Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Hourglass by Daniel James

A genre-busting thriller from author Daniel James, Hourglass is an occult masterwork of tension and grit, layered with shadowy government agencies, demonic villains, baggage-laden ghosts, and an unlikely pair of comic book heroes.

Clyde Williams is holding it together as best he can, despite struggling to finish his comic book, wrestling with the recent murder of his roommate Kev, and then navigating Kev’s ghostly return to the apartment from beyond the grave. However, when an Hourglass agent shows up at his door, inviting them both to join a nebulous government cell dealing with “post-life entities,” it’s clear that life is […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-01-20T07:14:31+02:00January 19th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Paranormal, Thriller|

Review: Self Help Sucks by Tony Blankenship

Tony Blankenship takes aim at traditional and inherently limited forms of self-improvement in Self Help Sucks: The Anti Self-Help Guide to Inner Peace and Contentment. Drawing from personal experience, spiritual traditions, and well-established multi-step programs, the author leads readers through an effective interrogation of their own beliefs, in order to help demonstrate what they actually need to get better.

While there is a massive catalogue of self-help books on the market, the premise of this book is not that the advice in those other books is wrong – instead, it is that the “self” part of the equation needs […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-02-24T11:00:28+02:00January 18th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Self-Help|

Review: Saving Me First III by Hui Beop

In the third volume of her self-help series, author Hui Beop takes a dynamic look at Korean and other medical systems to help us analyze how and why we feel and act the way we do in Saving Me First III: Unlocking What’s Always Within Us.

Hui Beop’s manual begins in full spin, declaring that each of our five major organs – kidney, heart, liver, lung, and stomach – is essential for life and each carries within it both physical and psychological or emotional tendencies. One whose health is dominated by a strong heart, likes to have an audience […]

SPR2022-01-17T04:32:23+02:00January 15th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Self-Help, Spirituality|

Review: Cute For A Black Girl by Amy Watkins

An emotional, affecting novel about existing and surviving as an oppressed person, Amy Watkins’ Cute For A Black Girl exposes the horrific, intrinsic racism and sexism that young Black women are subject to on a daily basis – as well as highlighting the importance of friends and found family.

Chloe is a young Black girl from an abusive home who is placed in the foster care system, where she’s eventually adopted by a kind, caring, and genuinely well-meaning white lawyer named William. The story tracks Chloe’s life on multiple timelines, including the discrimination she experiences as the only Black student […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-02-17T08:44:51+02:00January 13th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction|

Review: Healing the Stormy Marriage by R. Christian Bohlen with Helen M. Bohlen

Author R. Christian Bohlen and his wife Helen M. Bohlen address some of the most difficult problems a marriage can face with a resounding, positive note, in Healing the Stormy Marriage: Hope and Help for You When Your Loved One Has Mental Health or Addiction Issues.

Not long after Christian married Helen, seemingly the woman of his dreams, 35 years ago, problems began to arise. Helen, who was born with a handicapped leg, also harbored mental illness, evidenced, as she herself suspected, by the fact that she could remember her happy times at camp as a child, but almost […]

SPR2022-02-15T05:22:41+02:00January 10th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Relationships, Religion|

Review: Under the Orange Blossoms by Cindy Benezra

An emotionally vulnerable, authentic memoir about enduring horrific childhood trauma and learning how to cope and survive, Cindy Benezra’s Under the Orange Blossoms is a testament to human strength and the power of positivity.

When living with her mother and sister in Spain at age 17, author Benezra started having frightening, visceral nightmares about being sexually abused by her father when she was younger. Uncovering these painful memories lead her down a difficult path of emotional strife, suicidal ideation, dissociative episodes, reckless daredevil behavior, and withdrawal from friends and family, all while her parents’ problematic relationship lingered off and on […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-01-06T07:03:09+02:00January 5th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Memoir|

Review: Broken Promises: The Story of a Jewish Family in Germany by Bonnie Suchman

Unearthing an astonishing family history from the dark heart of the 20th century, Broken Promises: The Story of a Jewish Family in Germany by Bonnie Suchman is a revelatory and powerful read.

In an effort not to let a valuable story be lost, the author dove into the annals of Heppenheimer family history, from their humble beginnings to their industrial accomplishments, as they fought and struggled for their identity, security, and place to call home. From the first decade of the 1700s, once Jewish people were “allowed” to return to Germany, all the way to the decades following World War […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-02-14T07:49:12+02:00January 4th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Biography, History|

Review: Dutch Preacher Boy by Tuna Fisch

From the life of an immigrant in Western Michigan to the overwhelming allure of Los Angeles and the sweat-soaked streets of Latin America, Dutch Preacher Boy: Coming of Age in Grand Rapids, Taking Wing Beyond* by Tuna Fisch is an unpredictable and deeply compelling memoir.

The author’s unforgettable childhood in the beauty of Holland and his exciting journey to the “New World” sets the tone for the story, summoned by a razor-sharp memory and the ability to paint rich and immersive scenes, even from five decades ago. His sense of childlike wonder and excitement is everywhere in the prose, which […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-02-14T04:39:17+02:00January 3rd, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir|