New Releases | Self-Publishing Review

Paradise Girl by Phill Featherstone

What dark places can a mind go when it is left alone in a world that is falling apart? This is a core question of Paradise Girl, a soulful and innovative work of YA post-apocalyptic fiction by Phill Featherstone.

This work is an intensely personal book detailing the inner thoughts of Kerryl, a young girl who has survived the death of her entire family. As a virus ravages the human population, Kerryl chooses to detail her experiences in what she assumes will be her final days. Written in the form of extended journal entries, diatribes and stream-of-consciousness ranting, this […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T05:36:42+02:00April 2nd, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Apocalyptic Fiction Book Reviews, Post-Apocalyptic Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Path of the Ancients: Space Time Illusion by Ancient Philosophy

Path of the Ancients: Space Time Illusion A daughter’s scientific and metaphysical inquiry after the loss of her father forms the scaffolding of this intriguing novel about the ultimate question: Who am I? A complex but rewarding story guided by Hindu scripture, the novel tells the story of Kalki as she tries to understand the apparent death of her inventor father, Anadi, while posing a number of questions around religion, science, and philosophy.

Path of the Ancients: Space Time Illusion, credited only to the author “Ancient Philosophy,” imagines a near-future India dominated by technology. There, Kalki and friend Shiva combine science and the Upanishads in the […]

Greg Rideout2018-03-27T13:24:45+02:00March 26th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: International Fiction Book Reviews, Science Fiction Book Reviews, Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Goodbye Butterflies: The 5-Day Stage Fright Solution by Dr. David Lee Fish

Goodbye Butterflies: The 5-Day Stage Fright Solution Author and doctor David Lee Fish presents an innovative method to overcome performance anxiety in Goodbye Butterflies: The 5-Day Stage Fright Solution.

A student of Zen, Fish promotes the concept of mindfulness, now an accepted process among some psychologists. The basic theory of mindfulness is living in the present moment, which seems anathema to anyone suffering from stage fright, who wants to do anything but live in the present moment.

Stage fright, Fish asserts, is a combination of one’s perceptions about the audience, plus concerns about the judgment that results from one’s performance and the implied threat to one’s […]

Barbara Scott2018-03-23T11:12:57+02:00March 22nd, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Psychology Book Reviews|

The Waste-Wise Gardener by Jean B. MacLeod

Author Jean B. MacLeod is a peerless maven of making do, as she proves with this well-constructed catalogue of gardening strategies, The Waste-Wise Gardener – Tips and Techniques to Save Time, Money, and Natural Resources While Creating the Garden of Your Dreams.

MacLeod begins with a brief introduction revealing her own gardening troubles and triumphs, then provides an alphabetical list of simple solutions for some of the thorny problems involved in home horticulture, which are generally easy to use, and some quite eye-opening.

For example, materials for the staking required for a variety of crops can be ribs from […]

Barbara Scott2018-03-21T12:57:18+02:00March 21st, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Home & Garden Book Reviews|

Scipio Rising (Scipio Africanus Saga Book 1) by Martin Tessmer

In Scipio Rising, the first book in the Scipio Africanus Saga, Martin Tessmer has done an expert job of weaving historical fact and narrative into a well-structured plot. The mirroring of Hannibal with Scipio works to weigh them both as military geniuses, bringing the forgotten Scipio to the historical stage that Hannibal has dominated for so long.

The novel is well-paced with carefully drawn characters, which gives the book the entertaining flow of fiction, rather than seeming like a dry retelling of historical events. The prose is clean and smart; Tessmer’s background as a former university professor shines through […]

SPR2018-04-30T11:01:12+02:00March 20th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

The Pinochet Plot by David Myles Robinson

Historical fiction often lends itself to a time that unfamiliar to the modern age. However, when historical fact is blended with modern fiction, as it is in The Pinochet Plot by David Robinson, a truly special book can be born.

With a rich cast of characters embedded within well-researched contexts, this book exceeds its categorization as a thriller and becomes an endlessly fascinating drama. As an ex-lawyer, Robinson imbues Will Munoz with brilliant believability, and the sheer depth of the main character carries this novel through its slower moments.

This novel tackles difficult topics like parental betrayal, suicide, nationalism, corruption, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2018-11-08T13:24:38+02:00March 19th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Buffalo ’99 by Chris Stucchio

Buffalo '99 by Chris Stucchio

In Buffalo ’99, Chris Stucchio has created a moody, hard-boiled world in which punk rock, cocaine, and sleeping around are a way of life.

Miles Sterling, the narrator, opens the story nonchalantly with his infidelity, setting the tone for the rest of the book. There is Vanessa, the caring and a little too attached girlfriend. And then Taylor, the rambunctious babe who flirts and knows how to use it.

The narrator has a way of speaking reminiscent of Philip Marlowe, but with more sex and less crime. The voice is powerfully visceral, constructing a narrator that you love to […]

SPR2018-04-30T11:01:13+02:00March 19th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Beyond Borders by Ngozi Iwuoha

Beyond Borders by Ngozi Iwuoha is a touching story of belonging, identity, and family. Borders can separate us and time can keep us apart, but what keeps us together, as shown touchingly by Iwuoha, is love.

Iwuoha tells the narrative with a distance and breeze that at first might catch the reader off guard, but it is clear the effect Iwuoha intended. By keeping the reader at arm’s length, the reader is able to feel what Valeria feels – almost as if life is experienced from behind a pane of glass – clear yet detached and devoid of some vital […]

SPR2018-05-09T10:16:26+02:00March 16th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews|