The year is 1843, and Joseph Carter is a farmer in the small town of Changewater, the setting for A Shadow of Doubt by G. Gordon Long. Like many other farmers, he is trying to make a living to support his wife Olivia and their...

Ancient of Genes: Prehistoric Resurrection or Genetic Warfare? by Dan Gallagher is a mesmerizing and provocative spiritual and scientific thriller. The story unravels at Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, where Dr. Wentz and his brightest student, Kevin Harrigan, have been conducting a secret genetics project on...

Backlash Bounty by Lori Power is set in 1813 and tells the thrilling adventure of British Captain Garrett McGuire and his beloved wife Bessy. While searching for Spanish treasure at the behest of Cornwallis to fund the Napoleonic war, Garrett and Bessy’s brother, First Mate...

Zen Parenting: Caring for Ourselves and Our Children in an Unpredictable World by Cathy Cassani Adams is a comprehensive non-fiction guidebook that immediately caught my eye as I am both a mother and teacher. We can all improve our ways, our lives, and our parenting....

The Catbird Seat by Rebecca Hollingsworth is a compelling comparison of race relations in South Carolina from before the Civil War right up to the time of the 2000 furor of the Confederate Flag flying over the State House in Columbia, South Carolina. The story...

Squire With Fire: Disappearance of Luka is a story about a white dragon named Luka. Luka's color and the fact that he is unable to breathe fire make him different from all the other dragons around. Because of this, the other dragons like to bully...

Stealing Freedom by Sylvia Leontaritis is filled with history, romance, and adventure. The story takes place during the buildup to World War II on the Greek island of Kalymnos, which was under an Italian occupying force. Popi, a sixteen-year-old girl, loves her Greek island world...

What happens when an ordinary medical student discovers he is trailed by hitmen trying to take his life? He makes this discovery immediately after his mother and uncle are found dead under mysterious circumstances. Joe Belmont goes on the run after burying his only remaining...

Two Between Worlds is an enticing romance and paranormal tale by Nissa Harlow. Arianna Warne and Ephraim Diaz-Pierce have known each other since childhood. Crippled by her anxiety disorder, Ari takes comfort in Eph's soothing aura. His lack of arms is no obstacle to their...

There are so many beautiful and wonderful things to explore in Australia, from the Tasmanian Devil, the Pellucid Hawk Moth, and the Southern Cassowary to learning about the Thylacine Tiger that once roamed the land. In the thought-provoking children's book, My Hollow Home by Leanne...

Chris Lengle introduces The Male Nurse Survival Guide as “a real, no-b[…]-s[…] survival guide” (elisions my own) to the world of nursing. As he notes, “[t]his is the raw, real, and uncensored guide to surviving as a male nurse” in the United States. As such,...

How far is too far? How many casualties are the extreme in justifying discovering the truth? Avinash Naduvath challenges the reader with this question in his book Mindbender. Pogo, Joshua, and Sarah are thrown into a lucid dream called Project Mindbender. These three individuals are...

I Am A Girl is a picture book by Yvonne Harris depicting the life of a young human trafficking victim. Born in a country where girls are seen as just another mouth to feed, Jorani wonders if she would've been better off had she been...

“So…why build a lighthouse where nobody lived?” That was the general assumption in the mid-1800s about the geographic location of Jupiter Inlet in southeast Florida. Once a major trading hub for Native Americans and now home to over 8 million people, Jupiter Inlet seemed an...

Tired of trying to live up to his father's high standards unsuccessfully, Jim Lloyd packs up his worldly possessions and heads off to the Malayan island of Penang. He intends to serve under the island's administrator, Captain Francis Light, in a bid to jump-start his...

Where Waters Run North: A Kent Stephenson Thriller by Frank Martorana is a page-turner of a book from the first chapter to the last with some wonderful surprises along the way. The main characters are very much ordinary people, very down-to-earth, and relatable. They are...

After his father’s demise when he was only eight years old, King Coborn of Mosuvia ascended to the throne at an early age. When it was time for him to marry, King Coborn married the love of his life, Lorella - the daughter of a...

An Instrument for Florenda by Tomeko Brown and Christopher Smallwood is about a young girl who wants to learn to play the clarinet after the school announces that they are introducing their first band after the summer vacation. The school hired a teacher who had...

Hogan is a young Dalmatian that is adopted into a forever family, which consists of a mom and dad (both human) and a sister (another dog). Then the family adopts another dog, and the family is complete. Hogan has what many would think of as...

Saltwater and Driftwood by Anna J. Walner is a historical fiction drama that follows a young girl and her family's ordeal during one of the worst natural disasters on US soil, The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900. While rummaging through her grandmother Clara's stuff after...