Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Happily Hippie-American by Paul Dougan

Happily Hippie-American by Paul Dougan

Bringing the free love diaspora out of the shadows and into the modern conversation, author Paul Dougan delivers a generation-spanning revelation with his latest book Happily Hippie-American.

Celebrating the achievements and legacies of hippies, Dougan’s book aims to remind readers that the message of peace and love is still thriving today, and much of the hippie ethos has never gone away. The hippie demographic is tightly linked to the end of the 1960s and 1970s, but the echoes of that belief system continue to define and guide millions of people around the world. More than a fashion trend or […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-12-14T19:48:29+02:00October 26th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Social Science Book Reviews|

Review: ’53 on 35th: A “Silent Boomer’s” Recollections by J. Conran Meyer

In ’53 on 35th: A “Silent Boomer’s” Recollections, J. Conran Meyer endearingly recalls a bygone time before technology and social media replaced a child’s reliance on fantasy and invention for fun and entertainment.

1953 was a seminal year for Meyer – at ages 8 and 9, he was powered and defined by his imagination, and that of his 35th Avenue neighborhood gang, including his younger brother, Nick, and his best friend, Billy. With folksy humor, elaborate tales, and obvious affection, Meyer recreates growing up in Sacramento, CA in great detail, complimenting the narration of his childhood experiences with commentary and […]

SPR2022-10-21T16:27:39+02:00October 18th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: The Defense of the Commonwealth by John J. Spearman

The Defense of the Commonwealth by John J. Spearman

Diving back in time and space within a realm he knows so well, author John J. Spearman launches a new series with his latest thrilling work of science fiction, The Defense of the Commonwealth.

Hundreds of years in the future, humans have spread into the stars, with wealthy nation-states settling and colonizing habitable planets, though the deep-seated conflicts of modern humanity have regrettably persisted. Alliance strongholds are being overrun in what seems like a coordinated attack against cosmic colonists from the United States, which could endanger the settlements of other nations.

The Inter-Planetary Commonwealth, with as much clout as […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-12-09T14:08:26+02:00October 17th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Redding Up by Richard Snodgrass

Redding Up by Richard Snodgrass

Richard Snodgrass seamlessly plunges readers back in time with his latest collection, Redding Up, unveiling more incredible stories from the fictional mill town of Furnass.

Rich characterizations and powerful (yet broken) figures populate these stories, particularly in “Remaindered,” one of the strongest in the collection. In this hard-edged snapshot of life, a local woman named Carla Brossick confronts a disgraced ex-minister about a horrific sin of his past, even as she tries to overcome her own demons, and keep her aging head above water.

“Her Father’s Daughter” starts readers off with a story of homecoming, of a prodigal daughter […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-12-05T20:33:31+02:00October 11th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews, Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Martini Alley and Other Swashbuckling Adventures of a Certified Klutz by Diane Klutz

Martini Alley and Other Swashbuckling Adventures of a Certified Klutz by Diane Klutz

Diane Klutz’s Martini Alley and Other Swashbuckling Adventures of a Certified Klutz is a lighthearted diaristic memoir recounting Diane and Steve Klutz’s comical, incredible, almost surreal adventures around the USA, both on land and water.

Both fresh from Vietnam, nurse Diane Mumper and soldier Steve Klutz met at a military camp called Fort Gordon in Georgia in 1971. After a skinny-dipping slipup that almost cost them their positions, and a rumbling escape from a dangerous bar that almost cost them a trip to the hospital, the two unexpectedly fall in love and soon decide to marry.

Though before leaving for […]

SPR2022-11-30T15:34:03+02:00October 10th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: Elvia and the Gift of Passion by Ruthy Ballard

Elvia and the Gift of Passion by Ruthy Ballard

Elvia and the Gift of Passion, the third installment of Ruthy Ballard’s Tales by Moons-Light series, is a magical middle grade fantasy that follows plucky Elvia as she travels from Oregon to Africa to the two-mooned planet Urth, where a beautiful purple-skinned, fashion-obsessed Uppie takes her on the trip of a lifetime.

Ten-year-old Elvia Hill’s passion for adventure is endlessly thwarted by her overly protective parents, who won’t even let her ride a bike, but that changes when her mother wins a trip to go on a safari in Tanzania. Although they rarely let their daughter out of their […]

SPR2022-11-29T15:48:46+02:00October 9th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Middle Grade Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Family Matters by Lance Lee

Family Matters by Lance Lee

In a memoir that does double duty as a multi-generational history of dysfunction and the effort to define a life shaped by deceptions, Lance Lee unmasks the myths his parents clung to in Family Matters: dreams I couldn’t share and how a dysfunctional family became America’s Darling, The Addams Family.

Lee and his sister, Linda, endured a turbulent childhood controlled by their father David “Gar” Levy, a self-absorbed, generally distant, often emotionally abusive patriarch. A high-powered advertising and television network executive, Gar created the sitcom, “The Addams Family,” which Lee believes Gar infused with his own parents’ dysfunction and […]

SPR2022-10-07T15:00:03+02:00October 6th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Biography Book Reviews, Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: The Garden Before Eden by Les J. Whitmore

The Garden Before Eden by Les J. Whitmore

A touching tale of true love, despite all odds, The Garden Before Eden by Les J. Whitmore is a clever new take on destiny and the unexpected fates that control it.

Keller is an unassuming IT specialist with little chance of landing a date with Ashley the super-agent, but his authenticity, wit, and oddball charm catch her eye. He is completely different than Jack, the brash man she represents, who seems determined to sweep her off her feet with all the grace of a charging linebacker. Meanwhile, in a heavenly waiting room called the Garden, Ashley’s future children are waiting […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-11-10T11:16:05+02:00October 4th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Religious Fiction Book Reviews|