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Able Greenspan's Bookshelf
Security First: Geospatial Workflows for a Safe and Equitable World
Darren Martin Ruddell, editor
Diana Ter-Ghazaryan, editor
Esri Press
www.esri.com/esripress
9781589488878, $149.99, HC, 428pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Security-First-Geospatial-Workflows-Equitable/dp/1589488873
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/security-first-darren-martin-ruddell/1144828900
Synopsis: Geospatial intelligence offers valuable insights to help organizations and governments protect communities. By using technology to obtain location-based data, these groups can make spatially informed decisions about how best to help people who are most at risk. Learning the technical skills needed to use geographic information systems (GIS) to visualize and interpret this data has never been more essential for working to find resolutions for the numerous challenges humanity faces today.
Co-edited by Darren Martin Ruddell and Diana Ter-Ghazaryan, and featuring an informative Foreword by Ronda Schrenk, "Security First: Geospatial Workflows for a Safe and Equitable World" guides readers through specific exercises and examples to show how GIS can be used to address significant world issues while building the technical skills required to work in the field of human security and geospatial intelligence.
Through 20 geospatial workflows, "Security First" covers a breadth of topics found in geospatial security including:
Human rights violations,
Vulnerability to flooding,
Concerns around illegal fishing,
Quantifying and mapping land use and land cover change,
Monitoring environmental justice, and
Emergency response and disaster management.
Each chapter is organized with learning objectives, technical requirements, prerequisite knowledge, a geospatial workflow, an analysis, and additional resources. All detailed exercises use ArcGIS software and downloadable data, helping to establish and reinforce the technical skills of readers. Users will also interpret their results and write an intelligence brief, requiring them to think critically about the result of their work. In helping to guide strategic decision-making, this manual will get readers on their way to incorporating GIS into their work for improved analysis and results.
Written for professors, students, and professionals, Security First is the first crowd-sourced workbook in the growing field of human security and geospatial intelligence. Contributors and editors include academics teaching or studying human security and geospatial intelligence.
Critique: Original, seminal, groundbreaking, "Security First: Geospatial Workflows for a Safe and Equitable World" will prove to be of immense value to readers with an interest in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems. This large format (8 x 2 x 10 inches, 3.07 pounds) trade paperback edition of "Security First: Geospatial Workflows for a Safe and Equitable World" from Esri Press is an essential and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library collections GIS & Public Policy collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, governmental policy makers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Security First" is also available in paperback (9781589487857, $89.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $72.19).
Editorial Note #1: Darren Martin Ruddell is a Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, and Co-director of the Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence Lab at the University of Southern California's Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI) where he teaches and conducts research on issues of Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence (HSGI). Ruddell earned his Ph.D. in Geography from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University and is a Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) certified by the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI). (https://usgif.org/biography/dr-darren-ruddell)
Editorial Note #2: Diana Ter-Ghazaryan is an Associate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Co-Director of the Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence Lab at the University of Southern California's Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI), where she teaches and conducts research on issues of geopolitics in the context of Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence (HSGI). Ter-Ghazaryan earned her PhD in International Relations and Geography, with a specialization in GIS and Remote Sensing, from Florida International University and is a Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) certified by the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI). (https://dornsife.usc.edu/spatial/profile/diana-ter-ghazaryan)
Able Greenspan
Reviewer
Diane Donovan's Bookshelf
Cassie Linden Finds Her Sweet Spot
Linda Avellar
https://www.lindaavellar.com
Black Rose Writing
https://www.blackrosewriting.com
9781685136925, $21.95 Paperback/$5.99 ebook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Cassie-Linden-Finds-Sweet-Spot/dp/B0FLYN1HT4
Cassie Linden Finds Her Sweet Spot is a story that will widely appeal to women, who will readily relate to Cassie's situation of being called home to care for an ailing father while simultaneously tackling the challenges of a troubled son and her own fluctuating memory as she ages.
The last thing Cassie needs is the complication of romance ... conversely maybe that's just what she needs - something different, and a positive possibility to enjoy in her overburdened life.
The specter of dementia that took her mother's life, present now in her father and perhaps in herself, is presented realistically. This will tug the heartstrings of women in similarly precarious positions, as well as those well aware of the ravages of Alzheimer's.
Equally understandable are the conundrums Cassie faces over her parenting choices:
She'd been trying hard to give him space, and here she was ordering him around like he was twelve. But he'd been foolish, more than foolish. Irresponsible. And now a boy was hurt. How had things come to this? Had she failed somehow as a parent? She'd tried her best, but something awful and unforeseen had happened anyway. Could she have set another course five or ten or twenty years ago? Maybe this terrible thing could have been avoided if she'd put her foot down about joining the frat. Or forbidden him from going to Tulane in the first place. But couldn't something bad have happened somewhere else? Maybe not this particular thing but another misfortune. Life was a series of pitfalls, some small, some catastrophic. She knew that all too well.
What does beekeeping have to do with all of this? Plenty. It's one of the foundations Linda Avellar builds into her story as Cassie hires beekeeper Glenn to take over her father's job of tending the bees on his property, only to discover that Glenn's opposition to the forces that would force her to sell the family homestead is part of his attraction.
Beekeeper activities permeate the bigger picture, offering inviting details and asides to Cassie's agonizing over whether to sell her property and how to consider the possibilities of genetic testing which will confirm or deny her own dementia.
Juggling this range of influences and possibilities sounds complex and potentially confusing, but under Avellar's hand, the story evolves many personal attractions, revelations, and connections. Women will find these issues engrossing, realistic, and hard to set aside.
Libraries seeking recommendations for book clubs and women's reading groups will relish how Cassie Linden Finds Her Sweet Spot cultivates a proactive attitude towards not only fielding the requirements and challenges of multi-generation families, but in illustrating how its protagonist perseveres against all odds.
Packed with insights about bigger-picture thinking and approaches to overly complicated life situations, Cassie Linden Finds Her Sweet Spot is thoroughly absorbing, nicely written, and filled with many thought-provoking, pleasing revelations.
50 Secrets Nobody Tells You in Hollywood
Mike Kimmel
Ben Rose Creative Arts
9781953057181, $19.99
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Nobody-Tells-Hollywood-Supercharging/dp/1953057187
With all the actor's guides on the market today, one might wonder what remains uncovered for aspiring actors. 50 Secrets Nobody Tells You in Hollywood: The Working Actor's Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls and Super-Charging Your Career proves that there are plenty of points that need enlightenment and better understanding.
Since these can be make-or-break situations for would-be actors, it would behoove novices to use 50 Secrets Nobody Tells You In Hollywood to add all the tools to acting success into their arsenals that they can.
Mike Kimmel offers some surprising suggestions. One is for the actor to become a play writer. Why? Quite simply:
Write a stage play. It doesn't have to be long. It can be a one-act. Or write a short film with good roles for yourself and your best actor friends that you can produce together on a micro budget ... Writing gives you a creative outlet that will keep you energized and inspired whenever the auditions slow down. Writing is also an important intermediate step towards directing and producing.
Another idea seems so simple as to be redundant, but shows that how actors conduct themselves off-stage is as important as their on-stage prowess:
As actors, people are always going to see us as public figures, no matter what our present-day salaries and professional credits may be. At auditions, rehearsals, industry events - - and meetings with potential agents and managers, especially - - we should keep a close eye on our table manners... and our manners in general.
If these seem too basic for those seeking nitty-gritty industry pitfalls, consider this nugget of wisdom about auditioning:
Keep the main thing the main thing. Remember why you're auditioning today. You're here to work. You're here to book this job. You're here to build your credits and career. Not everything you see and hear requires your clever commentary. But every person you're talking to - - and every script you're working on - - requires your full, complete, and diligent attention.
Each piece of advice serves as an interlocking journey towards success that, together, forms a unified professional approach to understanding acting's demands, challenges, and the many ways actors can either hone success or inadvertently barrel towards failure.
Exit stage left if the advice in this down-to-earth guide isn't followed. But, don't take librarians or fellow actors along for the downward ride. Librarians who choose 50 Secrets Nobody Tells You In Hollywood will find the surprising diversity of its advice to be accessible, easily followed, and uniformly strong; while actors consulting this book will find its practical assessments of on- and off-stage choices to be thought-provoking and important.
The Constitution Kids
Gary Gabel
www.theconstitutionkids.com
Mascot Books
https://mascotbooks.com
9798891383906, $16.99 Paperback/$7.14 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Constitution-Kids-Gary-Gabel/dp/B0DNNS5H35
The Constitution Kids will appeal to middle grade readers and up with a blend of American history and fantasy. Three teens find a magical book which helps them uncover facts about the Constitution by traveling through time to encounter the historical figures and settings that birthed the blueprint for a nation.
Gary Gabel's intention is to elevate history beyond the usual recitation of dry facts and figures. By injecting this era and its story with elements of fantasy and creating believable, involving characters whose efforts result in surprising discoveries, Gabel creates a satisfying blend of entertainment and education. Quotes from the actual text of the Constitution add important insights to the kids' adventure.
The idea isn't just to teach history. Gabel wants kids to be "enthralled" about the Constitution's underlying messages and how they came to be - and in this, he succeeds.
As the kids discuss political matters with a variety of contributors to the Constitution, the plot contrasts past intentions with present-day interpretations:
"It will take time for the nation to decide," Bingham said. "But in a democracy like ours, it's important to have this discussion, and this amendment makes it possible."
"What I find interesting is up to this point, we've mostly been visited by famous historical figures," Kali said, "but it's good to meet people like you, Mr. Bingham, who are lesser known but who played such an important part in creating a country where all people are protected under the law. It's amazing to be able to meet you and hear your story, and of course, hear your description of what led up to the 14th Amendment."
From the right to vote to how the nation addresses major issues, the kids make discoveries that will help modern young readers better understand not just history, but its present-day incarnation and impact.
Libraries seeking a fictional adventure that rests on the foundations of democratic processes will thus find The Constitution Kids an attractive, important collection addition that ideally will be widely recommended to book club readers and classroom debaters.
Filled with facts and lively interactions, The Constitution Kids is a leisure read worthy of deeper-level thinking.
Ghost Child
Deborah Jennings
Atmosphere Press
www.atmospherepress.com
B0FNS7B8B7, $9.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Child-Uncovering-Secrets-Yucatan-ebook/dp/B0FNS7B8B7
Ghost Child: Uncovering Family Secrets from a Back Porch to the Yucatan is a memoir of adoption, a search for family ties and truth, and a discovery about the nature of family, made in the author's thirties, that sent her on a search for her identity.
Many a memoir has been written about adoptees searching for family, but what sets Deborah Jennings apart from the usual story is the contrasts between her birth parents and adoptive parents, the truths that emerge about her family heritage, her biracial roots, the intellectual and cultural differences between her biological parents, and the resulting impact all these newfound insights have on the rest of her life.
As she uncovers stories about transatlantic crossings, marriage and birth choices, and family relationships, truths emerge about not just adoption, but family dynamics:
There was a certain disdain in the way she characterized her relationship with her parents. Curiously, nothing the grandparents had said to me suggested the estrangement she now described. I found it hard to reconcile the descriptions of her mother, Beatriz, with the warm and gracious, proud grandmother of twenty-four grandchildren, whom I'd just met.
Of special note is the emotional complexity that emerges from contact between these two very different families. This gives readers a fascinating glimpse into social and psychological influences affecting children from their heritage. This will result in many an avid discussion in psychology and reading groups.
From treasured family belongings, legacy, and mental illness to uplifting reflections on interconnected roots, Ghost Child's many different facets of adoption, heritage, and past and present lives makes for an exceptional story that is ultimately heartening:
Another era, another universe but the same house. I felt the presence of my grandmother and my great-grandmother and the love between them. I savored the images and the moment. Life is so interconnected.
This is why libraries that already have adoption memoirs in their collections will want to acquire and recommend Ghost Child as a special standout in adoptive literature. It will reach into reading groups, adoptee circles, and general-interest audiences with a journey that is surprising, invigorating, and hard to put down.
O'SHAUGHNESSY INVESTIGATIONS, INC.: Leave Murder to the Professionals
A.G. Russo
Independently Published
B0FRHCZRG9, $3.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/OSHAUGHNESSY-INVESTIGATIONS-INC-Professionals-Investigations-ebook/dp/B0FRHCZRG9
O'SHAUGHNESSY INVESTIGATIONS, INC. Leave Murder to the Professionals is the final Book 3 in the O'Shaughnessy Mystery Series set during World War II that revolves around two PIs who step in to run an investigative agency while family members are at war, only to find their sleuthing abilities challenged from many unexpected directions.
Maeve is more than cognizant of her duty to keep the family business running despite her lack of expertise:
Maeve was aware that her three brothers risked being wounded or killed at any moment. As angry as she had been at them when they left her with the agency and their teenage brother Jimmy, she couldn't give up doing everything she could to support them and the war effort, along with millions of Americans.
She and Vic tackle not only investigative conundrums, but emotional turmoil resulting from insecurities over loved ones overseas, their return, and their emotional absence and difficult choices. Issues of love, commitment, and family ties swirl into a story replete with gang encounters, murder and intrigue, and Vic and Maeve's own professional and personal relationships as situations and people change.
One highlight of Leave Murder to the Professionals is its ability to incorporate wartime domestic concerns into the challenges of maintaining a family and a business at the same time.
Another lies in the very different situations Maeve falls into which test her mettle, including interacting with a professional acting company, which forces her onto the stage and into the limelight in ways she feels very ill-equipped to handle.
The emotional conundrums between the teenager she cares for, the partner who helps her get at the truth, and daring, dangerous associations that force Maeve and Vic to walk a thin line between survival and success makes for a gripping story that evolves many layers of possibility in satisfyingly realistic ways.
There are no pat solutions here, either to professional problem-solving or personal relationships - and that's what makes Leave Murder to the Professionals exceptionally realistic and compelling.
Libraries looking for mysteries that are firmly rooted in other social issues of the times will welcome the opportunity to highly recommend Leave Murder to the Professionals to not just fans of investigative detective stories, but those who look for strong characterization and settings that influence the choices these characters make for their lives.
Replete with mystery and conundrums, Leave Murder to the Professionals is hard to put down.
Daughters of Daring
Chris Enss
Lyons Press
c/o Globe Pequot
www.GlobePequot.com
9781493087860, $34.95
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Daughters-Daring-Hollywood-Cowgirl-Stunt/dp/149308786X
Daughters of Daring: Hollywood Cowgirl Stunt Women is a powerful survey of the women who made names for themselves in Hollywood as career stunt women, performing dangerous acts. Most readers have heard of stand-in stunt-men, but few will have prior knowledge of these women, who were chosen both for their ability and because:
That scene and nearly every other thrill the audience witnessed in early motion pictures where a lovely girl was in danger was made by one of Hollywood's forgotten, fearless stuntwomen doubling for movie stars. She didn't double for the star because the star lacked courage. She did it because, if she were maimed or killed, it would make little difference to the cost of the picture. If the star tried to wreck a buckboard and suffered even a split lip, the cost of delayed production would have amounted to thousands of dollars. Using a cowgirl stuntwoman in Westerns was insurance for the studios. While beautiful movie stars were expensive, courageous lady equestrians were more common and well within the studio's budget.
