I was attracted by the colorful cover and, for a moment, I thought this was a children’s book on photography, but I was so wrong. I am happy I picked up Taking Pictures by Rachael Sircar, a book that explores the beauty of working with...

Riding for the Brand by Lawrence H. Lee is a beautifully written autobiography that follows the author’s life from the turbulent years of WWII, seeing him through his early careers to becoming the Chairman of the Board of Western Airlines. In this autobiography, the author...

Trial By Fear: Fallen Powers, Book 1 is an epic fantasy novel written by Bruce Arrington. Beon had been raised by goblins ever since he was an infant and they overran his village, but he was determined to never feel the results of their wrath...

Imagine, for a moment, an America that has turned inward, disrespected and disregarded the wishes and feelings of the rest of the world (not too hard to do in these times really). This is the premise of Pete Conrad’s novel Survival of the Sparrows. A...

The premise of The Ghost Chronicles 2, a between-life fiction adventure by Marlo Berliner, is so strong that one knows very well a great story is sure to follow. As explained immediately at the beginning by one between-life soul, Tom (as told to him by...

Charley's Horse is a coming of age novel for children and preteens written by Judith Shaw. Charley’s best friend, Sally, had weekly riding lessons, but Charley, whose world seemed to revolve around horses, had never even seen a horse up close. Her family didn’t have...

It’s remarkable that a book this compact can leave you reeling and overwhelmed with sadness at the atrocities one human being can inflict upon another. And when the victims of those atrocities are children who haven’t even hit puberty, as in the case of Yuna...

Don’t Call Me Chip is an animal story for eighth-graders by Neil O’Donnell. Timothy, a chipmunk, lives under the verandah of Mike’s home. Mike is an elderly man who made friends with the animals who live in the woods. Their peaceful, happy way of life...

Over A Barrel: The Phalanx Blood Series, Part 2 is a young adult thriller novella written by Bruce E. Arrington. Time usually seems to go much too slowly when you’re sixteen, but for Bernard the last ten weeks or so had flown by with nightmarish...

Words of Life: Messages for a Path to Inner Peace is a nonfiction collection of inspirational essays written by T.L. Montgomery. The author is an intuitive life coach as well as a photographer, whose photographs precede each of the essays contained within her book. In...

Wow! I loved Dream Waters: Book One of The Dream Waters Series by Erin A. Jensen. Patients Charlie, Bob, Nellie, and Frank's everyday life changes when a new patient, Emma, arrives. Charlie sees people "differently", while Bob just wants to see the TV. Nellie...

Jalpa Williby exposes the horrific world of human trafficking in Girl Behind the Veil. Special Forces operative Kaden Reid goes undercover to rescue a young woman from a human trafficking ring in Pakistan. His mission objective - act as a client, buy her, get her...

As one person commented on Zap Tales' blog, “I honestly don’t know where to begin.” The Fourth Side: A Prison Odyssey zapped me too…and how! When I began reading, I knew I was about to enter a world I knew only from movies and TV...

Aging Out is a coming of age novel for young and new adults written by L. Lee Shaw. Soosie, Adam and Myron would be “aging out” of Pitison House within six months, an event that would occur on their eighteenth birthdays. Before that was going...

The Good Fight by Dan E. Hendrickson mainly tells the story of a hero’s daughter, Danielle Edwards, as she struggles to deal with tragedy and heartbreak. Danielle’s father, mother, and grandmother are killed in a mysterious plane crash. Danielle has always worshiped her father, whose...

Everyone has a dream. Some people dream of being a good parent while others would like to become a Supreme Court Justice like Sonia Sotomayor. This Latina from Bronx, New York not only fulfilled her dream of becoming a Justice, she exceeded it by becoming...

Imprisoned, observed, goaded. This was the life the demigod had endured for over a decade. The people who held him sent a new observer; the others had met their end, more often by his hand, or more precisely, his thumb. This one he named Bookworm,...

In a sleepy small town in West Virginia, a child struggles to survive. Sadie Tremont feels trapped. She wishes she could be normal like other ordinary kids her age. With her guarded personality, there is little hope she will find the help she needs. Then...

Wildflowers and Train Whistles: Stories of a Coal Mining Family is a memoir written by Lillian Crone Frazer. Frazer grew up in Minden, West Virginia, a small coal mining camp town, during the 1950s and '60s. She was the youngest of a family with seven...

A Line Intersected by David Grant Urban is a tale of distressing fortunes. Michael Collwood is a reputable architect in San Diego, a man loved by the people until his wife is murdered by means of a drug overdose. He becomes a person of interest...