This is the true story of how Dan Savage, a popular sex columnist, and his boyfriend Terry decided to adopt a newborn baby and take on fatherhood.

This was suggested to me as an “irreverent read,” and boy was it! Savage’s frankness about both the adoption experiences and his relationship was refreshingly shocking and eye-opening. I’d happily pick up another of his books.

Phèdre was born and has been trained in the Night Court, which specializes in services of the “night” arts. The unusual red mote in her eye marks her as one pricked by legendary Kushiel himself. As soon as she is old enough, Phèdre enters the service of Anafiel Delaunay’s household, and begins a career in both her distinctive arts and one of political intrigue.

The book’s setting is a world which shares our history only up until the advent of Christianity. Instead, the cards of history fell in a very different way. Readers will recognize Europe and some of its peoples and geographic regions, but it’s very, very different.

After reading The Mists of Avalon, I picked this up to learn more about the “real” King Arthur. There is scant evidence for a king of his legendary magnitude, but many tall tales originate with a spark of truth. We may never know. This is a great resource for discovering more about the Dark Ages in which Arthurian legend began.

For a live album, this was above average, although I didn’t get a chance to watch the accompanying DVD. I’m not a big fan of live albums, so I’m not sure why I keep checking them out! I’m a little puzzled why MCR has decided to abandon tunes from this album—this recording is supposedly the last time these songs will ever be performed. That’s too bad, some of them are amazing.

This album is worth a listen, but I didn’t like it enough to consider purchasing it. Fans of alternative rock will recognize a few of the songs from radio play, and the music video for the song “Here It Goes Again” is a hoot and a half (find it on YouTube).

Worth consuming, but just barely.

What this film really needed was more tormented facial expressions.

I wasn’t impressed after my first listen-through - it’s a far cry from the piano rock of Hopes and Fears - but the album has since grown on me. ‘The Lovers Are Losing’ is my favorite track, I think, but ‘Better Than This’ continues to make me cringe in distaste. Tom Chaplin’s voice doesn’t seem as clear as it used to be.

Sweetsmoke is the Virginia plantation where Cassius has lived his entire life in slavery. Although his relatively elevated status gives him some amount of freedom, such as driving to town alone, he’s still treated with disdain by both his master and fellow slaves. Cassius’ routine is interrupted one day by news that a close friend has been murdered, and he is determined to unravel the truth of the crime, although it means he’ll have to push the limits of his bondage, and therefore risk his life.

Sweetsmoke was a satisfying and educational read, although not overwhelmingly compelling.

After Catholocism becomes outlawed under England’s Henry VIII, a convent in northern England is looted and burned. Alys, a young nun, manages to escape undetected and flees to the decrepit home of Morach, the local wise woman who had once taken her in as an abandoned infant. Alys reluctantly resumes her training with Morach, and as their reputation for healing grows, Alys is summoned to heal the aging local lord, who decides to keep her on as his clerk upon discovering her education. Thus begins Alyns’ ill-fated entanglement with the local ruling family.

Gregory’s weakness in her earlier novels is clearly the unlikability of her heroines. While I felt some sympathy for Alys early on, by the book’s midpoint I began to feel she deserved her misfortunes.

Arthurian Legend, as old as the hills, is given new life in this epic story told from the perspective of the women of Camelot, rather than the men. It was at times both refreshing and shocking, and I was pleasantly surprised to see non-Christian beliefs painted in a frank, sympathetic light. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to pick up this book. It has inspired me to read some of the more traditional Arthurian tales in order to compare them.