Book Review: A Killer Plot

Jane Hepburn has almost made it. After solving the murder of her literary agent at last season’s crime-book festival, Jane receives a burst of internet fame that lands her an invite to a splashy book launch in London. Visiting beloved bookstores along the winding alleyway of Cecil Court, and brushing shoulders with famous writers and the editors and agents who made them stars, Jane is looking forward to a fun, murder-free weekend and a distraction from her own writer's block. The party might not be for her novel, but still, Jane’s happy to celebrate her far more successful friend with free wine and plenty of books.

However, things take a turn for the worse when the hotshot editor is nowhere to be seen. And they really go south after Jane discovers a body in the bookshop cellar. To ensure that another event isn’t overshadowed by an unsolved murder, Jane and her two friends—debut novelist and star of the party Natasha Martez and clumsy publicity assistant Daniel Thurston—must put their sleuthing skills to the test. But nothing is as it seems at a party full of attendees with secrets they'd do anything to keep.

Book Review: The Big Gang Theory Pop Culture Reference Guide

It was 2007. The era of Must-See TV had ended. There was no Friends, no Will and Grace, no Seinfeld. The broadcast airwaves were being ruled by reality television series like American Idol and Big Brother, coupled with the expanded offerings of cable networks. Only CBS was seeing some success with the traditional multi-camera sitcom structure through shows like How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men. Into that very lineup, sandwiched between the two hit series, came a fresh take on the sitcom setup: What would happen if two brainy nerds found themselves living next door to a beautiful woman? And television history was made, while educating readers about pop culture and world events.

Book Review: Generation F*cked

Cancel your subscriptions. Make coffee at home. Go to college. Don’t rent. Buy a house to build equity. That advice was built for a different economy. Today, those choices come with far less certainty.

With rising inflation, unaffordable housing, stagnant wages, and crushing student debt, the traditional ‘rules of success’ for many working- and middle-class young adults no longer lead to the outcomes once promised. This leaves younger generations searching for strategies that actually work in today’s world.

The current system isn’t sustainable. By pairing big-picture clarity with actionable, ground-level guidance, Generation F*cked offers a path toward a more stable, fair, and achievable future, serving as a guide for generations navigating a radically different economy.

Book Review: January and July

A disgraced intel officer anxious to redeem herself after a disastrous mission, January Holte vows to uncover the identity of a traitor who is selling her agency’s secrets. The few clues she’s found have led her to a sleepy river town: Lethey, Texas, and to the one man who might know the truth.

July Whitlock, a rookie bodyguard, searches for his one and only client, who has suddenly disappeared. He follows a trail to Lethey to find his missing protectee, Bill Connors. But Bill’s friends and enemies in Lethey have secrets of their own. And as January and July ask questions no one wants to answer, they find a tangled web of murder, greed, and ambition—one that will kill anyone who tries to unravel its mysteries.

Book Review: Operation - True Love volume 1

Phones are perfect for sending messages, snapping photos, and most importantly, talking to your friends. One thing Su-ae didn’t account for, however, was that her phone would be able to talk back.

Su-ae discovers that Jellypop, a flip phone stored in her locker, is sentient—and Jellypop has a lot to say about Su-ae’s love life. High school romances are never easy, and Su-ae’s relationship with her nonchalant boyfriend seems to be going nowhere.

Lacking the charisma of her step-sister Ra-im is one thing, but seeing the growing sparks between her and Minu just adds salt to injury. It’s up to Jellypop to help Su-ae navigate the peaks and pits of teenage love, and finally get the high school love story she deserves!

The Phantom volume 1

The Ghost walks again! The Phantom returns! Created by Lee Falks in 1936, the Phantom is one of the first costumed super heroes in history, with untold influence on pop culture. Now, critically-acclaimed creators Ray Fawkes and Russell Olson revive the character for fans old and new. When a violent gang of smugglers stubbles on an idyllic Bandar village, the peace that the Phantom has brought to the African nation of Bangalla will suddenly shatter. It will take all of the Phantom’s many skills and allies to restore it. The most exciting series of the year starts here!

The Phantom volume 1 will be published on July 14, 2026. Mad Cave Studios provided an early galley for review.

Book Review: I Am the Night

At a time when televised cartoons—especially within the superhero genre—were often over-looked, Batman: The Animated Series introduced an entire generation of soon-to-be Batman fanatics to the caped crusader. The series triumphed into what is largely considered one of the best superhero cartoons of all time, and the best depiction of Batman mythology in any format.

But the road to genre-defying and genre-defining success was hardly guaranteed. Along the way, co-creator Bruce Timm and his team of artists at Warner Bros Animation battled a landscape that was often antithetical to their aims with Batman. Internal struggles led the writing team and the network to debate everything (literally everything) about how best to depict Batman—from whether or not the eco-friendly hero would have a recycling bin in the Batcave to how many women he was allowed to kiss onscreen.

