shrouded skeleton statue

Daryl M.

Librarian


Posts by Daryl M.

  • Author Sunyi-Dean and her latest book, The Girl With A Thousand Faces

    Interview With an Author: Sunyi Dean

    Sunyi Dean (she/her) is a biracial fantasy author who was born in Texas, grew up in Hong Kong, and now resides in North England. She writes speculative fiction with a weird slant. Her new novel is The…

  • Author Lee Goldberg and his latest book, Murder by Design

    Interview With an Author: Lee Goldberg

    Lee Goldberg is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than seventy novels. His latest novel is Murder by Design, and he recently talked about it with Daryl Maxwell for the LAPL Blog.

  • Author Meg Elison and her book, Foundling Fathers

    Interview With an Author: Meg Elison

    Bestselling writer Meg Elison is a high school dropout and a graduate of UC Berkeley. She was a Clayton B. Ofstad endowed distinguished writer-in-residence at Truman State University, as well as a…

  • Author Rasheed Newson and his book, There's Only One Sin in Hollywood

    Interview With an Author: Rasheed Newson

    Rasheed Newson is the author of the national bestseller My Government Means to Kill Me, which was selected as a Lambda Literary finalist for Gay Fiction and was named one of the “100 Notable Books of…

  • priya parmer and her book the original

    Interview With an Author: Priya Parmar

    Priya Parmar is the author of the novels Exit the Actress and Vanessa and Her Sister. Her latest novel is The Original, and she recently talked about it with Daryl Maxwell for the LAPL Blog.

  • Vincent Yu and his book Seek Immediate Shelter

    Interview With an Author: Vincent Yu

    Vincent Yu is a sales manager at W.W. Norton/Liveright and the winner of the 2021 Ashley Bourne Prize for fiction from Ploughshares. His work has been published in Prairie Schooner, StoryQuarterly…

  • Author Leah Weiss and her latest novel, The Creek, the Crone, and the Crow

    Interview With an Author: Leah Weiss

    Leah Weiss is an acclaimed southern writer living in Virginia. Her debut novel If the Creek Don't Rise was released in 2017 and selected as Library Reads, Indie Next, and SIBA Okra Pick. It was…


Reviews by Daryl M.

  • Cover image for When we were magic

    When we were magic

    • By: Gailey, Sarah
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    After graduation, prom night is often the penultimate event in the life of a high school senior. Students may save, plan and dream about the night for months or even years prior to going. So what happens when the prom doesn’t go the way you planned? What if something truly...
  • Cover image for The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

    The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

    • By: Maggie Tokuda-Hall
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    A young noblewoman is betrothed by her parents into an unwanted, arranged marriage. A young pirate struggles to survive and protect his brother from the dangers inherent in the life they have been forced to live. A mermaid is captured and threatened with death because her blood, when drunk, allows...
  • Cover image for Conventionally Yours

    Conventionally Yours

    • By: Annabeth Albert
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    A common theme in novels, motion pictures and television is the fine line between love and hate. One only has to look at William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (or it’s modern reincarnation 1999’s Ten Things I Hate About You) for an example of supposed loathing turning to love...
  • Cover image for Under the Rainbow

    Under the Rainbow

    • By: Celia Laskey
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    In a recent survey, the small town of Big Burr, Kansas has earned the title of “most homophobic town in the U.S.”  The non-profit that conducted the survey, Acceptance Across America (AAA), determines that the appropriate response to their findings is to send a task force to Big Burr. They...
  • Cover image for Upright Women Wanted

    Upright Women Wanted

    • By: Gailey, Sarah
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Esther just watched her best friend die. Beatriz was found to be in possession of “inappropriate” materials, and for that she was hanged in the town square. Esther’s father spoke from the podium about the dangers of “deviance” all the while keeping his eyes locked on Esther.  Beatriz’s death was a...
  • Cover image for Oona Out of Order

    Oona Out of Order

    • By: Montimore, Margarita
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Imagine it is New Year’s Eve, 1982. Oona is 18 years old and will be 19 at midnight as the year changes to 1983. She has her whole life ahead of her, including the type of life altering “big decisions” that face everyone at that age. But, when Oona opens...
  • Cover image for Heart of Junk

    Heart of Junk

    • By: Geddes, Luke
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Hmm, what could the following all have in common: an aging antique mall in Wichita, Kansas, where well established and novice sellers are struggling to keep the doors open in the age of online shopping; a child beauty pageant queen who has mysteriously vanished; and the hosts of a phenomenally...
  • Cover image for Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel

    Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel

    • By: Swanson, Peter
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    The owner of a Boston bookshop specializing in mysteries posts a list of books on the store’s blog. It is entitled “Eight Perfect Murders” and it lists the novels he feels have described unsolvable murders. These are murders in which the killers cannot be connected with their crimes. Years later...
  • Cover image for Ormeshadow

    Ormeshadow

    • By: Sharma, Priya
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    It is often stated that “The meek will inherit the earth.” While that is a nice sentiment, it is not affirmed by history. More often than not, those who hold their tongues and think before speaking, as well as those who avoid confrontation and violence to resolve conflict are the...
  • Cover image for Riot Baby

    Riot Baby

    • By: Onyebuchi, Tochi
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Ella has what she refers to as her Thing. It allows her to see things that have not yet happened. As a young girl growing up in Compton, California, this is more of a curse than a blessing. Ella is rarely happy by the future she sees. And, as she...