What is it about loving a ghost or a mermaid, the transformative memory of a passionate night or weekend, or the steadfast belief in love-at-first-sight, that makes such romantic interludes more desirable than the closer-to-home real thing? Once upon a time, I read an article about the value of ideal love from a distance in … Read more
Merriam-Webster.com defines ‘genre’ as a category of artistic composition characterized by style, form, or content. In literature for children, there is another type of genre categorized according to the intended reader and characterized by vocabulary, reading level, word count, age of the protagonist, subject matter, expected background knowledge, etc. Some of the usual divisions of … Read more
One of the best activities you could do to escape from the summer heat is reading. There’s no shortage of new releases for you to check out this July. These new books in the fantasy, romance, young adult, sci-fi, and thriller genres will keep you busy and provide you with the summer entertainment you’ve been … Read more
Somehow, at the age of 22, I found myself never having read George Orwell’s Animal Farm until a couple weeks ago. I was looking for short audiobooks to catch up on my Goodreads reading challenge when I remembered that it was one of the shortest audiobooks I had saved on my library’s app. All right, … Read more
The concept of retellings has been around for a long time but became extremely popular within the last decade or so. Both books and movies have seen a resurgence in the retelling genre, satisfying those of us who love myths, fairytales, and retellings of them. When done right, there is a lot of original content … Read more
If your child demands that you check the closets and under the bed before they can go to sleep at night, this article is for you. It is also for parents of older children who get up repeatedly asking for yet another glass of water, then linger before running quickly down a dark hallway to … Read more
Unease. Creepiness beneath the surface. An unanticipated turn. Shock value. An ironic ‘all’s well’ reversal. Certain authors are known for transforming the mundane into the unforgettable or for writing against expectations, creating works that stay with the reader forever. As I look through my shelves of books, much like a stroll down memory lane, my eyes … Read more
When we think of fairy tales, most of us imagine fawns cavorting in the forest, bluebirds spinning Cinderella’s ragged dress into a beautiful ball gown, and cute bunnies all to the backdrop of uplifting music. And at the end of the story, there is a simple moral to be learned that everyone knows will contribute … Read more
