shrouded skeleton statue

Daryl M.

Librarian


Posts by Daryl M.

  • Author Willy Vlautin and his newest novel, The Night Always Comes

    Interview With an Author: Willy Vlautin

    Willy Vlautin is the author of five novels: The Motel Life, which was made into a film starring Dakota Fanning, Emile Hersh, and Stephen Dorff; Northline, Lean on Pete, which won two Oregon Book…

  • Author Grant Farley and his first novel, Bones of a Saint

    Interview With an Author: Grant Farley

    Grant Farley worked as an English teacher for over twenty-five years and has taught at a Santa Monica alternative school, a barrio junior high, and a Marine Science magnet in San Pedro. All the while…

  • Author Sylvain Neuvel and his latest novel, A History of What Comes Next

    Interview With an Author: Sylvain Neuvel

    Sylvain Neuvel is the author of The Themis Files trilogy and the novella The Test. Soon to be a feature film starring John Boyega and directed by Gavin Hood. He has taught linguistics in India and…

  • Author Olivia Campbell and her first book, Women in White Coats

    Interview With an Author: Olivia Campbell

    Olivia Campbell is a journalist and author specializing in medicine and women; her work has appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post, New York Magazine, and The Cut, among others. Her first…

  • Author Sarah Lagan and her latest novel, Good Neighbor

    Interview With an Author: Sarah Langan

    Sarah Langan, a Columbia MFA graduate with an MS in environmental toxicology, is a three-time recipient of the Bram Stoker Award. One of her previous novels, The Keeper, was a New York Times Editors’…

  • Author Victoria Gosling and her debut novel, Before the Ruins

    Interview With an Author: Victoria Gosling

    Victoria Gosling grew up in Wiltshire, England, and studied English Literature at Manchester University. She is the founder of The Reader Berlin, hosting salon nights in Berlin and writers’ retreats…

  • Author Anne Youngson and her latest novel, The Narrowboat Summer

    Interview With an Author: Anne Youngson

    Anne Youngson is retired and lives in Oxfordshire. She has two children and three grandchildren to date. Her debut novel, Meet Me at the Museum, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. Her…

  • Author Serena Burdick and her latest book, Find Me in Havana

    Interview With an Author: Serena Burdick

    Serena Burdick graduated from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California before moving to New York City to pursue a degree in English Literature at Brooklyn College. Author of the…

  • Author C.S. Malerich and her latest novella, The Factory Witches of Lowell

    Interview With an Author: C.S. Malerich

    C.S. Malerich is the author of the novel Fire & Locket. In addition to writing, she has taught mythology to undergrads at the University of Maryland and pursued interests in folklore, cultural studies…

  • Author T.A. Willberg and her debut novel, Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder

    Interview With an Author: T.A. Willberg

    T.A. Willberg was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and holds a chiropractic master's degree from Durban University of Technology. She currently lives in Malta with her partner. Marion Lane and the…


Reviews by Daryl M.

  • Cover image for The Secret Life of Sam Holloway

    The Secret Life of Sam Holloway

    • By: Thomas, Rhys
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Sam Holloway is a good guy, who is kind and thoughtful, with a stable, but not terribly exciting, job with an electronic parts distributor. He meets up with a couple of friends several nights a week at a local pub, where they talk about comics, movies, videogames and what it...
  • Cover image for The Monster of Elendhaven

    The Monster of Elendhaven

    • By: Giesbrecht, Jennifer
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    A young man washes up in a harbor with no knowledge of who he is or where he came from. He doesn’t even have a name. He is tall, with dark hair and pale skin. He also possesses a strong sense of survival, driving him to do whatever is necessary...
  • Cover image for The Ruby Slippers of Oz: Thirty Years Later

    The Ruby Slippers of Oz: Thirty Years Later

    • By: Thomas, Rhys
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    “Keep tight inside of them. Their magic must be very powerful, or she wouldn't want them so badly," said Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, talking about the ruby slippers.In L. Frank Baum’s children’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the magic shoes worn by the Wicked Witch of the East...
  • Cover image for The Survival of Margaret Thomas

    The Survival of Margaret Thomas

    • By: Howison, Del
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    The Western has been an established genre of fiction for well over a hundred years. In the early to mid20th century, Western fiction grew in popularity, largely driven by similarly themed motion pictures and television programs. In the 1970s, however, the genre began to fall out of favor with the...
  • Cover image for Red, White & Royal Blue

    Red, White & Royal Blue

    • By: McQuiston, Casey
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Alex Claremont-Diaz is the 21-year-old First Son Of The United States (FSOTUS). He has lived in the White House with his older sister, June (FDOTUS) for the last three years, during his mother’s first term in office. He is a media darling, being continually followed, photographed and dissected by the...
  • Cover image for The Reign of the Kingfisher: A Novel

    The Reign of the Kingfisher: A Novel

    • By: Martinson, T. J.
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    The first appearance of Batman was in Detective Comics in the Spring of 1939, making 2019 the character’s 80th anniversary. Batman is a sharp contrast to most “superheroes” in that he possesses no “super” powers. His prowess, whether physical or intellectual, comes from rigorous training and study. He patrols the...
  • Cover image for Magic for Liars: A Novel

    Magic for Liars: A Novel

    • By: Gailey, Sarah
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    When Sylvia Capley, the Health instructor at Osthorne Academy for Young Mages, is found in the school library bisected from head to toe, cleanly down the middle, the National Mage Investigative Service (NMIS) concludes that her death was an accident, a spell gone wrong. The Headmaster of the school doesn’t...
  • Cover image for The Lost History of Dreams: A Novel

    The Lost History of Dreams: A Novel

    • By: Waldherr, Kris
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    When famous, and some would claim infamous, poet Hugh de Bonne dies unexpectedly, his last remaining family relations are called upon to enact his final request. De Bonne wishes to be buried on the moors near Shropshire, in a chapel of stained glass he had built 16 years earlier as...
  • Cover image for Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You

    Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You

    • By: Moore, Scotto
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    It’s happened to all of us. You hear a song and it instantly raises your spirits. Or, you hear a different song and it instantly makes you feel melancholy. Some music makes you want to move, while other music makes you want to relax and be still. Something reminds you...
  • Cover image for Middlegame

    Middlegame

    • By: McGuire, Seanan
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Roger Middleton is a rather typical seven-year-old boy. He lives with his adopted parents in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He seems to be exceptionally gifted when it comes to grammar, spelling, anything to do with languages, really. But he struggles with even the most basic levels of mathematics.Dodger Cheswich is not a...