Life is a collection of mementos, souvenirs of a time spent on earth, alive and living life to its fullest. These mementos define who we are, or, at least, who we were, and are cherished by those loved ones left behind when we pass on....

Thomas Bauer’s The Assassin is set in a small isolated village at the time when Napoleon began his invasion of the various small Italian states. Six young men who are all friends, all unmarried, all living at home and with few marriage prospects due to...

Brandenburg II: The Ninth Circle of Hell by James Cloud is a penetrating and well-researched story about Nazi Germany as told from the German perspective. While Hitler is the focal point, the struggles of those under the Third Reich keep the wheels of the storyline...

Strands of Struggle by Brenda Christie is a compilation of the author's original poetry. Christie's prolificacy is solidified with over fifty individual pieces and cover as wide a variety of topics as they do length and tone. The work is primarily in free form with...

A young dinosaur learns an important lesson about self-worth in the adorable children's picture book, The Fastest Dinosaur by Caren Cantrell. When Constantino, a Saltasaurus, challenges Gigantosaurus Enzo to a race, Enzo is positive he will win. He is better built for speed than herbivore...

Everyone is different, even Bentley Hippo. Most hippos walk on four legs, but not Bentley; he walks on two and he wears sneakers. All his friends are different, too. There’s Jaxon the silly monkey who rattles on when he’s excited and really makes no sense...

A mindful walk by the sea using all our senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. What Do I See by the Sea? is an illustrative journey of discovery for both children and parents. Author Endreketta takes us on an adventure using descriptive adjectives and...

Two brothers, Jali and Jax, go on a crusade to help Santa find a way to deliver gifts to the children of the world during COVID-19 in Chesand Gregory’s picture book, Did Santa Wear a Mask? ( A Christmas Adventure with the JAG Brothers). The...

One Tough Cookie by Sean Cusack is a fun and inspirational picture book for young children. Chip, the only chocolate chip cookie in his family, tries and tries to be like his siblings, who all have fun jobs that they're good at. But no matter...

I usually avoid reviewing books of poetry for one simple reason: these are the hardest books to review. But after I read the poem excerpt Michael Pedretti used in his description of the Dog and I, a short collection of 27 of his poems, I...

The Prince and the Puppet Thief is a work of fiction in the fairytale genre. It is aimed at young adults and was penned by Justin Arnold. The book tells the story of Simon, the son of a fairytale villain who has wound up in...

Sacred Erotica is a collection of poems ideally suited to readers that want to connect their spiritual or soulful journey with the physical intimacy they share with another human. Don Angelo pens beautiful words that create powerful images, allowing the reader to choose the extent...

Shades of Darkness is a work of fiction in the murder mystery genre. It is suitable for all ages and was penned by Margaret M Ford. The book follows Ben Appleton, a young member of the Mayfield family. The Mayfields are surviving the 1930s Depression...

Nincompoop: A Novel by John C. Picardi follows Leonardo, a twenty-something-year-old man who moves to New York City with big dreams. In New York, his friend Julia helps him get a job at a small bar in the East Village called Bar Plato. The reader...

A doctor leaves her job and family behind to rescue her oldest daughter from a prison camp in the thrilling dystopian novel, Hope Ignites by E.A. Chance. Two years ago, a solar flare brought the world to a halt, and the power-hungry vice president took...

An Inconvenient Attachment: A Love Story or Something by Vincent Magnani is not your conventional book of poetry. There is fluidity in his poems as they seamlessly bleed into one another. No titles, no page numbers, black background, this is not your average book of...

Ever dreamed of being a princess and living in a royal palace with everything you could possibly want at your fingertips? Princess Louise-Marie, firstborn and second in line to the throne of Limolou, doesn’t want to live in the royal palace anymore. She makes her...

Frickin Short Life: The World's Smallest Autobiography by Khawar Salim is what the title says it is, and I suggest that it should be one of the nonfiction works that you read this year. Frickin Short Life is comprised of 268 profound meditations on the...

Proof: Am I Your Favorite? by Gretchen Kadillak is a 40-page-long children’s rhyming tale about a mom and three kids who all want to know which kid is their mother’s favorite. We see colorful pictures of the mother teasing them with questions about who should...

Life is full of twists and turns and confronting the inevitable forks in the road. When Tessa loses her teaching job, she returns to her sleepy hometown in Amish country, Pennsylvania. Which way should she turn? To New York to live out a dream in...