With this introductory surprise, readers are off on a wild ride through the biographical sketches of selected Hollywood stuntwomen whose lives and achievements have, until now, gone largely undocumented.
These portraits embrace how each women got into the stunt-riding act, creating connections between such seemingly disparate circumstances as Lucille Mulhall's encounter with Will Rogers at the Mulhall's Congress of Rough Riders and Ropers, which resulted in the teenager's training and developing extraordinary abilities in roping and riding; or Oregon girl Lorena Trickey, whose early skills with horses and riding led her to work with early film pioneers Mix and Pickford.
Hollywood history, women's lives, and extraordinary talents of the times meld in a series of stories that are vivid and engrossing, adding depth and dimension to each woman's experiences.
Enss's focus not only on what they did but how they became stunt women and often embraced even more achievements outside of Hollywood makes for a vivid collection of biographical sketches supplemented by equally eye-opening vintage photos of the women.
Libraries and readers seeking thoroughly engrossing Western and women's history accounts will relish how both come to life in this intriguing, unusual survey.
The juxtaposition of U.S. history, western culture, and Hollywood interests assures that, as it deserves, Daughters of Daring will receive broad interest from a wide audience of history buffs, women's history readers, and general-interest readers alike.
The Divine Within
Allison Batty-Capps, LMFT
Atmosphere Press
www.atmospherepress.com
9798891328426, $32.99 Hardcover/$19.99 Paperback/$8.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Within-Healing-Ourselves-World/dp/B0FQYZYBJ9
Many books attempt to bridge the gap between spirituality, psychology, and applied living. Some add a memoir into the mix to add personal experience. But few offer the reflective integration of all these approaches to healing as LMFT Allison Batty-Capps achieves in The Divine Within: Healing Ourselves to Heal the World.
Here, the road to healing and recovery is marked by self-discovery in a transformative journey that brings life to readers by introducing the author's foray into inner spiritual worlds. Her saga reviews common roadblocks that emerge in the course of this experience, incorporating the bigger picture of how humanity can reconcile inner divinity with its self-destructive and growth-oriented impulses.
Here's where The Divine Within truly shines, bringing readers into a milieu in which not only the author's experiences, but those of a host of others, support her journey and contentions.
Another strength of The Divine Within lies in its specific explanations. Where other books explore the benefits of following a particular course of action, Batty-Capps explains the scientific and psychological rationale behind her suggestions, clearly illustrating how they link to improvements:
Mindfulness helps you overcome roadblocks, because mindfulness shifts your experience of them and helps heal them. Mindfulness also rewires your brain and nervous system, improving your mental and physical health. Mindfulness changes your DNA. These benefits are compelling reasons to develop a mindfulness practice.
Another standout feature lies in its links between childhood development, adult actions and reactions, and especially the chapter summaries, which recap the wealth of information and guidance each section presents:
In this chapter, you continued your hero's journey and began to understand the shadow within your unconscious, which sometimes distorts your inner compass. You learned that your inner compass is embodied when you are in a regulated nervous system and your body feels calm, curious, and compassionate. You learned how to access this state through your breath.
Science-minded readers who employ logic in their life approaches and decision-making won't be left behind by discussions of how science, mindfulness, spirituality, and approaches to health work together to create new possibilities.
A final note is that The Divine Within doesn't stop with individual change, but then links this process to humanity as a whole, showing how healing on a personal level can lead to healing in much wider circles:
If you have been harmed by others or have witnessed harm, you might be wondering what the divine thinks about justice. It also means that as you are returning from your hero's journey, you might be called to advocate for change as you bring your own wisdom of the elixir of the divine back into your community.
All these reasons are why The Divine Within is highly recommended for libraries seeking bridge-building stories of transformation and change on personal and social levels, for book clubs looking for vivid discussion material, and for self-help, new age, and spirituality readers seeking a discourse that synthesizes a wealth of scientific, metaphysical, psychological, and spiritual information into what hopefully will lend to a revised blueprint for a better humanity.
Lofting-sounding as this statement is, The Divine Within's potential for sparking change on many levels makes it a standout.
Santa's 18-Wheel Chrome-and-Steel Sleigh
J. Brandon Boron, author
Shaun Ivie, illustrator
https://santas18wheelchromeandsteelsleigh.com
Mascot Kids
https://mascotbooks.com
9798891383333, $19.95
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Santas-18-Wheel-Chrome-Steel-Sleigh/dp/B0FC4VN1QW
Shaun Ivie illustrates J. Brandon Boron's Santa's 18-Wheel Chrome-and-Steel Sleigh, a picture book Christmas story about a team of sick reindeer during the holidays and Santa's dilemma over delivering toys on time.
The flu takes out all the reindeer, but Donner's creative solution assures a Plan B that will help Santa deliver on time.
J. Brandon Boron's rollicking rhyme creates a spirited read as Santa and his reindeer embark on a redelivery venture:
"You've got that big old rig parked up in the back, and with some help from the elves, we'll get 'er packed... It won't be long before you're on your way!"
Adults reading this holiday story to kids will find the illustrations big and bright, the dialogue and rhyme inviting, and the scenario unexpected and fun.
Libraries seeking a different kind of Christmas story will welcome the inviting, innovative problem-solving of Santa's 18-Wheel Chrome-and-Steel Sleigh, which is a cut above most stories about Christmas delivery dilemmas.
Just Off the Norm
Norman L. Bender
Sensibility Press
9781968094089, $29.95
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Just-Off-Norm-Published-Trenchant/dp/1968094083
Just Off the Norm: Published Opinions on American Politics and Culture by One of Its Most Trenchant Observers gathers some sixty years of Norman L. Bender's observations of shifting American politics and culture - but it's not just one American's lone reflections. These writings were widely published in some 500 newspaper columns and op-eds over the decades, even coming to the attention of presidents, making them more thought-provokingly revealing than readers might expect.
More than a series of critiques about American values and experience, the essays point out the intersection of information, disinformation, and response that have shaped American questions, ideals, and attitudes over the decades.
Take the excerpt from a broader essay, "An Affordable Health Potion." Here, Bender comments:
Be alert because recent studies have shown there is a "health potion" readily available, and you don't need a prescription. And it's my pleasure to confirm that it is reasonably priced. There's only a little co-pay for this drink, or, more precisely co-fee, or of course, its more traditional name: coffee.
As Bender cycles though American experience and presents his own observations of changing life and social issues, readers will especially appreciate how succinct and thought-provoking this blend of history, personal experience, and cultural change can be - as well as how relevant it is to modern American experience:
There are those who would say the only way to stop a bad man with a gun is a good man with a gun, as opposed to preventing the bad man from getting the gun in the first place. But really, weren't Ronald Reagan and his press secretary Mr. Brady surrounded by a whole bunch of good men with a whole bunch of guns, as in the Secret Service? Yet their presence wasn't enough.
As subjects range from women's voting rights to "routine" mass shootings, being a Democrat, and issues of draft dogers and the ethical points of condoned torture, Bender provides a host of thought-provoking arguments, insights, and pointed directions for positive solutions to social ailments. This approach will prove especially inviting to classroom and book club discussions about America's values and direction.
The result is a collection of hard-hitting observations and history which points the way to new attitudes, progress, and possibilities in a manner that librarians will consider especially intriguing for their collections because it's accessible to a wide audience of thinkers and ordinary citizens.
Astute in its considerations, literary in its craft, and thought-provoking in its reflections, Just Off the Norm is highly recommended reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of life and culture in America.
Born Posthumous
Fish Nealman
Atmosphere Press
www.atmospherepress.com
9798891328273, $18.99 Paperback/$30.99 Hardcover/$8.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Born-Posthumous-Fish-Nealman/dp/B0G1FC2TBX
Born Posthumous incorporates wry satire from the start, presenting the talented character Manny Old, a legendary musician whose artistic output doesn't end upon death, thanks to AI.
Fish Nealman incorporates many experimental, innovative approaches to building Manny's story, from the introductory chapter 'signposts' on guitar frets which indicate a fluid timeline of events to gray bars marking Manny's birth and death.
Dialogue, too, is musical as the interactions in this world unfold with clef notes and symbols injected into observations and experiences. Events and psyches play out in unusual manners, as well, from a scientist expert in sound describing how music is made and perceived by the ear while he's under oath in court to characters such as Mr. Odor Smell, sporting names that indicate their underlying countenance.
Manny's revised abilities and vision dictate not only new boundaries in his world, which embraces a different community, but novel approaches to life and death itself as posthumous and living collide on an AI playing field which levels the opportunities for everyone.
Young musician Emmanual seeks to create a lasting legacy, Holographic Manny complicates the world by changing it, and the quest for immortality both physical and via impact leads each character to reinvent their world in new ways.
Of special interest is how Manny impacts life with his drive, against all odds, with the resulting Zerophyte community just one evidence of his world-altering paradigm for life:
He believed every Zerophyte could be a gateway to sustainability where people were more conscious of their environmental footprint. However, many people were skeptical, believing Zerophytes were too radical and unconventional. But in true Manny style, he persevered, believing change was never easy but was always worth fighting for.
From career evolution to issues of music, noise, and adaptation, Born Posthumous represents an intellectual dance through possibility that ultimately considers a range of questions about humanity and the weighty task of integrating biological, scientific, and intellectual pursuits.
Libraries seeking a novel that represents a delightfully complex, gender-bending foray into future possibilities and artistic ambition, which attracts literature readers with a heady blend of sci-fi, wry satirical observation, and experimental approaches to character-building, will relish how Born Posthumous creates a unique world.
Filled with fun and thought-provoking moments, Born Posthumous is an involving story that doesn't just break barriers of literary excellence, but shatters them, rebuilding new worlds within its consideration of what it means to create, destroy, or evolve a new melody for living and dying with unique artistic vision.
Perfectly Hugo
Barbara Monier
Amika Press
www.amikapress.com
9781956872873, $9.95 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Perfectly-Hugo-Barbara-Monier-ebook/dp/B0FQNVBGC5
Perfectly Hugo is a novel about a couple that builds a strong relationship and life together. It explores how their creation can continue beyond death. The cutting-edge tech company Assembled Souls offers a rare opportunity to continue life via AI, giving them the promise that they will never be alone and that death won't part them.
Within that promise lies danger, however, as Enid and Hugo find that it's not easy to build a future based on unlimited potential and the specter of living together forever.
What does it mean to be human under such conditions? Enid and Hugo forge new territory as they enter into murky, uncharted waters with their AI experiment and desire to remain connected even beyond death.
Barbara Monier establishes a baseline for ethical and psychological examinations of love that stretch the boundaries of connection through Enid and Hugo's experiences. Her story embraces the humor and give-and-take in a long-term couple's successful relationship, building a foundation and dialogue of their intimacy before venturing into this strange new world:
"...if Assembled Souls were choosing a decor for me alone, I would expect a lot more... animal heads on the walls. Animal skin rugs... tossed here and there." Hugo burst out laughing.
Enid hit him lightly on the arm, then hit him a second time for effect. "Oh my God, you're a horrible human being!" It was an expression the two of them had tossed back and forth for years. "Why am I even here? Why would I want more time with this horrible human beside me."
Accompanying questions such as whether relationships and bonds are the sum of memories (especially if they can't transfer within the AI environment) raise issues about the touchstones of what it means to stay human in a world that might be populated not just by artificial constructs, but artificial connections.
The thread of humor which connects the couple provides comic relief, interjecting inspections about long-time habits which are as thought-provoking as they are fun:
"First, I'm perfectly capable of picking out a shopping cart. Second, do you have any idea what percentage of shopping carts you tend to find unacceptable? Honestly, for years I worried that this was a thing with you. Your seeming need to find the first thing you chose completely... deficient. Like you always needed to trade up or something. I thought for the longest time that meant my days were numbered. Seriously!"
As Hugo and Enid's story unfolds, the delightful interplay between them leads to new choices involving hard decisions. Some are surprising revelations (no matter how much they feel prepared for an unusual future) that outline the differences between AI and human.
Libraries interested in stories that reflect the intersection of technology, psychology, and social inspection in a personal, involving way will find Perfectly Hugo a lovely dance between a couple that faces new challenges that nobody has ever tackled before in what it means to stay human and in love.
Filled with moments of connection and revelation, Perfectly Hugo is an enlightening, moving story that will delight book clubs and general-interest leisure readers with its foray into the costs of staying intimate and connected in a technology-enhanced world.
V Immigratsii
Marina Raydun
www.marinaraydun.com
Independently Published
9798988085911, $21.24
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/V-Immigratsii-Marina-Raydun/dp/B0FWBNNRT5
Historical fiction readers seeking a sweeping, epic saga will find V Immigratsii just the ticket for an immersive read. Set in the late 1980s and following a Jewish family's flight from the USSR, it moves through different character perspectives and points of view as the family pulls up their roots in a repressive regime, become immigrants and strangers in other lands, then face a Covid lockdown decades later that further isolates and confines them.
If this novel feels especially pointed, personal, and emotionally powerful, perhaps it is because it was created from author Marina Raydun's own experiences as an immigrant to the U.S., as well as those around her who had embarked on similar journeys. This background lends to realistic, engrossing descriptions that incorporate family, culture, old country beliefs, and new world systems in a satisfying contrast between family makeup and identity:
Benjamin is well familiar with the fear of drafts among his family members. If one has a choice between waiting for his appendix to rupture versus risking sleeping in a drafty room, the safer choice would be to wait out the appendix. All sorts of ailments were caused by drafts, from stiff necks to pneumonia. Of course, no one on that train would've let his mother or grandmother even attempt to cool down the train by opening windows. No surprise there. There is no need for follow-up questions.
Readers will delight in how this immigrant family evolves and preserves its connections through time, and will easily be able to adapt to its shifting characters and years as time goes by and life changes.
Filled with epic moments of realization about change and the impact of new surroundings and cultures on family values and perspectives, V Immigratsii captures not only the history and experience of immigrants during those times, but adds important insights and questions about the costs of survival and adaptation.
Libraries seeking historical novels steeped in Jewish and Soviet experiences and insights which are delivered with the strength of supportive family personalities and reactions to new lives will welcome the opportunity to add V Immigratsii to their collections. It should be highly recommended to book clubs and readers interested in stories of family ties and immigrant experience.
Solitary Creatures
Anne Clark Kearns
https://anneclarkkearns.com
Independently Published
9798285091998, $17.99 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FFPTXBFM
Solitary Creatures tells of Charlotte Ames, who steps up to become involved in a wildlife refuge in Costa Rica. The story opens from the perspective of sloth Sofia, who observes her enclosed world; and Luna, who struggles with abuse.
