Galid's Christmas Wish by Michael Verrett is set against the backdrop of the Christmas season. Galid is the last proud member of the Greystreak clan. The old Poplar House where generations of the Greystreak mouse clan lived is now in bad shape. For the past...

My daughter and I thought Michael Verrett’s book It Followed Me Home Can I Keep It? was hilarious. A little boy wants a pet really badly. He keeps bringing home all sorts of animals but his parents keep telling him no. I loved the book....

“The prose piece I am proudest of, and which you can read in this collection, was conceived when I took a notepad to bed with me and determined to write down what came to mind as I passed out of wakefulness. Naturally enough, one of...

Hope is a normal 12-year-old girl from Chicago. That is until her Aunt Etta flies in from London one night to take Hope back to England to attend the Hypatia Academy, a 2000-year-old school for sorcerers and other magical types. In this exciting story for...

When an author claims that his or her book is funny, inwardly my eyes are rolling. Most people don't have the chops to be either stand-up comics or humorous authors. I am amazed and delighted to introduce readers to Vicki Lesage and her collection of...

Steel Maiden (Divided Realms Book 1) by Kim Richardson is a young adult fantasy and the first book in the Divided Realms series. In a land of banned magic, religious sects, and dark secrets, Elena hides her mysterious healing powers and hand to hand fighting...

Nelson Telson: The Story of a True Blue Blood by Heidi Mayo is a charming, perceptive story for children. Eleven-year-old Mariah is dreading starting yet another new school (her father’s work means they move every year), fearing she won’t fit in or know anyone....

The title of Christopher Lee Johnson’s collection of short prose perfectly sums up the theme of Small, Irrelevant Matters. I found myself re-reading more than one of the stories as I related to the underlying meanings that are not so small nor irrelevant. The Flea...

Pete’s not a bad kid – just a bit too playful, or at least that what he thinks. Always looking for excitement in his new home in boring, backward Hadleyville after the death of his parents, Peter Riley finds more than he can handle when...

30 First Dates by Stacey Wiedower is a romantic comedy. Erin Crawford has a bit of a vendetta. She doesn’t have any luck whatsoever in her relationships and she decides that the time is right to start a new blog, one called “30 First Dates.”...

Zan’s Quest: The Chandaran Chronicles, Book One is a young adult epic fantasy written by Daniel Bryant. The inhabitants of Chandara, a small planet, live on its sole continent, which is surrounded by ocean. The feline Saberons share this planet with the humanoid quasi, and...

Interdimensional Travel for Dummies by John Lee Bunting is a rollicking good read. Imagine a multiverse where everything that can happen does happen and each alternative becomes another world in another universe. Now imagine a device that can take you from world to world or...

Martyrs & Traitors: A Tale of 1916 by Marina Julia Neary is a historical novel based around the turbulence of Ireland's civil uprising in 1916 that eventually led to Ireland's freedom from British rule. The story begins in Dublin on Good Friday in 1916 and...

Wynfield's Kingdom: A Tale of the London Slums by Marina Julia Neary is a historical fiction set in the 1830s in the heart of one of London's most notorious slums. Dr. Thomas Grant adopts a ten-year-old thief who was beaten for disobeying his gang leader....

Letting Go (Entangled Embrace) by Jessica Ruddick is a young adult romance that tackles the hard subject of death, suicide, and moving on. Cori never expected her boyfriend to die. Even worse, she never thought he would kill himself. Was it her fault? Was...

People Centricity: The Incredible Power of Putting Other People First by Stephen Hewett is about making people happy through mutually beneficial interactions. It begins with an assertion that social tribalism has been a feature of all human societies since the origins of our species and...

The Millionaire's Message by Bryan James is a book that celebrates how it’s the little things that add up to the big things in our lives. Beginning with the importance of will and its phenomenal power, the author mentions the perceived limits of our ability;...

The Wellness Blueprint by Maiysha Clairborne guides one in reclaiming health by deconstructing a healthy lifestyle into simple steps that can be integrated easily into one's daily life. The author begins by giving a rather holistic definition for wellness. In four parts, the first one...

Murder and mayhem all over works of art? Well, it does happen and priceless artworks are often the target of money-hungry thieves. Blood splattered all over a upscale art gallery was certainly more than Tom Adams, an ordinary waiter who was slowly working his way...

True Freedom: A Beginner's Meditation Guide to an Easier Life by Amanda Rex begins with wise advice: “With meditation, it helps to dip your toe in first.” This book introduces meditation as more of a mindset of attentiveness that can be applied, rather than relating...