Lysa Grant | Self-Publishing Review

Review: An Animal Life: A Chance to Cut by Howard Krum ★★★★

An Animal Life: A Chance to Cut by Howard Krum An Animal Life: A Chance to Cut is the second book in Howard Krum’s award-winning series about life as a vet. Part 2 follows a group of veterinary students in their second semester, focusing on Mike London, a cocky vet school senior who nearly ends a dog’s life and tries to rebuild his life. The phrase “A chance to cut” is a surgeon’s motto: “A chance to cut is a chance to heal,” so London tries to mend his life through medicine, humor and romance.

This is a book for vets, aspiring vets, and pet owners alike. I only count […]

Lysa Grant2019-01-22T15:48:05+02:00May 1st, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Humor, Medical Book Reviews, Memoir Book Reviews, Pets Book Reviews|

Review: Losing Heart by Donna Brown ★★★★★

Losing Heart by Donna Brown is a fast-paced novella that covers a wide range of emotions in a small number of pages. Helen is facing the most difficult of issues: she is in need of a heart transplant and has only five months to live. Cut to 6 months later and Helen is very much alive and isn’t quite worried about living life on the edge: she’s having an affair with her doctor, Jack, while her husband and the mother of the donor become more and more suspicious.

Though Helen is cheating on her husband, she’s a likable narrator who’s […]

Lysa Grant2017-03-24T10:48:31+02:00April 28th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Pinterest Saved My Marriage by Lisa Maggiore

Pinterest marriage “Pinterest Saved My Marriage” is the tender and amusing story about a dissolving marriage. Jack, obsessed with work but very successful, has been neglecting his wife and she decides to leave him. As a peace offering, he starts making stuff on her Pinterest boards (gourmet food, though he’s not a cook), which he hopes will mend their broken home. Though you may be guessing where this is going, the ending comes as a big surprise.

From the title, one might be led to believe this is a snarky, web-obsessed story, but that is not the case at all. This is […]

Lysa Grant2015-04-16T06:11:39+02:00April 15th, 2015|Categories: New Releases|

Review: Sarah in the City of Moon by Fida Fayez Qutob and Dalia Qutob ★★★★★

Sarah in the City of Moon is a sweet story about friendship and curiosity. Five-year-old Sarah takes a class trip to the City of Moon (also known as Jericho, the oldest town in the world and the lowest point on Earth). She wanders away from her group and her bus departs, leaving Sarah to find help, which she does at a nearby mosque. It’s revealed that Sarah has come from a Catholic school and she befriends a young girl who lives at the mosque. In a time of great conflict in the Middle East, and religious turmoil, Sarah in the […]

Lysa Grant2017-03-24T11:01:50+02:00March 28th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Review: The Flying Burgowski by Gretchen K. Wing ★★★★

The Flying Burgowski The Flying Burgowski by Gretchen K. Wing follows Joss Burgowski as she navigates life as a teenager who’s just turned fourteen, her dysfunctional family living on a small island in Washington, and…learning to fly. The Flying Burgowski is at once a sympathetic family drama and magical fantasy.

Overall, the novel is much more character driven than fantasy, which is one of its issues. Wing is a great writer (not to mention having a great name for a book about flying), but she takes too long with the drama of the book at the expense of the fantasy. There are likely […]

Lysa Grant2015-03-20T05:16:08+02:00March 4th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Stone Walls by A.M. Madden ★ ★ ★★

Stone Walls AM Madden’s latest romantic suspense novel Stone Walls is the story of NYPD cop Ben Stone. When Ben’s best friend and partner Rob’s girlfriend Andrea brings her best friend Ella Parker out to meet him on a foursome, he’s not ready for a serious girlfriend, and neither him nor Ella appreciate the matchmaking. Ella’s just out of a long-term relationship and Ben is having a casual thing that’s getting on his nerves.

Written in the first person, present tense from Ben and Ella’s point of view, this is pretty hardhitting writing: urban, gritty and realistic to the real way men […]

Lysa Grant2015-04-29T08:22:38+02:00March 3rd, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Romance Book Reviews|

Review: What to Do on a Rainy Day by Katie Tavella ★★★★

What to Do on a Rainy Day by Katie Tavella is a charming children’s book about how kids can use their imaginations when it rains. Two kids trudge to the basement on a rainy day and imagine the cardboard boxes, chairs and other items are safari animals. First the kids imagine the box is a cave, with a bear inside, and their imaginations explode from there. In engaging rhyming prose, the kids realize there’s a whole lot to do even when there isn’t a lot to do outside.

In the age of smartphones and endless TV, it’s a good reminder […]

Lysa Grant2015-03-18T11:05:11+02:00February 27th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Children's Book Reviews|

Review: Sex, Drugs & Islam by Dari Ghaznavi ★★★★

Sex, Drugs & Islam is the provocative and controversial memoir by Pakistani author, Dari Ghaznavi. In a conversational style, Ghaznavi tells tale of his time in the military, running drugs and other criminal activity, traveling the world, and, especially, chasing women. Despite its dark topics, the narration is breezy and spirited. Dari Ghaznavi really has lived a life like no other.

The title alone suggests that Ghaznavi is a man who takes chances and fears no one. Again and again, Ghaznavi puts himself in situations that would kill most people, or at least end up in an extended prison stay. […]

Lysa Grant2015-02-02T09:35:13+02:00January 20th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews|