Blog Archives
Amongst Embers and Ashes
Amongst Embers and Ashes tells the story of Scarlet, a girl raised on an isolated farm who learns she is a pyro elemental. Her quiet life collapses as secrets spill open. She is taken from the only home she has known and thrown into a kingdom where politics, power, and fear swirl around her. The book follows her as she meets the other elementals, discovers the truth behind her past, and feels the weight of a world that both wants and fears her. The tale blends magic, trauma, and coming-of-age moments into a journey that keeps tilting between warm hope and sharp dread.
I felt swept up right away. The writing has this fast pulse to it, almost like Scarlet’s own nerves buzzing under the surface. Scenes crackle with emotion. Little moments hit hard, such as Scarlet lighting her fingertips so she can see in the dark, or the tight, bitter silence that fills the farmhouse during dinner. The dialogue feels natural and messy. People talk over each other. They misunderstand each other. I found that refreshing. The story leans into the confusion of being young and scared, and the author does not tidy it up. Sometimes Scarlet’s thoughts spiral in a way that feels raw and very emotional.
I liked the theme of being labeled dangerous before you even understand who you are. Scarlet’s guilt sits like a stone in her chest, and I could feel its weight while reading. The contrast between her rough farm life and the polished castle made me think about how power works and who gets to feel safe. I also enjoyed the mix of elemental magic with political tension. It gave the world a lot of texture, even in quiet scenes. The pacing is fast, and the energy of the story pulled me along, and I found myself caring more about the characters than the neatness of the plot. That says a lot about how well the emotional core is written.
This book would be great for readers who love character-driven fantasy, especially those who enjoy stories about teens pushed into roles they never asked for. If you like magic mixed with messy feelings, or if you want a tale that hits close to the heart, then Amongst Embers and Ashes is an easy recommendation.
Pages: 362 | ASIN : B0F2ZFDN9W
The Atlas of Elsewhere
The Atlas of Elsewhere follows Elsie Vine, a quiet librarian whose life has grown too small for her spirit, even if she has not admitted that to herself yet. When a mysterious atlas appears in her library, filled with living maps and impossible worlds, it pulls her into a journey that is as much inward as outward. Each realm she enters reflects a part of her identity. Scale, emotion, memory, choice. All of it blends into a story that feels half fantasy and half self-examination. It is a tale about possibility, courage, and the stubborn tenderness of becoming someone new.
I loved how the story plays with imagination in a practical world. The magical pieces feel warm and handmade. Nothing grand in a showy way. More like pockets of wonder stitched into the edges. I kept getting caught on the gentle humor, too. The philosophical beetle made me grin, and the Cartographer made me feel oddly comforted. I kept thinking about all the places in my own life where I have chosen the chair instead of the door.
The emotional honesty kept pulling me back to this book again and again. The fragility in Elsie’s choices felt real. The regret, the soft longing, the almost childlike ache to believe that something impossible might still be waiting. I got swept up in it. I found myself rooting for her, not in a heroic way, but in a human way. I wanted her to remember her own size. I wanted her to walk through every door, even when it scared her. The writing made me feel that, and it has been a while since a book did that so simply and directly.
The Atlas of Elsewhere reminded me a bit of The Night Circus in the way quiet magic slips into ordinary life and stirs something deep and unexpected. I would recommend The Atlas of Elsewhere to anyone who loves quiet fantasy, reflective journeys, or soft magic that grows out of everyday life. It is perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven tales and for anyone who has ever felt stuck in their own routine and wondered what might happen if they finally picked the door instead of the chair.
Pages: 198 | ASIN : B0FRC44BRZ
Students on the Margins
The Elephant in the Ivy follows a theater student at an Ivy League campus whose playful interdepartmental spy game blurs into real danger, exposing how performance, power, and privilege shape identity and loss. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I had a couple of influences here. First, I had some students a long time ago when I was a middle school teacher that really inspired me. I wanted to imagine what they’d be like in college, and the whole set-up is a metaphor for the kinds of challenges that students on the margins face. Second, I currently teach at a community college, working with students that are often coming back to school after a long break. This population benefits from reassurance that they are “real” college students, that this community is here for them. Alison is a scholarship student in the Ivy League. Her feeling out of place and finding her own ground to stand on– that’s something I see a lot from community college students.
How did your background or observations of academic life influence the book’s tone and details?
