The "N" in New Jersey Stands for Noir

by Amy Garveyon Stephanie Plum

I’m a card-carrying, lifelong book addict. If you catch me out and about minus a book in my bag, it’s a sure sign the world is ending. Even so, there are a lot of books out there, you know? (And I do know, because some days it seems like half of them are in the towering to-be-read pile, more correctly called a tower, that lives in my bedroom. And has spawned several offspring in other parts of the house.) Somehow, despite the fact that I lived for nine years just across the river from Trenton and love kick-ass heroines, it took me a while to find Stephanie Plum.

I’m not sure what I was expecting. Fun, certainly. A little romance, a little sex, a little action, all of which are right up my alley when it comes to a good read. I mean, how can you go wrong with a female … read more»

Recent Free Essays (Still Available!)

Available Until
Fri 10/25

Introduction: In Praise of Living History

by James Lowderon A Song of Ice and Fire

In August 1996, when A Game of Thrones first hit store shelves, the speculative fiction cognoscenti thought they knew what they had before them. For more than two decades, George R.R. Martin had been producing consistently smart, finely crafted prose in the service of predictably unpredictable plots. Industry insiders, along … read more»

Available Until
Thu 10/24

What Harry and Fawkes Have in Common

by Misty K. Hook, Ph.D.on Harry Potter

The world of Harry Potter is a very dark place indeed. It starts with the murders of Lily and James Potter and the attempted murder of one-year-old Harry. Thus, even in the first scene of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, we glimpse the terrible grief that will permeate Harry … read more»

Available Until
Wed 10/23

Would You Want to Be One of Artemis's Hunters?

by Carolyn MacCulloughon Percy Jackson and the Olympians

If given the option of eternal youth, my guess is that nine out of ten women would take it. After all, Oil of Olay, Revlon, and Lanc´me, among others, have spent millions of dollars in ad campaigns trying to convince us that we can purchase it in just one small … read more»

Available Until
Tue 10/22

The Evils of Hating...Um, Evil

by Amy Berneron Supernatural

“I love this life because it’s all black and white. There’s no maybe. You find the bad thing, you kill it. Most people spend their lives in shades of gray, but not us.”

–Gordon Walker, “Bloodlust” (2-3)

Let’s say that you have a demon hunter who is dedicated, smart, resourceful, … read more»