Editorial Reviews

Author Duncan Peters presents a thought-provoking guided journey in Daily Acts of Consciousness: Finding Meaning in the Mundane, a book designed for readers seeking a self-aware and spiritually awakened path through life. The 30 days of tasks are prefaced by a brief summary of various belief systems, theories, and concepts, as well as spiritual and psychological angles that affect the author’s approach. The daily readings themselves are bite-sized morsels of wisdom to muse on for the day, often combined with suggested attentiveness to a physical, emotional, or social aspect of your daily movements. Pairing ancient logic and reassuring wisdom […]

For those seeking a thorough introduction to numerology and the potential impact such awareness can have on your life, Angel Numbers 1-9 Meaning by Dawn Hazel is a codex and a guide for deeper understanding. Interpreting numerical messages or seeing “angel numbers” is part of an ancient belief system in the significance of certain numerical patterns, and Hazel decodes this for readers who feel attuned to the guidance of celestial forces. With a gentle tone, a methodical approach to a wide breadth of information, and well-edited musings on life, purpose, and meaning, this book will appeal to a broader range […]

An eye-opening guide to the hierarchy of divine beings, Your Personalized Angels Guide by Dawn Hazel is an introduction to the spheres of heaven and its denizens. Aside from being a cosmic catalogue of seraphim, archangels, devils, and others, the prose explains how angels – both earthbound and heavenly – can affect our mortal lives and communicate in critical ways, through numbers, temperature changes, feathers, and more. The prose is conversational, though it is occasionally too informal, but the information is supported by plenty of references to religious texts. For spiritual readers who want to dig deeper into their faith, […]

An open-ended, self-guided journal that focuses on combating feelings of emptiness through self-awareness and personal authenticity, Robin Shukle’s Creating Clarity and Connection: A Self-Guided Journal to Inspire A Positive and Purposeful Life is a refreshing workbook that encourages readers to define their own path to happiness, as opposed to following other people. Shukle highlights the surprising importance of metaphorical “crumbs,” or day-to-day occurrences that we’ll notice if we start to pay attention, as a path forward to discovering purpose and direction. The book contains plenty of journaling sections for readers, who will no doubt be inspired by the text’s compass-driven […]

A brutal and gritty novel of survival on the merciless streets of Chicago, Scared Silent by Neil Turner is a gut-wrenching ride through the life of a young man being prosecuted for a murder he didn’t commit. Navigating the perils of the criminal justice system, while also bearing his own recent grief and pressure to find a new family, Denzel is caught in a painful spiral, while Tony Valenti’s hunt for the real killer may place the crosshairs on his own head. Given the national spotlight being recently turned towards the unhoused populations of America, and the desperate plight of […]

Rug Bug and the Dixies are back with more heroics after a housequake devastates Mousetopia in Kay M. Bates’ The Adventures of Rug Bug Vol. II: The State of Emergency. Rug Bug and his friends must negotiate a new alliance for aid and protection between the residents of the House in order to ensure their mutual survival, for a work of middle grade fiction that deftly and sensitively mirrors real-world events. Just as the first volume subtly touched on the need for representative government and clear-eyed ideals of leadership, this second installment focuses on the aftermath of a natural […]

Ravenous animals aren’t the biggest danger in the jungle – it’s the humans you must watch out for – in Philippe’s gorgeously descriptive work about murder, love, and lust between two ancient tribes, Spirits of the Sun. When the chief of the Java tribe declares his desire to marry a much younger woman from the Malay tribe, the Malay reject the proposal, and a callous killing complicates matters further. Meanwhile, a developing relationship between a young Malay man and a banished Java woman spells trouble for both groups. Some of the novel’s crueler scenes of violence are difficult to […]

A refreshingly honest and personal guide to love and relationships, Feeling Like Your Marriage Is Dead?: A Divorce Mediator’s Guide to Ensuring a Lifetime of Love by Staci Bartley focuses on the importance of treating emotional pain as seriously as physical pain. The book begins with the provocative premise that “Marriage is dead,” referring to the idea that marriage alone can’t save a relationship. From there, Bartley tracks the history of marriage to show that the practice is malleable and urges readers to accept the fact that love can be temporary, for a down-to-earth perspective on modern romance. This succinct, […]