January 2025 Review Issue

Table Of Contents
Prime Picks
Fantasy & Sci Fi
Literature
Mystery & Thrillers

Fantasy & Sci Fi


Corsair
Henrik Sorensen
Independently Published
9798991368308 $4.99 ebook
https://a.co/d/co1W96o

Corsair’s vivid setting of a hostile planet where biological robots awaken to perform programmed tasks offers a stark and engrossing picture from the start:

At any given point in time, millions of suns rise and shed light on millions of planets. But the sun never rises on Calx. Ara, the Crimson Father, sits in the great pink sky like a gaping red mouth endlessly vomiting bloody light across the Terminator, transfixed in a long-dead orbit. The Terminator is a narrow black canyon of life, either side of which is hedged by endless, uninhabitable wastes.

63177 carries out his functions without thought, until a fellow automation is destroyed in an accident. This prompts a jump into singularity as the construct suddenly struggles with memories and feelings far from its original purposes.

The second chapter moves off-planet to a spaceship where elite Corsair Kalaiapi is engaged in what she does well: pursuing prey in the form of a Primus ship. When it tries to hide on a planet, Kalaiapi is forced to realize the real meaning behind the conflict with her Confederation. She’s forced to confront a conspiracy she hadn’t suspected, which alters her efforts, her belief in the system that fostered her, and the battle which has consumed her life purpose.

Henrik Sorensen portrayal Kalaiapi’s shifting mission with an attention to engaging details and struggles for survival that thoroughly engage readers in her evolving discoveries and dilemmas. A ‘you are here’ feel is cultivated through descriptions of the extraordinary measures she must undertake to survive:

The trauma of having the port torn from her spine would have nearly destroyed her nervous system. As it was, now she was simply stranded on Calx in perpetuity, or at least until someone thought to come look for her. And the only person who knew she was here was Jroran. Poor auspices.

The decision-making challenges for all involved hold a special philosophical and ethical component that readers will find intriguing, revealing, and thought-provoking:

“You are a heresy, Kalaiapi! And so am I. The Confederation has committed countless heresies in the name of the greater good, yet we are supposed to allow ourselves to be destroyed for the sake of ideological purity? I’m not sure if you’re being naive or cynical, but the effect is the same. I want peace, Kalaiapi. As much distaste as I have for the Confederation and for the Eternal Council, I’m still an Astaran. I still think of nights in the mountains of God’s Eye outside our village, of the emerald ocean waters and sun yellow sands of the beaches near Piyrayus where we’d swim after training. I don’t want to live out the next hundred years of life on Fornax and I don’t want anyone else to die in the conflict between us. This is the only way.”

Corsair goes far beyond battle, survival tactics, and discovery (all of which are features in a strong plot with delightful blends of personality, tension, and unexpected twists and turns) to enter into realms of choice and consequence. The plot reveals how each character must grow beyond programming and purpose if they are to survive both individually and collectively.

Though the door is left more than ajar for further books, the story concludes definitively and with a bang, which further supports its strength and attraction.

Libraries seeking sci-fi stories that pair action-packed confrontations and encounters with bigger-picture thinking about values and definitions of life and living will find Corsair the perfect acquisition to recommend to sci-fi readers seeking complex plots filled with insights on eternal wars, peace, and new possibilities.

Corsair

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Loki’s Daughter
Linda O'Dette Warner Cahalan
Independently Published
979-8336471229
https://www.amazon.com/Lokis-daughter-Linda-ODette-Warner-Cahalan/dp/B0DDTPD4M5

Loki’s Daughter opens with a group of women who meet for the first time. They begin cultivating connections and observations that translate to the broader situation of women whose lives reflect both vulnerability and strength:

Anna spoke steady and openly, and did well to hide her vulnerability. But what woman has not become vulnerable since the Weserubung began.

A surreal setting moves between Nazi German resistance efforts and Norwegian affairs to an alternate realm in which Norse gods benefit from the darkness of Nazi choices and war.

Elisa and newcomer Anna fraternize with the enemy in order to survive, but their occupations can’t protect them from everything:

"The Bergers are not coming back. Do you know why?"

Elisa's head is already swimming, and so shaking her head is no effort.

"They're Bergers. They're Jews." Sven answers.

While the military occupation of Norway may seem like a business partnership, to some, Anna well realizes some of the underlying motivations and impacts of these events. Others come to light as she learns of a special bomb and resistance efforts. Concurrent with these developments is the godly half brother of Loki the cat, whose preoccupation with magic, treasures, and the warmth of adversity influences human affairs and the progression of events in two realms.

Linda O'Dette Warner Cahalan steeps her novel with a satisfying juxtaposition of fantasy and World War II history, formulating a rich backdrop of real-world events and Nordic legend as she explores the incarnation and influence of Loki in human affairs.

The interactions between Loki and the Germans reveal the heart of evil as both form deadly associations which promote Loki’s tricks and schemes and heavily impact human affairs, benefiting Loki’s realm and intentions.

Cahalan creates a thought-provoking discourse in her unique approach to fantasy and history which carries Nordic and Roman legend to new arenas of discovery. This will especially attract readers interested in tales of intrigue, subterfuge, plots and special interests, and the impact of a legendary god on human history.

Libraries may find it a challenge to neatly peg Loki’s Daughter. It is steeped in Nordic legend and human history, which creates thought-provoking discourses between feisty young woman Anna and those around her. Special intentions are revealed, and their real impact comes to light.

Directing patrons to the book because of its historical and mythological foundations will result in proving such readers with something uniquely different. Loki’s Daughter’s combination of Norwegian history and myth with World War II developments, operations, and warfare creates a matchless, vivid story that brings Loki the cat and Anna full circle in a satisfyingly unexpected climax.

Hard to peg? Yes. Hard to put down? Absolutely.

Loki’s Daughter

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North Country: A Kat Wallace Adventure
Sarah Branson
Sooner Started Press
978-1-957774-18-3 $18.99 Paperback/$4.99 ebook
www.sarahbranson.com

North County: A Kat Wallace Adventure profiles female protagonist Kat Wallace in a heart-stopping sci-fi adventure that will attract both prior fans of her enthusiastic approach to life and newcomers who look for powerful blends of swashbuckling action and thought-provoking, perhaps-flawed heroes.

Imagine a steampunk world laced with pirates and special interests. This is no world for a woman to navigate—but Kat does so with zest and ability that will serve as an inspirational role model for women faced with everyday challenges in modern times.

The prologue introduces Cole Wallace, views himself as a royal leader in his village.

Kat’s first-person perspective appears in Chapter One to focus on her missions, expectations, and life after she has graduated from Bosch Pirate Force and is actively participating in missions, including negotiations over distribution of the popular drug Glitter, the foundation of the Bosch economy which she and her group oversees.

From the start, Sarah Branson portrays the dilemma of a young woman operating in a man’s world, employing realistic, candid dialogue that cements personalities and perils alike:

The lecture topic covered Visswani customs.

“These folk are traditional, with a capital ‘T.’ And they’re patriarchal. Women aren’t seen in the business environment,” Teddy instructs. “That means someone like you… I mean, a person of your… Well, you know what I’m saying.”

“You mean someone with tits and a twat?” I tease, knowing that this sort of talk makes my papa scandalized.

He frowns and gives a cough. “Now, Kat, there’s no need to be so crude.” He looks askance at me.

Kat is used to being outnumbered in being a woman in a patriarchal world. What she is still learning is how to translate her possibly-limiting gender role into a position of power that her fellow men can’t match:

The Visswani don’t think of me as a threat. In fact, they have treated me as if I am some odd curio that the old man keeps in his pocket.

As the attitudes, perspectives, and limitations of Kat’s companions and fellow groups evolve, readers will gain a quick sense of all the obstacles she’s up against, whether they come from her own inner circle or threats to her group’s actions and negotiations.

Branson’s ongoing attention to building Kat’s character, courage, and life lessons adds a dimension of revelation and psychological insights to the action-packed scenarios to make North County both exciting and thought-provoking.

Prior fans will well be familiar with how Kat has evolved to this point, but many unexpected twists send her in new directions as she confronts matters of heart, soul, and gender identity.

Juxtaposing Kat’s special interests are a myriad of other strong figures operating in different roles. One such as Flossie Porter, who has left behind a privileged, affluent life join the Bosch Pirate Force. There, she becomes involved in missions involving austerity that test her tech skills and intelligence, as well as her new identity and purpose.

As Kat muses about her past, including the loss of Zach, killed by traffickers in her youth, she comes to realize that with growth comes forms of power which come at the cost of youth:

…youth is no longer a descriptor that I can apply to myself.

Other women such as Carisa Morton, who has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and charged with stepping back from an active researcher’s world, and her encounter with Sergeant Zoya Reeves, who proves an alluring new friend, lend their own power and proactive behavior to a story of evolutionary growth and conflict.

Libraries that choose North Country either for its stand-alone value or its added value to the sci-fi swashbuckling series as a whole will find it a powerful story that continues Kat’s evolutionary process as well as the political developments that shake her world.

Readers and book clubs seeking strong can’t-put-it-down sci-fi reading will find North Country filled with discussion points and insights, as well as a vibrant series of encounters powered by likeable, realistic women.

North Country: A Kat Wallace Adventure

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Republic Shattered: Sins of Before
Michael J. Brooks
‎Creative-visionary Works
‎978-1737929383 $16.99 Paperback/$7.99 eBook
Website: www.authormbrooks.com

There’s perhaps no better time for a sci-fi/thriller mix to appear that reflects present-day concerns about the American Republic’s viability and changes, but translates them to intergalactic affairs. As the nation became submerged in conflict and worry, Michael J. Brooks provided the first of a book series: Republic Falling: Advent of a New Dawn, followed by a sequel, Republic Under Siege: Threat from Within. Now he releases the third installment, Republic Shattered: Sins of Before.

These books will attract a disparate audience of not only thriller and sci-fi readers, as it’s intended to do, but readers holding special interest in the effects of a socioeconomic class war conducted on a grand scale. Here, colonies, commonwealth, and coalitions vie for control and survival as conflicts take some unexpected turns.

Newcomers unfamiliar with the first two books of the Wars of the New Humanity series won’t be entirely lost. A recap titled “The Story Thus Far” sets the stage by reviewing events and people of the prior books.

Once these and other forces and personalities are presented, the real story continues on the present-day planet of Dilaxus, where Randal Scott and his team investigate the deadly aftermath of a fierce battle.

Randy’s best friend is missing and his duties (which involve missions to combat human and alien criminal forces) has driven him apart from his beloved Stacie amid their personal struggle to rebuild new lives together.

When Randy becomes a person of interest to Chief Amaechi’s Truth Commission (an ethics committee which is investigating events on Satellite One during the civil war, documenting any misconduct by comrades that participants such as Randy may have witnessed), he finds challenges coming from very different directions.

As events unfold, so do concerns and accusations of true evil, efforts which go beyond seeking justice, and clashes between interests concerned with reparations, profit, and certain victory portended by the mass distribution of mind control devices.

Stacie, who is also involved with a team of active fighters, takes the stage as a proactive and engaged woman who also fights against the Elite and is supported by forces that believe in her cause.

Too often, war stole the lives of loved ones.

Will Randy, Stacy and others ever get their lives back?

Michael J. Brooks creates a thought-provoking story that hosts a wide range of characters; each with their own special abilities and interests. His insertion of ethical and political reflections will especially appeal to readers seeking more than just military-style battle encounters, while his ability to build just the right amount of tension, then juxtapose it with psychological growth and new directions, keeps the plot vivid and unexpectedly fluid.

These elements will delight sci-fi and thriller readers who seek edgy, tense, in-the-moment descriptions of changing purposes and personalities that are rooted in bigger-picture social, political, and psychological transformations.

Libraries that choose Republic Shattered: Sins of Before for their collections will find the book easy to recommend to sci-fi readers, thriller enthusiasts, and book clubs. It embraces material that lends to book club discussions over all kinds of topics, from ethical societal management and control issues to building personal connections during a state of conflict.

Republic Shattered: Sins of Before

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Tower of Light
P. G. Badzey
Stone Owl Press
978-1-7328627-6-0 $3.99 eBook
Website: https://pgbadzey.wordpress.com/novels/
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Light-Grey-Riders-Book-ebook/dp/B0DQ96JR4Z?s=books&sr=1-1

In order to fully appreciate the expansive, changing world of Tower of Light, it’s recommended that the six books prior be enjoyed to fully appreciate how P.G. Badzey continues to evolve this milieu and its issues.

Here, the War of the Dark Wave has ended, the famous warrior Grey Riders are married and settling down, looking forward to ruling their own kingdoms, and the world of Damora is on track to a peaceful time. Not so fast. In fact, there are final matters to attend to—issues that return the specter of conflict to the battle-weary Grey Riders, who must journey to the Southlands to confront the tyrannical People’s Republic of Torosc and its impact.

The best laid plans, indeed; because defeated forces don’t necessarily lie to rest all the horrors of the past, which begin to arise anew as vengeful survivors to shake the realm’s newfound peace.

The tale opens with Brandawyn Aldenar adjusting to her role as “your majesty” and a student with much to learn from mentor Johanna. In the process of embracing her Elohir legacy, Brandi explores Other Space, stumbles upon a War Fiend, and confronts the daemons that continue to plague her world, testing the notion that her Elohir nature can always trump evil forces.

Confrontation involves controlling her demons within as well as the forces against her, she finds as she wins one battle but learns to cultivate mercy when she is on top … a hard lesson given that the daemon was threatening to destroy her husband Eric as well as herself, cultivating most vile and tortuous plans.

Growth is painful. That’s just one theme of an epic fantasy that continues to grow new options, pathways, and character depth.

If there’s one thing P. G. Badzey excels at, it’s juxtaposing action-packed confrontations with bigger-picture thinking. Solid world development is represented in the Grey Riders seven books. Think George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, but with more adept characterization that creates instantly-immersive scenarios designed to keep readers on edge and guessing.

Other characters emerge to join the fray, from Eric’s half-sister Varani Hylar (Khyla) to a band of travelers and warriors whose actions force Brandi to step into many difficult scenarios holding equally challenging options. For this and other efforts, she cultivates a spiritual connection that will especially attract spiritual audiences with a special blend of magic and faith:

Dar shook his head. “According to Jeremy, officers rarely travel alone. And the Red Veils are known to have potions made with Troll blood that can camouflage them.”

Megan nodded slowly. “And I can’t use dispelling magic without giving away my position, so that’s not an option.”

Brandi stared at the camp again, mulling over options in her mind as she listened to the others. Guide me, Lord, she prayed.

Fantasy readers looking for action receive plenty of confrontations, strikes, and counterstrikes; but those interested in psychological depth and spiritual reflection will also find much to like in Tower of Light.

Libraries seeking vivid fantasies that explore more deeply than representations of clashing kingdoms and special interests will find the entire series compelling and Tower of Light an especially satisfying journey into personal and ideological transformation, powered by strong female characters and situations that redefine empowerment, strength, and future opportunities.

Tower of Light

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Literature

All the Beautiful Things
Emma Grey Rose
Midsummer Dream House
979-8-9917450-0-0 $1.29 ebook
Author website: www.emmagreyrose.com
Publisher website: www.midsummerdream.house

Literature enthusiasts are in for a treat with the publication of All the Beautiful Things, a collection of free verse poems and prose devoted to relationship examination and living in the moment. Much like Proust, these moments represent a snapshot of emotional reaction and atmospheric experience that, together, paint “you are here” word pictures:

We swim naked in the pool at the neighbor’s house at 2 a.m. His grandma isn’t home. All I can think about is whether he can see me under the blur of the water. He’s got his clothes on. The water is cool. I can feel it in places I’ve never felt pool water before. This was all your idea. The stars are so bright, we can see thousands. That’s what it’s like in the countryside at night.

Emma Grey Rose’s focus on evolving relationships maintains a steady spotlight on all facets of love, from crushes and childhood experience to surreal reflections, as in ‘Ophelia’:

Your voice is a blend of red and words and flowers … I see your voice in the dark, the light, in the grey mid-tones of dark and light. It becomes the moon and creates moonless skies that dissipate only at sunset.

As various men move through her life like eels swimming through water, Rose creates inspections that bring into focus various facets of relationship-building and change.

Rose wrote this collection over the space of four and a half years. This lends it an introspective, reflective, long-term portrait of various personalities and the sexual and psychological forces which drive attraction and repulsion.

The backdrops of various physical environments surrounding these experiences reinforce a thought-provoking connection to Rose’s reflections. This gives added value to their rich insights, such as this concluding poetic thought:

You Can Be Loved if You Really Want It / Or Drown [Trying]

Libraries seeking multifaceted literature that explores places, personalities, and perceptions of romance and connection will welcome the diverse avenues of literary and psychological reflection that power All the Beautiful Things.

The book may also lend to creative writing groups and classrooms interested in how literary development can juxtapose with personal experience and reflection to produce a hard-hitting, evocative draw for all kinds of readers in literary and psychological studies circles.

All the Beautiful Things

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Alternative Facts
Emily Greenberg
Kallisto Gaia Press
978-1-952224-36-2 $19.95
https://www.amazon.com/Alternative-Facts-Stories-Emily-Greenberg/dp/1952224365

Alternative Facts is a literary short story collection that excels in tales with a twist. It will reach and excite audiences who like surprises, thought-provoking settings and characters, and events that spin out of control in directions they might never see coming.

Take the title story ‘Alternative Facts,’ for example. Presented in the form of a long run-on sentence of Kellyanne’s observations, it will delightfully challenge, entertain, and pose food for thought to grammatical perfectionists who might initially believe the run-on format a negative approach:

Maybe the two silver-haired, tuxedo-clad men were not really about to fight, Kellyanne thought, observing that no, they were not now puffing their concave, emphysemic chests and raising their voices like men did when they fought, nor were they folding their Mnuchin imitation eyeglasses and placing them on a nearby white-clothed cocktail table, shaved and moisturized cheeks reddening from the effort, carefully plucked first date eyebrows slanting, stumpy liver-spotted fingers jabbing the lavender-scented air, and maybe they were not stepping toward each other in that taunting, schoolyard-lunch-money-hungered way, sharp-eyed vultures circling a kill, curled fingers beckoning and half-parted lips mouthing Come and get it, and no, she was certainly not languishing in a forgotten corner at the inaugural ball on her fiftieth birthday, wilting like iced delivery flowers on the doorstep, waiting for the president and first lady to arrive, completely bored but feigning interest in her husband’s small-stakes small talk with small-dick party donors, her husband who was not really her husband after all…

What might at first be viewed as a rambling narrative in need of punctuation evolves into a breathless presentation of politics, social observation, and ironies of life. The fact that this is delivered in such a form serves to unexpectedly reinforce Kellyanne’s observational prowess, engaging readers in hard truths about all kinds of subjects that flow into one another much like an internet browser search:

…nor had she listened to him deliver one of the shortest inauguration speeches in history while pumping his tiny fists, his too-long tie waving, the rain falling, nor thought to herself, He is whoever we tell him to be, then looked out into the raindrenched red-MAGA-hatted audience and thought, He is whoever they tell him to be, the hidden part of themselves they pretend doesn’t exist, that slow-growing tumor, a thought that tickle-tortured her even more than watching Forty-Three struggling to open a translucent poncho, bagging himself like week-old recycling as her husband squeezed her hand, his hairy palm warm and sweaty, always so sweaty, muttering over and over again as if hypnotized, You did it, you did it, you made history…

Matching this story’s flow and energy would seem no casual feat, but Emily Greenberg follows up with stories that represent eerie observational vignettes of life as history collides with personal experience, birthing new opportunities for creative thinking and re-interpreting past, present, and future possibilities.

‘Tonight Show’ centers on George Bush (“Dubya”), for example, presenting an intriguing story of his encounter with Jay Leno which embraces an inability to expose the truth about Bush’s artistic beliefs. The link between art and politics may seem tenuous to some, but under Greenberg’s hand, it springs to life in an interview which challenges both participants and audience to realize disparate truths about art, Dubya’s life, Texas origins, and the impact of coming across in an interview as:

This is a good guy, a guy who can laugh at himself, a guy just like us. A guy we can forgive for tonight.

Libraries seeking a collection of short stories charged by literary might, political insight, cultural revelation, and quirky, wry humor will find Alternative Facts just the ticket for readers seeking diverse story delivery methods and unexpected food for thought.

Alternative Facts

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Dear Life
Shanta Acharya
LWL Books
9798218465292
$26.95 Hardcover/$9.95 Paperback/$7.99 eBook
www.lanceauthor.com

Dear Life pairs classical poetry traditions with the poet’s Indian background to bring novel flavors and life to the poetry in this wide-ranging narrative. The collection consists of poetic reflections filled with humor, philosophical insight, and considerations of various modern themes, from being alive to wokefulness and self-examination.

Shanta Acharya delivers a finely tuned sense of perspective, self, and insights that are laced with literary acuity and personal inspection. One example of the strength of these combined approaches lies in “Looking for Myself,” which considers that:

Love may have a way of outlasting us,/change is our one true companion in life./…Living in a state of vulnerability, hanging on/to the tree of life sucking hope, each day a triumph.

Acharya’s emotional forays in self-realization are nicely augmented by equally powerful considerations of tradition’s influence on shifting perspectives about life. From prayers and pleas for enlightenment and wisdom to bigger-picture thinking about the meaning and evolution of human life, Acharya’s examination of possibilities and impacts generates strong connections between life events and challenges. One example of her plea for wisdom (one of the themes in her collection) is exhibited in “Grant Us:”

Grant us the wisdom to survive/like trees that live long, enriching the planet—loyal protectors of the realm, standing firm, asking for nothing in return of heaven or earth.

From wisdom to deception, realization, and “dreams of impossible things,” Acharya captures many of the fundamental existential questions and experiences of modern times. Given these especially chaotic years, her reflections represent a breath of fresh air that imparts hope and new possibility in a lively, thought-provoking manner.

Libraries seeking modern poetry that bows to tradition and free verse literary approaches will want to add Dear Life to their collections. It will broadly appeal, from patrons interested in hard-hitting messages delivered in surprisingly gentle observations to literary book clubs seeking works that provoke philosophical and intellectual discussion, yet remain firmly rooted in personal perception and experience.

Dear Life

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Biography & Autobiography


Forgiving Dr Jekyll: From Hyde to Healing
Paul Drugan
Mascot Books
979-889138443-9            $24.95    
Website: http://www.authorpmdrugan.com

 Forgiving Dr Jekyll: From Hyde to Healing is a thought-provoking memoir that offers not just a review of Paul Drugan’s life, but insights into how healing and forgiveness can emerge from the most extreme, impossible situations.

 The story opens with Drugan’s father’s death when Drugan was twenty-four years old. It then progresses through events that will impact emotionally fragile or sensitive readers with “you are here” memories and experiences that are hard to set aside:

 We took the same anxiety-filled route home from the hospital so many times that it was as if the car drove itself… The weight of our sadness pressed down on us. Our neighbors were staring from their front porches as we slowed and drove down the street. Their gawking turned our private grief into community theater.

Drugan and his mother field all kinds of new challenges, including the instantly-altered status of his mother as a neighborhood widow instead of a proper married suburban wife:

 A seismic shift altered my mother’s place among her peers. Whether she knew it or not, she was now a member of a special category of women within the neighborhood. This new reality comprised ladies who, separated from their husbands by divorce or death, could no longer claim the once exalted status of a suburban housewife. This made widows—now my mother—a rare and dangerous entity in the minds of married women who lived in the neighborhood. No matter how they got that way, single women were always threats.

The father’s loss shifts the author and his readers into new realizations about life, freedom, and family relationships. As Paul navigates the devastating environment of camp that stripped away his budding self-confidence and deals with threats of being drafted to Vietnam, he begins to identify the treatment by his father that led him to question his skills, identity, and trajectory in life.

Readers struggling with their own issues of childhood domestic violence will find plenty of scenes both familiar and heartwarming as Paul navigates the rest of his life both with and without his father’s impact. Some of his scars are lasting; others heal with time. More importantly, how he deals with other situations that place him in similar circumstances provides important keys to readers moving through their own PTSD and the situation of having an abuser’s influence on their psyches and perspectives.

Overcoming a history of cheating, hiding and lying is difficult. Paul covers his growth process as he acknowledges his sexual identity, the impact of childhood isolation, and applies various literary, spiritual, and psychological insights to redefine his relationship with his father in different ways

“Remember the saying on the wall you saw that you can discount the past because it’s gone? You can't do anything about it now. It can’t hurt you and has no bearing on your life when you wake up, so you can live on a fresh, clean slate.” The Buddhist tenet becomes a powerful metaphor for how I begin thinking about my relationship with my father.

Ultimately, Forgiving Dr Jekyll: From Hyde to Healing provides healing options and processes for readers struggling with their own identities as adults. It’s unusual to see a memoir that offers so much value as a blueprint for recovery, but Paul Michael Drugan does so in a thoroughly absorbing way, laying waste to secrets and exploring family, friendships, and psyche with a degree of candid honesty unusual even for the memoir format.

Libraries seeking stories of recovery, discovery, and growth that operate on many different levels of influence and ideals will want to make Forgiving Dr Jekyll: From Hyde to Healing part of their collections. It’s also highly recommended to book clubs and healing groups interested in hard-hitting, inspirational works about reconciling the past with future opportunities.

Forgiving Dr Jekyll: From Hyde to Healing

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The Honorable Way
Edmonds Prufrock Mackey
Story Scribe Books
979-8-9863597-4-8
$29.99 Hardcover/$16.00 Paperback/$9.99 ebook
www.storyscribebooks.com

The Honorable Way: Life Lessons Aboard a Destroyer in the Western Pacific, 1963 is a vivid memoir of life on the high seas and is based on Edmonds Prufrock Mackey’s logbooks and journals. More so than most stories of service and achievement, the immediacy of his experiences come to life via a “you are here” atmosphere:

We will not pass this buoy again until late November. For now, we are outward bound as CHEVALIER and her crew are caught up by the first swell of the open sea and embraced by the rhythm of the deep. Today the waves have a slow sensual motion that seems to welcome our hull and caress it. But the sea has many moods, and we will see them all before our journey’s end.

As Mackey traverses the high seas, observing and participating in enlisted life in the 1960s, readers receive eye-opening insights into the aftermath of conflict and how survivors endure:

As we exit the main gate into the town, we are saluted by the Marine MP and Naval SP, posted to guard the passage and provide joint jurisdiction in the event of inter-service disputes. We cross the “Skivvy Bridge” over the “Shit River” onto Magsaysay. The river is, in fact, a highly polluted sewage canal into which local urchins dive for the pesos thrown by sailors and Marines. Clad in our tropical khaki and naiveté, we are invincible. To cross the bridge is to step through a crack in time and onto the set of a grade “B” western movie. The town was devastated by the Spanish-American War and again by the Japanese, with a few natural disasters in between. It has gained little from restoration.

These insights and moments capture bygone years, communities, and military and civilian engagements. An astute voice captures the nuances of war games, survival costs and tactics, and the participation of a man whose shipboard experiences are atmospheric, enlightening, and often reflective:

It is ironic one must return to sea to recover from the shore. Our orders have us streaming independently to Yokosuka? More time to recover. But what an experience. The opportunity to live as a citizen of a city most souls learn about in newspapers or history books. And a favored citizen, at that. The sailors of a Station Ship are predictable economic opportunities. Four weeks of companionship and commerce.

These quotes illustrate how captivating Mackey’s voice is, how adept he is at placing readers within the moment-by-moment choices and experiences of living on a destroyer in the Western Pacific in the 1960s, and how thought-provoking the ultimate impact of military choices on war and peace.

Libraries that choose The Honorable Way will find it more than a personal memoir of experience, but an expansive journey into bigger-picture thinking. It offers much food for thought while capturing many encounters that reinforce Naval history, experience, and ideals.

Ultimately, these vivid memories will give readers a connection to history and place which is a delightful contrast to modern times:

The cruise for which I traded three and a half years of my life is done. But I will remember… Lands and land. Ports and people. Storms and stills.

The Honorable Way

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My Musical Notes
Gaby Casadesus
Hamilton Books/Rowman & Littlefield
978-0761874584 $24.99 Paperback; $23.50 E-book
https://www.amazon.com/My-Musical-Notes-Journey-Classical/dp/0761874585

My Musical Notes: A Journey in Classical Piano between the World Wars and Beyond is a memoir of the French pianist’s extraordinary life in classical music. It follows artistic, political, social, and psychological developments as they play out over decades of piano playing.

Lawrence Lockwood’s translation (in collaboration with Thérèse Casadesus Rawson) allows English readers to appreciate Casadesus and her husband Robert’s lives as they moved from being internationally famous twentieth-century French concert pianists to leaving Paris in 1940, emigrating to the United States on the eve of the German invasion. There, they continued to make names for themselves in classical music circles.

Interestingly, her memoir begins with a non-musical query:

How did I meet Robert?

This neatly sets the stage for and segues into the classical music world of 1916, where Gaby studies at the Paris Conservatory, develops a relationship with Robert, and interacts with the classical community, honing her skills while rubbing shoulders with some of the best classical musicians of her time.

The European classical community comes alive in this memoir, supported by a “you are here” atmosphere as Gaby recollects the high points of her life and world travels.

Readers who may operate outside the classical community and who views its history as staid and dull will find the vivid encounters, descriptions of social and artistic challenges, and discoveries made while touring and encountering fellow classical musicians to be thoroughly engrossing. They need not have a background in classical music in order to become immersed in these scenarios—but those who do will find Gaby’s history and life to be truly amazing, filled with unexpected adventure and cultural discoveries.

More than a story of famous musicians or classical players alone, My Musical Notes will attract and excite all kinds of readers, from those steeped in the classical music profession to outsiders who enjoy solidly written memoirs filled with events that illustrate time, place, and personalities in a compelling manner. Through her experiences and insights, nearly a century of classical music culture in Europe and America, along with encounters with musical geniuses such as Fauré, Ravel, and Stravinsky, comes to life.

This is why libraries should not only place My Musical Notes high on their acquisition lists, but should highly recommend it to book clubs and patrons with special interest in not just classical music history and culture, but a musical prodigy’s exciting life.

My Musical Notes

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To the Midnight Sun
Stephen Saletan
Independently Published
979-8218437800 $22.95 Paperback/$8.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Sun-Story-Revolution-Return/dp/B0DHWGDJZT

To the Midnight Sun: A Story of Revolution, Exile and Return is a family memoir that’s especially important to modern times, offering an opportunity to better understand the politics and people of Russia. It represents not only Stephen Saletan’s family experience, but what he found when, at age thirteen, he traveled to Russia with his Russian grandmother, there to see firsthand the daily lives of those living under Communism.

From that introduction, it was thirty years before he was to return in search of answers to family mysteries and questions. What he found allowed him to contrast his grandmother’s stories with his initial encounters in Russia and how the nation evolved decades later.

It opens with a simple question: how do family roots and legacies shape our lives? How does the process of investigating the past alter perceptions of identity and choices made with the past and future in mind? Saletan’s weave of these very personal facets with bigger-picture thinking gives To the Midnight Sun a flavor that many similar-sounding stories of family roots in Russia don’t contain. His personal experience and reactions add interest to his growing connection with that country:

I looked around in slight bewilderment—the scene was at once festive, solemn, and nostalgic. It was a ritual that my grandmother and her siblings had enacted many times before; but for me, it was overwhelming to meet so many new people whose language, appearance, and social behavior were so unfamiliar. And yet, I felt a current of mutual affinity flowing between us.

Of particular interest to genealogists embarking on their own family research in the Old Country is Saletan’s reflections on the political and cultural barriers in probing for information under a regime that doesn’t look kindly upon asking too many questions:

We explained our purpose and presented our letters from Ganelin and Varustina, which he looked over indifferently. He doubted we would find any material of interest; rather, he appeared to be more concerned that he would get in trouble if he gave anything away or missed the covert action that he suspected was unfolding under his very nose, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

To the Midnight Sun will attract four audiences: those interested in biography and family journeys; budding genealogists; readers interested in a personal connection with Russia’s people made over a long period of time; and readers attracted to blends of family and personal memories.

Readers will appreciate the multifaceted and thoroughly engrossing exploration of a process of not just uncovering family history in Russia, but of answering questions and considering personal and national history’s impact on identity.

Libraries will want to highly recommend To the Midnight Sun to any patron interested in the mechanics of family history, discovery, and genealogical research, as well as history buffs holding a special interest in Mother Russia.

To the Midnight Sun

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The Xena Years
Steven Clark
Independently Published
ASIN: ‎B0DJVB7MWR $5.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Xena-Years-During-Peace-Dividend-ebook/dp/B0DJVB7MWR

The Xena Years: Life During the Peace Dividend concludes Steven Clark’s memoirs, adding a final volume that documents his move from Boston to Columbia, Missouri. There, he grows as a writer, falls in love, and contemplates a vastly revised life that continues to evolve in unexpected directions.

From the start, his first-person story captures reader attention with “you are here” writing that needs no prior introduction to prove compelling:

I hurried around the corner, the manila envelope held close like a baby bird that might fly away. Threading through the usual passersby on Beacon Hill’s cramped streets, I dodged traffic to cross behind the State House, its golden dome always bright and enticing. Inside, the crowd at the post office was light. Robert MacCready, the window clerk, smiled and traded news of the Bruins with a customer.  When my turn came, his thin fingers motioned me forward. Eyeglasses perched on the bridge of his nose, he looked like a white-haired Columbo, the voice equally gravelly, if seasoned with a bit more Boston. 

    “Well, my young friend. Another book rate special off to the publisher?” 

    “Right,” I smiled back, “and hold the mayo.” 

From his futile semester at grad school (which he quit to become a writer) to his acknowledgement that dead-end jobs repressed his creative spirit and efforts, Clark not only succeeds in his goal, but embarks on a very different literary endeavor—writing about his family.

Dreams, inner demons, family conflicts, and expanded worldviews and encounters all coalesce to capture Clark’s growing involvement in plays, writing, and life. Black and white photos peppered throughout his memoir bring Clark’s world to vivid life as he blossoms and grows.

The ‘Xena Years’ referred to in the book title were “a time of moral uncertainty” when corporate America influenced even literary ambition and producers and directors demanded different forms of writing and compliance, demanding “more raw and graphic material” for the Xena: Warrior Princess shows.

It’s particularly intriguing how this period of time both influenced and reflected Clark’s personal and literary growth as he immersed himself in the Xena character and considered his new ambitions and what he really wanted personally and professionally.

The blend of social and literary reflection makes The Xena Years a winning memoir highly recommended for a wide range of readers, from Steven Clark’s previous fans to newcomers seeking a vivid story of creative writing and personal growth that incorporates social change into revised worldviews and experiences.

The Xena Years

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Mystery & Thrillers


Against the Blue Wall
Larry Terhaar
Hat City Publishing
979-8-9900362-2-2 $17.95 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
www.larryterhaar.com

Thriller readers, especially those who enjoyed Larry Terhaar’s previous Dan Burnett mystery, are in for a treat with Dan’s further PI endeavors in Against the Blue Wall.

Here, Dan’s exploits continue to explore his foray into being a private PI unsupported by the NYPD police force (his former job for thirty years).

His latest case involves a vengeful and prejudiced police officer whose actions and excitement are clearly explored in an intense opening chapter documenting a traffic stop gone violently awry:

Officer Sean O’Riley stood over the young man, relishing the feeling of conquest. It had been a while since he had felt the elation he so desperately needed, the reason he had become a cop: to put down these Black savages at every opportunity.

Dan’s point of view is presented in the first person. This brings to life his perceptions and conundrums as he becomes involved in a case that centers on racial strife. Because the victim is unconscious and the police refuse to release their video footage of the event, Dan finds himself on the prowl for evidence of what really happened. This proves even more complex a task than he envisioned.

As Dan tracks down video from other sources, he discovers that this high-profile case not only triggers his anger about racism in America, but introduces further thought-provoking dilemmas that thriller audiences will find intriguingly unexpected.

Chapters juxtapose realization, action, and the politics of police actions with Dan’s evolving relationship with his girlfriend Mia, adding a fine contrast between personal, professional, and social elements.

Issues of white supremacist cops and systems that either purposely or inadvertently support their actions will provide book club readers with not only a thoroughly engrossing tale, but one featuring many themes and observations suitable for group discussion.

Court trial processes and FBI investigations enter the picture to add further depth and challenges to Dan’s revelation of uncomfortable truths. These all give Against the Blue Wall added value, offering insights on the politics of internal practices and systems which support racism both within and outside the justice system.

Libraries will find Against the Blue Wall’s action, characters, and the logic behind their perceptions lends to a thoroughly engrossing thriller which places Dan in unusual positions of discovery and decision-making. Readers and book clubs intrigued by PI investigations that explore police action and prejudice will find Against the Blue Wall a riveting winner.

Against the Blue Wall

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The At-Your-Beck Felicity Conveyor
Dolly Gray Landon
7th Species Publications
979-8218468620 $17.99 Paperback/$4.99 ebook
Website: https://garynolandcomposer.com/books
Ordering: https://a.co/d/135LsUi

The At-Your-Beck Felicity Conveyor: A Novel of Sin & Retribution blends a psychological thriller with satirical commentary to create a witty, suspenseful story that’s hard to put down.

One of its draws lies in its quirky protagonist Yvette Cartier, an entitled gonna-be heiress who steals love toys from the local grocery boutique that’s run by a good, hard-working family. They are kind and generous—but there’s a limit to their tolerance, and Yvette crosses that line with an attitude they decide to address in a decidedly powerful way.

Dolly Gray Landon creates an involving tale from the start, embedding his story with literary observation, wry humor, and elements of surprise that are delivered in the novel’s opening lines:

“There she is again, up to her brazen little snarfings,” observed Justyce Dreadmiller, the neighborhood grocer. He followed this pouting young nymphet with his probing optics, unbeknownst to her, as she sauntered casually through the aisles, tossing seeming random staples into her shopping trolley whilst surreptitiously pocketing little luxury items from the pharmaceutical section—most likely (as per usual) sumptuous sex oils, fancy French perfumes, scented spermicidal lubricants, high-end beauty products and the like.

Readers drawn into the dichotomy of why a potential heiress would shoplift will discover this is only the tip of the iceberg of schemes and plots that tip each character into issues which challenge their usual decision-making processes.

As Landon evolves his story, another special treat lies in how Yevette’s come-uppance is delivered by the carefully calculating Celine Dreadmiller and family, which assumes the forms of various levels of embarrassment, sexual encounters, and more.

Public opinion enters into the fray as sweet vengeance and justice play out:

“…you should now be informed that your guardians have tossed all your belongings out onto the curb in front of their house, and I can already attest unequivocally to the fact that scores of vagrants, junkies, and gang members are helping themselves to your most prized worldly possessions, including your collection of Gucci handbags, Prada miniskirts, jewelry from Tiffany’s (including those beautiful earrings Werther gave you), and a host of other personal effects, not the least of which are those disgustingly offensive handwritten diaries of yours that you were hiding under your mattress.”

Readers looking for more than a singular suspense or thriller that cultivates a tone of literary descriptive observation, the psychological strength of clashing personalities and classes, and the joy of dark humor will find The At-Your-Beck Felicity Conveyor both complex and attractive.

Libraries that choose The At-Your-Beck Felicity Conveyor for their collections will want to be sure to recommend it to suspense readers looking for over-the-top fun and thought-provoking events.

The At-Your-Beck Felicity Conveyor

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Devious Web
Shelley Grandy
Spark Press
978-1-68463-274-9 $17.99 Paperback/$12.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Devious-Web-Novel-Shelley-Grandy/dp/1684632749

Devious Web is a mystery set in Canada in the middle of the pandemic years. It focuses on successful Canadian entrepreneur Tom Oliver, who literally falls under the gun just as he’s at a crossroads for changing his business and marriage.

It’s a good that his friend Jason Liu is also a savvy homicide detective, because Tom will need all the support he can get to confront a too-large list of those who might harbor a special interest in killing him.

Shelley Grandy then builds a complex story packed with twists and turns even savvy murder mystery readers won’t see coming as Tom and Jason confront disparate influences from the equestrian world, business circles, and personal relationship developments. All these shake Tom’s foundations.

It’s undeniable that someone is out to get Tom, but the real earth-shaking knowledge is that the person’s motives and connection to Tom emerge from surprising encounters and revelations.

Grandy creates excellent suspense and tension as Tom is targeted several times and forced to confront the forces working against him. Jason comes up with a plot to sideline Tom while they’re attempting to locate his killer. Only a few in his immediate family will suffer from the fiction that he is dead, and this deception allows Jason to keep Tom safe while he investigates.

The problem is that there is no real safety as events force him to confront his brother’s betrayal and new possibilities in a devious web of schemes and conflicts.

The power of this mystery lies not just in portraying numerous escapes from death, but in examining life connections and assumptions which all shift under Jason’s probe. Tension, characters, and connections are so well-constructed that even savvy murder mystery readers won’t see many of these developments coming.

Libraries that choose Devious Web for its intricate twists and turns of plot and psyche will find it easy to recommend to patrons who love a good mystery and like being continually surprised by new revelations.

Devious Web

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The Girl Goes Home
Dorian Box
Friction Press
978-1-7346399-5-7 $4.99 ebook/$11.99 paperback
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Goes-Home-Emily-Calby-ebook/dp/B0DN33Z33R

The Girl Goes Home, the fourth book in the Emily Calby series, will intrigue newcomers and prior fans alike. While there’s a trend in modern writing to create strong female protagonists, it should be noted that Emily is not just strong—she’s fierce.

This ferocity is captured in an opening first-person journal extract from Emily’s past that is the perfect medium for immediately translating Emily’s special challenges and perceptions into a likeable character whom readers will find compelling from the story’s opening lines:

Hi Journal. Dr. Townsend told me to keep you. He said it could help with my trauma disorders. I don’t see how writing can fix anything, but if going along gets me out of this psych ward sooner it’s worth it. My disorders have long names. I still have to look them up to spell them right. Dissociative this and dissociative that, all fancy ways of saying my brain is broken, like the mirror in the bathroom at the hospital.

This affection develops quickly despite the quick admonition by this young writer that she’s developed an uncommon, dangerous proclivity towards violence:

I am Emily Blair Calby. I turned thirteen last month. I like to play softball and take care of my little sister and be with my best friend, Meggie Tribet. Liked. My whole life is past tense. The day the two men came was the end of everything.

Now I like to kill people. Haha. Just kidding. I don’t like it.

Her journal entry sets the stage for a story that then moves to the present and describes young lawyer Zack Skellar learning about  a particularly grisly murder history, the Calby Murders, covered at a lecture devoted to the history of murders that shaped legal precedents.

Emily is now in her twenties and involved in her own new start in life as a lawyer, but the past is never far behind. As the only survivor of a terrible murder scene, she carries the scars and burden of knowledge which re-emerge when new facts evolve into her own life’s cold case.

Dorian Box is a master at crafting scenarios and investigations that center on a proactive young woman’s determination to unravel a mystery that holds family secrets, new threats to the ones she loves, and a terrible impact on her choices and survival.

The psychological elements of trauma and discovery entwine in delightful ways that emerge from Emily’s past in unexpected, compelling manners as she involves Zack and journalist Briley Carr in the true crime investigation of a lifetime.

Many nuances of discovery and danger are outlined clearly for readers as Emily attempts to solve matters that revolve around her identity. Wry humor emerges at unexpected moments to juxtapose the serious elements with comic relief.

Readers who join Emily in her rollercoaster ride will find the story replete with unexpected twists and turns and an ever-expanding cast of characters that each lend their own special insights into the intrigue and suspense which are strong allures to the story.

Libraries looking for murder mysteries entwined with powerful characterization, unexpected dilemmas, and a young woman who struggles to understand and cope with her tragic past, will want to look at this one. The Girl Goes Home both builds on prior books and yet stands nicely alone for newcomers.

Be prepared for a completely immersive story that asks major questions (and answers some) that victims can harbor:

Why them? Why their family?

The answer will surprise.

Fierce, attention-grabbing, and thought-provoking, The Girl Goes Home is a masterwork of psychological suspense.

The Girl Goes Home

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Murder in Skoghall
Alida Winternheimer
Wild Woman Typing
978-0-9978714-3-2 $16.99 Paperback/$4.99 ebook
www.alidawinternheimer.com

Murder in Skoghall is the first book in the Skoghall Mystery Series. It features an amateur sleuth, ghosts, and psychic abilities which will attract both mystery fans and readers of paranormal fiction.

The prologue introduces a stalker, who is watching an alluring red-haired woman who reminds him of lost love Bonnie.

Military past and PTSD come into play as he reveals the horrors of war which changed him forever:

He felt the tipping point at the very edge of his humanity. On one side, sanity and a way home. On the other side, red and black. He couldn’t talk about it, not even there. Not even then. Not even to guys who saw what he did. So he joked about the red and black. And then he lost it. He lost it so bad the way home was behind him now and everything was red and black.

Readers seeking mystery and ghostly themes may not expect the depth of this prologue, but it neatly sets the stage for what follows and demonstrates that Murder in Skoghall will actually be more than a formula-written murder mystery typical of the genre.

Alida Winternheimer creates a story that simmers with underlying grief, anger, reflections on the past, and insights on moving forward in novel new ways. These reflections aren’t limited to the killer, but evolve in a host of characters, including investigator Jessica Vernon, who stifles her own grief and anger with her expectation of positive change in her life.

Jessica is shifting from her beloved Minneapolis to Wisconsin, the setting for her new life and career. As antique stores, puppies, ghosts, and new romantic possibilities emerge from her move, Jess finds herself probing a dead woman’s puzzle and its implications for her future life in the attractive arts community.

Winternheimer’s ability to capture atmosphere, depict a strong sense of place in the one-stop-sign town’s makeup, and present a character who is trying to start over while facing impossible situations that stretch her boundaries and talents makes for a truly compelling read.

Readers used to paranormal stories and mysteries will find added value in the vivid small town experiences, the injection of moments of normalcy which contrast with Jess’s evolving involvements, and an undercurrent of wry ironic humor which emerges from some of her observations and efforts:

“I need to go to prison to talk to my ghost’s husband and possible killer.”

The juxtaposition of different elements of adaptation, survival, intrigue, love, and death will delight libraries seeking multifaceted mysteries for their collections that will appeal beyond the usual genre reader.

This is why Murder in Skoghall is especially recommended for libraries seeking exceptional books that are well developed, featuring strong characters and realistic settings designed to appeal well beyond the usual reader of murder mysteries.

Murder in Skoghall

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Someone Had to Lie
Jack Luellen
Torchflame Books/Top Reads Publishing LLC
978-1-61153-370-5 $21.42 Paperback/$6.49 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Someone-Had-James-Butler-Mystery/dp/161153450X

Someone Had to Lie is a James Butler mystery that revolves around the 1985 murder of a special agent in Mexico. It’s based on actual events and the author’s personal involvement in Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena's abduction and murder in 1985.

Jack Luellen presents a dramatic, engaging fictionalized story of a 35-year-old cold case made newly hot when lawyer James Butler finds that nagging concerns just won’t quit plaguing him, even though much time has passed.

Mexican border clashes to drug trafficking, asking the wrong questions at the wrong time, and conducting a probe that attracts unwanted attention place James in the crosshairs of international conflict and intrigue. Readers receive an action-packed thriller that blends the investigative atmosphere of a police procedural with the nonstop action and superb tension of a suspense story.

Nicely constructed dialogue and interactions cement various aspects of the investigation:

“I think Aguilar was on a mission to identify whoever supplied the dealer,” James says.

“Okay, simple enough,” Bobby says.

“Perhaps. We know the vast majority of fentanyl in the US comes from Mexico, by land, over the border. So, it’s reasonable to assume some substantial quantities come through Yuma and the surrounding areas. Aguilar could have asked questions to the wrong people, at the wrong time,” James says.

Serious questions of government involvement in the drug trafficking they purportedly work against provides intriguing discussion points for book clubs and readers seeking a story replete with bigger-picture food for thought.

Various characters interact to add further realistic detail to James’s life and mandate, from companion Erica Walsh to insider and Phoenix investigator Bobby Wilson, Erica’s father Brian Castle, and a host of other special interests. Each of these characters contributes to the tension with many unexpected developments which are the hallmark of Someone Had to Lie’s complex and riveting search for truth and justice.

Readers who enjoy well-developed tension, surprising twists and turns of plot, and realistic atmospheres strengthened by a story’s roots in real-world events will find Someone Had to Lie simply outstanding.

Libraries seeking thriller stories embedded with insights about government and individual choices and stakes in international relationships and outcomes will find Someone Had to Lie neatly toes the line between true crime and fiction. It incorporates the drama of the latter so seamlessly that the story’s “you are here” feel thoroughly immerses patrons in an exposé of actual facts and interviews which have never before been published.

Someone Had to Lie

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The Spear and the Sentinel
J.L. Hancock
Braveship Books
978-1-64062-202-9 $7.99 Ebook; $19.99 paperback
https://www.amazon.com/Spear-Sentinel-Military-Technothriller-ebook/dp/B0DM2Q7Y7S/

The Spear and the Sentinel is a sequel to J.L. Hancock’s prior The Hawk Enigma, bringing protagonist Voodoo and his special ops team new challenges as international struggles center on developments in Asia and a secret lab building AI war tools.

The story is captivating from the start, in which a young soldier claims he has seen giant gods rising from the battlefield. His impossible vision leads to an investigation of the island of Kunashir, just north of Japan, which reveals further impossibilities and myths. Are legends emerging from the dead, or is something less mythical going on?

Thriller readers who relish nonstop action, a setting that embraces both Asia and the former Soviet Union, and operatives that face the biggest (and perhaps most impossible) challenge of their lives will find The Spear and the Sentinel thoroughly engrossing.

The confrontations that emerge between Voodoo and his team, Chinese technology, and the resulting subterfuge’s vivid descriptions might trigger some sensitive readers, but they are not overdone and lend a realistic atmosphere to the intersections of Russian, Chinese, and world special forces and interests as the mystery evolves.

Hancock is a master at representing “you are here” moments, whether they involve jumping from a train or jumping into untested international waters:

The train was coming to a more abrupt stop than Voodoo expected.

Here’s my stop.

Voodoo pushed open the cargo door and stepped out onto the yoke and coupler connecting the two train cars and considered his options: Jump and PLF like a private at Airborne school? Or get back inside the train and hide?

“Let’s do this, Airborne,” Voodoo said out loud. Voodoo threw himself from the train.

Kobra, Sasha, Kenny, and other characters add further tension and interest to the story, contributing their insights and experiences to the fast-paced adventure.

Readers of Tom Clancy and other masters of intrigue will find Hancock’s approach not only equally adept, but his attention to character- and politics-building scenarios just as vivid and well-developed as any more famous master of the art of the thriller.

This is why libraries seeing patron attraction to thriller novels will find The Spear and the Sentinel a winner—especially since it operates nicely as a standalone novel, as well as an adjunct to the setting and characters previously introduced in The Hawk Enigma.

The Spear and the Sentinel

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Study Guide For Murder
Lori Robbins     
Level Best Books         
978-1-68512-712-1 $16.95 Paperback/$5.99 ebook
Website: lorirobbins.com
Ordering: https://amzn.to/3XsaHQ2

Study Guide For Murder is the second book in the Master Class Mystery series, and revolves around the life of Liz Hopewell, who is interested not in investigations and murder, but peace. This is why she’s made a major move from Brooklyn to New Jersey, far from the scenes of childhood trauma, to become a teacher.

However, crime and murder have a way of plaguing even those committed to building a staid life, as Liz discovers when a fellow golfer is murdered and the weapon happens to come from Liz’s golf bag.

Liz’s first-person reflections on her revised life draws readers into an atmospheric read from the story’s opening lines:

If you’re in the market for bottomless pits of despair and anxiety, seek employment as an English teacher. Although misery and fear aren’t specifically included in most benefits packages, high schools reliably offer them at no additional cost. More to the point, gloomy themes and complicated topics are a huge hit in the classroom.

Dashes of such wry humor offer subtle comic relief as events unfold. They embrace Liz’s changing relationship with her husband George, who is enjoying more wealth from his business efforts than in the past, and family relationships, which feature their own brand of complexity surrounding a vanished father and a tormentor half-brother’s affairs.

Pulled full circle back to the scene of childhood traumas and relationships, Liz has her hands full when a second murder makes her life even more complicated, forcing her far from the peaceful life she covets.

Lori Robbins excels at creating scenarios in which characters find their life perspectives and missions challenged. In this case, Liz faces dual assaults from family, country club embezzlers, and motives for murder. Her ability to navigate unfamiliar waters of investigative challenge that strike too close to home make her a likeable character, while her relationships and concerns power the underlying mystery.

Libraries seeking a compelling story of trauma, recovery, and discovery in which an amateur sleuth steps up to challenges far from her experience or interests will find Study Guide For Murder absolutely compelling. It will be easy to recommend to murder mystery readers seeking proactive female characters whose lives and interests dovetail with disaster.

Study Guide For Murder

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Terror by Night
James G. Goodridge
Gravelight Press/Current Words Publishing, LLC
ASIN: ‎B0DJPSF6HW $4.95 ebook
www.gravelightpress.com

Terror by Night: The Supernatural Affairs of Madison Cavendish and Sue SunMountain blends a hardboiled mystery replete with action with elements of supernatural horror and speculative influences. Additionally, it injects Black history into each adventure to further the collection’s multifaceted value and thought-provoking nature.

The interconnected stories about detectives Madison Cavendish and Sue SunMountain are delivered with a powerful blend of action and discovery in a timeline of cases that begin in 1914 and conclude in 1973. A first-person introductory case presented in the first story, “The Cavendish Affair,” presents a vivid setting and a succinct outline of the narrator’s talents and objectives:

My name is Madison Cavendish. I’m a detective with the New York City Police Department, and, unknown to me, I’m about to meet the love of my life while simultaneously embarking on a journey into the world of the occult and paranormal.

This statement will attract readers interested in an immersive history and speculative supernatural creation, promising (and delivering) action and suspense as Madison enters into a truly challenging case. It simultaneously provides readers with insights into the struggles he experiences over the prejudice which limits his career and abilities:

“I do it to earn a decent living. You and I both know we can’t get a fair shake in this country on account of our race. I hope to one day end this charade. You’ll never see me joining a blue vein society!” Blue vein societies are clubs that shun the darker members of our race, and I confess this.

These social insights are peppered throughout the cases and give rise to good discussion points about Black experience, from ‘passing’ and pursuing their dreams to navigating prejudice, politics, and puzzles alike.

Each case serves as a building block examining more of Madison and Sue’s proactive thinking, as well as shifting social mores. In a manner reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes, the intrigue builds throughout each case, reinforcing the duo’s abilities while exposing their vulnerabilities and limitations.

James G. Goodridge builds atmospheric, psychological, and social growth while satisfying those that chose Terror by Night for its promise of monsters, mysteries, and mayhem.

A strong dose of advanced technological tools (such as regeneration) also comes into play as the duo faces nightmares and cases that test their relationships and savvy. Madison craves “uncanny affairs,” so each case features a twist readers might not see coming.

Between the speculative elements of these stories, their interlaced social observations, and their blend of action and insight, hard-boiled mystery and horror fans alike will find the collection hard to put down.

Libraries that choose Terror by Night for their mystery or supernatural fiction audiences will find that the added value of all these strengths makes it a strong recommendation. It will appeal to book clubs interested in many different discussion topics, from the literary approaches in combining mystery and horror genres to its many vivid social and historical insights on Blacks, disparate investigative approaches, and more.

Terror by Night

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Twist of Time
Gy Waldron
First Fruits Publishing
979-8869378163 $18.99 Paperback/$8.49 ebook
Website: www.GyWaldronAuthor.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Twist-Time-Gy-Waldron/dp/B0D9PLJHDZ

Fans of technothrillers and murder mysteries will find that Twist of Time opens with an engrossing bang (The nude woman’s body had no head) and follows its initial powerful opener throughout the story as Detective Sgt. Kate Flynn of the Santa Barbara Police Department becomes deeply involved in a particularly gruesome case whose complexity challenges even her impressive investigate talents.

Gy Waldron quickly adds Anglican monk Bro. Thomas and ancient Celtic artifacts and history to Kate’s endeavors, broadening the topics from a kill’s unusual modus operandi to a mystery that holds its roots in medieval European events. The more they tug on these threats of connection and discovery, the more intricate present-day events become. Vatican special interests, government secrets and lab work, and a treasure hunt intersect with delightful complexity.

Readers will become immersed in the methods and world of Templar students, the magic and mystery of writing, and the commanding power of warriors as adept at making love as they are in battle. When Kate and Thomas discover a far more dangerous and significant government plot at the heart of their murder investigation, the action becomes particularly fast-paced and satisfyingly unpredictable.

Their search centers on the lost diary of Brychan and events of the past that immerse Bro.Thomas and Sara in dangerous affairs. Readers will appreciate the strong dose of historical and spiritual reflection which accompanies their investigation.

Think Indiana Jones, but with a further emphasis on historical and ethical precedents which impact characters and readers alike. Rich character development dovetails nicely with the tension to build a can’t-put-it-down atmosphere of adventure and suspense as events unfold.

Libraries seeking thrillers packed with the unexpected and laced with many opportunities for book club discussion groups and deeper-level thinking will welcome Twist of Time. Its attention to psychological, religious, scientific, and social description lends not just to a realistic atmosphere, but thought-provoking insights about the greater good and how two individuals can ultimately affect the future of humanity itself.

Twist of Time

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The Vault
Stuart Z. Goldstein
Pen Paper Press
978-1-7366322-3-9
Paperback: $14.99/Hardcover: $24.95/Ebook: $6.99
Website: http://www.stuartzgoldsteinbooks.com

The Vault draws thriller readers into a story that mixes elements of crime and confrontation with psychological and ethical considerations. A Wall Street vault that holds more riches than Fort Knox becomes the center of plotting, controversy, and the financial heart of America.

This vault is impervious to threat or attack. Until now. That’s when military veteran Andy returns from service to enter Wall Street’s hidden world; there to be groomed for the leadership of Vault Operations. However, he becomes disenchanted with how big business treats employees and blocks his efforts to foster career paths for those under him. It’s time for change … and that change will come from unexpected quarters.

From the start, Stuart Z. Goldstein captures the ethical conundrums involved in financial, economic, and business circles:

It was unlikely that a steel vault, by definition, could ever fail. But people fail. Leaders fail. They fail in their values and commitment to the Golden Rule. And that can lead to disillusionment and betrayal. It is – and ever has been the dilemma of our time. Andy knew a reckoning was coming.

That poor choices can lead to failure only serves to highlight the fact that no institution, vault, or protective agency is infallible to change and challenge—especially when human beings are involved.

In this case, team player and company man Andy finds himself in the center of a power play that occurs between new head of Human Resources Don Franks, who confronts CEO Daeva Connolly, and other internal conflicts over the vault’s management. These include Boris Romanov, who trained as a cop in Russia and confronts Jennie Li over taking bearer bonds from the vault.

Goldstein takes the time to build personalities, motivations, and insights that not only give each character added dimensions, but makes their actions, reactions, and choices logical and realistic.

This enhances the story’s tension, producing likeable characters whose involvements and interactions test the boundaries of moral and ethical behavior, financial savvy, and the wisdom behind Vault access and management.

Suspense is nicely constructed with twists and turns readers won’t see coming, that add further value to the plot.

Libraries seeking stories that rest as much upon psychological insight as on strong character development, evolving interpersonal relationships, and bigger objectives of financial management, wisdom, and incongruities will find The Vault a top recommendation. It will appeal to any patron seeking thoroughly engrossing novels that raise questions of values and integrity. This will also attract book clubs seeking vivid material for discussion.

The Vault

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Novels


Absorbed
Jaime Townzen
Palm Tree Press
979-8-218-51358-0
$23.99 Hardcover/$16.99 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
Website: https://jaimetownzen.com 
Ordering: https://palmtreepressbooks.com

Stacey Chapman faces a summer of lifeguard work before entering her senior year of school. It’s the prime time to dive deep into a relationship before things change. Unfortunately, her summer devolves into a crush, a quest for vengeance, and poor decision-making that exposes the flaws in Stacey’s character. All this emerges during the course of losing her virginity to sexy skateboarder Jessie, whom she’s coveted for a long time.

Jaime Townzen’s focus on a girl who is entering the complex realm of becoming a new adult creates an intriguing contrast between good and bad choices and the difficult process of making decisions whose impact isn’t always clear.

Stacey tackles a multitude of adult issues, from monogamy and motherhood to relationship disappointments which force her to face uncomfortable possibilities. These are depicted with evocative, descriptive language that draw readers into her thought processes and motivations:

She glared at her painting of the aurora borealis on the fridge. Every hope she’d had for her date with Jessie, the magic of wishing on shooting stars with him by her side, felt bogus. Like seeing something so beautiful and magical as the northern lights would ever be possible for her, either.

Of special note are the powerful juxtapositions between public image and private self-assessment which Stacey is forced to navigate in novel ways. Obsessions, ideals, and reality often clash as she faces the outcome of having sex and the crash of her expectations from that event.

Adults seeking forays into the psychological, social, and sexual challenges faced by new adults, as well as teens on the cusp of entering this phase of their lives, will find Stacey’s character well-developed and her dilemmas realistic and thought-provoking. Her trials while building her identity will resonate in teen through adult audiences.

All these elements translate not just to a thoroughly engrossing story, but to book club discussion material about coming of age, growth and transformation, and handling new challenges that force individuals to confront the dichotomy between whom they are and who they wish to become.

Libraries will find it easy to point reading groups and patrons in the direction of Absorbed, which might initially seem like a fine beach read, but evolves scenarios of impact that encourage readers to draw better connections between thought, direction, and the consequences of infatuation.

Absorbed

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AE Fond Kiss: Love Blossoms in Tennessee
Joan Donaldson
Black Rose Writing
978-1-68513-542-3 $20.95
www.blackrosewriting.com

AE Fond Kiss: Love Blossoms in Tennessee adds to the Cumberland Mountain series with a historical novel based on the utopian community in Rugby, Tennessee that has become home for Lizzie Walker.

Lizzie is mourning the loss of her fiancé at the same time as William arrives to the community mourning the loss of his sister. It feels inevitable that these two, united by loss and grief, will find solace and then attraction to one another.

But that’s not the entire story. What also blossoms in Tennessee is the political and social ideals of Rugby, the ugly underside of human nature when mountain man Lucas poses a threat to Lizzie, and the secret William harbors which could ultimately threaten their new connection.

Also supplementing these personal facets is the overall struggle for equality that community women face. It’s a looming disaster which taps them to step up and respond in unfamiliar, strong ways. The evolution of love and transformation that the main characters experience forces each to grow into their roles in the community as well as revised ideals of what a loving relationship really means.

Joan Donaldson excels in juxtaposing personalities, broader community interests, and descriptions which come steeped in an atmosphere of place and emotional revelation:

“I haven’t sung since George died.” Lizzie sat on the settee and lifted her knitting basket off an end table.

She doubted her voice could sing. No melodies or words bubbled up from inside her, as the ever-present pain had consumed each note and syllable. Lizzie stared at the forget-me-not flowers sprinkled across the gray calico dress. Some nights, she dreamed of rocking and singing to George’s baby, but the morning showed an empty pillow next to her head. Perhaps her voice would return to her if love renewed her heart. But love required time to flourish and to build new dreams.

She also presents a realistic, powerful conundrum as William’s choices lead Lizzy to question how she could love a man who makes horribly poor decisions about those he purports to love.

These elements, combined with the social and political revolution brewing in a utopian community which embraces all kinds of people, make for a fine saga of small-town America and women’s issues. This will prove a delightful lure for libraries seeking to expand their fictional holdings with thought-provoking works that blend romance with psychological growth and community evolution.

AE Fond Kiss: Love Blossoms in Tennessee is also highly recommended for book clubs and reading groups of all kinds, whether they are interested in romance stories, sagas of rural America, women’s issues, or psychological transitions.

AE Fond Kiss: Love Blossoms in Tennessee

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Ai: Opening
George St. Georges
Oh No Publishing
979-8-9913009-1-9 $23.00 Paperback/$33.00 Hardcover
www.GeorgeSaintGeorges.com

The fact that the novel Ai: Opening defies pat categorization represents a plus for the story’s appeal to a wide audience. Its special blend of mystery, true crime, horror, romance, and more lends the fast-paced tale an attraction that supersedes any tendency to place it in an easily marketable category.

