Words by Sooz

Lost Girls. The title gives off a negative connotation. Maybe that was the intent or maybe the author and editors were oblivious. Robert Kolker wrote about the Long Island serial killer who dumped the bodies of at least four prostitutes in a marshy area along the shore area. But the title bothered me. A girl is someone who is under 18 years old. That’s the way I have always felt. Once a female hits 18, she considered a legal adult. When you start referring to females who are 22-27 as girls, you trivialize who they are as much as others who did so because they were prostitutes. These “girls” had to live more difficult lives than most people who will read this book. Titles are important to grab readers’ attention, but they shouldn’t insult the subjects in the process. I wrote a full review on Goodreads here . 

Jacob Lau is shipped off to live with his after his mother goes missing. This is just the beginning of his problems. The Soulkeepers (The Soulkeepers Series) is the first book in the series by G.P. Ching, and her debut novel. Jacob’s father died several years ago. His mother goes missing and is feared dead. He ends up in a town where generations of families have lived and don’t like newcomers. This town and some of their families hold secrets, and Jacob has one of his own. The stereotypical idea of small towns not liking newcomers (or those who aren’t white) seemed a little heavy-handed. Perhaps growing up in a diverse city, I didn’t see much of this when new people showed up in the neighborhood. But it’s a good way to force to characters together who may not have otherwise been friends. Jacob acts like a typical teenager in the middle of a crisis. There were some readers who thought he was acting childish, but he’s 15 and an essentially an orphan. There aren’t...

Ilir Berisha might say he was one of the lucky ones. He got out of Kosova alive while living there during the war, and got to tell his story. Berisha’s book “ Summer Is My Favorite Season: A Memoir of Childhood and War in Kosovo ” paints a true story of a young boy who witnesses some of the worst the world has to offer. His parents are frustrated and frightened. They don’t know where they are going to get their next meal or when the electricity will return or if they will ever get running water again. His father has to work the black market to make money. And a beloved uncle is killed by a Serbian group. When three masked men storm their apartment on a night where NATO bombs are falling around them, Berisha doesn’t know if he and his family will make it out alive. The men could kill them or perhaps a bomb will miss its target. It wouldn’t be the first time Berisha wished for a quick death. And he was just 14 years old. Berisha’s memoir is gripping. He starts...

I finally finished Mass Effect 3. I know. I know. It only took me more than a year. I even bought the game on the day of release. Even though it took me one week to finish ME2, even after all side missions, I just couldn’t finish ME3. I couldn’t do it. Here was the problem … I didn’t want it to end. I had a feeling of how it would all end even before all the “controversial ending” posts were written about it. (And if you don’t know how it ends, stop reading). Commander Shepherd had to die to save the universe. That part was obvious from the very beginning. I have played video games for a long time, starting with the original Zelda and Mario Bros., through Sonic the Hedgehog and Call of Duty games. Nothing touched me like the Mass Effect series though. I started playing the game on a whim. I was bored and the first game was sitting in the house. I had watched a few scenes of someone else and figured I would make my own ass-kicking Commander Shepherd to k...

Love can happen in any number of ways, even when it’s the last thing you want. Even when the world is screaming at you that love is just around the corner, it can be hard for people to accept. Shaynie Gavin finds herself in that moment when Divinity and The Python starts. She’s a young Canadian woman who is connected spiritually to nature. She’s senses things around her from the way the wind blows or a candle moves, and allows nature to guide her. Shaynie doesn’t seem to want to listen to the part where it says that local hockey hero Cameron Weste is the one for her. Although, he’s known to get around the party scene, it seems much of her reluctance has a lot to do with self-loathing from what she calls “Hellnight,” an alcohol-induced night that Shaynie can only grab bits of memories. Bonnie Randall created an interesting heroine. She’s not perfect. She’s independent. Even when she makes the wrong choices, it seems Shaynie does so knowing there will be consequences. However, ...

I've started writing. Well, I'm always writing, but this is for me and not for work. I spent the last several days reading old stories of mine -- all those stories I started and somewhere between 3,000 and 7,000 words I abandoned. The sad part is some of the scenes are really good. Some of the stories are also similar. Since I have already written 7K words on a story I really like a lot and think about often, this the one I am pushing myself to finish. I am also taking scenes from other similar stories that can definitely fit. It's funny to read some of the stories because the characters are similar in like three of them. I actually think they are the same characters with different names (sometimes). So, I have a story working here by adding other short stories. Well, it's time to get it done. I've read if you want to get things done, you should put it out there for the public and announce it to people because you are more likely to follow it. So, here...

Breaking Bad is back tonight. You already knew this. I’ve never been so excited for the return of a television show. Of course, there were shows when I was younger that I hated going into summer hiatus with those silly cliffhangers. However, as an adult, I feel this is the best show I’ve ever watched. I need to know how the end begins. This is the only time I have ever had to wait for Breaking Bad. I didn’t watch it through its first four seasons.  I was only turned on to it about two to three months ago after my boyfriend watched the entire run of the series in about a week when was away for work. He told me I needed to watch and I don’t regret that decision at all. It took me a little longer to watch than a week – about two months. I would watch a show or two at a time and then go three to four days without watching for work or other reasons. But I never felt as though I had to wait. I’ve now been waiting for two weeks – which really isn’t a long time. ...