Life has its ups and downs, and growing up is difficult enough without the added stress of living amongst the poorest of the poor. Margaret H. Essebaggers Dopirak was a missionary child, an MK or Missionary Kid. Her parents were missionaries in India in the...

Wow! Just, Wow! That's exactly what I thought when I finished reading Deadly Homecoming at Rosemont: A Wrenn Grayson Mystery by author Connie Chappell. It's not often that a prolific reader like myself finds a mystery that pops off the shelf as truly unique in...

Being King Arthur’s queen was not the life Guinevere would have chosen, but what choice was she given. And, once she accepted her lot as the king’s wife, she was forever the target of mischief and jealous rivalry. But Guinevere had been trained as a...

A Los Diggities Christmas by Jeanie Cunningham and Elisabeth Thormodsrud has a Christmas theme as the backdrop. Oso, the youngest of the Los Diggities pack, is completely taken by the Christmas decorations. He finds the Christmas lights and music enchanting and, along with Xena and...

Tails of Sweetbrier by Deanie Humphrys-Dunne is an inspirational and true YA story. Deanie has cerebral palsy and her parents are told she will never be able to walk. But her father has other ideas and, after setting up Sweetbriers riding school, he sets about...

What a story I just read! A Walk in Connection by author Tracy Ane Brooks is an absolute revelation. Recounting the real life experiences of the author, an impressive person who served as the director and co-founder of Mission: Wolf, a wolf sanctuary in the...

Jessica Lost Her Wobble by J. Schlenker is a unique love story with unexpected twists and turns. Jessica, more commonly called Jessie, is a woman in her mid-forties with a lot of baggage. Her self confidence is low and she is unsure of everything and...

Eastern Wisdom, Western Soul (111 Meditations For Everyday Enlightenment) by Richard Singer is a breath of fresh air in the world of self-help books. Breaking down Taoist living into easily applied steps, Eastern Wisdom, Western Soul helps the reader simplify their lives one small action...

Little Teddy Freeman, yes that’s what people called him, was only seven years old when he learned a valuable lesson in life – actually, it was more than just one valuable lesson. You see, Little Teddy Freeman wanted to buy himself a boat, but he...

Point and Shoot for Your life by Robin Murphy is a tale of mystery and suspense. Hannah Mills, local photographer, is struggling for work and to pay her rent. Great-Aunt Dorothy comes to the rescue from beyond the grave after she leaves Hannah a First...

There is nothing better than a good story to sweep one’s imagination away to another world. But these stories originated somewhere and there are always some interesting tangents that a reader can pursue based on a good story. Teachers are always looking for new and...

Once a book is written, edited and published, the work is by no means complete. Authors have to be very resourceful in how they promote their work. This doesn’t have to be a burden. Some parts of self-promotion can be quite enjoyable. For example, a...

Coyote’s Song by Renee Benzaim connects two women from the past and the present through a Miwok legend. In 1989, five-year-old Evangeline disappeared from her front yard. Ten years later in 1999, Hannah Kelly is searching for a subject for her new novel. She investigates...

Alan May has written a political thriller pertinent to today’s news and events (as I write this review in Dec 2016). The basic premise of Article XII revolves around the Electoral College and its power to confirm or deny the results of a presidential election....

Murray Pura’s Beautiful Skin is a romance novel that has many layers to it. Set in the Second World War between Ukraine and Germany, it is centered around its main character Andrew Chornavka, with his brothers and sisters playing minor characters. The story wends its...

In Murray Pura's poetry collection, Petals: Poems of a War in Ukraine, you are immersed in a part of life that many people in this world are not privy to. War. This collection pulls together snapshots of childhood memories and the recalling of war, and...

Proper Goodbye by Connie Chappell is a compelling story of lost and found. “Every heart is asked at some point to leave something or someone behind while it yearns and aches for a different outcome.” Beebe Walker is disillusioned by the church. When the church...

Eden: A Novel is a family saga. It is a story that spans the years from 1915 until the present day. Eden is about a family that, like so many real life families, is dysfunctional, loving, and faces many ups, downs , happy times,...

Jay-Jay and his Island Adventure is a children’s book written by Sue Wickstead and illustrated by Jon Mitchell. Jay-Jay is a double-decker, Supersonic Playbus, which travels from town to town and is greeted by many excited children, each of whom cannot wait to play with...

Jesus, Angels, and Very Special Saints: A Story Book to Color by Rhonda Paglia teaches young readers about Jesus, angels, and many well known saints. The book describes Jesus's life, from how an angel appeared to Mary to how Jesus died on the cross. The...