Walt Walls and his friends not only navigate the last two semesters of college, but find themselves facing unique discoveries on the Island of Ai (and no, this is not exactly the same as artificial intelligence, but is a quirky name that comes with a murky historical reference that moves far beyond AI’s meaning). George St. Georges clarifies this complexity:

The cattlemen on Ai were renowned for their exquisite breed creation, and they used artificial insemination—AI—in the regular course of events. Though they were comfortable with using frozen semen to influence their herds, they were unwilling to make the leap to believing that AI might have been the genesis of their own ancestors. Twenty or so years prior, AI mania had swept the island like the tulips had Holland, with frigid straws of bovine DNA commanding a year’s wages or more. Many of the dairymen argued vociferously that the island’s name and the process were related, but the townsfolk found the notion ludicrous.

However, this is not the crux of the tale … merely one of its many aspects of discovery.

Think The Da Vinci Code, but with added spiritual and intrigue overtones.

The prologue introduces history, ceremony, and scripture quoted from a granite Bible during an odd ceremony designed to assure another successful school year. Readers are quickly moved into the first chapter, which opens with football, Walt’s ability to hear the voice of a slain child, and his “relentless refusal to listen”:

Most people live in the outside world, but I’m here in my own. Inside. Other people speak; I think. They make things happen; things happen to me. My dad always said, “Live and learn—some people just live.” I’m sorry, Dad, but most of the time I’m just trying to live, and the things that I learn, they hurt. I’m tired of the pain. Tired of being alone. We just won this game, and here I am. Thinking too much, by myself, again.

As cryptic messages and hidden secrets come to light, Walt begins to realize that the real challenge of his life lies in not only accepting his talent and listening to its messages, but pursuing history and religion in an entirely new manner devoid of prejudice and assumptions.

Readers who appreciate Biblical references will find these insights both pertinent and perhaps somewhat challenging as Walt engages in conversations and discoveries far from familiar territory, both spiritually and psychologically:

“Walt, have you ever, ever heard of Joseph—or for that matter, any one of his near or distant relations whose accounts are in the Bible—presented as anything other than the protagonist?”

“Not that I can think of, right off the bat.”

“Me neither. So these portrayals of Joseph, and practically every character in the Bible, as protagonist is just like being overwhelmed with sparkling colors, but when you take a step back, sometimes it’s really the deepest black.”

These adventures, encounters, and reflections, in turn, give readers a powerful story that embraces Biblical interpretation (including punctuation and grammatical differences in intention), death, finals and finality, and underlying differences between thinking and knowing. Readers will thus be prompted, at many points, to consider their own prejudices and interpretations of history, spiritual lessons, and life events. This lends especially well to book club and group discussions, whether they be in classroom settings, religious circles, or among readers of novels that pepper thriller elements with deeper-level thinking.

Libraries and readers seeking far more depth in their novels of action and adventure, which rests firmly on a sense of personal and historical discovery as well as spiritual foundations, will find Ai: Opening thoroughly absorbing and easy to recommend. Its function as debate and discussion material for a wide variety of reading groups lends to its attraction.

Ai: Opening

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Blossoms on a Poisoned Sea
Mariko Tatsumoto
Northampton House Press
978-1-950668-24-3 $18.95 Paper/$9.99 ebook
Website: www.marikotatsumoto.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Blossoms-Poisoned-Sea-Betrayal-Minamata-ebook/dp/B0CRBDST3P

Blossoms On A Poisoned Sea: A Novel of Love & Betrayal in Minamata, Japan is a historical romance for adults and young adults that delves into the facts behind a true story of industrial subterfuge and disaster.

Yuki, the daughter of a poor fisherman, and Kiyo, the son of an executive at a huge chemical plant, meet and fall in love—but their real story is only the beginning. When all life begins to die in their lovely Minamata Bay and humans begin falling ill with an agonizing, mysterious illness, Yuki finds herself the sole breadwinner, supporting her ailing family.

It would have been easy to limit the focus to their relationship, but Mariko Tatsumoto adds history and bigger-picture thinking to her story as it surveys class prejudice when city folk turn their backs on the poor fisherfolk who receive the brunt of the disease’s outbreak.

Kiyo’s efforts to help Yuki pit him against his own family and heritage. Both face off with a big conglomerate that sports deep pockets, broader resources, and an interest in hiding the truth about what is really happening in Minamata Bay and to its residents.

Tatsumoto brings all these elements to life, employing evocative description, atmosphere, and language to cement personalities and lives with social and political challenges. The politics of cover-up revolving around a water purifier which is touted to solve everything are astutely portrayed, as are the disparate reactions of common people to shifting proposals:

“I’m just annoyed. These fishermen, creating too many problems. The government instructed us to switch dumping from the bay to the river. Now, they want us to discharge into the bay again. Industry creates waste. It can’t be helped. Our products are vital to the nation, but government people keep hamstringing us.”

Educators and adults will especially appreciate how Blossoms On A Poisoned Sea gives them the opportunity to open dialogues with young readers about Japanese history, industrial pollution, and social prejudice.

The novel is thoroughly compelling and rich in its explorations of political and social issues intrinsic not just to Japanese society, but also in Tatsumoto’s examination of the clash between industrial interests and everyday lives, making the saga hard to put down.

All these elements make Blossoms On A Poisoned Sea a top recommendation for libraries, book discussion groups, schools, and young adults seeking a thought-provoking, compelling story.

Blossoms on a Poisoned Sea

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Canceled
Tim Cann
Independently Published
9798991466011 $11.99 PB/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGQTD6V4

Step into the world of television, social media influencers, alt-right personalities, and zany satirical observation. All these elements permeate the milieu of Los Angeles as former debutante Lane Bryantt and her lusty daughters embark on a journey into a dystopian reality series they create in Canceled.

Then navigate the discoveries of unemployed screenwriter John, who suddenly discovers that Martin’s new project may be just the ticket to a greater media success than he’d ever participated in before.

Wry humor, life events, and media snafus lend Canceled a hilarious countenance that readers will find simply delightful. Between the misadventures, flawed personalities that clash and coalesce, and appearances of oddly compelling players, Tim Cann employs dialogue, psychology, and social insight to deftly portray a world at once familiar and decidedly peculiar.

The nuances of such interactions embrace the inherently flawed world of Hollywood’s drive to success—but with a difference. None of these characters is ordinary. All of them walk a fine line between seductive profitable relationships and purposes, and all of them prove to be decidedly novel and delightfully unexpected as they evolve and participate in a truly strange new venture.

Readers attracted to novels about media success stories will find the winding nature of discovery in Canceled provides an unpredictable romp through irony that will evoke many laugh-out-loud moments as the characters evolve and dilemmas emerge.

The dialogues that reflect such confrontations between characters are especially delightful:

“Hay, look who it is…the soap heiress and her soap-a-dope.”

This prompted the soap-a-dope to speak up in her friend’s defense. “Don’t be a bully, Gina. Don’t bully us.”

Between haters, would-be achievers, and plain bad behavior, the story proves a refreshing breath of fresh air to readers looking for a fun tale laced with the lingo of modern times and the dialogue of wanna-be achievers.

Libraries seeking fun (and oftentimes surprisingly thought-provoking) surveys of media, flawed personalities, and shifting experiences and motives that are all delivered with more than a light dose of humor will find Canceled an absolutely perfect, highly recommended panacea countering the angst of modern living.

Canceled

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Drama on Deck
B. Joseph Smithson
Independently Published
‎979-8991056106
$19.99 Hardcover/$14.99 Paperback/$5.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Drama-Deck-RelationSHIPS-can-hard/dp/B0D9QXKZRT

Drama On Deck: RelationSHIPS Can Be Hard pairs romance with humor as it traverses a cruise job opportunity that turns into a surprising mix of workplace politics and vying personalities. That’s what a new Vivace Cruise Lines crewmember and art auction director, 25-year-old Bree Bradley, discovers when she embarks on the journey of a lifetime entirely different from her more familiar L.A., a “challenging city in which to thrive.”

From the start, B. Joseph Smithson injects subtle humor into Bree’s experiences and first-person reactions:

One aspect that made me nervous was the room accommodations. Smitty referred to the crew cabins as "broom closets." Surely, they can't be that bad, I thought to myself. However, the notion of having only one closet was disconcerting. Adding to the challenge was the fact that I would be sharing the aforementioned "broom closet" with another girl.

Bree explores policy issues and underlying assumptions, love and mishaps, and other surprises, and readers aboard for her ride will find her experiences lively, fun, and revealing:

It was as if nothing had happened. I was dumbfounded as he started to give us all a short motivational speech on how we could only "rise from the ashes of the last cruise" or something like that.

Bree comes to understand both overt and subtle ship rules and relationships, finding new choices aboard ship that affect her future, forcing her to confront her personal failures via a ship of fools and fortunate encounters that influences the course of her life.

Smithson creates a likeable young woman in Bree. He outlines her strengths, changing values and objectives, and the interpersonal encounters that present more growth opportunities than any other endeavor she’s embarked on in her new adult life.

Especially notable are the psychological and political undercurrents of ship life and obstacles which Bree must overcome in order to realize her strengths and how they might apply to a vastly revised future vision.

Smithson’s ability to bring all these characters to life, along with the cruise ship environment, makes for an engaging, thought-provoking read that is hard to put down.

Libraries will find Drama On Deck: RelationSHIPS easy to recommend to a wide range of readers, from those interested in light romances to others who look for stories of new adults growing into their adult personas, tales of cruise ship adventures, and anyone seeking a satisfyingly fun vacation or beach read.

Drama on Deck

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Gitel's Freedom
Iris Mitlin Lav
She Writes Press
978-1647428587 $17.99 (paperback)
Website: https://irismitlinlav.com/
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Gitels-Freedom-Iris-Mitlin-Lav/dp/1647428580/

Libraries building collections of Jewish historical fiction will find that Gitel's Freedom offers a solid contrast between two Jewish immigrant family experiences and the choices that face poor immigrants to America. Its focus on Belorussian immigrant Gitel, who comes to the U.S. as a child and is pushed to marry. She falls in love with Orthodox Jewish pharmacist Shmuel, eschewing college and other interests for the sake of propriety and cultural expectation, creating a thoroughly engrossing tale.

The story opens with Russian baker Rayzel’s satisfaction with her life and role in her community. It feels like she would be the last person to consider emigrating from her beloved home, where she has become an important member in her Jewish community. She is not only a successful baker, but is skilled at locating what is lost. Her deductive abilities involve a fine mix of Sherlock Holmes-style reasoning and psychological insight:

Someone in this town who steals a goose must be hungry and too poor to buy one, she thinks. And he or she probably has a family, because there are more convenient foods for a single person to steal.

In taking the time to build this woman’s personality and approach to life, Iris Mitlin Lav crafts the foundation for a mother/daughter relationship that shifts in response to challenges in a new land and home.

Gitel has always been rebellious, but the new possibilities present in America influence her thinking in ways mother Rayzel never could have predicted. Yet, Gitel has inherited one thing from her family that serves her well as she navigates marriage and motherhood—uncovering solutions to problems big and small.

As her life changes and evolves, readers receive a detailed portrait of Jewish culture, religion, family life, and women’s issues. Gitel’s struggles with her husband’s poor choices and his ultimate debilitating condition, which forces her into a caregiver role, will engage readers well familiar with spousal attitudes, needs, and caregiving’s impact.

Lav’s attention to juxtaposing family relationships and transitions with social changes in women’s roles and economics creates a story perfect for book club discussion topics ranging from Jewish heritage, identity, and culture to changing mother/daughter relationships as the decades introduce new challenges to all Americans.

This gives Gitel’s story additional added value in exploring shifting approaches to her family and the world around her.

Libraries that choose Gitel's Freedom to add to their Jewish collections and fiction will find its wide-ranging issues and discoveries make it highly recommended reading for non-Jewish audiences, as well. Its compelling blend of history and characters who struggle with their daily lives and precedents makes it a winner.

Gitel's Freedom

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Ignoring Alva
Emilie Khair
Current Words Publishing, LLC
978-1-957224-45-9
www.currentwords.com

In Ignoring Alva, two aging sisters decide to embark on a road trip together. What they uncover will not only change their perceptions of life, but how they relate to one another. This adventure promises to carry them into the future with more connection and understanding than they’ve had in the past … but it comes with a price tag.

Emilie Khair cultivates an atmosphere of discovery that permeates the sisters’ lives from the novel’s opening lines. Alva’s perspective and experience of a small stroke opens the story with an early indicator that it’s time not just for change, but transitioning into new facets of daily living.

Her older sister Millie is no spring chicken, either. Now 81, she seems like the last person to undertake a road trip. However, the desire to see more of the world while they still can motivates the sisters to begin a journey that promises change and new revelations.

Khair takes the time to describe the mental and physical condition of her characters. Alva’s first-person perspective lends to vivid representations:

Millie is finally out of her bedroom, yelling for my help, dragging an immense suitcase to rest next to two others. She is a sight, with her newly permed air looking like a cross between a halo and a helmet, and she is looking like an old Clara Bow. She is taller than me, and I guess more stylish. Today she is in a navy tunic and soft jeans, an inharmonious fur draped over her shoulders.

Melancholy permeates the tale with reflections on bygone times:

It feels like I’m peeking back into a life that isn’t all that familiar anymore, like even the ashtray sits in the middle of the coffee table, but I don’t even know why. Nobody’s smoked in the house for years.

However, the promise of a new present-day experience makes for a fine juxtaposition of past and present, as well as memories and revised hopes for the future as the plot moves into unexpected kidnapping situations and more.

After setting the stage with Alva’s perspective, Khair then represents Millie’s impressions. This technique gives readers dual value in contrasting both shared memories and differences as the sisters each experience the journey in disparate ways.

Also notable in this progression of insights is the different impressions the sisters have of one another in their golden years. Millie’s observation, for example, is astutely thought-provoking:

Alva’s mind is doing somersaults. Not in a good way… This whole story about the robbery seems farfetched. I mean, I didn’t see anything. It could be true, but her visions have shed some doubt on her mental awareness. Alva argues that those visions, when she has them, come with sensations of being in a totally different place. “This robbery,” she said agitatedly, “happened in the casino, and we were both right there. And you, Millie, are not that observant. Also, you are never in my visions.”

I am not sure how to take that. I have been such a big part of Alva’s life these last years, how is it that she is dreaming about going places without me?

As the unexpected adventures unfold, the sisters react in different ways, sporting different strengths. This gives the story a progressive complexity that moves from relationship-building and transformation to confronting obstacles in life that exist well outside the sisters’ previous relationship or experiences.

Readers tempted to akin Ignoring Alva to Jack Kerouac’s counterculture romp in On the Road will find these two books share the atmosphere and excitement of transformation, but actually embody very different characters and age groups. The age-related quandaries explored in Ignoring Alva provide depth and food for thought to readers who believe that those in their golden years are unable to venture into virgin territory in forging revised choices and actions.

This makes Ignoring Alva a top recommendation for those interested in journeys undertaken in advanced years, as well as readers interested in exploring sisterhood and discoveries that initiate new realizations and change.

Libraries will be pleased to include Ignoring Alva in collections that have a special interest in senior experiences and shifting family connections. Book reading groups seeking thought-provoking material that embraces kidnapping, strife, and a special form of adventure that books about the elderly seldom embrace will relish the opportunity to hold discussions on aging that are prompted by the events and interactions in Ignoring Alva.

Ignoring Alva

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In Every Lifetime
Amy Cole
Atmosphere Press
979-8-89132-461-9 $14.99 / 8.99 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com

In Every Lifetime will attract fiction readers looking for a blend of modern romance and suspense. It pairs mystery with attraction as Violet and Max become caught up in intrigue that challenges both on many levels.

Violet Burke is not your usual love struck female so typical of too many romance novels. She’s a proactive reporter whose ability to navigate strange new worlds (such as the nuances of upstate New York, which are in heavy contrast to her familiar Washington, D.C. milieu) gives her strength and assertive reactions to all kinds of life events.

From the start, Amy Cole is especially talented at juxtaposing atmospheric descriptions with psychologically astute depth:

The tight, shimmering evening gown scratching across her sensitive arms was completely out of character for her, but, hey, she could dress up if she needed to, complete with a salon-worthy blowout and smokey eye makeup. Truly, she had gone all out, down to the killer heels pinching her feet.

It really was a DC-type feat to essentially re-create a ballroom overlooking a battlefield. She couldn’t deny the effect either, it really was a beautiful early fall night, and the battlefield added a layer of romance and mystery that felt like a storybook setting.

This solidifies Violet’s nature, successfully pairing it with an equally compelling setting. This sets the stage for events to come as Violet reveals that her love of history and place leads to her dream of writing a novel.

A car accident involving her and her highly connected blind date Brandon, who tangle with an apparently-drunk driver from the party they’ve attended, segues into a confrontation at her hotel—during which Violet realizes that the ‘accident’ was actually intentional.

Starting with the third chapter, perspectives shift between Violet and Max, with clear chapter headings leading readers through these two lives in an easy flow of discovery and no confusion.

As their encounters move from flirting to confronting dangerous forces, developments emerge on two levels—solving a mystery, and becoming personally involved with one another.

Cole takes the time to fully develop each individual, highlighting their strengths along with the disparate ways in which they interact and change.

Libraries seeking a satisfying blend of mystery and romance will find In Every Lifetime’s in-depth characterization, superb balancing of tension and psychological insight, and unexpected twists and turns translate to a story highly recommendable to a wide audience.

In Every Lifetime

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It Happened One Morning...
L.A. Hider Jones
Squirrel Tree Press
978-1-7323190-1-1 Paperback: $17.99/ebook: $4.99
http://www.lahiderjones.com  

It Happened One Morning... is a quirky novel about a famous male relationship coach who, overnight, turns into a female. The horror! Forced to literally take his own advice on dating and women, Boz Studebaker finds that life as a woman is not as he’d imagined … making his former advice and approaches less than stellar.

L.A. Hider Jones gives her story a satisfying blend of fantasy, fun, and thought-provoking revelations. It opens with two archangels who may have something to do with this transformation before moving into Boz’s vastly revised life. The irony lies in the fact that a celebrity renowned for transforming women’s love lives finds himself not just on the other side of the fence, but on the wrong side of success in many unexpected ways, forcing him to redefine not only his successful method, but his assumptions about women’s’ lives.

An early revelation is that while Boz is an expert at his job, he himself fails in the arena of finding love. That’s just one irony that gives It Happened One Morning... an exceptional flavor as Boz’s journey through womanhood proves unpredictable and difficult.

Nobody can change Boz. He must change himself. These facts are lessons slow to grow on a man who once counted on his personality and success to run the show … but, no more.

The angelic observers of Boz’s life make astute statements about him that could carry into the reader’s perception of success and failure:

“How can a man who has no love in him inspire others in the ways of love? Boswell Studebaker influences millions, unlike everyday people. The Lord loves him, but He knows that Boz must do better, so that his followers will as well. His heart is not in the right place.”

Aside from its fun premise, the intrigue and real discovery lies in how Boz (now “Bonnie”) lives life as a woman, hitting the glass ceiling over prejudices he never saw coming. One such example happens in as ordinary a place as a restaurant she enters as a single woman seeking a meal:

“Table for one.”

He looked her up and down, in her plain white blouse, black skirt, and Mary Janes. Then a patronizing smirk. “I’m sorry, but all our tables are reserved.”

“Really? I see some empty tables over there—”

“Reserved.” He didn’t turn to look where she was pointing.

Disappointed, she was about to leave, but looked over her shoulder at the dining room. The few women there were all paired with men.

“Did he think I’m a hooker because I’m by myself?”

From accidents and thwarted expectations to struggles to identify real love and what influences its development, readers will enjoy the rollicking ride Boz takes through familiar women’s experiences … as seen through a former guy’s viewpoint.

Libraries that choose It Happened One Morning... for its whimsical promise will find that much more simmers beneath its surface story of physical transformation. The psychological enlightenments that evolve along the way pinpoint thoroughly absorbing moments that will be of particular interest to women’s (and men’s!) reading circles and book clubs seeking stories as thought-provoking as they are entertaining.

It Happened One Morning...

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The Legend of Valentine
Sheldon Collins
Hutchinson & Collins Publishing LLC
979-8-9913624-1-2
$26.99 Hardcover/$16.99 Paperback/$5.99 ebook/$24.95 Audiobook/$44.99 Special Edition
https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Valentine-Ancient-Historical-Revolution-ebook/dp/B0DCW4HQZ2

 The Legend of Valentine is a love story of ancient times, Italian heritage, and engrossing fiction. These elements highlight a tale that opens in ancient Rome to document the fall of an empire, the mandate of a warrior turned secret supporter of the failing Christian faith, and the efforts of Valentine to defy the tyranny he once supported, and remake his life.

From the start, Sheldon Collins focuses on bringing Saint Valentine alive, embellishing historical precedent to draw together the relatively few known facts about his life and times with the overall religious and social sentiments of Roman society.

Valentine’s transformation from a soldier to something much deeper is of particular interest:

Deodatus met Valentine’s gaze with a knowing smile. “You stared death in the eyes, Valentine. Most men wouldn’t have survived your wound. God has given you a second chance at life—perhaps at love as well.”

When Valentine heard these words, he knew them to be true. The realization settled within him like the stillness of dawn. “I am uncertain where to start. Like my father before me, fighting for Rome is all I’ve ever known.”

As Collins reconstructs the world of ancient Roman interests and artifacts, he attends to creating a “you are here” atmosphere via disparate characters that interact within Roman society to influence and change one another.

Graphic scenes of violence which pepper the story might give pause to more sensitive readers; but these are presented in keeping with the times and evolution of events, and are not excessively or unduly utilized.

