BPL Blog
Posted by JGranatino on Fri, Jun 21
Eden Malcolm lies in a hospital bed, unable to communicate or move after an IED killed all his fellow soldiers in the Humvee. His wife Mary stays by his side while their young daughter is cared for by her grandmother, three years after the explosion. She wrestles with her emotions – sorrow for her husband’s condition and anger for his decision to extend his military service. Eden drifts in and out of consciousness in constant pain. Also in attendance, his best friend (the narrator of this story...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Jun 17
Years after the incident at the Overlook hotel, grown up Danny Torance finds solace from his haunted past in the bottle. In an attempt to not become his abusive father, he begins attending AA meetings and trying to better himself. His life really begins to change when he starts to receive messages somehow written on the chalkboard in his bedroom. He soon understands that a young girl with an incredible shine is reaching out to him. She has been deeply troubled with visions of a malicious group...
Posted by JGranatino on Fri, Jun 07
Miracle Submarine is a new company in Miracle Creek, Virginia, established by Pak Yoo who has designed a tube-like chamber delivering 100% oxygen therapy in hopes that this therapy will cure everything from autism to infertility. Pak learned about this technique in Korea, and now that he has joined his wife and daughter in America, they hope this will bring about the fulfillment of the American Dream. However, one night there is an explosion and a woman and a child are killed. An investigation...
Posted by JGranatino on Fri, Jun 07
James Smale has been working as a temp in New York City with dreams of publishing his first novel. One day his agent calls to tell him the manuscript has been picked up by Doubleday and he has scheduled a meeting to meet his new editor. James is nervous enough, but when he is ushered into the conference room, he discovers his editor is Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Star-struck and in awe, James fumbles through his first encounter but is charmed by her wit and poise. Jackie loves the book, a...
Posted by BHanley on Thu, May 30
Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations is a superb treatise on the author’s life, purposefully meandering from childhood to cultural identity, marriage, having children, being an Indian-American, writing, in-laws, the 2016 election, and more. There's a lot of ground covered in this memoir. Its potency is further intensified and enriched by pictures and illustrations. Words can't always capture a look that a singular drawing does. If you were looking for a book or memoir to help process...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, May 20
Nigerian beauty Ayoola doesn’t have a care in the world. Not with her sister Korede always there to clean up her messes. A textbook sociopath, Ayoola is already over her boyfriends’ deaths before they finish bleeding out. Feeling obligated to protect her younger sister, Korede does everything from bleaching blood stains to reminding Ayoola not to post upbeat things on Instagram while her boyfriends are newly “missing.” When Korede’s love interest starts falling for her sister’s beauty, Korede...
Posted by BHanley on Tue, May 14
The Other Americans masterfully examines the aftermath of a patriarch’s violent death and the effects it has on family, colleagues, and community members. Told from a myriad of perspectives, the story begins with the hit-and-run death of Driss, a Moroccan immigrant living in California who owns a restaurant business. Perspectives include Driss’ wife and daughters, the police and detectives, and the business owners next door. Over the course of the novel, each individual character’s...
Posted by BHanley on Wed, May 01
Home Fire is a riveting story about a tight-knit British-Pakistani family of three siblings whose life goals, secrets, and choices bind them together and drive them apart. Isma, the eldest daughter and pseudo-mother, moves to Massachusetts after being offered a professional opportunity. She leaves behind her twin siblings, Aneeka and Parvaiz. Aneeka has started college, while Parvaiz is ambling through life without a clear future. One day, Parvaiz stops communicating with his twin and...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Apr 15
Appropriately known as the Mount Everest of haunted houses, Hell House mentally and physically destroys all who enter. When offered a huge sum of money to research life after death, four people, a physicist, his wife, and two psychic mediums, agree to stay at the abandoned house for one week. With its unique and terrifying history of sins and insanity, the Belasco house’s evil targets each of them individually. From classic poltergeist behavior to more sinister sexual attacks, this house has...
Posted by JGranatino on Thu, Apr 11
In 1930s Malaysia, a young houseboy named Ren has been entrusted with the task of finding his dying master’s severed finger and burying it with his body, enabling the soul to leave the earth. Jin Li, who works for a dressmaker who hides her job as a dancehall girl to help pay off her mother’s mahjong debts, comes upon the mummified finger, and worrying this is a sign of bad luck, she asks her stepfather’s son to help her find the owner of this gruesome souvenir. Meanwhile, a man-eating tiger...
