A young man looking for death finds purpose in a world beyond our own in this sweeping fantasy from Greg Keyes (The Briar King, Newton's Cannon). Errol Greyson hadn't intended to commit suicide. Or so he told himself. But waking up after his "cry for help" in the body of a wood-and-metal construct magically animated by Aster?the strange girl from school?was not a result he could have imagined. Aster's wild explanations of a quest to find the water of health that would cure her father seemed as unreal as her description of Errol's own half-dead existence, his consciousness stuck in an enchanted automaton while his real body was in a coma from which it might never wake. And of course, they would need to recruit a girl?a virgin, no less?who had been dead for thirty years, to lead them through something called the Pale, beyond which a bunch of magical kingdoms existed. Plus, the threat that Aster could turn him off like a light switch, sending... Views: 20
A deeply affecting memoir of motherhood and daughterhood, and how we talk about both, from popular writer Laura June"Laura June writes with wit and melancholy, unabashed joy and tenderness. . . . When I reached the end, I found myself in tears." —Roxane Gay Laura June's daughter, Zelda, was only a few moments old when she held her for the first time, looked into her eyes, and thought, I wish my mother were here. It wasn't a thought she was used to having. Laura was in second grade when she realized her mother was an alcoholic. As the years went by, she spiraled deeper, becoming borderline abusive, and by the time of her death a few years before Zelda's birth, the two had drifted apart entirely. In Now My Heart is Full, Laura June explores how raising her daughter forced her to come to terms with her own mother's tragic legacy and recognize the connective tissue that binds together the three generations of women. She also confronts the... Views: 20
On the famous Joycean day of June 16th, Kate Fansler attends the annual Bloomsday celebration, kicking off the start to an idyllic and literary summer. But in the company of an exuberant young nephew and two graduate students, there is not much time for peace and quiet.The idyll is further shattered when an unpleasant next-door neighbour is found murdered. Although the murder appears to have no connection to the day's celebrations, no one can shake the suspicion that James Joyce is somehow linked, not even unliterary police inspector Stratton.Kate is determined to find the solution to this extraordinary murder, even if she finds the culprit in her own home . . .Amanda Cross musters up an ingenious solution to an impossible scenario in this penetrating literary mystery, The James Joyce Murder.'No one has a sharper eye than Amanda Cross' Washington Post Book World Views: 20