book reviews

Love, Death, and Comedy Author: Richard Roper Andrew’s life has a set and comforting rhythm. All in all, as long as he doesn’t look too closely, it’s a good life. Not a perfect one, but what’s missing can be made up for in the realm of fantasy, in the comfort of routine, in the subterranean friendships of Internet forums and the dulcet tones of turning records and Ella Fitzgerald’s tunes bouncing off walls and through the long nights. Yes, Andrew’s life is just fine so long as no one rocks the boat and no one guesses his one dangerous secret: [...]

A Very Short, Abbreviated History of a Famous Cannibal Serial Killer Author: Jack Rosewood After picking up Gregg Olsen’s If You Tell, I discovered a brand new genre and a new interest: true crime, which is quite a step outside my fiction loving focus. This new book interest led me to quickly trace my way through the Audible stacks, looking for one of the major crime stories I remembered hearing about, both from relatives and popular culture, throughout my childhood. That’s right, the infamous regular-guy-next-door turned sociopath/cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. His story is interesting both for his seeming normalness to those around [...]

Coming of Age, Finding Love, Learning Faith Author: Catherine Marshall The year is 1912 and nineteen-year-old Christy Huddleston is inspired to leave her affluent world of Asheville, North Carolina, forfeit her college education, and teach in the rural Cutter Gap community, stationed in the Smoky Mountains. Everyone, from parents to teachers to friends, insists that she is not prepared for the poverty, the danger, and the emotional shattering of leaving her bubble, but leave she will. Whether she is called or naïve remains to be seen. We start the book with Christy as she watches her father walk away, sees [...]