River Readers

This is a deeply personal story of one man's struggle with Tourette's as he is making his way through life. Josh Hanagarne is a librarian by calling, a family man with a loving wife and son, and a Mormon. He also happens to have Tourette's. His story is one of faith and love and exploration as he deals with normal life through the lens of Tourette's. I have never met anyone with Tourette's, but I found his struggles deeply moving. I thought it was interesting that he learned to manage his ticks through movement and exercise. I also really identified with his struggle with his faith.

Zane Obispo is just your normal kid living in the desert at the bottom of a volcano. Then a demon crashes a plane into the volcano and he discovers he is part of a Mayan prophecy. Zane is destined to release the god Au-Puch from his prison in the volcano and set about the destruction of the world. To help him on his journey to kill Au-Puch he has a narwal named Brooks and his uncle Hondo. Plus there are Mayan gods on his side. Of course the rest of the Mayan gods want to kill him for not only releasing Au-Puch but for being the son of a god. 

Oona, Jax and An Tzu have lit the white beacon and are now headed to Toki for the blue. There they will have to face Oona's sister and the Cobalt Prince. They will also have to discover where their friends are and hopefully rescue them. This series is so much fun and I hate having to wait for the next installment. The world-building is awesome, the art work is beautiful and the story will keep you wanting more.

Nancy has just arrived at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. This is not your normal boarding school. It is a school for children who have traveled to other worlds and for one reason or another been sent back to their original world. These kids no longer fit in and miss their "homes". Nancy was in a world of the dead and when students start turning up dead she is suspected. It is up to her and her newfound friends to figure out who is killing everyone before the school has to be closed. 

This novella is in the form of a letter from a father to his adult son. The father is reminiscing about what a terrible father he has been and how he regrets that he can never change that. What he is going to do is change a person's fate. The man has had cancer and in the hospital met another patient, a 5 year old girl. They have both seen the woman in the gray sweater. In fact the man has seen her at several points in his life. She comes to collect the dead. When he sees her coming to collect the little girl he makes a pivotal decision that will change both of their lives.

Xiomara tells her story through beautiful poetry. Hers is a tale of heartache and sorrow. Xiomara is buxom and beautiful in a way that causes men and boys to look at her and comment. She is not religious or devoted in the way her mother wants her to be and this causes endless strain between them. She is tough where her twin brother is not but she can't always protect him. Her poems tell the story of her struggles to find a voice and to find a place for herself. They tell of her struggles with her mother and her faith. They tell of her first love and first heartbreak.

Kent during the beginnings of WWII is nearly devoid of men. When choir mistress Prim decides to recreate the Chilbury Choir into the Chilbury Ladies Choir she shocks many of those around her. But that doesn't stop all the women from joining and creating a uniquely feminine sound. This epistolary novel is told through the letters and journals of several of the members of the choir. 

The animals have taken over Manor Farm. They have kicked farmer Jones off the land and decided to run it themselves. Everything starts out really well. They come up with the seven commandments of animalism and all work cooperatively. Then the pigs, who are in charge because they are the smartest, start changing things. The other animals are working harder for less and the pigs are working less for more. Soon their animal utopia turns into something else.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not that familiar with Ginsberg and the beat movement. Poetry has never been my thing. I find reading poetry difficult unless you read it aloud. Poetry seems to be a format that begs to be spoken aloud and can hide its depths if you just read the words on a page. So I read Howl aloud and felt moved it. I didn't get all the references, but I don't think I had to. I could hear the pain and the frustration and the desire to howl in the words.

Emma has always taken care of her younger sister Katy. So when Katy buys a restaurant in the Ozarks sight unseen she goes reluctantly along to help. Bitsy's B&B turns out to be Bitsy's Bait and BBQ and offers quite the challenge to the sisters. The biggest challenge is that neither of them know a thing about BBQ. But the town wants them to succeed and helps them out.

Duncan is the third clone of the founder of the Titan colony. The first generation, Malcolm, discovered a genetic defect that made it impossible for him to produce heirs. Thus every generation a new clone is created to carry on the family line and keep control of Titan. Duncan is being sent back to earth for the 500th anniversary of the American independence and of course to create his own clone replacement. He hopes to reconnect with a woman, Calindy, he met on Titan many years ago and to solve the mystery of what happened to his friend Karl when Calindy left.