sci-fi (Asimov, Heinlein) may roll their eyes at this one, Grimspace is a funny, action-packed romp that would have a lot of appeal to fans of the Wayfarers series, shows like Firefly or Torchwood, or even the urban fantasy genre. Jax is snarky and hilarious, and the crew makes for a great ensemble cast. It's weird and unpredictable in all the best ways, and is well worth the read if you like your sci-fi a little wild.
In this (twenty-fourth, obviously) installment of the Stephanie Plum series, Stephanie, a bounty hunter, is at it again, with her friend Lula tagging along for the ride. Together, they make quite a humorous pair as they attempt to capture runaway bail-skippers. This time, they stumble upon a few zombies along the way. Well, there aren’t any real zombies, right? In fact, the “zombie” sightings are part of an ongoing police investigation led by Morelli, a detective and Stephanie’s love interest. During the course of events, Stephanie's fugitive hunt crosses paths with Morelli's zombie investigation. With a little help from a few friends and family, including the always delightful Grandma Mazur, the story progresses at a brisk pace, and the laugh out loud moments make Hardcore Twenty-Four an enjoyable and easy read.
For the uninitiated, starting with the first book in the series, One for the Money, may be a better introduction to Stephanie’s life, but it's not a requirement to appreciate this story.
