In "Murder and Mayhem", Michael Thomas Barry presents us with 52 crimes that shocked early California in the 100 year from 1849. Taken from newspaper articles and filled with great photos from the period, the book allows us to revisit many famous and hideous crimes...

"Pretty Dolls" by author and award-winning English teacher, Kimberly Dana, is a children's story about love, friendship and jealousy. This book reminded me of a combination of the movies 'Mean Girls' and 'Toy Story'. In "Pretty Dolls", young Tasha sleeps snuggled up with her favorite...

Taylor Wilson owns her own landscaping business and is filling a wheel barrow with pumpkins in her own backyard in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she lives quite happily with artist/sculptor husband Phil. Phil has driven away from the house after answering the telephone. His instructions...

"Walking Fish" by Joanne Bodin is gritty yet touching contemporary fiction. Artist Talia, a nonconformist by any standards, has had a difficult life. Losing custody of her daughter Sophie when she was five following an unpleasant divorce, Talia has been shut out of her child's...

Who hasn't wished for the impossible? To be in someone else’s shoes? To have what someone else possess? Life is always greener on the other side, right? But how many people get their wish? When Darcy and Cybil wonder what it would be like to...

Faith Hope has been left with watching over her younger sister, Serenity. Their parents and older, newly-married sister Harmony were killed when they accepted a drunken bet that involved some sheep, a motorcycle and a two dollar bet. The animals survived but Harmony and her...

Gaston the dog and little Gregorie the bird live in a small town in northern France with their master, Mr. Marceau. The Marceau home is a very happy one, with a wonderful garden with beautiful flowers and a fruit orchard where cherries, pears, apples and...

It is not Super-Man, it is Manner-Man! I thoroughly enjoyed Sherrill Cannon’s new children’s book “Manner-Man.” Ms. Cannon has a unique ability to teach children very valuable behavioral lessons through her awesome writing. And the rhyming style of writing makes the story fun and enjoyable...

"My Life on Craigslist" by Alexandra Ares is a fun read for those stuck in young adulthood in a place which appears unwelcoming and unmotivated to offer assistance on how to begin to move responsibly through life. 25 year old Emily Thompson is living in...

The setting for this tale is 1954. Eleven year old Patsy was exploring the area around her new home in Sand Flat, Nebraska, when she met Hap. Hap was a little taller than she was and about the same age. He told her he had...

The way that K.D. Rose puts words together in Inside Sorrow creates an absence not only within the heart of the reader, but also upon the page where the letters and phrases are contained. This book of collected poems is organized in a chronological way,...

"Shelley's Outdoor Adventure" is an educational picture book for children. Shelley and her friends are outdoors and they are busy exploring the beauties offered by nature. Shelley is explaining it to her friends using sign language. This book incorporates the American Sign Language. It is...

“One Great Goal” by Ursula Mentjes grabbed my attention because it seemed too simplistic. It was an anachronism. In this age of multitasking, diversifying and 24/7 deal making, how could her single-inded advice be of value? However, she quickly dispelled my doubts with her proven...

"A Christmas of Grace" is the story of eleven year old Grace Gillian and her almost six year old brother Henry James. For the Gillian children life had never really been stable. Because of their alcoholic mother, Grace had always been the one to make...

If you’ve already read a few of the many self-help books for salespersons, Michelle Moore’s Selling Simplified—55 Fast Tips to Jump-start Your Real Estate Business might seem at the outset to be something of a rehash of the standard shibboleths that characterize the genre: commit...

Gated by Matt Drabble is a horror novel as good as any you will find on the market today. The town of Eden was the epitome of good, old-fashioned, friendly small-town America. It sounded too good to be true. It was. However, Michael and Emily...

What is a Friend is Terri Kelley’s attempt to expose children to the idea of friendship and community, which can be confusing to children when they are very young. I, for one, think that Terri hit another home run with this book. Kids may understand...

Ava’s Secret Tea Party by Donna J. Shepherd is a delightfully whimsical children’s picture book. Little Ava knows that very special people often visit her, but unfortunately she never gets to see them. Late at night, on days she has lost a tooth, she knows...

Reflections of Mamie - A Story of Survival by Rosemary Mamie Adkins is the story of a little girl who didn't get the love she wanted from her mother. No, what she received were harsh, mean words and beatings that were executed in a way...

Abby's move to the small town of Astley, following her marriage, is not what she had imagined for her life. A successful singer with a good job and a city girl at heart, it is a huge sacrifice to make for a husband who seems...