Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass

Technically a prequel to the Lumberjanes graphic novel series, this slim story about Molly and Mal is cute but not really crucial or groundbreaking. While trying to complete an orienteering outing, Molly starts to get self-conscious and unsure of her relationship with Mal. She doesn't want the other campers (all female) to get weirded out by their relationship. Maybe weirded out isn't the right word, but she doesn't want to change the group dynamic. Everyone is pretty progressive and cool in their all girl camp. While orienteering, the compass starts acting up and campers start disappearing, suddenly their relationship isn't the only thing at stake. An alright addition to the series. Not very strong, but not bad either.

Eric Stanton & the History of the Bizarre Underground

Fascinating! Well worth adding to your collection; Eric Stanton is a beautiful coffee table book and a well researched biography and history of twentieth century fetish art. I am not an experienced fetish art fan, however I loved this book! Eric Stanton had a fascinating life and it is interesting to discover his relationship with Bettie Page and the creator of Spiderman. Who would have known?!? A nice heavy duty hardcover; this impressive tome contains illustrations, drawings, and photographs on every page, all high quality prints and reproductions. Though it doesn't contain Stanton's later more explicit art, it contains most of his work through the seventies; comics, book covers, serials, and drawings. Well written, beautiful laid out, and meticulously researched; this is a must buy for art aficionados, fetish collectors, and early comic fans.

Foundation

UGH. I wanted more of a space opera! Instead I got more of a political space thriller! Foundation traces the fall of the galactic empire to the creation of the Foundation, a colony comprised of science, art, and technological development and preservation that will eventually become the second empire. Spanning decades in places, centuries in others; Foundation is more a story of the growth of a colony through time, then it is the story of people and plot. As the years progress the Foundation becomes stronger and centralized; better able to control the planets and systems around it. This audiobook had me snoozing. Just not my cup of tea, I will definitely not continue the journey by reading more of the series.

A Bound Heart

Lark may not be wealthy or high class but she's a well thought of, beautiful lass. Set in beautiful 18th century, Scotland; Lark's world is filled with sea breeze and gardens. She works in the laird's castle making tonics and other herbal remedies catching the eye of both the laird and the local captain. After an unfortunate tragedy, she is sent to Virginia to be an indentured servant. It will take all her faith and strength to survive the voyage and the years of hard labor awaiting her. To further complicate matters she adopts a young baby whose kin have all perished on the ship and she discovers that both her admirers, the laird and the captain are also aboard. Lark is nurturing, good hearted, and always tries to look at the positive, her only downfall is that she is quite naive. She's been handed an awful lot and she doesn't know if she'll ever get to see Scotland or her beloved grandmother again, but she handles it darn well. A bit unbelievable at times (every single male character throws themselves at Lark, EVERY ONE) and the ending was a bit anti-climactic; but overall still a good cozy historical read.

Justice Gone

Fast paced and gripping, this legal thriller will grip readers from page one. When an east coast town experiences the brutal murder of an unarmed homeless man by six cops, people don't think it can get any worse.  That is, until they find out that the homeless man was a war hero undergoing PTSD treatment at a nearby counseling center. Riots and protests break out nationwide. Tessa is one of the head honchos at the treatment facility and she was particularly close to Jay, the man beaten to death by cops. She's taking it hard, but not as hard as another one of her clients, Donald, who was a war buddy and best friends with Jay. When Donald goes missing and some of the cops are found shot to death, Donald becomes suspect number one. Deep down she knows that Donald would never turn into a vigilante killer, but at the same time... who did kill those dirty cops? Broken into three parts, this legal thriller will keep readers guessing. A wonderful look into a fictional man hunt and court setting that feels all too real.

The Immortalists

I adored this book, it's not necessarily an uplifting read and it is depressing as shit, but that doesn't even matter. It's beautiful and lyrical and I loved it. When the four Gold siblings were just children they sought out a famed fortune teller to find out when their death date was. Unbeknownst to them, that small act had such control on their lives. Each section focuses on a different Gold child and how they lived out their lives. Some were fated to die young, and most end tragically. Each section picks up where the last life ended, featuring a timeline of the Gold's lives from first to die, to last. Simon ends up in California as a liberated gay man, Klara pursues her dream of magic, Daniel becomes a doctor, and the eldest Varya, a scientist. Their lives couldn't have been led more differently and yet their sense of future and death lead them on strangely similar journeys. Wonderful, literary fiction at its finest!

An Unexplained Death

Super dark and enthralling. Mikita Brottman investigates a mysterious death in her apartment building, while also referencing back to the former hotel's sordid past as a den of suicides and murders. Rey Rivera's death raises questions not only for his family, but for the media as well. This you successful married man, ran out of the house one day never to be seen again. When he was found over a week later, it was most perplexing. It was as if he did a running leap of the thirteenth floor and landed feet-first into the former pool. He clearly died on impact, but was it suicide or something else? Since the death occurred in Mikita's building she takes a massive interest in the case. Obsessively following it for over a decade. An Unexplained Death is part historical portrait of The Belvedere (the current apartment building and former luxury hotel), part memoir (at least of the author's neuroses, fears, and mental health), part look at suicide, and part investigation into Rey Rivera's death. There's a lot going on, but it all meshes really well together and creates a unique format is hard to put down.