Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Rating: 6 out of 10
Summary: The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of “the Brotherhood”, and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.  

Commentary: Interesting and deep, but not my kind of read.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George

Rating: 7 out of 10
Summary: Blessed—or cursed—with an ability to understand animals, the Lass (as she’s known to her family) has always been an oddball. And when an isbjorn (polar bear) seeks her out, and promises that her family will become rich if only the Lass will accompany him to his castle, she doesn’t hesitate. But the bear is not what he seems, nor is his castle, which is made of ice and inhabited by a silent staff of servents. Only a grueling journey on the backs of the four winds will reveal the truth: the bear is really a prince who’s been enchanted by a troll queen, and the Lass must come up with a way to free him before he’s forced to marry a troll princess.

Commentary: A retelling of the traditional fairytale East of the Sun, West of the Moon (other versions are Cupid and Psyche, as well as Beauty and the Beast). I thought this was very enjoyable. The plot had a nice smooth flow and our heroine was strong and determined, as all heroines should be. Highly recommended.

Dragonslippers: This is What an Abusive Relationship Looks Like by Rosalind B. Penfold

Rating: 6 out of 10
Summary: Rosalind B. Penfold is an appealing, successful thirty-five-year-old businesswoman running her own company when her parents, worried that she works too hard, invite her to a country picnic-party one weekend. There she meets widower Brian and is swept off her feet. Romantic and exuberant, with four loving children, Brian seems like everything a woman could possibly want, and Roz falls deeply in love. But soon Roz begins to notice troubling signs that Brian is not what he seems. A pattern of lies and petty cruelties begins to emerge that, over the course of their decade together, comes to encompass a litany of physical, mental, and sexual abuse appalling in its scope and malevolence. Often too traumatized and ashamed to admit the true extent of what she is experiencing, Roz instead pours her anguish into a series of graphic diaries that provide a touching, profoundly shocking, and completely original portrait of domestic abuse.

Commentary: Interesting format and original way of explaining domestic abuse.