“Time Travel: A History” by James Gleick – The Birth of the Human Obsession

Release date: September 27, 2016
Publisher: Pantheon
Pages: 352
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James Gleick Asks the Pertinent Questions

To go back or forth in time, travel the fourth dimension, to wind the clock whichever way we want it to... that's one of the many seemingly unachievable wishes all of humanity shares. Mastering our movement through time would definitely make life much easier, but of course, that's a concept that comes with many paradoxes that raise valid questions about its viability. And nevertheless, we don't lose hope and keep on dreaming that some day we'll literally be able to take a walk down memory lane. But when exactly did our obsession with this whole thing start? How did it develop? Is there any actual promise to it, scientifically-speaking? These are all questions that James Gleick has set out to answer in his latest book, Time Travel: A History.

“Kill Process” by William Hertling – Angie and the Electronic Goliath

Release date: May 31, 2016
Publisher: Liquididea Press
Pages: 322
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An Accelerated Evolution

A mere few years ago the term social networks wasn't even a thing because there was really only one, MySpace, and the relative few who used it (at least in comparison to today's social networkers) didn't give it all that much thought or importance. However, fast forward to today and it's impossible to imagine a world that isn't dominated by Facebook feeds, Twitter posts, Instagram snaps and whatever else we may have. We are experiencing an accelerated cultural evolution, to the point where we may very well be the first people who have the ability to feel nostalgic about memories from only five or ten years ago, the first to see countless inventions become obsolete one year after the next. There are some who applaud these advances and claim them to herald a new golden age for technological progress, while on the other hand there are those who pay more attention to the dangers involved.

“A Climbing Stock” by Andrew Hiller – A Deal with the Green Devil

Release date: March 7, 2017
Publisher: Andrew Hiller
Pages: 306
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The Power of Desperation

Most of us like to believe that we have enough integrity not to make any deals with the devil should the opportunity present itself, no matter what offers may be put on the table. Desperation, however, has the power to drastically change our minds and priorities, and it is quite likely that there is a right set of circumstances in which every single person on Earth would sell their soul to the devil. As a matter of fact, making dubious deals with strange and otherworldly creatures is a concept that comes much easier to some than it does to others, as is the case in Andrew Hiller's A Climbing Stock.

“Fields of Fire” by Marko Kloos –The Iron Fist of Humanity Strikes Back

Series: Frontlines
Release date: February 28, 2017
Publisher: 47North
Pages: 302
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Marko Kloos Takes the Fight to the Enemy

While our weapons and tactics may change throughout the ages, it's quite arguable that the nature of war remains the same, plunging ultimately expendable masses into the heart of carnage and chaos. While wars fought between humans feel senseless and childish when viewed from an outside perspective (what other species moves so eagerly towards its own extinction?), knowing the art itself is a necessity... for there may very well come a day when our greatest enemy won't be amongst us, but will rather descend from the skies, as it did in Marko Kloos' acclaimed Frontlines series.

“The Mistress” by Danielle Steel –A Triangle of Obsessions

Release date: January 3, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 336
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Danielle Steel Tackles a Dangerous Romance

The subject of forbidden love is about as old as humanity itself as we have always managed to find factors by which divide ourselves, including skin colour, ethnic origin, religious adherence, social standing, wealth... it's the kind of list that inexhaustibly goes on and on. Nevertheless, it hasn't stopped countless people from trying to jump over those barriers and go for the life they believed fate had planned for them all along. It's a concept so courageous and romantic in its nature that it has tantalized the imaginations of many famous authors throughout the centuries, and continues doing so to this very day, as is evidenced by Danielle Steel's The Mistress.

“The Food of Love” by Amanda Prowse – How to Disappear Into Nothingness

Release date: December 1, 2016
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Pages: 362
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Amanda Prowse's Deep Understanding

The fight against bad food and obesity has been raging in the United States and certain parts of the world for decades now, with seemingly more and more people being afflicted every single year. We've devoted countless resources to this fight, with oh so many trying to push their supplements, diets and exercise plans that promise to be the ultimate solution we've all been waiting for.

However, there is another side to the coin of weight issues that gets seldom explored in the media and popular culture: anorexia/bulimia. While it may seem ridiculous at first glance that people would starve themselves in countries where food is over-abundant, it's a psychological affliction that affects many more people than we realize, especially because of how easy it is to hide it for a long time.

