BOOKLOVES

Two families become predator and prey in this macabre creature feature where every species must eat. “Of course, they knew upon whom they dined—no one mentioned it.” Two families enter the wilderness in Joshua David Robison’s The Antlered Ape. Only one of them is human.  Solace has brought his son William and grandchildren—thirteen-year-old Eve and […]

Early in Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck, Pilon finds a jug of wine that does not belong to him and reasons his way toward it in four unhurried steps. It would be wrong to drink it. It would also be wrong to let it spoil. The owner would surely wish it enjoyed. And is a […]

In January 1919 two babies are christened together in a Norfolk village church, because the formidable Dowager Countess has decided it would look well. The congregation sits strictly by rank. Afterwards the earl’s household drinks champagne at the Hall, while the shepherd’s family and their friends eat ham sandwiches at the pub, and only the […]

A moving wartime story about children finding courage even when the right choice isn’t always clear War has a way of stealing childhoods. In Lynda Riggers’s Beneath the Canopy, two twelve-year-olds are forced to navigate the violent impacts of war from hunger to displacement to the frightening reality that doing the right thing is not […]

Death is not the end of the story, it’s where the blood trail begins.  Sean Esson’s The Flour Girl has the kind of opening that does not politely invite the reader in; it grabs them by the collar. Frankie Jones wakes in an alleyway in searing pain, with no memory, no wallet, no phone, and […]

Breathe in deeply through the nose. Before exhaling, take a second short, sharp inhale on top of the first, enough to fill the lungs completely. Then let the air out slowly through the mouth until there is nothing left. Dogs do a version of it before they settle down to sleep, and so do people […]

A raw, affecting memoir about striving for acceptance with borderline personality disorder Pippa Scott knew she was different from an early age, but she was made to believe that different was also “difficult.” With a strong personality and even stronger emotions, she seemed to feel things more than those around her, which would set a […]