The latest indie book reviews from Self-Publishing Review
Review: Beauty and Chaos: Essays on Tokyo Life by Michael Pronko ★★★★★
Beauty and Chaos: Essays on Tokyo Life (also subtitled as Slices and Morsels of Tokyo Life; full title 僕、トーキョーの味方です in Japanese) is a collection of writings by Michael Pronko on his experiences of the past 15 years living and working in Tokyo, originally published in Newsweek Japan, collected together here.
Born in Kansas City, and traveling across the world to places like Beijing, Pronko sets his view on Tokyo with the eyes of a writer well-traveled, but with an American-raised core to his ideas, his once-fresh eyes, and his general outlook.
These aspects are important in the consideration of […]
The Kingdom of Assassins by Erik Mackenzie is the exciting and impressively detailed story of an NYPD detective, Mike Maclaymore, who teams up with a Saudi princess to stop a terrorist attack in New York City. It traverses the globe between New York, the Middle East, and Europe, covering every angle of the operation. Throughout the book, there are many twists and surprises, as it is unclear who exactly is responsible for the threat. In this way, Kingdom of Assassins moves like a whodunnit murder mystery as much as a rolling political thriller, as the clues unravel fast and furiously, […]
The award-winning team of Eileen Cameron and Doris Ettlinger have collaborated once again to create Rupert’s Parchment: Story of Magna Carta. June 15, 2015 marks the 800th birthday of the Magna Carta and this story is a wonderful way to introduce and bring to life the momentous event to young readers.
Vinson Gant was just another spice trader, forty years old and doing well for it, running a tidy and profitable routine, enjoying a comfortable life high above the dusty smog shroud of Hazhur. That is, until a favor on behalf of a trusted associate in honorable business practices – the safe transport of their 14-year-old daughter – goes off the rails – literally. When his Hak-9 magnetic railed vehicle crashes in the dirt-poor surface districts, a simple job embroils Vinson and his passenger, Qassi Ferenyu, in an ancient, intergalactic, and almost hopeless conflict between humanity and the galaxy’s purification-frenzied “cleaners.” […]
Sarah in the City of Moon is a sweet story about friendship and curiosity. Five-year-old Sarah takes a class trip to the City of Moon (also known as Jericho, the oldest town in the world and the lowest point on Earth). She wanders away from her group and her bus departs, leaving Sarah to find help, which she does at a nearby mosque. It’s revealed that Sarah has come from a Catholic school and she befriends a young girl who lives at the mosque. In a time of great conflict in the Middle East, and religious turmoil, Sarah in the […]
This unusual book, A Distant World Beckons: Embracing The Mystical, from Minnesota author Thomas Eberhard explores the fascinating topic of communication with the deceased, and shares anecdotes from people who have made contact with loved ones who have passed. Is it just our own negativity and cynicism, and maybe fear that stops us believing that there is another side to existence, and if we believe in what is possible, can we build an enriching life experience with our dearly departed?
Secret Somethings, by Amber Kay, will shock, terrify, and intrigue readers. And they will keep turning the pages until the end.
Sleeping to Death, by G. D. Baum, is the second book in the Lock Tourmaline murder mystery series.