It's fitting that the sloth opens this story because it will reappear later to provide readers with thought-provoking reflections on animal rescue processes, personal involvements and commitments, and the lure of and sometimes conflicts between ecotourism and wildlife preservation.
In the course of describing Charlotte's revised mission and life perceptions, Anne Clark Kearns builds an involving cultural and wildlife exploration that links the fate of nature with that of human beings who struggle to either exploit or preserve it.
Animal communication and preservation, love of self and the outdoors, and the mystery surrounding the dilemma of a missing sloth that affects people almost a continent away merge to form a delightful blend of intrigue, humor, preservation issues, and tropical adventure.
The joy of this story lies in multifaceted layers of involvement that will keep readers absorbed and not just learning from a powerful adventure, but Charlotte's growth process, which evolves because of it:
It had become a knee-jerk reaction for Charlotte to say "no" to things. Saying "no" to life was becoming dangerously close to a default setting. Her first reaction to anything new, any opportunity... was anxiety. She could talk herself out of just about anything, quite easily, with arguments that seemed perfectly logical to herself at the time. She strained from the effort of not doing it now.
These emotional reflections permeate the saga of animal welfare and moral behavior, drawing important links between encounters and new possibilities that stem from revised visions of the future:
She felt unbalanced somehow, but not in an unpleasant way. More like her world had just shifted slightly on its axis, but the way it had been leaning before had forced her to adjust so often and hold herself so carefully in order to stay upright that she was never actually comfortable. Now, it was like everything could suddenly be put to rights, and she could breathe with ease and wouldn't have to work so hard at... whatever it was that she had been working so hard at.
The result is a novel steeped in Costa Rican culture and affairs which brings readers into a jungle milieu in which special interests and transformative opportunities clash.
Libraries interested in stories for women that mix adventure with life inspections will welcome how Charlotte, vet Gabby, and others find their life trajectories turned upside down by events involving animals and humans.
Replete with a sense of purpose and discovery, Solitary Creatures takes an inviting journey into the heart of not just jungle and Costa Rican affairs, but the kinds of decisions that accompany life changes and emotional connections with animals.
The Thirty-Fifth Page
Lya Badgley
https://lyabadgley.com
Atmosphere Press
www.atmospherepress.com
9798891328648, $17.99 Paperback/$8.99 ebook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Fifth-Page-Lya-Badgley/dp/B0FVJMF51C
The Thirty-Fifth Page is a page-turner steeped in Balkan culture and legend that opens with the specter of a witch, the curse of war, and centuries of sorrow. A wizard's magical book holds the power to change the witch's world for the cost of a mere cup of water - but in reality the price tag is much more, for the wise wizard's gift comes with a proposition:
"I know your curse," he said. "It was never real - only an idea, a trick of perception that transformed fear into fate. A warning mistaken for truth, spreading like fire because fear moves faster than wisdom. I held it once, but it slipped free and found its way to this forest. Let me take it back, and I will bind it inside these pages."
But The Thirty-Fifth Page isn't a fantasy about the past. It's a portent of a future that fast forwards from this initial encounter into the world of 1992 Sarajevo, where Miri Adler wonders about the old legends as she tackles new revelations while living the life she's always wanted as an American art conservator on assignment to a land teetering on the edge of war.
Miri's research project is to study a legendary medieval manuscript. When she uncovers not just the manuscript but a mystery revolving around its strange patterns and a strange, newly-appearing page, Miri finds herself drawn into an impossible world in which folklore, history, and ancient curses threaten the world's future.
Lya Badgley does an outstanding job of weaving past and present influences into the dilemmas Sarajevo faces during its struggles. She shifts the timeline from the 1990s to the 2000s as she follows Miri's encounter with a spirit.
Research on the Haggadah manuscript unfolds as Sarajevo moves from the precipice of war in 1992 to the specter of peace in 2015. Elements of magical realism permeate a vivid story of escape, preservation issues, European culture and legends, and the impact of past choices on present dilemmas:
She stood and crossed the lawn, avoiding the clusters of guests, though her skin prickled where their eyes followed. Not curious. Suspicious. They recognized her. The American. The one some still believed had stolen the book, back when the war made all things murky and uncertain.
The mix of history, magical realism, and cultural inspection is simply delightful, requiring no prior familiarity with Sarajevo or the world of art preservation to prove thoroughly engrossing to general-interest readers.
Libraries and readers that select The Thirty-Fifth Page will appreciate how the novel dances through events and decisions of past and present with a delightful eye to intrigue, mystery, and discovery:
Miri crouched, hoping to glimpse whatever lay within - a portal to a mysterious world or a hidden place where dark things were left to be forgotten.
Readers who enjoy adventure stories that lead into unexpected realms to draw surprising connections between legend and reality will welcome how thoroughly immersive Miri's experience is in The Thirty-Fifth Page, which creates a compelling story hard to predict, put down, or easily categorize.
This makes its reading all the richer.
USING MY WORD POWER: Advocating For A More Civilized Society Book III: Justice and Equality
Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D.
https://janiceellis.com
USARiseUp, Inc.
9798987856178, $16.99 Paperback; $9.99 eBook; $21.99 Hardcover
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/USING-WORD-POWER-Advocating-Civilized/dp/B0G1BJ4TS4
Book III, Justice and Equality in the Real Advocacy Journalism(R) series, USING MY WORD POWER: Advocating For A More Civilized Society completes a triad of social inspection that will guide political leaders, advocates, and participants for decades to come, and receives high recommendation for inclusion in any library collection or reader list where books about democratic and political processes are of interest.
Here lies the nuts and bolts of advocating for not just justice, but change, wrapped in an accessible, thought- and discussion-provoking discourse that marries the power of words and perceptions to social and political challenge and transformation.
How do minorities, women, and the under-served rise up to confront inequality, oppression, and suppression? By not just using powerful words more effectively, but understanding the underlying sentiments, approaches, and prejudices such choices contain. In the interests of exploring these routes of misinformation, misunderstanding, and potential empowerment processes on either side, Dr. Janice S. Ellis creates a discourse examining their foundations.
From the impact of educational processes and the responsibility of not just parents and educators but all participants in society to assure its widespread availability and quality to instances where racial profiling training should not be eliminated but required and how to address atmospheres of racial fear, chapters survey the foundations of not just language and literacy, but oppression.
This book dovetails nicely with the other series title subjects and creates a unifying, concluding set of insights that stem from the juxtaposition of social analysis and individual and community experience. Bigger pictures weave into these examples to provide justification for why certain processes and opportunities need to be better valued:
Beyond the personal devastation a poor-quality education causes, it also wreaks havoc on a community in many other ways... A city whose public educational system has a poor or negative reputation of putting out graduates with poor basic skills makes many businesses wary of being able to hire workers suitable for available jobs. The location or relocation of many businesses is directly related to the perception of being able to get skilled labor at a reasonable wage.
This approach lends meat and might to the discussions, cementing idealism with insights about what constitutes opportunity for all and how responsibility for so doing lies within each and every individual, institution, and community:
We as a society share the blame in that we, both men and women, have turned a blind eye. We continue to do so by giving men tacit approval to behave badly toward women without suffering any repercussions. Sexual harassment is an entrenched cultural problem.
In exploring a myriad of ways in which justice and equality fail or succeed in current American society, Dr. Ellis creates the stepping stones for better discourses, discussions, and direction that needs to be part of not just an individual thinker's library, but debated in classrooms from high school into college, reading groups interested in justice and social change, and political circles where advocacy is the heartbeat of the mission.
All these reasons are why libraries interested in the topics of political advocacy, justice and equality, or social condition need to add not just USING MY WORD POWER: Advocating For A More Civilized Society, Book III: Justice and Equality to their collections, but its predecessors (Book II: Patriotism and Politics and Book I: Ethics and Values).
While the books can stand individually, as a whole they form a trifecta of advocacy basics that are essential for anyone interested in understanding the rudiments of real social, psychological, and political change. These are especially essential books for modern times.
OGALLALA
Eric Eichhorn
Atmosphere Press
www.atmospherepress.com
9798891328747, $29.99 Hardcover/$16.99 Paperback/$7.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Ogallala-Eric-Eichhorn/dp/B0FZMZW7PS
OGALLALA is a fictional foray into the past in search of meaning, following middle-aged Bennett Edwards on a road trip to Michigan to track down college girlfriend Jennifer from his past. Bennett is divorced and disconnected from life, so his venture holds promise for recreating a time when he felt more emotionally engaged with the world.
When he realizes that these past connections are as tenuous as his present-day situation, Bennett enters uncharted territory - especially when he's roped into driving Jennifer's daughter Zoe and her MMA trainer Hector to a bout in Utah.
He lands in limbo until he begins to realize something is fishy about the duo and becomes entangled in situations involving murder, dismembered body disposal, crime, and the milieu of fighting matches.
Eric Eichhorn tells the story from the perspective of a disillusioned Bennett and engaged Zoe, whose participation in the world is brutal and effective.
As the road trip from hell evolves on one level, it also incorporates an aura of promise in other areas. The contrasts between Zoe's exciting bouts and the dilemmas Bennett faces along the way offer revealing insights into the shifts in thinking that each experience as they head into their dreams and nightmares and step out of their comfort zones:
Bennett was avoiding any discussions of reality. He wanted to go to bed, wake up, and get Zoe. They would continue to Utah as if it were a brand-new day. Hank would deal with the body and debris, and he would return to his role as a traveling companion.
Eichhorn's inviting story leads into the characters' disparate objectives in unusual ways. He builds up the dreams and frustrations of very different people who, by happenstance, bump into one another to create a foundation of discovery and challenge. These events evolve into a satisfying story of growth and achievement.
Libraries that choose OGALLALA for its sense of adventure, middle-aged escapades, and life-changing contacts between different generations will appreciate how the plot focuses on disconnections, new connections, and a sense of achievement to offset a crime puzzle that evolves alongside these lives.
Filled with unexpected insights on what it takes to be a survivor, OGALLALA is highly recommended for its surprising twists of self-inspection and life engagement.
When Hearts Heal
Mara Purl
Bellekeep Books
www.BellekeepBooks.com
9781936878246, $18.95 Print/$9.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Whose-Hearts-Align-Milford-Haven-Novels/dp/1936878240
The fifth book in the Milford-Haven novels series, When Hearts Heal, returns newlywed artist Miranda Jones to the spotlight as she settles into married small-town life with her "very amazing and still quite new husband." After their Alaska honeymoon, they are returning to their Milford-Haven home and living together at last.
Though their journey will attract prior readers of the series, the conjoined lives of sister Meredith and Zach, who are attempting to replicate such happiness in their own dating and choices, and long-time enemies Samantha and Jack, who have fought so long that anything else feels unfamiliar, also unfold against the backdrop of both the small town and Miranda's success.
Perspectives shift between Miranda, Zack, and other characters to add a full-bodied feel to the story. Conflicts and hearts at odds evolve in different ways, which also lends a feel of authenticity to the story as characters attempt to identify and resolve flaws and fall in love in different ways.
Zack's reflections, as a result of a difficult recovery from the Bends during a diving accident and self-examination after an epic failure of communication, are just one example linking character efforts to understand and grow with the impact and choices this portends for the world around them:
He reexamined his sense of honesty and began to realize authenticity was the inner strength he was now finding, working it like a newly discovered muscle.
As he navigates ex Cynthia, a possible future with Meredith against all odds, and his own tendencies towards self-destruction, Zack grows in new directions. So do the other characters of Milford-Haven as each heal from different circumstances to discover new pathways towards resolution, love, and life.
Mara Purl cultivates a hopeful atmosphere in her story that keeps an uplifting tone to the obstacles each character faces in their growth and in their interpersonal relationships. This creates an atmosphere of promise as it delves into different forms of healing and growth.
Women interested in romance, family secrets and ties, and small-town community backdrops will relish how all these elements come together in different lives that both dovetail nicely with the other Milford-Haven stories and create new threads of subplot and discovery in When Hearts Heal.
Librarians looking for romance novels that both stand nicely alone and compliment other books in a series will find When Hearts Heal a fine acquisition. It can be recommended to leisure readers, but comes with the added bonus of enlightenment and thought-provoking developments that grow not only disparate characters, but readers who become involved in their lives, dilemmas, and transformations.
Of Their Own Free Will
L.E. Denton
Independently Published
9798218810795, $15.95 Paperback/$2.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Their-Own-Free-Will-Orleans/dp/B0FSLF5VV7
Of Their Own Free Will: Fort Mims to New Orleans is a gripping military encounter set in 1813 against the backdrop of the Creek War. It dovetails the lives of two very different men who find their heritages and destinies caught up in situations well beyond their ken or control.
Jacob Worley is half Creek and has always resided within two worlds, not wholly feeling a part of either. When war between them erupts, he's placed in an impossible position where the Creek's uprising forces him to act out of a loyalty he only half-feels. Complicating matters is his father Thomas's choices and the barely-repressed hostility of his stepmother:
There was no love lost between he and his stepmother or her family. From the very beginning, Jacob knew she had no use for him. He was, in her mind, tainted by the blood of his mother and her people. She was most vocal about her feelings when his father wasn't present. When he was, her attempts to be cordial were forced and unnatural.
The deadly confrontation that finally erupts from long-simmering resentments on both sides results in a tragedy that places Jacob directly in the middle of conflict:
Finding the scalps of the poor souls who had lost their lives at Fort Mims had been awful enough. Some of those scalps belonged to people he knew - even distant relatives. Watching what remained of them being buried had left an intense sadness deep down in his soul. So many slaughtered - and for what purpose? His Uncle John had been killed trying to bring justice for them. And yet, there was no justice.
In contrast is French-American Pierre Durand, an educated man whose heritage seems clear even as his heart's intention is not. Pierre and his proud family have never had much to do with the Spanish and English settlers who came to Mobile when it changed hands. His parents expect much from him, given their own success and adaptations. But his connection with Rosa Alonso as a child changes his trajectory, introducing romance as a childhood friendship turns into something more. With this comes a division in his family:
"You should be showing your favor to someone of your own stature. The Alonsos might be fine people, but they do not have what we have."
"You mean they aren't French," Pierre quickly retorted.
As the politics of Mobile, Jackson's Army and the Indians, and the repercussions of war explode around them, Pierre and Jacob find their destinies entwined and their worlds vastly changed.
L.E. Denton does an outstanding job of contrasting different sides, cultures, perspectives, and battles. These emerge on fronts both physical and mental, bringing with them a force that changes life with implications for the power and strength of an evolving nation.
History blends with personal affairs and cultural foundations and repercussions so seamlessly that the characters drive the background events with personal involvements that are compelling even for those with little prior interest in early American historical affairs.
The result is a novel steeped in blood, destiny, and cross-cultural encounters that test the future of a novice nation.
Libraries and readers seeking early American historical backdrops and military encounters that simmer with underlying personal confrontation will welcome how Of Their Own Free Will brings the 1800s to life.
With its insights on family prejudices, disgrace, redemption, and military and social dilemmas, Of Their Own Free Will is a mighty story of New Orleans, Jackson, army efforts and Native American clashes. These events bring this milieu and its many underlying social and political forces to life. It's highly recommended reading for anyone who would absorb and understand the skirmishes and battles of early American soldiers during these times.
Felicity and the Raccoons
Loralee Evans
Independently Published
9798273839908, $12.95
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Felicity-Raccoons-Loralee-Evans/dp/B0G1M73L6X
Joining her other Felicity middle-grade stories of relationships with wildlife is Felicity and the Raccoons, a story of Felicity the sparrow's encounters with the wider world. Her friend Mr. Yellow Horse and his family are showing her the world beyond her fellow creatures and fairy world, so Felicity is learning many new things - but most of all, she wants to find out what has happened to her lovely ivory-billed woodpecker friend Augustus.
As Felicity encounters Mr. Honeypants, Rosie, and others, dialogues investigate the science and nature of this world, lending lively debate and structure to considerations that middle-graders will find intriguing as these disparate groups explore their world and voice questions about it:
"But must we understand all the details about something in order for it to be? There are many things that happen in the world and the universe that we don't quite understand."
"And yet," Rosie said as she scurried along the same fence just behind Mister Honeypants, "they still happen."
Perched atop Rosie's head like Cairn was perched atop Mister Honeypants's, Felicity had to nod at the logic in what little Rosie and Mister Honeypants were saying.
"Who knows what dark matter is, or how it works," Mister Honeypants said.
"Or what's inside black holes?" Felicity suggested, flapping her wings and hopping a little on the soft fur of Rosie's head.
As the animals encounter sailors and spectacled men, threats, and long journeys via car and train, an adventure unfolds in which Felicity lends her wisdom and determination to the efforts of her fellow creatures.
Loralee Evans creates an intriguing adventure story packed with nature and excitement. Threads of social observation also tinge the story with subtle insights about human society, prejudice, and interactions:
When the train came to a stop, Mr. Williams swung aboard, and Felicity heard him greeting people as they got on. Men in suits and tall hats, and women in dresses. Some women had those fancy old-fashioned umbrellas that Mister Yellow Horse had explained were called parry-soles, or something, that kept ladies from getting all sunburned. The people who had light skin like Mr. Williams were getting on the train cars closest to the engine. And they were boarding first. The people with darker skin waited until the people with lighter skin had boarded, and then they all started to get on.
Combined with the plight of the ivory-billed woodpecker and the animals' effort to help Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, observations of human affairs from outsiders' viewpoints brings the story to satisfying life with historical notes and social reflections that encourage kids to think.
Librarians and gatekeeper adults will especially appreciate the notes of positivity and social responsibility reflections that give Felicity and the Raccoons the added value of hope:
"Do good in the world. Wherever you are. Whenever you are."
Its engaging animal-centric story of wonders in the world offers a friendship tale that will keep young readers immersed and thinking about new possibilities for viewing their lives and the world around them.
Folk Secrets
Brent Wheelbarger
www.folksecrets.com
Trifecta Communications
www.trifectacomm.net
9798218999872, $14.95 Paperback/$4.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FKPYB2MX
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/folk-secrets-brent-wheelbarger/1147823517
Folk Secrets is a young adult time travel mystery involving a mysterious relic, a search through the past, and the worldwide romp experienced by thirteen-year-old Oklahoma girl Elma Quill who, along with her parents and grandfather, experience the intersection of past and present-day events which change her world and perception of her place in it.
A family curse is explored early in the story, drawing young audiences with a sense of history, mystery, and the involvement of the entire family as they confront the terrible storm raised by a book called The Codex and consider its impact on their futures.
Brent Wheelbarger incorporates insights from each family member, from Jonathan and his mother, archaeologist and daughter-in-law Patricia, to granddaughter Elma. Other characters, from Glenda to Mr. Jenner, enter the picture to help the family navigate impossible circumstances and developments that challenge each individual in different ways.
When Jonathan is kidnapped and forced to confront his past, he comes to understand that his hidden family history, extending over hundreds of years and embracing all kinds of individuals, continues to impact the future. As the family fractures, Jonathan comes to acknowledge not only the mistakes that have alienated him from his son, but that his granddaughter Elma may be the only possibility of redemption and saving the future.
The plot seems complex for the usual YA reader, embracing many alternate history and time travel concepts that pique the mind as well as encounters through time and space that challenge any linear concept of history and personal impact.
This creates an especially thought-provoking story that will reach into adult circles, as well, with intriguing possibilities and food for thought that most time travel or alternate history sci-fi doesn't embrace.
Librarians seeking an adventure-infused story filled with mystery and shifting family connections will appreciate the engrossing interplay between generations and special interests, and will want to highly recommend Folk Secrets to a large audience of time travel enthusiasts of all ages.
Never Delegate Again
Brad Federman
Manuscripts Press
9798889264866, $27.99 Hardcover/$16.99 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Never-Delegate-Again-Uncover-Yourself/dp/B0FM9RW9HC
Never Delegate Again: Uncover the Secret to Growing Your Company, Your People, and Yourself flies against many books that promote the notion that business leader success relies heavily on delegating responsibilities to appropriate underlings. Brad Federman advocates a different approach to building corporate environments not through traditional delegation, but improving the lives, skillsets, and participation levels of everyone involved, creating a rich inspection of growth-oriented paths to empowering all levels of the company for best results.
Chapters delve into the specifics of tailoring to employees for success, inviting leaders to stretch the boundaries of assignments, cooperative ventures, and creative thinking:
The work is too important to be a "training ground," but it still pushes a capable person to grow beyond their current comfort zone. Leaders should intentionally look for these kinds of stretch opportunities for high performers who are ready to level up - people who don't only have the skill set but are ready to take on more. When used well, this quadrant becomes a talent accelerator. (Referring to the Growth Matrix Model presented in the book.)
The idea is that opportunities for growth within a corporate structure are as prevalent and simple as turning a typical job description or assignment into a platform for learning and achievement.
This process involves rewriting traditional business approaches to appeal to new generations and team structures to not just enhance their goals and perceptions, but push limiting boundaries in the effort to create more opportunities for all.
The type of business reader that picks up this book and considers its lessons will be innovation-oriented, change-ready, and willing to put to test, real-world techniques that have worked for others in Brad Federman's circles.
Librarians interested in leadership roles and books that go beyond the typical approach to delegation will find a broad audience interested in Federman's novel approach to business-building. Ideally, Never Delegate Again will serve as fodder for business book club discussion as well as an applicable approach for broader interests who would promote and build growth opportunities into traditional business operations.
The result is satisfyingly specific and filled with examples and applications geared to success and reinvention.
Ben Finds a Colorful Friend
Axl Dlima
StoryVerse Land
9789819433636, $34.00
StoryVerse Land
https://www.storyverseland.com/books/ben-finds-a-colourful-friend
Ben Finds a Colorful Friend is an appealing interactive picture book that shows what happens when Ben's lighted shoes attract an unusual new companion, who hides out in his bookcase.
His mother notices the new arrival and helps Ben understand its natural history and special qualities. As Ben learns about his new friend's color-changing abilities, he absorbs underlying lessons about differences and diversity, how color changes can reflect moods, and other properties about the chameleon which lend excitement to Ben's learning process and a young reader's interest in these discoveries.
Axl Dlima teaches the basics of how to keep a reptile as a pet, but also provides a cautionary note about befriending wildlife and the importance of a natural habitat.
The warm story concludes with a brave decision on the boy's part which will lead nicely into adult discussions with children about the importance of a natural habitat to a wild creature such as Camo.
Filled with delightful insights about reptiles, pets, adaptation, and change, Ben Finds a Colorful Friend features lovely illustrations by Tianna Do, whose contributions enhance the feel and impact of a delightful picture book foray into nature.
Winnie and the Voodoo Trolls
JP Coman
Crimson Dragon Publishing
https://crimsondragonpublishing.com
9781944644581, $20.99 Hardcover/$14.99 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Voodoo-Trolls-JP-Coman/dp/194464458X
Winnie and the Voodoo Trolls is an intriguing adventure for young readers ages 8-10. It follows Winnie to New Orleans, where she encounters a voodoo shop, trolls, and bombshells that stem from Cajun country culture and mystery.
From the start, JP Coman builds an intriguing atmosphere into the tale which opens with an unexpected family journey to a town where mother and father first dated. Trolls Adidas, Lazarus, and others tumble into the tale in the second chapter, with fun black and white line drawings by Mailys Pitcher enhancing the feeling of fantasy adventure and the plot's inherent attraction.
As the story evolves into a smuggling situation, both Winnie and these trolls assume center position in a delightful romp through New Orleans, magical powers, kidnapping scenarios, and evil enemies the gang must defeat.
Coman mixes family encounters and interactions with New Orleans culture and color to give the story's progression and lively countenance. Dialogues and confrontations enrich the action. This creates a fun, unpredictable adventure that adds satisfyingly unexpected contrasts between human and troll cultures and concerns as the plot thickens.
Threads of humor also run in the bonus story between encounters with gremlins and other creatures, further enhancing the story's fun and appeal.
Libraries and middle grade readers seeking fantasies embedded with strong family interactions, a sense of place, and voodoo transformations will welcome the lively pace and memorable characters that make Winnie and the Voodoo Trolls an action-packed standout.
Things Left Unsaid
Glenn E. Wichinsky
https://globalgaminglawyer.com
GFB
c/o Girl Friday Productions
https://www.girlfridayproductions.com
9781967510191, $16.95 Paperback/$8.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQ1HK5KM
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/things-left-unsaid-glenn-e-wichinsky/1148586839
Things Left Unsaid: My Dad, the Mob, and Growing Up in the Nevada Gaming Industry is a memoir of a father's questionable choices, a mother's decision to move his children to a state far from his gambling, and a son who grows up sheltered and unaware of that world or his father's role in it.
Glenn E. Wichinsky was thirteen when he visited his distant father and began getting a sense of what was really going on in his family.
On the face of it, Things Left Unsaid is an expose of the Nevada's gaming community; but much as Wichinsky reveals this world, he also draws back the covers on family secrets, child-rearing decision-making, divided families, and the impact of discovery and heritage as he makes new life connections and considers how his life should change.
From relationship-building to law school, Wichinsky reveals the course and influences of his life, dovetailing details about his father and his own choices. His involvement in political and judicial processes offers reflections on American social values and choices in crime, justice, and legal processes alike:
I recall a favorite political statement used during those years in the California legislature that "we must examine the root causes of crime." It sounded good politically, but society is still trying to address the abhorrent level of crime in American society today.
As he becomes more involved in politics, Wichinsky experiences exciting times and family transition points that test his moral and ethical values in unusual ways:
This was not his first offense, and our father was done with it.
"I'm tired of paying for attorneys to defend you in court," he said to Steve. "You should have your brother represent you."
I was shocked, and from Steve's face, I could see he felt the same. "Dad," I said, "I don't know the first thing about representing a client, not to mention my brother, in a criminal proceeding."
"Maybe this is a good time to learn," he responded.
While much of the story plays out on family and social landscapes, Michael "Mickey" Wichinsky, a respected and noted pioneer in the slot machine and gaming industry, led a life of intrigue that his son only discovered upon his father's death. The broader history of Nevada's milieu emerges against a personal backdrop.
Glenn E. Wichinsky's review of the impact of such secrets and the journey of discovery that probes his father's strengths and weaknesses creates a thought-provoking memoir that operates on many different levels of discovery.
Libraries and readers seeking an astute blend of family memoir, political and social evolution, and psychological examination into Mob connections and Nevada's gaming industry will find much to love and learn from in Things Left Unsaid's vivid approach to exposing the roots of both the regulated global gaming industry and personal pivot points in life.
Inclusionable
Christine Barnes, EdD
GFB
c/o Girl Friday Productions
https://www.girlfridayproductions.com
9781967510160, $9.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Inclusionable-Transform-Elevate-Teams-Performance/dp/1967510164
Inclusionable: Transform How You Lead and Elevate Your Team's Performance joins a host of other business books about leadership and team motivation, but with a difference. It promotes the concept of "inclusive leadership" in daily affairs, defining and elevating this idea as it applies to workplace scenarios.
Christine Barnes draws clear lines and definition between inclusivity and diversity, but of special note are the real-world examples of leadership ideals which run up against snafus in actual translation:
How could they not see what a great metaphor rock climbing is for how we interact as a team? Now I realize how my relentlessly positive cheerleading glossed over any possibility that one or more of the team members might have had a physical limitation or a fear of heights. I used only my own framework of what was fun, interesting, or useful for the team of leaders. There was no opening for anyone to speak up about it, and I'm guessing that no one wanted to admit to their peers that they simply did not want to do it.
This creates a powerful, positive reflective process that uses solid examples to strengthen concepts of applications and changes in leadership roles and approaches:
Real possibility comes when leaders advance to metacognitive knowledge - the ability to reflect on their own thinking and adjust their behaviors accordingly. This is where selfawareness and self-regulation come into play. Leaders who are metacognitively aware can assess their own biases and assumptions about inclusion and diversity, then course-correct in real time. For instance, they might recognize that they tend to favor input from certain employees over others, and as a result, they actively work to change that behavior.
The result is a survey rich in attitude and ideas for team leaders interested in going the extra mile between linking their ideals and assumptions with leadership strategies that have already been tried and tested under real-world conditions.
Additionally, Inclusionable is as much about learning how to create fellow leaders by example and encouragement as it is about individual self-improvement. This lends further value to a process which embraces the entire business structure:
Those operating as professionals in HR, OE, OD, coaching, or DEI are uniquely positioned to help you in your role as a leader to bring inclusion to life. If you have access to such roles, you can amplify, accelerate, or leverage your own expertise to create workplaces where everyone feels seen, valued, and like they belong. This collaborative effort will not only enhance employee engagement but also drive greater business success. Let inclusion be the foundation of your support, and together, you can help leaders build organizations that thrive on diversity and unity.
Librarians who find their shelves already overwhelmed by team leadership business books will thus find Inclusionable a standout in many different ways. It's worthy of top recommendation to aspiring business leaders who would not only improve their own perception of and approach to team leaders, but their ability to contribute to their organizations as a whole by building more growth opportunities into a traditional business environment.
It's an opportunity business and community leaders won't want to miss.
Blade Rider
Jaime A. Sevilla
www.jaimeasevilla.com
Independently Published
9798999516312, $29.99 Hardcover/$19.99 Softcover/$.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Blade-Rider-JaimeSevilla-ebook/dp/B0FX8QJYYJ
Blade Rider is a novel that began as a musical, with author/composer Jaime A. Sevilla producing an original soundtrack for its backdrop (which can be purchased separately, with a QR code provided in the book). Luckily for sci-fi readers, Sevilla realized the book's wider-ranging potential as a novel, and here presents the vivid story as the standalone portrait of an ambitious young woman who literally reaches for the stars.
Raven lives in a multi-species society and longs to become an Air Ranger, a profession forbidden to females. If this were a typical story of personal struggle and social repression, it would join the ranks of many other dystopian and sci-fi communities, but Blade Rider is different - and not just because of its music-driven roots.
