When I reviewed the first edition of this book here on SPR, I wrote,” Unassuming, universally written with sharp wit and charm, the first pages catch and you want to read on. Although Janabi never professes to be an expert… ” In this, the special extended version of his book, I want to take that [...]

“Don’t Look Back”, the debut novel from Rita D’Orazio tells the story of Katerina Balducci, the youngest sibling of three children in an Italian-American Catholic family, and chronicles the ups and downs of family life during her childhood with a moody mother, slighting Katerina for her unplanned birth and throwing abusive diatribes at her which [...]

This small  book of narrative poems offers a mix of subject matter, from tales based on or inspired by traditional folktales, such as the River King from African folklore, to tales that provide modern social commentary. Some of the poems are disturbing: traditional tales of murder and revenge, and modern ones that deal with Internet [...]

Andy Smithson has never heard of the Land of Oomaldee and he has never met Imogenia. However, he’s soon to begin an adventure of a lifetime that involves both. Ten-year-old Andy has parents who are always harping about being respectful and responsible. Andy hates the lectures. It seems that’s all his parents do is lecture [...]

Claire is a woman in trouble when she falls literally from a ledge into a black and white world in which she is oddly transparent, called Cloak Valley. She wakes up alone, not remembering anything but her name, when she meets the large and surly Art Rukin, who carries her off to meet the people [...]

Spoofs are a serious business in literature, particularly when murder is involved. Pulling off a send-up of hard-boiled detective and spy novels is like singing badly on purpose –  it ain’t as easy as it looks. This volume of fifteen short stories, the third in a related series by Australian writer Gerry Burke, provides the [...]

In the opening scene of this wonderful debut novel, a southern gothic that is at times comedic, at times heartbreaking, the protagonist, Simpson Weems, considers murdering his brother. We do not learn what Simpson ultimately decides until the end of the book. After the opening scene, the story becomes an extended flashback. Simpson spends the [...]

Will Teague is a NY lawyer on a new case from his out of town office – he is hired to search for the lovely Mae Kendrick’s husband – that she has no recollection of marrying. But as he delves deeper into the case, he not only falls for the artistic Mae, but has to [...]

The book by author Miles Anthony Smith reads as a meaty and backed-up book choc full of crafted points on business leadership – nothing I haven’t read before, but it was all here in one book and documented thoroughly. I didn’t really fully grasp his rendition of the Level 5 Servant Leadership doctrine (I think [...]

What would you do if your family blamed you for the death of your younger brother? Eden Mellor was 13 when her brother, age 3, died tragically. For three years she lived knowing that her mother and sister blamed her. The night Liam died, Eden can’t remember what happened. Deep down Eden knows she didn’t [...]