Robot

Daryl M.

Librarian


Posts by Daryl M.

  • C.L. Polk and their book Even Though I Knew the End

    Interview With an Author: C.L. Polk

    C.L. Polk (they/them) wrote the Hugo-nominated series The Kingston Cycle, including the WFA winning Witchmark. The Midnight Bargain was a Canada Reads, Nebula, Locus, Ignyte, and WFA finalist. They…

  • Author Leigh Bardugo and her latest novel, Hell Bent

    Interview With an Author: Leigh Bardugo

    Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, The…

  • Author Ryan North and his latest book, How to Take Over the World

    Interview With an Author: Ryan North

    Ryan North is a New York Times—bestselling author whose books include How to Invent Everything, Romeo and/or Juliet, and To Be or Not To Be. He’s the creator of Dinosaur Comics and the Eisner Award…

  • Author Natalie Haynes and her latest novel, Stone Blind

    Interview With an Author: Natalie Haynes

    Natalie Haynes is the author of seven books, including A Thousand Ships, which was a national bestseller and was shortlisted for the 2020 Women's Prize for Fiction, and the nonfiction Pandora's Jar…

  • Author Jacqueline Holland and her first novel, The God of Endings

    Interview With an Author: Jacqueline Holland

    Jacqueline Holland holds an MFA from the University of Kansas. Her work has appeared in Hotel Amerika and Big Fiction magazine, among others. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two sons…

  • Author Jane Yolen and her latest novel, The Scarlet Circus

    Interview With an Author: Jane Yolen

    Jane Yolen is the author of more than four hundred books, including children's fiction, poetry, short stories, graphic novels, nonfiction, fantasy, and science fiction. Her publications include Owl…

  • Author Matt Ruff and his latest book, The Destroyer of Worlds: A Return to Lovecraft Country

    Interview With an Author: Matt Ruff

    Matt Ruff is the author of the novels 88 Names, Lovecraft Country, Bad Monkeys, The Mirage, Set This House in Order, Fool on the Hill, and Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy. He lives in…

  • Author Victor LaValle and his latest book, The Ballad of Black Tom

    Interview With an Author: Victor LaValle

    Victor LaValle is the author of seven works of fiction and three graphic novels. His books have won the World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, Bram Stoker Award, Dragon Award, and the Shirley…

  • Author Dahlia Adler and her latest book, At Midnight: 15 Beloved Fairy Tales Reimagined

    Interview With an Author: Dahlia Adler

    Dahlia Adler is an editor of mathematics by day, a book blogger by night, and an author at every spare moment in between. She is the editor of the anthologies His Hideous Heart and That Way Madness…

  • Author James Ramos and his latest book, The Wrong Kind of Weird

    Interview With an Author: James Ramos

    James Ramos (he/they) is a nonbinary, unapologetically dorky Minnesota native who now calls Arizona home. Weaned on a steady diet of science-fiction, comic books, and classic literature, James wrote…


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...