The story becomes one of confronting not just personal potential, but repression. In this, Blade Rider shines as it explores the glowing, vibrant world of Aurora and Raven's place in it.
From the start, Sevilla embeds the plot with a sense of discovery in all kinds of characters and male/female interactions, whether it is from sparring or competing for positions. These encounters tend to embed interesting social reflections into the characters' interactions:
At first she had tried to teach the student martial arts, but it was ultimately destined to become a lesson about gender inequality. From the start, Chip's mindset reflected ideologies held by many others, not just being unable to view a woman as an equal fighter, but also being unable to view a woman as an equal anything. His inability to engage her without prejudice was only validated more by his failure to exploit her defenseless stance during their last bout.
As people such as Jax Stratton (a senior pilot in the R.O.T.C. and the son of four-star General Stratton who introduces possible romance into Raven's life), fighter Lexi, rancher Zed Jackson, and more enter into the world-building struggles, readers receive a full-bodied offering of disparate individuals pursing their individual dreams against all odds.
Of special note is how these efforts unfold in an atmosphere of futuristic technology and choices that define and redefine what it means to be and stay human.
Equally potent are descriptions of these marvels and their potential for transformation as Raven participates in some of the most challenging efforts of her young life:
All along the side of the Speed Rail, thousands of panels extended and unfolded in unison, rotating in concert towards the strongest source of solar energy. A far cry from her father's holographic 3-D model, the massive scale of the solar array was simply an engineering marvel. Taking in the grandeur of her father's achievement, Raven couldn't help but be awestruck.
The result is a vivid story of courage, reassessment, ambition, and perseverance that holds many engaging themes of social and personal revelation.
Librarians and readers seeking sci-fi that lures with the situation of a girl facing the choice of convention over risk-taking and the social experiment of shifting values and outcomes will find Blade Rider thoroughly engaging and hard to put down. It blends lessons in team leadership and cooperative thinking with the story of a young woman's ambition and vision for a delightful foray into growth, strength, and new possibilities both social and personal.
The Art of Surviving Bipolar Stigma
David A. Feingold, Ed.D.
www.davidfeingoldartimages.com
Independently Published
9798218822835, $19.95
Author's Website
https://www.davidfeingoldartimages.com/ingramspark
The Art of Surviving Bipolar Stigma addresses a problem that everyday people too often don't adequately consider: the stigma of mental illness in general and bipolar conditions in particular. David A. Feingold's friend committed suicide after decades of living with her bipolar condition, shocking her family and community. Since then, the author has dedicated his life to helping others with the condition.
"Mental illness does not define who you are," he maintains, and he provides the tools necessary not just for struggling individuals to redefine the condition and their lives, but for those around them to offer better support and understanding.
This is achieved through a combination of art and inspections that move beyond traditional ways of thinking about mental illness, including discussion points to encourage readers to not only think about their lives and connections, but the broader topic of mental illness and its impact and, sometimes, surprising possibilities:
Psychiatric disorders can have significant negative effects on family members. Do you think there could be some positive outcomes for a family? What might they be, and how could they be achieved?
Readers won't expect poems, questions, black and white large-size art images, and raw truth-telling that review Feingold's life-changing realizations and moments, the perceptions and approaches to that life that can be experienced differently.
Also surprising are the specific connections between art and healing mental illness which offer keys to not just understanding, but redefining one of the most undiscussed aspects of a mental condition:
...a key concept I call the Impaired Self - a self shaped by stigma and the challenges of navigating life with a psychiatric diagnosis.
This approach to learning, healing, redefinition and ultimate new freedom of expression and insight will lend to a wide audience of readers, from family and friends who will want to reconsider their experiences with mental illness to psychiatrists and medical personnel who will see within this volume the rare opportunity to hopefully enact changes that create better support systems for their client and patients.
Most of all, The Art of Surviving Bipolar Stigma is about the fine art of channeling impulses, reflections, angst and sorrow into art to both create something new and get out of it something revised. Its blend of personal vignettes and insights about living with mental illness and social responses to it is enlightening, powerful, and thought-provoking.
Librarians will want to acquire and heavily recommend The Art of Surviving Bipolar Stigma to a wide audience, especially pointing out its value for book club and reading group discussion.
Hopefully, not just attitudes but lives will be changed because of The Art of Surviving Bipolar Stigma. That's a rare opportunity not many books about mental illness can offer.
The Slightest Mistake
J.M. Ridal
Independently Published
9798298384612, $18.35 Paperback/$8.99 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FZFTK8F8
Thriller readers are in for a real treat with The Slightest Mistake, which fictionally illustrates just how volatile Asian waters are in a story where a terrible miscalculation draws the nations of the world into a possible World War III scenario.
Fans of Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, and Stephen Coonts who appreciate blends of high technology, international politics, and struggles that simmer with realistic possibility will be drawn into events from the novel's opening prologue:
There are a hundred ways to start a war. Most are reckless. Some are intentional. The worst begin with a mistake.
This premise creates a foundation for events that quickly spin out of control in minutes as forces operating in the Taiwan Strait find themselves facing terrible decisions and consequences that spin out of control.
J.M. Ridal illustrates the delicate, realistic nature of these conflicts as volatile responses emerge on "the world's most dangerous chessboard," with the moves and choices of intelligence agents, military men, and cat-and-mouse games involving surveillance and assumption create tense dialogues, instructions, and dangerous possibilities:
"Tango-Six, this is Smalls Actual. Confirm initiation of second-stage logistics operation by PLA. Recommend persistent satellite tracking of Shuiqiao barges. Possible setup for cross-strait heavy movement. Message traffic supports bridging operations within next twenty-four hours."
What makes The Slightest Mistake a standout lies in the moment-by-moment depth charges of realization that buffet the men and women tasked with either preventing or participating in balance of power and control issues in the arena.
Ridal elevates the tension by describing the logic and fears of those involved, blending strategic with emotional insights that keep the plot fast-paced, the characters realistic in their commitments, assumptions, and dilemmas, and the chain of events frighteningly likely.
This translates to a story rich in its frightening blend of action, reaction, and consequence assessment which places the onus for worldwide disaster directly in the hand of a few major players and nations whose future is at stake.
As readers move from the high seas to war room bunkers, the exquisite tension and pace are maintained by chapters that identify place, date, and time to keep the timeline of events on track and instantly identifiable.
From the "Taiwanese ghost" to the impact of making wrong (or right) decisions, the story simmers with possibilities and twists and turns many won't see coming.
The result is a vivid, realistic, "you are here" scenario of disaster which will engage a wide audience, from fans of techo-thrillers and military action to readers of world disaster novels who look for exceptional characterization set amidst simmering political and strategic tensions.
Libraries will find The Slightest Mistake a powerful acquisition that deserves top recommendation right alongside Tom Clancy's classics. It's that good - and maybe even better.
Brutal Disclosure
Kevin Polin
www.kevinpolin.com
Atlantic Press
9798993502311, $14.99
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Brutal-Disclosure-Kevin-Polin-ebook/dp/B0G5BG3JKD
Brutal Disclosure opens with the death of Declan O'Neill's brother Sean, an apparent suicide as he jumped from the roof of the family's apartment building. That event sparks not just grief and confusion, but a series of increasingly deadly confrontations in Manhattan as Declan confronts the Russian forces that prompted Sean's death as Sean's killers come after him demanding to know what happened to the hundred thousand pounds Sean allegedly stole from them in England.
Declan's struggle for peace, understanding, and freedom lead him to New York City and back again in search of answers in a journey which introduces possible new friends, old enemies, and an ever-widening web of deceit and revelation that immerse him in Sean's world and challenges to his own dreams and life.
Kevin Polin's thriller takes off from the beginning, with few dead zones as the tension ramps up, romantic interests with Isabella and Marie emerge, and Declan faces brutality not just from Russian interests, but American police who view any foreigner as a possible terrorist. The realistic scenes of his confrontation with forces which ideally should be on his side, but aren't, create a realistic modern backdrop for today's readers as Declan finds himself walking a thin line between opposing forces that each seem to center on his life and his brother's involvements.
Tension is nicely developed, the action nonstop yet realistic, and the plot is satisfyingly unpredictable as Declan moves into different circles only to find his life still is threatened.
Libraries and readers seeking exciting thrillers that embrace a young nineteen-year-old's coming of age process with bigger picture thinking about one's role in life, secrets, and family connections will find Brutal Disclosure a winner. Its appealing form of growth, revelation, and discovery operates on both psychological and thriller genre levels to immerse readers in a story that is thought-provoking and powered by a fine blend of high-octane confrontation and personal inspection.
Diane C. Donovan, Senior Reviewer
Donovan's Literary Services
www.donovansliteraryservices.com
Gary Roen's Bookshelf
The Bystander (The Lemaster Files Book 1)
John David
Tule Publishing
www.tulepublishing.com
978966593768 $20.95 pbk / $4.99 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Bystander-Novel-Lemaster-Files-Book-ebook/dp/B0F1568GBY
"The Bystander" is a humdinger of total excitement, that is the beginning of a new suspense series. Pete Lemaster, a TV reporter for a local Jacksonville Florida station, is covering festivities on a Friday evening, at the Jacksonville Waterfront events celebrating the matchup on Saturday between the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs. The whole place erupts quickly, as shots ring out. One person is injured, while the shooter is shot dead by a good Samaritan. In the days to come the victim dies and the savior is rewarded in many different ways. Pete's instinct as a journalist, tells him there is a lot more, to all of this. With the approval of his editor, he begins to dig until, he comes up with something. As he researches several people tell him, to drop his investigation. That just makes him more determined, to find out what the real story is. "The Bystander" roars off the page with an electrifying opening, that is filled with solid writing, great characters, and a top-notch topical subject, set against the city of Jacksonville. Readers will have to add this series to their reading lists.
NYPD Red 8: The 11:59 Bomber
Marshall Karp
Blackstone Publishing
www.blackstonepublishing.com
9798212876513 $29.95 HC / $9.99 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/NYPD-Red-11-59-Bomber/dp/B0F4YRHSN9
Marshall Karp now writes this series that began with James Patterson. "NYPD Red: The 11: 59 Bomber" launches attacks all over New York City by someone who has a grudge against something there. It is up to the team to determine who, and what it is all about, to shut this person down as soon as possible. Kylie MacDonald and Zach Jordan work against the clock to bring this person out of hiding to keep citizens safe, They do everything they can utilizing all means to stop this wave of domestic terror. Karp deftly brings to life the characters with writing that takes readers on a rollercoaster ride through to the very end. "NYPD Red: The 11:59 Bomber" is a shear page turner all the way.
Rare Inventions: Did Science Fiction Inspire Them?
Edward M. Wysocki, Jr.
https://www.emwysocki.com
Independently Published
9798297795198, $17.95 pbk//$6.99 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/RARE-INVENTIONS-Science-Fiction-Inspire/dp/B0FPQYYPKT
"Rare Inventions: Did Science Fiction Inspire Them?" continues the research begun in "Out of This World Ideas." The beginning traces the works of Robert A. Heinlein and the possible connection to things in them to actual creations we today take for granted. Later he goes further with other authors with the same questions. An example is Neal Stephenson's novel "The Diamond Age, or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" to ask was an influencer to the present-day Kendel. There are other examples, where Wysocki makes convincing arguments, of the discoveries and the relationship to science fiction. Wysocki also has an easy writing style where you feel he is right there, with you explaining whatever you are reading. "Rare Inventions: Did Science Fiction Inspire Them?" is a great read for those who think so many things only came from Star Trek.
Adelaide the Cabin Mouse: Oh My, I'm So Shy!
Cynthia King Johnston, author
Hannah Wood, illustrator
Miriam Laundry Publishing
https://miriamlaundry.com
9781779440303, $21.99 HC / $6.99 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Adelaide-Cabin-Mouse-Oh-shy/dp/1779440308
There are several issues, besides being shy in the beautiful story of "Adelaide the Cabin Mouse: Oh My, I'm So Shy!" Adelaide a mouse lives in a log cabin, with other mice. Most of the time the humans who own it are not there. It has been announced by Howard the crow, to her, the family is coming back. He decided it will be bad. For some reason she can not say a word. Later Howard tells the same thing, to other animals who listen to Howard, believing whatever he says. Adelaide, once again cannot do anything. The work moves forward to have a satisfying conclusion. "Adelaide the Cabin Mouse: Oh My, I'm So Shy!" is a title parents should discuss with their children on so many different levels that can help educate kids on many aspects of life thrown at them.
Adelaide the Cabin Mouse: A Friend Is Moving Away
Cynthia King Johnston, author
Hannah Wood, illustrator
KDP Digital Publishers
https://www.kdpdigitalpublishers.com
9798348585822, $16.99 pbk / $6.99 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F6CTQ732
"Adelaide The Cabin Mouse: A Friend Is Moving Away" is another tale of the charming mouse Adelaide. This time Collin the Porcupine, proclaims to all his friends, he is moving away because his parents recently informed him, of their intentions. He, like all his buddies is saddened by the news. To all of them it's the end of the world. As the story moves along it takes a little bit different tone as they all come together. "Adelaide the Cabin Mouse: A Friend Is Moving Away" for kids to enjoy while many of us think back to when a friend of ours moved away, to fondly remember them.
The Bunny Ballet
Nora Ericson, author
Elly MacKay, illustrator
Abrams
https://www.abramsbooks.com
9781419776144, $18.99 HC / $17.09 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Bunny-Ballet-Picture-Book/dp/1419776142
The art of the dance form, and music to accompany it are celebrated in The Bunny Ballet." A sister and brother out for a walk, stumble into magical woods, where rabbits preform ballet with compositions and dance. The children learn as they enjoy the performance. "The Bunny Ballet" is a beautiful way to teach and respect the often-overlooked art form.
Fall is for Beginnings
Rajani LaRocca, author
Abhi Alwar, illustrator
Abrams
https://www.abramsbooks.com
9781419777400, $19.99 HC / $17.09 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Beginnings-Picture-Seasons-Everything/dp/1419777408
"Fall Is For Beginnings" starts off telling about the time of year but it is so much more, for its deep messages that should be followed. Ravi loves fall where he can go back to school, see his chums in class and learn new things. His whole world is turned upside down, by the new girl Ellie, who upon meeting him announces they will be best friends. That does no sit well with him, it puts him into a negative mood. From his sister he learns there are many avenues he can take. He now has to make a decision. "Fall Is For Beginnings" is a beautifully told story, making you think about your life, and how do deal with things in it, that involve change.
The Wishing Leaf
Kallie George, author
Paola Zakimi, illustrator
Abrams
https://www.abramsbooks.com
9781419772467, $18.99 HC / $17.09 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Wishing-Leaf-Perfect-Picture-Read-Aloud/dp/1419772465
"The Wishing Leaf" is a charming kids book that will bring a smile to whoever reads it. Bear, like other animals in the forest, wants to be there when the last leaf on a tree falls. There is a tradition that all who see the event can make a wish. Unfortunately the foliage has a mind of its own, to even fall. Determined Bear stays through thick and thin. "The Wishing Leaf" is filled with many wonderful morality underlying premises for everyone to think about that can be added to the way we all live our lives.