College can be a setting where marginalized populations don’t feel welcome. A lot of that comes from the standard dialect being enforced in classrooms. I learned to talk like my teachers and my privileged peers when I was a scholarship student, but I never felt that ownership of the space that others seemed to feel. With Alison, I wanted to show the audience what outsiders feel like in this setting. It’s only when she stumbles upon the game that she starts to see the university as her own space. I think college can be a wonderful place to find your footing, to find something you’re passionate about that makes you want to dig your heels in. For me, it was building sets for the theatre department.
The novel balances humor with real grief and danger. How did you know when to let scenes stay light and when to let them turn dark?
My default is probably light. I’m a funny person, and I make light of most everything. I think there’s even some good jokes in the scene where Alison has to mother her mother. I make the case that Hamlet could be a comedy if you played it for laughs. I actually did that. I played Hamlet and hammed up the stuff I thought was funny. The local papers didn’t like it much, but I did get laughs. The world has light moments and sobering ones, too. I guess I just tried to be Rainbow Rowell during the hard ones, and P. G. Wodehouse the rest of the time. Taking a low-stakes thing and giving it higher stakes by making characters want what they want even harder– that’s a Wodehous move, I think.
What conversations do you hope students, educators, or first-time readers have after finishing the book?
Well, I very much hope I covered the bases of the stuff that’s in literature. Something to say, and a long-form story that says it. A nice mix of passages, characters, and literary devices that serve as metaphors for the big ideas. I’m hoping that the book being free is helpful so that classrooms can take advantage and have one less hurdle to take on. I hope they read it in class and then just stop when it reminds them of something– a life experience, another story, a concept from class. And that they chat about that a bit, and then move on. I think that’s what it takes to become a stronger reader: a place and time dedicated to reading, a community to read with, and someone to talk to about the book.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website
Alison Ashe is a junior at Bauer. A scholarship kid, a theatre major, strapped for cash and even more strapped for time; she’s easily annoyed and something about her privileged peers really wigs her out. But unlike most of her peers, Alison has an outlet where starting on third base doesn’t do anyone any favors. Ancient and secret, Bauer is home to a spy game of sorts. A game where all that matters is that your wits are sharp and you’re willing to take big risks. And, of course, who you trust.
All proceeds for The Elephant in the Ivy are used to purchase books for classrooms. Teachers are invited to reach out to the author to participate in this program.
Praise for The Elephant in the Ivy:
“It’s a real book!” -Danyelle Khmara, Arizona Public Media
“A rollicking heist of a book. Alison Ashe will trick you, and you’ll thank her for it.” -Grace Olsen, WMHC Radio
Written with support from Pima Open Digital Press, an open educational resource initiative at Pima Community College.
The Elephant in the Ivy
The Elephant in the Ivy by Alexander Greengaard is a playful campus spy story that blends secret games, academic life, and personal loss. The book follows Alison Ashe, a theater student at an Ivy League school, who plays a hidden espionage game between departments. What starts as lighthearted intrigue grows into something darker. Stakes rise. Friendships strain. Death becomes real. The story moves through classrooms, quads, dorms, and late-night walks while asking how much performance and pretense shape real life.
I enjoyed the writing style a lot. It felt loose and confident. The voice has humor and warmth. I laughed often. I also felt a pit in my stomach more than once. The dialogue snaps. The inner thoughts feel honest and messy. I liked how the book never tried to sound smart for the sake of it. It trusted the reader. The pacing worked for me. Some scenes flew by. Others lingered in a good way. I felt close to Alison.
I kept thinking about performance and identity when reading this book. Everyone in the story plays a role. Students act like spies. Professors play at authority. Institutions play at fairness. The game mirrors real power structures and privilege. That resonated with me. The book talks about gender and class without lecturing. It just shows you. I felt anger at times. I felt joy too. I liked that the book respected fun and silliness while still taking emotions seriously. That balance is hard, and the author pulled it off.
I would recommend The Elephant in the Ivy to readers who want something smart. It is great for people easing back into reading. It is also good for students and educators who enjoy stories about school life with a twist. If you like humor, secret worlds, and characters who feel real and flawed, this book is worth your time.
Pages: 167 | ASIN: B0FXS7BVPK
Bathed in Ink and Blood
Bathed in Ink and Blood opens as a dark, magic-laced fantasy that follows two threads: Noddum’s brutal clash with Brist, the infamous Butcher of Greenlake, and the quieter, more intimate story of twins Dacre and Esmee as they undergo the Test that reveals their signamantic abilities. Right away, the book establishes itself as epic fantasy with grimdark edges, mixing the political tension of a kingdom cracking at the seams with the personal stakes of people trying to survive systems that see them as tools or threats.