“The Secret Wife” by Gill Paul – A Pendant of Revelations

Release date: August 25, 2016
Publisher: Avon
Pages: 416
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A Royal Family in Royal Peril

The early 20th century was a period of great turbulence in many places around the world, and Russia was certainly one of the more prominent ones with a countrywide revolution taking place in 1917. It was a period of terror, death and chaos, one where many prominent people met their maker at the hands of the Bolsheviks. As far as the royal family goes, it's general knowledge that they were all executed with impunity... but over the decades, some people came forward claiming to be the long-lost children of the Romanov family. Ultimately, their claims could never be verified as true, and coupled with the discovery of additional remains that bore the Romanov genes, the hope for the children's survival is now virtually non-existent. However, the romanticism of the notion that at least one of them survived the massacre or managed to perpetrate the family line in secret is as enthralling today as it was back then, and that was the spark Gill Paul needed to write his acclaimed novel, The Secret Wife.

“Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury – Carnival of Darkness

Release date: 2015
Publisher: Gollancz
Pages: 278
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The Power of Melancholy

Nostalgia is a feeling that comes us over every single one of us at some point or another, whether we're simply lost in the carefree days of our childhood or just daydreaming of a time when things were better. For the most part, we can only experience that feeling in relation to our own past; after all, how can one feel nostalgic for something they never had? Nevertheless, that's exactly what Ray Bradbury does to us in his classic novel Something Wicked This Way Comes: he makes us yearn for a time and a life we've never lived.

“The House by the Lake” by Ella Carey - The Memento of a Bygone Life

Release date: March 29, 2016
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Pages: 256
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The Good Days Before the Storm

World War II is a conflict that needs no introduction, forever marking our history books with a litany of studies dedicated to dissecting every single part of the conflict, studying it and bringing the truth to light. The damage and chaos it caused are unquantifiable, claiming millions upon millions of lives and forever wounding many more. So many were forced to flee and leave behind the things and people that made up their lives until then, essentially becoming stripped of the great parts of their identity that they've worked their whole lives to assemble. When the war finally came to an end, many people tried to return to their lands but too much suffering had been sown into the land; thing would never go back to the way they used to. And so, many people carried souvenirs of a time they knew would never return, a time before the innocent were consumed by war.

“The Blood Mirror” by Brent Weeks – Save the Rotten Empire

Series: Lightbringer
Release date: October 25, 2016
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 704
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Brent Weeks Powers On

Brent Weeks brought us the Lightbringer series a few years ago, and at the start it was supposed to be a trilogy. However, as is likely to happen with successful science-fiction series, Weeks chose to extend the story beyond what he had originally planned, and at the moment there are supposed to be five books to it... until further notice, of course. We've already looked at the other books in the trilogy (The Black Prism , The Blinding Knife and The Broken Eye) and so I'm not going to spend too much time talking about the kind of world we're being thrown into, but for the more forgetful ones among us, here's a brief recap of what the whole thing is about.

The universe created by Weeks is one where magic and technology merge together, where civilizations battle each other across intergalactic wars involving supremely powerful beings and more deceit, cunning, smoke and mirrors than a Copperfield show. There are many players involved in the plots and stories, but the real main characters are Gavin Guile, a former Prism and emperor, and his bastard son, Kip. Any how, let us go further into what this book has in store for us.

“Killing the Rising Sun” by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard – Triumph of the American Eagle

Release date: September 13, 2016
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Pages: 336
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The Second World War is one of those historical periods that will undoubtedly be studied over and over again for decades, if not centuries to come. Even with all the memories and records that were lost to war and destruction we are still digging up more and more information to fill our textbooks and libraries with. For very good reasons, the European theatre of war is the primary subject of focus for most people who are interested in that period; after all, it's where everything began and many of the most important decisions were made. While America's conflict with Japan near the end of the war usually gets glossed over in general terms amounting to Pearl Harbour, Iwo Jima, and nuclear bomb.

“From a Paris Balcony” by Ella Carey – Surf the Timeless Waves of Parisian Love

Release date: October 11, 2016
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Pages: 298
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Paris is one of those rare cities with a reputation bigger than itself. No matter where you go in the world, Paris will always stand as a symbol of France, love, and probably croissants for some people. No matter how many years pass, what events shake it up or which people come and go from it, the city always retains a certain spirit, or an atmosphere if you will. It's that kind of romanticism that drew countless people in from all corners of the world, leading them on grand quests for love and happiness until the end of time. Some succeed, others fail, but none can deny the all-powerful allure of the ageless capital, just like Sarah West couldn't in From a Paris Balcony by Ella Carey.