Bibliophilia

     Tales Of Mystery And Madness  by Edgar Allen Poe is a horror short story collection with illustrations by Gris Grimly. It was published in 2004 by Simon & Schuster. It has 4.3 stars on Goodreads. Here are my  thoughts.     Tales of Mystery And Madness  includes the stories of The Black Cat , The Masque Of The Red Death , Hop-Frog , and The Fall Of The House Of Usher . The Black Cat  is about a house cat who annoys its owner to the point of murder. The Masque Of The Red Death  is about a frivolous party gone horribly wrong. Hop-Frog  is about the revenge a dwarf exacts on his captors. The Fall Of The House Of Usher  is about two dying twins who are the last of their family line.     The plots of Tales Of Mystery And Madness  are all equally chilling. Violence comes from the characters that seem the most unsuspecting. Each story is completely different, but they all have a similar tone and mood.   ...

    The Perilous Gard  by Elizabeth Marie Pope is a YA fantasy novel. It was published in 1974 by Houghton Mifflin Company. It has 4.1 stars on Goodreads. Here are my  thoughts.     The Perilous Gard  is about a girl named Kate Sutton who is banished to a castle in the country known as the Perilous Gard. When she arrives, the villagers and servants warn her about the People of the Hill, fairies known for stealing people away to serve in their realm. At the castle, she meets Christopher Heron, a recluse who blames himself for the disappearance of his niece, Cecily. She knows that Cecily's disappearance and the Fairy Folk must be connected, and she is determined to help both Christopher and Cecily... but she may lose herself in the process.     The plot of The Perilous Gard  is enthralling. Pope integrates the traditions of Tudor England and the fancies of faerie mythology, all while keeping the reader immersed in the Kate's harrowing ques...

     The Big Four  by Agatha Christie is a children's/YA detective fiction novel. It was published in 1927 by William Collins & Sons. It has 3.6 stars on Goodreads. Here are my thoughts.     The Big Four  is about a detective named Hercule Poirot and his best friend, Arthur Hastings, who find out about a criminal organization called the Big Four. The Big Four includes a Chinese mastermind named Li Chang Yen, a Frenchwoman, an American man, and a man at the head of the organization called the Destroyer. Hercule quickly discovers the identities of everyone... but Number Four. He can't let it go, but as he and Hastings delve deeper into the mystery, the risk of danger rises. The Big Four will stop at nothing to achieve their goal of world domination.     The plot of The Big Four  is fun. Hercule and Hastings jump from one mystery to the next as the book progresses. However, the nuances of the Big Four organization aren't clear or though...

     The Mysterious Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a children's mystery novel. It was published in 1995 by Puffin Classics. It has 4 stars on Goodreads. Here are my  thoughts.     The Mysterious Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes  is a collection of short stories about, well, the mysterious adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It's told from the admiring perspective of Sherlock's companion and confidante, Watson. He is trying to make known Sherlock's awesome skills of observation and deduction. Case after case features a motley crew of facts that has everyone else, including the reader, fumbling and somehow leads Sherlock to complete conviction in his solution.     The plot of The Mysterious Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes  is predictable in the way that children's books often are. Sherlock gets the case, he talks it over with Watson, he goes out to investigate, he comes back with the answer. However, I didn't find this b...

     The Secret History  by Donna Tartt is a YA psychological fiction novel. It was published in 1992 by Alfred A. Knopf. It has 4.17 stars on Goodreads. Here are my  thoughts.     The Secret History  is about a young man named Richard Papen. When he arrives at Hampden College in Vermont, he has no friends or direction. Around campus he notices a group of students who never seem to interact with anyone else. He finds out that they are all enrolled in the classes of Professor Julian Morrow, an eccentric old man with an odd way about him. Richard is intrigued, and after a while he joins the class. What Richard doesn't know is that joining their world will forever alter his own. He is intoxicated by the closeness and peculiarity of the group, but as he is drawn in, he discovers that things are much darker than they seem.     The plot of The Secret History  is chilling. In the prologue, a murder is alluded to, but it doesn't take place ...

     Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson is a YA realistic fiction novel. It was published in 2013 by Simon & Schuster. It has 4.1 stars on Goodreads. Here are my thoughts.      Since You’ve Been Gone is about a girl named Emily whose best friend, Sloane, goes missing in the beginning of the summer. All she leaves behind is a list for Emily to complete. The items range from apple picking at night to skinny dipping. Emily decides to complete the list, because she believes that when she finishes, Sloane will come back.      The plot of Since You’ve Been Gone is unusual. Emily goes through many odd challenges that Sloane left for her. She also makes new friends and realizations about herself along the way.      The main characters in Since You’ve Been Gone are Emily, Frank, and Sloane. The character development is heartwarming. Emily learns to speak her mind. Frank becomes more comfortable with himself. Sloane reali...

     A Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue  by Mackenzie Lee is a YA historical fiction novel. It was published in 2017 by HarperCollins. It has 4 stars on Goodreads. Here are  my  thoughts.      A Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue  is about a young man named Henry Montague, set in the Regency Era. Monty is, in a few words, wealthy, wild, and reckless. And hopelessly in love with his best friend, Percy. He, Percy, and his sister, Felicity, set on a Grand Tour of Europe. Naturally, chaos ensues.      The plot of A Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue had me laughing out loud. When you think their trials are finally over, the story keeps on twisting. It’s not realistic, but it is historically backed, which always makes a story more enjoyable.      The character development in A Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue is wonderful. The main characters are Monty, Percy, and Felicity. Monty discovers that he ...

     Panic  by Lauren Oliver is a YA thriller novel. It was published in 2014 by Harper Collins. It has 3.6 stars on Goodreads. Here are  my  thoughts.       Panic is about a girl named Heather and a boy named Dodge who live in Carp, New York. Every year, the graduating class at their high school plays Panic. Panic is a game where players compete in a series of dangerous challenges to win a pot of money. This year the stakes are raised, because when someone dies during the game, the police have outlawed it. The game continues, but in secret.      The plot of  Panic  is hair-raising. Each of the challenges had me on the edge of my seat. It is realistic because the game is invented by bored teenagers in a small town who wanted something exciting in their lives.     The main characters in  Panic  are Heather, Dodge, and Natalie. The character development in this book is evident. Heather lea...

       The Honeys by Ryan LaSala is a YA paranormal fiction novel. It was published in 2022 by PUSH. It has 3.85 stars on Goodreads. Here are my thoughts.      The Honeys is about a genderfluid teenager named Mars Matthias. He and his twin sister, Caroline, attended a prestigious summer camp called Aspen Conservancy Camp. After he stopped attending, he and his sister grew apart. She devoted her attention to her new friends at camp, a cult-like group of girls called the Honeys. After Caroline dies in a disturbing accident, Mars goes back to Aspen to investigate. He loses sight of his true intentions as he reluctantly participates in camp traditions and gets involved with the Honeys. What he eventually finds is much more complicated than he ever imagined.      The plot of The Honeys is immersing. It isn’t necessarily realistic, but as I was reading it seemed logical in a terrifying way.      The main characters in The Honey...

      Turtles All The Way Down  by John Green is a YA drama novel. It was published in 2017 by Dutton Books. It has 3.89 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Here are my  thoughts.     Turtles All The Way Down  is about a girl named Aza who suffers from OCD. She is trying to navigate the normal high school experience - fights with her best friend, first love, helicopter mom - as well as not so normal experiences - trying to find missing local businessman/criminal Russell Pickett - while dealing with debilitating panic attacks that she calls "thought spirals". She is terrified of contracting a virus called  C.diff . If Aza does something like not replacing her bandaid or kissing someone, this fear takes hold of her mind and she can't let it go. This book is not about Aza overcoming OCD. It's about Aza learning to live her life despite it.     The plot of Turtles All The Way Down  is compelling. When Aza and Daisy accidentally solve the ...