Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Random Rationality – Expanded Edition by Fourat Janabi

When I reviewed the first edition of this book here on SPR, I wrote,” Unassuming, universally written with sharp wit and charm, the first pages catch and you want to read on. Although Janabi never professes to be an expert… ”

In this, the special extended version of his book, I want to take that back. Janabi is something of an expert.

In this reworked version of “Random Rationality”, the book has more meat, more substance, more catch – this second edition elevates what was an interesting and entertaining read to greatness – I cannot put my finger on what […]

Cate Baum2014-05-06T22:14:47+02:00May 17th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Economics Book Reviews, Science Book Reviews|

Review: Don’t Look Back by Rita D’Orazio

“Don’t Look Back”, the debut novel from Rita D’Orazio tells the story of Katerina Balducci, the youngest sibling of three children in an Italian-American Catholic family, and chronicles the ups and downs of family life during her childhood with a moody mother, slighting Katerina for her unplanned birth and throwing abusive diatribes at her which shape her as a person at such a young age, as well as recounting the challenging events that require her to grow up fast.

Culturally intricate with lots of Italian heritage and detail, D’Orazio often gives the reader a feast of words, “Mama makes the […]

Cate Baum2014-05-06T22:15:52+02:00May 13th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Tales Of Fantasy And Reality by Chinwe D. John, Illustrations by James Brown

This small book of narrative poems offers a mix of subject matter, from tales based on or inspired by traditional folktales, such as the River King from African folklore, to tales that provide modern social commentary. Some of the poems are disturbing: traditional tales of murder and revenge, and modern ones that deal with Internet predators, sexual tourism, necklacing (a form of vigilante execution in which a tire is filled with gasoline, placed around the torso of the victim, trapping hands and arms, and then set alight), and formal justice gone bad. But not all of the pieces are heavy. […]

Avery Hurt2017-03-24T09:10:57+02:00May 2nd, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Poetry Book Reviews|

Review: Andy Smithson: Blast of the Dragon’s Fury by L. R. W. Lee

Andy Smithson has never heard of the Land of Oomaldee and he has never met Imogenia. However, he’s soon to begin an adventure of a lifetime that involves both. Ten-year-old Andy has parents who are always harping about being respectful and responsible. Andy hates the lectures. It seems that’s all his parents do is lecture him when they aren’t too busy running their own companies. Fred and Emily Smithson are CEOs of multimillion dollar companies. His sister is Miss Perfect. Poor Andy is ignored most of the time by all of them, except when he’s in trouble. Andy’s father is […]

T B Markinson2019-01-22T17:50:03+02:00April 30th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: YA Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: The Dash by C.J. Duarte

Claire is a woman in trouble when she falls literally from a ledge into a black and white world in which she is oddly transparent, called Cloak Valley. She wakes up alone, not remembering anything but her name, when she meets the large and surly Art Rukin, who carries her off to meet the people of this strange and dull looking town.

First we meet the Smith (TM) family, a trademarked surname to go with the exacting nature of their flat existence, as well as an impossibly vast range of characters including various families and statesmen, such as a child-trading

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Cate Baum2014-05-19T21:25:20+02:00April 9th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Pest on the Run by Gerry Burke

Spoofs are a serious business in literature, particularly when murder is involved. Pulling off a send-up of hard-boiled detective and spy novels is like singing badly on purpose – it ain’t as easy as it looks.

This volume of fifteen short stories, the third in a related series by Australian writer Gerry Burke, provides the reader with everything the crime spoof genre has to offer. Burke’s writing style is terse, the read is quick and no one is bothered by any pesky Oxford commas in these fifteen short stories.

Our narrator is Patrick Pesticide, aka Paddy Pest, a self-referenced ‘discount […]

Lela Michael2014-05-06T22:28:20+02:00April 8th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Elysian Fields by Mark LaFlaur

In the opening scene of this wonderful debut novel, a southern gothic that is at times comedic, at times heartbreaking, the protagonist, Simpson Weems, considers murdering his brother. We do not learn what Simpson ultimately decides until the end of the book. After the opening scene, the story becomes an extended flashback. Simpson spends the rest of the book dealing with the past, his own past and that of his family—pasts that are, as William Faulkner wrote and Simpson reminds us, never dead, not even past.

LaFlaur certainly pays his respects to Faulkner, and echoes of Flannery O’Connor can be […]

Avery Hurt2014-05-06T22:28:58+02:00April 5th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Cliff Of The Ruin by Bonnie McKernan

Will Teague is a NY lawyer on a new case from his out of town office – he is hired to search for the lovely Mae Kendrick’s husband – that she has no recollection of marrying.

But as he delves deeper into the case, he not only falls for the artistic Mae, but has to move the investigation to her homeland – Ireland. As they set sail for the emerald isle, strange visions and amnesia plague Mae, and when she also vanishes, Will is led by his feelings for her to a mysterious world of Irish mysteries, legend and magic, […]

Cate Baum2014-05-06T22:29:45+02:00April 2nd, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|