Jane Austen: Her Heart Did Whisper

Interesting take at Jane Austen's love life told in comic format. Personally, I loved that there was no color and really enjoyed the inking and the story line. Because so many of Jane Austen's letters were burned after her death we'll never know the full story of her first and probably only true love, but Manuela Santoni did a wonderful job re-imagining what that romance may have looked at. Fun graphic novel that Austenites will love!

Dear Fahrenheit 451

This might be my favorite book of the year. NO LIE! I related to this book on such a personal level. Not just because I'm also a librarian, but her opinion on books, hilarious asides, and love for her profession made me want to become best friends and join a book club with her. For real. Dear Fahrenheit 451 is composed of a bunch of letters written to novels, authors, and series that evoked a strong response from the author. They weren't all positive, some were negative, but ALL of them were witty, funny, and well written. The book manages to be informative, inspiring, and personal without being too judgey which can be a hard line to stay on. My reading list just got longer (alright alright I'll check out The Virgin Suicides!) and I can't wait to read whatever else Annie Spence decides to write.

Everlasting Lies

Lies tie and bind this ill fated couple together in early twentieth century Britain. Charles Vernon, a spoiled surly boy insistent on making his own way in the world falls for the charms of his friend's younger sister and together they fall deeply in love and lust. In no time at all young Edina becomes pregnant and Charles is aghast, he's too young to tie down, he wants nothing to do with his first love anymore. Content to roam the whorehouses he leaves her behind only to decide that the best way to seek vengeance on his friend's family is to take on Edina as his bride and move her far away. Demanding and rude he treats his bride as a servant and when the Great War breaks out in Europe she falls for another man. He sees nothing wrong with him taking lovers but the thought of her with another man changes things. Told over the course of decade this sordid love affair tells of romance, broken trust, affairs, and reconciliation. Artfully told, this tale will captivate readers and immerse them in the era.

I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased review.

All About Love

I don't know if I'm just too cynical or what but this book didn't move me near as much as I desired it to. There are thirteen chapters in this collection, each an essay on a different aspect or characteristic of love. From community to greed to forgiveness to justice, each mini essay tried to tie in the author's experiences with those of renowned scholars, philosophers, and poets. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, I just found it at times repetitive and wandering. I'm not disagreeing with the author on any of her laments or hope for love, I just found my brain drifting away as I tried to focus on reading this. One passage that really stood out to me was, "Many of choose relationships of affection and care that will never become loving because they feel safer. The demands are not as intense as loving requires. The risk is not as great. So many of us long for love but lack the courage to take risks." A very thoughtful, insightful, feminist, and analytical approach to viewing and understanding love.

"Love" excerpted from Constructed of Magic

Luis Alan Swartz has released an ebook just in time for Valentine's Day, it contains excerpts of poetry from his collection, "Constructed of Magic." The poems are are beautiful and timely and the visions of love they invoke make it a perfect read to get your heart in the right place for this upcoming romantic holiday. Coming in at under twenty pages, this ebook is a quick read that will leave the reader feeling happy and wistful for young (or old) love in no time at all. It also makes for an excellent gift for a loved one. To order his book and experience more of his wonderful poetry please click on this link. Below is a sample of one of the poems included in this ebook collection.

 LOVE, THE LATER YEARS
     It is being able to utterly astound each other after all these years
with an observation, a perception, or something marvelous said.

     It is the enduring excitement of life shared despite the corporeal
realities of aging human bodies.

     It is the wonder daily experienced together, the spiritual vision
growing keener regardless of the failings of physical perception.

Love May Fail

Anything Matthew Quick writes is cause for celebration. This book is no different. In all honesty, it may be one of my favorites from him. I ADORE the characters in this quirky, offbeat, feelgood novel, and you can't help but rooting for all of them. As with Quick's other novels, this book deals with mental illness (hoarding, depression) and even throws in some opiate addiction. The story is told through the perspectives of four wildly diverse characters: Portia Kane, a recently liberated woman who had been married to a pornographer, Mr. Vernon, a former high school english teacher contemplating suicide, a zany nun who is on her deathbed and just wants to hear from her son, and Chuck Bass, an ex-heroin  addict who just wants to fall in love and be an elementary teacher. All four characters find themselves intertwined, can they save themselves? Find love? Rekindle that old spark? A fantastic read and I can't wait for the next Quick novel!

Every Day

File this under one of the most unique books I've had the pleasure of reading this year. The concept is so bizarre and thrilling that you can't put it down.

A is a gender neutral being who inhabits a different body every single day. He doesn't get to choose who he/she inhabits, it just happens. The bodies A inhabits are always the same age as him/her, but A has no control over who he/she wakes up as. One day he is a wealthy and stunningly beautiful black girl, the next a heroin addict or gay Puerto Rican. A can't stop it, every night at midnight he/she is whisked into another body and has been that way A's entire life.

When A awakes as another teenager he/she is able to access their memories in order to function as that individual for the day. The memories are used to find classes, complete homework, recognize friends, and family, etc. The next day when the teenager wakes up, they have no idea that someone else inhabited their body, they have memories of going about their day (albeit a bit fuzzy). A goes about this bizarre routine for sixteen years until he/she falls for Rhiannon. After that things get complicated.

A uses the bodies of whoever he/she's in to find her, but can he convince Rhiannon to be with him when every day A is in another body? Can love transcend such a complication? Can she love A when he shows up as a fat kid or a goth girl, or a hunky football player? Trust me you will want to read this to see how it ends. A fantastic and unique story that will have you turning pages like a mad man.