Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Straight Lines by Gregory Sacchet

Addiction memoirs are an interesting genre, because really they’re all variations on the same basic story. A person gets involved in their drug of choice, hits rock bottom in a myriad of ways, and then climbs their way back up. The very fact that there’s a book implies that the addict has pulled his or her life together to a degree, so by design the book is uplifting, even when telling tales of degradation. Given that there isn’t a lot of difference between the nuts and bolts of an addiction memoir, it really needs to have a unique spin in […]

Henry Baum2014-05-27T17:20:26+02:00May 27th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: Poe: Nevermore by Rachel M Martens

This Edgar Allen Poe-themed story follows Elenora Allison Poe, a desperate young woman suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after a terrible event. She meets homicide cop, Caleb Frost and is dragged into a new truth about her life – and possible demise.

As an opener to the works of Poe, this novel definitely will have you reaching for the nearest anthology. Personally, I don’t enjoy Poe but that doesn’t really matter because it’s his legacy that enthralls here – so even if you aren’t a Poe fan, this book goes deeper than just his works – this is a […]

Cate Baum2014-05-21T12:42:26+02:00May 21st, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Book Reviews, Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Adventure Inward: A Risk Taker’s Book of Quotes by Jonathan Wunrow

adventureinward_frontcover1 Adventure Inward is a collection of inspirational quotes by mountain climber Jonathan Wunrow. I should preface this review by saying I’m not an avid rock or mountain climber or extreme sports enthusiast of any kind. Actually, more than that: I’ve never been climbing once. That might actually put me in a good place to review this book, as it’s a test if it can appeal to someone outside the niche. While this is a niche book, it’s not so niche as to not be interesting to, well, virtually anyone. The reason is that everyone has challenges. So really, you can […]

Henry Baum2014-05-14T12:35:31+02:00May 14th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Self-Help Book Reviews|

Review: What if Tomorrow Never Comes? by Neil David Schwartz

what-if-tomorrow-never-comes-neil-david-schwartz-paperback-cover-art What if Tomorrow Never Comes? is the tragic and moving story of Neil David Schwartz, an attorney in Los Angeles whose daughter passed away from a rare form of cancer in her late twenties. In the middle of this trying time, his wife died in her sleep – literally, it would seem, of a broken heart. To say this is a sad story is putting it mildly. It would be impossible to come away from this book unmoved; both by the strength exhibited by all involved, the sheer frustration that one family could be afflicted by all of this, and […]

Henry Baum2014-05-14T11:11:12+02:00May 13th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: Finding Billy Battles by Ronald E. Yates

Finding Billy Battles is the story of a rather remarkable character who lived during the last part of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth. The book is fiction, but according to the author, draws heavily on the author’s family history. Nonetheless, the book reads like a novel and never seems like those, usually unsuccessful, attempts to interest other people in one’s own family stories. The book gets off to a somewhat slow start, using the frame device of Battles’ great-grandson finding his great-grandfather’s journals, but soon enough becomes a page-turner about a fascinating, multidimensional character and […]

Avery Hurt2019-01-24T19:46:44+02:00May 6th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, Western Book Reviews|

Review: Travels With My Hat by Christine Osborne

Christine Osborne is a travel photographer who has dedicated her entire life to capturing on film what it is to live on Planet Earth. Tracing a line through the Middle East and Africa, into countries that might be thought of by most to be “scary” destinations for a slim, blonde woman, Christine jumped in feet first with her Australian roots to help her along, in her trusty blue hat and a camera her constant companion.

This book is written so well because Christine has lived these details, these colors, these characters. There is no substitute for writing what you know, […]

Cate Baum2019-01-23T12:48:16+02:00May 5th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews, Travel Book Reviews|

Review: Bloom, Or, the Unwritten Memoir of Tennyson Middlebrook by Martin Kee

Bloom The SPR Awards 2014 Best Fiction winner Bloom, Or, the Unwritten Memoir of Tennyson Middlebrook by Martin Kee reviewed by co-founder Cate Baum.

When Bloom hit our judges it stood out immediately. When you open the first pages of Bloom it’s a tantalizing mystery.

From General Knowledge Extraction Subject: Name
Unknown
Estimated Age: —
Godstem Fragment: 5547896-33398b by 33388452d
PARTIAL
Bloom – See Science and Nature):
1. (Science and Nature) One or more flowers on a
flowering plant
2. (Science and Nature) Algal blo0m – A rapid
increase in the population of microscopic algae or
phytoplankton in an aquatic system

[…]

Cate Baum2019-01-23T13:07:53+02:00April 29th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Searching For Pekpek: Cassowaries And Conservation In The New Guinea Rainforest by Andrew L. Mack

You won’t find a lot of cassowaries in this book, just a lot of their droppings. What you will find is a beautifully written, well-told story of a biologist who goes to the Papua New Guinea (PNG) rainforest to live among the native Pawai’ia and do basic research. In the process he learns a great deal about how cassowaries distribute seed throughout the forest, and a great deal more about the challenges and heartbreaks of international conservation.