Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Grand Turk File by John Waite

The opening of The Grand Turk File, a leisurely description of the Turk and Caicos islands, the setting of the primary action of this novel, lets you know right away that you are in the hands of a competent and confident writer. It does not, however, suggest that you might need to fasten your seat belt for the wild ride to come, but that might be a good idea. Grand Turk is most definitely a thriller. However, exacting characterization, careful pacing, and good writing make this book much richer than the average thriller.

Lieutenant Liechester Jones, known to all […]

Avery Hurt2014-05-05T21:53:28+02:00July 30th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: S3 – Science, Statistics and Skepticism by Fourat Janabi

Fourat Janabi’s passionate and entertaining look at the 3 pressing S’s of this universe: Science, Statistics and Skepticism, is, as the subtitle to this work testifies, an art of differentiation.

In this age of memes and virals on Facebook – which always seem to me to be the blind leading the blind – telling us how bad GMO crops, vaccines and theories of evolution are, Janabi once again pulls up a chair and takes a really hard look at something most people “liking” memes on Facebook don’t do – facts from qualified and independent scientists on the subjects that lately […]

Cate Baum2014-05-05T21:53:42+02:00July 24th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Book Reviews|

Review: The Pocket Guide To Health IT: An Integrated View by Melanie A. Meyer

If you’ve recently had to avail yourself of medical services, you may have noticed that the health care industry seems to be lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to information technology. Your local medical center may have the latest and greatest diagnostic machines and those fancy thermometers that clip on your ear, but it is likely that when it comes to processing requests for lab work, getting prescription orders to your pharmacy, or even accessing your medical records, the technology is muddled at best, and often seriously behind the times. Rest assured, however, that things are […]

Avery Hurt2014-05-05T21:54:10+02:00July 22nd, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Health Book Reviews|

Review: Old People by Stanley Yokell

This book is a collection of interconnected stories about just what the title says: old people. The loosely connected characters recur throughout the stories. One couple, Sam and Evie Jokel, are the primary characters, and they anchor the stories. The stories follow the Jokels from their retirement to Sam’s eventual move to The Rest Place, a retirement community in Boulder, but include many stories about other characters. Though the stories cover several years, the book is nicely organized from winter to winter, ending on New Year’s Day, reflecting the metaphor of life as one calendar year.

The first story, “Guilt […]

Avery Hurt2014-05-05T21:54:54+02:00July 16th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Magick In The City by Zakariyya Ishaq

John Locke, partner in the detective agency Locke and Keyes Investigations, is in his office early one morning working on a letter to his landlord and business partner when Walter Lewis, a potential client, arrives and asks him to investigate the twenty-five-year-old disappearance of Lewis’ father. The case involves witchcraft and sorcery and hints at some even stranger goings-on. Locke refuses the case, not because it involves the occult (an area in which, as it turns out, he has some experience), but because he sees no hope for solving a twenty-five-year-old mystery. Unfortunately for Locke, this is one case he […]

Avery Hurt2014-05-05T21:56:27+02:00June 21st, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Sign It Into Law: How To Put Your Petition On The Ballot by Victoria Stoklasa

Sometimes we forget that our responsibility as citizens requires more than simply voting from time to time (often only in congressional and presidential elections) and then sitting back and complaining about the results. This hands-mostly-off approach to democracy has resulted in our thinking of government as “Them,” when it really is—or at least should be—”Us.”

George Bernard Shaw quipped, “Democracy is a device that insures that we shall be governed no better than we deserve.” Stoklasa’s small manual helps citizens make sure that what we deserve is better than what we’ve come to expect.

Victoria Stoklasa, a political activist from […]

Avery Hurt2019-01-22T06:14:09+02:00June 20th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Politics Book Reviews|

Review: The Woodpecker Menace By Ted Olinger

This charming slice of life from autobiographical writer Ted Olinger, set in Washington State’s Key Peninsula at the bottom of Puget Sound, is truly flavorful. Beautifully illustrated with scrawly ink blot style drawings from whimsily-named local artist Tweed Meyer, Ted Olinger has managed something rare and magical – to capture not only his own life in miniature, but that of the environment around him, in rich, deep language and poetic writing conjuring up the wilderness prose of Laurie Lee and Jon Krakauer – ten short stories like windows into Olinger’s life as he settles into Peninsula life with his young […]

Cate Baum2014-05-05T21:59:08+02:00June 19th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Monster by Ben Burgess Jr.

This first novel by poet and spoken-word artist Ben Burgess, Jr. chronicles the love life of Ken Ferguson, a young man who responds to being dumped by a self-centered, materialistic girlfriend by giving up on love and instead devoting himself to pursing as many meaningless sexual conquests as he can manage—and he manages quite a dance card. Ken starts out as a very nice guy, but as he tries to keep himself from feeling any emotion, seducing and bedding women becomes almost a game to him. He gradually turns into a very different sort of person, the monster in the […]