Author: Marian Keyes A whirlwind of characters from the start, this novel begins at a climactic dinner scene that takes place approximately 90% through the story. We are left with this intense burst of emotion from each player, with secret after secret spilled, and then must work our way forward from the start knowing these…

Author: Kassia St. Clair A non-fiction work that starts with light colors (white, yellow) and progresses to darker colors (brown, black), pleasingly creating a rainbow on the side of book pages. Each color is broken down further; the ‘white’ chapter includes lead white, ivory, silver, whitewash, isabelline, chalk, and beige. These various shades of white…

Author: Bethany Brookshire The word ‘pest’ likely conjures images of rodents, small flying insects, and other nuisances. However, as Brookshire points out, we humans determine which animals we consider ‘pests’ and which are simply cute wildlife. The animals involved differ in parts of the world; rats are considered abhorrent in New York City but revered…

Author: Bruce Goldfarb Describing the life of Frances Glessner Lee, known to most as ‘the Nutshell Dollhouse Lady’, this book spends a good amount of time laying out the history of forensic law in the US. In the early 1900’s, police investigations were often a show of hands, with little to no evidence taken from…

From the middle of the first book, it is clear that Dove would be the brains behind her sister’s queenly-looks. It is nice to see them overlook that fact entirely once Sairi has eloped and immediately transfer their efforts to Dove. They are successful in putting her on the thrown, and it is clear Aly…

We accompany Alanna’s daughter, Aly, on her adventure. First, captured by pirates and sold as a slave (raised eyebrow); this directly contradicts what has been said about slaves and Tortall in other series, but I digress. She works her way to servant through a gods help, and accompanies the family to an outlying island in…

Fast forward 15 years, and we are back in Carthak with Numair, this time as a mage for Tortall with Daine and Co. in tow. Ozorne completes his distruction of Carthak, and his nephew takes over, after Daine assists the Graveyard Hag in destroying the palace. We see Variace as a completely different person, someone…

We are introduced to Numair as a boy, and follow him through 16 or so at the University in Carthak. Orzone is his best friend, though by the end of the book it is clear that Ozornes imperial ambitions have begun. The writing is more casual and lays Easter Eggs for Numairs future, something that…