Title: Tricky Twenty-Two
Author: Janet Evanovich
Genre: fiction, humor, mystery, chick lit

Our favorite clumsy bond enforcer is back- but Stephanie is not having a good time. First Joe breaks up with her (say it ain't so!), she has a huge pimple about ready to explode, and then Lula gets kidnapped and carjacked during a bond enforcement pickup. On top of all this, Stephanie and Lula are investigating a no-show bonded client with ties to the Zeta fraternity house at the local university. On top of the usual fraternity hijinks, this frat house has connections to a mysterious university researcher who turns out to be a wee bit cray-cray: fleas, Bubonic plague and other nasty stuff.

Title: Darkroom
Author: Lila Quintero Weaver
Genre: graphic novel, memoir, Hispanic author, non-fiction, Southern history, American history


Psst! I have a confession to make.... I just read a graphic novel for the first time last night.....I read Archie and Veronica comics as a kid but I never did become a huge graphic novel fan- mainly because of the scantily clad women on most of the covers, but the premise behind Darkroom was intriguing: a graphic novel/memoir about growing up Hispanic in a tiny, rural Alabama town during the tumultuous Civil Rights era. Call me a nerd, but that sounded pretty riveting. Instead of the traditional inked comic panels, Darkroom is full of original, detailed pencil drawings. 

Lila Quintero Weaver originally created this as a senior project for her undergrad degree back in 2007. As a non-traditional college student myself, this is inspiring to see her schoolwork become a published work.
Ms. Quintero Weaver came to Augusta a few months ago as part of Augusta University's Latino Americans series but unfortunately, I couldn't attend her lecture due to work and school obligations, but you can watch part of her lecture here: https://vimeo.com/152378185 and you can read more about the Latino Americans series here: http://guides.augusta.edu/latino

Title: Black Widow Forever Red
Author: Margaret Stohl
Genre: YA fiction, superheroes


I never got into reading comic books but when I heard that the Black Widow storyline had been turned into a YA novel, I was intrigued...
Ava Orlova is a scrappy orphan on the run from SHIELD (yes, that SHIELD) with one best friend and a stray cat to call family. Alex Manor lives a comfortable suburban life but lately he feels like he's being watched. Ava has dreams of people she never met, especially a certain tall and handsome boy who loves fencing. Ava also remembers the day that Black Widow saved her from Ivan Somodorov. At a fencing tournament Alex and Ava meet and their fates become intertwined when the Black Widow shows up and saves them from Ivan's stooges. Soon Natasha learns that her connection to Alex is blood-related our favorite female assassin starts to become human again when she realizes she has a family member to protect.

Overall, the book was okay. The pacing started out quick, dragged in the middle, and picked back up again during the last few chapters. Natasha Romanoff is a lot more aloof and self-protective in this book than in the Avengers movies. She has guarded herself for decades and once she finds out she has a brother, she starts to soften (although that seemed to happen a little too quickly considering all that she has been through).