Ask just about any girl–a “break up” with a female friend is much more heartbreaking than a break up with a guy. I’ve had my fair share of romances ending badly, but when I think back on my life and all of my relationships, it’s the ones that ended with my female friends that hurt ... Read More »

The next time you go to the mall or the store, observe the people around you. How many of them are on their phones texting, talking to someone, or maybe even reading and replying to an email? We live in a society that is very dependent on technology that we sometimes forget the importance of ... Read More »

Nearly everyone I know is talking about a TV show called Downton Abbey. And I still haven’t seen a single episode of it, even though I swear I mean to every time I get bored at night and don’t know what else to do. Abby Grahame’s WENTWORTH HALL caught my attention a few months ago with ... Read More »

It’s so incredible to see all of the mermaid YA novels that are being published lately. When I was younger, I really didn’t have much to choose from if I wanted to read about mermaids. Even so, I had a few favorite mermaid novels, but I always wanted more. Most of the novels that are ... Read More »

Sometimes I really wish I were a teenager in this decade, but only because there are so many amazing teen books that exist now that did not when I was a teen. Take, for example, mermaid books. There were not very many. I can probably think of 3 that I read when I was a ... Read More »

Almost a year ago, I read a wonderful self-published novel called DOWN A LOST ROAD written by J. Leigh Bralick. I was intrigued by a vague description I read that mentioned a connection to the fabled land of Atlantis and a connection to THE LORD OF THE RINGS so it immediately went to the top of my to-read ... Read More »

Reviewed by James La Salandra DARK DOSES  is, as the title suggests, a series of glimpses into the dark imaginings of author Todd Thorne’s mind. If the title and stories themselves aren’t sufficient indicators, the author makes a point of proudly espousing his love for dark and twisted tales. True to his word, in DARK DOSES Thorne ... Read More »

A few years ago when I first began working at Barnes & Noble, I noticed a book in the children’s section called CAPT. HOOK. There are many books and series with Peter Pan as the star, but this was the first time I had seen a book about the infamous Captain Hook. I eventually bought ... Read More »

I have bought THE PRINCESS BRIDE a total of 4 times, and it’s pretty likely I’ll buy more even more copies because this is one of my favorite books. I read it for the first time in high school, though not for my english class. Since I was in Honors and AP English in high school, ... Read More »

Initially I was attracted to the cover of Jennifer Bosworth’s YA debut, STRUCK, and after reading the first sentence or two of the synopsis I was intrigued enough to go ahead with reading it. Set in a futuristic Los Angeles where a tragic natural disaster has taken countless numbers of lives, the inhabitants of the ... Read More »