GREAT READS

In this debut novel by journalist and screenwriter Belinda Bauer, the reader is taken into the life of a family that has been destroyed by tragedy. Eighteen years ago Billy Peters disappeared. Billy was presumed murdered by the infamous serial kill...

Await Your Reply is the best thriller that I've read in a long time.  The novel's plot twists between three distinct stories.  Miles Cheshire is searching for his troubled twin brother, Hayden - a master of disguise and deception who has le...

Harry Potter mixed with The Rules of Attraction?  Catcher in the Rye crossed with The Never Ending Story?  The Magicians, by Lev Grossman, is a little bit of all of these books.  The story follows a discontented high school senior, Que...

Swallow Me Whole follows the story of two step-siblings as they grow up in a suburban neighborhood.  The brother and sister, Perry and Ruth, both have developmental disabilities that radically change the reality that they perceive.  Ruth is...

It takes a talented author to take a subject like the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and bring new life to it.  That's exactly what James Swanson does with his bestselling book Manhunt.  You probably know the basics from civics class: For...

A History of the World in Six Glasses, by Tom Standage, takes a novel approach to human history.  Each era, from the first settlements to our modern globalized world, is marked by the consumption of a different drink.  For most of history (...

TV On the Radio is a hard band to pin down. All in the same album, sometimes within the same song, they encompass elements of rock, R & B, rap, and electronic music. Dear Science is the band's third full length album, and perhaps their most cohes...

The Wire is, simply, one of the best television shows ever made.  The Wire takes the familiar territory of the cop drama, casts aside every single genre cliché, and tells a very real story of a city in decline.  David Simon, the show...

Pretty Monsters is by Kelly Link, one of my favorite writers of short fiction.  Her stories come alive with realistic characters and plots that are infused with magical elements.  This style, called magical realism, is one that's often atte...

In Susanna Clarke's amazing debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, magic is alive and well in 19th century London.  The novel is an unlikely mix of historical fiction, high fantasy, and Victorian drama, forming a compelling, unique read...

In Devil in the White City, Larson captures the spirit of a fascinating period of American history: the turn of the century.  Larson's backdrop is Chicago in 1893 during the World's Fair.  The book tells two stories - both the planning and ...