Reading it felt like slipping into a world that’s heavy with history. The magic system built around ink, brands, and carved symbols is vivid and tactile. I found myself leaning in during sections, partly because the author writes pain and power in a way that’s blunt but also strangely tender. The early chapters around Dacre and Esmee hit me hardest. Their innocence, their hope, and then the slow realization that their mother may have just sold them made my stomach drop. Author Robert Laymon doesn’t rush those moments. He lets them sit, lets them ache. It works.
On the other side of the story, Brist’s chapters are sharp and unsettling. He’s haunted, vengeful, messy, and written in a way that made me feel both wary of him and weirdly sympathetic. His scenes drip with tension. Even when he’s still, the writing hums. I appreciated how the author doesn’t treat violence like spectacle. It’s brutal, sure, but it’s also shaped by emotion, regret, and purpose. The dynamic between Brist and the people around him feels lived-in, like a group stitched together by survival rather than trust. It adds weight to the plot and makes his arc more interesting than a simple revenge story.
Raya is an interesting character because she starts out feeling overlooked in a family obsessed with power, but she slowly shows how strong and capable she is. We see flashes of her compassion, like when she notices how her father mistreats the servants, and those moments make it clear she’s nothing like the rest of the Adans. I think Raya is a standout character whose quiet resilience, empathy, and determination make her compelling.
By the time the two storylines start bending toward each other, the world feels wide and dangerous. The writing style helps with that. It’s clear but atmospheric, not bogged down by jargon, and the pacing keeps you moving. Some chapters are quiet and reflective. Others are teeth-clenching. The mix makes the book feel grounded, even when the magic flares bright.
If you like fantasy that leans dark but stays character-driven, with a magic system that feels both fresh and gritty, this will likely hit the spot. Fans of grimdark, epic fantasy, and stories that explore power, loyalty, and the price of survival will probably enjoy Bathed in Ink and Blood the most.
Pages: 439 | ASIN : B0FLRP6TYX
Mosswood Apothecary
Mosswood Apothecary is a cozy fantasy novel that follows Rowan Mosswood, a gentle, anxious botanical alchemist who accidentally grows invasive fungi during exams and packs dirt in his suitcase because it helps him think. After barely securing his graduation, he’s sent north to Frostfern Valley to study the region’s dwindling magic. What he finds there isn’t just a research assignment. It’s a quiet mountain town with withering crops, a long-abandoned greenhouse, a warm carpenter named Jimson, and a community that slowly becomes his home. The book blends slice-of-life pacing, soft magic, queer romance, and small-town healing, ending with Rowan opening his own apothecary and saying yes to a wooden ring carved from the oldest tree in the forest. It’s all very tender and very intentional.
The writing is simple in the best way: unhurried, a little vulnerable, and often funny without trying too hard. The worldbuilding leans more cozy than epic, even though the setting includes universities, automatons, and intricate alchemical sigils. What grounded me most were the sensory details that weren’t flashy: dirt under Rowan’s nails, windows iced in delicate patterns, the smell of elderflower tea hanging from the rafters.
I also loved how the story lets Rowan be soft. In so much fantasy, magic is about power or destiny, but here it feels like craft, patience, and care. Rowan’s magic grows wilder and more unpredictable the farther north he goes, and instead of turning that into a high-stakes threat, the author uses it to show how Rowan is changing, too. The romance builds the same way. Jimson isn’t swoony in a scripted sense; he’s solid, warm, and fully part of the town’s rhythm. Their relationship grows like something planted, slow at first, then steady, then suddenly blooming so clearly that by the time the Winter Festival proposal arrives, it just feels right. Even the townsfolk, with their worn-down farms and quiet pride, become part of Rowan’s chosen family, which gives the whole book the emotional softness of queer cozy fantasy at its best.
Mosswood Apothecary feels like TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea crossed with the gentle, craft-centered magic of Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes, delivering a story that’s just as warm, queer, and quietly transformative. If you enjoy cozy fantasy, queer romance, or stories where magic supports character growth rather than overshadowing it, this book will be completely your vibe. It’s especially lovely if you like narratives about chosen family, rural communities, and soft magic that feels more herbal than explosive.
