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Daryl M.

Librarian


Posts by Daryl M.

  • Author Joshilyn Jackson and her latest novel, Mother May I

    Interview With an Author: Joshilyn Jackson

    Joshilyn Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including Gods in Alabama and The Almost Sisters. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages. A former actor…

  • Author W. S. Winslow and her first novel, The Northern Reach

    Interview With an Author: W.S. Winslow

    W. S. Winslow was born and raised in Maine but spent her working life in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. A ninth-generation Mainer, she now lives in a small town Downeast most of the year. She…

  • 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…


Reviews by Daryl M.

  • 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...
  • Cover image for Made things

    Made things

    • By: Tchaikovsky, Adrian, 1972-
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Coppelia is not quite a thief and not quite a con-artist. What she is, or could be if she were living a different life, is an artist. A builder who could create function and beauty from raw materials, but only in a different life. A life where her parents hadn’t...