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Book Reviews

The latest indie book reviews from Self-Publishing Review

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

Epic SlothPhilip 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 […]

2014-05-05T21:07:07+02:00January 15th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |
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Review: The Divine Manual by Dr. Wallace Ching

The Divine ManualAre 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 […]

2014-01-13T14:22:21+02:00January 13th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |
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Review: The Hopeless Pastures by Keith Soares

Screen Shot 2014-01-06 at 16.50.41A 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 […]

2019-01-22T10:40:53+02:00January 9th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , , |
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Review: Greta Smart Figures It Out by Diane Dunning

Screen shot 2014-01-08 at 9.28.24 AMReaders 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 […]

2014-05-05T21:08:44+02:00January 8th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |
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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 […]

2019-01-22T17:15:26+02:00December 20th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |
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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 […]

2014-05-05T21:14:58+02:00December 19th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , , |
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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 […]

2020-02-21T06:32:10+02:00December 18th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |
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Review: The Devil’s Playground by Cynthia Sens

The Devil’s Playground (Sapphire Staff #1), by Cynthia Sens, is an action-packed novel that’s hard to put down. Mel Taylor was born in 1916. He’s lived through World War I and World War II. Now he’s forty-four years old and the year is 2011. No, he’s not some old dude that looks really young. He’s really only forty-four. Somehow he has traveled through time.

In 2011 he is plagued by nightmares and hardly ever sleeps. Then his only friend, Joseph, asks him to help one of his buddies. Joseph’s friend is a father and his son has been missing […]

2013-12-18T10:13:16+02:00December 18th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |
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