Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Voice in My Head is an A**hole by Darryl Blake

Author Darryl Blake offers raw words of wisdom on our lifelong inner conversation in The Voice in My Head is an Asshole: How to Tame Your Inner Critic. Utilizing personal anecdotes along with research in the realm of psychology and neuroscience, this tongue-in-cheek guru delivers a matter-of-fact masterclass on mastering your own mind.

The title of this book may come off as aggressive, but it reflects the dangerous and widespread condition of negative self-talk and a lack of self-love in the modern world. Current events seem to be perennially overwhelming, and after two years of a pandemic, increasing climate […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-17T07:51:46+02:00February 24th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Self-Help|

Review: Looks Are Deceiving by Bill VanPatten

The tight-knit small town of Mañana, CA is turned upside down by a cruel hate crime in Bill VanPatten’s Looks Are Deceiving, a mystery novel featuring an endearing amateur sleuth and timely conversations about racism and homophobia in contemporary America.

Will Christian is a 49-year-old aspiring writer and gay Latino man who moved to Mañana to live closer to his sister. Everything is going swimmingly until he sets out for a bike ride in late June and makes a grim discovery: the body of a young man, subject to severe blunt force head trauma, a 22-year-old who also happens to […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-04-07T03:00:16+02:00February 24th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Bill VanPatten, LGBTQI, Mystery|

Review: Reflection (The Lenka Trilogy Book 3) by John Righten

Closing out The Lenka Trilogy with a nail-biter, author John Righten delivers yet another smart and adventurous thriller with Reflection. All of the lessons, enemies, losses, and sacrifices of a mysterious and selfless Irish heroine come to a head in a dangerous race against a Christmastime clock.

Lenka Brett remains as indomitable and entertaining as ever, taking up a tall task in South America to deliver essential medical supplies amidst a landscape of violence and outright corruption. The wear and tear of her previous two missions have clearly taken their toll on Lenka, both physically and emotionally, but […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-02-23T03:22:12+02:00February 19th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: International Thriller, John Righten, Thriller|

Review: Three Loves and Other Stories by Lata Gullapalli

An emotionally astute short story collection about characters confronting relationship difficulties, Lata Gullapalli’s Three Loves and Other Stories is an intelligent book about the essential nature of spirituality and the process of making tough decisions.

Gullapalli’s narrators are mostly women of Indian background, facing an important turning point in their work or personal lives. In the title piece “Three Loves,” Sia is a young woman who feels suppressed by her family’s regressive opinions on feminist issues, and she decides to move away, starting a new job and develops a relationship with a man named Matt. Eventually, her romance begins to […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-03-16T04:52:03+02:00February 18th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Short Stories|

Review: Academy Award Winning Movies 1928-2020 by Diane Holloway Cheney

Author Diane Holloway Cheney celebrates her clear passion for cinematic history and keen skill as a researcher in Academy Award Winning Movies 1928-2020: How Movies Have Changed Through the Years. With a confident and knowledgeable pen, Cheney hosts a historic rundown of the legendary Academy Awards ceremonies, overflowing with backstage insights that will pull in any lover of the silver screen.

Ideal for movie lovers who like to have a bit more background info or even Hollywood gossip to inform the cinematic experience, this book connects the dots in movie history, without getting bogged down in too many of the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-15T01:31:57+02:00February 16th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: History, Hollywood|

Review: Your Little Big You Adventure by L. Owen Paxton

Author L. Owen Paxton delivers an uplifting and invigorating map for personal progress with Your Little Big You Adventure: The Secret to Discovering Your Enlightened Life. Drawing on ancient wisdom, philosophical traditions, and modern revelations regarding human psychology, this book encourages readers to live in their true identity by shifting their perspective to uncover their full potential.

Where this book veers away from traditional discussions about “enlightenment” is that it focuses on the enlightened self that already exists within each of us – our inner child, our most innocent self, our playful id. The idea is that within our […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-02-17T05:19:25+02:00February 16th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Self-Help|

Review: Sick as Our Secrets by Jim Christopher

The second title in the Utopian Testament series, Jim Christopher’s Sick as Our Secrets is an action-packed, white-knuckle blend of thriller and fantasy about an epic fight for the life of a boy with supernatural powers.

Hawk is a restrained and mysterious man, employed at Utopia Farms in the rural Texas countryside, a marijuana dispensary, which may be doing something shadier under the table. Hawk does what he can to keep the farm running smoothly, despite having to deal with inexperienced employees who are only in charge due to nepotism. Nearby, a strange woman named Irene and her disabled landlord, […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-02-15T07:52:53+02:00February 15th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy|

Review: Gloryland Reprise by Drew Signor

Take an entrancing journey through the wild and wickedly beautiful world of Arizona in Gloryland Reprise: Walking the Arizona Wilderness and the Spiritual Implications of Landscape, a touching ode to the road by author Drew Signor. Detailing dozens of mountain ranges, backcountry journeys, tiny towns, unexpected detours, and unforgettable characters along the way, this eclectic read is a testament to a windblown life well lived.

As Signor explains in the introduction, “In my imagination, all my roads are headed west,” and his years of yarn-worthy trips certainly follow that trajectory. Drawing on the tradition of great wanderers, and the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-09T08:45:55+02:00February 14th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Travel|