It is 1981. Glasgow is dying and good families must grift to survive. Agnes Bain has always expected more from life. She dreams of greater things: a house with its own front door and a life bought and paid for outright (like her perfect, but false, teeth). But Agnes is abandoned by her philandering husband, and soon she and her three children find themselves trapped in a decimated mining town. As she descends deeper into drink, the children try their best to save her, yet one by one they must abandon her to save themselves. It is her son Shuggie who holds out hope the longest.Shuggie is different. Fastidious and fussy, he shares his mother's sense of snobbish propriety. The miners' children pick on him and adults condemn him as no' right. But Shuggie believes that if he tries his hardest, he can be normal like the other boys and help his mother escape this hopeless place.Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain lays bare the ruthlessness of poverty, the... Views: 180
Shadowvale isn't your typical small town America. The sun never shines, the gates decide who enters, magic abounds, and every resident bears some kind of curse. Exiled king of the goblins, Robin Gallow, has no choice but to live in Shadowvale. That was the deal he made with his ex-wife and current queen of the goblins in exchange for the antidote to the poison she gave him. Now, the town has become his prison and his world is closing in on him. It's enough to drive a man insane. Theodora "Moody" Middlebright wants nothing to do with Shadowvale or the royal beast she's about to spend the next year of her life with. But her father owes the man a debt and he's too unwell to pay it himself. So Theo has come in his stead. Doesn't mean she's one bit happy about it. But then Theo hasn't been happy about anything since her mother died. Turns out, Theo's sharp wit and brash attitude are the breath of fresh air Robin didn't know he needed, and the two somehow hit it off. But... Views: 180
BOONEI know a BS excuse when I hear one. And my new boss has thrown half a dozen at me about why we can't be together. I only have one thing to say to all of that. The number of fuc—uh—forks I give about what other people think about us is zero. A big fat goose egg.See! I've even learned to watch my language around her and the kid. I'm that serious about proving to this woman she needs to give me—give us—a chance. That it doesn't matter if she is a little older than me, or that I work for her, or that the Mudville gossip mill will definitely choose us as the topic du jour.All that matters is that I can prove to her that life, especially life in a small town, is so much better when you don't give a fu—um, I mean—fork.Darn it, that swear jar is going to bankrupt me. SARAHI've sworn off men. It took me thirty-nine years and two huge mistakes in the romance department to come to my senses... Views: 180
