Fantasy

The Guardians of Erum is a Middle East inspired fantasy novel about djinns, occultists, metaphor, faith, and political uprising. And for a fantasy novel, it is more firmly rooted in reality than most. However, one of the many reasons that I love to read is to experience new places and new cultures. On that score, this book is utterly fascinating. And much to his credit, author Ali Hasan Ali really succeeds in rendering this world – a great city of Erum in the Middle East – with the perfect description of places.

A giant wishtree named Red guides us through this sweet story. Every year in May, people come from all over to whisper and tie their wishes, hopes, and dreams to Red’s limbs.

I would describe Music Men: Badoga as a graphic novel without pictures. From the breathtaking prologue through the final page, it is action, action, action. This makes for a pretty quick read, although I personally found that trying to visualize all the choreography of the scenes occasionally got a little exhausting.

In Circe by Madeline Miller, author weaves her characters into the situations we've all come across a time or two in the canon or through various pop culture references, but her integration is so seamless that it only enhances the original works.

The Big Day by Blasquez Figueroa was amazing! It was a pretty quick read, not only because of its length but because the author does not waste words;