SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
Love Poems: Are You The One? by Steve Ryan
A Patriot’s Act by Kenneth Eade
A Patriot’s Act by Kenneth Eade is a tight, legal thriller and the second book in the Brent Marks series. When Ahmed, a naturalized US citizen of Iraqi descent is mistakenly held by the government and sent to Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, Brent Marks, a top Californian attorney, is hired by the accused’s wife to free him. But Marks is faced with the mammoth task of fighting against the American government in a world that has the power to make any evidence – or person – disappear rather too conveniently. He must beat the very system he believes in to […]
Tides: Poems: Life’s Ebb and Flow by Sandra M. Haight
A living thing I am–a flower of
God’s earth. I see His flowers in the field;
The God that fashioned them created me.
Haight’s poems are reminiscent of the work of Louise Bogan and invoke the spirit of Hawthorne’s “The Ocean” with their all-encompassing breath of sea air and […]
His Father’s Footsteps by Enrico Downer
“How far would you walk in your father’s footsteps to find the one who killed him?”
“To the ends of the earth,” he answered.
And the fire in his eyes said he meant every word.
It’s 1958 and Mark Maynard’s Barbados home life is shattered by grief when he receives a letter reporting that his father has been murdered in New York, USA. Vowing to find the killer with his family’s tearful blessing he takes to the streets of a country that doesn’t respect him nor the unmarried man of color that was gunned down.
It doesn’t take long for […]
The Automation: Vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero Series
The book is very intricate in the ways it is written, shifting narrative gears between multiple levels of storytelling and perspective at times. Like any story based on Greco-Roman sensibilities, both the abstract and tangible divine […]
Homeless Hero: Understanding the Soul of Home by Mike Tapscott
Written from an inside perspective, Homeless Hero: Understanding the Soul of Home aims to explore the issue of homelessness, not ‘what went wrong’ in the decisions and events that lead to becoming homeless, but instead what differences – and similarities – there are between the way those who have and have not experienced homelessness think. Tapscott does this partly through his own exploration into work with homeless clients and his first real interactions with homeless people in general, and partly through his interviews and conversations with those around him.
Journaling his experiences, Tapscott questions the ideals of those who live […]
112 Hours by Rian Hughes
The fifteenth volume of this font guru’s fascinating obsession turns this time to numbers. Rian Hughes, a British designer based at Device Fonts, manages to make typography massively interesting by putting together a beautiful, artful layout that holds the eye and attention.
Rian studied at the LCP in London before briefly working for an advertising agency, i-D magazine, Smash Hits magazine and a series of record sleeve design companies. Having cut his teeth drawing comics for Paul Gravett’s seminal alternative press comic magazine “Escape”, for Belgium’s Magic Strip he co-wrote and drew the graphic novel “The Science Service”, published in […]
Antarctica 2014 by Karen Johns
This beautiful book by traveler Karen Johns documents her trip to Antarctica in 2014. Laden with exquisite photos, we feel we are with her on her journey through a reflective blue-ice paradise. Of course, the fluffy penguins will enchant everyone, but the ship photos cutting through still waters flanked by mountains and icebergs are amazing, along with timeless shots of whales and seals. This book will make anyone want to go visit.
Johns writes,
[…]We travelled through one of the most beautiful wilderness places on earth, with snow, ice rock and teeming with amazing wildlife. Vast mountain ranges of emptiness