Did you ever wonder how all the books in the “Silence of the Library” and “Forest of the Dead” got in the Library? It might have gone something like this: Irene the junior Librarian for the Invisible Library, a secret organization that seeks out rare and unique books to collect in the library by traveling through different parallel dimensions with various degrees of technology and magic, goes on missions to retrieve them. She’s a pretty good secret agent, but sometimes she runs into unexpected adventures. […]
The Talk was Better than the Book: An Almost Eternal Journey
I should admit I had expectations going into this book. I had the privilege of hearing the author, Steven Pinker, speak during a tour for this book, and the talk was amazing. It was smart and entertaining, and I was hoping for the same from the book. The book is smart all right, but it’s soooo dense that the entertainment is mostly gone. I like language and grammar, and I’m pretty good with them. I have graduate degrees in both English and Latin. And even […]
Disappointment returns but Addison helps a little
I have to admit: I liked the first book better. I think it’s because the concept of mixing old photos with the story was new but got old by the second volume, and Hollow City felt a little too reliant on the first novel. Hollow City picks up where Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children leaves off, with the children fleeing their safe zone, called a loop, in order to find another group like them who can help them get their guardian Miss Peregrine back […]
Immortals, Gangsters, and Bootlegging but no Capone
Baccano!: The Rolling Bootlegs is as the title suggests (‘baccano’ supposedly means ‘commotion’) a crazy story with a lot of characters and a lot of action. I have to admit, I’d seen the anime of this story already (I’m pretty sure there’s a manga too but I haven’t seen that), so I kind of knew who was who, but the novel version actually includes a lot of things that made more sense to me in this format, including the identity of the demon who provides […]