Hush, Hush is a whirlwind of passion, character and common human struggles—I loved every word on every page. The momentum never stopped as Fitzpatrick wove in her intricate back story of fallen angels and half human half breeds in danger to just about everyone, even themselves. I found myself racing from the end of each chapter to the beginning of the next. The dialogue popped. The suspense sent my heart in a flurry of panic for Nora, our heroine. And Patch? Well, I’m sort of a sucker for the dark type of guy who can make a conversation pretty interesting.

 My first love has always been urban fantasy type stories. I like the mix of real life and the subtle scattering of magical possibility. I wonder. I dream. And I hope for the what-if.

My next favorite pick rests solely on my love for the story of Persephone. I’ve studied her myth since childhood. I’ve been to Butler University where her beautiful statue stands in Holcomb garden.

All the characters in Abandon, felt different and interesting. Not to mention, the first page jumped right out with a strong voice and pulled me into the story of Pierce’s near death experience. I understood her fear in living with the reality of dying, coming back to life and not being able to tell the details to anyone because they made her sound crazy. I think we can all relate to feeling crazy at times and wondering if the world will ever believe what we think. In my mind, Meg opens up some great questions about human character in a unique structure I hadn’t seen before—how she jumped between the worries, the internal sorting of her character’s thoughts, and the present moment, blew my mind. It felt messy and random, exactly how I remember feeling at that age, and for that, I loved it. I love unconventional. Gertrude Stein’s story of Three Lives taught me a great deal about breaking conventions. I felt like Meg Cabot did the same for Pierce, the Heroine in the book.

The environment was great too—an island existing around the legend of the Death deity’s transition from his own life into the Afterworld.

I’m definitely a sucker for a girl in a strange new life, after coming back to life, and finding out a dark and dreamy immortal angel has been in love with her, has been secretly protecting her, and she doesn’t know why. Needless to say, I can’t wait for the third installment in the series.

Let’s talk serious. Mark Twain. What is Man. I fell in love with the book while finishing up my Education degree at Rockhurst University. I wrote a huge research paper reviewing my thoughts on the book. Its dark nature. Its creative twists. All of Twain’s thoughts about life and humanity are written in fictional voices and imaginary characters. One of the pieces as I recall, is a letter written from an Angel.

Twain tells the reader he could be wrong. I like that, “I am not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts.”
― Mark Twain, What Is Man?

Twain’s style bites in this book with humor, satire, and can even burn you if you’re not careful. I like a challenge. And while reading his works, his biographies, and learning a little about his life, I saw him much like a painter. Never take art at face value. Interpretation is always left to the observer. Who will ever understand the painting except the artist?

When I was an art student, I loved pen and ink and pencil work. The funny thing? When my teachers asked me the story behind my pictures, I often made up the inspiration right on the spot.  I’m a strange sort of reader or painter or writer. When I’m doing these things, I feel.  I’m in that moment, I live that moment, and it changes the next time I visit again. You may disagree, and that’s okay.

I don’t have to agree with Twain either. He makes me laugh at myself though, and I want to laugh when I read. I want to feel something. And as hard as his words come at you in his short pieces, that’s his world. Not mine. Not yours. But a way to relate to a different view. And some of it makes me scratch my head and wonder what a day in the life of Mark Twain might have been about. That’s what makes this book so great in my eyes.