On February 24th, 1890, Chicago was chosen to host a world’s fair that celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of the New World. Daniel H. Burnham — who later designed New York City’s famous Flatiron Building — was chosen to put together and lead the group of designers and architects responsible for building the…
Category: Review
Review: Akata Witch
For 12 year-old Sunny, every day is a challenge. She was born in America, but her parents have brought her home to Aba, Nigeria. As an American she’s already the class freak; combined with her albinism, she’s mocked as a witch and has few friends. Things start to change when she meets Orlu, Chichi, and…
Review: The Midnight Assassin
In the early 1880s, the city of Austin, Texas was on the rise. The backwater at the edge of the United States was officially a boom town, complete with over 11,000 citizens, an air-cooled ice cream parlor, and an opera house. The town coffers were full, and the new Capitol building (under construction since 1882)…
Quickie Reviews: Nightmares, Anyone?
You know what I, as someone living with generalized anxiety disorder, just love? Books that scare me so bad I can’t sleep. Ha! But seriously, I’m glad I’m done with these because I literally cannot sleep. Station Eleven This is the first book I read for my first book club meetup (squee!). It was really…
Review: The Martian
When the Ares 3 crew makes an emergency departure from Mars during a windstorm, they do so without their botanist. Mark Watney is killed on the way to the extraction point. But after the dust settles on the red planet, Mark is still alive. For now. He has no way to contact his crew or…