Secrets of the Sanctuary by Octavia J. Riley is a wonderful read in the YA epic fantasy category, a well-plotted and expertly narrated story. It is the second book in the Coven Chronicles. Thea Bauer is a spell weaver who has established herself as a...

Bradley rushes outside to the garden to collect flowers for his mother. He’s having fun collecting all kinds of flowers when a loud noise startles him. Then he sees it: a giant dinosaur. It’s not frightening, but rather friendly and it takes Bradley on an...

Jeff Gunhus’s Caroline and Mordecai the Gand is a story about Caroline’s struggles after losing her father. Accepting his death is something Caroline could never think of doing at all. She just wants to stop thinking about anything and even refuses to remember even the...

A priest’s body found hanging in a church belfry appears to be an apparent suicide but evolves into an investigation of suicide, accident, or possibly murder. Father John Paziek, a battle-hardened World War II former chaplain, is the assistant pastor at Saint Francis Church and...

Bentley and the Magic Sticks, written by Claire Eckard and illustrated by Anne York, is a children's picture book centered around a big, lonely, domestic canine. Bentley is of a giant unspecified dog breed and his enormous size makes normal day-to-day living different from dogs...

"Their skin appeared scaly, dark brown in color, and their elongated faces displayed sharp features, which to Hannamyer appeared satanic, in an archetypal sense." In Unwinding the Serpent by Robert Paul Blumenstein, Earth is under threat as a ruthless alien race, the Cacatoids, intend to...

Guardians of the Garden by Theresa Pocock is a YA fairy tale. Miriam Miller just wants a normal life. Her family doesn’t want her, and neither does her town, Edenia, and she doesn’t want to be the Guardian of the Garden of Eden. But she...

We Woof You From The Bottom Of Our Hearts by Kathy Vassilakis is a children’s picture book centered around a lovely family that we get to watch grow, humans as well as dogs. A picture book with a narrative style, We Woof You From The...

Arthur Yavelberg has authored A Theology for the Rest of Us, resisting the usual theological jargon and dogmatism. When I saw this title, I thought it would be a Christian volume written on the layman’s level. I was dead wrong. Arthur incorporates Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism,...

Sketches are quick rough drawings based on what the artist observes. This technique allows you to see life differently by paying attention to detail. An example is to draw all those new things you look at when you go for a walk. We can all...

As Rugged as the Rest: A Young Marine’s Journey to Iwo Jima by Janet Simmelink takes you on a journey through the life of a young man, Joseph Montgomery House Jr. The main characters are Joe Boy and his sisters, Louise, Leveryle, and Gale. His...

Guardians of the Solar Shield: Earth's Climate Mirrors Under Attack 2029-2037 by Sam Bleicher is a very enjoyable novel dealing with our world in the 2030s trying to cope with climate change and its effect on the planet. This is not a doom-and-gloom story but...

“You will have a new life and, by the grace of God, a new calling.” In Sisters of the Moon by Alexandrea Weis, Durra and her companions arrive on an island in Lake Obersee. She senses a strange evil lurking beyond the forest trees. In...

Everyone wants to fit in. We have the false impression that if we look like everyone else, we’ll be equal and be part of the ‘in’ crowd. Imagine being a duckling with a different – and I mean very different – beak. Ack wasn’t dubbed...

Find the Helpers: What 9/11 and Parkland Taught Me About Recovery, Purpose, and Hope by Fred Guttenberg is a memoir penned from the depths of grief to help readers see what we might be able to overcome, even when it feels impossible. In this profoundly...

Harnessing the Power of Grief by Julie Potter is a non-fiction self-help book. The author tells you what grief is and the different types of grief. She uses stories from different people to show how unique each form of grief is. She has summaries and...

Polly the Polecat by K.A. Mulenga is about an African skunk named Polly who can’t help letting out an unpleasant odor. She tries and tries but no matter what, she still can’t stop that awful smell. Whenever her friends or family are around, they always...

Hole In the Rock by Rebecca Bischoff is a wonderfully unique coming-of-age story. Twelve-year-old Lizza Crapo is an animal lover, whose father has just started a taxidermy business. Lizza is not too happy about seeing all the stuffed dead creatures in her dad's shop and...

Lou the Poo, written by Gasper, is a funny picture book for young children. One day a boy eats lots of yummy candy, but soon starts to feel something strange happening in his tummy. The boy knows exactly what he has to do; he needs...

Secrets the Walkers Keep by J. Morgan Michaels is the first book in the Casters of Magic series. After his mother’s death, Manhattan “Hat” Walker is no longer himself. Whereas he had previously spent time with his large family weekly, if not more frequently, he...