Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Hot Minnesota Sex Death by M. R. Nesheim

In his novel Capital, John Lanchester writes about the effects of the 2007 banking crisis from the point of view of one street in London. In Hot Minnesota Sex Death, M. R. Nesheim takes on the same subject, also from a particular place, but Nesheim’s is a much less prosaic location, and he tells his tale in a vastly different way. When the spiritual leaders of an extremely prudish town die while engaging in a prohibited sex act, the citizens of the town fall prey to both a well-meaning but mistaken new leader and an entity determined to […]

Review: Epic Sloth – Tales of the Long Crawl by Philip Gaber

Philip Gaber’s new anthology “Epic Sloth – Tales of The Long Crawl” yet again hits the mark with post-Postmodern American writing. There isn’t much of this sort of literature around any more and this stuff needs to exist. From Kerouac to Selby to Yates to Palahniuk, Gaber pulls together the sum of these writers to pour out anew what it means to be a young disillusioned man in today’s America.

There is a sure East Coast, self-effacing vibe to this writing, but there are tales set all over the US with all kinds of people involved. Young Americans seem to […]

Cate Baum2014-05-05T21:07:07+02:00January 15th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: The Divine Manual by Dr. Wallace Ching

Are you having issues in your life? Do you feel stuck in your career? Marital problems? Do you work hard, but you can never make ends meet? These are just a few examples of what could be going haywire in your life. Dr. Wallace Ching’s book, The Divine Manual: A Holistic Approach to Raise your Consciousness, Resolve your Karma and Fulfill Your Life Missions may be just what you’re looking for. In fact, this book could change your life.

What helps this book’s credibility is that Wallace Ching isn’t just an author spouting things he’s learned from others. He’s been […]

T B Markinson2014-01-13T14:22:21+02:00January 13th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: New Age Book Reviews, Self-Help Book Reviews|

Review: The Hopeless Pastures by Keith Soares

A sequel to the uncommon zombie apocalypse short story The Oasis of Filth, The Hopeless Pastures by Keith Soares is a second part of a trilogy set in a United States no longer “united”.

As the mysterious plague RL2013 pushes humanity to the brink of extinction, where governments ensconce and bury the remaining citizens in distant walled cities. No phone lines, no internet, no questions, no disobedience, the world is painted as a fearful and empty place outside of the clinically-white walls of each city, as modern-day lepers nicknamed “zombies” emerge from places decried as “dirty”, and people are shut […]

James Grimsby2019-01-22T10:40:53+02:00January 9th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Apocalyptic Fiction Book Reviews, Horror Book Reviews, Zombie Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Greta Smart Figures It Out by Diane Dunning

Readers who enjoyed Diane Dunning’s charming collection of very short fiction, One Short Year, will probably remember Greta Smart. Greta appeared in the story “Wine Notes” as a college student desperately trying to pursue her “dreams of becoming a sophisticate” by taking a wine-tasting class. Now, in this novel, we find Greta having graduated college and living and working in New York City. Greta has matured a great deal, but she is still floundering, still trying to develop sophistication and, more urgently, still trying to find Mr. Right.

This is basically the story of Greta fretting over the fact […]

Avery Hurt2014-05-05T21:08:44+02:00January 8th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: In The Name Of Vengeance by J. B. Bergstad

This second volume in the Hyde’s Corner Trilogy chronicles the continuing tribulations of Selmer Burks, sheriff of Sundowner County, Oklahoma. Before I go any further, let me warn you: This is a sequel, not just the second in a series. If you have not read the first Hyde’s Corner book, No Man’s Land: The Beginning, this one will be confusing, especially at first. It takes up the story at the cliffhanger ending of No Man’s Land and goes on from there with very little explanation about what happened in the first book. On the other hand, the story here […]

Avery Hurt2019-01-22T17:15:26+02:00December 20th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Men's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: A Bus Ride Home by Tidimalo

This debut novel by South African writer Tidimalo is part romance, part chick lit, but takes a unique approach to both genres. The story is framed by a hiking trip, and that trope comes up again and again throughout the novel. The story begins with the protagonist, Tlotlego (we do not learn her surname until late in the book), catching a bus to the starting location of a week-long hike. The story itself is told through a series of flashbacks, including several that feature other hikes involving Tlotlego’s friends, family, and lovers.

The flashbacks can be a bit confusing at […]

Avery Hurt2014-05-05T21:14:58+02:00December 19th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Africa Book Reviews, Romance Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: I and You by Beverly Garside & Lucas Duimstra

This Ayn Rand-inspired comic book from writer Beverly Garside and illustrator Lucas Duimstra is a refreshing read in my pile of reviews this month.

Drawing on the social theory by novelist Rand of Objectivism, i.e. that the sole purpose of life is to pursue one’s own happiness, and to basically act individually in everything to better oneself (hence the title alluding to the outlawed use of the word “we”), we follow Sara, a young official working for a military sector which monitors activity across the nation via cameras a little like Big Brother’s CCTV style watch. Sara believes very much […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T06:32:10+02:00December 18th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Comics & Graphic Novels Reviews, Dystopian Fiction Book Reviews|