Howdy! Welcome To The Grand Ole Opry!
Emily Frans, author
Susanna Chapman, illustrator
Lainey Wilson, foreword
Abrams
https://www.abramsbooks.com
9781419774249, $19.99 HC / $17.09 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Howdy-Welcome-Grand-Ole-Opry/dp/1419774247
"Howdy! Welcome To The Grand Ole Opry!" exposes the long history of the place where country western music is king. Many people know the name but not too much about it. Now the story is told from the very beginning. Told as if there is a person named Opry, the place comes alive, to highlight the many performers, who have played there the music we all know and love, as we have a front row seat, to many aspects of the one and only, place associated with this type of music. We all can learn about this world with the wonderful telling in "Howdy! Welcome To The Grand Ole Opry!"
Candy Corn Christmas
Jonathan Fenske
Little Simon
c/o Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
https://www.simonandschuster.com/kids
9781665973663, $10.99 HC / $9.99 Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Candy-Corn-Christmas-Jonathan-Fenske/dp/1665973668
Candy Corn has always been established with Halloween. Now, "Candy Corn Christmas" disputes the belief, to make a case, to have it at Christmas too. A bunch of left over candy corns decide to go, and see the elves and Santa to make an request to belong as presents for Xmas. The people the refreshment go to are not receptive at first but change a little bit. "Candy Corn Christmas" is a fun title that makes you appreciate the holiday, and realize things never thought before. It is a title for all ages to enjoy and enjoy the candy itself.
Gary Roen
Senior Reviewer
Helen Dumont's Bookshelf
The Light Between Apple Trees
Priyanka Kumar
Island Press
www.islandpress.org
Blackstone Publishing
https://www.blackstonelibrary.com
9781642833638, $32.00, HC, 256pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Between-Apple-Trees-Rediscovering/dp/1642833630
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-light-between-apple-trees-priyanka-kumar/1147239752
Synopsis: As a child in the foothills of the Himalayas, Priyanka Kumar was entranced by forest-like orchards of diverse and luscious fruit, especially apples. These biodiverse orchards seemed worlds away from the cardboard apples that lined supermarket shelves in the United States. Yet on a small patch of woods near her home in Santa Fe, Kumar discovered a wild apple tree... and the seeds of an odyssey were planted.
Could the taste of a feral apple offer a doorway to the wild?
With the publication of "The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit", Kumar takes us on a dazzling and transformative journey to rediscover apples, unearthing a rich and complex history while illuminating how we can reimagine our relationship with nature.
Apples are popular, but in our everyday lives we rarely encounter more than a handful of varieties: of the sixteen thousand apple varieties once celebrated in America, scarcely a fifth remain accessible.
Here, Kumar reveals the richness of a hidden world, bringing readers to the vibrant forests and orchards where historic trees still survive. These mature and wild orchards offer more than just fruit: they are havens for creatures from hummingbirds to bears and a living connection to generations past. She brilliantly weaves together science and childhood memories with the apple's storied history, from its roots in Kazakhstan to Spanish orchards in the Southwest and Thomas Jefferson's beloved Monticello fruitery.
Critique: Fascinating, informative, exceptional, and impressively well written, organized and presented, "The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit" by Priyanka Kumar will hold immense appeal for readers with an interest in natural history in general, and the agricultural phenomena of the apple, one of the oldest known cultivated fruits in human history. With a text presented in the series of months starting with August and concluding in October, "The Light Between Apple Trees" is enhanced for the readers benefit with the inclusion of an instructive Preface, a four page listing of Acknowledgments, and an eleven page listing of Select Sources. A seminal and groundbreaking study, "The Light Between Apple Trees" is an especially recommended pick for community and college/university library collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that this hardcover edition of "The Light Between Apple Trees" from Island Press is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99) and as a complete and unabridged audiobook (Blackstone Publishing, 9798228726499, $49.99, CD).
Editorial Note: Priyanka Kumar (https://priyankakumar.com) is the author of Conversations with Birds. Her essays appear in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, Orion, and Sierra magazine. She has been featured on CBS News Radio, Yale Climate Connections, and Oprah Daily, and her awards include an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Award, an ICJS Fellowship, a New Mexico/New Visions Governor's Award, an Aldo Leopold residency, a Canada Council for the Arts Grant, and an Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Fellowship. She holds an MFA from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts and is an alumna of the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Kumar taught at the University of California Santa Cruz and the University of Southern California, and serves on the Advisory Council of the Leopold Writing Program. She completed a Climate Master certification in 2025.
Helen Dumont
Reviewer
John Taylor's Bookshelf
The Daily American
Douglas E. Morris
Lulu Publishing
www.lulu.com
9781300092520, $14.99 PB / $4.99 Kindle, 372
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Daily-American-Douglas-Morris-ebook/dp/B0G358QNHN
Lulu Publishing
https://www.lulu.com/shop/douglas-morris/the-daily-american/paperback/product-7kvdm7n.html
Synopsis: "The Daily American" by Douglas Morris is a rollercoaster of an atmospheric thriller, based on actual events and set in 1970s Italy. It revolves around a newly transplanted American reporter who discovers that the English-language newspaper he is working for is actually a CIA front.
The reporter then becomes entangled in a web of intrigue, espionage, and political extremism, putting his life on the line to expose the truth, showing how an ordinary individual imbued with the courage of their convictions can make a difference in the world.
Critique: Of special note is the deftly crafted and thought-provoking narrative that presents a memorable international thriller with historical resonance. Especially and unreservedly recommended for the personal reading lists of exotic thriller fans and community library Action/Adventure collections, this paperback edition of "The Daily American" from Lulu Publishing is also readily available in a digital book format (9781257755479, $4.99, Kindle).
Editorial Note: Douglas Morris has had 16 books published, was the editor of two award-winning weekly U.S Embassy newsletters (the Veneto Views in Rome and the Brussels Weekly in Brussels), had a monthly travel column about Italy in Primo magazine, and has penned articles for a variety of periodicals around the world, including The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Flanders Today, National Geographic Georgia, Smoke, Transitions Abroad, and Foreign Service Journal. (https://sites.google.com/view/thedailyamerican)
John Taylor
Reviewer
Mary Cowper's Bookshelf
Word Witchery: Walking the Path of the Poetry Priestess
Katie Ness
Moon Books
c/o Collective Ink Books
https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com
9781803417066, $23.95, PB, 304pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Word-Witchery-Walking-Poetry-Priestess/dp/1803417064
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/word-witchery-katie-ness/1146758316
Synopsis: Ancient priestesses of antiquity wrote and performed poetic incantations to the gods. Now with the publication of "Word Witchery: Walking the Path of the Poetry Priestess" interested readers can discover the forgotten magic of women's voices, of their poetry, and their word witchery!
Poetry priestesses have been practicing the art of poetry as spells for thousands of years. From Enheduanna of Sumer, invoking Inanna, to Sappho of Lesbo's connection to Aphrodite and Princess Gwenllian, daughter of the King of Gwynedd, said by some to be the author of the Mabinogi, those women and many more used their voices through poetry to connect to the divine feminine within and around them.
"Word Witchery" helps readers connect to the women and deities associated with poetry and the magical word, and includes activities and journaling practices.
Critique: Informative, fascinating, as well as a seminal and groundbreaking study, "Word Witchery: Walking the Path of the Poetry Priestess" is an extraordinary, original, and unique contribution to the study of Magick, the role of women in antiquarian priesthoods, and the efficacy of poetry in worshiping ancient deities. While this paperback edition of "Word Witchery: Walking the Path of the Poetry Priestess" from Moon Books will prove a welcome and enduringly popular addition to community and college/university library Metaphysical Studies collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, practitioners, and the non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Katie Ness is a knowledgeable writer, budding historian, and yoga instructor specializing in folklore and spirituality, holding a BA Honours in Fine Art from UCLAN, Level 4 certifications in Prehistoric Art and The History of Folklore from Oxford University, and extensive expertise in Yoga history, Vedic philosophy, Sanskrit and the Sakta Traditions from the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. Katie integrates yogic principles with pagan practices, priestess ceremonies and women's circles together with therapeutic arts and folk-crafts, and offers instruction on the history and philosophy of yoga. She is available as a guest teacher for teacher training programs. ((https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15915575.Katie_Ness)
Mary Cowper
Reviewer
Micah Andrew's Bookshelf
The Complete Smudging Handbook: 67 Herbs, Woods, and Resins for Clearing and Emotional Balance
Markus Schirner
Earthdancer Books
https://www.earthdancer.co.uk
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
www.innertraditions.com
9798888502839, $22.99, PB, 176pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Smudging-Handbook-Clearing-Emotional/dp/B0DSV3M6G9
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-complete-smudging-handbook-markus-schirner/1146889719
Inner Traditions
https://www.innertraditions.com/the-complete-smudging-handbook
Synopsis: With the publication of "The Complete Smudging Handbook: 67 Herbs, Woods, and Resins for Clearing and Emotional Balance" by Markus Schirner, readers will be able to discover the fascinating world of smudging and burning incense. With this invaluable guide, which welcomes both beginners and advanced users, readers will embark on a fascinating journey on which they will learn about the traditional uses of smudging for protection and energetic cleansing with sage, sweetgrass, or frankincense, and discover new and surprising applications.
They will learn that they can smudge rose petals for acceptance or elder to work with the ancestors. Learn how to prepare mixtures of herbs, resins, and woods to use in rituals and for a wide range of purposes such as divination, grounding, women's health, love and sensuality, and courage and confidence.
Markus Schirner is an expert and experienced guide to preparing for a smudging ritual, choosing the correct method, and finding the appropriate ingredients. He describes 34 different applications for smudging, including the relevant rituals, herbs, and mixtures.
An A-Z of 67 herbs, resins, and woods for smudging completes this unique guide, with detailed information on the history, effect, and uses of each entry -- making it a valuable tool for a modern interpretation of this practice deeply anchored in our human history. With "The Complete Smudging Handbook", immerse into the world of incense, learn about the various applications and effects, and experience the pleasure of burning incense for oneself, for family, and for friends.
Critique: Original, informative, deftly written, and thoroughly 'reader/user' friendly in organization and presentation, "The Complete Smudging Handbook: 67 Herbs, Woods, and Resins for Clearing and Emotional Balance" is a complete, comprehensive, and illustrated DIY guide to smudging. It identifies and describes 34 spiritual and physical smudging protocols for divination, grounding, improving health, confidence, and dreaming. All while offering smudging methods for ritual practice and explains how to properly collect, store, and prepare smudging ingredients. Of special note is the inclusion an A - Z catalog of 67 herbs, resins, and woods for smudging, exploring their history and traditional as well as contemporary uses. Unique, fascinating, inspiring, and a welcome, highly prized pick for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Meditation/Spiritual Self-Help collections, it should be noted that this trade paperback edition of "The Complete Smudging Handbook" from Earthdancer Books is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.99).
Editorial Note: Markus Schirner has trained as a massage therapist and as a teacher in kinesiology, Brain Gym, and Touch for Health. His other specialist fields include aromatherapy, herbalism, meditation and breath therapy, and Buddhist philosophy. Schirner Verlag (www.schirner.com), founded by the author, is one of Germany's leading Mind, Body & Spirit publishers. (https://www.earthdancer.co.uk/authors/markus-schirner)
Micah Andrew
Reviewer
Michael Dunford's Bookshelf
The Fern Pharmacy: Indigenous Wisdom and Modern Pharmacology
Robert Dale Rogers
Healing Arts Press
c/o Inner Traditions International, Ltd.
www.innertraditions.com
9798888501801, $29.99, PB, 416pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Fern-Pharmacy-Indigenous-Wisdom-Pharmacology/dp/B0DH3NK62J
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-fern-pharmacy-robert-dale-rogers/1146298000
Synopsis: Used for millennia by Indigenous people for food and medicine, ferns are now being recognized scientifically for their unique medicinal potential against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and liver, kidney, and respiratory conditions.
With the publication of "The Fern Pharmacy: Indigenous Wisdom and Modern Pharmacology", herbalist Robert Dale Rogers explores more than 500 species of ferns and includes full-color photographic examples for many of them. He also presents observations from naturalists from the 18th century down to the present as he details the traditional Indigenous and folk uses of ferns in North America, Europe, and Asia as well as their mythology, chemistry, pharmacology, and important healing applications.
Rogers examines the unique botany of ferns as nonflowering seedless plants, including their relationship with mycorrhizal fungi, their propagation via spores, and their ancient past as colossal trees. Interpreting modern research on the chemistry of ferns, including in vitro and in vivo studies of their compounds and secondary metabolites, he explores their chemical constituents' healing properties, from easing congestion and anxiety to treating infertility to fighting bacterial infections.
Rogers also gives examples of how pharmacological researchers are now frequently rediscovering ancient Indigenous wisdom, such as how Hammock Fern (Blechnum occidentale) was traditionally used in Brazil for pulmonary ailments, inflammation, and urinary tract and liver infections -- and how western maidenhair can be used for rheumatic pain, insect stings, and mental issues.
Featuring photographs by Alan Rockefeller and Drew Henderson, "The Fern Pharmacy" reveals not just the beauty and variety of ferns, but also their many modern healing benefits.
Critique: Original, seminal, groundbreaking, "The Fern Pharmacy: Indigenous Wisdom and Modern Pharmacology" by Robert Dale Rogers is a comprehensive and illustrated guide to medicinal ferns present throughout the world. Deftly exploring the more than 500 species of ferns (alongside full-color photos), and knowledgeably examining the Indigenous and folk uses of ferns for food and medicine throughout history, "The Fern Pharmacy" explains in extraordinary detail the scientific research behind the potency of fern chemicals to heal many human conditions. Especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Herbal Medicine, Alternative Medicine, Indigenous Medicine, Holistic Medicine collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, this paperback edition of "The Fern Pharmacy" from Healing Arts Press is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.99).
Editorial Note: Robert Dale Rogers is an herbalist with more than 50 years of experience. A former professional member of the American Herbalists Guild and former clinical professor in family medicine at the University of Alberta, he is the author of more than 60 books. (https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/7778913.Robert_Dale_Rogers)
Michael Dunford
Reviewer
Paul Vogel's Bookshelf
Creating a Modern Homestead: Traditional Skills for Real, Everyday Life
Victoria Pruett, author
Amy K. Fewell, foreword
The Lyons Press
c/o The Globe Pequot Press
www.globepequot.com
9781493090495, $27.95, PB, 296pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Creating-Modern-Homestead-Traditional-Homesteaders/dp/1493090496
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/creating-a-modern-homestead-victoria-pruett/1146736433
Synopsis: As our modern lives demand more and more from us, many people long for a slower pace of life. While picking up and moving to the country may not be an option for everyone, it is possible to embrace simple living and more traditional skills no matter where you live.
