Logs of the Written Word

Logs of the Written Word

Archive for category *Author

White Witch, Black Curse

Aug 7

Posted by Stephanie in Harrison Kim


Book Name: White Witch, Black Curse
Author: Kim Harrison
ISBN: 9780061138027
Publisher: EOS

This one made me tear up more than once. We finally learn how and why Kisten was killed. Rachel gets herself into more trouble while fighting a banshee and the banshee’s weird family. We find out where Ivy’s wish from the first book went and we meet a ghost named Pierce who’s had a crush on Rachel since she was 18. I really like that nothing seems to go right for Rachel and I keep hoping that she’ll finally get a break. And I’m really sad that I have to wait a while to pick up the next one and find out how she gets out from under both Al and the coven that has it in for her.

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The Outlaw Demon Wails

Aug 1

Posted by Stephanie in Harrison Kim


Book Name: The Outlaw Demon Wails
Author: Kim Harrison
ISBN: 9780061149825
Publisher: EOS

So happy to have another book from The Hollows series to jump right into. I think For a Few Demons More is still the strongest in the series, but this one was no less entertaining. Still mourning the death of someone very close to her, Rachel Morgan learns something shocking about herself, and her mom and dad. And then there’s the “usual” list of demon wrangling, a trip into the Ever-After with Jenks to save Trent’s sorry butt. And a potential new love. These books are entertaining as hell and I’m always sorry to finish one.

What I enjoy most about them is that not only are Rachel and Ivy strong independent women who have to solve the problems their flawed existences put them into, but Harrison has created a world we can all identify with. A world that is rich with all the tensions we humans deal with while trying to do more than just live, but to thrive. That Rachel calls down more problems on herself while trying to do the right thing, all the while doubting herself, is one of the big reasons I am drawn to these books. These books aren’t only about the universal themes of “Good vs. Evil” and love and friendship, they’re also about the choices we have to make to protect ourselves and the people we love, and how those choices often look like the wrong one to others. Rachel isn’t the most graceful of heroines but she’s got to be the one with the biggest heart.

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For a Few Demons More

Jul 25

Posted by Stephanie in Harrison Kim


Book Name: For a Few Demons More
Author: Kim Harrison
ISBN: 9780061149818
Publisher: Harper Collins

This was probably the best of the series so far. Rachel Morgan is a flawed witch, in fact it’s sometimes hard to remember she’s not human, which is one of the strengths of Kim Harrison’s writing. In For a Few Demons More, Rachel faces demons, literal and metaphorical, as she tracks down who is killing random Werefolk in Cincinnati and tries to keep an all out war between Interland Species and demons from breaking out. Her losses and near losses are deeply personal as she learns more about what it is to love and protect those around her. What I like most about this series is how Harrison makes us believe that Rachel’s world does exist and makes us care deeply about what happens to it. She also has a way of making me stay up way past my bedtime because I have to know what happens next.

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A History of God: the 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity And Islam

Jul 18

Posted by Stephanie in Armstrong, Karen, Religion/Spirituality


Book Name: A History of God: the 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity And Islam
Author: Karen Armstrong
ISBN: 9780345384560
Publisher: Ballantine

This book is chewy and full of big ideas. Connecting the history of the “Big Three,” Armstrong describes the evolution of the ideas of God, Christ and al-Lah over 4,000 years. Always asking, “How did Believers come by their ideas?” and “Where do Believers go from ‘here.” This is a good one for Searchers to have in their library.

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New to the Stacks

Jun 6

Posted by Stephanie in Gabaldon, Diana, Historical Fiction, New to the Stacks

Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon

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Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

May 31

Posted by Stephanie in Gabaldon, Diana, Historical Fiction


Book Name: Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade
Author: Diana Gabaldon
ISBN: 9780385337496
Publisher: Delacorte Press

Ah, mid-eighteenth century when it was illegal to be gay, to the point of being hanged for it in the public square. Even worse was shaming the family honor by being some form of officer in the Queen’s army and titled. Forget the mystery surrounding Lord John Grey’s father’s murder (once thought to be suicide), this is the story of Lord John’s affair with his stepbrother as a substitute for his unrequited love for the very straight (and disgusted by the thought) Jamie Fraser (star of The Outlander series). Gabaldon writes about the joys of being in love and the physical sensations of that love (without being exceedingly graphic) and the pain of living a double life. There’s something about Gabaldon’s books that makes me read them almost straight through and then wish for more.

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God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails To Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer

May 30

Posted by Stephanie in Ehrman Bart, Religion/Spirituality

Book Name: God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails To Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer
Author: Bart Ehrman
ISBN: 9781607510659
Publisher: HarperOne

I’ve been wanting to read Ehrman’s work for quite a while, and this one did not disappoint. In God’s Problem Dr. Ehrman delineates the several kinds of suffering in the Bible; suffering because Believers turned away from God and His law, suffering because Believers are His chosen people, suffering to prove God’s greatness (i.e. Job), etc. Each level can be backed up with passages from the Bible, but what Ehrman does is point out where these themes of suffering clash with each other, and with life as we know it. Further, Ehrman contextualizes it in terms of the historic placement within society at the time of the biblical writing and compares it to how modern society (and Christians) view these writings. While Ehrman offers these comparisons, he’s not afraid to say that no one knows for sure why suffering happens and frequently wonders how if God is so loving, how He can let such horrendous things occur in our world. A question older than the writings in the Bible itself. Based on this book, I know I’ll be reading more of Ehrman’s work.

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New to the Stacks

May 8

Posted by Stephanie in Armstrong, Karen, Fantasy, Gaiman, Neil, Historical Fiction, New to the Stacks, Religion/Spirituality

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Jesus, Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
Farewell, My Queen by Chantal Thomas
Review – A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Karen Armstrong

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A Fistful of Charms

May 6

Posted by Stephanie in Fantasy, Harrison Kim


Book Name: A Fistful of Charms
Author: Kim Harrison
ISBN: 9780060788193
Publisher: EOS

First, Ms. Harrison and / or EOS needs to get a better proofreader. There were several grammatical mistakes which slowed the flow of reading. Also disconcerting, in what I thought was a big mistake but isn’t, was the difference between Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw) and Mackinaw City. As the characters moved between the two, the subtle difference was lost on me. I’ll put that down to ignorance on my part.

Harrison characters continue to evolve in rich and complex ways. Rachel encounters her own pattern of emotionally destructive relationships when she confronts her ex-boyfriend. She also adds Were alpha to her roster of titles. She continues to learn new and interesting things about her powers and her friendships with Ivy and Jenks become deeper and more complex. Nothing’s easy in Rachel’s life but she handles them, if not with grace and aplomb, very well all the while admitting she often has no idea what she’s gotten herself into. Harrison’s Rachel Morgan is an all too human witch and that’s a bit part of her appeal. I enjoyed this one as much as the previous books in the series, although I teared up unexpectedly at several points on the story.

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Every Which Way but Dead

Apr 11

Posted by Stephanie in Fantasy, Harrison Kim, Mystery/Suspense

Book Name: Every Which Way but Dead
Author: Kim Harrison
ISBN: 9780060572990
Publisher: Eos

Just as much fun as the other books in this series. More complications in Rachel’s personal life, of course, and more difficult jobs. It’s nice to see the characters, especially Rachel, evolve and grow as they discover more about themselves, their relationships and their skill set. Waiting impatiently to get my hands on more!

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