Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Evolution Tested by CS Stephens

Author CS Stephens presents a delicately worded takedown of widely accepted truths related to evolution and natural selection in Evolution Tested: Evolution & Empiriism Viewed through Engineering Standards. Employing a unique engineering angle on empirical evidence and objective truth, this book attempts to challenge even the staunchest believers in the Darwinian tradition.

In the more than 160 years since Darwin released his theory of evolution through natural selection, there have been countless books tackling the validity and universality of the theory. The overwhelming support for and perennial buttressing of the theory through evidence of speciation events, genetic markers and […]

SPR2020-03-26T09:47:57+02:00February 27th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Book Reviews|

Review: A Death Lived by Martha Calihan, MD

Recalling the final months leading up to her husband’s death, author Martha Calihan explores the spiritual meaning of death – its sorrows and blessings – in the moving A Death Lived.

The author’s husband Charles, who had survived cancer and a major heart attack, was rushed to the ER one fateful morning with pain in his right foot. Calihan, a physician, knew his condition could lead to an amputation, but after many complications, Charles returned home, seemingly recovered. The couple, who had known each other for most of their lives and been married more than thirty years, went back […]

SPR2020-03-19T11:15:36+02:00February 26th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Health Book Reviews, Memoir Book Reviews|

Review: Spirit Calling by Kathleen A. Heitkamp

An inspirational calendar with many unique features has been created by writer Kathleen Heitkamp to emphasize that there is a Supreme Being who watches over our lives, and that we can make a difference for ourselves and others by aligning our understanding with that universal force, in the inspiring Spirit Calling: Jump-Start Awareness, Meaning, and Joy Over 365 Days.

The author composed this book for a 365-day period, and has constructed an organized format for each day. Beginning with citing the date, she gives the segment a title, offers a quotation from the Bible or other wisdom source, and […]

SPR2020-03-18T11:05:33+02:00February 24th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Religion Book Reviews, Spirituality Book Reviews|

Review: Shattered Treasure by Cindy Patterson

Betrayal and misunderstandings stoke the embers in Shattered Treasure, a superbly written Christian romance by Cindy Patterson.

On the day of her deceased twin’s birthday, a depressed Addison Morgan reluctantly agrees to meet her two-timing boyfriend at a party after school, but when she arrives, she’s just in time to see him coming out of a bedroom with another girl before stopping to kiss her. Mortified at her naiveté for trusting him, Addison runs to her car and takes off, only to black out behind the wheel a few minutes later.

When she comes to, she’s heartbroken to learn […]

Marta Cheng2020-03-12T10:33:04+02:00February 17th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Romance Book Reviews|

Review: A Dream Come True by Andrew Ramz

A Dream Come True is a work of inspirational fiction by Andrew Ramz that shows how something really small, wrought from one person’s love, has the power to become viral.

Nine-year-old Jaeden Phillips had neuroblastoma as a baby but was able to make a full recovery. Now, he’s back in the hospital with a lump in his stomach and he’s not feeling all that great. Even with all his relatives visiting him, and his mom and dad always there, things are not the same as being at home and being with his friends.

The only thing that gives him more […]

Marta Cheng2020-03-12T10:32:48+02:00February 17th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Degrade (Tesla Expansion Book 1) by Mark Lingane

Across the brutal landscape of a nearly parched Earth, MechRigs and MechCities vie for dominance in Degrade, the first book in the Tesla Expansion series by Mark Lingane. In a world where mobile cities wage desperate war like futuristic monsters, one young boy may hold the key to salvation – or destruction.

Arid Geiger is the seemingly hapless hero embedded at the heart of this story. While minding his own business in the blasted plains, searching for sources of precious water, he gets his small craft embroiled in a rig duel between two powerful factions. Miraculously, he manages to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-04-28T07:32:35+02:00February 16th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Mother Stella by Ryan Baxter

A spiritual guide known as Mother Stella is the fascinating focus of Ryan Baxter’s thoughtful examination of her life and legacy.

As outlined extensively in Baxter’s lively chronicle, Stella was born in Iceland during the Great Depression. Her family lived in respectable poverty, with fresh flowing water available, but no indoor plumbing and no electricity. As WWII heated up, British forces and then American took control of their territory and occupied Reykjavik. Stella was old enough to remember the bounty of the American soldiers in Christmas gifts and candy. She married an American and immigrated to the US, winding up […]

SPR2020-03-11T10:28:43+02:00February 12th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Biography Book Reviews, Spirituality Book Reviews|

Review: Social Work by Thomas Duffy

Author Thomas Duffy pulls back the curtain on mental health and overcoming trauma in a raw and challenging new novel, Social Work. The lines between any patient and healer can grow blurry, particularly in emotionally vulnerable spaces; this complex navigation takes center stage in the novel, leaning into discomfort and forcing readers to consider their own moral boundaries in authentic, thought-provoking ways.

Marc is an unemployed 28-year-old who recently failed to take his own life, while Lauren is a therapist who isn’t completely sure she has the heart for such an emotionally demanding job. Marc doesn’t think he needs help, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-03-03T05:11:24+02:00February 11th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|