Despite being twins, Arisa and her brother, Bril, are as different as chalk and cheese. Bril is the quiet one, reading and dreaming and building skyscrapers in the sandbox he shares with his sister, Arisa. She, on the other hand, is the one with flair...

Distant Family is awesome. I love space opera…when it’s done right. When it’s done wrong, it is boring and, to be honest, I can rarely finish the book. But when it is done right, I look for that author again and again. If you like...

Although I didn’t read the first book in the Miller Hoffman series by Zelmer Wilson, this second entry, Next Best Thing, reads so well and it is absorbing. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the book is character-driven, and the internal conflict is superbly explored....

Little Rocky is a Norway Spruce tree. He’s not as big as the other trees in the forest. Nor is he as strong, and his branches are bent the wrong way and his needles are seldom green. All Rocky wanted was to be chosen as...

Hush by Nicole Lyons is a collection of poetry that illuminates the pain of losing someone, as the world forces you to move on without them. From the decaying light of an old tree, to the loss of a dearly beloved, Lyons drapes these poems...

Ben'oni L'Benyamin: From Sorrow to Strength: My Journey with Depression is a nonfiction motivational self-help book written by Rabbi Sara Berman. Berman, who is an ordained Rabbi and a board-certified chaplain, had worked in the Neuropsychiatric Institute as part of her participation in UCLA’s chaplaincy...

The Scourge of Man by Zoran P Obradovic is a gripping story with a dystopian edge, great characters and a lesson that touches powerfully on the human spirit's quest for happiness. Vincent is a depressed man who has lived on the fringes of society, feeling...

Truth and The Serpent by J. Rutledge is a compelling retelling of the myth of creation from the point of view of one of the characters of the “fall,” the serpent himself. Throughout the course of history, the myth of the fall has been propagated...

Vaconius has changed. The slaughter of the Northern warriors did not quicken his pulse with the thrill of battle. Instead, it sickened him. Vaconius’ lack of enthusiasm hasn’t escaped King Fialsun’s notice. Greedy, insane King Fialsun cannot have his best captain struggling with his morals...

The Shnoos and Panoos Are Lost and Confused by Catherine Copplestone introduces young readers to the Shnoos and the Panoos, adorable and whimsical little creatures that have a wonderful life, doing exactly what they know they want to do in a garden where marshmallows grow....

Puppy: 12 Months of Rhymes and Smiles is a dog lover’s delight. Written by Patricia Furstenberg, Puppy deals with the many reasons people bring a puppy into their lives. Not only does it deal with a puppy’s initial reaction to its new home, but this...

Humans: From Nothing to Now by Brett Ashcroft Harrison is a book that combines knowledge from a variety of disciplines — spirituality, philosophy, history, science, anthropology, and more — to redefine the place that humanity has in the universe. The book explores the conundrum of...

Broken and Beautiful by Elizabeth Courtright is an emotionally intense, intelligently plotted, and masterfully written story in the genre of contemporary romance. Written in an absorbing first person, this story takes readers on a high emotional tide, exploring the dynamics of relationships between two couples....

Fragile and Fierce is the second book in the Broken and Beautiful series by Elizabeth Courtright, a mesmerizing story of contemporary romance with great characters. When they finally meet again, Aster doesn’t want to have anything to do with Ryan. All she wants is to...

Sally: A Novel is the fictional account of the life of Sally Ann Barnes (1858 - 1969), a black woman born into slavery in Kentucky. Author J. Schlenker met Sally briefly as a child, when Sally was over one hundred years old. Her memory of...

It’s almost hard to believe that Too Many Secrets by EB Corbin is a first novel. It’s that good. It’s also pleasing to know that Too Many Secrets is the first book in a trilogy, based on Roxanne Boudreaux, who, when we meet her in...

Hunters of Gaia, the second book of Renna Olsen's New Mother Earth series delves into the power struggle between a galactic corporation intent on maintaining its assets, an ambitious leader bent on leaving her mark on history, an artificial intelligence seeking to evolve, and a...

Solitude’s End: Book 1 of Echo's Way by Mike Waller starts in Corros, a small human colony world loaded with a rich mineral needed by the humans in their war against the Tolleani, an alien species and the only other known advanced beings in the...

The Devil Wears Red: Book Three of the Tewkesbury Chronicles by Jo Gillespie is the third entry in the Tewkesbury Chronicles, a historical novel set in 1781. The French have just joined the Continental Army in their fight against the British. The reader is introduced...

Girlfriending by Christopher T. Werkman is a lovely collection of intriguing short stories. I have never read a collection with so many diverse settings, characters and situations. Each story, whether one page long or several, transports you into its universe effortlessly. I was hooked from...