Pages: 392 | ASIN : B0FH5L8X2F
Life Lessons and Tales of Little MisFit: LIFE IS LIKE A FOUNTAIN – IT HAS UPS (Opportunities and Successes) AND DOWNS (Disappointments and Failures)
Life Is Like a Fountain, the third installment in Dr. S. K. Grunin’s Life Lessons and Tales of Little Misfit series, is a warm and lively middle-grade memoir-style story that follows Ivy Sue Klutz, better known as Little MisFit, through the ups and downs of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. The book blends personal storytelling, gentle humor, and clear life lessons as Ivy navigates new classrooms, shifting friendships, family moments on the farm, city adventures, and the kind of inner changes that come with growing up. Grunin frames the whole journey around a simple but effective idea: life is like a fountain with high arcs and sudden drops, and you learn to move with both.
Some of the moments are sweet, some are chaotic, and a few are downright painful, but the writing keeps everything light enough for young readers while still feeling honest. I liked that Grunin allowed Ivy to be imperfect. She gets jealous. She pushes boundaries. She gets hurt a lot. But she also pays attention to the world, whether she’s discovering biographies of Galileo and Madame Curie, exploring Chicago for the first time, or learning how disappointment can turn into confidence if you give it time. Those scenes from the farm mixed with the scenes of the city create a nice balance, almost like stepping between two different seasons in the same life.
I also appreciated the author’s choice to keep the lessons clear without making them heavy. The book’s genre sits somewhere between children’s fiction and inspirational coming-of-age, and it uses that space well. Ivy’s story isn’t polished into something unreal. She struggles with changing friendships, tough teachers, her own temper, and even major national events, like learning about President Kennedy’s assassination in class. There were times when the writing made me smile, especially during her mischievous moments, and other times when I felt that familiar pinch of remembering what it was like to be twelve and trying hard to seem brave.
Life Is Like a Fountain invites adults to read alongside kids, to share stories, and to talk about the things that shape us. I’d recommend this book most to young readers in upper elementary or middle school, as well as parents, grandparents, teachers, and mentors who want something heartfelt to read together. If you enjoy character-driven coming-of-age stories with gentle guidance woven in, Book 3 of the Little MisFit series is an easy and uplifting choice.
Pages: 81 : ASIN : B0DVC469KW
In Black & White & Color
Shamrock McShane’s novel In Black & White & Color serves as a vivid time capsule. It transports the reader directly to the American mid-century. The story follows Daniel “Danny” Finnegan. He grows up in Oak Park, Illinois. This is a suburb of Chicago. The narrative spans his childhood in the 1950s through his adolescence in the turbulent 1960s. We watch Danny navigate the strict rules of his Irish-Catholic upbringing. He deals with family dynamics. His older brother goes to Vietnam. His younger brother battles epilepsy. The plot is not a straight line. It is a collection of memories. These memories mix personal struggles with massive historical shifts. We see the Kennedy assassination. We witness the Civil Rights movement. The book illustrates a boy’s loss of innocence and mirrors the nation’s loss of innocence.
I found the writing style to be incredibly distinct. It feels disjointed, which mimics the chaotic nature of memory itself. McShane uses a stream-of-consciousness approach, which keeps the pace fast. I felt swept up in the rush of names and places. The author lists sports figures and movie stars and mentions local landmarks. This creates a dense atmosphere that feels authentic. Sometimes the lack of structure was challenging for me. However, I think this serves the story well as it puts you right inside Danny’s confused mind. The transition from the black-and-white morality of the 50s to the complex technicolor of the 60s is handled well. I enjoyed the specific pop culture references. They made the setting feel alive.
The emotional core of the book struck a chord with me. It is heavy with guilt. Danny carries a profound weight on his shoulders. He worries about sin. He feels responsible for things out of his control. I appreciated the raw honesty regarding prejudice. The characters are not perfect. They use offensive language. They hold racist views. This was uncomfortable to read, but it felt necessary for the time period. It exposes the hypocrisy of the suburban “good life.” I felt sad for Danny as his heroes failed him. The sports stars fade away. The realization that adults do not have all the answers is painful. I connected with that sense of disillusionment.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy character studies. It is perfect for history buffs. If you are interested in the 1960s, you should pick this up. It captures the specific mood of that era perfectly. It is not a traditional novel. It is more like a collage. Fans of coming-of-age stories will find a lot to like here.
Pages: 284 | ASIN: B0G1LQQTX9
LITERARY TITAN 