Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Life and Times of Car Johnson by Rebekah Webb

The Life and Times of Car Johnson by Rebekah Webb is a comedic biography of a fictional character. One could almost say my reading experience of this book was a trip.

The book is presented in first-person, as though the character is dictating. During the first few chapters, I thought I was reading a transcript of a stand-up routine. In the beginning I was thinking, this is decently written comedy but when does the story begin? Surely a “life and times” includes a story?

I hung in with the book because the material has a flow. I felt I was […]

Lela Michael2020-02-21T06:29:53+02:00November 27th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Humor|

No Time to Cry by Vera Leinvebers

For Vera Leinvebers, a concert pianist and music teacher now living in Canada, childhood memories of war, loss and dislocation are so painful and traumatic she is forced to create a fictional self Lara to retell them, even from a safe distance.

When her family flees her childhood home in Riga, Latvia, toward the end of World War II, Lara embarks on the journey that, by its end, robs her of her brother, her beloved animals, her education, her music, even her voice; in short, the war “had stolen my childhood from me.” Interrupted with very rare episodes of kindness, […]

BlueInk Review2012-11-26T22:16:46+02:00November 26th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|

Review: Destinies in Motion by Liliya V. Galitskaya

Destinies in Motion is an epic adventure fantasy tale written by author and illustrator Liliya V Galitskaya, a Russian seamstress living in Canada.

The story introduces the Vladners, a family whose everyday lives are suddenly changed by events that seem beyond their control. Lana, the daughter of the family decides to take on the quest to discover the truth. But her pet cat Tac knows everything about the mystery and starts to lead her on her journey, and once they begin their quest, transforms himself into a hero.

Reminiscent of the film Labyrinth, Lana must find her baby brother in […]

Cate Baum2014-05-09T21:28:48+02:00November 26th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Aeternum Ray by Tracy R. Atkins

William Samuel Babington, the protagonist of Aeternum Ray, by Tracy R. Atkins, was born in the twentieth century and spent his youth in the same world we now inhabit. But by the time Babington succumbs to the heart defect he inherited from his father, the world and humans have changed dramatically. Told in the form of Babington’s letters to his son, Benjamin, Aeternum Ray recounts the personal history of Babington and the larger history of humanity from the late twentieth century until the birth of Benjamin in 2161. The main action of the book is set after humanity has […]

Avery Hurt2014-05-09T21:29:54+02:00November 20th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Fall by Geoffrey Young

Geoffrey Young’s novel “Fall” is a tempestuous marriage between beautifully crafted prose and a story that leaps time and place to explain exactly why we find our narrator, Paul, a waiter and would-be writer (there is only one letter difference between them, he tells us hopefully) who sits on a fire escape in New York, penning a desperate soliloquy about his fall in life: how did Paul finish up here and why is he so desperate to end it all?

The reader is drawn in immediately by the gorgeous use of language and the compelling description of feelings. We don’t […]

Cate Baum2014-05-09T21:30:51+02:00November 14th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Golden State by David Prybil

If you took a poll asking people the capital of California my guess would be that not many people would know the answer. If you continued by asking how many of them have visited the capital city of California, I think even less people would answer in the affirmative. Books and movies that take place in California play up Los Angeles, Hollywood, and San Francisco. Not many feature Sacramento, unless the action revolves around the Gold Rush. For those who haven’t guessed yet, Sacramento is the capital of California.

Given the lackluster appeal, why did David Prybil set his novel […]

T B Markinson2019-01-22T17:54:15+02:00November 13th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews, Men's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Tropical Temptation: A Kristen Maroney Mystery by Susan LaDue

Tropical Temptation: A Kristen Maroney Mystery, by Susan LaDue, is a short mystery involving a cast of characters residing in Placencia, a small Caribbean town in Central America. Kristen Maroney owns a beach and resort wear boutique. She’s divorced, has a sexy boyfriend, wonderful friends, and a dog named Buster. Her store doesn’t make a ton of money, but she’s no longer working in the fashion world, which was ruining her life. She hated the job and resorted to drugs to get through each day. Now she’s living in tropical paradise and is content. That is until her friend’s […]

T B Markinson2012-11-07T13:52:02+02:00November 7th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: The Book of Revelations: From Bombingham to Obama by Katy Ridnouer

The Book of Revelations: From Bombingham to Obama is a book of fiction. It is, however, based on real events, and the main character, Addie Mae Collins, was a real person. She was one of the four teenage girls who were killed in 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama when the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was bombed. Ridnouer’s novel works from the premise that Addie Mae survived the bombing, and explores the life Addie Mae might have lived had she survived.