Is Valentine a criminal, as the Roman Empire comes to depict him? Or is he a healer and a man of faith, as many people believe?

Valentine’s reputation as a healer, soldier, and pious man began to resonate with the people, igniting a belief that the gods might favor him.

The politics and people of early Roman times comes to life in a manner that captures both Caesar’s statecraft and vision and Valentine’s evolving new convictions and faith, which inevitably clash.

Readers need no prior familiarity with Roman history and affairs in order to appreciate The Legend of Valentine. The only prerequisite is an attraction to historical fiction of ancient times which, in this case, brings a legend to life and fills in many blanks with new possibilities.

Collins’s creation of a vivid interpretation and exploration of the legend of Saint Valentine deserves widespread acclaim, and will reach a large audience of historical fiction readers.

Libraries that select The Legend of Valentine for its evocative educational qualities will find it easy to recommend to patrons ranging from historical fiction enthusiasts and those holding a special interest in ancient Rome to general-interest readers looking for engaging accounts of personal, political, and religious transformation.

The Legend of Valentine

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Like Embers in the Night
Andrew Golisze
Wild Rose Press
978-1509259298 $20.99 Paperback/$5.99 ebook
www.thewildrosepress.com

Like Embers in the Night is set during World War II. It follows the lives and trails of Polish soldier Janek and his wife Wanda, who manage to survive Soviet labor camps and Silberian gulags as they struggle to stay live and connected even as their familiar world devolves into chaos.

If the events featured in this book seem exceptionally vivid (a warning for sensitive readers), it’s because descriptions are powered by the memories of author Andrew Goliszek’s sister Sophie, who survived war, dictators, and prison camps. This gives Like Embers in the Night a hard-hitting feel that brings the 1939 siege of Poland to vivid life from its opening chapters:

Wanda sat trembling as she rocked back and forth, clutching six-year-old Sophie to her chest so tightly her hands grew numb. The electricity in the city had been out for days. Water was scarce. What little food she had left would run out in a week. Through a small broken window, she could see and hear the nonstop barrage of artillery fire off in the distance. Fingers of thick black smoke rose columnlike along the horizon and swirled eastward in the cold wind. For days, the pungent stench of death and decay had descended upon the city of Lwow like a shroud.

Readers need not hold prior familiarity with the history of Poland or the events of 1939 in order to enjoy Goliszek’s story. History comes to life with no prerequisite for anything but a basic interest in wartime events and how ordinary people survive them. Like Embers in the Night will attract a wide audience with its compelling reviews of impossible-to-survive situations and how each character makes compromises and forms strategies to endure.

Goliszek’s story juxtaposes Wanda and Janek’s struggles as each face different challenges. These lead them to wonder if their personal survival is even important in the broader scheme of world affairs:

Hour after hour Janek worked, hungry to the point of near delirium, thinking of nothing but the sun setting in the west so he could march back to camp, eat what little they’d give him, and collapse like a dead man on his bunk. And as he watched the sun gradually fall from the sky and looked at the band of ragged men around him, he realized that one of the saddest things in life would be to die in that faraway land and eventually be forgotten. Nothing he’d ever done would matter, he thought, because generations after he was gone the only thing left of him would be distant memories and dusty photographs.

The delicate dances of contrast between characters, survivors, oppressors, and social and political struggle maintain a tension and sense of immediacy. This keeps readers thoroughly engrossed in not just the lives of ordinary people, but the special projects, objectives, and choices of nations under siege.

Also notable and engrossing is the aftermath of war, in which Wanda and Janek continue to struggle over reconciling peacetime with the trauma of the war:

“Janek and I spent that first year in England trying to adjust to our new life together. I suffered with nightmares, screamed in my sleep, sometimes woke up crying, thinking I was back in the labor camps. But the worst nightmares were of my escape from Poland, and when Sophie was taken from me. It changed me…and I was never the same…never looked at people in the same way.”

With its hard-hitting “you are here” atmosphere and comparisons of trials and tragedy between different characters and nations, Like Embers in the Night is especially highly recommended for historical novel readers interested in vivid experiences of war and its aftermath.

Libraries that choose Like Embers in the Night for their collections will also want to point book clubs and reading groups to the story, whether the subject of interest is World War II, survival tactics, or the wrenching, lasting impact of living alongside “people walking as if already dead.”

Like Embers in the Night

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The Muse in a Time of Madness
Francis M. Flavin
Atmosphere Press
979-8-89132-298-1 $18.99 Paperback
www.atmospherepress.com

The Muse in a Time of Madness is the first book in historical fiction series The Alyeska Chronicles. It’s set in the time of Ivan the Terrible and follows the trials of artist Petr Safronov, who is forced to abandon his art to lead the remnants of Novgorodian society to the outcast lands beyond the Urals.

With only his mystical Muse to guide him, Petr must find a way to not only survive, but guide his followers away from the terrible wrath and its aftermath that Ivan has inflicted on Russian culture and society.

Setting The Muse in a Time of Madness in 1500s Russia allows historical fiction readers an immersive experience for absorbing the politics, society, and culture of early Russia. This creates a better understanding of Russian affairs and heritage, which in turn generates a thorough grounding in Russian history through the eyes of a participant standing in the crossroads of art, politics, and mysticism.

Lest readers think they need prior familiarity with Russian affairs, or an affinity for the subject, it should be advised that Francis M. Flavin’s immersive experience embraces and explains the past and current events of Russia in an inviting manner that holds no prerequisites for complete understanding and enjoyment:

The group of dispossessed Novgorodians was strung out over several miles. Their numbers had swollen to over a hundred in Yaroslavl. Because Nikolai Safronov was a leading boyar, they looked to Petr for leadership, that, due to his station, he was obliged to provide — regardless of his experience or desire. Petr, in turn, sought advice from Father Ivanov and strength from the indefatigable Andrei Stepanov. Andrei had been unbowed by the fierce winter storms that had ravaged them as they proceeded southeast along the Mother Volga.

Petr is the main character, but a host of others on his journey, including Anna, Father Ivanov, and Petr’s sister Matrona, add their own impressions and experiences to his impossible journey. The psychology between fugitives both connected by their flight and distanced by jealousy I powerfully rendered:

Matrona had bonded with Anna at first — two fugitives sharing the same troubles and turmoil. But then Matrona watched her brother fall in love with Anna. Whereas she had once had all of Petr’s attention, she then had been forced to share. She had resented this terribly. Consequently, she had become detached from Anna, angry that her brother had been more interested in this slave than his own sister’s welfare.

Another powerful plus to this saga is how each of the characters grows in different ways. Added value emerges in the form of economic and class contrasts that also lend deeper insights into Russian affairs and the region as a whole.

All these facets contribute to the greater strength of The Muse in a Time of Madness, which expands its focus from individual lives and trials to examine the course and evolution of a nation. This approach gives modern readers much better insights into Russian history and psyche, while delivering an invigorating read that excels in character development, historical exploration, and valuable insights into Russian affairs.

Libraries that chose this novel for all these strengths plus its ability to lure readers with a thoroughly engrossing story of survival and growth will find The Muse in a Time of Madness easy to recommend—especially to readers and book clubs holding a special interest in Medieval Russian history.

The Muse in a Time of Madness

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Night Flight
Anne Da Vigo
Quill Driver Press
978-9745722-3-9 $16.99
annedavigoauthor.wordpress.com 

Night Flight is a novel inspired by a nearly-forgotten event: one of the biggest mass murders of modern times—the crash of Mainliner 629, the first plane bombing in American history, which took place in 1955. John Gilbert Graham, the man accused of the crime, was tried and executed. He was a member of Anne Da Vigo’s church—and this was just one connection to the Mainliner event which kept popping up in her life, prompting this novel.

In Night Flight’s fictional portrait, seventeen-year-old Hannah, newly bereft after the loss of her mother and alienated from her father’s new family, meets and falls for married man Jack, whose allure hides a dark and dangerous personality.

As she falls deeper into his web of dangerous treachery and brutal abuse, Hannah finds herself poised to engage in a very dangerous game that will impact far more than her life alone.

As Hannah becomes immersed in codependent behavior and increasing deadly actions that range from agreeing to spy on Jack to helping the FBI and fielding other relationships, her situation becomes more and more complex. Readers sensitive to stories of abuse and threats may be triggered by some descriptions and the overall focus of the story: a young woman who falls prey to a sociopath’s allure.

This cautionary note aside, Night Flight also offers a blend of deeper-picture thinking, revealing how Hannah steps up to help others despite her inclination to hide, her loneliness, and a mandate for her to testify in the court case which ensnares Jack and threatens to destroy her.

Da Vigo’s attention to probing underlying psyches, motivations, actions and reactions, and struggles over changed life trajectory and roles lends Night Flight both a realistic and thoroughly engrossing countenance as Hannah finds herself an unwilling participant in both justice system operations and acts of betrayal.

The fast-paced story takes the time to develop Hannah’s perceptions and quandaries in a logical manner that encourages insight from readers about all kinds of situations related to entanglements with dangerous individuals.

Audiences seeking engrossing, realistic, thought-provoking novels based on a mass murder and author connections to this event will find Night Flight a riveting, memorable read.

Libraries will want to add Night Flight to their collections for its thoroughly absorbing progression as well as for the special opportunity it presents to book clubs and women’s groups to build all kinds of discussions. These topics range from the impact and allure of edgy, fascinating men in women’s lives to the requirements of justice to step up to the microphone and testify.

Audiences seeking engrossing, realistic, thought-provoking novels based on a mass murder and author connections to this event will find Night Flight a riveting, memorable read.

Night Flight

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Once Upon a Time in Boomville
Montana Kane
Bird On A Head
‎979-8986807454 $11.99 Paper/$4.99 ebook
www.montanakane.com

Once Upon a Time in Boomville returns PI Brandy Martini to a new detecting dilemma as she navigates a Hollywood producer’s impact on Boomville, Colorado. More is at stake than a film shoot, however, as the project introduces bad luck and angst from the start. A murder attempt sparks Brandy’s investigate skills when she is called upon to both solve problems and interact with world-famous Hollywood personalities.

Once again, Montana Kane has created a likeable and intriguing character in Brandy as she fields a smorgasbord of troublesome possibilities.

The setting doesn’t stay in Colorado, but moves to California as Brandy attempts to delve into the heart of matters, only to find new threats erupting far from their Colorado origins.

Here, Brandy augments her investigative approach with an immersion in Hollywood culture that picks apart its pros and cons. Hollywood fans who also enjoy investigative stories will be surprised at the many Hollywood references (some subtle, some overt) that make Once Upon a Time in Boonville a virtual movie in and of itself where Brandy literally stars in her own movie, with all its embellishments and death-defying stunts.

From the politics of being called upon to critique the film’s atmosphere to the political challenges in solving too many crimes at once, Brandy’s likeable character is reinforced by encounters which profile both her personality and the issues:

“Any comments on what you just saw, Brandy?”

“Don’t take it personally, but the whole scene felt like one big cliché to me.”

The nostrils of the Hollywood producer flared as he emitted a snort in my direction that seemed designed to convey contempt. What could an ordinary, small-town PI possibly understand about the complexities of producing a film directed by one of today’s most celebrated young filmmakers?

From cats and cowboys to suspect lists and amorous encounters, Montana Kane embeds Brandy’s story with a wry sense of humorous observation that gives readers comic relief as characters and opportunities evolve:

I turned my eyes towards the trailer lot in the distance. I realized I was feeling just as nervous about interviewing my two male movie stars as I had felt before my first celebrity interview. I finished my free snack and moseyed on over to the trailer of Damien Dexter, also known as the prime target of our criminal element thus far.

Brandy makes many assessments that will resonate not just in the moment of one circumstance, but can apply to her life as a whole:

A good investigator intuitively senses when silence is the best course of action.

Libraries that choose Once Upon a Time in Boomville for either its return of PI Brandy or its promise of an engrossing dance between investigative and personal interests will find it easy to recommend the book to a wide range of patrons—even those not usually attracted to PI stories. This audience will find in Brandy an exceptional personality that perseveres against all odds and, in the end, reveals unexpected discoveries and choices which take place once upon another time.

Once Upon a Time in Boomville

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The Other
Jeff Markowitz
Level Best Books (Historia imprint)
9781685128043 $16.95 paperback; $5.99 ebook
Website: https://jeffmarkowitz.com
Ordering: amazon.com

The Other opens in 1933. Abe Dubinski has built a family and life around living on a canal and working as a lock tender for a canal company. Everything he’s built revolves around this watery foundation, so when the company announces it’s closing, Abe is faced with the first of many challenges to his world and lifestyle. When a pro-Nazi youth camp opens nearby, taking over the fields that surround his home and endangering his family, everything continues to change for the worse.

Fast forward ninety years to when Abe’s home is inhabited by Charlie Levenson, who only wants to live his last years in peace after his wife’s death. Like Abe, Charlie views the house as a refuge and foundation from the world’s woes; and also like Abe, Charlie faces Nazi threats that force him to address prejudice, hate, and danger to his home and life.

In juxtaposing the similar confrontations of Abe and Charlie over a period of decades, Jeff Markowitz crafts a moving story of two personalities whose desire for peace is shaken by a call to action that they cannot ignore. Bonded by the canal that represents tranquility and adversity for each man, the two struggle to come to terms with their choices and decisions and the long-ranging consequences of each.

Other characters, such as Rachel, Detective Warren, and Detective Massoud, consider these questions in light of unfolding events and their own perceptions. They bring added value to the story in disparate ways.

Markowitz embeds this bigger-picture thinking with passages replete with psychological, philosophical, and social reflection:

Were the times really changing, he wondered, or had he simply been blind to the bad parts. Detective Warren had always been the right color, the right gender, the right religion. If he were to ask his partner, what would she tell him? Did she feel like an other? What did that feel like, living your life as an other, in your hometown?

As the identity and formation of ‘others’ emerges as one of the strengths to a story steeped in World War II history and American society, readers have the opportunity to reconsider their familiarity with both.

Issues of support systems and connections come to light to intrigue book clubs interested in discussions about friendship’s limitations and idealism’s barriers:

Abe understood that their friendship had its limitations. This was not Otto’s fight. If trouble came, Abe knew that his family would face that trouble alone.

The shifting timeline between 1933 and 2023 allows for important contrasts between characters, changing times, and the nature of prejudice, war, and adversity, This also adds value with its inspection of questionable fires, dangerous undercurrents to canal life, and an investigation that reveals far more than perps or possible murderers.

Readers who enjoy novels steeped in mystery, social observation, historical backdrops, and thought-provoking contrasts will find The Other compelling. It serves the purpose of appealing to leisure readers and audiences seeking either book club debate material or discussions of historical contrast and bigger-picture thinking.

This is why libraries should consider The Other an important acquisition that promises to appeal to a wide audience seeking well-written, compelling stories of past and present, offering a powerful focus on characters who “just see things differently than the rest of us.”

The Other

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Raising Hel
Cynthia J. Bogard
Atmosphere Press
979-8-89132-512-8  $18.99 paperback/$9.99 Kindle
www.atmospherepress.com

Raising Hel is a prequel to Cynthia J. Bogard’s prior books A History of Silence and Beach of the Dead, and will be especially appreciated by fans that enjoyed these stories in the Heartland Trilogy, who will find many details expanded upon here.

The story opens in 1973 Madison, Wisconsin, where first-person narrator Helen struggles with gaining enough motivation to participate in life outside the four walls called home. At twenty-two, her life is ebbing and depression winning.

Helen’s new relationship with Ed blinds her to his controlling nature. Too often, she forgives his volatile temper and struggles with the feeling that she seems to be a tertiary adjunct in his life:

“You’re a war hero, a leader, a medic, a future doctor. What could you possibly want with me? I’m next to nothing.”

He put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed it briefly, then took my hand again. “You’re what keeps me goin’, fightin’ the good fight. A man needs a chick to come home to, keep the home fires burning, give me food and lovin’, be true to me. Help me forget all the shit that’s gone down in my fucked-up life. That’s what I need and that’s what I get from you, Babe.”

When Helen moves from idealistic age nineteen to being over twenty-two and deeply involved with an abusive man, co-worker Thorpe enters her world to, in effect, save her. This is when she decides to walk out of her depressed and abused life and into new possibilities. Wisely, Thorpe decides to let Helen find her own way. Even more wisely, Helen reflects on the kind of woman she admires (Thorpe) and the elements of Thorpe’s personality that she would like to embrace for herself:

Thorpe was irreducibly herself. If the world didn’t like that, well fuck them all. Before Thorpe, I’d never met an unafraid woman. I’d never seen a woman get angry without artifice, apology, or tears. I’d never known a woman who lived her life completely at ease in her own skin. Without shame, without secrets, without guile. Thorpe awed me. She insisted the world take her seriously.

This sets up an ideal for change, revised behaviors and values, and the pursuit of a very different outcome than she has both fallen into and felt trapped by.

Readers who look for a standalone story of abusive relationships, recovery, growth, and self-help will find Helen’s story immersive and revealing about all kinds of life encounters that affect her position and journey.

Thorpe’s influence continues to impact not just Helen, but Iris, Maddie, and a host of characters who enter the fray of a transformative change that evolves on different levels. From participating in a functioning collective (‘The Ragged Collective’) to identifying, applauding, and supporting the hero in each of their personalities, Raising Hel creates a vivid story of personal and social change that draws readers into friendships, adversity, and higher-level thinking about victims and life.

Libraries interested in novels that pose exciting developments and dilemmas about empowerment and change will welcome the engaging characters and problem-solving challenges of Raising Hel. Firmly rooted in a sense of place, purpose, and evolutionary experience, it’s a vivid story of the 70s which comes alive in a thoroughly engaging way, and deserves strong recommendation to book clubs interested in everything from women’s issues to psychological transformation’s social impact.

Raising Hel

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The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone
Charles Paul Collins
Griffon House Media
979-8991989008  
$14.99 paperback/$19.99 hardcover/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/REMEMBERING-Leather-Charles-Paul-Collins/dp/B0DMLW983V

Budding genealogists who want a celebration of and knowledge about the process of tracing family history and understanding the past will find The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone a powerful work of historical fiction. It reflects genealogy’s translation into not just the tapestry of Charles Paul Collins’s relatives, but its influence on modern America.

Perhaps there’s no better time for the immigrant experience to spring to life than now, under the pen of an author whose family foundations rested on new worlds and achievements. Collins brings an earthy understanding of the daily rigors of his family to life, choosing the unusual format of three personal journals that read as though they were written by his ancestors two hundred years ago.

The result feels like a memoir, but enjoys the dramatic flair of fiction that brings moments and memories to life. Ethnic contrasts and conflicts in early Boston are presented as Irish and Italian families evolve new connections and navigate this strange new land.

A modern family’s discovery of the journals hidden in the attic brings to light facets of their heritage. These follow an odyssey begun when fourteen-year-old Cornelius is forced to escape the Great Famine in Ireland—a seven-year period of struggle, first going to England and then onwards to the U.S.

A prologue sets the historical stage, an introduction discusses genealogical discovery and new software which supported the author’s research into the past, and the foundations of the story are set.

From the start, Collins creates an atmospheric story that immerses readers in the past:

Death by starvation is a slow, merciless fate. Worse than the sight of it is the smell, which can make you retch whatever little you have in you. After that, you can’t eat anything, no matter how hungry you are. The sight and smell linger in your senses, taking over your mind with no escape. The year 1847 was the worst of it.

This attention to “you are here” detail carries over into the added value of considering immigrant experiences and issues which are mirrored by the prejudices and assumptions of modern-day America:

“The real danger,” one of the lads said, “is the ugly cycle of fear, lies, and deceit that keeps the Irish poor and kills their chances for work and survival.”

I couldn’t stop wondering: why are people born in America behaving like the English they fought against and drove out over seventy years ago? Where does the hate in these ‘nativist’ people come from? Can hate be an infectious disease of the mind, passed down through generations without them even realizing it?

These assets lend The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone both a realistic historical touch and a contemporary relevance that makes the tale of special interest to reading groups considering immigrant history, experience, and connections between past and present.

Libraries seeking a story that is especially evocative and compelling will find it easy to recommend The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone to general-interest historical fiction readers, patrons with a special interest in early Irish or Italian roots, and book clubs seeking discussion and debate material that is at once thought-provoking and easy to digest.

The Remembering: Of Leather & Stone

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The Scarlet D
Kirsten Pursell
Independently Published
978-1737770589  $15.99 Paperback/$4.99 eBook
Website: www.kirstenpursell.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-D-Kirsten-Pursell/dp/173777058X/

Having immersed herself in romantic possibilities promoted by Nicholas Sparks’ novels, Scarlet abandons a thirty-year marriage and staid life to search for love and drama that will lead to a new and better outcome. Unfortunately, life and love aren’t that easy, so her foray into the wild world of South Carolina (as opposed to North Carolina, where most of Sparks’ romances take place) leads to unexpected events in The Scarlet D.

Scarlet is wise enough to know that a move further north would lead to untenable expectations about that type of romance. However, she isn’t wise enough to leave old patterns behind. As she becomes involved with a younger man and also encounters a better choice in one older but more seasoned, Scarlet comes to realize that there is more involved in new beginnings than selecting men who are edgy.

From the start, her first-person reflections lend a realistic, engrossing countenance to her evolutionary process:

My decades-long marriage is over. My children were raised and live life mostly on their terms. I embrace that before I become too old or bitter or resentful for a life not fully lived, it’s time to try the unfamiliar parts. I want green and the ocean. I want history at my doorstep. I want weekend trips to Europe. On my own. Divorced. God, that’s such a strong word. I would say it was mutually earned, but, in the end, I deserve more credit for the demise of my marriage than he ever did, acknowledging that no marriage solely ends at the hand of one person. Both are complicit. Maybe we share credit. But the blame is on me.