Book Review: The Library Cosmic

In this fabulous and moving collection of short stories Ben Berman Ghan traverses time, space and the written word to consider the mysteries of life. From ghosts to golems to far future AIs these stories ask the big questions: What is consciousness? What gives a being its soul? What are the boundaries of love? And, perhaps most importantly, how will libraries save us all?

The Library Cosmic by Ben Berman Ghan was published May 26, 2026. Literary Press Group of Canada provided a galley for review.

This is a collection of six stories of varying lengths (some easily near novella length). "Spectres of Bibliotheca" is seeped with symbolism and lyrical beauty. The same goes with the title tale of the volume "The Library Cosmic". As a librarian, I truly support their messages and themes.

I liked that the stories each stand alone but yet also fit into a larger tapestry. They all exist in the same shared world, with overlapping elements between them.

Book Review: Time Travel for Beginners

On a bustling road in Sydney, Australia, lies a nondescript storefront known simply as the Time Travel Agency. Inside, you’ll be welcomed by the smell of fresh-brewed coffee, a selection of baked goods…and the question, Where in time do you wish to go?

The guidelines are simple: you can go whenever you wish into the past, and there’s no fear of altering the present. Have tea with Jane Austen, scream at a Beatles concert, witness the Olympics in ancient Greece. Perhaps a more personal trip? Visit your long-lost grandmother, recapture the heady days of your youth, return to the idyllic time when your teen was a babbling baby—or watch yourself make the one decision that changed everything.

Book Review: What Happened to College?

A decade after his landmark book on faculty politics, Neil Gross decided it was time to give those with the most at stake a chance to speak for themselves. Beginning in the spring of 2024, he launched a massive investigation into how our polarized politics have remade the college experience, interviewing students across the country and polling thousands more. He looked at liberal arts colleges, state schools, faith-based institutions, and elite universities and combed through studies tracking everything from campus dating habits to changes in syllabi.

What he found was startling: Undergraduates today are choosing their schools, their friends, their partners, their activities—even their majors—on the basis of their political beliefs to a degree unimaginable ten years ago, with the goal of interacting as little as possible with anyone whose views don’t line up with their own. Popular campus dating apps invite you to swipe left if you don’t like someone’s political profile—a metaphor for today’s college experience writ large. Instead of resisting this trend, some faculty and administrators encouraged it, creating a cloistered environment where students could avoid uncomfortable disagreement.

Book Review: Dude! Where's My Princess?

Arwin swerves off the road to avoid a dragon and ends up in another world. It’s exactly the change of scenery he needs, a new direction in life.

He meets Yaz, a talking skeleton on an epic quest. Together, they set off to find a long-lost princess, the former knight’s great love, who was magically imprisoned hundreds of years ago by an evil necromancer, the same man who cursed Yaz into undeath. Their first destination is the remote castle of the legendary, evil Dark Enchantress in the eerie Swamp of Spiders. But getting there won’t be easy. There are regions filled with dangerous puns and magic, a revolution to assist, forest nymphs, and a whole tribe of ugly green goblins standing in their way.

Book Review: Sit Write Here

In Sit Write Here, award-winning novelist and certified mindfulness instructor April Dávila presents a groundbreaking approach to writing that integrates the practice of Insight Meditation. Drawing from her personal journey and professional experience, Dávila reveals how mindfulness can help writers improve their craft and navigate common challenges such as writer's block, self-doubt, and ubiquitous distractions. Through practical exercises and relatable anecdotes, she demonstrates how cultivating present-moment awareness can enhance creativity and bring greater ease to the writing process.

Book Review: The Hidden Staircase

A haunted mansion, eerie happenings, thefts, and a search for her missing father—amateur teen sleuth Nancy Drew braves secret tunnels and sinister suspects in this thrilling classic from the 1930s. The suspense builds to a spine-tingling crescendo when she discovers cryptic clues, unraveling the truth behind ghostly events and a hidden staircase. Will Nancy’s fearless detective work expose the mansion’s chilling secrets and unmask the villain behind them? A spooky page-turner for mystery lovers of any age!

Nancy Drew Mysteries book 2: The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene will be republished June 16, 2026. Dover Publications provided a galley for review.

Book Review: The Secret of the Old Clock

She’s smart, fearless, and always one step ahead of the mystery. An enduring symbol of wit, courage, and girl power for generations, teenage amateur sleuth Nancy Drew makes her iconic debut in Book no. 1 of this legendary series. When a missing will could change the fortunes of the kind Turner family, Nancy races against time to uncover clues and outsmart the scheming Topham family. Originally published by Grosset & Dunlap in the 1930s, this captivating mystery, written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, continues to fascinate millions of readers.

Nancy Drew Mysteries book 1: The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene was republished May 19, 2026. Dover Publications provided a galley for review.

