The Fifth Beatle | Author: Vivek J. Tiwary, Illustrator: Andrew C. Robinson with Kyle Baker | Rating: 11/11 | This is the beautifully sad tale of Brian Epstein, the man behind the success of The Beatles – their manager. Brian was a visionary; he was willing to break the mold and thus was able to execute outside the box ideas […]

It | Author: Alexa Chung | Rating: 7/10 | The cover of It by Alexa Chung is a perfect indicator of the contents: sparse, a little weird, but uniquely and effortlessly stylish. Alexa Chung, a fashion darling and the coolest of Cool Girls, gives us glimpses into her thoughts and style inspirations, dishing as candidly as any friend would. Amidst personal doodles […]

Ashenden | Author: Elizabeth Wilhilde | Rating: 7/11 | Chronicling the life of a century old manor house through a multitude of inhabitants and eras, Ashenden weaves a story – or actually several stories – that intertwines with historical incidences, reading like a mixture between “chick lit” and historical fiction. Though the main characters – Charlie and Ros, who have […]

Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite, and the Way to a Meaningful Life | Author: William Deresiewicz | Rating: 10/11 | Have you noticed the increasing numbers of children on antidepressants, or anti-anxiety medication? How about the increasingly stringent admissions standards not only at the Ivy Leagues, but amongst the higher-tier public and state Universities, making the race […]

Y: A Novel | Author: Marjorie Celonaac | Rating: 9/11 | I’ll be the first to admit that, upon reading the description of Celona’s debut novel, Y, I didn’t set my expectations too high. The book jacket told of a baby left at the doorstep of a Vancouver YMCA, and a secondary story involving the mother that gave her away, and my […]

Shadow of Night (Book Two of the All Souls trilogy) | by: Deborah Harkness | Rating: 8/11 | Shadow of Night, the second in the All Souls trilogy and follow-up release to the highly acclaimed A Discovery of Witches, picks up exactly where the first novel leaves off with Diana Bishop and Matthew de Clermont time walking back into Elizabethan […]

Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury | by: Lesley-Ann Jones | Rating: 9.2/11 | Upon completion of Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury there were several mixed feelings about structure and content. Whose version of the story was accurate between all the he said/she said? Why was there so much focus on Queen statistics in a Freddie biography? […]