Best of
Rus
2021
Fade Into the Bright
Jessica Koosed Etting - 2021
Her old life--the one where she was a high school volleyball star with a textbook-perfect future--has been ripped away. Abby and her sister, Brooke, have received a letter from their estranged dad informing them he has Huntington's disease, a fatal, degenerative disorder that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. And when the sisters agree to genetic testing, one of them tests positive.Fleeing to Catalina Island for the summer, Abby is relieved to be in a place where no one knows her tragic history. But when she meets aspiring documentary filmmaker Ben--tall, outdoorsy, easygoing, with eyes that don't miss a thing--she's thrown off her game. Ben's the kind of guy who loves to figure out people's stories. What if he learns hers?
House of Eclipses
Casey L. Bond - 2021
While she has no chance at inheriting her father’s title, what she truly longs for is peace from his unrelenting hatred. Hope builds that she may finally be able to claim that reprieve when a missive arrives from the House of the Moon.The new Lumin, chosen of the moon god, Lumos, seeks to broker peace with the Kingdom of Helios for the first time in ages. He envisions open trade routes and an end to archaic rivalries. His dedication to this cause extends to visions of a union between the two families by marrying one of Aten’s daughters, if one of the matches is a fit. Driven by his own twisted agenda, Noor’s father is willing to sacrifice his daughters as pawns to steal the crown for him to further his despotic reign, pitting sister against sister in a brutal battle for power. But Noor must come out the victor, either by capturing the Lumin’s heart or stealing his crown. For whomever wears the crown of moonlight, holds the power of the moon itself. With such strength at her command, she could finally defeat her tyrannical father.Yet this endeavor cannot be accomplished without great sacrifice. As Noor learns more about Lumin Caelum, guilt over her betrayal consumes her, burning hot as the sun itself. If only he wasn’t kind, and selfless, and exactly what she wanted. If only she had greater dominion over her heart…Can Noor carry out her plan and end her father’s vile reign? Or will unlikely alliances allow a new day to dawn?Praise for House of Eclipses:"A gorgeous journey you'll want to take again and again." ~New York Times bestselling author, Wendy Higgins“Stunning world-building, a fierce heroine, gorgeous writing, and a storyline unlike anything you've ever read. House of Eclipses will pull you in until the very last page.” – Celia McMahon, author of The Unspoken Series“House of Eclipses is full of compelling characters, beautiful worlds full of whimsy and wonder, an edge-of-your-seat storyline, a love story for the ages, and an ending that packs in incredible punch.” – Ethan Gregory, One Guy’s Guide to Good Reads
Nabokov and the Real World: Between Appreciation and Defense
Robert M. Alter - 2021
Nabokov himself spoke a number of times about reality as a term that always has to be put in scare quotes. Consequently, many critics and readers have thought of him as a writer uninterested in the world outside literature. Robert Alter shows how Nabokov was passionately concerned with the real world and its complexities, from love and loss to exile, freedom, and the impact of contemporary politics on our lives.In these illuminating and exquisitely written essays, Alter spans the breadth of Nabokov's writings, from his memoir, lectures, and short stories to major novels such as Lolita. He demonstrates how the self-reflexivity of Nabokov's fiction becomes a vehicle for expressing very real concerns. What emerges is a portrait of a brilliant stylist who is at once serious and playful, who cared deeply about human relationships and the burden of loss, and who was acutely sensitive to the ways political ideologies can distort human values.Offering timeless insights into literature's most fabulous artificer, Nabokov and the Real World makes an elegant and compelling case for Nabokov's relevance today.