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Jamie has the ability to read and then erase minds and working as a part-time bank robber. Zoe is super strong and travels at hyper-speed working part-time as a superhero thwarting bad guys. They meet at a support group and come to an uneasy truce to discover their past, the origin of their powers and save the world. In this new crop of unreliable superhero stories such as HENCH, A BEAUTIFUL FOOLISH ENDEAVOR and THE CITY WE BECAME comes a story of misguided goodness and a bit of badass superpowers. Mike Chen has the ability to take a story of people with unbelievable powers and present them as ordinary, semi-lost twenty somethings. Very readable, fast paced and laced with humor, you will find yourself liking these guys flaws and all. 4 stars 
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Muneer sees a much younger Saeedah and falls for her. She is his cousin and the family feels this will be a good match and Saeedah is more than happy to leave Saudi Arabia for the wilds of Cleveland. As university students they do not have much but it is not a bad marriage in the beginning. As Saeedah is expecting their first child the couple drifts apart, especially Saeedah. They divorce and Saeedah does the unthinkable - she takes their little girl and runs. Muneer and his family search for years but come up empty. Once grown their daughter is spotted and reunited with her father and family in Saudi Arabia. A child of both cultures belonging to neither one, this is a poignant story of broken families, broken cultures and the expectations of straddling the old traditions with the modern world. It is also a story of what it is like after 9/11 to be a muslim living in a country that doesn't trust you and fears you. 3 1/2 stars  When you grow up in the south worshipping the life of General Robert E. Lee to the point that you attend Washington and Lee University, teach at West Point and model your life to that of Lee's ideal of being a gentleman - it is only natural that you would defend his honor and dispute those from the north who call him a traitor to his country. The author presents both sides of the argument from a personal, historical and cultural viewpoint. It is amazing that to this day we still hold certain things to be true depending on your upbringing and where you grew up. He explains the Myth of the Lost Cause, how the past still affects us and how the gap has only widened in recent years. As someone who also viewed the Civil War, War Between the States or the War of Aggression from watching Disney's Song of the South and reading/ watching Gone With The Wind, To Kill A Mockingbird and others I understand how these biases can become part of your everyday thinking. This is an introspective look that is both personal and timely as well as being very readable. 4 stars  A look at the death penalty in this country and all its implications focusing primarily on the Huntsville prison in Texas from the 1970's to the present. The author gives a vivid and humanistic look at the inmates, their jailers and groups like the Texas Resource Center who sent young attorneys to help with getting a stay of execution or last minute appeals. They worked tirelessly winning some and sadly attending the last minutes of their client's lives with others. Even now, there are groups who attend every scheduled execution at Huntsville to protest and pray outside those formidable walls. Maurice Chammah is a journalist from Texas who gives a passionate and well-researched account and history of capital punishment and leaves it up to the reader to decide if this is well dispensed justice or a morally unacceptable part of our system. 4 stars  Maddy, her small tribe and Root, the dog don't consider themselves homeless. They live in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco following a set schedule, keeping under the radar and living life on their terms. Life is ok until the day that Root takes off leading Maddy to the body of a young guy in the bushes. Most of the people in the park take little notice of Shane's murder but Maddy ends up a witness and gets unwanted attention from Shane's distraught parents. As much as she wants to do things her own way she ends up getting pulled deeper and deeper into Shane's demise and helping the grieving parents understand. This powerful, non-judgmental look at the young homeless population shows a group that is sometimes trapped by their non conformance to society as well as running from an even worse situation at home. They are family, they are community and they try to take care of each other any way they can. After reading this you might feel compelled to smile at the next person you see on the corner instead of looking the other way. Readers of LONG BRIGHT RIVER will enjoy this book. 4 stars  A young woman flees Norway after a brutal attack leaves her traumatized and eventually leads her to become a serial killer. Nellie, the older sister married and living in America is all too happy to take in her much younger sister Belle and offer her a fresh start away from Norway. Belle seems happy at first with her work in the church and marriage to a kind man who provides her with a good life. Soon spending money on fine things but not being able to have children leaves her feeling bored and jealous of other families including her sister's. It is as if a switch has flipped and Belle soon learns to take what she wants both children and lovers. Once Belle kills the first time it awakens her bloodlust and she begins to kill anyone who gets in her way. She collects men and discards them when they fail to live up to her expectations. This is historical fiction that is based on a true story combining the Scandinavian immigrant experience in the midwest with a Lizzie Borden - type psychopath. Fans of Erik Larson's DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY or true crime serial killers will dive into this. I especially enjoyed the grisly background information found in the author's notes. 4 1/2 stars  Picture a British boarding school in the country where generations of young women have been sent to become Divine. These girls have nothing in common with the village locals so it comes as no surprise that the Divines think they are there to ignore, mildly torture or show constant disapproval at the school staff and townies. The Divines are also not very nice to each other at times. Joe doesn't fit the mold as she becomes friends with a local girl and is actually civil to her roommate who the other girls call the "Poison Dwarf". Something happens at the end of her term that will haunt her as an adult. It will affect her marriage, being a mother and all the other relationships she will have. Joe comes back years later and knows she must confront her past once and for all. This "Mean Girls" meets the perfect coming of age story will have you perfecting the hair flip and being very thankful that you missed out on that privileged education. 4 stars  A glorious saga similar to "Downton Abbey" but set in India. Madeline Bright is with her family once again in India after being raised in England. It is New Year's Eve in 1913 and she meets a mysterious man who steals her attention and her heart. Everything looks like it is falling into place until WWI breaks out and takes all the military men and most importantly, Luke away to war. When Madeline gets word of Luke's death at the front she is distraught and now has to raise his daughter alone. Feeling like the pain will never go away but thinking of her child Maddy marries an old family friend who has been in love with her forever. The other half of the story centers around a young soldier rehabilitating in a hospital for a long time. Due to a head injury he cannot remember who he is but he feels like he needs to get back to someone. Filled with stoic British this is a love story to rival Romeo and Juliet and one that swings the reader from utter joy to total despair every few pages. For readers of British historical fiction who love a good love story - get your tissues at the ready. 4 stars  Somewhere in Africa a young girl sees death and destruction and is suddenly gifted or cursed with a strange green glow that kills anyone or anything in its path. They call her Sankofa and she wanders from village to village easing old people's suffering but always keeping to herself. Wherever she goes people are wary but give her new clothes, a place to stay for a night. Her only companion is a fox called Movenpick. There is a villain in the form of a large pharmaceutical company who wants to harness this green glow and its power. Part of this slim tale reads like an atmospheric myth and part of it reads like a futuristic warning. Beautifully phrased, it immediately draws you into Sankofa's plight and her extreme loneliness. 4 1/2 stars  A classic Victorian mystery steeped in dark gothic undertones. Gideon, a kind but misguided Cambridge student is searching for his uncle the Reverend who along with his ward (a young woman whom Gideon is hopelessly in love with) is missing. Teaming up with Inspector Cutter, the pair begin to piece together Gideon's missing people with several murder/suicides and the strange disappearance of young women. Also involved in an investigation of the disappearance of the women is a female reporter yearning to break from only covering the society pages. Spiritualism, good old fashioned Scotland Yard police work and wonderful wit pushes this book squarely into what I hope will become a new series. Any fan of Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes as well as modern stories of all things Victorian will find much to love. 4 1/2 stars  |
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