Scarlet is wise enough to know that the attractive Ben will likely never be more than a passing passion. Beau, on the other hand, represents the very image of the type of man with whom she could develop a lasting relationship:

Other than Ben and outside of my ACE hardware trip, he was the first man I'd met here. And he genuinely piqued my interest. There was something familiar about him, too. But I knew that wouldn't be possible. His accent told me he was a southern man, likely born and bred. Before I moved here, I had not known any authentic Southerners… Beau. Of all the men I never saw myself meeting or falling in love with. He was worth trying to let go of my self-perceived inadequacies.

As considerations of ageism, evil influencers who can quash good things, and family connections loom to make relationship difficulties come to light, readers are treated to not just a singular romance, but an important psychological consideration of how love changes everything—including one’s ambitions, choices, and perceptions.

Kirsten Pursell is especially astute at pointing out the pitfalls and perils of good intentions gone awry, presenting these insights via memorable, realistic characters whose special interests both coalesce and clash at different times.

Libraries seeking an evocative, empowering read about a woman determined to change the nature of her life and relationship choices, who is savvy enough to be cognizant of many (but not all) of the pitfalls involved in so doing, will find The Scarlet D of special interest. It will attract women and book clubs interested in probing the nature of romantic expectations and their incarnation in more complicated real-world relationships.

Scarlet’s experiences makes for heady, involving reading that imparts much food for thought along the way, making for a top pick for both leisure readers and those who seek stories that hold no easy solutions or singular avenues of discovery.

The Scarlet D

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The Scientist
Kristen B. Cole
My Trope Productions LLC
979-8-9906095-0-1   $3.99 eBook
www.kristenbcole.com

The Scientist dovetails the very different personalities and perceptions of a scientist and an artist, creating a melding and clash of personalities that juxtaposes romance with discovery.

Broadway composer Hadley Olivier’s best friend and mother has been diagnosed with cancer. This leads her to uproot her predictable life for the wilds of California. There, she encounters many different cultural oddities; not the least of which is neighbor and scientist Dr. Alexsander “Lex” Strovinski. Despite his musical last name, the good doctor is anything but a fan of the arts. His focus is pure and simple: neurobiology. Anything else is an unwanted distraction.

Perhaps predictably, Hadley proves to be that unwelcome distraction on many levels. Less predictable is the manner in which Lex impacts her life on many levels, from developing admiration and lust between them to how he impacts her world.

As Lex helps her mother, confronts Hadley’s ex-boyfriend Garrett before something new can develop between them, and inserts himself into her life in unexpected ways, so they form and strengthen emotional (and physical) ties that ultimately will provide the resilience Hadley needs to confront something impossible.

Kristen B. Cole’s romance represents an interesting story of discovery and growth, both individually and as a potential partner. The shifts and challenges to their relationship are as deeply and importantly described as their growing attraction.

Ultimately, the story leads to a simple premise:

We had been running in circles, chasing our tails, only to come back as we are.

How Lex and Hadley get there is the meat of a tale that is realistic, engrossing, and somewhat unpredictable (aside from obviously growing connections between two seemingly disparate personalities).

What roads lead to marriage? What life impacts solidify relationship perceptions, values, and evolution? Cole presents these questions and more as her characters evolve and grow into not just their individual strengths and ambitions, but their interpersonal connections.

Libraries seeking a romance that explores how these associations develop in good times and bad will find The Scientist an attractive story. It’s highly recommendable to romance readers seeking concurrent psychological developments from their selections. Its strength in following how these impact and change the characters gives The Scientist a compelling countenance.

The Scientist

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Trust Not the Heart
Liz Hartley
Rainy Valley Press
978-0-9974387-7-2 $19.99 Paperback/$4.99 ebook
Website: https://www.lizhartleyauthor.com/books/trust-not-the-heart
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Not-Heart-Beach-Street/dp/0997438770

Trust Not the Heart is an Eden Beach Main Street novel that follows the trials of California custom jewelry maker Cassie Franklin during the 1994 recession. As if the economic state were not enough, realtor Carla Towne is trying to force Cassie out of her shop so she can make a profitable real estate deal. Pummeled on several fronts, Cassie makes a business decision to enter a prestigious art show against all odds. However, this adds yet another dimension of threat to the work she loves.

Liz Hartley builds a fine story of conflict, love, and shifting socioeconomic experience as handsome, wealthy Tate Gardner enters the scene to add interest and intrigue to Cassie’s journey.

The focus on the psychological dance between the two against the greater backdrop and concern of business and artistic survival creates an appealing, engaging saga of risk-taking on many different levels.

Cassie’s confrontations are realistic and memorable as she considers the facts that her work may have dulled over time and her approach to marketing requires a major facelift:

Into her silence, Nora said, “Maybe it’s time for you to aim at the Masters.”

Cassie looked at her in disbelief. “Now? We’re sitting here talking about my work being…stale,” though boring was the word that came to her mind, “and you suggest I enter the primo art show in Eden Beach?”

The Eden Beach Festival of the Masters had been the heart of an Eden Beach summer since forever. Between the Fourth of July and Labor Day, the show drew millions of visitors. Successful artists could often make their living—and their reputation—on just the one show.

“Why not?” said Nora. “Maybe that’s what you need. A major challenge to shove you out of complacency.”

Good friends, new opportunities, and risky approaches to grasp the prize of success intersect in a love story that is as much about building personal achievement and trying new things as it is about two disparate souls meeting and growing together.

Because Trust Not the Heart takes a leap into artistic endeavors other romance stories don’t feature, it proves a heady read not just for genre enthusiasts, but for readers interested in compelling stories of adversity, achievement, and self-realization.

Libraries that choose Trust Not the Heart for its multifaceted attractions will find it highly recommendable for its unexpected twists and realistic personalities that confront revised ambitions and choices.

Trust Not the Heart

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Two Women Conquer the West
Charlie Steel
Condor Publishing Inc.
978-1-931079-65-5 $14.95 Paperback/$26.95 Hardcover
https://condorpublishinginc.com/

In the introductory chapter of Two Women Conquer the West, twenty-six-year-old Elizabeth Burnett and her father mourn the death of the strong woman who was a wife and mother for all their lives. Her father made his millions thanks to the guidance of his wife, but Elizabeth has never found a partner to compare with them—so she never married. The men in New York just don’t measure up:

“Behind a veneer of manners and good education, every one of them looks at a woman's bank account before her figure and mind. And, in that order. They use women to get ahead, and I won't have anything to do with…"

The specter of someday inheriting a fortune affords Elizabeth the opportunity to move away from the shadow of marrying into money as she embarks on a journey that proves similar to that of Blanche Graham. Blanche is an equally determined woman who does not come from a legacy of privilege, but who is also determined to get away from her familiar surroundings. For her, it’s from a situation where, as a lodger, she faces a husband and wife’s stormy relationship, which leads her to fear coming home. When her husband died, Blanche had few options. Her meager savings gone, she’s forced to take action, not choose it.

Both embark “on a trip and a grand adventure,” but they approach it in very different ways that ultimately dovetail.

As Charlie Steel spins his yarn, a powerful female-centric Western saga emerges whereby two disparate personalities coming from very different situations view their options and choices in novel ways.

Steel is a master tale-teller who has previously developed a fine eye for exploring women’s growth and actions against historical Western backdrops. Readers might anticipate these facets from the book’s title, Two Women Conquer the West, but a subliminal subtitle should add “and their hearts,” because the novel situations they encounter that force them onto new paths of self-discovery are as rich as their movements through cowboy land.

Other characters enter the bigger picture. Leonard Newton, a New Yorker, is focused on money and the fact that his father has lost the family fortune, raising questions of moral values that arise not only over money, but more complex situations and connections.

Leonard’s involvement in crooked schemes troubles his father, but even more worrisome is his departure from family foundations. As his father sadly notes:

You are just a man; without integrity, you become something other than a Newton.

Meanwhile, Blanche and Elizabeth become involved in a ranch deal well knowing that the operation isn’t in the black. Though lacking knowledge of ranching, their astute combined business savvy influences the ranch’s operations and debt in a manner that, perhaps not unexpectedly, turns things around.

What is surprising is the union and strengths these disparate women display as they tackle problems far from their upbringings and experiences, forging new paths of self-discovery which range from financial to personal insights.

Steel is adept at bringing the West to life, particularly in outlining how women rise to the occasion to become successful in contrasting and unusual (for women) ways.

His wide-ranging topics, from cattle rustling to trail rides and forays into dangerous territory, lends his tale a sense of realism that makes it thoroughly engrossing and hard to put down.

His further insights on how the women not just adapt to this (to them) alien environment, but become empowered in their revised lives, provides particularly thought-provoking passages of insight suitable for book club discussion and women’s reading groups.

It’s unusual to find a Western novel thoroughly steeped in the perspectives and personalities of strong women. Steel achieves this through astute contrasts of situation and personality. This will delight readers seeking more than predictability or formula writing from their Westerns.

For all these reasons, libraries that choose Two Women Conquer the West to expand Western or women-focused novel collections will find that this book will reach a particularly wide audience, including students of literature that hold Western themes.

Women who believed the Western novel to move solely in male-dominated worlds in which women were wives, cooks, or frontier nanny/pioneers will be delighted to discover that the female personalities which drive Two Women Conquer the West are powerfully rendered, easy to like, and grow far beyond their heritages and any notion of a limited future identity as either a wife or mother.

Two Women Conquer the West

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The White Country
Boston Teran
High Top Publishing
978-1-56703-102-7 $22.00
https://bostonteran.com/the-white-country

The White Country is a novel that combines elements of thriller action with historical insight. Set in 1911 Texas, the story dips into international affairs, racism, and social and political change as it follows the efforts of John Lourdes, the first minority-born agent of the Texas Bureau of Investigation.

John is tasked with locating the source of border lawlessness and chaos “The Whiteman,” whose vigilante leadership contributes to chaos as war-ravaged Mexicans flee their nation and bring the war with them into Texas.

A Prologue set in the summer of 1911 reveals a startling fact—John is wanted for the disappearance and murder of five Texas Rangers, is being hunted across Webb County, and is on the lam. Wadsworth Burr is tasked with finding him.

Wadsworth is just as formidable and appealing character as his friend John. As events unfold, he lends a philosophical, reflective voice to the story, which is one of Boston Teran’s signature moves that makes his writing not just accessible, but thoroughly thought-provoking and outstanding:

Wadsworth Burr, in his own kind and soul failed way, had told John Lourdes, “Be aware. The soul sometimes shrinks from fatal choices. Then tries to convince you that those choices are all a dime a dozen. They are not. The world is built on fatal choices as they are the ones that see us through the blackest air. And that is when a man truly sees himself for what he is. I know this…because I failed this.”

Hard-hitting accounts of prejudice and perception permeate the story, giving it a much broader and more wider-ranging atmosphere than readers might anticipate. Those who chose The White Country for its promise of historical insights, thriller-style action, or social insights will find all three features embedded in revelations that stem from national pride and social change.

As John faces death, love, justice, and the presence of corruption and terror on a level never experienced before, he begins to learn more about his friends, his enemies, and his heart.

Readers will find Teran’s novel a powerful saga of confrontation, politics, and prejudice. The enlightening dialogues and insights which emerge from John’s endeavors pepper the action with psychological and social insights which prove as hard-hitting as the physical conflicts he faces:

“If we allow ourselves to feel this,” she said, “will we be destroyed?”

Libraries seeking a satisfying blend of thriller, social and psychological insights, and historical backdrops that come alive with atmosphere, well-developed tension, and realistic, likeable characters will find The White Country a winner.

Its ability to inject history and social examination with nearly poetic descriptions that emphasize bigger picture thinking makes it a strong recommendation for book clubs seeking vivid reading and strong discussion points.

The White Country

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Reviewer's Choice


Creative Coincidences
José Silva and Ed Bernd Jr.
Silva Books
978-1-965725-02-3
$12.95 Paperback/$19.95 Hardback/$27.95 Hardback large print/$4.98 ePub/$19.99 eAudio
www.SilvaMethodUltraMind.com

Many books have been written about serendipity, coincidence, and fate. Most focus on the circumstances surrounding such events. Almost none consider how such energy can be tapped for revising life experience and choices.

Enter José Silva and Ed Bernd Jr.’s Creative Coincidences: The Next Phase of Human Evolution. Here is where the crux of these events reflects the opportunity for not just identifying them, but tailoring their impact for optimum results.

Chapters introduce this concept with discussions of a higher power and purpose to life, before exploring The Silva Way’s applications for redirecting the future. It should be mentioned, at this point, that many previous books by this author covering The Silva Way blend decades of his scientific research into a formula for applying the untapped power of the mind (among other circumstances) to direct big and small life decisions in a different way.

That doesn’t mean that his latest endeavor, Creative Coincidences, needs to be preceded by reading his other books, however. Newcomers will find it easy to delve into the tenets of his work as he draws direct connections between circumstance and examples of how creative, unexpected coincidences can propel readers in new direction—with a little foresight and self-analysis.

Perhaps these two facets are the real prerequisite for not just accepting Silva’s method, but employing it to full advantage. The unexamined mind will likely look elsewhere for its inspiration, but readers who choose Creative Coincidences for its thought-provoking title will find equally vivid the opportunity for drawing novel connections between spiritual and psychology forces. Thus, a belief in a higher force is the third prerequisite for successfully utilizing all of the tools presented in this title.

Chapters create a progressive series of stepping stones that include problem-solving through sleep (using the MentalVideo formula Silva has developed), understanding the nature of “lucky breaks,” and identifying relationships between proactive habits and “good luck.”

This enables readers to not just acknowledge coincidence, but create and tailor it into just about any endeavor imaginable, from successful job-seeking to relationships on different levels, including connections to life. The result is a hard-hitting blend of theory and function that can be used as an introduction to applications of The Silva Way as a whole. It will reach audiences interested in empowering their lives, tying problem-solving to sleep patterns for optimum results.

Silva passed away—but not before creating the MentalVideo Technique that represents the culmination of decades of research.

Coincidence? I think not. It’s clear that Creative Coincidences is a thought-provoking, winning acquisition that libraries will find as well-researched as it is revolutionary in its exploration of connections between theory, applications, and vastly revised paths to enlightenment.
Creative Coincidences

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Flutterby and Caterpillarism
D'Ann Katsu Davis
Atmosphere Press
‎979-8891324862 $12.12 Paperback/$8.88 ebook
Website: www.KatsuDavis.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Flutterby-Caterpillarism-DAnn-Katsu-Davis/dp/B0DJR5G999

New age and philosophy readers alike will appreciate the content and direction of Flutterby and Caterpillarism: The Old Ways to a New Self and a New World, which takes ideals of connection, love, life inspection, and transformation into new directions which are particularly relevant to modern times and thinking.

The story is set in the real-world environment of the Sacred Stone Medicine Camp at Standing Rock. At first the story’s place and origins were to be presented more ethereally, but D'Ann Katsu Davis’ publisher convinced her to keep its setting in actual struggles surrounding the Dakota Access Pipelines through tribal lands. This gives her fable an important foundation in events and tribal concerns.

An important introduction unfolds the history, background, and circumstances intrinsic to understanding the fable’s experiences, references, and ultimate meaning. This gives readers a fine grounding in what is to come—a metamorphosis that operates on disparate levels of social, ethical, and philosophical transformation.

These features serve as a model for future cooperative ventures and understanding. The Native Nations that came together for a common cause at Standing Rock are mirrored in Flutterby and Caterpillarism, which contrasts mindsets, goals, and different approaches to freedom and discovery.

Why is this parable so important today? Davis’s mission statement in her introduction says it all:

All Native Nations and cultures came together under One Flag at Standing Rock. Again, a model of how this could be done on larger scales. (And if we can’t even think it, how can we do it? This story, in part, aims to connect those dots.) This story shows a way forward by embracing a spiritually fulfilling, ecologically kind and socially just past.

The contrasting views of Flutterby and Caterpillarism are delivered via evocative, lovely language that encourages discourse and understanding as the story unfolds:

We were fulfilled, unplugged, and aligned with who we really were, and how we were really feeling as we lived in good humor and togetherness. Never would they go back to the world of disconnection—from others, nature, and their own true selves. Not when they could live playfully among a loving group of sparkling laughing eyes, asking, “how may I help?”

As a series of lessons evolve on individual and social connection and dysfunction and how new paths can be forged, Flutterby and Caterpillarism proves accessible, inspirational, and the perfect panacea for depression over modern times.

Libraries that choose Flutterby and Caterpillarism for their collections will find it just the ticket for combating depression and encouraging a life lovingly connected to self, community, and all beings on Earth.

Flutterby and Caterpillarism

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The Geezer’s Guide to Adventure
Donald J. Hurzeler
Kua Bay Publishing LLC
979-8-9857875-5-9
$24.99 Hardcover/$19.99 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Geezers-Guide-Adventure-Courage-Succeed/dp/B0DNJJ16D3

The Geezer’s Guide to Adventure adds to the Courage to Succeed series by redefining the ideal of ‘success’ in retirement years.

Many hold the notion that retirement marks entry into more placid water. Not if you approach the idea that retirement closes the door on requirement but opens a new one into adventure, spontaneity, and novel experiences.

The examples Donald J. Hurzeler presents in his survey of retirees who have cultivated an adventurous spirit and life despite financial and physical limitations are not just enlightening. They are inspiring.

And yet, The Geezer’s Guide to Adventure isn’t a gathering of idealistic dreams. It takes the needed added step of showing exactly how senior adventurers made plans, overcame obstacles, and honed lives of action and pleasure that taught them new things about themselves and the world around them.

Take the recommended foray into national parks, for one example. Via a one-time fee that grants seniors a lifetime of free entry, new travel opportunities open up that Donald J. Hurzeler reviews with vivid descriptions and mouth-watering possibility.

The main theme of this promotion of senior activity is crystal clear:

I am absolutely clear on the fact that lack of resources, and physical and mental limitations, can get in the way of adventure in our old age…in a significant way. However, please go back to my main theme here: What can you do? Do what you can—you are not excluded from the fun zone. In fact, I think you will find yourself very much welcome there.

What can you do? Live life to its fullest. Of necessity, this involves compromise. But that doesn’t mean a retiree should stay at home with a TV and four walls. Ability and limited budget do not translate to indoors dwelling … not with The Geezer’s Guide to Adventure in hand, which candidly addresses typical limitations and explores options which do work for embracing an adventurous lifestyle.

Take international travel, for example. It’s easy to say one is too old and tired to undertake the rigors of long-distance journeying, but Hurzeler shares his personal plan:

The best trick up our sleeve for international travel is this…. We are old, retired, and often tired when we go on big-time adventures. So, we try to break the big travel segments into two pieces with a rest day or more in between. For example, to get to Tanzania from Kona, Hawaii, we fly to Los Angeles to Houston to Amsterdam. We then stay at a hotel very near or at the airport in Amsterdam for one to three days and do absolutely nothing other than eat at our favorite restaurant in the world, Lars, for dinner each night. It also helps that we’ve been to Amsterdam dozens of times, so we have kind of seen it all. After our downtime in Amsterdam, we can then fly to Tanzania well-rested. We do the same on the way back. It’s a luxury…absolutely…but we have finally figured out that our health and comfort are worth the extra time and money.

By promoting an active ability-driven retirement, Hurzeler encourages his readers to open the door to new experience. That is life. That is priceless. And this is why libraries and patrons who choose The Geezer’s Guide to Adventure actually receive a blueprint for living their golden years that discusses not barriers, but revised opportunities.

To the moon, Alice! It’s there for the grasping, the road to success embedded in The Geezer’s Guide to Adventure.

Geezer’s Guide to Adventure

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The Hollywood Unicorn
Christine Birch
The Hollywood Unicorn
979-8-9916821-1-4 $12.99
https://www.hollywoodunicorn.com

The Hollywood Unicorn: Empowering Women of Color in the Corporate Arena comes from a powerful woman with roots in the entertainment industry as a marketing executive. Christine Birch links her career and psyche to social issues, career pursuits, and overcoming adversity as a woman of color. Her experiences, examples, and insights offer keys to honing better approaches to identity and life, as her book reveals a host of opportunities for transformation that lend to better understanding of the forces of oppression and change.

Max Alnutt peppers The Hollywood Unicorn with engaging illustrations. This gives her book visual encouragement and support as she tackles topics ranging from understanding one’s values and integrity to honing new pathways that go against the grain.

Added value comes from her regular emphasis on the obstacles particular to women of color:

For women of color, grit involves a keen awareness of the landscape, recognizing when to asset oneself and when to strategically navigate around potential roadblocks.

Birch’s book is about more than reviewing, lecturing, and presenting her experiences, however. At the heart of this production lies an attention to exercises and pathways that women of color can employ to change their perceptions and, thus, the outcomes of their efforts.

These empowering strategies vary immensely, from understanding Hollywood and Wall Street politics in a different manner through Birch’s vast experiences to being able to understand and spot bias in feedback situations. These approaches allow readers to connect the dots of corporate processes and challenges via case histories of Birch’s Hollywood experiences putting together productions, advertising, and assembling creative forces to produce extraordinary results. They promote a deeper understanding about the influence of popular culture’s connection to power, subconscious prejudices, and assumptions.

Throughout the book, striking inserts, charts, and highlights simplify the process of better understanding the connections between corporate processes and personal, political, and business growth.

The value of these examples, exercises, and approaches makes The Hollywood Unicorn a very highly recommended, essential book. It will especially appeal to any library considering books that encourage understanding and empowerment, and should be given to any young woman entering the work world, whether it be Hollywood or Wall Street. The Hollywood Unicorn should also be made a central part of book club and discussion groups where in-depth surveys about women of color and gender issues are of central interest.