With the publication of "Creating a Modern Homestead: Traditional Skills for Real, Everyday Life" Victoria Pruett reveals the lost art of from-scratch cooking, practicing food security by keeping a deep pantry, finding out how easy it is to raise backyard chickens, experiencing the joy of growing your own food (even in a small space), and preserving your own harvest through a variety of methods.
For the last ten years, Pruett (of A Modern Homestead) has guided her readers through the process of discovering that they truly can incorporate traditional skills into their everyday routines while they also juggle work, children, and social lives. Though the idea of including traditional skills may conjure images of spending eight hours a day in the kitchen, nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, Pruett teaches you how to deepen your skillset and understanding of self-reliance and how to easily fit simple living into your life in a way that works for you.
The individual chapters comprising "Creating A Modern Homestead" cover:
Cooking from scratch: 126 recipes for breads, main dishes, and desserts
Building a robust food supply for your family
Food preservation: water bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, dehydrating, and freeze-drying
Best practices for backyard chickens
Customizing your backyard garden (including traditional and Back to Eden methods) for your zone and growing season, companion planting, and natural pest control
How to make sourdough work for you
And so much more!
Critique: This profusely illustrated trade paperback (7 x 0.65 x 9 inches, 1.42 pounds) edition of "Creating a Modern Homestead: Traditional Skills for Real, Everyday Life" by Victoria Pruett is enhanced for the readers benefit with an informative Foreword by Amy K. Fewell, a ten page Introduction, a four page Final Thoughts, and a nine page Index. Thoroughly 'reader/user' friendly in organization and presentation, "Creating a Modern Homestead" is comprehensive, fascinating, inspiring, and 'real world' practical. Of special note is the section on Dehydration. Especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, and community library DIY food preparation/preservation, and natural food cooking collections, it should be noted that this paperback edition of "Creating a Modern Homestead" from Lyons Press is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.99).
Editorial Note: Victoria Pruett is the owner and creator of A Modern Homestead, (www.AModernHomestead.com), one of the first homesteading websites. In 2014, she was living in a subdivision house with no yard and dreaming of life on a homestead. Today, her family lives on an 8-acre homestead in Central Texas, and shares their journey with millions of people every year via the site and social media channels. Those visitors turn to her content as they learn traditional skills and generally work to make their homesteading dreams a reality; it's both incredibly humbling and a responsibility that she takes very seriously.
Paul T. Vogel
Reviewer
S.A. Gorden's Bookshelf
Spandex & Sleuthing: Book 1 in The Dominion Point Mystery Series
Isadora Brown
Grey Star Publishing, LLC
9798281798457, $17.99, paper
B0F6M1HRHF $0.00 Kindle, 225 pages
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Spandex-Sleuthing-Dominion-Point-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0F6M1HRHF
Spandex & Sleuthing is a good mystery. It does have two weaknesses - a little too much inner dialogue and spotty world building.
Paige Calloway has just been admitted to a school for paranormal heroes. Her parents were heroes before their death but she has no super powers or what is called dominion in the story. She is unsure if she should go to the Dominion school but eventually decides to go. There she stumbles upon a murder mystery that no one wants solved. The closer she gets to solving it with her two friends the more dangerous the investigation becomes.
Spandex & Sleuthing is a grade above the typical mystery and that alone makes it highly recommended. The narration in the story could be tightened with a focus on the significant inner dialogue. The world building will hopefully be better developed in the later books in the series. The problem with the world building is the story is set in a modern world that has super heroes and super villains. There is no explanation in how the blended world came into existence and no real framework to the interactions and relationships between normal and paranormal individuals. Without a solid framework, the reader has to pause the narration to build possible reasons for why some events are happening.
A Brew Most Foul (The Wallshire Mystery Series Book 1)
H.C. Cardona
Grey Star Publishing, LLC
9798306122069 $14.99 paper
B0DNRBVCM8 $0.00 ebook, 208 pages
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Brew-Most-Foul-Wallshire-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0DNRBVCM8
A Brew Most Foul is a cozy that leans more to a mystery about a young adult who was rejected by her parents than a murder mystery. The story is filled with characters who have strong personalities.
Peyton Hart has graduated from college and moves to the small town where her mother lives, Wallshire. Her mother had rejected her since she was born and Peyton wants to find out why and possibly connect with her. Shortly after she arrives in town, her mother is murdered. Since it is a small town and she is a new arrival, she is a suspect. She struggles to understand her mother and solve her murder. Who killed her mother and is she now both a suspect and a target?
A Brew Most Foul is a light cozy mystery that is a comfortable read. For readers who like mysteries with clues to follow and higher tension, the story is lacking. Brew is a story about a novice working to understand her life and stumbling in a murder investigation. It is a relaxing read but those who are looking for clues to solve the tale, it is a little slow.
S.A. Gorden
Senior Reviewer
Suzie Housley's Bookshelf
The LivingWell Family - Identity and Belonging
Douglas W. Price
Publisher: TBD
ISBN: TBD, $TBD, PB, $TBD, HB, 189 pages
Publishing Release Date: TBD
Synopsis: The LivingWell Family - Identity and Belonging highlights the remarkable bond of a blended family that builds its foundation on honesty, compassion, and a commitment to one another's growth. Douglas Price presents a diverse, multigenerational household to readers, which welcomes relatives and close friends, thus creating a space where everyone is encouraged to discover and live out their true identity.
At the center of this story is Henry, newly married and stepping into a fresh phase of life with renewed optimism. He imagines the LivingWell Family as a community shaped by truth, unity, and spiritual intention. Their strength doesn't come from striving for perfection, but from approaching each day with sincerity and a desire to support one another. His wife, Joan, contributes her thoughtful research skills and steady insight, offering guidance that helps family members stay rooted in who they are - especially in times of discouragement.
As the narrative unfolds, readers follow the family through joyful milestones and tough seasons, showcasing how love and resilience help them overcome issues like career pressure and emotional wounds, strengthening their unity.
Critique: The LivingWell Family offers a warm, hopeful story that highlights how a family grows stronger not by avoiding hardship but by facing it together with honesty, support, and grace.
Heartfelt and reflective, The LivingWell Family - Identity and Belonging shows how family bonds-both biological and chosen-can foster personal growth and inspire readers to become their best selves.
Douglas Price weaves themes of devotion, healing, self-discovery, and hope throughout the book, illustrating how the family's ever-growing capacity for love holds both triumphs and struggles.
By embracing new members, acknowledging their flaws, and standing by one another through life's defining moments, The Living Well Family shows what true family bonds mean.
How The Rhino Lost His Horn: Cautionary Tales from Appalachia to Africa
Jack Rathmell
Whitefox Publishing Ltd
https://wearewhitefox.com
9781917523264, $12.49 PB, 400 pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/How-Rhino-Lost-His-Horn/dp/1917523262
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-the-rhino-lost-his-horn-jack-rathmell/1148319013
Synopsis: Jack, like many of us, grew up hearing the sales pitch about the "modern world" - all that nonstop connection, all that easy living. However, from his location in a quiet American town, those shiny promises seem to belong to someone else.
With college on the horizon and a mountain of debt waiting to pounce, he reaches for the classic quarter-life escape hatch: when life feels confusing, hop on a plane to Africa and go "make a difference." Little did he know that this decision would lead to a journey filled with unexpected twists and turns.
Turns out... plenty.
When Jack lands in Cape Town, he immediately understands he has entered a world with unfamiliar rules. He encounters chaos as cultural differences, double-crossing from those he thought were allies, and cutthroat competition in his efforts to 'make a difference'. As for the wildlife? Let's say they're not exactly lining up to welcome him with open paws.
Critique: How the Rhino Lost His Horn bursts with energy as it follows Jack, who is desperate to escape the dull routines of his everyday life. With his heart set on adrenaline and adventure, Jack dreams of a world filled with excitement and possibilities. But once his journey begins, he soon realizes that real-life adventure is far more complicated - and far more surprising - than anything he ever imagined.
The author's vivid descriptions breathe life into every page, immersing readers in Jack's world. This story beautifully captures the thrill of chasing something new, and the lessons that unfold when reality doesn't quite align with our plans.
Jack Rathmell writes with purpose and the skill of a seasoned storyteller. His book offers a charming and thought-provoking exploration of how dreams can take shape in ways we never anticipate.
With a setting that feels both vivid and immersive, Rathmell brings his story to life, capturing the reader's imagination from the very first page. This delightful tale reminds us that even the most carefully imagined dreams can lead to unexpected - and unforgettable - realities.
Desperate Souls: Book 1 of the Joseph Chronicles
Will Marler
Privately Published
9798292791058, $25.99 HC, 412p
9798292784012, $15.99 PB, $5.99 Kindle,
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Desperate-Souls-Christian-Healing-Chronicles/dp/B0FHWFNRTX
Synopsis: Desperate Souls follows three lives brought together by loss, faith, and the quiet hope of healing. Grace Thompson, a gifted ballet instructor in Biloxi, Mississippi, hides her worsening lupus behind elegance and determination. With her wedding day drawing near, she clings to routine even as her carefully balanced world slips beyond her control.
Nathan Carter, a widower raising his young daughter alone, is still mourning the wife he lost to diabetes. When his daughter receives the same diagnosis, his already fragile faith nearly breaks again.
Their paths converge with Joseph, a young refugee from Pakistan, whose painful past shadows his extraordinary healing gift. After fleeing persecution and losing his missionary parents, Joseph arrives in America with a purpose he's only beginning to understand - one that will unexpectedly shape the lives of Grace and Nathan.
Critique: Desperate Souls is an emotionally rich and spiritually rooted story that delves into resilience, surrender, and the remarkable way God's divine purpose can rise from our deepest struggles. Will Marler masterfully blends Christian fiction, soft medical drama, and tender romance into a story that stays with you long after the last page, offering comfort, inspiration, and a powerful reminder of the unwavering strength found in faith.
Reframe - How Curiosity & Literacy Can Redefine Us
Tinsley Galyean
Business Expert Press
https://www.businessexpertpress.com
9781637428818, $17.99 Kindle, $31.99 PB, $36.99 HB, 174 pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Reframe-How-Curiosity-Literacy-Redefine-ebook/dp/B0FCJ628PD
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reframe-tinsley-galyean-phd/1147561079
Synopsis: In 2014, a group of forward-thinking researchers embarked on a global mission: could children around the world learn to read using low-cost smartphones and thoughtfully designed learning apps? If successful, could this model help reduce global illiteracy and expand the opportunities literacy enables? Reframe offers a compelling examination of these questions, inviting you to be part of this global movement.
Reframe, in this book refers to the process of challenging and changing our perspectives, beliefs, and mental patterns to unlock new pathways for personal and collective progress. Combining elements of travel narrative, personal insight, and practical guidance. It follows Tinsley Galyean's efforts to establish and grow Curious Learning - an international nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that every child has access to early literacy.
As the organization develops, Galyean also confronts the internal obstacles that hinder innovation: ingrained beliefs, doubts, and mental patterns that distort clarity and limit potential. Through honest reflection and actionable strategies, he shows how reframing these constraints can unlock new pathways for personal and collective progress.
Critique: Reframe is part global adventure, part personal awakening; it follows Tinsley Galyean as he builds Curious Learning, an international nonprofit with a powerful mission: to give every child the chance to read.
Spanning regions from India and South Africa to Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Peru, Reframe is both a global journey and a thoughtful exploration of the mindsets that shape our relationships, decisions, and impact. At its heart, the book promotes the power of curiosity - showing how it nurtures continuous growth, deepens understanding, and inspires meaningful change.
Tinsley Galyean, an exceptional and insightful author, takes you on a journey of personal growth. As he expands his organization, he comes to recognize that the most significant barriers to progress are not always external - they often originate within. His story will inspire you to embark on your own journey of self-discovery and growth.
Assumptions, fears, and long-held patterns can subtly constrain our thinking and limit our potential. Through candid storytelling and the lessons gained from his journey, Galyean not only encourages readers to confront these "limiting beliefs" but also provides actionable strategies to do so. His book is a call to action, motivating you to embrace a broader sense of what is possible.
Outliving Michael
Steven Reigns
https://www.stevenreigns.com
Moon Tide Press
https://www.moontidepress.com
978195779937, $4.99 Kindle, $20.00 HB, $16.95 PB, $0.99 Audio, 90 PP.
Author's Website
https://www.stevenreigns.com/outlivingmichael
Moon Tide Press
https://www.moontidepress.com/single-post/pre-order-outliving-michael-by-steven-reigns-today
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Outliving-Michael-Steven-Reigns-ebook/dp/B0FTXX3SWT
Synopsis: Michael Church lived a life defined by duality and brilliance - travel agent by day, dazzling drag queen by night. When he passed away from AIDS in July 2000, he left behind more than memories; he left a legacy carried forward through the vivid, compassionate storytelling of Steven Reigns.
Through a series of intimate vignettes, Reigns guides readers into Michael's world - a place pulsing with desire, humor, heartbreak, and hope. Michael's zest for life, razor-sharp wit, and larger-than-life presence shine through every page. His friendship with Steven began in a Naples gay bar, where Michael appeared in full drag, turning an ordinary night into the start of an extraordinary bond.
For Steven, Michael was more than a friend. He was a mentor, a confidant, and a safe harbor. Their connection was transformative for Steven, helping him confront and release long-held fears about older men - fears shaped by past experiences and misunderstandings. Michael's guidance and liberation were instrumental in Steven's personal growth, teaching him through joy, candor, and unapologetic authenticity.
Set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, the book honors the reality of a disease that claimed countless lives but never dimmed the spirit of those like Michael. Rather than portraying AIDS as a shadow cast over the gay community, Reigns focuses on the humanity and resilience of the individuals affected - their courage, vulnerability, and pursuit of meaning, inspiring us all.
Ultimately, this is not just a loss story. It's a testament to survival in all its forms: surviving stigma, surviving fear, and enduring the impact of love and memory. Michael Church's life continues to echo in Steven Reigns's words, reminding readers of the beauty of living boldly and the enduring power of leaving one's mark on others' hearts.
Critique: Outliving Michael is a powerful memoir that illuminates the vibrant life and heartbreaking loss of Michael Church. Every carefully crafted line reveals a man gone far too soon - taken by a devastating disease that claimed so many lives during his era. These pages invite readers into Michael's world, allowing them to experience his humor, his fire, and his unforgettable personality, which brought joy and inspiration to all who knew him.
The memoir reads like a resurrection, offering a rare chance to feel Michael's presence once more. His spirit - bold, complex, and utterly magnetic - leaps from the page, reminding us of both the fragility of life and the enduring power of memory.
Steven Reigns offers a moving and masterful tribute to his friend, Michael Church, who passed away from AIDS in 2000. From the moment I opened the book, the author's profound desire to honor Michael's memory struck me - beginning with a gravestone rubbing of Michael Church's tombstone. It immediately signaled the depth of love and reverence behind every word that followed.
