Book reviews

The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family - the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors - hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace.

But that god cannot be contained forever.

A heartwarming story about family, friendship and finding your inner fire.

Between bullies at school and changes at home, Charlie Challinor finds life a bit scary. And when he's made guardian of a furry fox cub called Cadno, things get a whole lot scarier.

Because Cadno isn't just any fox: he's a firefox -- the only one of his kind -- and a sinister hunter from another world is on his trail.

Swept up into an unexpected adventure to protect his flammable friend, Charlie's going to need to find the bravery he never thought he had, if he's going to save the last firefox .

Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy.

It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists ascent, a prelude to fame.

When Athena Greydon’s fiancé ends their engagement, she has no choice but to move into the Spite House she recklessly bought him as a wedding gift. Which is a problem, for several reasons: The house, originally built as a brick middle finger to the neighbors, is only ten feet wide. Her ex’s home is literally attached to hers. And Dr. Matthew Vine the Freaking Third—AKA the uptight, judgy jerk who convinced his younger brother to leave her—is living on her other side, only a four-foot alley away.

Imagine a race of immortal beings possessed of seemingly limitless superhuman abilities. Once worshipped as gods, this fantastic group left Earth to explore the stars after warring with the Greek, Roman and Norse pantheons for supremacy over humankind. They are the Eternals, and they are just one part of a cosmic mythology. Their opposites - the Deviants - also secretly populate the Earth, while the towering cosmic entities that created both - the Celestials - are fated to arrive and judge our planet. This is but the beginning of an epic cosmology of gods and men that sprang forth from the limitless imagination of Jack "King" Kirby, the co-creator of Captain America, the X-Men, the Avengers and more.

"The Book of Humans" tells the story of how we became the creatures we are today, bestowed with the unique ability to investigate what makes us who we are. Illuminated by the latest scientific discoveries, it is a thrilling compendium of what unequivocally fixes us as animals, and reveals how we are extraordinary among them.

Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger - these are some of luminaries into whose troubled lives Benjamin Labatut thrusts the reader, showing us how they grappled with the most profound questions of existence.

They have strokes of unparalleled genius, alienate friends and lovers, descend into isolation and insanity.

Some of their discoveries reshape human life for the better; others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. The lines are never clear.

Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift. Until it became a prison... But can a student stand against an empire?

An incendiary novel from award-winning author R.F. Kuang about the power of language, the violence of colonialism, and the sacrifices of resistance.

Each morning, the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to one another. The Professor may not remember what he had for breakfast, but his mind is still alive with elegant mathematical equations from the past. He devises clever maths riddles ? based on her shoe size or her birthday ? and the numbers reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her ten-year-old son. With each new equation, the three lost souls forge an affection more mysterious than imaginary numbers, and a bond that runs deeper than memory.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.