Book Review: The Side Questers

Anya Dazel is a burnt-out barkeep in Eternity: The Endless Realm, the world’s premier online role-playing game. As a non-player character, her life is stuck in a programmed loop—forever serving the same drinks to the same patrons and helping players with an automatic quest event that unfolds when they enter her pub. She longs for any disruption to this monotonous existence, even if that feels like an impossible dream.

But when Eternity receives an update, and Cyrus Blackwood is added to Anya’s pub, her dream unfurls as a nightmare. Cyrus is everything that Anya is not—a mysterious, brooding warrior with a gigantic sword and a tortured past. Everyone in the tavern is fascinated by him, and even worse, when the next player arrives, it’s Cyrus who helps them with their quest, not Anya. Realizing that she’s being replaced, Anya lashes out at Cyrus, inadvertently knocking them both out of her tavern and into the wider realm of Eternity.

Book Review: Marvel Dimensions

The story opens with a sweeping tour through the classic origins of Marvel’s most iconic characters. Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Wolverine, and many others appear in dramatic, fully painted spreads that echo their earliest stories. A narrator describes each moment with confidence, guiding the reader through these touchstones of Marvel’s history. But as the story moves forward, the tone begins to shift. The voice behind the narration is not who the readers expect and carries a motive that slowly pushes the narrative somewhere darker and far more unpredictable.

Once this change becomes clear, the book expands into something larger and more surprising. Storylines twist in on themselves, characters behave in unexpected ways, and events ripple across the Marvel Universe with growing tensions. Ross uses the structure of the book to create anticipation and pull the reader deeper into a mystery that keeps widening. Every new sequence reveals another layer, building toward a final act that reframes everything that came before it.

Book Review: Prompt Me to Write

With rich story ideas, advice on pitfalls to avoid, and examples and quotes from the great writers of today and the legends of the literary world, Prompt Me to Write stands out from other books of writing prompts. Each prompt and exercise is designed to both spark ideas and help you develop your writing. It includes:

• • Original and varied writing prompts, with a final section where best-selling authors each contribute their own story ideas.
• • Full-page writing exercises to help you build worlds, craft fascinating characters, and develop page-turning plots.
• • Photos and illustrations by Vocal Vagabond that add extra inspiration and help clarify complex points. These are full colour in the hardback and black and white in the paperback.

Every chapter includes bite-sized theory so, with a little persistence, you will master the craft and create a collection of stories or a finished novel even if you only have a few minutes a day.

Book Review: Retro

When Ash spots an ad for Retro during a depressing Instagram scroll, she’s surprised the algorithm sent it her way. She’s heard of recreational time travel, but it’s way out of her budget. Then she sees the caption: "Come away with us! We’re hiring." So begins Ash’s life as a Time Travel Agent, leading wealthy tourists on vacations to historical hotspots.

She takes bachelorette parties to live out their cowboy-romance fantasies in the Old West; she chaperones “’20s for your twenties” birthday excursions to speakeasies; she smiles politely as rich Wall Street guys give prospecting a shot during the Gold Rush. It’s all thrilling, outrageous, and totally surreal. Bygone America is just a Retro Metro ride away.

Despite Ash’s tendency toward cynicism, she finds herself swept up in her dazzling new job. Sure, Ash isn’t the actress she’d always dreamed she’d be. But isn’t this so much better? It’s like Ash’s life is a movie, complete with an impossible love triangle. But as her trips threaten to unravel her real life, she confronts an unsettling truth: Escaping into the past was never really an escape at all.

Book Review: The Disco at the End of the World

In 1977 - a world in which America launched its space program shortly after WWII - Mitch Ward followed Flynn, the lost love of his youth, into the US Spaceguard. Now, he’s stuck on a backwater moon base with his only friend, Gloria, watching every shuttle in the hope Flynn will be on it.

After an inexplicable encounter with a strange, euphoric being, Mitch and Gloria find themselves dishonourably discharged, and stuck in a USA rapidly sliding into fascism with no plans and no future. There’s nothing for it but to move to Los Angeles to chase their dreams, and find their people in the discos of the city.

But when Flynn crashes back into their lives, claiming to be the host for an emissary of a utopian civilization approaching Earth, he offers Mitch the power to protect himself and friends across the queer community, so they never have to live in the shadows or face oppression again. With the world on the brink of cataclysm, and Mitch and his friends being squeezed out of every space, it’s down to this community of disco-loving outcasts to stand up for what is beautiful and right.

Book Review: Kill All Wizards

Gotchimus the barbarian traveled far to consult the wizards of the empire. Instead of lending their aid, they ensorcelled him, exploited his strength, and stole his sword. They should not have done that.

Now the barbarian plans to kill every wizard who wronged him, even if that means blending in with their vile society: dressing in finery, taking tea in exclusive clubs, and reserving the best box at the theater.

Oh, he hates it all with the fiery passion of his savage heart, but not as much as he hates these wizards.