Question of the Week: What fictional setting would you like to travel to?

Confession: I recently watched Austenland on a plane and it got me thinking about iconic book settings and if I'd ever travel to one like Jane did in Austenland (which is also a fabulous book). While I'm not obsessed with Mr. Darcy nor interested in traveling to the Regency-era, there are a few settings I wouldn't mind visiting including1960's Norvelt, Pennsylvania as portrayed in Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos and 2044 in Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. What fictional setting would you like to travel to?

Shining a Light in Dark Places

"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must also be present."  ~Francis Bacon

There's nothing as satisfying as a fast-paced, intricately-plotted thriller.  You choose it specifically to provide chills and thrills and send a tingle of fear up your spine.  Meet your next favorite novel of suspense:  The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.

Harper Curtis is just about at the end of his rope.  In the midst of America's Great Depression, he is hungry, homeless, and being chased through his tent city by a vigilante squad.  It's not surprising, since he's just killed and mutilated a woman.  In his haste to get away, he ends up in a strange house.  When he opens the door, the scene is subtly different.  Where is he?  Or, more to the point, when is he?  The house becomes his home base from which he can go anywhere in time, increasing the number of potential victims, his shining girls. 

Kirby Mazrachi just barely survives the vicious attack on her.  She knows her attacker meant to kill and mutilate her; it was what he did to all his other victims.  She carries the impossibly long, ropey scars on her abdomen as if she requires constant proof of his intent to do her harm.  

Kirby becomes obsessed with finding the man who did this to her.  She teams up with an investigative reporter and, together, they work to unravel the clues.  Soon, they are literally racing against time to stop a serial killer in his tracks.  Can they stop him and survive? 

Be sure you start early, because you won't want to put this one down.