The Hollywood Unicorn

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Jonny Napper and the Dreamworld
Sasha Beetle
‎Staten House
979-8895874318 $11.00 Paperback
https://www.amazon.com/Jonny-Napper-Dreamworld-Sasha-Beetle/dp/B0DKWNMV8M

In Jonny Napper and the Dreamworld, Jonny is just turning sixteen. He’s old enough to learn about his grandmother’s mysterious power and interactions with the Dreamworld, where she sends her customers into a parallel universe and adventures based on their dreams and emotions.

It turns out that Johnny also has the genetic talent that could make him a guide like her … if he wants to develop it. The motivator in this instance is his mother’s disappearance, which forces him to enter the Dreamworld in search of her; there to uncover family secrets that solve some puzzles while creating more dilemmas.

Sasha Beetle’s story will appeal to young adult fantasy readers interested in a different kind of coming-of-age saga. Her ability to weave a grandmother’s life, perspective, and revelations into a young man’s journey creates thought-provoking insights about dreams, the nature of reality, and the impact of special worlds and proactive thinking:

“You can’t create things in a dream that you’ve never seen. By the way, this explains why people who have been blind since birth don’t see dreams.”

As Jonny navigates Reality and Dreamworld and navigates a blossoming romance to boot, readers become involved in his dilemmas and decisions about all kinds of forces operating in Reality, dreams, and relationship-building. These are especially vividly portrayed, holding added value and impact:

The small area they were sitting in was engulfed in giant wildflowers. Bluebells, forget-me-nots, dandelions, and violets with buds the size of ripe watermelons surrounded them from all sides. Hovering above the table, hundreds of bright colorful butterflies, flashing like fireworks, formed the name “Sophie” in the air.

“J!” she exclaimed, smiling through tears of joy. “It’s so beautiful and so… so romantic,” she admitted, surprising even herself, and relieved that her hands were still covering her blushing cheeks.

From locked doors and intrigue to the actual process of selling dream experiences, Jonny finds himself stepping into problems and solutions he never saw coming.

The power of this story lies in its intriguing redefinitions of reality, dreams, profit, and revised relationships. Beetle’s emphasis on the psychological transformations Jonny considers in the course of his journey, which embrace family past and new expectations and knowledge, creates a thoroughly absorbing adventure that teens will find impossible to put down, filled with thought-provoking insights:

“Son,” Grandpa’s firm voice echoed, “my grandfather enlisted at fifteen, falsifying his age in his passport. By sixteen, he was commanding a platoon. I believe managing a pajama shop is much easier than leading soldiers in trenches. In the end, attach this house to Reality by a junction, and if there are any questions, you’re welcome to ask.”

Issues of choice, big responsibilities, family precedents and new directions all come into play seamlessly as Jonny faces options that demand of him novel strengths he never knew he possessed. Beetle’s ability to bring his relationships and dilemmas to the forefront through thoughts and dialogue that is evocatively presented results in a memorable story suitable not just for fantasy leisure readers, but teen book discussion groups.

Libraries that choose and recommend Jonny Napper and the Dreamworld will find this first book in a projected series does an excellent job of building a world and life which are highly recommendable to teens considering the wellsprings of their own family relationships and individual, evolving strengths.

Jonny Napper and the Dreamworld

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Proven Methods to Better Grades: A College Readiness Course
Angelo Gadaleto, Ph.D
Proven Methods to Better Grades, LLC
‎978-0578714431 $19.95 Paperback/$9.99 ebook
Website: www.provenmethodstobettergrades.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Proven-Methods-Better-Grades-Readiness/dp/0578714434

Proven Methods to Better Grades: A College Readiness Course is a comprehensive study skills program that should be on the reading lists of all high school students interested in a toolbox of techniques designed to make studying efforts more efficient and effective. The methods taught help students apply better strategies for success, which are both easier and vetted. The outcomes they produce will even enhance the efforts of students who typically already receive As and Bs.

The twelve lessons outlined in Proven Methods to Better Grades require one thing from student readers—the commitment to following the course and applying its learning techniques to their studies. Dr.Gadaleto recommends doing this in a thoughtful, gradual way that involves absorbing one or two lessons at a time. The time it takes to learn and apply these methods will be paid back through measurable and specific improvement outcomes.

The program examines different facets of study skills, from organizational skills to memory building, reading speed, note-taking, and time management approaches. The lessons cover how to get the most out of class time, the best way of tackling papers and classroom presentations, systematic preparation, and review for tests. Each subject receives an in-depth, practical, application-oriented approach that encourages students to develop tried-and-tested routines and apply critical thinking to their efforts.

Dr. Gadaleto is especially astute at reinforcing these approaches with tips and methods for success. One example is the recommendation to use Teacher Office Hours; the result is opportunities for added instruction and, sometimes, the assignment of a grad student assistant who can provide additional tutoring as needed. Another example is his recommendation to reserve consistent weekly study times rather than ask, “Do I have homework.”

Suggested exercises help implement recommended Methods, from building memory by using multiple modalities for learning to overcoming exam panic by “taking a two-minute mental time out from the exam.” During these two minutes, relaxation techniques can be employed to eliminate panic.  

With its specific exercises, organized and tailored instructions for tackling common obstacles to study, and insights on how to navigate barriers and overcome self-imposed, limiting routines, Proven Methods to Better Grades: A College Readiness Course will prove just as essential to student achievement as getting into college in the first place.

This is why Proven Methods to Better Grades: A College Readiness Course needs to be not just a grad’s gift, but on the reading lists and radars of parents, teachers, and supportive adults who want to truly prepare an aspiring student for college well before applications are turned in.

Libraries that choose Proven Methods to Better Grades: A College Readiness Course for their collections will find the guide stands out from the crowd by reinforcing proactive behavior, social and educational involvement, and study routines that operate in much more than the usual singular, rote avenues of other books for the college-bound.
Proven Methods to Better Grades: A College Readiness Course

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Proven Methods to Better Grades – Enhanced Ebook
Angelo Gadaleto, Ph.D
Proven Methods to Better Grades, LLC
ASIN: ‎B0DJG7CHD5 $59.95
https://www.amazon.com/Proven-Methods-Better-Grades-Readiness-ebook/dp/B0DJG7CHD5

Readers trying to decide between the regular ebook and the paperback format (reviewed above) or the enhanced ebook version, Proven Methods To Better Grades - Enhanced Ebook: A College Readiness Course, should be advised that the heftier price tag is worth its weight in gold. Its added value, more than justifying the expense, lies in over four hours of video content that enhances and expands the text with additional corroboration that encourages students to listen and learn.

The visual reinforcements begin with a treatise on task and time management, the two forms of organization featured in Dr.Gadaleto’s book. The introduction covers various organizational goals and management approaches, employs changing visuals to accompany its smooth and clear narration, and will prove much more digestible to students attracted to visual media over written word alone.

A (perhaps obvious) cautionary note is that computers need to have speakers and appropriate audio volume to receive these messages properly. While systems most sport these features, students should be sure their computer has them before embarking on this lesson plan.

Consider the injection of these videos as reinforcers of the text. Another bonus is that each video’s time is prominently displayed, allowing students to better manage their allotted viewing and studying times. Each section comes with a short introductory video before providing a follow-up which holds in-depth information. The lesson on ‘Concentration Methods,’ for example, features a 4-minute lesson introduction and an 8-minute detailed video.

Admonitions often come with inspirational quotes as they outline proven methods for adapting and changing study habits for optimum results.

The video includes large-size text that further strengthens ideas and approaches, such as the chapter emphasizing the ‘Time Structure Difference Between High School and College.’ The video lingers on these points, reinforcing them mentally for students who might tend to otherwise skip and skim, thus missing some important points.

These features alone make the price tag of Proven Methods To Better Grades - Enhanced Ebook a clear winner, promising appeal and easy access to students who are more visually oriented than attracted to the written word.

The dynamic interactive opportunities of Proven Methods To Better Grades - Enhanced Ebook makes it an important guide for college-bound students interested in absorbing proven methods for getting better grades.

Parents who opt for this special lesson plan format to gift to their upward bound students will find it a top winner whose design gives added value above and beyond competing ‘how to study’ guides already on the market.

Proven Methods to Better Grades – Enhanced Ebook

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Purrrfecting Your Bond
Jessica Mockett
Renewal Press
9798218454241 $25.99 Paperback/$8.99 ebook
www.jessicamockett.com

Purrrfecting Your Bond: A Practical & Spiritual Guide to Create a Lasting, Loving Relationship with Your Kitty should be in the gift bag of any new cat owner. It’s as important as the kitty litter and food that comes with owning a cat. It features an approach to interacting with a cat which emphasizes not just understanding the feline personality (as so many books already do), but the basics of relationship-building with a kitty companion.

Jessica Mockett’s advice rests on lessons she’s learned from her own cats. Many insights about cat relationships can easily translate to human ones, as well, which makes the advice in Purrrfecting Your Bond an easy way of understanding life and relationships as a whole.

The focus on cats, however, expands the value of the book as Mockett considers many myths about cats, from the mechanics of having a snuggly ‘lap cat’ to novel approaches to cat guardianship.

Readers may be surprised to learn of the spiritual component and emphasis of these lessons:

Think of cat care holistically—address emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical needs of kitty and do so with an abundance of alternative and spiritual tools available to you.

From understanding the nature of the bonding process between cats and humans to employing tools for physical health (such as frequency systems), Mockett explores the full range of emotional, spiritual, and alternative tools for making the most of a cat relationship. The insights on how to successfully use alternative tools are specific and valuable:

I have a device that emits frequencies. It is most impactful when I place the attached leads on my body and can feel the electrical frequencies. However, it also works sans leads, the way I always use it on animals. Like crystals, never force a cat to submit to a session with a device like this, so don’t clip it to the collar. I have numerous photos of cats snuggling up to the device when they have felt unwell; they gladly use it when they need it.

Every reader with more than a cursory interest in cats will appreciate the in-depth and practical topics, which even include how to handle multiple cats and aggressive situations.

Think Jackson Galaxy, but presented with holistic health and spiritual information, for a sense of how wide-ranging and useful is Mockett’s focus on relationship-building on many different levels.

Libraries and readers may already have numerous pet care books … but they won’t have Purrrfecting Your Bond, which creates an alternative focus. Its juxtaposition of bond-centric ideals with insights and vignettes from Mockett’s life reinforce the value of applied alternative thinking for better feline relationship results.

No cat owner should be without Purrrfecting Your Bond’s uplifting emphasis on building better relationships with a feline companion(s).

Purrrfecting Your Bond

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To Your Health
Esther Avant
Muse Literary
978-1-960876-68-3
$27.78 Hardcover/$20.99 Paperback/$4.99 ebook
Website: www.estheravant.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Health-Lifestyle-Happiness-Confidence/dp/1960876686

To Your Health: A Lifestyle of Health, Happiness and Confidence comes from a health and weight loss coach who tackles the difficult question of why so many programs don’t work … and what does work. In so doing, Esther Avant reveals the reality of why most diets fail (it’s not the dieter; it’s the diet itself), reviewing how to build a framework for success that represents lifelong changes in approaches to nutrition and exercise and how to set and meet goals to keep the momentum flowing.

Readers who choose To Your Health will find it contains no pat answers. Indeed, the focus on the psychology of gaining better health offers not only specific insights, but behavior modification techniques that support the foundations of how lifestyles may be modified:

Imagine assuring your husband you’d pick up the dry cleaning only to instead scroll TikTok? You wouldn’t do those things because you know how important it is to be reliable and dependable. Commitments to yourself need to be treated the same way. You must be someone who does what she says she’ll do, even if no one else is involved or looking.

Another strong note to Avant’s approach lays in the illustrative case history examples of how fellow dieters faced specific challenges:

Tanya begrudgingly peeled the plastic off today’s Lean

Cuisine. Swedish Meatballs. Actually one of her favorites, but after eating these meals for eight months of lunches during the workweek, none of them were super appealing.

But between those and the fact that she’d started intermittent fasting instead of eating breakfast, she was eating way less overall. Sure, she’d been hungry a lot, but she felt like it was worth it, at least while the scale had been moving! Now that the scale wasn’t moving—and she’d had hundreds of meals like these—she was starting to resent them. She was ravenous by the time lunch rolled around, and the microwave meals seemed like they were making her hungrier, rather than satisfying her.

Readers who have followed in Tanya and others’ footsteps will readily recognize these experiences, but the meat of the book lies in how to overcome them. At every step, Avant outlines new approaches to food, hunger, and satisfaction that empower readers truly interested in better understanding the nature of their cravings and how to modify their choices.

The result represents important links between health, diet, and happiness, encouraging readers to not just make changes to their lifestyles, but revel in their positive outcomes and better understand common obstacles to lifelong success.

Libraries interested in a title that holds many discussion points for book clubs interested in surveys of nutrition and happiness will find it easy to recommend To Your Health: A Lifestyle of Health, Happiness and Confidence to a wide audience, including individual patrons tired of pat diet approaches who seek insights containing more depth and better outcomes.

To Your Health

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Young Adult/Childrens


Admins: Simulation’s End
David Horn
Independently Published
979-8-9885430-5-3 $12.99 Paperback/$4.99 ebook
Website: www.davidhornauthor.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJ5YBW5D

What if everything you knew about reality and your life wasn’t the truth? When a group of teens stumbles on an old shack and a secret that proves to them that their lives are simulations in someone else’s hands, not only are their worldviews shaken, but their relationships and abilities are placed under the microscope.

The tale opens with Joey, who awakens to realize he’s been in a bad car accident. They’re in the middle of nowhere. His brother and his friends may be dead. Joey and his quasi-girlfriend Lana are survivors charged with finding help. But the help they find is beyond anything they ever could have predicted.

David Horn’s story takes many unexpected twists and turns, from the accident’s unexpected results to a journey into a milieu in which each young adult is challenged to reinvent their perception of reality, family, and the world.

Who will they become? Part of the special attraction of this unfolding saga lies in the fact that their identities not only become mercurial, but spin into new directions. These reveal some dark undercurrents as new powers foster dangerous decisions and outcomes that venture well into fantastic realms of discovery.

The story embraces concepts of Sims, Guardians, Admins, and other entities that the group confronts as they step into extraordinary situations and hone reactions not always in their best interests. Horn is especially adept at juxtaposing the relationship quandaries that stem from this evolutionary process, impacting both individuals and the group as a whole as decisions are made.

First-person insights solidify this disparate group’s ongoing challenges:

Should we do what the guy with the gun is asking? I just want to go back to my old life. This was a mistake.

The action and tension are nicely developed—but it’s the unpredictable nature of this story’s startling revelations that keep it thoroughly engrossing, especially for young adults looking for more than formula writing and predictable outcomes.

Changing viewpoints between Joey, Lana, and each of the characters keep the dynamics and psychology believable and fluctuating as events are considered in different ways by each of the characters. Chapter headings make it easy to follow these transitions between perspectives.

Even the controllers (who aren’t always actually in control of these situations) enjoy their moments of fame:

Sierra is a very angry girl. So angry. But I got what I needed, with some effort. I need to research this dragon and its implications to the program. The bank robbery is minor compared to the dragon. The Board might not even notice the robbery, except for that deleted police officer. I could probably reinstate his code. But how to fix a global event and return the religion percentages to previous levels.

Libraries and readers seeking sci-fi which operates on a different level than most, is filled with thought-provoking insights on empowerment, control, and the nature of reality and life, and presents dynamic clashes and encounters that maintain reader interest in a range of fluctuating scenarios will relish Admins: Simulation’s End foray into uncharted territory.

Admins: Simulation’s End

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Alexander Hamilton’s Wish for Battlefield Glory
C. Behrens
Independently Published
979-8218556259
$17.99 Hardcover/$14.99 Paperback/$7.99 eBook
Website: https://www.facebook.com/chrisb32
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Hamiltons-Wish-Battlefield-Glory/dp/B0DPRDJGZL

Alexander Hamilton’s Wish for Battlefield Glory features eye-catching colorful illustrations by long-time artist Bryan Werts, bringing history alive for picture book readers in a survey packed with action and detail.

C. Behrens doesn’t just review dates and events, which is why this story comes across so strongly. He includes insights on motivations, psychology, and approaches the characters have which influence their basic political and social decision-making:

A war would give him a chance to be a hero. Alexander thought becoming a hero would take away the shame of his father’s desertion and the sadness of his mother’s death.

These, in turn, invite read-aloud adults to discuss deeper levels of American history than the usual survey offers, helping kids understand that these very real people faced their own personal challenges and obstacles in the course of their revised actions and impact on America.

From Hamilton’s early report on a massive Caribbean hurricane which captures the interest of the island’s governor and businessmen, who fund his continuing education in the States, to how Hamilton became involved in the riots and protests at college over British rule of the colonies, the history takes a sparkling turn of excitement as the events surrounding the Revolutionary War come to life.

Kids who normally view history as impersonal and boring will relish the vivid capture of underlying emotions, influences, and passions which fueled America’s fight for independence.

As the vivid illustrations and equally compelling text come to life, adults will appreciate the opportunity to engage the young in a story vital to American history and relatable to modern social and political struggle.

Libraries that choose Alexander Hamilton’s Wish for Battlefield Glory for its promise of a different approach to American history will find the especially vibrant cover art and many psychological and social insights make for an exceptional chronicle that brings early American struggle and Alexander Hamilton to life.

Alexander Hamilton’s Wish for Battlefield Glory

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The Curious Little Snail
Ashley M. Young
Crystal Publishing LLC
978-1-942624-36-3 $16.39
www.crystalpublishingllc.com

A magical premise opens the picture book The Curious Little Snail:

Did you know that if you are very still and listen closely, snails will tell you the secrets of the universe?

Deep in a forest, young snail Serena and her father search for answers to some of their questions about life.

Exceptionally appealing illustrations provide attractive embellishment as the introduction makes the case for a snail’s slow movement through and subsequent consideration of life. This approach teaches young listeners and readers the finer art of slowing down and reserving time for contemplation rather than coveting nonstop action.

The atmosphere of adventure and learning that evolves from this pace is anything but slow and dull, reflecting unhurried yet vibrant insights.

How can a snail have adventures while moving so leisurely through life? Ashley M. Young explores many facets of what constitutes an adventure, whether observing life’s “amazing secrets” or cultivating patience.

Read-aloud parents who choose The Curious Little Snail will ideally consider it a starting point for all kinds of interactive conversations with the very young about subjects ranging from understanding and appreciating scientific investigations to the value of cultivating curiosity and asking questions about life.

Elementary-level libraries will appreciate a growth-oriented guide which firmly marries action and adventure with unexpected insights, and will find the appealing illustrations and gentle explorations perfect for top recommendation to young picture book audiences and read-aloud parents seeking interactive opportunities from adventure stories.

The Curious Little Snail

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Daisy, Minnie, and the Sugar Plum Kitty
Jessica Azenberg
Independently Published
979-8-9885799-5-3 $12.99
Website: jessica-azenberg.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Minnie-Sugar-Kitty-Elementary-ebook/dp/B0DJFMRJJS

Daisy, Minnie, and the Sugar Plum Kitty is a Paws Elementary picture book story of striving to reach a dream. It tells of a young kitty dancer who aims to be the lead in The Nutcracker ballet, but must take second place to her best friend instead.

Daisy and Minnie have been best friends over their shared love of dance. The story opens with a joyful account of shared ambition. The tale turns darker when, predictably, one cat gets the lead and the other must accept a lesser role. How can Daisy accept that the Sugar Plum Kitty role she coveted has gone to her best friend instead?

A rollicking rhyme is accompanied by large-size, colorful illustrations by Li Liu as topics of jealousy, competition, friendship, and change evolve.

It takes a strange dream to impart a valuable message to Daisy about understanding emotions and what is truly important.

Jessica Azenberg’s colorful story attracts on many levels. Read-aloud adults will find it the perfect vehicle for engaging the very young in dialogue about jealousy and friendship, conflict and resolution, and competition. Kids who choose this book will be as enchanted by the cat’s-eye ballet world as by the colorful kitties that dance through the pages of relationship challenges and big dreams.

Libraries that choose Daisy, Minnie, and the Sugar Plum Kitty for their collections will find it a winning story of achievement that satisfies on many levels, creating an evocative and thought-provoking scenario which is both realistic and steeped in fantasy and fun.

Daisy, Minnie, and the Sugar Plum Kitty

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The Day I Had a Fire Truck
Ashley Wall and Vaughan Duck
MamaBear Books
‎978-1960616197 $18.95 Hardcover/$9.95 Paperback
www.MamaBearbooks.com

The Day I Had a Fire Truck is the third book in the ‘The Day I Had’ picture book series for ages 4-6 years, and presents the same attention to whimsical events and fun fantasy as the previous books.

Here, the first-person young narrator is helping clean out the garage when he is lured from his task by a fire truck that mysteriously appears on his driveway, devoid of firefighters!

Luke reads a note that tasks him with filling in for a missing crew enchanted by a “super doper swirly twirly twisty wisty meta waterslide” at the new water park, and so his unexpected new duty begins.

As Luke taps his friends to fill in for the fire chief and his crew, fire equipment operations and terminology give young readers practical lessons on firefighting apparatus. Colorful illustrations capture the fun of learning as Luke and his group explores the fire truck, considers its operation, and then embarks on a typical firefighter’s day involving various rescue operations.

Adults seeking a lively read-aloud story that continues many underlying messages about life (“Trying new things for the first time can be scary,” Emma said) will find this engaging story holds widespread attraction for young listeners and readers.

In addition to the specifics of covering a firefighter’s duties, kids receive many insights about approaching life that will be enhanced by a read-aloud adult’s discussions.

