Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Dragon’s Mist by Randy Cruts, Art by Marco Cosentino

Author Randy Cruts and artist Marco Cosentino deliver a wickedly entertaining YA graphic novel in Dragon’s Mist, an unexpectedly riveting ride through the imagination of a young boy, Charlie. Imaginary friends and epic quests are a staple of childhood, making this book deeply relatable for young readers, and nostalgia-inducing for older ones.

After a chance encounter with an Irish priest – a water-loving cousin of dragons – Charlie’s imagination springs to life, spinning out an entire world of adventures to explore. The regular introduction of new characters, from god-like guardians and titanic best friends to shape-shifting villains and avian […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-10-05T07:33:23+02:00September 1st, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Comics & Graphic Novels, Fantasy, YA Fantasy, Young Adult|

Review: Programming the Brain by Chandana Watagodakumbura

Professor and scientist Chandana Watagodakumbura examines the complex relationship between brain structure, neurological functioning, and how people behave based on their learning in Programming the Brain: Educational Neuroscience Perspective: Pedagogical Practices and Study Skills for Enhanced Learning and Metacognition.

As Watagodakumbura describes, educators are constantly exploring and quantifying the ways that students learn, in order to teach them most effectively. Neuroscience, a relatively new discipline, can offer insight into these processes, since human evolution parallels the evolution of the brain and neural system.

A salient example of the author’s thesis is presented in the introduction, looking at the difference […]

SPR2020-10-02T01:20:04+02:00August 29th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Chandana Watagodakumbura, Education, Science|

Review: The Cat That Ate a Thousand Bananas by Hank Mancini

Musings and delightful vignettes, served with a healthy dose of humor, form the basis for The Cat That Ate a Thousand Bananas: Musings of a Nerd by Hank Mancini.

Without a doubt, Mancini’s title immediately draws in the reader, though the book has nothing to do with a cat that has a penchant for eating lots of bananas, which speaks to the book’s looseness and fun sense of whimsy. Part memoir and part musings, Mancini admits that the stories he tells are about events in his life that he hopes his family will find funny – though that is not […]

Marta Cheng2020-10-01T02:10:15+02:00August 27th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir|

Review: Seraph (Voidstalker Book 3) by John Graham

Gabriel Thorn continues to thrill and challenge every stale paradigm of a sci-fi hero in Seraph, Book 3 of the Voidstalker series by John Graham.

Following the first two breathless installments of this series, readers have grown accustomed to the boundaries of this future world, allowing the author to dig deeper into the intensity of his characters and the increasing cosmic stakes. Blending philosophical elements of “Star Trek,” tangled familial knots of “Star Wars,” and a twisted plot that would make George R.R. Martin take note, Seraph is a gutting exploration of legacy and power – a surprising story […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-09-23T04:34:00+02:00August 26th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: John Graham, Science Fiction|

Review: Providence in the Fall of a Sparrow by Robert Judge Woerheide

In this inspired collection, composed over seven crucial years in the life of poet Robert Judge Woerheide, we learn what it is like to be a prisoner and what it is like to be free, from within and without.

The first selection in Providence in the Fall of a Sparrow: A Journey of Poems, “Neanderthal Love,” pictures a prehistoric tribe carefully watching over a wounded comrade, his broken legs necessitating his cradling and foretelling his death, after which they will dig a grave a meter deep: “perhaps the first to ever be loved in this way.”

“Elegy for the […]

SPR2020-08-26T05:40:57+02:00August 25th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Poetry, Robert Judge Woerheide|

Review: Newton’s Cradle by Robert Valdin

Humanity’s desperation for survival clashes with its fatal hunger for power in Newton’s Cradle by Robert Valdin. What begins as a corporate and international espionage story over power generator prototypes and mineral contracts becomes a fascinating and existential thriller about the fate of the human race, and the steep price such salvation will demand.

Terence and Duncan want to save the world by mitigating the use of non-renewable fuels, but Terence soon discovers that Duncan hasn’t been entirely forthright, and may already have the ultimate solution in hand. Pitting these allies against one another, yet also unifying them in a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-08-24T08:29:05+02:00August 23rd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller|

Review: The Albatross: Contact by Connor Mackay

Author Connor Mackay makes an impressive debut with his epic space adventure, The Albatross: Contact. With precise language, unforgettable characters, and a twisted plot that feels primed for the big screen, this knockout of a novel wrestles masterfully with alien forces and some of humanity’s darkest demons.

Forged in the crucible of war, Will is one barfight or drunken night from ending his painful stint on Earth, perhaps even at his own hand, but when an opportunity to escape to the stars presents itself, he and his ride-or-die vet pal Frank decide to join a much grander battlefield. There […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-08-20T02:53:42+02:00August 19th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Connor Mackay, Science Fiction, Space Opera|

Review: Stocks, Bonds & Taxes by Phillip B. Chute, EA

With information and recommendations garnered over more than thirty years of practice, author/business advisor Phillip B. Chute has compiled an exhaustive manual for financial investment and planning in Stocks, Bonds & Taxes: A Comprehensive Handbook and Investment Guide for Everybody.

Each chapter of this informative guide contains information about a particular aspect of investing: Equities, Bonds, Mutual Funds, and Other Investments. Each gives a general explanation of the terminology, followed by sections exploring individual investment items, offering Planning Tips, advice on Tax implications, and a look at Compliance matters. For seasoned investors, some of this will be old hat, […]

SPR2020-12-23T05:27:35+02:00August 17th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Finance, Phillip B. Chute|