Through Reigns's vivid and compassionate storytelling, I could feel the weight of his grief, the tenderness of his remembrance, and the immeasurable loss of a cherished friend. His descriptions bring Michael's spirit, humor, and humanity to life, allowing readers to share in both the joy of who he was and the sorrow of his passing.
When I reached the last pages, I found a second image of the tombstone - an unmistakable last tribute. It served as a poignant reminder that Michael Church left an indelible mark on the world, and through this memoir, his legacy continues to shine. The second image on the tombstone is a powerful symbol of the enduring impact of Michael's life and the lasting memory of his vibrant spirit.
Windslash - The Last Elemental
Chris Bennett
Grosvenor House Publishing (GHP)
https://grosvenorhousepublishing.co.uk
9781836152811, $29.99, HC, 204pp
9781836152804, $17.99, PB, 204pp
9781836152828, $14.99, Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Windslash-Last-Elemental-Chris-Bennett/dp/1836152809
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/windslash-chris-bennett/1147671292
Synopsis: Timaeus, a dedicated Wind Student, has always believed that his mastery lies in the wind. However, an unforeseen burst of magic shatters this belief, revealing a startling truth - he possesses powers far beyond his understanding. This unexpected discovery propels him on a journey of self-discovery, where he must confront abilities that are as dangerous as they are extraordinary.
As Timaeus unravels his true potential, a long-dormant threat stirs. The Dark Elementals, warriors twisted by corrupt magic, emerge from centuries of hiding. Their mission, a chilling and ominous one, is to resurrect an ancient evil capable of bringing Atlantis to ruin. With a sweeping assault, they plunge the island into chaos, overwhelming its defenders as they close in on their ominous aim.
Amidst the devastation, Timaeus emerges as Atlantis's last hope. With the island sinking and no allies to stand by him, he turns to a forbidden magic to gain a glimpse of the future, only to realize that destiny, far from being a straightforward path, is far more unpredictable than he had ever imagined.
In the ultimate battle, a powerful crystal seals Timaeus and his greatest foe, causing them to vanish from history until someone unearths the relic ten thousand years later, reigniting a conflict that never truly ended.
Critique: The Last Elemental is an exciting epic fantasy, rich in action and emotion, set within a gripping plot that intertwines destiny, magic, and the survival of a legendary world.
What sets this sweeping tale apart is its unique blend of elemental magic and the mythical realm of Atlantis, where the fate of all hinges on the rise of a single, extraordinary hero.
Chris Bennett, a skilled storyteller who has firmly established himself as a master of the fantasy genre, brings his expertise to Windslash. This book captivates from start to finish, with richly layered characters that bring depth and complexity to the story.
Set against the enigmatic and captivating backdrop of Atlantis, it creates a compelling blend of adventure, intrigue, and magic, which makes an irresistible combination poised to make a substantial impact in the literary world.
Don't Count on Me
Claire Camden
https://clairecamden.com
Lit Ideas
9781068286414, $29.99, HC, 298pp
9781068286407, $19.99, PB, 29800
9781068286438, $ 5.99, Kindle
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Count-Me-Claire-Camden/dp/1068286415
Synopsis: What would you do if you knew exactly how many times you had left with someone?
For Alma Pendle, that knowledge is inescapable. Glowing neon numbers hang above every person she encounters, counting down the dwindling interactions she'll ever have with them - friends, strangers, even the people she holds closest.
She never questioned this strange reality until she confided in her best friend... and found herself admitted to a psychiatric ward for telling the truth.
Now her mother is unraveling, and the unexplained disappearance of her beloved Nanke has left a gaping hole in her world. Any chance of connection fades before it can begin - the numbers always warn her how soon it will end.
Alma doesn't want to be exceptional. She wants to disappear into normalcy, to live a life untouched by glowing countdowns and inevitable goodbyes.
But whatever force controls those numbers has plans of its own - and Alma is about to discover she's at the center of something far bigger than she ever imagined.
Critique: Don't Count on Me is a gripping story about a girl who never realized how different she truly was - until the moment she trusted the wrong person. Confiding in her best friend lands her in a psychiatric ward, a betrayal that leaves her reeling. All she wants now is to understand how to live a normal life, even as the world around her refuses to make that easy.
Claire Camden is an author I've thoroughly enjoyed discovering. Her characters feel fresh, authentic, and deeply relatable, and she crafts each scene so vividly that you feel as though you're right there beside them. The result is a wonderfully immersive and thoroughly enjoyable reading experience.
Vegas Goodbye
Donna M. Cramer
Kirk House Publishers
https://www.kirkhousepublishers.com
9781959681977, $4.99, Electronic, $6.99 Audio, $28.95 HB, $19.95 PB, 295 pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Vegas-Goodbye-Donna-M-Cramer-ebook/dp/B0FRYLJ7NB
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vegas-goodbye-donna-m-cramer/1148344988
Synopsis: Beneath the neon blaze and hypnotic pulse of Las Vegas, two broken lives collide in a story woven with loss, longing, and the search for redemption.
Debra, newly widowed and drowning in heartache, can't imagine a future without the man she loved. John, crushed by the overdose that stole his son, carries a guilt so heavy it has hollowed out every corner of his life. Both arrive in Vegas with the same devastating purpose - to disappear from a world that has already taken too much from them. In a city known for its shadows as much as its sparkle, their despair seems right at home.
Then fate intervenes. A brief encounter between two strangers unravels the plans each came to carry out. Despite their attempts to hide their wounds, Debra and John feel an undeniable pull - a connection born from pain, yet unexpectedly life-giving.
But Jim, a dark and disquieting figure who appears to stalk John's every move, soon threatened their fragile bond. Whether Jim is a true menace or the embodiment of John's spiraling mind becomes a haunting question that neither can ignore.
As their lives become entwined, Debra and John must face the ghosts they carry, the guilt they've buried, and the darkness that follows close behind. Yet, in each other, they discover something they thought impossible - the first glimmer of healing, and the fragile hope that maybe, just maybe, life still has something to offer. Their resilience in the face of such overwhelming odds is a testament to the human spirit.
Critique: Vegas Goodbye unfolds against the backdrop of a city where nothing is quite what it seems. Amid the shimmer and illusion, the story delivers a stirring reminder that even in our darkest moments, the chance for renewal can appear when we least expect it - sometimes in the space of a single breath.
Donna M. Cramer writes with remarkable emotional depth, guiding readers to the very edge of two lives unraveling under the weight of unbearable sorrow. Her characters, exhausted by the battles of life has forced upon them, escape to a city brimming with noise and movement - a place where they believe their disappearance would go unnoticed. Their emotional journey is one that readers will find deeply relatable.
This book is a powerhouse of raw, honest emotion. Cramer's vivid descriptions and powerful prose draw readers so deeply into the story that the characters' pain, fear, and fragile hope feel like their own.
The Robe of Rainbow Feathers
Diane Arkenstone, author
Anja Slibar, illustrator
Mulamu Publishing
9798990573437, $4.99 Kindle, $10.99 PB, 53 pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Robe-Rainbow-Feathers-Diane-Arkenstone/dp/B0FTVSHBY2
Synopsis: A young, tenderhearted girl sees beauty everywhere she goes. With a spirit full of kindness, she spends her days caring for the outdoor animals she loves, offering them food and affection.
All of her thoughts change, with a simple trip to town changing her world. There, strangers speak of war, loss, and frightening events she's never imagined - shattering her bright, rose-colored view of society.
Now she must face a painful question: Can she overcome these dark, heavy thoughts and reclaim the warm, hopeful outlook that once filled her world? The story's ability to inspire hope, even in the face of adversity, is a testament to its power to uplift and reassure young readers.
Critique: The Robe of Rainbow Feathers is a beautifully illustrated tale where the author's vivid storytelling brings every page to life. Through its gentle narrative, the book delivers a meaningful lesson: the world can sometimes dampen even the brightest spirits.
Yet within its colorful imagery and heartfelt message, the story reminds readers of the strength it takes to hold on to joy, even when society tries to dim the light.
Diane Arkenstone delivers a charming, heartfelt story perfect for preschoolers. It's a book that's not only filled with warmth but also brims with imaginative appeal, engaging young readers and comforting them with its gentle narrative.
Unfortunately, the front cover did not credit illustrator Anja Slibar, even though her artwork brings the tale to life. We should acknowledge her contribution and appreciate the delightful reading experience that the story and illustrations create for young children.
Editorial Note: Recommended ages 3-5
Missing U
Ree Rozier, author
Jim Vernon, Jr., illustrator
Cash Creek Farm Publishing
https://www.bizapedia.com/mt/cash-creek-farm-publishing-llc.html
97989987652314, $6.99 Kindle, $9.99 PB, 198 pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Missing-U-Ree-Rozier/dp/B0F8P3HSGV
Exclusive Books
https://exclusivebooks.co.za/products/9798998762314
Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of the 2008 Great Recession, this story follows twelve-year-old Anne Watch as her world changes in an instant. After her father loses his job, she watches him slowly unravel, turning to alcohol in a desperate attempt to cope with the weight of providing for his family. With money tight and tension rising at home, Anne, a brave and resilient young girl, must sacrifice her summer plans and work in her grandfather's onion patch to help pay for her sister Libby's preschool tuition.
Life on the farm is isolating. With no Wi-Fi and no cell towers for miles, Anne feels cut off from everything familiar. Her only companions are a scruffy mongrel dog and two kind neighbors, Ozzy and Steven, whom she visits at the local dairy. Yet even these small comforts can't quiet her growing fear that her father's worsening state may put Libby in harm's way.
Determined to protect her sister, Anne forms a bold plan - one that involves navigating the winding waters of the Yellowstone River hoping to get back home before it's too late. As she ventures into the unknown, Anne must draw on every bit of courage and resilience she has. Will her risky journey bring her home in time to save her sister, or will the river carry her farther from everything she loves?
Critique: Missing U is a standout adolescent novel that powerfully illustrates how a global crisis can transform the course of a single family's life. Anne quickly realizes the gravity of their situation when her father loses his job, thrusting the family into uncertainty. With remarkable determination, she gives up her summer break to take on a demanding job - an act of courage and devotion that speaks volumes about her character.
Ree Rozier delivers a heartfelt, compelling story that is authentic and emotionally deep. Anne and Libby are beautifully drawn characters readers can easily relate to, reflecting the fears, hopes, and hardships families face during turbulent times. Their emotional journey will resonate with readers, creating a strong connection to the characters and their experiences.
This novel offers meaningful substance and purpose, making it a valuable addition to any school library. Family-saga stories remain a beloved part of youth literature, and Missing U shines brightly, rising above many similar titles in the genre. Its narrative and powerful themes make it a must-have for any library, providing young readers with a rich and engaging reading experience.
Editorial Note: Recommended for ages 9-14 years old.
The Recyclosaurus and EggBangers
A.R. Trent, author & illustrator
Maple Publishers
9781915972637, $30.99, HB, $20.99, PB, 183 pages
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Recyclosaurus-EggBangers-R-Trent/dp/1835388485
Synopsis: LA-LA Forest Park, a place where magic lurks in every nook and cranny, holds its secrets close. No one understands this better than Ed Williams, a schoolboy with an insatiable curiosity and a thirst for adventure.
When school shuts down for the winter due to unexpected hot and humid extreme climate changes, Ed seizes the opportunity to explore the park he's always yearned to visit. As he steps off the familiar pavement, he's joined by two unexpected companions: a talkative stray dog and a squawking black crow, both on the hunt for food.
Deep within the forest, Ed discovers two extraordinary metal dinosaurs - Recyclosaurus and Springusaurus - creations of the inventive Professor MicroChip. The dinosaurs, with their playful drumming and shuffle dances, bring a sense of joy and amusement to the otherwise serious issue of environmental conservation. However, their triumph is bittersweet: local wildlife, including migrating birds and a red-eared ocean turtle, struggles to survive in waters polluted and thrown into chaos by turbulent currents.
Critique: The Recyclosaurus and EggBangers is a book that is told with imagination and heart. This story introduces young readers to critical issues like climate change, deforestation, pollution, and conservation, all in a way that's accessible and engaging.
Through his adventures with animal and robotic companions, Ed not only learns about these issues but also realizes the power of individual action in making a difference. This inspiring message is at the heart of the story, aiming to enlighten and inspire young readers about caring for our planet.
A.R. Trent weaves together adventure, humor, and an important environmental message, creating a tale that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. With its vibrant characters, whimsical setting, and heartfelt story, The Recyclosaurus and EggBangers is a must-read for children and families seeking fun, excitement, and a meaningful lesson about caring for our planet.
Editorial Notes: Recommended for ages 7-12.
The Watchwood Inheritance - The Watchwood Chronicles Book 1
Ann Huchingson
Golden Pine Press
www.goldenpinepress.com
9798998786228, $0.00, Electronic, $18.99, HB, $12.99, PB, 266 pages
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Watchwood-Inheritance-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B0FVNPRCH1
Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-watchwood-inheritance-ann-huchingson/1148538786
Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Peter Penstimon imagined a summer filled with sunshine, surfing, and the occasional slow afternoon - not a decaying family estate alive with restless spirits. But the moment his parents whisk him off to Watchwood Farm, their long-abandoned ancestral home, his hopes for a carefree break vanish.
Watchwood wastes no time unveiling its secrets. Ghosts linger in every corridor, desperate to reveal a mystery buried for centuries. As Peter uncovers the truth, he realizes his father is not the man he thought he was - and the old home is far more than a relic of the past. The atmospheric storytelling will immerse you in the world of Watchwood, making you feel you're right there with Peter.
With the sharp-witted and daring Hadley Hawkins, granddaughter of the estate's groundskeeper, Peter begins a perilous search for answers surrounding his Uncle Lincoln's disappearance and the dark legacy hidden deep within Watchwood's history. The characters are so engaging that you'll find yourself deeply invested in their journey.
What was supposed to be a peaceful summer has become a tangle of cryptic hauntings, hidden dangers, and an inheritance that could cost Peter everything he loves. Ignoring the spirits isn't an option - because the truth they hold may be the only thing that can save him.
Critique: The Watchwood Inheritance stands out in the paranormal genre with its unique blend of suspense, mystery, and family drama. It's a perfect escape for fall, packed with unexpected twists, atmospheric moments, and characters who stand out.
The narrative is driven forward with energy and intrigue, leaving you eager for the next chapter. This is a reading experience that's both haunting and irresistibly compelling, and a must-read for fans of the genre.
Ann Huchingson has left a lasting impression on this reviewer with her exceptional writing and storytelling finesse. This is the book you never want to see end, and it's clear this series is not just a great read, but also a potential game-changer in the literary world. With its unique blend of suspense, mystery, and family drama, it's poised to make a remarkable impact and is a must-read for any fan of the genre.
Editorial Note: Recommended ages 9-18 years old.
Suzie Housley, Senior Reviewer
https://housleysliteraryservices.com
James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
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