The result is a picture book that goes above and beyond the typical young person’s book about firefighting and equipment to delve into situations that offer growth reflections and opportunities. Elementary-level libraries will find its colorful presentation makes for an eye-catching winner.

The Day I Had a Fire Truck

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The Flickering Bridge
J.A. Enfield
Wayzgoose Press
978-1961953246 $4.99 ebook, $14.99 paperback
Website: https://www.wayzgoosepress.com/authors/jon-enfield/time-alleys/the-flickering-bridge/
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJCNXY6G

The Flickering Bridge, Book Two of the teen/young adult historical fantasy Time Alleys series, continues the story and characters introduced in An Ambush of Years as it follows Mick and his companions on a mission to stymie new threats to London’s time alleys. Despite their best efforts, these portals are flickering, indicating that forces at work to undermine the alleys are even deadlier than first imagined.

Of course, Mick is tapped for service, given his extraordinary and proven prior success at being able to see these alleys. The bigger question is: can he defend them?

J.A. Enfield presents a vivid blend of time travel, history, mystery, and confrontation as teen characters struggle against impossible forces. Think Jonathan Stroud’s atmosphere in Lockwood & Co., but add more history to the non-ghostly mix of dilemmas posed in The Flickering Bridge. Well-developed tension and characters keep teens on their toes and guessing about motives, outcomes, and choices as Mick faces challenges to his reputation as the best alley spotter at the Forsyth Institute.

From adult secrets revolving around the Undertaking to plots surrounding the Realignment and plans that cast tradition and precedent to the winds, Mick and his friends not only tackle opposing forces, but are forced to confront matters of reality, consequences, and changes that swirl around forces well beyond their control or ken.

Enfield creates moments of reflection throughout this action-packed story:

“We are resolved, then,” Mrs. Cutter said. “We have our name, and we know our gamble. Let us cast our lots and hope that we learn more than how to regret our choices.”

These encourage more thought-provoking reading than teens might expect, but also add subplots and insights that will spark some delightful book club or group discussion, whether in a classroom or a library reading circle.

Libraries that choose The Flickering Bridge will appreciate that it stands nicely alone as well as proving a satisfying continuation of the characters and events introduced in An Ambush of Years.

The Flickering Bridge

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The God Squad: Thunder and Pomp
Devan B. Deyerin and Kara Rubinstein Deyerin
Austin Macauley Publishers
9798889100843
$27.70 Hardcover/$17.19 Paperback/$4.50 ebook
www.DeyerinStorytellers.com

Teens and young adults who choose The God Squad: Thunder and Pomp for its promise of fantasy and action will find the story replete with monsters, adventure, and schemes that introduce new confrontations and choices to the Clarke brothers.

From the start, Devan B. Deyerin and Kara Rubinstein Deyerin create intrigue over a castle visit and the meeting of two adversarial gods who reluctantly join together for a common cause:

He’d conveniently neglected to tell her she’d permanently damaged his treasured Tablets of Destiny. The two continued to work together because they shared a mutual goal—the destruction of humans. Once he and the other gods were restored to their rightful place, he would never have to see her again, much less stoop to working with her.

Their plan to cause chaos and havoc in the humans’ world is working. Their plot to pair Zeus with a Vessel and their interest in making Matthew (or Miles John Clarke) such a Vessel introduces intriguing dilemmas to the story before Matthew’s perspective even begins in Chapter Two.

Matthew’s special gift of seeing monsters gives him a perspective about the underlying impact of his ability on struggles which evolve from his life:

Something about seeing fantastical creatures nobody else can tends to make you ready to expect anything, and willing to take all but the craziest things in stride. It occurred to Mathew that one of the cruel ironies of life as two runaways was that the creatures were the least of his problems. Given the choice between dealing with a person or a creature, Mathew would pick the latter nine times out of ten, even if they were trying to eat you. At least creatures were simple, you immediately knew where you stood with them.

As interactions evolve between humans, monsters, and gods emerge, a host of characters, from the lovely Freya (who is “useful for managing gods”) to Nick/Quiang, whose human/god pairing results in a beneficial symbiosis that introduces further complexity into conflicts, the drama and action. These are nicely supported by unexpected alliances and dilemmas that rise from humans, gods, and monsters that often reside in the gray space between good and evil.

Underlying all these encounters is a drive for purpose, a sense of place and belonging, and connections between siblings and shifting events that introduce new worldviews and promises, as well as problems, to their lives.

Libraries and young adults that venture into the world created in The God Squad: Thunder and Pomp will find its action fast-paced, its characters well developed, and its interactions between parents, kids, and higher-level thinking to be thoroughly absorbing.

All these elements result in a fantasy that is more than a cut above the usual action-packed adventure, offering insights on relationships and choices that will provoke thought and discussion among teen readers.

The God Squad: Thunder and Pomp

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Hank’s New Pack: Canines Unleashed
Tina Shepardson
&MG/Clear Fork Publishing
9798336923353 $7.99 ebook/$12.99 paperback
www.clearforkpress.com

Hank’s New Pack: Canines Unleashed provides advanced elementary to early middle grade readers with the fun story of a dog’s introduction to doggy daycare when his young owner enters kindergarten.

Black and white illustrations by Alvina Kwong enhance the dog’s-eye view of school and separation issues as Akita dog Hank discovers a whole new world outside of his familiar home.

At first, he is dismayed. How can he keep an eye on the home front (and get into forbidden mischief) when he’s away from home all day long?

Hank and his best girl Paisy each discover new attractions outside of home as the chapters progress. Tina Shepardson employs the first-person to create a memorable character in dog Hank, then adds reflections that connect the new environments of dog and human, creating satisfying contrasts in experience:

Home was nice and quiet. Every move was not brand-new like it is here. Was Paisy nervous in her new lunchroom? At home, she always shared her peanut butter sandwich with me.

Kids also receive insights on dog care as they absorb this fun tale of a dog’s changed life.

Libraries that choose Hank’s New Pack: Canines Unleashed for its dog-centric focus for young chapter book readers will find its underlying messages about problem-solving, relationships, and new environments will spark dialogue between kids and adults.

It’s just the ticket for young canine lovers who would better understand dogs, life events, and transformative opportunities that require revised problem-solving skills and perceptions.

Hank’s New Pack: Canines Unleashed

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Hoofbeats and Heartbeats: Memories of Joe and Prince
Judith Elaine Hankes
As the Crow Flies Publishing
‎979-8326402493 $11.95 Paperback/$8.50 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Hoofbeats-Heartbeats-Memories-Joe-Prince/dp/B0D7MBXRZN

Preteens who are horse crazy (as well as many a teenager) and who seek age-appropriate biographies of horses don’t have a lot to choose from. There’s plenty of fiction on the market, but Hoofbeats and Heartbeats: Memories of Joe and Prince reaches nonfiction readers with real-world encounters, experiences, and events surrounding an ordinary country girl’s love for two average horses.

These horses aren’t the usual thoroughbreds so typical of horse stories, but everyday Joes who plod through life in the company of their young mistress author. Judith Elaine Hankes first received sixteen-year-old Joe as a gift when she was twelve, then bought Prince when she was fourteen.

Evocative scenes documenting her experiences training and working with horses draw horse enthusiasts from the memoir’s opening lines:

When winter turned to spring and spring warmed to planting season, a neighbor plowed a nearby cornfield. On a late spring day, I rode Joe and led Prince to this field. Prince was two years old and had never been ridden. Deep furrows made walking a little difficult for both of them. That’s what I wanted. My plan was to slip from Joe onto Prince’s back. If Prince bucked and threw me off, the furrows would soften my fall.

Hankes’s family helps her make a home for her horses as she cares for them through snowy winter months, learning about horse maintenance and equipment. Young readers learn alongside her as she saddles up for an adventure in companionship that also delivers lessons about honesty, kindness during gentling, handling accidents, and more.

These underlying lessons form the crux of the story as it moves between relationship-building and animal care to translating these experiences into building friendships with and caring for human beings.

Because these lessons, couched in the first-person immediacy of a memoir format, are delivered so subtly and are so thoroughly entwined with horse care, readers almost subconsciously receive important messages about reactions to life and the kinds of choices that make a difference.

Elementary-level libraries and adults directing young reader attention to horse books thus have in their hands a treasure that is far more than the usual account of racing or showing a thoroughbred, but explores galloping into life with skill sets that begin in the stable and move outward to better others’ lives.

Hoofbeats and Heartbeats: Memories of Joe and Prince

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Hooligans, Rebels, and Rabble-Rousers
Paula Kerman
Atmosphere Press
979-8-89132-431-2 $22.99
www.atmospherepress.com

Hooligans, Rebels, and Rabble-Rousers is a top recommendation for middle graders attracted to inspirational stories about proactive women in history. It profiles twenty girls who took charge of their lives and made a difference in the world, whether from protesting and facing bullets and bullies to challenging gender stereotypes.

Women who serve as role models come from a wide cross-section of times and ethnicities, from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg to singer Aretha Franklin and the lesser-known Edie Windsor, whose early activism for LGBTQ+ rights earned her countless awards. Edie was forced to Canada to marry the love of her life,Thea, since gay marriage was illegal in the U.S. at the time, but her actions influenced generations to come:

They had no rights as a couple by law in the US, but Edie challenged the law and won her case in the Supreme Court. Two years later, the court ruled in favor of marriage equality for all.

Each autobiography concludes with a highlighted one-line reason why each woman’s example represents such a powerful message. In Edie’s case:

Edie helped so many people because she never gave up!

Another surprise is that the collection contains illustrations by the author which not only embellish the stories, but encourage young readers to embark on an interactive journey connecting art to life. Again, in Edie’s portrait, the colorful concluding illustration is delivered with an important message:

When Edie won her court case for equal rights for gay couples, she opened her arms wide in celebration on the steps of the Supreme Court. Do you see other outstretched hands in the painting? What do those hands mean to you?

More so than most biographical sketches about inspirational lives, Paula Kerman delivers not just important, but essential messages that young people need to absorb in order to hone their own reactions to life:

Ellen Ochoa did not give up on her dream when she didn’t get chosen the first two times for astronaut training. She just kept on learning and her dream came true!

Supported by inviting artwork, libraries and middle grade readers need to place Hooligans, Rebels, and Rabble-Rousers at the top of their reading and recommendation lists.

It’s not only the powerful lives, but the powerful accompanying messages that make Hooligans, Rebels, and Rabble-Rousers a winner.

Hooligans, Rebels, and Rabble-Rousers

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Let’s Visit a Farm
May Killebrew Hanna
Independently Published
979-8-9883711-5-1 $12.99 Paperback/$2.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Visit-Farm-Killebrew-Hanna/dp/B0D7Z5QHZ5

Let’s Visit a Farm may sound like another picture book farm exploration for the very young, but one facet which elevates it from any competitor is the gorgeous illustrations by author May Killebrew Hanna. These add life and beauty to the farm world topic.

The introductory lines reveal that the farm is not only a “special place where farmers grow fruits and vegetables,” but can be a “home for farm animals.” Hanna states that “Each farm is special and different,” which helps her exploration stand out with its focus on farm diversity, which will appeal to the very young.

Adults who choose Let’s Visit a Farm for these qualities will relish the exceptionally colorful, oversized illustrations that capture all aspects of farm life.

Different chapters “visit” different kinds of farms, from vegetable farms to orchard and fruit farms, flower farms, bee farms, and more. Each farm profile receives a simple review of the types of work it takes to make the farm successful.

The result is a gorgeous picture book emphasizing that all farms are not alike, giving young readers a far more appealing exploration of farm diversity and various methods of tending a farm than most books offer.

This is why libraries will want to consider yet another farm book for their elementary-level collections. Let’s Visit a Farm stands out from the crowd with an expanded focus and illustrative value that is unparalleled.

Let’s Visit a Farm

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Nana’s Heartwarming Tales: Little Echoes
Vicki Johnpeer with Cory
CP Press
979-8-9900625-5-9 $13.99 Paperback/$9.99 eBook/$18.99 Hardcover
www.nanastales.com

Nana’s Heartwarming Tales: Little Echoes again features tiny hummingbird reporter Cory, whose observations of four children (Cara, Aimee, Buddy, and Cousin Jed, whom everyone calls ‘The Pals’) lends understanding and insight to their encounters and experiences of friendship.

Like Vicki Johnpeer and Cory’s previous Nana collection Tiny Whispers, the tales embrace themes of friendship, caring, cultivating forgiveness, and more. These are illustrated via encounters that bring the children enlightening lessons on life that read-aloud parents can use to reinforce early ideas of how to navigate the world and one’s peers.

Lovely line drawings by Johnpeer accompany stories that open with definitions of their themes. ‘Being Caring,’ for example, states:

Being caring means helping others by freely giving your time, abilities, and the things others need without expecting anything in return.

As Buddy and Jed climb trees and learn from Mama Bird, the birth of a baby bird provides opportunities for young reader or listener enlightenment as Mama Bird and the Pals explore different ways of protecting the newborn and understanding its needs.

Packed with appealing tales backed by important lessons, Nana’s Heartwarming Tales: Little Echoes expands on the stories introduced in the first book. Each tale concludes with food for thought that adults and kids can consider with one another as reflective reporter Cory offers additional insights.

Elementary-level libraries that choose Nana’s Heartwarming Tales: Little Echoes will find it key to helping kids understanding cooperative thinking, problem-solving, and reacting to life events with care and concern for others.

Nana’s Heartwarming Tales: Little Echoes

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The Night Sky Lined With Silver
Yvonne David
Mascot Books
978-1-63755-487-6 $19.95 Hardcover/$4.99 ebook
www.mascotbooks.com

The Night Sky Lined With Silver is a top choice for libraries seeking Jewish-themed books for children. It’s a story of Hannukah, immigration, and Jewish experience that is designed to encourage discussion among all age groups, including families.

In 1938, a winter storm sends children huddling for refuge in a train station, where they encounter local war hero and uncle Major Morris, whom everyone in the village calls Uncle Morrie. They are treated to a vivid story of survival and struggle that lingers in their minds long after the storm is gone. This sets the stage for events that force Eliot and his younger sister Abbie to step up, themselves, into unfamiliar territory when Uncle Morrie goes missing.

How can they even consider a rescue in the midst of a winter wipeout? And how can Eliot gather courage when he’s historically been barely able to navigate ordinary life?

Yvonne David’s holiday adventure captures the atmosphere of the Catskill Mountains in 1938, the meaning of Hannukah, and the efforts of children to not just survive, but make a difference in their world.

Gorgeous color illustrations by Robert Sauber are more than a cut above the typical drawings chosen for children’s books in modern times, representing beautiful artistic flair and depictions of events and settings that bring the story to life. From trains to surprises and a myriad of characters, these illustrations are one of the foundations of achievement which make The Night Sky Lined With Silver not just notable, but exceptional.

Between its descriptions of serendipity and true miracles, this uplifting saga will make for a warm family read-aloud experience, as well, especially when families and friends come together to create and partake in tasty holiday delights, such as latkes and applesauce, and even apple strudel.

Libraries seeking children’s stories of winter adventure and thought-provoking choices that also profile Jewish culture and experience will find The Night Sky Lined With Silver an odyssey worthy of not just top recommendation, but bookshelf display.

The Night Sky Lined With Silver

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Over in the Meadow
Chandler Strange
Chandler Strange Creative
978-0-9915216-4-7 $25.00
https://www.chandlerstrange.com/store/over-in-the-meadow-softcover

Over in the Meadow is a lovely picture book featuring illustrations by author Chandler Strange. It explores a meadow setting that holds a “kind mother turtle” and her little baby, ‘1’.

They dig and they play in the sand and the sun. A rhyming adventure profiles various creatures and numbers as the meadow environment unfolds, from streams and trees, lakeshore reeds, and meadow bees.

Adults who choose Over in the Meadow for read-aloud will find its blend of early introduction to numbers and ecological systems creates a gentle, evocative read perfect for both education and bedtime slumber.

The celebratory and quiet nature of the rhymes flows evenly and warmly:

Over in the meadow in a nest built of sticks, lives a gentle mother goose and her little babies six.

Elementary-level libraries seeking winning picture book stores that lend especially well to adult/child interactive educational opportunities will relish the nature appreciation and numbers in Over in the Meadow, which concludes with a song, a glossary of featured animals, and an invitation for bedtime sleep.

Over in the Meadow

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Planet of the Cats
Hans Ness
Zira Press
9798988037156
$19.95 Hardcover/$11.99 Paperback/$6.99 ebook
https://hansness.com

Rolo on the Planet of the Cats continues the adventures of Rolo who grew up as a pet on an alien planet in the first book, Rolo the Pet Earthling. Here Rolo discovers the mythical planet Earth, in search of his ancestors, only to find that the cats have overthrown the hoomans and claimed the planet as their own.

Rolo flees the pound, only to find his adventure further expanded by his meeting with Ailey, who offers to help Rolo locate his people if he will help her flee Earth and its cat overlords.

In short order there appears a fortune-telling elephant, a friendly one-eyed alley cat, and all kinds of encounters that place Rolo and Ailey in dangerous situations packed with tension, from locating the magical Zorx key and stowing away on a ship to confronting dangerous cats.

Illustrator Sofia Komarenko captures the action with colorful drawings peppered throughout, which kids will appreciate.

Hans Ness takes the time to inject play and humor into the story, creating important moments of creative comic relief:

“En garde!” yelled Rolo, standing on a table, thrusting a long banana-fish toward Ailey. (A banana-fish is a meat-fruit shaped like a long banana, with an outer peel of silvery scales and tasty meat inside.) Ailey, too, was on the table, wielding a long fish in one hand and a pan-shield in the other.

This nicely supplements more serious conversations about family, heritage, and the special challenges Rolo and Ailey face as they search out a place in the universe:

After a moment, he said quietly, “I never really knew my parents. That was pretty normal for earthlings back on Blorx. Things are so different here—I’m still trying to figure it out.”

The result is a rollicking ride between a daring escape from cat overlords, an adventure to the lost hooman city, a developing friendship, and the tale of a “stray earthling” seeking a new home.

Libraries seeking a fun, zany sci-fi adventure for advanced elementary to middle grade readers will find Planet of the Cats a winner, whether it’s chosen as a stand-alone adventure or as a vivid companion to the first Rolo alien world saga.

Planet of the Cats

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Why Like Flies?
Carol Haden
Austin Macauley Publishers
9798889107361
$10.95 Paperback/$25.95 Hardcover/$4.95 ebook
https://a.co/d/iICqcQ9

Why Like Flies? is a first-person picture book survey of the good and bad qualities of flies, and argues with the common notion that flies have no redeeming qualities:

They’re dirty! They get in your eyes! They walk through your garbage! Why oh why should I like flies?

Carol Haden provides an unexpected answer to the introductory preface of fly prejudices by focusing on protagonist Flyboy, who outlines the good things flies do for the ecosystem, and questions his fellow flies’ bad reputation.

How can Flyboy change the world’s bad opinion about flies?

A zany adventure evolves that delivers an important eco-message while reviewing a proactive fly’s determination to make others see just how good flies can be.

Libraries that choose Why Like Flies? will find its special appeal lies in its appealing blend of fun, colorful drawings, ecology insights, and fictional adventure.

Why Like Flies?

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By the Way, I Love You
Susan Beth Miller
Boyle & Dalton
978-1633378483  $16.99 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
Website: https://susanbethmiller.com/published-books/
Ordering: https://bookshop.org/p/books/by-the-way-i-love-you-susan-beth-miller/21935981?ean=9781633378483

By the Way, I Love You opens with a line that succinctly describes one of the novel’s themes:

The door sticks, but I push through.

A freshman college student finds her room and new life contain both promise and “a lonely feel” that emerges as much from past loss and unresolved grief as it does from new experiences as Susan Beth Miller’s story delves into college experience and the legacy of earlier life events.

From the start, the arrival of roommate Ivori Ferguson and her mom reinforces Leslie’s more solitary choices. This is transmitted through descriptive humor that is unexpected and revealing:

I park my butt on my southside bed. I’d like to disappear and allow the jolly duo to enjoy each other, but I don’t have anywhere to go. At the end of the hall, there’s a common area with a scattering of chairs, but if the mom leaves and sees me idly seated there, she’ll think I didn’t want to hang with them. So I’m just here on the bed, taking up space like a Galapagos tortoise.

If home was not a welcoming or warm place, neither is college, at first. Leslie’s foray into the role of new adult involves meeting unexpected people opening herself to revised possibilities. These make her uncomfortable even as they hold out the promise of connection and, possibly, love and sexual pleasure as she draws closer to classmate Thanh, who encourages her to risk more intimacy:

His hand is swinging beside him as he walks, and I think of grabbing it and giving it a little kiss on the back. I’m not sure I like these hit-and-run emotions. They splash odd possibilities in front of my eyes.

Their encounter with the contentious Blue Sky Development also forces Leslie to step outside of her reclusive personality, inherent shyness, and ongoing grief. She learns the value in becoming a vocal member of a community:

That scares me quite a bit, but I plan to do it. Everyone has to be brave at some point in their life, so this will be my time.

The resulting story portrays is a powerful contrast between happy and broken family lives and takes the reader on a journey through conservation efforts, blossoming love, sexual exploration, and more. Readers who partake of By the Way, I Love You will find Leslie’s journey delightfully realistic, revealing, and filled with the pitfalls and promises that come with being a new adult.

Libraries that choose By the Way, I Love You will appreciate the novel’s intertwining young adult themes and its portray of the struggles and delights of maturation, which make it a top recommendation for patrons as well as book clubs seeking thought-provoking stories of coming to terms with the past and embracing a new future.

By the Way, I Love You

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