From the Shadows: The Complete Series is a young adult science fiction series written by KB Shaw. It contains two volumes: Separate Paths and Convergence. Cameron Rush and Rosa Costas are best friends and fellow geeks, but they've never really seen each other. He lives...

The Hope Mother by Judy Scognamillo is an unusual and unconventional story with a spiritual vibe. Pam realizes that life does not end with death. She finds herself in a place which borders Heaven after her death. There she meets Fara, her guide, who tells...

Forever Mine is a lovely romance traveling from the present back to the past of 1897. The story opens in the present when Victoria enters an art gallery to find a special picture and a very special man, though she doesn’t really know what they...

Bugs Bugs Bugs Everywhere There Are Bugs is written and illustrated by Peter Richards. This is a story of everyday life and shows lots of scenarios where bugs might be encountered. Putting out the garbage, getting the mail, going for a walk, patting a dog....

Love's Affliction by Fidelis O. Mkparu is essentially a story of love set amidst the backdrop of interracial tension. The setting is North Carolina in the '70s and Joseph Fafa is an international student from Nigeria who wants to pursue a medical degree. The book...

Jimmy Tasker is an ordinary child. He loves to take pictures: he has an excellent eye for it. When some nasty bullies take things too far, Jimmy ends up burned and different. And it doesn't end there. I really liked the opening of Shutter Speed...

Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s Four Spooky Short Stories is surreal and its haunting theme will keep readers turning the pages. The collection opens with Ghost Brother; the tragedy of a man named Bobby, who’s manipulated by the ghost of his dead brother, Gerald. I sympathize with...

The Blue Garou is a police procedural mystery written by H. Max Hiller. Cooter Holland is a police officer assigned to the Louisiana State Highway Patrol, but on an informal loan arrangement with the New Orleans Police Department. While he was born and raised in...

“When a soul is sent to the wrong place, a certain specialist goes into Hell, finds the misplaced soul, and delivers him or her to Heaven's Gate for proper processing. If the specialist dies in Hell proper, his or her soul is trapped there for...

Through the Hostage by J.C. Steel is a weird mixture of space opera and military science fiction. It worked for me. These are two of my favorite genres. The pace is swift and filled with danger around every corner. This is a world of mystery...

Stray Lines is a collection of poetry by singer-songwriter Paul Tait. As the title suggests, the poems cover varying topics and emotional states, suggesting themes drawn from the author’s past and present states. There is a general sense of alienation and displacement from the world...

Valley of the Kings: The 18th Dynasty by Terrance D. Coffey is the historical saga of one of the most controversial pharaohs to ever come to power in Egypt. Amenhotep III had built a powerful dynasty, ruling Egypt with a firm hand. When his son...

Lady Justice and the Broken Hearts by Robert Thornhill is the latest episode featuring Walt Williams and his gang of renown in Thornhill’s “Lady Justice” mystery/comedy series. Not surprisingly, it is another winning combination of humor and drama, in which our inimitable hero prevails in...

In The Forest's Edge by Ines Galiano, for 450 years after the Black Years the citizens of Civis have taken refuge in the caves and created an underworld civilization. To keep a delicate balance, they live under a strict set of rules. One was a...

One Hundred Poems of Tukaram, translated by Chandrakant Mhatre, is a wonderful collection of poetry by a famous Indian saint, Tukaram. The book features an introduction which describes the style, context, and language of Tukaram's poetry. The context covers the deity he worshipped, main events...

Miss Fortune is a coming of age memoir written by Albina Hume. The author was born and raised in a small village in Ukraine. She became very self-conscious about her speech impediment when she began primary school. One of the other students, a little boy,...

The Whistle-Blower's Confession is an environmental thriller novella written by Jennifer Lang. Aunt Helee was everything to Kelley. She had raised her niece when Kelley's parents were killed in an auto accident, and supported her studies through the collegiate level. When Aunt Helee died from...

The Keepers by Anoosha Lalani is a fantastical tale set in the mythological land of Adam and Eve's birth. Isra is hungry and homeless and, after the death of her parents, in charge of her sister. She knows that there is something unique about herself,...

Thirty-something divorcee Sophie lives a pretty solitary life these days on her farm. A divorce from “The Snake” has soured her on men so she scrimped and saved and finally sets out to enjoy the gorgeous white sandy beaches of the Maldives. But before Sophie...

Don’t Forget to Breathe by Cathrina Constantine is a fast paced, punchy murder mystery. Leo is a high school student whose mother was brutally murdered a year before the story begins. The murder remains unsolved. Leo develops a friendship with Henry, the boy who comes...