Lori Duff Writes
A Wrinkle in Time: 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition (A Wrinkle in Time Quintet) When I was a child, before “Young Adult” was a genre that was really a thing, I loved to read. Certain books stood out for me, and I reread them until the pages got soft and started to fall out. I’d carefully…
The Family on Beartown Road: A Memoir of Love and Courage “The House on Beartown Road” by Elizabeth Cohen is a memoir with an interesting premise. It follows approximately a year in Cohen’s life in which she suddenly finds herself the single parent of an infant girl and the sole caretaker of her father, who…
Lilac Girls: A Novel “Lilac Girls,” by Martha Hall Kelly, follows the intersecting stories of Caroline Ferriday, Herta Oberhauser, and Kasia Kuzmerick in the years leading up to, during, and after World War II. Caroline is a New York socialite with a bent towards helping those less fortunate. Herta Oberhauser is a doctor in Germany…
The Magicians: A Novel (Magicians Trilogy) “The Magicians” by Lev Grossman is an adult story of wizards and wizarding, and is the basis for the series on the SyFy channel (which I haven’t seen.) While comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable, there are more nods to Narnia in the book, and it really stands on…
Scent of the Past “Scent of the Past,” by Erin Marie Bernardo combines the genres of chick-lit and historical fiction, with the sci-fi element of time travel for an entertaining read. Note: This book was provided to me by the good folks at Books and the Bear in exchange for an honest review. Addison and…
The Job: True Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop “The Job” by Steve Osborne is a memoir by a retired New York City police officer, and it really is a must-read to understand the challenges and dangers faced by police officers. My husband is a retired police officer from metro Atlanta,…
Before You Were Mine Disclaimer: I was given a copy of “Before You Were Mine” by Em Muslin by the good folks at Books and the Bear in exchange for an honest review. “Before You Were Mine” tells the story of Eli Bell. Eli gets pregnant at 14, and her baby daughter is taken away…
Why We Broke Up I picked up Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler for kind of strange reasons, but then that’s why I pick up most books. I was in a used book store, and it just looked different than the other books. Thicker. Heavier. When I literally picked it up, it weighed…
The Table of Less Valued Knights “The Table of Less Valued Knights” is written by Marie Phillips, who also wrote “Gods Behaving Badly.” This time, she takes her prodigious imagination to Camelot. Sir Humphrey du Val, formerly of the Round Table, is now relegated to a wobbly table in the hall with the other Less…
Crash Bang Burn “Crash, Bang, Burn,” by K. Dawn Goodwin is the first fictional book by the author of the memoir “Until He Comes.” It follows Edie, a bible college dropout and family pariah, who finds herself in metro Atlanta trying to find herself. She meets Nathen Crosland, aka “Cross,” a fireman, and all…