MIDNIGHT SUN

I know Twilight got a-lot of flack from a collective of people for basically being considered "bad" literature and for having an anti-feminist main character. It is true that I would never consider Meyer's writing to be "literary" in the sense that it uses beautiful and transcendent language, but neither do the rest of the …

WINTERSONG

WINTERSONG by S. Jae-JonesYA Fantasy This book is basically a mix of two retellings - Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Hades and Persephone. As such, it follows the trope of 'girl sacrificing herself to be with a guy (in this case it's the Goblin King) that's cruel and doomed, and then falling …

THE DAUGHTERS OF TEMPERANCE HOBBS

THE DAUGHTERS OF TEMPERANCE HOBBS by Katherine HoweAdult Fantasy I decided to buy this book (in hardcover no less) because the theme sounded extremely interesting – a modern-day scholarly investigation into the life and magical methods of the witches of Salem in order to solve a looming curse. I did not know this book was …

THE CRUEL PRINCE

THE CRUEL PRINCE by Holly BlackYA Fantasy Black’s worldbuilding is so complete and so vivid that it’s easy to get lost in the world of the trickster Fae. Their lavish yet corrupt society comes to life immediately and one can feel the peril–and the beauty–of its existence almost as if it were real.The protagonist, Jude, …

HEMINGWAY’S GIRL

HEMINGWAY'S GIRL by Erika Robuck Historical Fiction I bought this book in 2012 and had it floating around in my library until recently, when I decided to give it a try. In retrospect, I'm glad I read it now at my 28 years of age and not back in 2012 when I was only 21 …

THE AGE OF LIGHT

THE AGE OF LIGHT by Whitney ScharerAdult Historical Fiction I read the version translated into Spanish of Whitney Scharer's book, 'The Age of Light', about Lee Miller's life and relationship to famous surrealist photographer Man Ray. 'Lee' (Elizabeth) Miller was an American model turned photographer and muse to Man Ray. Together they discovered 'solarization', a …

EXCALIBUR

EXCALIBUR by Ana Alonso and Javier PelegrínYA Fantasy / Literature in Spanish This is the first book in the Spanish tetralogy that is a retelling of the Arthurian myth - with a twist. The society is actually dystopian, and 'Britannia' is a sort of hologram wherein magic is based on computer codes and all of …

THE MAGICAL LIFE AND WORK OF REMEDIOS VARO

THE MAGICAL LIFE AND WORK OF REMEDIOS VARO by Silvana Ávila Non-fiction, Art This is a wonderful illustrated book on Spanish surrealist painter Remedios Varo, written by Silvana Ávila. It includes a short but comprehensive biography and a study on her life's work, that is, her surrealist paintings.What I liked most about this book was …

STILL ALICE

STILL ALICE by Lisa GenovaAdult Contemporary Still Alice is a book about Alice Howland, a cognitive psychologist, research scientist, and Harvard college professor. Alice is brilliant, intelligent, and outstanding in her field, but her life takes a turn for the worse when she finds out she has early onset Alzheimer’s disease. The book is well-written …

GATES OF FIRE

GATES OF FIRE by Steven PressfieldHistorical Fiction Gates of Fire is one of my go-to books, a story that for me is almost magical. No matter when or how often I pick it up, it never fails to inspire me in different and new ways.The novel is about the historical epic Battle of Thermopylae (aka …